So a glass or two may have been drunk, but I’ve been listening and thinking about some of these albums (I still call them that) of 2016 and……well no, sorry……but…
I bought Blackstar on Amazon preorder and when it arrived was pleasantly surprised but how many times have I listened to it since? Definitely under the required 6 so listened again today and…it really isn’t that good is it?
Always like Laughing Len but while this is definitely a good album, would it be in the top 10 if he hadn’t……well you know
Radiohead – again nothing new here and they’ve done it better before….same can be said for Mr Cave I’m afraid (and I’m definitely a fan here)
Michael Kiwanadu….ok like this one (except for the annoying single)
Paul Simon will be seen as the genius he is once he dies I suppose
Oops, missed out Teengae Fanclub but please…come on…best of the year????
Wilco…never really seen the point, Case, Laing etc can see this one growing on me, and Avalanches?? Why is it good that this one sounds exactly the same as the last one which was years ago?
Now going down the list and was looking forward to Allen Toussaint but sorry, it’s like listening to one of my dads albums, and he’s dead too!
Miserable????? Yes I think I am!! Probably my favourite out of the top 50-odd is Johann Johannsons Orpheus, almost as wonderful as last years Max Richter’s Sleep or The Comet is Coming’s ‘Channel the Spirits’
So it’s a big ‘Nahhh’ from me
There, I’ve said it….
by 11 Comments
It will come as no surprise to my many (?) followers to discover I absolutely agree apart from the Paul Simon album which really is very good. I really do struggle with “”a great year better than last” stuff: no it was not!
Biggest example is Michael Kiwanadu – are you lot serious??
I withdraw all my votes except for Paul…
Bollox to most of that, not least as I am always an eager photographer of imperial fashions. This year has brought out the best of the more mature talents, living and now not. True, I haven’t dallied much with Mssrs Simon and Cohen, but Blackstar actually is a head and shoulders above, say, the last one, greeted with equivalent praise on release. This one I do like to hear when it pops up on random, my play of choice. Radiohead I am on record as generally naysaying to, or at least not getting. Moon and a Pool is a delight and, frankly, if you like the modern ambient +/- classical/electronica stuff, can’t see how it can’t but appeal. MK is just stunning and if you can’t appreciate the Fannies slide into a very comfortable zone indeed, well you must be too young for this site.
It has been a stonking year, and I look forward to next.
Blackstar is a masterpiece. Scary, moving, heartbreaking and funny. Has some top tunes too. I would say easily top 5 Bowie
@ Mr H. That cheered me up no end! Happy New Year 🍾
It’s just a chart, it’s a starting point – we’re not obliged to accept that these are ‘the best’ – these are just the ones that scored the most from over 600 records that Afterworders enjoyed in 2016
(no different from end of year charts in any of the music magazines, newspapers and record shops in that respect) – inevitably the big blockbuster artists will rise to the top as they’re more likely to get heard – but for me I just weave my own way through whatever music is around – and it all depends on lots of random factors or gigs you’ve seen, or stuff you hear on the radio or wherever – I like the Bowie record but there are an awful lot of other records that meant a lot more to me this year – there are also probably another 600 or more great records nobody mentioned.
Reading this back today I’m kind of surprised how grammatically correct I can drunk post!
Stick with most of the comments though! Easing through the afternoon with something I came across in a review here a few weeks ago – enjoy and Happy New Year all!
great stuff
If anyone thinks I was drunk last night when I posted then quite possibly they were correct (a bottle of 12 year-old malt inexplicably found hiding in my mother-in-law’s drinks cabinet behind the sweet sherry, ginger wine and something brought back from Greece in 1982)
Thank you for the public service Mr H. These things are going to be thoroughly Spotified rather than given the benefit of the doubt. Have to say, my Spotification to the Teenage Fanclub confirms your view – it’s no Grand Prix or Howdy to these ears.
Saw them doing some of the new songs live on the Beeb the other day. They sounded…OK… right up until they played Don’t Look Back and it became painfully clear that there’s nothing even remotely in its league in the new stuff. They’ve got the same sound but the tunes have run out, to my ears. I don’t begrudge them that, it’s pretty amazing that they ever wrote DLB or Discolite or Your Love Is The Place… because those are world class all-timers, but other than topping up the pension I’m not sure I see the point of them as a going concern at this point.
I didn’t vote as I haven’t got many newly released albums this year….I just have so much stuff to listen to that a new one has to really grab my attention these days. I loved Show Of Hands ‘The Long Way Home’ and the Stones’ ‘Blue And Lonesome’ is great – I have listened to many of those mentioned, but I have to have something to hook into, and it hasn’t been a great year for me. I usually buy something from an artist I see live if I like them….Flats and Sharps, Sam Green recently…but no point in voting for these!