B&C's 2016 Albums of the Year AKA End of Times Soundtrack

[Mack_Again]

I looked over the Pitchfork list. Man, do I miss when rock music was relevant.

it is relevant. you gotta see elsewhere.

 

[LemonMelon]

There are many reasons not to take Pitchfork's list seriously, but this is the best one. Making reference to the new Avalanches album, an album that received an 8.5 Best New Music and didn't make the list:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comme...ditors_of_pitchfork_we_just_finished/db5gewc/

"I reviewed Avalanches and I liked it a ton, I think in the case of that record, maybe it just felt a little out of step with this cultural moment, and was sort of forgotten by some people throughout the year. It was very backward looking, very disengaged from this year, etc."

For Pitchfork it's all about politics and narratives, not the music or what's going to stand the test of time. People made the same "it's out of step with culture, too backwards looking to be relevant" complaint about the White Album in 1968, another very shitty year, and look what happened.

Further to the betrayal they had felt at Lennon's non-activist stance in "Revolution", New Left commentators condemned The Beatles for its failure to offer a political agenda. The Beatles themselves were accused of using eclecticism and pastiche as a means of avoiding important issues in the turbulent political and social climate. Jon Landau, writing for the Liberation News Service, argued that, particularly in "Piggies" and "Rocky Racoon", the band had adopted parody because they were "afraid of confronting reality" and "the urgencies of the moment". Like Landau, many writers among the New Left considered the album outdated and irrelevant; instead, they heralded the Rolling Stones' concurrent release, Beggars Banquet, as what Lennon biographer Jon Wiener terms "the 'strong solution,' a musical turning outward, toward the political and social battles of the day".

This is the same logic that damns an artist like The Avalanches for using music as a refuge instead of a tool for social observation. It's all over the selections that Pitchfork made. This side-steps the difficult work of predicting what's going to hold value. You know, the thing music critics are for.

 

[iron yuppie]

What's particularly interesting is that the album that kicked off this wave of African-American socio-political music that is receiving so much acclaim (and rightly so in most cases) is now little more than afterthought, simply because it was released at an odd time of the month. I'm talking about Black Messiah.

 

[Mack_Again]

cultural movement? what do they even mean by that? who cares if something is nostalgic?

 

[LemonMelon]

What's particularly interesting is that the album that kicked off this wave of African-American socio-political music that is receiving so much acclaim (and rightly so in most cases) is now little more than afterthought, simply because it was released at an odd time of the month. I'm talking about Black Messiah.

That really was a masterful album and its position in the movement was jacked by Kendrick, a younger artist with better marketing (and maybe a slightly better album).

Hopefully, retrospective lists will give Black Messiah the credit it deserved back in 2014. Success in year-end lists comes down to many factors and only one of them is quality.

 

[gump]

I'm not so sure it's fair to say that Black Messiah is an afterthought right now. Yes, it came in a weird time that made it miss several lists (not our own B&C list, however!). But in my mind, its status is well cemented, and is recognized as such. I have little doubt it will be a top 10 album (mayyybe top 20) when people are putting together best of the decade lists.

Sasha Frere-Jones' New Yorker review at the time was spot on the significance of the record.

There are many reasons not to take Pitchfork's list seriously, but this is the best one. Making reference to the new Avalanches album, an album that received an 8.5 Best New Music and didn't make the list:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comme...ditors_of_pitchfork_we_just_finished/db5gewc/

That first "question" in that thread was hillarious.

