It’s the most wonderful time of the year...list time. It might seem like a lot to take in, but here are some solid gold picks from 12 months of reviews at Stereoboard. They’re not in any order, so think of this as a digital vinyl bin.
Happy discovering/reminiscing/listening. We'll see you in 2017.
Beyoncé - Lemonade
‘Lemonade’ is a double feature about human emotion and near superhuman execution. As a collection of pop songs it's deeply ambitious, uncompromising and at times way beyond the reaches of many artists, with its visual accompaniment at turns colourful, gleeful, troubled and upsetting. But its heart is suspicious, wounded and then broken, before being patched up. Always, without pause, it’s arresting. Huw Baines
On ‘Puberty 2’, Mitski spends much of her time wrestling with her significance in the grand scheme of things. For much of the record it’s almost as though the lights are on with no-one home. But quite deliberately so. There’s a sense of detachment to Mitski’s lyrics that isn’t always reflected in her fabulous, often angelic voice. ‘Puberty 2’, as you might expect from the title, works as classic catharsis but veers away from the blunt and melodramatic. That’s simply not how Mitski makes music. Jonathan Rimmer
Bowie lived a life punctuated by alarming bursts of creative power, but his influence was not confined to any one group, clique or circle. We all existed outside of him. He had no equals. He was a lightning rod. The news of his death reframed ‘Blackstar’ at an almost impossibly early point. What initially appeared as a vital, exciting new chapter became a towering send off. As an album it’s one of his best in the last two decades. As a full stop, it’s as strange and confounding as we might have hoped (or feared) his last statement to be. Huw Baines
Some records take a hammer to their surroundings. They show us the world and then tear it down before our eyes, eager for us to understand and embrace their rage. Solange’s ‘A Seat At The Table’ almost does the opposite. She relates lyrics driven by anger and repeated pleas for understanding over songs that are very rarely less than palatial and, to the last note, immaculately constructed. This is a record of remarkable poise and a rare example of an artist speaking with absolute conviction as both a lyricist and musician. Huw Baines
Over the last few years Sturgill Simpson has spent a considerable amount of time refuting claims that he’s the saviour of country music. We certainly live in a time where people love to label everything and everyone, but ‘A Sailor’s Guide To Earth’ proves that tagging this Nashville-based troubadour is completely reductive. Is he country, bluegrass, rock ‘n’ roll, soul, Americana? On ‘A Sailor’s Guide To Earth’ the answer is all of those and more. Much, much more. Simon Ramsay
A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service
Between 1985 and 1998, A Tribe Called Quest established themselves as one of hip hop’s most dynamic and thoughtful acts. Balancing commercial success with artistic innovation across five LPs, they channelled sample-led party grooves alongside conscientious and erudite rhymes. ‘We Got it from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service’ arrived a matter of months after the death of founding member Phife Dawg. Despite its complex and tragic creation, it is an album of intense musical articulation, and one that demonstrates an aristocratic mastery of hip hop production. Jacob Brookman
Unlike their Depression-era gangster namesake, the members of the Dillinger Escape Plan can bow out in a dignified fashion. They’re not going to go out in a hail of bullets behind a theatre; they’re throwing in the towel at the peak of their powers, leaving us feeling short-changed but knowing that, were there any more, a perfect run could’ve been scuppered. This is the best album you will hear this year and the best album by the Dillinger Escape Plan. Alec Chillingworth
‘Cardinal’ is a lesson in utilising the power of music and performance to create intimacy between a band and their audience. Initially the solo project of Evan Stephens Hall, Pinegrove’s strengths remain his lyrical skill and singing style, which add depth to their cosy melodies. There are so many access points to Pinegrove’s music that you could end up simply listing a multitude of other bands that they seem reminiscent of, ranging from Wilco to Bright Eyes. Yet these songs couldn’t be anyone else’s. Jennifer Geddes
‘My Woman’ is about love and loss, perception and being direct when you might keep something to yourself. It’s by no means a straightforward album, but it’s also not content to leave its imagery half-explained or cloaked. Like Bruce Springsteen imploring Wendy (or us) to walk with him out on a wire, Olsen wants us to participate. Great voices can impart hurt, wisdom, humour, and so much more, with a subtle lilt or by bending a phrase to their will. Olsen knows that all too well, but here that virtuoso element of her music is buttressed by an ambitious, uncompromising slate of songs that are every bit as captivating. Huw Baines
