2016 - REVIEW
As the year comes to a close, the natural instinct is to look back and take stock of the last 12 months - the highs and lows, gains and losses - and the media world goes into overdrive with endless lists of "best" songs, films, books, tv moments etc. With that in mind, i'm going to attempt my own review of the last year in music without resorting to lists or charts, just my own personal likes and views. I'm not sure if anyone actually reads this blog, but if you do, please feel free to comment with your own opinions!
One thing that seemed to define the world of music this year is the Grim Reapers' seemingly endless cull of legendary, iconic, and well-loved musicians. Now, people die all the time and famous folk are no exception, but when the year began with the passing of David Bowie, the public and the media picked up on every death with a hysterical fervour, as if God was having some sort of cull. Bowies' death from cancer just days after the release of what turned out to be his final album, Blackstar, seemed particularly poignant, especially given the nature of the lyrics. He seemed to be predicting his passing, as if to prepare his fans. But the "cull" actually began after last Christmas, when legendary Motorhead rocker Lemmy and former drummer (from the classic early 80's lineup) Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor died within days of each other. After Bowie, it just kept coming: Prince, Leonard Cohen, Maurice White (founder of Earth, Wind & Fire), Glenn Frey (The Eagles), soul legend Sharon Jones, talented session player Leon Russell, Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane), Keith Emerson and Greg lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Bobby Vee, Pete Burns (Dead Or Alive), Alan Vega (Suicide), Dave Swarbrick (Fairport Convention), country legend Merle Haggard, legendary producer George Martin, and just before and after Christmas we lost Status Quo legend Rick Parfitt and superstar George Michael. There were many others of varying degrees of fame, too many to list here. It's safe to say that no genre or era was untouched this year. And the general feeling from music fans of a certain age was that the spaces left by the passing of their heroes would not be filled by the musicians of today, It wasn't just the loss of the artist: it was the loss of their artistry. An age of true musicianship, songwriting, innovation and creativity was, for many, at an end.
Despite all the losses in 2016, there was plenty of great music to be heard. Not in the charts, where R'n'b/EDM/Grime/etc etc and X Factor shite continues its stranglehold on the hearts and narrow, unimaginative minds of the nations youth. But outside the mainstream, on the airwaves of BBC 6Music (a godsend), in the music press. And for the first time ever, Vinyl album sales outsold downloads in the UK in the first week of December, £2.4m against digital sales of £2.1m. That may be partly due to pre-Christmas sales, but it shows that owning a tangible artefact, something you can hold and look at, is gaining more importance over music just being a file on a computer. New vinyl is still ridiculously expensive, much as Cds were for many years, but more and more people are prepared to pay for it. It would seem that the tide is slowly turning against the digitalisation of our obsessions and interests. I've even seen blank C90 cassettes on sale in supermarkets and shops for the first time in years! The closure of small independent record shops seems to have slowed down, and there are many second-hand vinyl shops opening too. Downloading music won't go away, and to be honest it does have its uses and charms, but the physical format seems to be fighting fit.
I've often said that i find less and less new music that gives me that thrill, that excitement, as i get older, but it doesn't stop me listening. Most of the new artists and sounds i hear don't get a sniff of chart success, unless it's in the albums charts. The Top 40 is wholly irrelevant to me now. But that doesn't mean my tastes are narrowing: i find that they're becoming more eclectic as time goes on, although i have less available funds nowadays! This year has been a mix of returning established artists, re-issued music from years past, and new artists from diverse genres. The most important event for me this year has been a new album from those national treasures Madness, my all-time favourite band. Four years on from the mixed bag that was Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da, and one member down - co-vocalist/MC/dancer/trumpet and percussion player Cathal Smyth, better known as Chas Smash, took a break/left in 2014 to pursue a solo career and sort his personal life out - they returned with a much better album in Can't Touch Us Now, which charted at No. 5, bolstered by a slew of promotional activity. 16 tracks long, it is very much classic Madness. I'll be writing a proper review of this album, amongst others from 2016, in another post.
