My Top 20 Favourite Albums of 2016

We lost a lot of good musicians this year. But that isn’t to say 2016 has been an awful year for music. In terms of albums, there have been some impressive releases this year that show we can all still look forward to the future with optimism. Here are my personal favourites.

(psst! if you like lists don’t forget to check out my favourite and least favourite tracks of the year. You can also check out my favourite albums of 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.)

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 23/12/2016: Pool Art, Daniel Caeser, Mick Jenkins and more...

I wasn’t going to do any more 'tracks of the week' segments this year, but I’ve been getting some good stuff sent my way in the last fortnight and just had to share it. This may well be the last post of 2016, so Merry Christmas and a happy a new year! Wait, where’s my card and present?

Review of ‘We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service’ by A Tribe Called Quest

Willy Wonka samples, an Elton John feature and some guitar squealing courtesy of Jack White – this was not what I expected from a new Tribe Called Quest album.

My Top 20 Favourite Tracks Of 2016

It’s time for my favourite tracks of the year, having already given you my worst (there’s a pun here that will become clear by the end).

20. ‘Lemontrees’ – Eagulls 

Indie rock with a Cure vibe that feels as bouncy as it does forlorn. ‘It tastes bittersweet/ beneath the lemon trees’.

STREAM HERE

19. ‘The Big Big Beat’ – Azealia Banks

This nostalgic house banger has all the ingredients of a good Azealia anthem – glitzy singing, tongue-twister rapping and a big big beat!

STREAM HERE

The 10 Worst Songs of 2016

Forget my worst songs lists of 2014 and 2015 - this year’s list makes those freak shows look like beauty pageants. 

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 09/12/2016 (CHRISTMAS EDITION): The Melvins, Kelsea Ballerini, Trey Songz and more...

This week is a Christmas special! I’ve rounded up the best and worst new Yuletide jams of 2016. Keep it current this Christmas – play these songs as you cruise back home Christmas Eve in your driverless car that you bought with your Leicester City bet winnings, or play in the kitchen as you cook this year’s roast in that Smart oven you bought with that grand you earnt from selling that AK47 plastic fiver.

Review of 'Hardwired ... To Self-Destruct' by Metallica

Brimming with chugga-chugga riffs and double-bass drumming, the thrash metal vets’ new double album is a firm return to their roots. Why then am I still left underwhelmed?

INTRODUCING: Forest of Harambe

Meet Forest of Harambe

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 02/12/2016: Run the Jewels, Little Death Machine, Mr. Twin Sister and more...

It’s December, which means you can now put up your Christmas decorations and year-end lists, although a lot of you impatient fuckers already did that back in September. For those who aren’t currently buying Easter eggs already and planning their 2017 favourite albums list, here are some songs from the last week to remind you what the here and now looks like!

Review of 'Splendor & Misery' by clipping.

Blunt, rapey lyrics aren’t usually my thing. I put up with them on this noise-hop trio's latest EP Wriggle (released earlier this year) because the infectiousness made up for it, although I couldn’t help but feel frontman Daveed Diggs was discouragingly dumbing himself down. Where was the vivid and gritty storytelling of previous albums?

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 25/11/2016: Hare Squead, Metallica, Father John Misty and more...

This week I bring you Irish hip hop, French experimental pop and 'ambient gender terrorism'.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 18/11/2016: Willow Smith, The Flaming Lips, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard and more...

Everyone’s on drugs this week.

INTRODUCING: Okilly Dokilly

Meet Okilly Dokilly.

Review of 'Angelic 2 the Core: Angelic Funkadelic/Angelic Rockadelic' by Corey Feldman

How did we allow this to happen? No, I don't mean Brexit or Trump or even the new Toblerone. I’m talking about 2016’s biggest atrocity - Corey Feldman’s new album.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 11/11/2016: Bruno Mars, Run the Jewels, Seprona and more...

This week I bring you some tracks to listen to whilst you dig out your nuclear bunker as we all prepare for the next four years of global tension followed by Kanye West’s inevitable presidency. THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT!

INTRODUCING: The Harry Macintosh Project

Meet The Harry Macintosh Project.

Review of 'Atrocity Exhibition' by Danny Brown

The first time I drank beer I didn’t like it. Similarly, the first time I heard Danny Brown’s pterodactyl-like squawking I almost did a Van Gogh and hacked my own ear off.

Review of 'Take Control' by Slaves

What kind of punk band collaborates with Chase and Status? Bloody sellouts! What next – trap beats and a Nicki Minaj feature?

INTRODUCING: Creature from Dell Pond

Meet Creature from Dell Pond.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 04/11/2016: clipping., Big Sean, Skepta and more...

Halloween’s over now. We can all look forward to next week’s scary event – Election Day! In the meantime, check out these terrifying tunes

Review of 'Cashmere' by Swet Shop Boys

‘Zayn Malik got more than 80 virgins on him/ There’s more than one direction to get to paradise’

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE MONTH 28/10/2016: Idles, D.R.A.M., Robbie Williams and more...

Music Related Junk is back! I've been away for a month, travelling the galaxy, but now I've returned. You can put your 'welcome home' banners away. To make up for all the ‘tracks of the week’ sections I’ve missed during my absence from this blog, I’ve decided to do a special 'tracks of the month' segment. Lots of fun music to get through. Are you sitting comfortably?

Review of 'The Divine Feminine' by Mac Miller

The Divine Feminine wants to be a love album, or a feminist album, I’m not entirely sure which. Instead it ends up being a graphic ode to Mac Miller’s sex life. Thankfully the soul beats are dangerously gorgeous enough to distract from most of it.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 23/09/2016: Danny Brown, The Weeknd, Pool Art and more...