If you cut the Cadillac Three straight down the middle you’d probably find the word ‘southern’ grinning back at you with an empty bottle of whiskey in one hand and battered pack of smokes in the other. Faithful to their Tennessee heritage and genuine to a fault, they poured heart and soul into ‘Bury Me In My Boots’, a truly special second album that, without a hint of compromise, retains the band’s roughhouse swagger while adding electrifying mainstream appeal. Simon Ramsay
Pop music's attachment to euphoria runs deep. It exists in a turn of phrase coupled with a perfect melody, or in a personal truth finding wider resonance through three minutes that don't pretend to be anything other than a good time. Tegan and Sara have long known the power of a great melody, but rarely have they been so focused on exploring the crossroads of form and meaning as they are on 'Love You To Death'. Their embrace of pop on ‘Heartthrob’ was divisive but necessary, and ‘Love You To Death’ further underlines their importance in a busy landscape. Huw Baines
This album's opener, Tick, lays the foundations both musically and lyrically, with Jasmyn Burke declaring: “This is just the beginning of what I want to say.” With this record Weaves have left no stone unturned. The influences are varied, the arrangements brilliantly erratic, thoughtful and considered. Part of its charm lies in the occasional feeling that it may all fall apart at any moment, but the execution is exemplary. Weaves may defy genres, but with a debut of this standard they’ve set their own bar exceptionally high. Laura Johnson
‘Telefone’ is the mixtape that Noname wanted, and needed, to make. Amid sweet, soulful instrumentation and unusual chord sequences, her flows and slam-inspired patterns make sense. She might have seemed like the awkward kid in a cypher on previous verses, but this is her world and her playful imagination is the best thing about it. Noname’s outlook is refreshingly characterised by compassion and a tendency to imagine things as they could be. After years of blurred intentions, all she needed to do was to get out of her own head or, more accurately, let everybody else into it. Jonathan Rimmer
Now that we have ‘Goodness’ in our hands, it feels right for ‘Home, Like Noplace Is There’ to be filed as a one-off. Christian Holden’s words keep enough back to give them an ambiguous edge, while musically the Hotelier have become happy, for the time being at least, to leave plot holes where before they might have followed an established blueprint. Rather than a rushed sequel to ‘Home, Like Noplace Is There’ it is a companion piece that understands their shared history as a starting point for new adventures. Huw Baines
Rival Sons have never laid down roots in the studio. All their albums are recorded with the idea that rock ‘n’ roll should be a spontaneous, seat-of-the-pants experience and not over thought. So, although knocking out ‘Hollow Bones’ in three weeks isn’t revelatory for them, what’s unbelievable is how they’re seemingly immune to creative burnout, able to sculpt dynamic, varied and emotionally-charged records whenever the mood takes. Simon Ramsay
Natasha Khan has never embodied a character or concept as completely as she does on ‘The Bride’. It tells the tale of a woman left at the altar on her wedding day, following the death of her fiancé in a car accident on his way to the ceremony, and her subsequent adventure after embarking on their honeymoon alone. For Khan, the tragedy is a starting point for an exploration of love and self-discovery. ‘The Bride’ is an album awash with stunning compositions, both fully fleshed out and minimalist, while the conviction of Khan’s delivery is magnificent. Laura Johnson
Eventually, pop songs will defeat you. They've beaten teenage posturing, steadfast commitment to rough edges and fear of selling out inside the distance, and your band is next. For Joyce Manor, the writing has been on the wall for a long time already. Where ‘Never Hungover Again' embraced their roughhousing roots in a manner more straightforwardly pleasing than the cult-classic-from-the-get-go ‘Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired', ‘Cody' also taps into the latter's crooked view of pop music. The result is a mixture of the two that stands as the most complete rendering of the band's many appealing qualities to date. Huw Baines
If there were such a thing as the prog rock Oscars, 2016 would be a fairly fruitless year for every group that isn’t the Neal Morse Band. ‘The Similitude Of A Dream’ is a double concept album that’s as grandiose and intense as it is subtle and playful. It’s Ben Hur. As with their exceptional bow, ‘The Grand Experiment’, there’s an imperious dynamism to this record that stems from the band working together as a creative team and not just serving as Morse’s backing group. Simon Ramsay
We take Meshuggah for granted. We really do. It remains remarkable that this sound has come from the brains of humans. ‘The Violent Sleep of Reason’ shows little sign of the band slowing down or taking of a collective breath after 25 years of releasing sonic gold. Where their contemporaries have branched out in order to run rings around younger bands, Meshuggah have refused. They already deal in far-flung, futuristic, cranium-crushing death metal of the most technically dazzling sort. Alec Chillingworth
