Your best albums of 2016

I always love threads like these as they get me looking at stuff I've missed throughout the year. I'll be sticking to a top 5 but hey, let's just talk about some great music from 2016. This is no particular order.

Fallujah - Dreamless

Gojira - Magma

Meshuggah - The violent sleep of reason

The Morningside - Yellow

Navajo Witch - Ghost sickness

Honourable mentions:

Dunsmuir - self titled

Seasick Steve - Keepin' the horse between me and the ground

Truckfighters - V

And finally my 2015 album of 2016:

Dopethrone - Hochelaga

So let's hear it Duders what did you enjoy this year?

I get mixed up in what actually came out this year and what I've gotten that's older...

But I know my #1: David Bowie - Blackstar

Malibu by Anderson .Paak was the best album of the year for me. I also really liked Yes Lawd! by NxWorries, Tigallerro by Phonte and Eric Roberson, Blank Face LP by Schoolboy Q, Vessel by Lorn, 32 Levels by Clams Casino, and We Got It From Here... Thank You For Your Service by A Tribe Called Quest.

Still to be determined

Off the top of my head. A Trible Called Quest, Danny Brown, David Bowie, Lemondemon, Carly Rae Jepsen, Ian William Craig, Pinkshinyultrablast, The Avalanches, Anderson Paak, Cate Le Bon, Future Of The Left, Death Grips, Lambchop, NAO, Mitski, Motorpsyco, Kero Kero Bonito, Aesop Rock, Weezer, Cass McCombs, Sturgill Simpson, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Niki & The Dove, Anna Meredith,

Only got a top 3 for 2016:

Fallulah - Perfect Tense

Chvrches - Every Open Eye

Lindsey Sterling - Brave Enough

Best album of 2016 which is not from 2016: Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Make a Scene

Blind Pilot - And Then Like Lions

Been a good year for music, but really every year is i guess. In no particular order, these are the 5 albums from 2015 i have listened to the most this year.

Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason

Surgical Meth Machine

The Devin Townsend Project - Transendence/Holding Patterns

Shades of Black - The Gates

DOOM OST

A couple of metal albums and some other stuff. I really liked all of these based on play counters in my google music tracking.

Mick Gordon - Doom OST

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

Hippie Sabotage - Providence

Death Grips - Bottomless Pit

Neurosis - Fires Within Fires

Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition has to be one of the craziest albums of the year and probably my favorite that i got to dive into. That dude just keeps bringing it at a whole new level every time he puts out a new record.

Radiohead - Moon Shaped Pool
thee oh sees - a Weird Exits
Got to see both these bands live last summer, sounded great live.

David bowie - Blackstar
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
Death grips - Bottomless pit

A Moon Shaped Pool - Radiohead

22, A Million - Bon Iver

Kero Kero Bonito - Bonito Generation

Some decent songs on A.I.M - M.I.A , The Bride - Bat For Lashes, Mangy Love - Cass McCombs and The Skeleton Tree - Nick Cave

I've been horrible this year, I have yet to actually listen to a full album released in 2016, I don't understand how that happens. Most I can hope is that testament's and megadeth's albums turned out awesome

Currents by Tame Impala

Recto Verso by Paradis

I've been real bad at listening to music lately - I've probably listened to more podcasts that started in 2016 than albums released this year. Five I really liked that I can think of right now, though:

• ATCQ - We Got It From Here
• Mitski - Puberty 2
• Open Mike Eagle & Paul White - Hella Personal Film Festival
• katie dey - Flood Network
• the dang Doom soundtrack!

I'm glad these threads exist so I can actually listen to new music! The only new album I've listened to was Shape Shift with Me by Against Me!, which is good but not as transcendant (lol) as transgender dysphoria blues.

Because I'm an awful nerd I've been catching up on 2016 music the past week and trying to establish my top 10. Only gotten through 11 records so far, but of those ones, here's the list I'd feel comfortable declaring really good, whether or not they make my final top 10. I'll probably edit this or post again in a week or so when I've listened to more. If I remember. I know the new Aesop Rock is on there but just dunno where I'll place it yet for example.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Arc is 3 tracks of ugly, glorious, sludge. A really change of pace from their usual grindcore, but they go and record a record that blasts the new Crowbar (sludge stalwarts) out of the water.

