Music thread 2K16

A 2015 thread already exists (we're posting our favs of 2015 right now, here's mine), but maybe it would be cleaner to just make a new one fresh into the first week of January.

This is a thread for new releases, shows you went to recently, or any news in this endlessly subjective world of music in the year 2016. Thanks to the last thread, I really got into Bully, Everything Everything, Courtney Barnett, and Viet Cong. So it worked out for me. Share some cool music, and discover some in return!

THE ONLY RULE : Please don't embed youtube videos.

I've seen threads die here because they drown in youtube embeds. Link stuff instead. Thanks!

Anyway, this thread will probably start slow, since 2016 hasn't gotten rolling yet. There are only a few things on my radar right now:

• In a couple weeks, veteran blues-rock band, Sherbets will release a new LP, called CRASHED SEDAN DRIVE. Here is the first single, "Stealth". The song is okay, not great. I still have high hopes, because their last album (released only six months ago!) was one of my favs of 2015.
• That same week, Chairlift is releasing Moth. If the lead single, "Cha-Ching" is anything to go by, they are going hard into modern pop. Not my bag, but I gotta respect the duo for going for a completely different sound with every album they release.
• Other than that, I'm just waiting for Animal Collective's latest. The single they teased with last month, "FloriDada" is stupid fun.

Hinds - Leave Me Alone

Lo-Fi Indie/ Garage Rock

The first album I've been revisiting frequently is a 4 piece lo-fi Spanish indie rock outfit 'Hinds'. Whilst nothing special the amount of charm and exuberant energy of the band make it stand out from your dime a dozen lo-fi Indie Rock album. The guitar hooks are simple but catchy, the recordings are rough around the edges but have personality, and whilst no song on here is going to be a trail blazer and catch the world on fire the album is consistently enjoyable and totally worth a listen if you like your indie rock catchy and lo-fi.

Album: https://open.spotify.com/album/2ILzlgDg3yqPT1xxf1f52I
Chilli Town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdHVboNNkAo

Right now I'm catching up on a few albums I missed last year. Right now, that would be Clutch's "Psychic Warfare" album

Nothing really coming out this month that I'm particularly interested in, but next month kicks things off pretty well. I'm cautiously optimistic for the new Megadeth album, and what I've heard from Obscura's next album is really good too, plus Anthrax's new one. After that, it looks like Gojira will be releasing a new album sometime in the spring.

That's just off the top of my head, there's probably plenty more that will be coming out later this year that I'll be interested in, not to mention hearing bands I haven't heard of yet, that's always exciting.

Kanye's new song Real Friends is really great. I've been listening to that a lot.

And he also named a date for his new album, February 11th I think. I am hyped. Yeezy season is indeed approaching.

The hype/lead-up to a new Kanye album is always fun.

I am also very much looking forward to that new Animal Collective. I listened to Strawberry Jam and MPP (as well as Person Pitch) so often during that 07-09 period that I got exhausted and took a long break from them, didn't even check out that last Panda Bear album I've heard a lot of good things about. Dunno what it is about them that sucked me in like that back then, but I'm curious to see if they'll affect me the same way now.

Panda Bears record from last year was really good. Maybe give that a shot before the new AC album comes out? It's a lot poppier than his other albums but it's a lot better than his ill-fated 2nd album.

Real Friends is a huge improvement over other recent singles he's put out, which have mostly been terrible, but I'm not very excited because the last year have been kind of poor for el Kanye in terms of musical output. Hopefully, and the snippet/single seems to indicate, that the direction for the album is different and more 'back to basics' than the stuff leading up to it would perhaps suggest.

(I know the rule is not to embed YouTube videos but don't know what the policy is for SoundCloud)

Kendrick did Kendrick things as he always does but Kanye absolutely spazzed on this in a way we haven't seen from him in a while. The Swish hype is real.

I'M TOO BLACK, I'M TOO VOCAL, I'M TOO FLAGRANT

@milkman: I was just going to post this one too. As a fan of Kendrick and an HUGE fan of Kanye, I couldn't be happier with this one. Real Friends is a really solid track too, I have the melody stuck on my head.

