We had several excellent new releases lately and there is a lot more cool new music coming our way in the next few weeks. Check out below 10 of the best new tracks that made their debut in the first couple of months of 2018:
Courtney Barnett - Nameless, Faceless (from the album "Tell Me How You Really Feel", coming in May)
Beach House - Lemon Glow
U.S. Girls - Rosebud (from the album "In A Poem Unlimited", out this week)
Belly - Shiny One (from the upcoming album "DOVE", the band's first in 23 years)
Car Seat Headrest - Nervous Young Inhumans (from the album "Twin Fantasy")
Frankie Cosmos - Being Alive (from the album "Vessel", coming at the end of March)
Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs (from the album "The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs", out in April)
The Decemberists - Severed (from the album "I'll Be Your Girl" out in March)
Dream Wife - Hey Heartbreaker (from their eponymous debut album)
Goat Girl - The Man (from their eponymous debut album, out in April)
Hello to 2017, let's hope it's going to be much better than 2016 in every aspect!
As far as music is concerned, last year we lost too many great artists, while our beloved rock music, the reason for the existence of this blog, seemed to go out of fashion if we believe the various year-end lists of the established media organizations, where R'n'B, Rap and Dance music dominated.
However, we believe all is not lost for guitar music. Although I cannot say that we came across new groundbreaking rock music last year, there were plenty of worthwhile efforts and several excellent albums showing remarkable development for relatively new artists and bands like Car Seat Headrest, Angel Olsen, Savages, Diiv or Parquet Courts who are establishing themselves among this decade's important music makers.
Next to the great contributions from new(ish) artists, which also included albums by Warpaint, Goat, Factory Floor, Daughter and Quilt to name a few more, we also enjoyed the return of some familiar names from the past who added new and important chapters to their amazing history. Both Swans and PJ Harvey gave us amazing albums which could easily claim the top spot of our list, if it wasn't for our decision to dedicate the Top 5 to the work of up-and-coming artists that we feel they are the new blood of rock music of the '10s, while Black Mountain, Dinosaur Jr., The Julie Ruin, Woods, Kristin Hersh, Radiohead and, of course, David Bowie's last music statement, were also among the reasons that the heart of rock music was still beating strong in 2016 despite everything. Let's hope for more great music from all genres in 2017 because something tells me we are going to need it bad!
So, here are the 50 albums we enjoyed the most in the past 12 months, chosen of course among the new releases that we were able to listened to and buy in physical format. As always, the ranking of the list was valid as of the last day of the year, but it is not written in stone and can easily change as we are still looking to discover more great music released in 2016 that may have escaped our attention so far. A more thorough list will be published in Cool Music Database as soon as we feel that the search is over.
To 50 Albums of 2016
1. Teens of denial - CAR SEAT HEADREST
2. My woman - ANGEL OLSEN
3. Adore life - SAVAGES
4. Is the is are - DIIV
5. Human performance - PARQUET COURTS
6. The glowing man - SWANS
7. The hope six demolition project - PJ HARVEY
8. Heads up - WARPAINT
9. Requiem - GOAT
10. IV - BLACK MOUNTAIN
11. Give a glimpse of what yer not - DINOSAUR JR.
12. Hit reset - THE JULIE RUIN
13. Blackstar - DAVID BOWIE
14. A moon shaped pool - RADIOHEAD
15. 25 25 - FACTORY FLOOR
16. We got it from here... Thank you 4 your service - A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
17. Not to disappear - DAUGHTER
18. Plaza - QUILT
19. City sun eater in the river of light - WOODS
20. Wyatt at the Coyote Palace - KRISTIN HERSH
21. Next thing - FRANKIE COSMOS
22. A man alive - THAO & THE GET DOWN STAY
23. Distance inbetween - THE CORAL
24. A weird exits - THEE OH SEES
25. Emotional mugger - TY SEGALL
26. Paradise - WHITE LUNG
27. Patch the sky - BOB MOULD
28. Skeleton tree - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
29. The waiting room - TINDERSTICKS
30. Heart like a levee - HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER
31. Jet plane and oxbow - SHEARWATER
32. United crushers - POLIÇA
33. Pussy's dead - AUTOLUX
34. Ash & ice - THE KILLS
35. New view - ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
36. Strangers - MARISSA NADLER
37. Case/Lang/Veirs - CASE/LANG/VEIRS
38. Funs cool - THE PRETTIOTS
39. Human ceremony - SUNFLOWER BEAN
40. Inner journey out - PSYCHIC ILLS
41. Until the hunter - HOPE SANDOVAL AND THE WARM INVENTIONS
42. Here - TEENAGE FANCLUB
43. Chaosmosis - PRIMAL SCREAM
44. Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future - UNDERWORLD
45. Painting with - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
46. Everything you've come to expect - THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
47. Eyes on the lines - STEVE GUNN
48. Mass Gothic - MASS GOTHIC
49. Sun Kil Moon / Jesu - SUN KIL MOON / JESU
50. Slugger - SAD13
Click here for our Top 50 Tracks of 2016 and enjoy below a playlist with some of the highlights from our 2016 Albums of the Year:
After releasing about a dozen albums in five years on Bandcamp under the name Car Seat Headrest, the amazingly prolific and exceptionally talented Will Toledo is now taking his music to the next level.
