As is traditional, the Rough Trade Shops have got their Albums Of The Year list out nice and early to help everyone’s festive shopping choices.
Top Ten
1) “Post Pop Depression” – Iggy Pop
2) “Malibu” – Anderson Paak
3) “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter” – Margo Price
4) “Under The Sun” – Mark Pritchard
5) “Changes” – Charles Bradley
6) “Hopelessness” – Anohni
7) “A Weird Exits” – Thee Oh Sees
8) “My Woman” – Angel Olsen
9) “Sport” – Powell
10) “Teens of Denial” – Car Seat Headrest
Bit of a surprise for Nick Cave not to be in the top ten, but it is nestling at #11, just above Radiohead.
Personally, I’ve only heard Iggy Pop and Angel Olsen, both of which I liked but not as much as they clearly do.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I’m amazed (no, not really) – not heard any of these records and from the list only know Iggy Pop (who just gets more embarrassing with every year that passes).
Happy New Year!
minibreakfast says
You’d like the Margo Price very much, Wrongness.
Kid Dynamite says
It’s really good, isn’t it? I’ll be surprised if it’s not in my end of year list when we do them.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Just watched a YouTube clip – you was right, Mini!
minibreakfast says
This is something Mr B is yet to admit, but he knows it deep down.
*changes name to Lodestone of Rightness*
Deviant808 says
“Post Pop Depression” is actually a pretty decent album (but admittedly nowhere near AOTY material) though that might depend on your view of Josh Homme as he produced it and the backing band is him, another Queen of the Stone Age and Matt from Arctic Monkeys on drums.
SteveT says
I really like the Iggy album but not sure it would be in my top 10. However his live gig in Austin was one of my favourite gigs of the year and I have seen a few. A really tight band and he was on top form. Not sure what is embarrassing about that.
Like Margo Price too especially the opening track.
Thee oh sees definitely there on merit and will be in my top 10.
Sewer Robot says
Three giants at 11, 12 and 14 means more room up top for the little guy. You’ll know Anohni as Anthony from Anthony & The Johnsons. I reviewed Anderson .Paak in Nights In back in happier times.
Very pleased to see Blood Orange on the expanded list – more hooks than a fish tackle shop, that one..
*Btw Thanks a million @Deviant808 for posting that dance playlist after all this time, between that and these albums my weekend will be full of new sounds…
Deviant808 says
No problem, hope you find some stuff you like. It could probably do with a bit of a prune, but there’s some cracking stuff in there.
Mick50s says
Hard to believe Blackstar not in there -surely an album of the year just on significance alone?
Tiggerlion says
Absolutely! The fact it is a supreme artistic statement by one of the world’s greatest ever pop stars is almost neither here nor there.
Where’s Beyoncé?
Sewer Robot says
If Burt was here he could ask where is Mokess band?
The Good Doctor says
It is in the list – on the RT website it doesn’t suggest the LPs are in any particular order just their 50 best of the year.
Deviant808 says
It’s not clear on the site, but going by the email I got from RT they are in order. It highlights those ten in a numbered list and has a “click here to see the full list” type link to the rest.
fentonsteve says
Changes is not the best Charles Bradley album by a long chalk. Although it did come out this year.
Blue Boy says
Have only heard 7 or 8 of these, though there are several I’d like to hear. Two of them will be very high on my list I think.
The Good Doctor says
Ooh, I’ve got 17 of the 50. I’ve bought a lot of ‘old’ this year and I was worried I had lost touch with Rock and indeed Pop – I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time listening to The Telescopes, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Necks and mid-period Soft Machine (not a bad thing to be fair)…but seems I’ve been keeping up better than I thought.
My favourites out of the ones they’ve picked are Cavern of Anti Matter (this is Tim and Joe from Stereolab doing some hugely enjoyable Krautrock/electronic bloopy bleepy disco stuff), the Daughter album, the Factory Floor album, the Savages album, Lowtide, and Mitski.
Deviant808 says
Just realised I hadn’t actually gone through and totted up what I’ve bought/heard.
There are eight there that I’ve paid actual cash for a download or CD.
Twelve that are on Spotify playlists that get listened to now and then, and another six I’ve heard but not really taken to.
Favourites from the list would be that Cavern of Anti-Matter too along with The Julie Ruin, Savages, Martha, Nick Cave, Hinds, Swans and The Goon Sax.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I think I listen to a lot of music, certainly far far more than anybody I know (well apart from a Canadian in the next village but he plays jazz all day long so that doesn’t count).
It’s threads like this that make me realise I am but a mere amateur amongst a whole bunch of professionals (or am I the only sane one in this here asylum?)
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Actually , when I look at the full list I see I “own” around a dozen of the fifty. However unless Margo blows me away later today when I play the full album nothing on here apart from Blackstar will make my Top 10 of 2016 (and even that just sneaked in at No 10).