Hey Pitchfork! I’m a big fan and I have a lot of questions but I don’t want to waste your time so I’ll only ask one (it’s a doozy):
i had never even seen a shooting star before 25 years of rotations, passes through comets' paths, and travel, and to my memory i had never witnessed burning debris scratch across the night sky radiohead were hunched over their instruments thom yorke slowly beat on a grand piano, singing, eyes closed, into his microphone like he was trying to kiss around a big nose colin greenwood tapped patiently on a double bass, waiting for his cue white pearls of arena light swam over their faces a lazy disco light spilled artificial constellations inside the aluminum cove of the makeshift stage the metal skeleton of the stage ate one end of florence's piazza santa croce, on the steps of the santa croce cathedral michelangelo's bones and cobblestone laid beneath i stared entranced, soaking in radiohead's new material, chiseling each sound into the best functioning parts of my brain which would be the only sound system for the material for months the butterscotch lamps along the walls of the tight city square bled upward into the cobalt sky, which seemed as strikingly artificial and perfect as a wizard's cap the staccato piano chords ascended repeatedly "black eyed angels swam at me," yorke sang like his dying words "there was nothing to fear, nothing to hide" the trained critical part of me marked the similarity to coltrane's "ole" the human part of me wept in awe the italians surrounding me held their breath in communion (save for the drunken few shouting "criep") suddenly, a rise of whistles and orgasmic cries swept unfittingly through the crowd the song, "egyptian song," was certainly momentous, but wasn't the response more apt for, well, "creep" i looked up i thought it was fireworks a teardrop of fire shot from space and disappeared behind the church where the syrupy river arno crawled radiohead had the heavens on their side for further testament, chip chanko and i both suffered auto-debilitating accidents in the same week, in different parts of the country, while blasting "airbag" in our respective japanese imports for months, i feared playing the song about car crashes in my car, just as i'd feared passing 18- wheelers after nearly being crushed by one in 1990 with good reason, i suspect radiohead to possess incomprehensible powers the evidence is only compounded with kid a-- the rubber match in the band's legacy-- an album which completely obliterates how albums, and radiohead themselves, will be considered even the heralded ok computer has been nudged down one spot in valhalla kid a makes rock and roll childish considerations on its merits as "rock" (ie its radio fodder potential, its guitar riffs, and its hooks) are pointless comparing this to other albums is like comparing an aquarium to blue construction paper and not because it's jazz or fusion or ambient or electronic classifications don't come to mind once deep inside this expansive, hypnotic world ransom, the philologist hero of cs lewis' out of the silent planet who is kidnapped and taken to another planet, initially finds his scholarship useless in his new surroundings, and just tries to survive the beautiful new world this is an emotional, psychological experience kid a sounds like a clouded brain trying to recall an alien abduction it's the sound of a band, and its leader, losing faith in themselves, destroying themselves, and subsequently rebuilding a perfect entity in other words, radiohead hated being radiohead, but ended up with the most ideal, natural radiohead record yet "everything in its right place" opens like close encounters spaceships communicating with pipe organs as your ears decide whether the tones are coming or going, thom yorke's cuisinarted voice struggles for its tongue "everything," yorke belts in uplifting sighs the first-person mantra of "there are two colors in my head" is repeated until the line between yorke's mind and the listener's mind is erased skittering toy boxes open the album's title song, which, like the track "idioteque," shows a heavy warp records influence the vocoder lullaby lulls you deceivingly before the riotous "national anthem" mean, fuzzy bass shapes the spine as unnerving theremin choirs limn brash brass bursts from above like terry gilliam's animated foot the horns swarm as yorke screams, begs, "turn it off" it's the album's shrill peak, but just one of the incessant goosebumps raisers after the rockets exhaust, radiohead float in their lone orbit "how to disappear completely" boils down "let down" and "karma police" to their spectral essence the string-laden ballad comes closest to bridging yorke's lyrical sentiment to the instrumental effect "i float down the liffey/ i'm not here/ this isn't happening," he sings in his trademark falsetto the strings melt and weep as the album shifts into its underwater mode "treefingers," an ambient soundscape similar in sound and intent to side b of bowie and eno's low, calms after the record's emotionally strenuous first half the primal, brooding guitar attack of "optimistic" stomps like mating tyrannosaurs the lyrics seemingly taunt, "try the best you can/ try the best you can," before revealing the more resigned sentiment, "the best you can is good enough" for an album reportedly "lacking" in traditional radiohead moments, this is the best summation of their former strengths the track erodes into a light jam before morphing into "in limbo" "i'm lost at sea," yorke cries over clean, uneasy arpeggios the ending flares with tractor beams as yorke is vacuumed into nothingness the aforementioned "idioteque" clicks and thuds like aphex twin and bjork's homogenic, revealing brilliant new frontiers for the "band" for all the noise to this point, it's uncertain entirely who or what has created the music there are rarely traditional arrangements in the ambiguous origin this is part of the unique thrill of experiencing kid a pulsing organs and a stuttering snare delicately propel "morning bell" yorke's breath can be heard frosting over the rainy, gray jam words accumulate and stick in his mouth like eye crust "walking walking walking walking," he mumbles while jonny greenwood squirts whale-chant feedback from his guitar the closing "motion picture soundtrack" brings to mind the white album, as it somehow combines the sentiment of lennon's lp1 closer-- the ode to his dead mother, "julia"-- with ringo and paul's maudlin, yet sincere lp2 finale, "goodnight" pump organ and harp flutter as yorke condones with affection, "i think you're crazy" to further emphasize your feeling at that moment and the album's overall theme, yorke bows out with "i will see you in the next life" if you're not already there with him the experience and emotions tied to listening to kid a are like witnessing the stillborn birth of a child while simultaneously having the opportunity to see her play in the afterlife on imax it's an album of sparking paradox it's cacophonous yet tranquil, experimental yet familiar, foreign yet womb-like, spacious yet visceral, textured yet vaporous, awakening yet dreamlike, infinite yet 48 minutes it will cleanse your brain of those little crustaceans of worries and inferior albums clinging inside the fold of your gray matter the harrowing sounds hit from unseen angles and emanate with inhuman genesis when the headphones peel off, and it occurs that six men (nigel godrich included) created this, it's clear that radiohead must be the greatest band alive, if not the best since you know who breathing people made this record and you can't wait to dive back in and try to prove that wrong over and over???????
Thanks for your time!

