8. Chelsea Lankes, “Bullet” Some people might disagree with me, and that’s just fine, but personally one of the great musical joys in life is a good, concise pop song whose sole ambition is to be a perfect pop song, and nothing else. Not maximizing a brand, not serving as a showcase for obnoxious reality […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #89. Black Mountain, IV (Dine Alone) Did I ever miss Black Mountain. In the Future was one of my favourite albums of 2008, and one of the best of that decade, frankly, while 2010’s Wilderness Heart was a cool little departure that steadily grew on me. It was hard to believe six years had gone […]
Read More The Best Albums of 2016, #99. Black Mountain, “Florian Saucer Attack” Sometimes you need a great big, gigantic, dystopian rock ‘n’ roll song about flying saucers. Huge guitars, wicked singing by an unusually boisterous Amber Webber, a GREAT synthesizer solo lifted right out of Rush circa 1981, and crazily vivid lines like, “Cold bodies with the cement eyes / Over […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #910. Jessy Lanza, Oh No (Hyperdub) Jessy Lanza quietly made a name for herself in 2013 by signing to UK tastemaker label Hyperdub and releasing the beguiling Pull My Hair Back. Her sense of simultaneous detachment and playfulness made for an engrossing debut album, while on her spellbinding follow-up the music sounds broader, more vibrant, […]
Read More The Best Albums of 2016, #1010. Alessia Cara, “Wild Things” It’s funny where and when a song will click. When it comes to Alessia Cara’s anthemic “Wild Things”, it captured my attention when I was taking a taxi to my hotel in Montreal. “No mistakin’, we make our breaks, if you don’t like our 808s”: what a line! It kept […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #1011. Meshuggah, The Violent Sleep of Reason (Nuclear Blast) The sheer force of Meshuggah’s music shouldn’t be inimitable in this day and age, especially when young nerdy musicians have all the effects and recording techniques they could ever need at their disposal. Yet for all the bands that mimic the complex, churning sound of the […]
Read More The Best Albums of 2016, #1111. Radiohead, “Burn the Witch” I haven’t been this riveted by a Radiohead song since “Pyramid Song” 15 years ago. This is the kind of daring rock music the band excels at, a slow-burning track that essentially puts Thom Yorke against a backdrop of strings that saw away (col legno battuto, according to Wikipedia) maniacally […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #1112. Katy B, Honey (Virgin EMI) A big reason why I loved Katy B’s 2014 album Little Red so much was because it came on the heels of a debut that was a minor cult hit and swung for the fences. It tried to establish Kathleen Brian as the next Adele, and while “Crying For No […]
Read More The Best Albums of 2016, #1212. Katy B, “Honey” One of the coolest things about Katy B’s third album Honey is how she takes existing tracks by some of the coolest beat-makers in the world and creates something new and entirely hers. A fine example is what she does to a slinky little loop created by Montreal artist Kaytranada. Atop […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #1213. Opeth, Sorceress (Roadrunner) The winding musical journey of Mikael Åkerfeldt continues to make its way through classic progressive rock on Opeth’s 12th album, which undoubtedly annoyed plenty of fans who wish he’d return to the doomy death metal of old. His decision to walk away from what fans wanted and toward what he wanted […]
Read More The Best Albums of 2016, #1313. Jessy Lanza, “VV Violence” Sounding at first playful but possessing an undercurrent of menace, “VV Violence” is the most confrontational track Lanza has produced to date, both lyrically and musically. Touching on being a marginalized woman, its sense of catharsis is palpable. “I say it to your face, but it doesn’t mean a thing,” […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #1314. CHVRCHES with Hayley Williams, “Bury It” As the album/touring cycle for the brilliant Every Open Eye wound down, CHVRCHES did a good job staying in the public eye by releasing a new version of the standout track “Bury It”, featuring re-recorded vocals and a special appearance by Hayley Williams of Paramore. Accompanied by a […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #1414. Perturbator, The Uncanny Valley (Blood Music) It’s surreal how synthwave has not only become cool – it’s now in very high demand by horror filmmakers – but also how it’s crossed over into the metal scene. Granted metal has always had its toes dipped into the classic soundtracks by Goblin, Popol Vuh, and John […]
Read More The Best Albums of 2016, #1415. Andy Shauf, The Party (Arts & Crafts) Man, was I a fool to ever wonder if Andy Shauf was a little overrated. That was before The Party came out, and over the course of nearly the entire year, this cozy little concept album wriggled more and more into my subconscious. The best thing to […]
Read More The Best Albums of 2016, #1515. Kitten, “Fall on Me” I hadn’t heard of Kitten until early this year when a writer I respect recommended their new single. There’s nothing particularly original about what the Los Angeles band does, it’s basically a blend of thunderous ‘80s pop, the shoegazey tendencies of M83, and the orch-pop melodrama of Camera Obscura, but […]
Read More The Best Singles of 2016, #15
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