Street Sects - End Position is a harder album to categorise, sort of industrial mashed up with noise in a really compelling package. Not pleasant but still excellent.

Sleaford Mods - TCR is the second EP here (Arc is the 1st), from England's finest band of the moment. There's something about the minimalist electronic beats combined with Jason's voice and lyrics that's just a perfect summary for Age of Austerity Britain.

Brain Tentacles - Brain Tentacles is a doomy metal record with a difference: They've no guitarist, instead a saxophone does the parts that would be guitar. But it's not gimmicky, it's just doom with a jazz feel. Really dig it.

Touche Amore - Stage 4 is good post-hardcore

Black Tusk - Pillars of Ash is totally fun sludge

Nails - You Will Never Be One of Us is mad, angry and very fast. It's also dumb but not in a bad way. None of the songs out stay their welcome, well maybe the last one does but otherwise this is a good lesson in brevity in hardcore. Can't quite believe I like an album by a guy who was in Terror but there you go.

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression is Iggy back on form, with a cracking band featuring members of QOTSA & Arctic Monkeys. Gardenia is the standout track.

2016 Feels like it's been a good year for new music.

These are mine, in order.

1. Anderson Paak - Malibu

2. Beyonce - Lemonade

3. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

4. Whitney - Light Upon The Lake

5. NxWorries - Yes Lawd!

6. Local Natives - Sunlit Youth

7. Mitski - Puberty 2

8. American Wrestlers - Goodbye Terrible Youth

9. Kaytranada - 99.9%

10. The Radio Dept. - Running Out of Love

It's been obvious that Malibu would top my list since I heard it in April. Love that record so much.

As a whole, there were some really phenomenal albums this year, and also a lot of great ones. And who knows, that Childish Gambino record drops tonight, and seeing as how much I love the two singles already released from it, that could end up on this list too.

Oh, and special honorary mention to the best EP this year: Emotion Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen

Steven Wilson - 4 1/2 is about the only thing I have listened to new this year. Also it is fucking good because it is Steven Wilson.

That one came out last year. My favorite album of that year for sure.

Mémoires vives by Grand Blanc. Easily, easily my album of the year, nothing ever came close to it.

• King - Fleshgod Apocalypse
• The Fall of Hearts - Katatonia
• The Hyperion Machine - Rome
• Realms - Darkher
• Jumalten Aika - Moonsorrow

and others but they escape my mind for the moment.

@forkboy: That's throwing around a big challenge, sludge better than Crowbar I'll definitely have to check it out. I'll also give Brain Tentacles a try, sounds weird in an interesting way.

I've listened to surprisingly few recent album releases this year, mostly been digging through a lot of late 80's and early 90's stuff I had forgotten about or missed.

Haven't gotten around to Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygene 3" yet, but what I heard of the previews sounded pretty promising. The first two albums were a pretty important part of my childhood.

I think David Bowie's "Blackstar" was pretty solid, and would probably rank it the highest of the 2016 albums I can remember listening to.

Kent's final album "Då Som Nu För Alltid" was probably their weakest, but had a few really fantastic songs on it.

Pretty much all the other albums I've bought this year have been compilations of old previously unreleased or rare material by groups like Demonik, Psychic TV, Clock DVA, Enema & Gejonte and Cosmic Overdose.

I've not listened to enough current music, but hands down my favorite album of 2016 was Tired of Tomorrow by Nowhere

(I liked You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen (RIP) also)

Weezer - White Album

There I said it.

I think this years been a goody, these are the ones I think I've listened to the most;

• David Bowie - Blackstar
• Mitski - Puberty 2
• Martha - Blisters in the Pit of my Heart
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
• Future of the Left - The Peace and Truce of Future of the Left
• Jackie Lynn (aka Circuit Des Yeux) - Jackie Lynn
• Braids - Companion (EP)
• Mono - Requiem for Hell
• Radiohead - Moon Shaped Pool
• Pinegrove - Cardinal
• Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
• Coheed and Cambria - The Colour Before the Sun
• Warpaint - Heads Up

Can I just say how thankful I am to everyone that no-one has clogged up this thread with youtube links. It's so beautiful.