---

As for my suggestion for this list:

I think this album came out in December 2015 on iTunes for some countries, but it only got worldwide access on Spotify in 2016. So, if you don't mind, I will consider this one from 2016.

Flight Facilities - Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Disco / House / Indie Pop / Electronic

I love Flight Facilities and their debut album, Down To Earth, was my favorite from 2014. I'l admit, I'm putting this album here more as an excuse to tell you to listen to that album if you enjoy these styles but there's something to be said about this new album as well. Live with MSO is mostly the same tracks as the first album but with a twist: It's played live with an orchestra. The electronic elements mix extremely well with the the classical sounds of the instruments from a orchestra and the sound is really well mixed for a live album. For most tracks, if it wasn't for some crowd cheering, you would almost forget that this was recorded live. As someone who usually hates listening to live albums, I've been having this one on repeat for the last few days, it has that great blend of relaxing and soothing with the urge to go out and dance. The vocalists that accompany this mash of sounds are great live as well, Emma Louise is already known for it's talent, Reggie Watts brings all of his great humor and Owl Eyes sings her soul out, you can hear the joy of singing from her voice.

My suggestion? Listen to Down To Earth first. If you enjoyed it, you'll most likely enjoy this one too.

Links: https://open.spotify.com/album/727t4WQ35MaH0kLG68zxrq // https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/live-melbourne-symphony-orchestra/id1065910306 // https://www.youtube.com/user/flightfacilities

@milkman: The song is just bars on bars and it's great. Love the continued mention of the laptop stealing cousin!

My favorite song from my favorite album of 2015 has a music video now and it, like all of her music videos, is extremely dope.

Grimes - Kill V. Maim

this is going to take awhile to digest.

@milkman: I think this is already my song of the year. Soooooo good. Good Vibez.

"Real Friends" is so great with that Madlib production. He did a great job. Nice to see Kanye go to him for a beat. If people like the "back to basics" feel of it as previously mentioned by @yesiamaduck ... keep in mind Kanye did not produce the song. So wouldn't get my hopes up too high but we will have to see.

Everyone who is into Hip-Hop, R&B, and Modern Soul music should check out Anderson Paak's new Malibu album. I threw three genres in there because this man really does cover them all. He's very talented and I think this year his career really takes off.

"The Season / Carry Me", "Am I Wrong ft. Schooboy Q", "The Dreamer", "Without You ft. Rapsody", and "Silicon Valley" are all stand outs for me. That along with the recent "Link Up & Suede" LP he did with Knxwledge have him in my rotation a lot.

@milkman: I must admit, a Grimes video was the last place I was expecting a Dark Souls reference to pop up.

@artisanbreads said:

"Real Friends" is so great with that Madlib production. He did a great job. Nice to see Kanye go to him for a beat. If people like the "back to basics" feel of it as previously mentioned by @yesiamaduck ... keep in mind Kanye did not produce the song. So wouldn't get my hopes up too high but we will have to see.

Everyone who is into Hip-Hop, R&B, and Modern Soul music should check out Anderson Paak's new Malibu album. I threw three genres in there because this man really does cover them all. He's very talented and I think this year his career really takes off.

"The Season / Carry Me", "Am I Wrong ft. Schooboy Q", "The Dreamer", "Without You ft. Rapsody", and "Silicon Valley" are all stand outs for me. That along with the recent "Link Up & Suede" LP he did with Knxwledge have him in my rotation a lot.

This album is really good, musically it reminds me of To Pimp A Butterfly quite a lot... at least instrumentally. It has the same smooth jazz influenced production.

@yesiamaduck: Yeah people are drawing Kendrick comparisons and I see why. TPAB tapped into R&B and soul and jazz in a way not a lot of Hip-Hop had in while, especially in the mainstream. Malibu is more of just a fun record but it taps into R&B and Jazz in an Outkast-y way I really appreciate.