 

[Mack_Again]

20 Best Metal Albums of 2016


well, look at this. i don't think y'all can fathom this choice.

 

[LemonMelon]

B&C's 2016 Albums of the Year AKA End of Times Soundtrack

Since it's going to be a minute before we get some lists in and there's lots of room to go off topic, what are some old albums that you've found particularly topical and "of the moment" lately?

Demon Days and Plastic Beach sound borderline prophetic right now. I remember not caring much about about Plastic Beach's environmental message in 2010, but it's haunting to listen to now. I also had a really uncanny listen to Strange Mercy the other day. That album came out 5 years ago but sounds like it was written last week.

That first "question" in that threat was hillarious.

Hahaha fuck. I should have pasted the Village Vanguard review in there.

 

[lazarus]

There are many reasons not to take Pitchfork's list seriously, but this is the best one. Making reference to the new Avalanches album, an album that received an 8.5 Best New Music and didn't make the list:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comme...ditors_of_pitchfork_we_just_finished/db5gewc/

"I reviewed Avalanches and I liked it a ton, I think in the case of that record, maybe it just felt a little out of step with this cultural moment, and was sort of forgotten by some people throughout the year. It was very backward looking, very disengaged from this year, etc."

For Pitchfork it's all about politics and narratives, not the music or what's going to stand the test of time. People made the same "it's out of step with culture, too backwards looking to be relevant" complaint about the White Album in 1968, another very shitty year, and look what happened.



This is the same logic that damns an artist like The Avalanches for using music as a refuge instead of a tool for social observation. It's all over the selections that Pitchfork made. This side-steps the difficult work of predicting what's going to hold value. You know, the thing music critics are for.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that McCartney was the one who vetoed/protested against any political-leaning material. Lennon sure wasn't avoiding anything, as soon as he went solo his activism went to the forefront in his music as well as his public advocacy.

Don't forget that he's the one who added the contradictory "in" after Revolution's "but when you talk about destruction/you can count me out" refrain.

 

[gump]

Interesting question, LM. I guess I don't have any non-obvious answers, but one of the albums I've listened to a lot is What's Going On, which of course is very topical.

Jazz ressonates particularly well now. I think I mentioned Mingus Ah Um at some point after the election, with the brilliant Fables of Faubus. Coltrane's Live at Birdland - with a beautiful version of Alabama - is another one I like for these times.

Strange Mercy is a very good pick. Another recent one that I think remains super relevant is Let England Shake.

 

[iron yuppie]

Jazz ressonates particularly well now. I think I mentioned Mingus Ah Um at some point after the election, with the brilliant Fables of Faubus. Coltrane's Live at Birdland - with a beautiful version of Alabama - is another one I like for these times.