Suede are a band whose glory days were back in the Britpop era of the early to mid 90's, and who reformed a few years back for a series of reunion shows. No one expected new material, especially anything to match their previous highs. They released a decent but very typical album, Bloodsports, in 2013, but it was no sign as to what would come next. Night Thoughts is a very grown up record, looking back at the lost innocence of youth, regret, mortality, love - a grandoise, filmic, and brooding collection of songs that befits the album title. It was widely acclaimed and considered by some to be their best album.
This year was also one of great sophomore releases that dodged the curse of the "difficult second album". Abrasive noise-rock quartet Savages moved the intense sound of their debut up a notch, with added soul and emotion on Adore Life, a celebration of life and love.
It contained their first "ballad", albeit in their own post-punk influenced style. Not quite lighters out, but something darker and deeper.
Kate Tempest, a poet/performance artist/spoken word/rapper who deals explicitly in the ills of the modern world - poverty, loneliness, consumerism, class etc- in a very passionate, genuine way, released Let Them Eat Chaos, a concept album set in a block of flats during a global crisis,
In a year of political upheavals and shocks - Brexit, Trump as US President, the rising popularity of far right parties across Europe, not to mention the ongoing refugee crisis - it's good to hear some protest music in an age when songwriters generally shy away from such commentary, especially the kind that makes it personal and emotional rather than hectoring and sloganeering.
New releases from returning indie legends James and Pixies showed that there's life in the old dogs yet, especially the latter, who after a so-so comeback album a couple of years ago finally tapped into the melodic yet unhinged spirit that made them such a standout act back in the late 80's. The Beat - or at least the UK version, helmed by Ranking Roger - returned with Bounce ,their first album since 1983, that stood up well against their history (Dave Wakelings' US-based English Beat are due to return next year with a new album).
One of the standout releases of the year became more than just a great album - it was also an epitaph. Just two days after the secretly recorded Blackstar dropped, David Bowie passed away, after battling liver cancer for 18 months. His illness had been kept quiet until after his death, and seems to have informed the lyrics of his swansong. Themes of mortality run throughout, almost leaving cryptic clues for his fans. The music was amongst Bowie's most experimental: jazz, electronica, drum and bass, art rock, industrial and more, melded together in a seemingly ever-changing landscape of sound. The title track, for instance, is a near ten-minute journey through skittering beats, jazztronica, acid house influences, and blues. Free-form musicianship pervades several tracks, Bowie having recruited a New York jazz group for the album. It seems he knew this would be his last record, and instead of resting on his laurels he went out on a creative high. There will never be anyone like him again.
I'm probably missing out quite a few artists who are considered to have made some of the best albums or songs of 2016, but as with everything this review is subjective! If anyone reads this, please feel free to comment. Even with the amount of music i listen to, i'm bound to miss something....
One thing that seemed to define the world of music this year is the Grim Reapers' seemingly endless cull of legendary, iconic, and well-loved musicians. Now, people die all the time and famous folk are no exception, but when the year began with the passing of David Bowie, the public and the media picked up on every death with a hysterical fervour, as if God was having some sort of cull. Bowies' death from cancer just days after the release of what turned out to be his final album, Blackstar, seemed particularly poignant, especially given the nature of the lyrics. He seemed to be predicting his passing, as if to prepare his fans. But the "cull" actually began after last Christmas, when legendary Motorhead rocker Lemmy and former drummer (from the classic early 80's lineup) Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor died within days of each other. After Bowie, it just kept coming: Prince, Leonard Cohen, Maurice White (founder of Earth, Wind & Fire), Glenn Frey (The Eagles), soul legend Sharon Jones, talented session player Leon Russell, Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane), Keith Emerson and Greg lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Bobby Vee, Pete Burns (Dead Or Alive), Alan Vega (Suicide), Dave Swarbrick (Fairport Convention), country legend Merle Haggard, legendary producer George Martin, and just before and after Christmas we lost Status Quo legend Rick Parfitt and superstar George Michael. There were many others of varying degrees of fame, too many to list here. It's safe to say that no genre or era was untouched this year. And the general feeling from music fans of a certain age was that the spaces left by the passing of their heroes would not be filled by the musicians of today, It wasn't just the loss of the artist: it was the loss of their artistry. An age of true musicianship, songwriting, innovation and creativity was, for many, at an end.