EDIT: Also I like that Hinds album! I do like a lot of Indie Rock but have a hard time finding new bands sometimes or just frankly don't seek them out but I like this.

incidentally, since there's precedent elsewhere in this thread:

<<< from this record, 'deeper than love' is my top song of 2016 that came out in 2015 (i'm just discovering now). AND I SHALL SPEAK OF 2015 NO MORE.

!!! is still making music videos off of their 2015 album, As if. I think this is their 4th?

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/a6x4

It's a pretty clever concept; Nic Offer hijacks a local news broadcast. One of the best songs from the record, too. It peaks way too early, though. They should have slowly bled in the insanity.

Hopefully there's some good alt/prog rock this year, the bands i like take years to make albums so i don't get to talk about music very often.
This may be my last post in this years thread, bring on 2017.

@artisanbreads: Dude - this album's blowing my mind right now. Thanks for the recommendation. The 3rd track ('The Waters') is great. Can't wait to finish this on my ride home from work tonight.

EDIT: And then I got to the 4th track...and that's blowing me away even more so. Can't wait to see where this album goes from here! 8O

I'm also getting some modern Labi Siffre influences here and there as well (see the track 'Put Me Thru' for example).

currently soaking up WILLAMETTE's "diminished composition".

Ambient / Modern-Classical / Minimalistic

If you're a fan of soundscapes or like musicians like STARS OF THE LID, KYLE BOBBY DUNN or early stuff from BRIAN ENO, this could be for you. You should also check it if you like classical or minimalistic movie soundtracks.

The album is streamable on bandcamp and costs about 9 bucks. physical copies (LP and CD) are available too.

It's easiest one of my favorite records from the last couple of months.

You can check the record here: https://scissortail.bandcamp.com/album/diminished-composition

Track recommendation: "At length and dead horse" and "brief moments in longterm doubt".

@big_denim: Glad you like it. He is a guy I really heard of through the Compton album and when I saw Earl Sweatshirt live last year he and Knxwledge were openers and he was really outstanding live too. Which I don't say about almost any rappers, even as a huge fan of the genre (most rappers are terrible live I think).

Unfortunately I pick my way through albums like a weirdo instead of just listening to songs in order so I usually neglect a song or two until I have a lot of time to listen to record and really get into it. I hadn't gotten into "Waters" yet and man that's a great track. BJ the Chicago Kid is also a really talented dude. Seems like an album that is good all the way through which I appreciate.

I also really recommend that "Link Up & Suede" LP. Knxwledge produced "Momma" on Kendricks' TPAB and it's all Anderson over that soulful, Dilla-esque sound Knxwledge does so well. Especially the "Droogs" song he did which is a fantastic low tempo remix of sorts of an electronic-y song he did previously.

Steve Angello - Wild Youth

Electronic / House / Indie Rock

After keeping fans waiting almost three years for the full album since it was announced, Steve Angello finally released it in it's completion today. According to him, this album is a journey through his 33 years of life and 21 years of career.
It's a blend of sounds going from various sub-genres inside electronic music while absorbing influences from Indie Rock, featuring members of bands such as The Temper Trap, Imagine Dragons, Saints Of Valory and more.
The last track, "....", might be goosebump-inducing to some.

Besides the music, the album is also accompanied by a strong visual component, with some great videoclips already released and the promise of more of those to come in the upcoming days.

I recommend it if you:
- usually listen to Progressive House or follow the House scene and are tired of how everything lately sounds as more of the same;
- enjoy the genres mentioned above. If you enjoy Indie Rock and some Electronic you might be into some of the tracks in here;
- are open minded about music and want to try something different.

Links: https://open.spotify.com/album/0FGMLe5JF4VhDScDLODz7x // https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wild-youth/id1054207566 // https://www.youtube.com/user/steveangelloofficial

_________

edit: @artisanbreads thanks for that suggestion, really good stuff! It's going to be in rotation around here for sure!

@mortal_sb I enjoyed yours as well, slightly calmer than what I usually listen to, but I like that kind of stuff for when I'm doing some late-night work. Do you know a group called Kiasmos? It's not as minimalistic as Willamette but maybe you might like some of their stuff.

edit2: seriously, that Anderson Paak album that @artisanbreads suggested is so freakin good, I had no idea.

