2016 has been quite the roller coaster of a year for my family and I. Here are the albums that have made up the soundtrack to the movie about our lives that may not ever get made.
- Kristin Kontrol- X-Communicate
I’ve really enjoyed the music of Dum Dum Girls for the past few years and was excited that the singer was going to release a solo project. I stayed up late the night before it was released so I could get it right away on iTunes and listened to it with my wife all the way through. We liked it in a general sense and were excited to listen to it again. Songs kept popping out to us, and pretty soon it was easily the most played thing in our house. ‘Smoke Rings’ is a fitting ballad for the times, and ‘X-Communicate’ makes the girls of the Hupp household dance. It reminds me of Madonna’s first couple of albums, catchy irresistible pop. It’s been all but completely ignored by the music websites I frequent, so if you’re reading this and don’t know her check it out! - Merchandise- A Corpse Wired For Sound
My favorite band for the past few years released this album the same week I left the ministry, helping me walk through a tough time. Another band unfairly ignored for the most part by music websites, Merchandise has put out another incredible post-punk canvas. Pop and psychedelic music mix over the singers gorgeous voice for 40 minutes as I now stock shelves at 4 in the morning at King Soopers. ‘Right Back To The Start’ was the first song I obsessed over, maybe the song that could sound similar to something they may play on some radio station that only exists in my mind. ‘Crystal Cage’ ‘Lonesome Sound’ ‘Flower Of Sex’ all sound like more concise versions of Merchandise’s older songs, which to me is the best parts of Morrissey and The Cure. The real diamond here is ‘I Will Not Sleep Here’, a kindred spirit with Kristin Kontrol’s ‘Smoke Rings’. These songs together paint the picture of a bittersweet 2016, full of hope and heartbreak. Please listen to these album! - Parquet Courts- Human Performance
I got the chance to see Parquet Courts play last year and ended up buying a very disappointing EP released that night called ‘Monastic Living’. They were a great live band but I didn’t care as much for 2014’s ‘Sunbathing Animal’ after discovering the near perfect ‘Light Up Gold’ after reading a review in 2013. I thought my love for this band might be short-lived but totally loved the first single ‘Dust’ for this album. I was immediately gratified on my first listen and grew to love it as I listened on. ‘Pathos Prairie’ is my new favorite PQ song, the one I’ll be looking forward too when I see them next. - Deftones- Gore
The last four Deftones albums are some of my favorites, always progressing and evolving from the aggressive 90’s metal band they were (the best band in that horrible rap-metal trash heap they were associated with) to the space rock shoegaze emotive heavy artists they are. I was blown away when I finally got to see them live this past summer at Riot Fest, but I would have loved to hear more from this album. ‘Xenon’ ‘(L)MIRL’ and ‘Phantom Bride’ have been my favorite songs and they didn’t play them. Oh well, Gore is amazing. - Radiohead- A Moon Shaped Pool
I like Radiohead, but I don’t geek out over them. I loved the video for ‘Burn The Witch’ and bought it on that. Amnesiac is my favorite Radiohead album and this reminds me of that. ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor…’ was playing when I was dozing off one night and became one of my new favorite coma songs. I don’t know how this album will stack up against Kid A or OK Computer 20 years from now, but for me it was the right place right time album. - Culture Abuse- Peach
A new discovery for me, I saw them play the opening set on the last day of Riot Fest. I don’t know how to describe the band except for they are a bunch of punks. They didn’t care about anything, the singer almost passed out halfway through the set. Yet they were completely compelling, so much fun. Their set was better than most of the bigger bands that played. The more I thought about it the more I was drawn to them, finally breaking down and buying Peach. I was not disappointed, finding something I could pump in the car to try and convince myself I don’t care about anything either. ‘Jealous’ ‘Turn It Off’ ‘Heavy Love’ are great songs. - James Blake- The Colour in Anything
I listened to it and the new Radiohead interchangeably because they came out 2 days apart. I had been listening to a heavy dose of the combo of Parquet Courts/Deftones (which came out the same day a month before) and now changed it out for the more electronic combo of James Blake/Radiohead. It was a nice change of pace. There a few really great songs on here (‘Choose Me”Timeless”Radio Silence’) but it’s a bit bothersome to have 17 songs to listen to. I’m sure as time goes on I’ll have new favorites and maybe have a different opinion about the album, but maybe having lots of other music to listen to made it too hard to digest the whole thing. I always enjoy it for sure, so I guess I view it like a to-go box from a Chinese restaurant. I’m going to eat you later! - Nothing- Tired Of Tomorrow