His thirteenth album (and second for Matador), "Teens Of Denial", is his first one recorded with a full band, in a proper recording studio, with the help of an experienced producer (Steve Fisk, whose credits include Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Beat Happening to name but a few!) and the results are nothing short of spectacular! The sprawling, 70-minute record, is an indie-rock epic, the kind of which we have not heard since the heyday of Pavement or Modest Mouse. Toledo may wear his influences on his sleeve (and that got him into trouble in the case of The Cars), but he proves to be an excellent songwriter who puts his personal stamp on every Car Seat Headrest song. Have a listen and discover some of the most original guitar tunes you'll hear this year - "Teens Of Denial" is classic indie-rock in the making!
Another exceptional work that stands out among our 16 favorite albums of the last few months is the latest installment in Swans' series of new millennium epics that started with 2010's "My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky" and reaches to new heights with "The Glowing Man", another monumental record that stands alone in a universe of sound of its own creation, far removed from anything else you'll hear in 2016. Don't take into account the ranking order in our list; Swans work can only be compared with previous Michael Gira creations and "The Glowing Man" is without a doubt counted among the greatest achievements in the history of his unique band!
Although September is not over yet and at the moment of compiling our favorite new albums list I only had time to give it just a couple of listens, Angel Olsen's third album "My Woman" had such an immediate impact that I simply had to include it here and in one of the top spots, no less! Fans of her previous work already know and admire the power of her amazing voice, but what makes "My Woman" special is that her songwriting has kept evolving, going beyond folk and country, adding all kinds of rock flavors in it and producing her strongest collections of songs to date. I think we have already found our September Album of the Month!
Add to the above the latest albums by Dinosaur Jr., The Julie Ruin and Factory Floor, another trio of records that will definitely be in the running for our Top 20 of the Year, and I think we have a pretty strong album list in our hands! Here are C.M.C.'s favorite albums and tracks for the period July - mid-September 2016:
Top 16 Albums
1. Teens Of Denial - CAR SEAT HEADREST
2. The Glowing Man - SWANS
3. My Woman - ANGEL OLSEN
4. Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not - DINOSAUR JR.
5. Hit Reset - THE JULIE RUIN
6. 25 25 - FACTORY FLOOR
7. Pussy's Dead - AUTOLUX
8. Ash & Ice - THE KILLS
9. Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future - UNDERWORLD
10. X-Communicate - KRISTIN KONTROL
11. The Bride - BAT FOR LASHES
12. Eyes On The Lines - STEVE GUNN
13. Jesu / Sun Kil Moon - JESU / SUN KIL MOON
14. Nocturnal Koreans - WIRE
15. Tell Me If You Like To - SPRING KING
16. Acoustic Recordings 1998 - 2016 - JACK WHITE
Top 20 Tracks
1. Shut Up Kiss Me - ANGEL OLSEN
2. Vincent - CAR SEAT HEADREST
3. Finally, Peace - SWANS
4. Tiny - DINOSAUR JR.
5. I’m Done - THE JULIE RUIN
6. Dial Me In - FACTORY FLOOR
7. I Exhale - UNDERWORLD
8. Soft Scene - AUTOLUX
9. Sunday Love - BAT FOR LASHES
10. Impossible Tracks - THE KILLS
11. Nocturnal Koreans - WIRE
12. Ancient Jules - STEVE GUNN
13. America’s Most Wanted Mark Kozelek And John Dillinger - JESU / SUN KIL MOON
14. Gertrudis, Get Through This! - MOURN
15. X-Communicate - KRISTIN KONTROL
16. Rectifier - SPRING KING
17. Carolina Drama (Acoustic Mix) - JACK WHITE
18. 100% Or Nothing - PRIMAL SCREAM
19. Consequences of Love (Chris and Cosey Remix) - DEATH IN VEGAS
20. The Soft Bounce - BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE
As we leave behind the first half of 2016, it's a good time to stop for a breather and have another listen to the albums that stood out for us among the many new releases of the year so far.
