Top Ten (Five!) Albums Of 2016..!
Apologies, while I have been studying alongside working, I've not done as much writing as I'd like and one thing I like to do Top 10/15/whatever number lists of albums/films and life events, I have notes scrawled and I am now getting the chance to get them posted, fingers crossed! That's the plan, anyway! Hopefully if you're new-ish round here, you discover some stuff about me too!
The rules are for albums, I need to listen to it five times in total and I review the albums without naming individual tracks (not sure why this is) but possibly as it's more of a challenge and it's the year I've heard it in, NOT the year of release (hence the years in brackets.)
That's the pre-intro intro done, off we go!
2016 was not a year to listen to a lot of music, it would appear. It feels like I did but looking back, it didn’t seem to be new stuff.
From 2017 then, there will be changes, I’ve joined Spotify, which at first is overwhelming for choice but after a bit, if you’re disciplined, you can listen to new bands and listen to albums properly.
So, bearing in mind my changing life and in technology in the World generally, I’ve altered my criteria for qualifying for this list - it doesn’t require a couple of listens on a stereo, at least five times on any format (online, on a computer or in the car.)
For one year only, here is a Top 5 albums (and a couple of honourable mentions) then a Top 15 films:
1. Taylor Swift - 1989 - (2014) In a weird old year, pop has won out! It’s a solidly brilliant sing-along album, it doesn’t sound like so much of the prevailing tide out there, yet is incredibly popular. That’s a tough line to teeter on and an undisputed winner, in my mind.
2. Happy Accidents - You Might Be Right (2016) - Clumped in with punk, but reminding me of the harder end of Britpop (Helen Love etc), the vocal harmonies on this trio’s debut are wonderful and like Weezer before them, say so much with so little fuss.
3. Sleaford Mods - Austerity Dogs (2013) - In a year where they had issues with some for their tweets being politically and expletively explosive, I checked out their back catalogue and wondered how he remembers all the weird rhythms and off-kilter word associations on-stage.
4. Funeral for a Friend - Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation (2003) - The Welsh post-hardcore mob departed the scene in 2016 after nearly a couple of decades of beautiful, riotous music. This was the ‘hits’ album, which got the most promotion and MTV play and it’s as good a blueprint as possible on how to make an album of this type of music commercially successful.
5. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Just Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015) - A fine album, Courtney has a unique drawl-y delivery of her songs and a gift for original metaphors within her tunes. Here’s hoping that this is just the start…
Probably the album that can feel most aggrieved at not making the list is Dinosaur Pile-Up - 11:11 (2015), that and an astounding live show at Y Not Festival during the year turned me right back on to them, after a terrible support slot at Weezer and an indifferent last album.
Also impressive but not quite there was The Hyena Kill - Atomised (2016), a band from just North of Manchester, their heavy but groovy rock music gets the head bopping but all the tunes don’t quite stick in the head.
Here was the year before this' list - https://jeffthelion.livejournal.com/303999.html
The rules are for albums, I need to listen to it five times in total and I review the albums without naming individual tracks (not sure why this is) but possibly as it's more of a challenge and it's the year I've heard it in, NOT the year of release (hence the years in brackets.)
That's the pre-intro intro done, off we go!
2016 was not a year to listen to a lot of music, it would appear. It feels like I did but looking back, it didn’t seem to be new stuff.
From 2017 then, there will be changes, I’ve joined Spotify, which at first is overwhelming for choice but after a bit, if you’re disciplined, you can listen to new bands and listen to albums properly.
So, bearing in mind my changing life and in technology in the World generally, I’ve altered my criteria for qualifying for this list - it doesn’t require a couple of listens on a stereo, at least five times on any format (online, on a computer or in the car.)
For one year only, here is a Top 5 albums (and a couple of honourable mentions) then a Top 15 films:
1. Taylor Swift - 1989 - (2014) In a weird old year, pop has won out! It’s a solidly brilliant sing-along album, it doesn’t sound like so much of the prevailing tide out there, yet is incredibly popular. That’s a tough line to teeter on and an undisputed winner, in my mind.
2. Happy Accidents - You Might Be Right (2016) - Clumped in with punk, but reminding me of the harder end of Britpop (Helen Love etc), the vocal harmonies on this trio’s debut are wonderful and like Weezer before them, say so much with so little fuss.
3. Sleaford Mods - Austerity Dogs (2013) - In a year where they had issues with some for their tweets being politically and expletively explosive, I checked out their back catalogue and wondered how he remembers all the weird rhythms and off-kilter word associations on-stage.
4. Funeral for a Friend - Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation (2003) - The Welsh post-hardcore mob departed the scene in 2016 after nearly a couple of decades of beautiful, riotous music. This was the ‘hits’ album, which got the most promotion and MTV play and it’s as good a blueprint as possible on how to make an album of this type of music commercially successful.
5. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Just Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015) - A fine album, Courtney has a unique drawl-y delivery of her songs and a gift for original metaphors within her tunes. Here’s hoping that this is just the start…
Probably the album that can feel most aggrieved at not making the list is Dinosaur Pile-Up - 11:11 (2015), that and an astounding live show at Y Not Festival during the year turned me right back on to them, after a terrible support slot at Weezer and an indifferent last album.
Also impressive but not quite there was The Hyena Kill - Atomised (2016), a band from just North of Manchester, their heavy but groovy rock music gets the head bopping but all the tunes don’t quite stick in the head.
Here was the year before this' list - https://jeffthelion.livejournal.com/303999.html