Dodger Lane says
A high court judge comments.
I hadn’t heard of any of them, like Lodestone, but that Margo Price album sounds wonderful, just heard some samples – clear singing voice, witty lyrics and melody. Wonderful.
I’d like to make a case for Kevin Rowland’s Let the record show as being the worst and most pointless record of the year. I was suckered into buying it and thought it’s rubbish.
retropath2 says
Blimey, 17 too, which suggests that e music and rough trade have a symbiosis of some strength. Having said, of the 17, as almost hinted by @Mike_H, many aren’t even the best by that particular artist, which suggests it has been a worse year than I think it has been. Some seem to be there as freak flags for their readers, as ever, of course. (Most lists are.)
And by the way, how many of those glowing reviews for Bon Iver have listened to it all the way through, or even more than once, or have they just read other reviews? Emperors new bog roll, says I, the lack or tune and inspiration blaring through the artifice. Even the squeeze, a fan, which is why I bought it, thought it top drawer tosh…..
Tiggerlion says
I have just 12/100 of Rough Trade. Bad year for me, purchasing wise. I went several weeks without buying anything and have never really caught up.
minibreakfast says
Was that the post-Bowie slump at the start of year?
Tiggerlion says
Yes.
minibreakfast says
The new Mojo just plopped through the letterbox, and Blackstar is at no.1. The list (of 50) isn’t online yet, but the remaining top 20 are:
2. Michael Kiwanuka
3. Nick Cave + co
4. Lambchop
5. Leonard Cohen
6. Iggy Pop
7. Frank Ocean (Blonde)
8. Paul Simon
9. PJ Harvey
10. Heron Oblivion
11. Radiohead
12. Beyoncé
13. Teenage Fanclub
14. Charles Bradley
15. The Cult
16. Bon Iver
17. Dinosaur Jr
18. Syd Arthur
19. Modern Studies
20. Bob Dylan
Apols for not including titles, but I’m typing on a little tablet, plus you know most of them anyway.
minibreakfast says
The Mokess are at no. 30 @h-p-saucecraft
Rigid Digit says
Ive got 1 of the Rough Trade Top 10 (Iggy Pop), but 3 of the Mojo Top 10.
And I thought I’d bought some really good list-bothering albums in 2016 – obviously not.
Tiggerlion says
9/20 of these and I was thinking of getting Lambchop.
Agnes Obel is notable for her absence. Definitely a top ten for me.
bungliemutt says
Er, I’ve got one, and I was quite impressed with myself. And one of the Rough Trade list as well. God, I’m so hip. (Arthritic hip, that is).
Mike_H says
That reminded me to check my letterbox.
Not a very exciting-looking Mojo this month.
Black Type says
A K*** B*** exclusive cover feature, not exciting? Are you out of your mind, sir?
retropath2 says
Kenneth Branagh?
goodfella says
Who, who and who??? Jesus I’m getting old…
Sewer Robot says
I appreciate that your reaction is probably to the list at the top. But I look at the Mojo list and imagine myself in 1986 being told that five of the top 20 albums of 2016 would be by anybody I’d already heard of, never mind Lenny, Iggy, Paul Simon, Bob bleedin’ Dylan and Sir David*
*granted, you would have had to explain Mojo magazine to me..
Moose the Mooche says
Ha ha!
“David Bowie will be cool in 30 years time? I would say WTF but that expression hasn’t been invented yet!”
ip33 says
Here’s Brighton’s best shop Resident’s top 100
http://www.icontact-archive.com/OBEMGylzLCVKSXXJLp4hYP-yfICztXTr?w=3
Rigid Digit says
That doesn’t feel so bad now – but I’ve still only got 10 of them.
The fools seem to have placed Steve Mason at number 30 (surely this is 29 places too low?)
Here’s a thought: are the compilers of these many lists thinking “I can’t possibly put Blackstar at Number 1. That would be too obvious”
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I love Resident Records with a passion but there are 10 records here I would kill you if you had the entirely mistaken impression I would be remotely interested in any of those self-indulgent wank fests. . I’ll just mention Bon Iver, quite possibly the worst record ever made?
Moose the Mooche says
Wank fests are so much better if they aren’t self-indulgent…
minibreakfast says
Got my ticket for Wankfest 2017 already. Can’t wait!
Moose the Mooche says
Neither can I, in fact –
oohh sorry.
minibreakfast says
Happy New Year! 🎉🎆
Moose the Mooche says
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
fnurrffle, what what! Fishcakes!
Sorry old gel, must have dropped orf.
retropath2 says
O so, so true, LoW, that Ivor Bon record is deeply and dismally awful old cock. I rubbished it earlier, above, hoping for some clickbait, but nary a whisper. So that is proof thee and me are not only right, but top hole judges of taste. I can live with that.
retropath2 says
Mind you, despite knowing nearly none of the names in Resident 50-100, I still had 16, with 9 of the top 12, which either makes me a tart, a spendthrift or deeply discerning.
anton says
@ Retropath2 – different numbers but same here – I’m all 3 – sometimes all at the same time
duco01 says
Hmmm . interesting to see the Ben Lukas Boysen album holding down the coveted no. 77 spot in the Resident Top 100 albums of 2016.