The 40 albums that follow are those we have played the most over the past six months or, for the newer ones, those we think we'll be listening to a lot in the near future. It's also worth noting that there is no ranking order in this list; there will be plenty of time to think about that in December's final reckoning. However the order of presentation is not totally random, so near the top you'll find those albums that impressed us the most in the first half of 2016 and which are most likely to feature among our top selections at the end of the year.
The three covers we have chosen to feature before unveiling our list say all we are going to say at this point about which albums we think are the best candidates for the title "Best album of 2016 so far". Of course there were plenty of other excellent releases to consider but here are the 40 long-players that did it for us:
Top 40 Albums of January - June 2016
Adore life - SAVAGES
Teens of denial - CAR SEAT HEADREST
Is the is are - DIIV
Human performance - PARQUET COURTS
The hope six demolition project - PJ HARVEY
The glowing man - SWANS
IV - BLACK MOUNTAIN
City sun eater in the river of light - WOODS
Plaza - QUILT
Not to disappear - DAUGHTER
A moon shaped pool - RADIOHEAD
Blackstar - DAVID BOWIE
A man alive - THAO & THE GET DOWN STAY
United crushers - POLIÇA
Distance inbetween - THE CORAL
Next thing - FRANKIE COSMOS
Paradise - WHITE LUNG
Patch the sky - BOB MOULD
Emotional mugger - TY SEGALL
Jet plane and oxbow - SHEARWATER
Painting with - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
Ash & ice - THE KILLS
Chaosmosis - PRIMAL SCREAM
The waiting room - TINDERSTICKS
New view - ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
Strangers - MARISSA NADLER
Funs cool - THE PRETTIOTS
Mass Gothic - MASS GOTHIC
Human ceremony - SUNFLOWER BEAN
Everything you've come to expect - THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
Round-up of the most interesting albums, singles and EPs released in May 2016:
Albums
CAR SEAT HEADREST - Teens of Denial RADIOHEAD - A Moon Shaped Pool WHITE LUNG - Paradise KRISTIN KONTROL - X-Communicate THE DUKE SPIRIT - Kin MARISSA NADLER - Strangers JULIANNA BARWICK - Will TANYA DONELLY - Swan Song Series OPERATORS - Blue Wave PANTHA DU PRINCE - The Triad DEATH IN VEGAS - Transmission HOLY FUCK - Congrats DEATH GRIPS - Bottomless Pit JAMES BLAKE - The Colour in Anything ANOHNI - Hopelessness OSCAR - Cut and Paste EAGULLS - Ullages BLANEY featuring MARK E SMITH - Urban Nature KID CONGO AND THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS - La Arana Es La Vida RICHARD ASHCROFT - These People BETH ORTON - Kidsticks JOHN DOE - The Westerner BRITTA PHILLIPS - Luck or Magic MARK KOZELEK - Sings Favorites MALCOM MIDDLETON - Summer of '13 BAND OF SKULLS - By Default SERATONES - Get Gone TWIN PEAKS - Down in Heaven A GIANT DOG - Pile SUMMER CANNIBALS - Full of It MARK PRITCHARD - Under the Sun GOLD PANDA - Good Luck and Do Your Best SHIT ROBOT - What Follows CHANCE THE RAPPER - Coloring Book AESOP ROCK - The Impossible Kid YONI AND GETI - Testarossa HOMEBOY SANDMAN - Kindness for Weakness AUTECHRE - elseq 1 - 5 TERMINAL GODS - Wave / Form HEAD WOUND CITY - A New Wave of Violence NOTHING - Tired of Tomorrow SO SO GLOS - Kamikaze METHYL ETHEL - Oh Inhuman Spectacle YAK - Alas Salvation THOMAS COHEN - Bloom Forever DAN MICHAELSON AND THE COASTGUARDS - Memory WILD BILLY CHILDISH AND CTMF - SQ 1