Whilst you’ve been busy sobbing about the Brangelina breakup, I’ve been doing more productive things. Like sobbing over my existence. And discovering new music on the internet. Here are my findings.

Double Review: 'Blank Face' by Schoolboy Q and 'The Sun's Tirade' by Isaiah Rashad

Kendrick season is over. You can stop doing naughty things to your hard copy of To Pimp A Butterfly. Instead, Top Dawg Entertainment has two new albums you should be getting stupidly excited about, Schoolboy Q’s Blank Face and Isaiah Rashad’s The Sun’s Tirade.

INTRODUCING: Ehiorobo

Meet Ehiorobo.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 16/09/2016: Creature from Dell Pond, Teksti-TV 666, Valborg and more...

Lots of noisy guitars this week. If you don’t like noisy guitars then y̶o̶u̶’̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶u̶s̶s̶y̶ this week’s audial assortment may not be for you…

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 09/09/2016: The Vanity Project, Swet Shop Boys, Machinedrum and more...

Photo by Anna Ward

There really is no escape from One Direction.

Review of 'Blonde' by Frank Ocean

Hooks? Percussion? Who needs that shit? Not Frank Ocean.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 02/09/2016: Mick Jenkins, Sleigh Bells, Sampha and more...

Going back to school this September? Why not impress your buddies with these new tracks and be remembered forever as the second coolest kid that ever lived (me being the first coolest, obviously)...

Review of 'Freetown Sound' by Blood Orange

Dev Hynes is the kind of guy who likes to keep changing up his style. Metaphorically speaking, he’s the kind of guy who never wears the same dress twice. Literally speaking, he’s the kind of guy who’d probably never wear a dress in the first place. But let’s not get ourselves sidetracked with cross-dressing analogies…

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 26/08/2016: Earl Sweatshirt, Isaiah Rashad, Thundercat and more ...

There were a plethora of tracks competing for a place this week. Danny Brown’s new deviant joint didn’t make the cut. Not even Metallica’s latest old skool offering was able to squeeze its way in. Eventually I was able to whittle the selection down to these six beauties. Enjoy!

Review of 'How To Ruin Other People's Futures' by Losers

How To Ruin Other People’s Futures is an album that’s as unfriendly as its title – which is good because after hearing industrial banger ‘This is a War’ (recently featured in my best tracks of the week) I would have been pretty disappointed had the rest of the album been meditative ambient music.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 19/08/2016: Stormzy, PWR BTTM, Ehiorobo and more...

My cat went to heaven this week, so I've been feeling pretty down. But I've been coping, focusing on life's little improvements. Team GB are looking very promising medal-wise in Rio and the pool is looking a lot less green. Plus things have been looking very exciting on the musical front. For one Frank Ocean has finally released an album, with rumours of another one on the way. And some of the singles released this week haven't been too shabby either...

INTRODUCING: Wei Zhongle

Meet Wei Zhongle.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 12/08/2016: Flex, Swet Shop Boys, Gypsy & The Cat and more...

Flex? The Swet Shop Boys? Gypsy & The Cat? Never heard of any of them. What a load of hipster twaddle. What kind of pretentious asshole writes this blog, anyhow? I'm unsubscribing...

Review of 'California' by Blink-182

What’s my age again? Oh, yes, twenty three (nobody likes you when you’re twenty three).

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 05/08/2016: Clipping, Mallrat, Losers and more...

It's all a bit left-field this week. Prepare to be left bemused.

Review of 'IV' by BADBADNOTGOOD

Toronto jazz act BADBADNOTGOOD have abandoned the spooky melodies and pig masks and decided to put on their bow ties and get classy.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 29/07/2016: Mac Miller, serpentwithfeet, Sun Kil Moon and more...

This week I bring you Mac Miller, monobrows and Michael Jackson disses.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 22/07/2016: Duke Dumont, Jagwar Ma, Rich Chigga and more...

Whilst you’ve been busy hunting down last-minute holiday deals and Pokémon, I’ve been busy hunting down awesome new music – on top of last minute holiday deals and Pokémon. This week, I talk fanny-packs, corrugated roofs and vomit.

Review of 'You Will Never Be One of Us' by Nails

‘FAILURE, FAILURE, YOU’RE A FUCKING FAILURE!’

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 15/07/2016: Jaden Smith, Crystal Castles, De La Soul and more...

I never know what to write in these introductory segments, so I'll just leave you with this inspirational quote from topical artist of the day Jaden Smith: 'How Can Mirrors Be Real If Our Eyes Aren't Real'

Review of 'The Getaway' by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

The once wild Californian funk-rockers have slowly got more sleepy and tame over the years – once a pack of jumping leg-humping Jack Russells, now a mass of somnolent salivating senior St Bernards. What a sickening amount of alliteration I just used there.

INTRODUCING: False Advertising

Meet False Advertising.

Review of 'Wriggle' by clipping.

Clipping (stylised ‘clipping.’ but for punctuation’s sake we’ll call them Clipping) continue to make music out of the most unmusical ideas conceivable, this time centreing their creepy lyrics around sex. The result is Wriggle - an EP that will either get you wriggling uncomfortably in your seat or wriggling with masochistic joy.

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 08/07/2016: Blood Orange, Sampha, Goblin Cock and more...

We've got every flavour to accommodate your need this week from Blood Orange to Goblin Cock. Wait, why am I saying 'we'. I'm the only dude writing this blog!!!

BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE WEEK 02/07/2016: Arc Iris, Trim, Fallout Boy and more...

I had a smashing time in Ibiza… thanks for asking. A lot has happened since my last Tracks of the Week instalment, although not much musically, unless you count that little festival in Glastonbury. And oh yeah, an underground rapper named Kanye released a music video. But I’m not going to talk about any of that, so let’s move on…