Anyway, I seem to have spent a lot of this year finally getting into Bruce Springsteen but in terms of new stuff:

• Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
• Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion Side B
• Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.
• A Tribe Called Quest- We got it from Here... Thank you 4 Your service
• Tinashe - Nightride

My favourite individual song of the year is probably Not Myself by Sharon Van Etten.

Man, time flies.

Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book

I DO NOT TALK TO THE SERPENT

Woods - City Sun Eater in the River of Light

Super cohesive, super spot on instrumentally and vocally. Politics of Free is perfection.

Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

Lyricism on this just hits home to me, and I relate to a lot of it. Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales might just be one of my favorite songs ever.

Also like Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered, Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool, Anderson Paak - Malibu, Kero Kero Bonito - Bonito Generation and Xiu Xiu - Plays the Music of Twin Peaks which are some really haunting renditions of some of my favorite TV music.

Integrity Blues - Jimmy Eat World

Painkillers - Brian Fallon

Kano's Made In The Manor

Surprisingly for me, it wasn't even close.

Lots of good stuff came out this year, so in no particular order.

• Dark Tranquillity - Atoma
• Haken - Affinity
• Vektor - Terminal Redux
• Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary
• Thy Catafalque - Meta
• Slice The Cake - Odyssey To The West
• Opeth - Sorceress
• Khemmis - Haunted
• Darkher - Realms
• Poets of the Fall - Clearview
• Insomnium - Winter's Gate

Will echo the listings of Blackstar (Bowie) and We got it from here, thank you 4 your service (ATCQ). Honorable mention to Foregrow by John Frusciante.

Have to say though I was bored to tears by Radiohead's new album. I want to give it another shot, but at this point I wish York would spend the rest of his time doing solo stuff or Atoms for Peace.

EDIT: The Abzû soundtrack by Austin Wintory is absolutely fantastic. Play that game and buy that soundtrack.

This year seemed to be a great year for EPs for me, but my three favorite albums this year are:

Gojira - Magma

Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence

A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it from Here, Thank You 4 Your Service

Some other albums I really liked:

Anthrax - For All Kings

Dream Theater - The Astonishing

Thank You Scientist - Stranger Heads Prevail

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression

Obscura - Akroasis

Weezer - The White Album

There's probably more but I can't recall them at the moment. As for EPs, I really liked the ones from Voivod and Agoraphobic Nosebleed.

the new burial and nothing else. havent heard it yet but yes.

1. Kettel - Wingtip

2. Lustmord - Dark Matter

Vektor's Terminal Redux has been my go to album this year. I did't enjoy the album entirely but the song "Collapse" is such a momentous composition. I also really enjoyed Red Fangs Only Ghosts. Otherwise, I really found Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker really hard to listen to given his passing. I saw Cohen in concert years ago when I was in high school and it was one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Way to much good music this year. For what I actually got around to listening in full, and in no particular order:

• Frank Ocean- Blonde
• Coheed and Cambria- The Color Before The Sun
• Death Grips- Bottomless Pit
• Danny Brown- Atrocity Exhibition
• Iggy Pop- Post Pop Depression
• Weezer- The White Album
• Kanye West- The Life of Pablo
• David Bowie- Blackstar
• Schoolboy Q- Blankface lp
• Bruno Mars- 24k Magic
• Chance The Rapper- Coloring Book

-just just came out, but that new Childish Gambino- Awaken My Love is really good.

De La Soul - The Anonymous Nobody

ATCQ - We Got it From Here

Vince Staples - Prima Donna

Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book

Kamaiyah - A Good Night in the Ghetto

EDIT: Weeknd - Starboy might be up there too

The new Epica album is very good

@ripelivejam: the new single is easily the weakest thing he's ever done it

@ballsleon: That weeknd album is solid, except it could lose like most of the back half lol.

