When it sounded like 2016

In a year punctuated by celebrity deaths and ongoing geopolitical disasters, there was no shortage of music to challenge and inspire those of us who want the world to be better and still believe that it can be. The artists I listened to throughout this much maligned year brought into focus the gravity of our collective situation: the urgent concerns of race and gender equality, environmental degradation, and a need for intimacy that we just can't seem to shake. 

(See below for winning categories and spotty annotations)




SOMETIMES IT'S BEST TO JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN
Solange – A Seat at the Table
Song: "Don't Wish Me Well"

INITIATED / PERPETUATED A YEAR OF MOURNING

David Bowie – Black Star

Song: "Lazarus"

A Tribe Called Quest – We got it from Here... Thank U 4 Your Service

Song: "Lost Somebody"

Leonard Cohen – You Want it Darker

Song: "You Want it Darker"

Along with lots of Prince and Sharon Jones, and even a little bit of George Michael.

A LOGICAL OUTCOME, GIVEN THE SITUATION
Angel Olsen – My Woman
Song: "Shut Up Kiss Me"
Beyonce – Lemonade
Song(s): "Sorry," "Formation"

WHEN I NEEDED IT TO SOUND LIKE 1995, WHICH WAS OFTEN
Animal Teeth – Happy to See You
Song: "Chair"
Mitski – Puberty 2
Song: "Your Best American Girl"
Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial
Song: "1937 State Park"

WHEN ENOUGH SHOULD BE ENOUGH
Anohni – Hopelessness
Song: "Drone Bomb Me"

HOW TO FEEL OLD (AND SAD) AGAIN
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
Song: "True Love Waits" 

Making Radiohead fans feel sad is too easy. We've been groomed for it; chances are it's what led us to Radiohead in the first place. A chicken/egg situation. But what would it be like to discover Radiohead in this day and age, without all that prehistory? What if A Moon Shaped Pool was your introduction? What would you do with a song like "True Love Waits"? Would you sense the weight of the years it carries, the way it's continued to evolve as time demands? Would you recognize that, in recording and releasing it as the closing track on their tenth album, it was Radiohead's way of saying goodbye? 

YOU STOLE MY HEART AND TUMBLR IS HELPING ME COPE

Blood Orange – Freetown Sound

Song: "Best To You"

Frank Ocean – Blonde

Song: "Nights"

dvsn – Sept. 5

Song: "Hallucinations"

QUESTION THE BASIS OF DESIRE AND HOW IT'S SUSTAINED BY ECONOMIES OF CARE

Jenny Hval – Blood Bitch

Song: "Conceptual Romance"

GIVE KANYE ANOTHER CHANCE
Chance the Rapper – Coloring Book
Song: "Same Drugs"
Kanye West – The Life of Pablo
Song: "Ultralight Beam" (feat. Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price, and Kirk Franklin)
Chance the Rapper was one of 2016's beacons, and he helped redeem The Life of Pablo. Before he cancelled his Saint Pablo tour Kanye visited Winnipeg and did his floating stage thing for several hours at the MTS Centre. And although his banter was at times certifiably horrible, I left feeling that I'd again somehow been converted. Revisiting the latter half of the album weeks after the concert, beginning with the Chance-endorsed "Waves," somehow made me care about Kanye (and maybe even his family?) again. Empathy, maybe? Seeing Kanye isolated on that stage gave me a new appreciation for the audacious commitment he brings to his work. That concert captured the weird, self-conscious spirit that flows through TLOP. Here, I thought, was Kanye’s ego laid bare. Here was the artist, alone, with all his flaws. The truth of it, however, is that TLOP is crammed full of guests. Genius is one of our favourite myths and Kanye knows how to use it.

A REMINDER THAT I HAVE SOME VERY TALENTED FRIENDS
Royal Canoe – Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit
Song: "How Long is Your Life"

AMONG THE BEST SERMONS I HEARD
Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Style (this came out in 2015, whoops!)
Song: "Times to Die"

BURN IT TO THE GROUND
Mitski – Puberty 2
Song: "Your Best American Girl"
Dreams are still only dreams unless something changes. You can't, in fact, have it all, at least not if you're going to play by the rules. You live in a world that privileges certain kinds of people, lifestyles and ideas. This world tries to convince you that the only space you can rightfully occupy is one of competition. So burn it down, and also, fuck Weezer.

HOW DOES HE DO IT?

Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered.
Song: "untitled 05 | 09.21.2014"

LET'S JUST TRY TO BE SOCIAL
Kanye West – The Life of Pablo
Song: "Real Friends"
Chance the Rapper – Coloring Book
Song: "Summer Friends"
Pinegrove – Cardinal
Song(s): "Old Friends" / "New Friends"

MOST LIKE A SEDATIVE
Diiv – Is the Is Are?
Song: "Healthy Moon"

YOUR PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
Andy Shauf – The Party
Song: "To You"