Just to let it be known, I am writing this blog post WITHOUT having listened to Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead. I am still waiting for it to be released on Spotify. I will have a formal review written about it in the next upcoming weeks.

20. White Denim- Stiff 

I didn’t have very high expectations for White Denim after their 2013 album Corsicana Lemonade. To me, it seemed that this type of band would get lost in the indie scene and fail to make themselves relevant again. However, this album that was released in mid-March surprised me quite a bit. This Austin-native group embellishes multiple groovy influences that you can find in many early 70’s rock bands. There is also a discrete hint of 60’s mo-town in songs like “Take it Easy (Everlasting Love).” Other great rock out songs for the summer include “Holda You (I’m Pyscho)” and “Mirrored in Reverse.” This album embraces the roots of hard indie rock with a fun summer time twist. A great balance of lo and hi fidelity with explosive percussion makes this album a must-listen for this year.

Recommended Tracks: “Holda You (I’m Pyscho)”, “Mirrored in Reverse”, “Had to Know (Personal)”

Label: Downtown Records

Genre: Hard Rock/Indie Rock

19. Modern Baseball-Holy Ghost

Coming at number 19 is pop-punk/emo sensation, Modern Baseball. After their successful 2014 album You’re Gonna Miss it All, they released their 3rd studio LP, Holy Ghost. While this album only came out a couple of weeks ago, it has been in constant rotation for me ever since it came out. Modern Baseball does a great job of resurrecting the 2006 pop-punk sound that has been long since gone. The album is heavily influenced by the trials and tribulations that the singer, Branden Lukens, has experienced. Going through hell and back with his recent diagnosis of manic depression and alcoholism, made this album an anthem for self-pity and adolescent angst. Lukens and Co. tell story after story of bitter memories that they wish to forget. This project incorporates exceptional guitar work from lead guitarist Jake Ewald that definitively sets the mood for the entire album.

Recommended Tracks: “Apple Cider, I Don’t Mind”, “Mass”, “Wedding Singer”

Label: Run For Cover Records

Genre: Pop-Punk/Emo/Indie

18. Pity Sex- White Hot Moon

Also from Run For Cover Records, Pity Sex finishes their second project, White Hot Moon. Pity Sex incorporates a mixture of heavy 90’s alternative noise distortion with influences that resemble early 2000’s pop-punk bands. Unlike many pop-punk bands with front male vocals, Pity Sex’s Brittany Drake brings us back to a time when the Cocteau Twins reigned supreme in the 90’s shoegaze revolution. This album did not disappoint previous Pity Sex fans in the slightest. In 2016, there were many bands that impressed me with their shoegaze revival, Pity Sex being one of them. Brittany Drake’s powerful vocal performance along with the harmony and heavy guitar distortion contributed by Brennan Greaves, makes it one of the best pop-punk/shoegaze albums of the year. You definitely need to have this album for your summer rotation

Recommended Tracks: “Orange and Red”, “Burden You”, “Plum”

Label: Run For Cover Records

Genre: Pop-Punk/Female Vocalist/Shoegaze

17. Poliça- United Crushers

You want to know what is weird? Not in a million years would I have a synth/chill wave album like this in my top 20. Hell, I consider this in my top 100 for favorite albums. It seemed that out of nowhere Poliça really blew up, even though they have been around for nearly four years. Their single “Lime Habit” exploded all over across indie messaging boards and gave this band a second chance to recreate themselves. United Crushers acts as a protest project to all things that are happening in the world including social injustice, economic turmoil, and political corruptness. While I think she is really full of shit, this doesn’t take away from how talented this project is musically. Poliça’s work with their synthesizers and pre-made percussion hooks deems it a popular album in the indie world.

Recommended Tracks: “Lime Habit”, “Summer Please”, “Someway”

Label: Mom+Pop

Genre: Electronic/Experimental

16. Death Grips- Bottomless Pit

Death Grips, man. For many of you readers who don’t know who these guys are, you are really missing out. I have never been an avid Death Grips listener, but Bottomless Pit really rekindled that flame to revisit them again. After listening to this 13 track disc, it made me want to go start a riot in the middle of Bangkok fighting off police with every swing of my arms. If you thought Tyler, the Creator was just a hardcore punk rapper, wait till you get a hold of Stefan Burnett’s in-your-face performance. I will warn that this album may not be for everyone. I realize how it takes a patient individual to sit down and listen to an entire Death Grips album. However, with that being said, I think that this is one of their best albums yet, since their release of The Money Store. If you are looking for some pump-up music before you get into a big mosh pit before Riot Fest, then this is the album for you.