Here are a couple ordered top 5 lists (1 Best) as of 2nd December 2016. First, My Favourite Albums of 2016:

1. Letting You In - Kris Allen
2. Fantôme - Utada Hikaru
3. Last Year Was Complicated - Nick Jonas
4. Higher Than Here - James Morrison
5. Big World - Stevie McCrorie

My Favourite Songs of 2016:

1. Boukyaku - Utada Hikaru feat. KOHH
2. Faster Shoes - Kris Allen
3. Back From The Edge - James Arthur
4. Shelter - Porter Robinson and Madeon
5. Warning Call - CHVRCHES

My Favourite Original Soundtrack (OSTs) of 2016:

1. Abzû - Austin Wintory and Giant Squid
2. Masashi Hamauzu Piano Works Delta Epsilon T_Comp 1 - Masashi Hamauzu (played by Benyamin Nuss)*
3. Mirror's Edge Catalyst - Solar Fields, CHVRCHES and Electronic Arts
4. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - Yoshiaka Fujisawa, Avex Group and Atlus
5. Songs from Final Fantasy XV - Florence + The Machine (I haven't played the full game yet to review the full OST)

*A collection of piano pieces stretching throughout the catalogue of works Masashi Hamauzu has produced into all new arrangements.

Finally I'm Editing in some of My Favourite Covers/Remixes I've seen and remembered during 2016:

• 'Those Who Seek The End', Final Fantasy X Remix - SixteenInMono and OC ReMix [Originally - 'Servants of the Moon/People of the North Pole' from Final Fantasy X by Junya Nakano, Masashi Hamauzu, Nobuo Uematsu and SquareSoft]
• 'That's Not Funny', Undertale Remix - Detective Tuesday, DrumUltimA and OC ReMix [Originally - 'It's Raining Somewhere Else...' from Undertale by Toby Fox]
• 'STARBOY' Saxophone Cover - Charlez360 [Originally - 'STARBOY' by The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk]
• 'Stand By Me' Cover for Final Fantasy XV - Florence + The Machine and Square Enix [Originally - 'Stand By Me' by Ben E. King]
• 'Chandelier' Audition for The Voice UK 2016 - Kevin Simm [Originally 'Chandelier' by Sia]
• 'Wishing Well' Audition for The Voice UK 2016 - Jolan [Originally 'Wishing Well' [Originally - 'Wishing Well' by Terence Trent D'Arby]

I saw this post and had a little bit of a breakdown, because I realized that I didn't listen to a whole lot of stuff that came out this year. I'm usually on top of this stuff I swear! Anyways, I think I listened to like 5 albums that came out this year, which is kind of pitiful.

1. Andrew Jackson Jihad - The Bible 2

2. Radiohead - Moon Shaped Pool

3. Clark - The Last Panthers

4. Pity Sex - White Hot Moon

5. Shearwater - Jet Plane and Oxbow

I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of. It's been a rough year you guys.

Honorable mention: Amnesia Scanner - AS Crust

@subterfudge: Oh I've been the exact opposite for 'You want it darker' I've listened to it loads and a lot of it seems so fitting with his passing. Similar to Bowies last album although that one had a bit more joy in it. Both excellent albums to go out on.

As for best it's probably Moon Shaped Pool for me, fantastic.

I've been very lazy with my Hip Hop this year, will have to start checking out some of the albums mentioned here. Although I did like Danny Browns album, that was good.

Low Teens by Every Time I Die is fantastic and I think it's the new high point of their discography.

@bleekmajeek: lmao, I need a few more listens but I can tell Doc McKinney worked on this one

ATCQ - Thank you for your service...

David Bowie - Blackstar

Carseat Headrest - Teens of Denial

Bon Iver - 22, A Million

Badbadnotgood - IV

Xiu Xiu - Plays the music of Twin Peaks

Preoccupations - S/T

Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book

Now is about the time I look at a lot of other people's year end lists to catch up on things I haven't listened to yet, but the above is what I've been playing the most of this year.

That new blink-182 album was pretty alright. As was the new Yellowcard one.

None of those are Blackstar, though.