Kendrick Lamar is very much at the ‘genius’ stage of his career as far as critics are concerned, so he should feel comfortable enough to make artistic detours with no fear of consequence. Duly, the surprise release of ‘Untitled Unmastered’ represented a celebration of an achievement rather than a polished follow-up to 'To Pimp A Butterfly'. The fact that these lo-fi recordings are as good as any mainstream rap record released this year is just a bonus. Jonathan Rimmer
‘Deep Fantasy’ was every bit as good as the breakneck ‘Sorry’ but existed on a different plain in terms of its brooding heaviness and Mish Barber-Way’s teeth-bared lyrics. 'Paradise’ is another step to the left of where you might have expected them to go. It’s the band’s most melodic record and another leap forward for Barber-Way as a vocalist. It’ll get under your skin and hang around, with her bright, bold hooks sparring with Kenneth William’s often electrifying guitar work. This is an album that hews close to pop territory, but it’s also mercilessly precise and brutal in its execution. Huw Baines
Other than The Weeknd, during his ‘Trilogy’ era, it’s hard to think of an R&B artist as natural when it comes to playing with mood and aesthetic as Frank Ocean. ‘Blonde’ will live long in the memory of those who immerse themselves in it, even if to others it will come across as an overly-long, self-indulgent mess from the get go. It’s a personal record that covers the sort of ground you’d expect in drugs, love, loss, sex and mental health but his perspective is still fascinating and his storytelling enthralling. That, combined with his innate songwriting ability, is what will make this album worth going back to. Jonathan Rimmer
For any group to survive 20 years is a feat in itself. But for an intelligent, brutal, fiendishly ferocious act like Gojira to not just survive, but thrive this far into their career? It almost beggars belief. For them to be signed to a major label like Roadrunner Records is ridiculous. For them to support Alter Bridge at the O2 Arena, for them to headline the Forum...it’s all ridiculous. ‘Magma’ is a defining moment for both Gojira and modern metal music, opening the floor to countless new opportunities. Let’s see if it can get any more ridiculous. Alec Chillingworth
This beach-loving Tennessee cowboy always takes a delightfully old school approach to crafting albums, sculpting them around a strong narrative theme. Duly, ‘Cosmic Hallelujah’ has a core message: cherish all you hold dear and treasure the small moments, because we’re all transitory specks of dust. It may not be the most revelatory idea and seems easy for a millionaire to say, but Chesney’s creosote vocals, down home sincerity and spiritual aura sell the beer-glass-half-full philosophy, and heart-on-sleeve emoting, that informs his mixture of modern and traditional country. Simon Ramsay
FLOTUS’ main content is sandwiched between the sprawling opening and closing tracks. The opener clocks in at 12 minutes, while The Hustle – a highlight in an album full of highlights – comes in at around 18 minutes. This is how a reinvention should be attempted and the fact a band can sound this fresh after over 30 years and 12 records into their career is testament to the talents of Kurt Wagner and friends. Insert your own ‘Four More Years’ joke here, but let's hope we don’t have to wait as long for instalment 13. Ben Gallivan
To spend time in Danny Brown’s world is to never be entirely comfortable. It’s one where the angles are sometimes all off, a space where things aren’t quite what they seem. And it’s never been more vividly realised than it is on ‘Atrocity Exhibition’. Here we have the full weight of the Detroit rapper’s creative desires dropped into our laps. Lyrically dense, technically challenging and musically off-kilter, this is an LP that takes pleasure in doing things the hard way. Huw Baines
It might be less eclectic than ‘Teens of Style’, but the quality here is again astounding. All the signs are there that Car Seat Headrest will continue developing into something huge. With Will Toledo’s seemingly endless supply of mind-worming choruses, riffs and melodies he could easily begin to rival the prolific consistency of not only Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard, but anyone else you might care to mention. ‘Teens of Denial’ is spellbinding. Graeme Marsh
‘Death Of A Bachelor’ sounds like Sinatra throwing shapes in a nightclub. It sounds like Queen had they started up last summer with a shaven-headed Brian May tinkering on a synthesiser. It’s a cohesive, danceable, utterly ludicrous piece of work that betters 2013’s ‘Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!. Brendon Urie is a musical Stretch Armstrong. Genre boundaries mean nothing to him and that’s why his band has never sounded dated or repetitive. Alec Chillingworth
Three years on from the release of ‘Run Fast’, ‘Hit Reset’ found the Julie Ruin deploying the same relentless energy they started out with, just like a child picked up mid tantrum with legs still flailing. They are able to tackle any issue, global or personal, with a fresh perspective, resulting in a necessary and candid record that could also soundtrack the most kickass of parties. Laura Johnson