Lostened to Witchcraft's newest effort, Nucleus.

Absolute generic hard rock/stoner garbage. Except for the first song.

@johnymyko: I keep listening to Malibu a lot. I've come to like pretty much every song too which I appreciate in an album. I've come to appreciate "Put Me Thru" and "Lite Weight" a lot as I listen more.

He was just signed by Dr. Dre for Aftermath too so I think he will be getting a lot of push now.

He is on Colbert's show tonight too.

EDIT: here it was if you want to see it. Cool to see him get on the set during shows.

....

Otherwise nothing new I am listening to. I am going through a lot of searching through Spotify since I recently got that. Although I listen to a lot of music of different types still plenty of stuff I've missed or overlooked and genres I don't know thoroughly so it's fun to look through all that.

Bought Megadeth's newest album last week and I like it for the most part. Musically, it's the best Megadeth's been in years, but lyrically... ehhhh.

I also picked up Dream Theater's newest album, and from what I've listened to it, I really like it as well. Since it's a rock opera, I really want to listen to it all the way through without interruption once before I say anything else though.

This month I'm mainly looking forward to Obscura's new album this week and the new Anthrax album in a few weeks.

DIIV's new album Is the Is Are is dropping in 2 days but the full album has been released online for streaming already and I'm totally digging it. If you're familiar with tier debut Oshin then I highly recommend this new album. Feels like a real evolution of the previous album, especially with the recording now being done by the full band that has formed as opposed to all recording being done by Zachary Cole Smith.

Recommended if you're into indie pop, fantastic guitar hooks or just some raw honesty about dealing with drug addiction I guess?

Check out the album stream here

My favourites are Fetty Wap, Eminem...

I am starting to doubt we will actually get a new Kanye album the day after tomorrow.

@milkman said:

That album is almost all I've been listening to this year other than Bowie. Grimes wasn't even on my radar until the Kill v. Maim video showed me what I've been missing. Instant fan.

Field Music - Commontime

Indie Rock/Pop Rock/Alternative

Quint-essential British pop rock duo Field Music take their David Bowie, Talking Heads, XTC and Prince influences and crank the dial a tiny bit on their sixth and most accessible record yet. The hooks on this album are very melodic and harmonized, the structure of these songs initially seem quite straight forward but there is a lot of intricate percussion, jazzy horns and sporadic stabby guitar frantic guitar riffs and a lot of interesting bells and whistles around these songs that stops this album from ever sounding tired and uninspired despite working from an incredibly tried and true formula. Familiar enough to enjoy first listen, but complicated enough to keep you coming back for more.

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/album/0mxhhfdpk5nSSHOhPx4Woe

The Noisy Days Are Over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FGPDau_QwA

https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart?year=2016

This is how I find music. Have a playlist too:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLD8tmFAugloHXeyw2IGCmtEwdkbLY1IN

Some more choice albums/EPs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS7KlAI30Ro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_ZiYKq3Q2c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBngZL0gfec (this woman's vocals are insane)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t28qZaC4quk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WXMkk8WURE

2016 has begun to roll...

HOT TAKE : I just listened to Painting WithAnimal Collective, and... hmm. That was an album, I guess. You know something is wrong when you get distracted, and look back up to see two songs have gone by. Everything is too tame, well sorted, and stuck in the same gear. There's no Centipede Hz or Strawberry Jam style agression, and no Merriweather Post Pavilion or Feels kind of free breathing epicness to it. It's just normal songs, with a bunch of uninteresting pitch shifted boings and drips. Maybe down the road this album will catch me in the right mood, and it will click, but it was a pretty forgettable first listen.

COLD TAKE : I wrote about the new Sherbets album, which I predictably adore to death!

NO TAKE : I did not check out the new Chairlift album. That "Cha-Ching" song doesn't float my boat, and I'm not interested in more of that. Maybe someone else has heard it and can tell me if there is anything else they go for on it.

HYPE TAKE : I'm pretty interested in hearing a new release next week by this garage band called Yuck; and my favorite band in the world, Polysics, is releasing a new album ON MY BIRTHDAY!