Recommended Tracks: “80808”, “BB Poison”, “Giving Bad People Good Ideas”

Label: Harvest Records

Genre: Experimental Hip Hop/Thrash Rap/Goth Rap

15. Holy Wave- Freaks of Nurture 

In the past five-seven years, psych rock, has exploded all across the western United States. Texas and California, being the figure head states for some of the biggest psych rock festivals (Levitation Fest, LA Psych Fest, Desert Daze), gave birth to some artists that are critically acclaimed by the Indiehead population. Austin, Texas specifically, has incredible talent including groups like, JJUUJJUU and the Black Angels. These groups have set the bar incredibly high for other groovy bands to reach psychedelic mesmerization. The boys of Holy Wave will get you stuck in a never ending trip of airy guitars and acid drenched lyricism that will make you feel like you are riding a dragon through the west coast. Many achieve this garage jam acid sound, but few do it like Holy Wave. I thought it would be hard for them to top their signature LP titled, Relax. However, I was proven wrong and couldn’t be happier that I was.

Recommended Tracks: “She Put a Seed In My Ear”, “Western Playland”, “Sir Issac Nukem”

Label: Reverberation Appreciation Society LLC

Genre: Acid Rock/Psychedelic/Indie Rock

14: Greys-Outer Heaven 

Toronto band, Greys, digs deeper and deeper into their roots as a signature noise-pop band. Once heavily involved in the alt-rock scene, the members of Greys perfect their signature sound that is less likely to establish a staunch “pop” presence on the radio. Many songs like “Blown Out” start off slow, then end with sheer madness and screaming provided by Shehzaad Jiwani. This is a great album and a signature classic for the noise rock genre.

Recommended Tracks: “If It’s All the Same To You”, “Complaint Rock”, “Strange World”

Label: Carpark Records

Genre: Hard Rock/Noise Rock

13. Hinds-Leave Me Alone

Over the course of the past two years, Hinds have thrown a couple singles our way, but have been procrastinating on their debut album. This Spanish quartet delivered a quality album that was well worth the wait. Leave Me Alone channels the inner rage of feminist garage rock. Edgy tones accompanied by the demeanor of these four badass Spaniards makes it hard to sit down while listening to it. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the rise of girl garage rock shows no signs of popularity regression. In fact, more and more female power bands are surfacing in the music world every day. If you want to become accustomed to the raw and edgy power that is girl rock, check out this album. Not to mention, if you are as into punk rock chicks as I am, these ladies are a sight for sore eyes. There is nothing sexier than a chick that knows her way around a punk power chord. 

Recommended Tracks: “Chili Town”, “Fat Calmed Kiddos”, “Castigadas en el Granero”

Label: Mom+Pop Records

Genre: Garage Rock/Punk-Pop/Female

12. Woods-City Sun Eater in the River of Light

Woods released their 9th full length LP in early April under their own independent label, Woodsist. While this album got lukewarm responses from sites like Pitchfork and Consequences of Sound, I found this album to be incredibly deep and entrancing. The gang used intricate reggae influences, along with jazz and psych folk characteristics. This LP vividly reminds me of a band like Calexico, who uses a heavy combination of Latin American themes and United States production work. This is a great album to drive on a sunny afternoon too. Hell, if you are anywhere outdoors, go ahead and throw this on the playlist.

Recommended Tracks: “Politics of Free”, Can’t See At All”, “Creature Comfort”

Label: Woodsist

Genre: Indie Rock

 

11. Kanye West- The Life of Pablo

If you have already read my previous post about TLOP, you will already know why I would rank it in the top 20 favorites of 2016. Kanye seems to have possibly rushed this album, but nonetheless, it is still claimed as one of his best (along all the others). Signature features like, Kendrick, Ty Dolla $ign, Frank Ocean, and more, demonstrate his sheer star power in the hip hop world today. While his fashion product line and his two kids may be the most important things to him right now, it didn’t seem to get in the way of creating a masterpiece for all Kanye fans to bump their Pioneer subs to.