Despite all the losses in 2016, there was plenty of great music to be heard. Not in the charts, where R'n'b/EDM/Grime/etc etc and X Factor shite continues its stranglehold on the hearts and narrow, unimaginative minds of the nations youth. But outside the mainstream, on the airwaves of BBC 6Music (a godsend), in the music press. And for the first time ever, Vinyl album sales outsold downloads in the UK in the first week of December, £2.4m against digital sales of £2.1m. That may be partly due to pre-Christmas sales, but it shows that owning a tangible artefact, something you can hold and look at, is gaining more importance over music just being a file on a computer. New vinyl is still ridiculously expensive, much as Cds were for many years, but more and more people are prepared to pay for it. It would seem that the tide is slowly turning against the digitalisation of our obsessions and interests. I've even seen blank C90 cassettes on sale in supermarkets and shops for the first time in years! The closure of small independent record shops seems to have slowed down, and there are many second-hand vinyl shops opening too. Downloading music won't go away, and to be honest it does have its uses and charms, but the physical format seems to be fighting fit.
Suede are a band whose glory days were back in the Britpop era of the early to mid 90's, and who reformed a few years back for a series of reunion shows. No one expected new material, especially anything to match their previous highs. They released a decent but very typical album, Bloodsports, in 2013, but it was no sign as to what would come next. Night Thoughts is a very grown up record, looking back at the lost innocence of youth, regret, mortality, love - a grandoise, filmic, and brooding collection of songs that befits the album title. It was widely acclaimed and considered by some to be their best album.
This year was also one of great sophomore releases that dodged the curse of the "difficult second album". Abrasive noise-rock quartet Savages moved the intense sound of their debut up a notch, with added soul and emotion on Adore Life, a celebration of life and love.
It contained their first "ballad", albeit in their own post-punk influenced style. Not quite lighters out, but something darker and deeper.
Kate Tempest, a poet/performance artist/spoken word/rapper who deals explicitly in the ills of the modern world - poverty, loneliness, consumerism, class etc- in a very passionate, genuine way, released Let Them Eat Chaos, a concept album set in a block of flats during a global crisis,
New releases from returning indie legends James and Pixies showed that there's life in the old dogs yet, especially the latter, who after a so-so comeback album a couple of years ago finally tapped into the melodic yet unhinged spirit that made them such a standout act back in the late 80's. The Beat - or at least the UK version, helmed by Ranking Roger - returned with Bounce ,their first album since 1983, that stood up well against their history (Dave Wakelings' US-based English Beat are due to return next year with a new album).
One of the standout releases of the year became more than just a great album - it was also an epitaph. Just two days after the secretly recorded Blackstar dropped, David Bowie passed away, after battling liver cancer for 18 months. His illness had been kept quiet until after his death, and seems to have informed the lyrics of his swansong. Themes of mortality run throughout, almost leaving cryptic clues for his fans. The music was amongst Bowie's most experimental: jazz, electronica, drum and bass, art rock, industrial and more, melded together in a seemingly ever-changing landscape of sound. The title track, for instance, is a near ten-minute journey through skittering beats, jazztronica, acid house influences, and blues. Free-form musicianship pervades several tracks, Bowie having recruited a New York jazz group for the album. It seems he knew this would be his last record, and instead of resting on his laurels he went out on a creative high. There will never be anyone like him again.
I'm probably missing out quite a few artists who are considered to have made some of the best albums or songs of 2016, but as with everything this review is subjective! If anyone reads this, please feel free to comment. Even with the amount of music i listen to, i'm bound to miss something....
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