And then of course in April....

Still waiting on my physical copy of Anthrax's "For All Kings" but Amazon has their Auto Rip thing going on so I got a complimentary digital copy when I came home from work this morning. I really like it, considering I almost never have the time to sit and listen to an album all the way through anymore and I'm on my third listen today.

I think when it comes to the "Big 4" this may be the best new release by those bands so far, though there's still a long wait for Metallica's new album, whenever that will be.

The new Santigold is so damn good. Banshee is fucking fire.

@theht: got the vinyl coming my way tomorrow, not heard a single damned song off the thing bit everyone I've spoken to who I trust when it comes to recommending good pop music have been gushing about it.

@roomrunner: I'd never given Yuck much of a chance, but now that you mention it, I really like this new album and I might just really like Yuck.

Thanks for doing these, they've become a huge source of music discovery for me.

A band I am helplessly obsessed with, The Jezabels, released their album "Synthia" (youtube, spotify) a couple weeks ago, and people are talking about this being their best album to date. I know if I don't agree with that (some of their old stuff is still hot hot fire) but for a four-piece rock group, they are extraordinarily versatile.

• Good starting place: Unnatural or Smile

Listened to the new Kanye album some more and I think it's has some very strong songs but isn't a masterpiece like some of his other work.

I think Ultra Light Beam and Real Friends are some of the best songs he has done, but then you get stuff like Freestyle 4 or Highlights which are pretty forgettable.

And just sloppy stuff like him talking about 30 Hours as a bonus track when it's a few songs away from being the final track. And FACTS being on the album where it started life as a (intentionally?) Bad parody of a Drake/Future song.

Hopefully Danny Brown releases a new album this year.

I been on a huge Devin the Dude kick, mainly his second album "Just Tryin Ta Live". Heavily slept on in Hip Hop and well worth the listen if you are into southern hip hop with a melody. Besides that, I'm anticipating Mayer Hawthorne's new album coming out in April. So I been playing some of this albums.

Initial thoughts on the Santigold album are positive, a lot of bangers and a nice variety of styles with very strong hooks and realllllly good production.... I noticed a slight sag in quality in the final third or so but I'm liking it alot. The new School Of Seven Bells album is also another album with really nice hooks, shoegazey pop with soaring sounds and it's pretty great though it ends kind of weak as the sound sort of grows tired towards the end, these are initial impressions these could change but if you're looking for music with good hooks then I recommend both album wholeheartedly at the moment.

Checking in:

There is plenty to talk about, but two releases have sort of dominated my time as of late.

• I just finished writing about METAFIVE. Electronic pop duders, you need to find a way to get your hands on this. It's phenomenal. Layers and layers and layers of sounds with incredibly precise melody. Breathtaking production, to no surprise; because METAFIVE is a supergroup of musicians that either you don't know who they are, or you love them (Yukihiro Takahashi, of YMO fame - Cornelius - Towa Tei). Just look at this music video! It is pure A-R-T!

• Got that Polysics album. It's called What's This???, and it's available on iTunes right now. If you have never heard Polysics before, maybe take a chance, and buy this. Going into this album dark, even if you don't end up liking it, will undoubtedly take you for a ride. You will literally be saying "What's this???" Even as someone who has been listening to this band for over a decade, I was not prepared for the amount of hyperspeed insanity this album packs. It has too many songs, but most hit their mark (and that mark is "I am playing every videogame ever made at the same time, and winning!"). Here is a clip of the lead single. This is the greatest band on the planet.

• I've only listened to that Yuck album, Stranger Things, a few times, but I like it more with each spin. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but this wasn't it, and I was cold on the album at first; but now I get it. I think some songs like the opener and title track are still corny, but now love the rest. The ballads are cool. Def getting Built To Spill vibes from "Yr Face" and "Hearts in Motion" (A good thing since they put out my fav album last year). Yeah, looking forward to getting more and more into this.