Yes - these guys (and occasionally ladies) are some of the originators of Black protest music. Miles, Mingus, Nina Simone, Bud Powell...the list goes on.

I think a lot of Bowie's catalogue is pertinent now as well, not just because of his passing, but because of the weariness and absurdism a lot of it carries. I'm thinking of the Berlin albums particularly.

And Marvin Gaye for the socio-political discord.

 

[LemonMelon]

B&C's 2016 Albums of the Year AKA End of Times Soundtrack

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that McCartney was the one who vetoed/protested against any political-leaning material. Lennon sure wasn't avoiding anything, as soon as he went solo his activism went to the forefront in his music as well as his public advocacy.

Don't forget that he's the one who added the contradictory "in" after Revolution's "but when you talk about destruction/you can count me out" refrain.

I can't argue with any of that. For one thing, despite Paul's protestations, I think it's lazy criticism to say that The Beatles were entirely apolitical on the White Album when Revolution 1 and Piggies are sitting right there in plain sight. For another, I think in the context of music, a retreat from politics can be its own statement and represents many individuals in times of distress. For a third thing, I think it's a mistake to write off apolitical records as irresponsible or cowardly. Can you imagine the kind of critical response that an ingenious but insular album like Odelay would receive in 2016? It certainly wouldn't have been the sensation it was 20 years earlier. Timing is everything.

IIRC, the Beach Boys received a lot of criticism for Smiley Smile and Friends in 1968 for precisely the same reason. Do It Again was willfully apolitical. These days, Friends holds up as one of their best records post-Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile represented the building blocks of one of the 60s' best albums.

 

[Axver]

That Pitchfork list is a joke, right? Fuck me that's awful.

 

[gump]

That Pitchfork list is a joke, right? Fuck me that's awful.

I actually disagree. And I'm usually not a fan of their lists. My top 10 will probably include many of theirs, albeit in a different order.

 

[Axver]

I don't think the entire list contains a single album I would even consider for my own top fifty.

No doubt this is in part because I am by and large just not interested in rap, R&B, and similar genres.

And in terms of their writeups, not only do they fixate on direct connections to current political themes, but it's a very narrow and insular American understanding of them. I find it largely unrelatable.

 

[iron yuppie]

And in terms of their writeups, not only do they fixate on direct connections to current political themes, but it's a very narrow and insular American understanding of them. I find it largely unrelatable.

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. Many of the albums they are writing about were created within a distinctly American context. I would think someone so fond of pointing out all the terrible things about the USA as though they are a singular phenomenon would sympathize with that.

 

[Axver]

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. Many of the albums they are writing about were created within a distinctly American context. I would think someone so fond of pointing out all the terrible things about the USA as though they are a singular phenomenon would sympathize with that.

Well, with global politics going to hell in a handbasket, and with Pitchfork's global readership, you'd think that if they want to focus their reviews on political relevance they would cast the net a bit more broadly.

 

[lazarus]

I can't argue with any of that. For one thing, despite Paul's protestations, I think it's lazy criticism to say that The Beatles were entirely apolitical on the White Album when Revolution 1 and Piggies are sitting right there in plain sight. For another, I think in the context of music, a retreat from politics can be its own statement and represents many individuals in times of distress. For a third thing, I think it's a mistake to write off apolitical records as irresponsible or cowardly. Can you imagine the kind of critical response that an ingenious but insular album like Odelay would receive in 2016? It certainly wouldn't have been the sensation it was 20 years earlier. Timing is everything.

Very well-said.

 

[cobl04]

The White Album is also, pound-for-pound, the best album they ever made, so.

I'm happy that Solange was Pitchfork's AOTY, but it also underscores how their grading system is broken. 7 albums in the top 2-10 received higher grades than A Seat at the Table (also, 6 had higher grades than Lemonade, at #3).

Well their list would be boring as shit if they just did according to the scores they gave out during the year, wouldn't it?

Also I think A Seat is objectively the best album of the year, but it's not my favourite.

I looked over the Pitchfork list. Man, do I miss when rock music was relevant.

What's particularly interesting is that the album that kicked off this wave of African-American socio-political music that is receiving so much acclaim (and rightly so in most cases) is now little more than afterthought, simply because it was released at an odd time of the month. I'm talking about Black Messiah.