That’s a record I’ve been meaning to get, by an artist I’ve been meaning to investigate for a long time.
Moose the Mooche says
I haven’t heard any of those albums and have only heard of one of the artists.
So all’s right with the world.
Carl says
I’ve tried with Margo Price, but she doesn’t connect with me.
I’m amazed to see Band Of Horses in there. A little bit mainstream for them, going on their usual selections. I think it’s an excellent record.
A few years back I bought Josh T. Pearson’s “Last of the Country Gentlemen” on the basis of their recommendations. On paper it sounded like the sort of thing I’d like. God it was boring. Sorry BORING. I tried and tried. Thought it must be me. In the end I decided it was sheer perversity on their part.
retropath2 says
By chance I found Jools Hollands best of Later 2016 on the box last night, she being one of those represented. And she was OK in that cowgirl style that there are really just too many of. Glad I didn’t fall for the hype.
anton says
I counted 12 off the RT list already in my collection and a couple more on my “wish list” for Christmas. Good to see Meilyr Jones and Sunflower Bean – but were is Beverly? And Shovels & Rope? And Wussy?And Marissa Nadler? Eleanor Friedberger? Teleman? Wire?……starts typing list…
Tiggerlion says
I’m willing to collate the Afterword poll this year. I thought of opening the vote on 14th December and closing it on 26th December with the result posted 1st Jan.
In order to encourage careful thought and enthusiasm, How Points are Measured:
1st Place = 10 points
2nd Place = 8 points
3rd place = 6 points
Top 10 = 5 points
Top 25 = 3 points
Other = 1 points
Any comments?
ip33 says
Sounds good to me. As long as Donald Trump doesn’t win this one as well.
Sewer Robot says
So… you’re volunteering to crunch the numbers AND encouraging people to post lists of longer than 25 while incorporating a fiddly points system? I salute you, sir!
Tiggerlion says
Erm… Yeah!
Lodestone of Wrongness says
You are a star, Tiggs!
Your point system looks fine except perhaps the No 1 spot should garner 12 not 10 points? I think we need to avoid a situation where last year’s winner ( a record so tosh nobody in The Universe will today admit owning it) wins because so many of you fools placed it somewhere on your list just because Ruby Blue inexplicably liked it?
Tiggerlion says
Hmm. I’m not sure there should be such a big gap between 1st and 2nd.
Don’t fret, just chill. Blackstar is going to win this year.
Moose the Mooche says
You last sentence was disturbingly Putinesque.
“There will be an election. There will be a result. The right result.”
Tiggerlion says
There was no doubt in January.
The battle for number two will be interesting.
Moose the Mooche says
Dude, it’s still 2016. The year in which anything can happen as long as it’s totally dumb and shit. I predict that Blackstar will be pipped to the post by Honey G. You read it here first.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I know Blackstar is going to win but just bear, I said bearwith me. 12 points for Your No1 means it’s special
Blue Boy says
Here’s Uncut. Heard about 13 of these and rate 3….
http://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/577-uncuts-top-75-albums-of-2016/2
deramdaze says
The comment above is right about this month’s Mojo…..the “Best Of” issue is always “The Worst” issue of the year. That’s why they put Kate Bush on the….erm….no, I won’t follow through with that sentence!
Got one of the Top 10 ‘reissues of the year,’ Judy Henske & Jerry Yester.
Apart from that, I’m sure there was more to be had in re-issue land than is suggested from Mojo’s decidedly mundane list.
Tiggerlion says
What are the other nine, please?
minibreakfast says
Here you go tig. They’re not ranked, but Brooce is declared Reissue Of The Year:
Bruce Springsteen The Ties That Bind: The River Collection
Pink Floyd – The Early Years 1967-72
Associates – Sulk [Collector’s Edition]
Bob Dylan – The 1966 Live Recordings [40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition]
Dan Penn – Nobody’s Fool
Lou Reed – The RCA & Arista Album Collection
This Heat – This Heat
R.E.M. – Out Of Time
Led Zeppelin – The Complete BBC Sessions
No Van? Skiddley-wot?
minibreakfast says
No Macca either!
Tiggerlion says
What a disappointing list, apart from The Associates! I reckon The Afterword can do better. When the time comes.
minibreakfast says
Fopp’s end-of-year list: http://www.fopp.com/bestalbumsof2016/
minibreakfast says
Rolling Stone’s list. Tigger will be pleased with the top two, but would probably argue that they should be switched.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2016-w451265
Moose the Mooche says
Rolling Stone writers listen to new music? When did this sh*t start??