I held off on getting this initially because I was giving my attention to Radiohead/James Blake. Then I forgot about it for a while. I loved their album before this one and the mix of heavy and shoegaze. Then I saw this album mentioned by Pitchfork in their Best 50 shoegaze albums of all time and remembered I wanted to hear it. I got it at the end of November and felt stupid for not getting it sooner. Beach House had a song that felt instantly familiar last year on the album Depression Cherry called ‘Space Song’, and Nothing had that with the song ‘Vertigo Flowers’. At first it made me mad because it seems too easy for a band to put out something that is typical of what they’ve already done, but then I just relax and enjoy because they made it for me to listen to. Isn’t that why I was tuning in? - Clams Casino- 32 Levels
At first I was disappointed because I had heard such great things about Clams. It was all so slow. If I buy it I don’t give up easily, and because of that the album that grew on me the most was 32 Levels. Half the songs are hip-hop, half are pop. Most of the hip-hop I listen to is in retrospect after someone points out some cultural significance or artistic greatness, so I’m usually years behind in that genre. Lil B raps on ‘Witness’ along with 2 others here. I’m not familiar with Lil B’s work, not sure if it’s popular or who he appeals to, but I like it. The pop songs ‘Back To You’ and ‘Into The Fire’ are slow jams, played live I’m sure they get people moving but through headphones they’re better for toe tapping. 32 levels sounds great through headphones and gets lost in a room, so sit down or go on a walk and listen through a nice beat up pair of $15 earbuds. - White Lung- Paradise
This probably would have made it a bit higher on the list if it wasn’t for the lackluster performance I caught at Riot Fest. I had seen White Lung in 2012 and was impressed by their passionate performance, and loved 2014’s Deep Fantasy. When Paradise was released I was predisposed to like it, and it helped for them to have a girl singer to be played in my house of all females. My wife was actually enjoying snotty punk rock. ‘Kiss Me When I Bleed’ and ‘Dead Weight’ were to be expected from White Lung, but ‘Below’ was an exceptional surprise. ‘Below’ was also the low point of their show this summer; bummer. Regardless this is a great album I’ll enjoy for years to come. I’m thankful I have daughters, I may not have given a band full of girls a chance if I didn’t.
Honorable mentions
Thrice- To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere: One of my all time favorite bands, getting more mature and thoughtful all the time. By that I mean boring. It’s still good, but I would be overjoyed to hear The Artist In The Ambulance Pt 2 someday.
Touché Ámore- Stage Four: Great set at Riot Fest this summer, ‘Rapture’ is the song I really like on this.
Animal Collective- Painting With: ‘Floridada’ is entertaining, the rest of it is fun. Didn’t they used to be the ‘it’ band just a few years ago? Maybe me liking them made them uncool. Sorry about that Urban Outfitters.
Star Wars Headspace- compilation: It’s a lot of fun even if it’s one-dimensional. Electonic dance music mixed with Star Wars was a natural combo for GROW (my ministry) and got all of us dancing before services.
Zach de la Rocha- digging for windows (single): About pooped my pants when they announced a whole album for 2017, but I wonder if it’ll be a Chinese Democracy thing. I just went ahead and got the single even though I’ll have to repurchase it when his album comes out (hopefully) soon. Such a great MC, this gold nugget will tide me over until then.
Gwen Stefani- I Used To Love You (single): She performed this for NYE 2015 on TV as my wife and I watched from the couch. I thought I’d hate it because I don’t care about Gwen Stefani but was won over. The chorus is undeniably good.
Dillinger Escape Plan- Dissociation: Say it ain’t so, DEP is done. I didn’t have money to buy it so I borrowed it from the library. They always rock.
David Bowie- Blackstar: I didn’t fawn over this just because he died. It was good, it was scary. The jazz parts in it are my favorite. I wonder if all the publications rated it so high because they really liked it or if it’s because they want people to know they have good taste.
thebearplane 
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