This is a nice point.

Since it's going to be a minute before we get some lists in and there's lots of room to go off topic, what are some old albums that you've found particularly topical and "of the moment" lately?

Demon Days and Plastic Beach sound borderline prophetic right now. I remember not caring much about about Plastic Beach's environmental message in 2010, but it's haunting to listen to now. I also had a really uncanny listen to Strange Mercy the other day. That album came out 5 years ago but sounds like it was written last week.

My most listened-to album of 2016 is definitely Sprained Ankle. I love the shit out of that record.

And yes, Strange Mercy kicks all kinds of arse. Holds up so well. She's a saint.

I don't think the entire list contains a single album I would even consider for my own top fifty.

No doubt this is in part because I am by and large just not interested in rap, R&B, and similar genres.

And in terms of their writeups, not only do they fixate on direct connections to current political themes, but it's a very narrow and insular American understanding of them. I find it largely unrelatable.

I'm not sure why you're surprised, I feel like Pitchfork is never ever going to be in your wheelhouse.

 

[cobl04]

Pitchfork is my number #1 music writing source, it's the only one I visit every day. They've got plenty of issues but I find them to be the best out there.

I really loved this line in their writeup of AMSP at #10 - "After eight albums of labyrinths and paranoia and rabbit holes, Radiohead finally let us in."

I've got my top 15 albums, but need to listen to a few for a final order.

 

[lazarus]

So after browsing this list, these are the artists whose albums I opted to catch up on:

Esperanza Spalding
Anohni
Hamilton Leithauser + Rotsam
Bon Iver
Frankie Cosmos
Katyranada
Car Seat Headrest

I'll feel comfortable making a list by Monday, I'm guessing.

 

[Mack_Again]

well rock/metal fans like us wish Pitchfork show some love for our kind of music once in a while.

 

[Mack_Again]

also, Mikal: The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2016 | Pitchfork

 

[gump]

Well their list would be boring as shit if they just did according to the scores they gave out during the year, wouldn't it?

Also I think A Seat is objectively the best album of the year, but it's not my favourite.

Yeah. My point is that it's silly to pretend you can assess the value of an album to the decimal scale, while at the same time ignoring said scale when it comes to ranking the best albums of the year.

I might agree with you on A Seat at the Table.

 

[Mack_Again]

is there a time when Pitchfork gave 10/10 for nee album? i know they've given 10 to bunch of "classic" albums but....

 

[Mack_Again]

Jazz ressonates particularly well now. I think I mentioned Mingus Ah Um at some point after the election, with the brilliant Fables of Faubus. Coltrane's Live at Birdland - with a beautiful version of Alabama - is another one I like for these times.

if jazz is trending now, I'm waiting for some crazy improvisational clarinet/trumpet/jazz guitar albums coming left and right,

 

[mikal]

also, Mikal: The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2016 | Pitchfork

Yeah, I mean, I've just never been a fan of hip hop/r&b. Given it a try several times throughout my life. Not my cup of tea. Pitchfork used to be my favorite site but it's hard to sift through these days.

 

[Axver]

I'm not sure why you're surprised, I feel like Pitchfork is never ever going to be in your wheelhouse.

I'm not surprised, but in the past there was usually at least a couple of albums that I really dug, or a couple that looked really interesting to check out. This year, I meh-ed through the whole thing.

also, Mikal: The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2016 | Pitchfork

Nice to see them include The Hotelier and White Lung.

I'm trying to figure out what the likes of Angel Olsen and Weyes Blood are doing on a rock list though. I would've assumed they'd have a folk/singer-songwriter list on which to put them.

 

[gump]

I'm trying to figure out what the likes of Angel Olsen and Weyes Blood are doing on a rock list though. I would've assumed they'd have a folk/singer-songwriter list on which to put them.

The new Angel Olsen fits in the list, although I'd agree regarding her earlier work. But My Woman is a departure, and sonically is not far off many albums that would fall under the "indie rock" category, for whatever deficiencies it has as a genre descriptor.

 

[LemonMelon]

The first half of her album is definitely rock. The second half is not.

Sister is such a great song.