Confronted by a drastically raised profile following the release of Bon Iver's second album, Justin Vernon retreated. He attempted to keep a low profile for five years, much to the irritation of those who saw his aversion to fame as an affectation. He modified that approach to drive '22, A Million', translating the sound sketched out on 'Bon Iver, Bon Iver' into a new language. Vernon has become a face in a crowd, having brought new sonic elements to bear over songs that will still sweep those who fell hard for his early work from their feet. Huw Baines
There’s a group of UK bands keen to redress the assumption that pop songs are music’s emptiest vessels. At the front of the line are Martha. With each member sharing vocal duties, their ability to sling four-part harmonies into the mix, juggle viewpoints and back one another up continues to be an ace up their sleeve, with ‘Blisters…’ proving every bit as satisfying on a technical level as it its on a thematic one. There is great care and attention in each breakneck chord change or soaring refrain just as the lyric sheet is part socio-economic deconstruction, part love story and part history lesson. Huw Baines
Having put out the excoriating, captivating ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ a couple of years ago, Laura Jane Grace’s focus shifted to a trans perspective on love and sex with ‘Shape Shift With Me’. From the opening bars of the record until the last note you are at her mercy. She lays herself bare beautifully, and sometimes pointedly, and often articulates more in a three minute punk song than many writers are able to muster over the course of an entire album. Laura Johnson
Is there a more articulate and distinctive voice in UK hip-hop than Kate Tempest? Perhaps not. It’s not just the format-neutral lyrical colour that the south Londoner appears capable of summoning but the invention within her storytelling. Her second album, ‘Let Them Eat Chaos’, is a record of remarkable intelligence and decisive, confident cohesion, wearing its weather-beaten heart on its sleeve and describing a world of anarchic sorrow spinning out of control. Jacob Brookman
Fans may have been upset when the Gaslight Anthem announced they were to take an indefinite hiatus, but the band were clearly running on empty. Worn down by endless Springsteen comparisons, they tried to reinvent themselves with 'Get Hurt’, a confused misstep from a group who'd lost their edge. 'Painkillers' isn't a dramatic reinvention so much as a distillation, with Brian Fallon focusing and expanding on the best elements he brought to the band to create his finest work since 'The ‘59 Sound'. Simon Ramsay
Margaret Glaspy treats writing like it’s a job, and that graft is apparent across ‘Emotions and Math’. The record seamlessly splices her arresting vocals with intricate guitar lines and turns of phrase that pin the listener to the wall. There are moments where Glaspy sounds like Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan fronting Speedy Ortiz, but in the loping gait of the title track and No Matter Who’s west coast strut there is also evidence of a pop classicist at work. Huw Baines
‘Painting of a Panic Attack’ is perhaps Frightened Rabbit’s most challenging album. They’re at their most melancholic and not inclined to give in to their audience’s expectations, but there’s depth, dark wit and poetry present that make it an impressive, mature piece of work. At the end of it all, through all the shadows, Scott Hutchinson goes back to his roots. On Die Like a Rich Boy his rich Scottish accent is accompanied by an acoustic guitar and delicate piano melody. It’s like a lullaby; one that washes away the hurt to leave a sweet sadness. Jennifer Geddes
‘Black America Again’ is a record of fine tuning and unblinking focus. American minorities are in trouble and Common’s 11th LP acknowledges that. But it does so with a dignity and poise that is both diligent and disarming. It's an album of exceptional intelligence with a sound emotional core, and it deserves to be heard. Jacob Brookman
‘Pretty Years’ is the sort of rock record that aims for the heart and ricochets between its chambers, hitting all-encompassing love, wistful remembrances, deep sorrow and carefree abandon along the way. Arriving relatively quickly after the gradual reinvention of ‘LOSE’, ‘Pretty Years’ thumbs the reset button lyrically, while exploring classic rock tropes through cracked rose-tinted glasses. It has an intoxicating air of romance to it, one made all the more potent by the knowledge that it’s the work of a black heart beating itself clean. Huw Baines
Savages delivered on their early promise, and huge hype, when their debut ‘Silence Yourself’ broke in 2013. Blending goth flourishes with the icy guitars of post-punk their sound coalesced into an album of exhilarating aggression. ‘Adore Life’ appeared less than three years on, with its cover declaring defiance with its clenched fist. What lies within shows a band that’s already evolving, with the rubbery basslines and spiky guitars that drove Shut Up and Strife on their debut replaced with more controlled bursts of power. Graeme Marsh
It’s easy to approach ‘Chaleur Humaine’ as though it's a new record as every spin reveals something different; a decaying synth here, a wash of strings there. But it's also about reinvention. The songs here are a couple of years old, but have been reconfigured, (literally) translated and presented time and again to fresh ears. The work of Héloïse Letissier, ‘Chaleur Humaine’ is an investigation of gender, identity and artistic persona set to an immaculate soundtrack. It is a masterful debut and a promise of an intriguing future. Huw Baines