• You guys managed to talk me into giving Santigold another shot. I remember hearing her debut in 2008, but it didn't really grab me. I should go back to it though, because I'm really liking 99¢. "Can't Get Enough of Myself" is the fun kind of cocky that most pop/hip-hop artists usually fumble. I love the ballads and the silly Cyndi Lauper kinda retro-pop songs. I really hate the modern pop stuff like "Banshee". It's like the kind of music that just feels like it was only made to play in mobile phone ads and amusement park speakers.

• In a few weeks, The Thermals will have a new record out. I LOVE THIS BAND. They're very simple lo-fi power-pop. The production on this album sounds better than whatever bathroom they recorded their last album in, so yay!

@roomrunner: FWIW, I'm getting a lot of mileage out of your recommendations. I couldn't make heads or tales of Polysics, but I never write off someone's "greatest band on the planet." Perhaps there's a beginner-friendly starting point for the less well-listened, like myself?

You are spot on with that METAFIVE track. Never heard of them, but this is just what I need right now.

Today I'm letting Venetian Snares - Traditional Synthesizer Music wash over, around, and through me. Feels like I got sucked into the box art of an 80s PC game.

This is super cool. If I had any expendable income, I wouldn't buy a current gen console, I'd def spend it on a mini-korg instead and just fuck around with it. Messing around with FRACT-OSC and that Korg-DS has always been fun.

About Polysics: This is old music, so I'll spoiler-block it.

@yesiamaduck: really cool song!

Iggy Pop's "Post Pop Depression" came out yesterday. Still waiting for my physical copy to ship, but I got a complimentary download of the album and I've been listening to it a bit here and there. I really like it, a lot. Couldn't stop listening to Gardenia when it was released back in January, plus I'm a big Queens of the Stone Age fan so having Pop collaborate with Josh Homme sounded great on paper, and I'm glad it worked out well in execution too. I also really like the rant at the end of closing track "Paraguay"

Happy April! agh, so much stuff!

Things from March:

• The latest from The Thermals is certainly a Thermals album. I'm way into the two extremes of songwriting on this one. One track will be dark and gritty, the next will be total sugar-coated pop, and even a few well composed ballads. The biggest problem is something I've always come to expect from The Thermals, but can never brace for - the shite production. It's not as bad as their last album, but shit is so blown out it's almost like they don't have a bass player anymore.
• Here's something out of nowhere: Nerf Herder put out a new album. Weird huh? It's called Rockingham. I still have a soft spot for Nerf Herder, so went into this optimistically, and was for the most part not let down. Parry Gripp has tuned his sense of humor over the last ten years (more absurd, less low-brow), and most of the songs are stupid fun. Some songs are a bit too nerd-pandering (literally just listing shit from Star Wars and Doctor Who. Lame), but totally on point with the Weezer and Rush themed ones.
• I got more in depth about Painting WithAnimal Collective and Santigold's 99¢. Also, made a mixtape of songs I've liked for the last three months

Begin Q2:

• I'm listening to John Congleton And The Nighty Nite's latest release right now. John Congleton is probably better known today as an indie rock producer, but he fronted a minor favorite band of mine, The Paper Chase, for about a decade.

(about The Paper Chase)

• A new Deftones album (Gore) will drop next week. It should be no real secret by now that Deftones is madly talented and versatile, despite crawling out of the nu-metal dregs. They've been releasing pure gold for sixteen years now. This won't disappoint.
• I recently stumbled across Parquet Courts. They sound like if David Berman had written songs for The Fall. Definitely right up my alley, and it just so happens they have a new album out next week as well!
• John Carpenter's Lost Themes II is streaming on NPR right now! ahhhhhhhh!

@roomrunner: What do you think of the new Deftones album? I'm a bit disappointed by it. I like a couple of tracks here and there but it's not as good as Koi No Yokan or Diamond Eyes ... or most of their discog for that matter.

I also found Kanye's The Life of Pablo to be a frustrating listen. I found that I enjoyed portions of songs but not the entirety.

The new Tim Hecker and Explosions in the Sky albums aren't doing a whole lot for me so far either. I'd say this year so far for me has been pretty underwhelming from a music perspective but maybe I'm just not looking in the right places and not hearing the good stuff.