Jeremy Bolm's mother died on Halloween night in 2014, while Touché Amoré were under the lights at Fest. ‘Stage Four’ is understandably a document of grief and anger. It’s also a record of unique power and home to one of hardcore’s great performances by a vocalist. But it’s also another example of Touché Amoré, as a whole, operating at the head of the pack. It’s the release of their live show, the wild deviations in tone and emotion, pressed to wax. Huw Baines
‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’ marked PJ Harvey's progression to understanding up close the fallout of atrocities she had only previously experienced second hand. The record does well to call on Harvey’s experimental nature, as shown on ‘Let England Shake’, and her ability to write slow-burning earworms, which dates back as far as her ‘Dry’ debut and later ‘Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’. The result is a uniquely conceived record expertly executed. Laura Johnson
‘The Weight of These Wings’ is a wilfully artistic, authentically expressive and emotionally complex confessional from a very gifted songwriter. Making a consistent and cohesive double album is almost as hard as sculpting a sincere, grown up divorce record, but it excels as both. It’s pure country through and through and the kind of statement that, in years to come, is likely to go down as one of the genre’s most iconic and important releases. Simon Ramsay
Throughout, the album’s blend of spotless electro-pop and sprawling, heavy-lidded slow jams is kept in check by Shura’s commitment to a personal, observational lyrical style. Even taking into account songwriting embellishments from others, Shura’s own voice and tales of growing up are the record’s beating heart. ‘Nothing’s Real’ is a wonderful mix of thematic depths and melodies that fizz and pop. Huw Baines
Unveiled at London’s Roundhouse late last year, ‘Night Thoughts’ saw Suede tackle the concept album. For the first half of the shows the band performed the collection from behind a screen, on to which a tragic, compelling story of suicide, death and murder was projected. Each track bleeds seamlessly into another in an attempt to push the listener towards recreating the same experience. This is no stereotypical Suede album. It is so much more and, possibly, their best. Graeme Marsh
There are a lot of frayed edges here. From the maniacal stomp of If This Tour Doesn't Kill You, I Will - no hidden meanings there - to the lonely heart of Sleeps In The Heat, this is a record that learns its lessons the hard way. But there's so much energy to every guitar line, every yelped hook and four part harmony, that it's rousing and cathartic rather than bitter and twisted. 'The Dream Is Over' is a document of a band continuously on the move. It's temperamental and difficult, but it's also truly exciting and delivered like every word matters. Huw Baines
It’s of small surprise that throughout One More Time With Feeling and ‘Skeleton Tree’ there are clear signs of insecurity. As Cave sits, trying to recall the nearly completely improvised Jesus Alone, he worries he’s losing his voice. He forgets chords. His voice isn’t gone, but there is a new dimension to it. It carries a deep sorrow. Dissecting an album like this is a nebulous task. How can you seek to rationalise something created by a man who admits he cannot get a handle on it himself? The only approach is to bear witness to Cave’s journey. Laura Johnson
‘Transcendence’ is an example of undiluted, completely liberating artistic expression at work and the culmination of 20-plus years of touring, recording and puppets. It will blow your fucking mind. It is the the best record Townsend has been involved in since 'Terria' and represents everything rock music should be: catchy, intelligent and not to be taken at face value. There are plenty of fledgling progressive metal bands out there with promise, but ‘Transcendence’ runs rings around them. Alec Chillingworth
“If you’re not blown away, I’ll give you your money back.” When Kevin Shirley, producer of ‘Wild’, made that bold statement prior to release, it immediately smacked of a PR soundbite. But this superlative fifth effort from Joanne Shaw Taylor packs enough TNT to make his words feel more prophetic than an example of marketing spin. We’ve always known Taylor would be a major player in the niche world of fiery blues-rock, but ‘Wild’ delivers crossover appeal to entice the kind of massive audiences Joe Bonamassa now commands. Simon Ramsay
‘The Big Fit’ is Skating Polly’s fourth full length offering and, fittingly, their most accomplished to date. The step-sister duo, Peyton Bighorse and Kelli Mayo, have evolved since their debut, ‘Taking Over The World’, with these Kliph Scurlock-produced songs sounding bigger than ever, packaged with intricate melodies, rhythms and vocals that pack an enviable punch. ‘The Big Fit’ is bursting with varying ideas, genre nods and, most importantly, raw and uninhibited talent. Laura Johnson
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