Recommended Tracks: “Ultralight Beam”, “Father Stretch My Hands”, “Real Friends”

Label: G.O.O.D. Music with exclusive license to Def Jam

Genre: Hip Hop

10. Parquet Courts: Human Performance 

The first time I listened to this album, I hate to admit, but I was not a fan. Parquet Courts is one of those bands that, if you aren’t used to listening to jump around rock, it might take a couple of listens before you warm up to them. Nonetheless, this band made a huge breakout in their third LP, Human Performance. Almost serving as a continuation of the Talking Heads, they combine intellectual lyrics and easy going instrumentation. It goes without saying that the main lyricist, Sadie Dupuis, has a knack for stirring up political controversy. However, on this record, he takes a more conservative approach to make it feel less of an in-your-face record.

Recommended Tracks: “Human Performance”, “Berlin Got Blurry”, “Dust”

Label: Rough Trade Records

Genre: Indie Rock/Pop-Rock

9. Damien Jurado- Visions of Us on the Land

Ah, at last. We finally reach to one of my favorite songwriters, Damien Jurado. I am actually going to go see him up in Cincinnati within the next couple of weeks. Anyway, it goes without being said that Jurado has been around for a very long time. Since 1997, in fact. Water Ave. S. was his first debut album that would set the tone for his entire persona for years to come. Jurado is a folk singer/songwriter that often introduces melancholy lyricism and instrumentation in many of his songs. He has collaborated with artists like Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) to really perfect his style of visionary story telling. Of course, this latest 2016 project is no different than the rest. I encourage anyone who is interested to watch his latest video “Exit 353” on the Secretly Canadian website. It is a must watch and very intriguing.

Recommended Tracks: “QACHINA”, “Orphans in the Key of E”, “Prisms”

Label: Secretly Canadian Distribution

Genre: Folk/Singer-Songwriter/American

8. Pinkshinyultrablast- Grandfeathered

Not too long ago, I wrote an article about how much I loved Pinkshinyultrablast’s most recent album. So, I am not going to write another long paragraph about why I love it so much. One of the best shoegaze albums of this era. Check it. 

Recommended Tracks: “Kiddy Pool Dreams”, “The Cherry Pit”, “Ghost Vastly”

Label: Club AC30

Genre: Rock/Nu-Rock/Shoegaze

7. Archy Marshall- A New Place 2 Drown

Some of you know the popular Englishman for singing ballads about his various heartbreaks with women as, King Krule. King Krule possesses distinct deep vocals for someone his age. Avid smoker and women enthusiast, he released his first debut album titled, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon. However, for his second album, he moved away from his alias of King Krule and released A New Place 2 Drown under his birth name, Archy Marshall. It is really hard for me to put this album this far up, but there are simply too many good albums in my favorites for this year. This album demonstrates Archy’s thought process and gifted knack for creating complex music. The production complexity of his 37 minute LP makes it evident that he will be considered one of the greats for production. His hard hitting beats and melancholy lyricism are simply too good to put into words. Shit, just listen to it yourself.

Recommended Tracks: “Arise Dear Brother”, “Ammi Ammi”, “Thames Water”, “Eyes Drift”

Label: True Panther Sounds

Genre: Production Hip Hop/Experimental Rock/Electronic

6. Car Seat Headrest-Teens of Denial

Ok, this album is AWESOME. It came out last Friday, but I have not stopped listening to it since it came out. It is safe to say that the mastermind, Will Toledo, will be riding a tidal wave of high praise in the Indiehead world for quite sometime. It is very hard to find someone who doesn’t love Toledo’s newest project, despite much controversy that revolved around the album. One of the tracks “Not What I Needed” drew attention from 70’s sensation rock band, The Cars. Because Toledo already published and distributed the album once this copyright complaint was made, they had to recall all CDs, Vinyls, and physical copies to rewrite the last track. Despite this entire mess, this project shows how intimate and transparent Toledo wanted to be with his fans. Much of the album reflects about his past and how living in his hometown transformed him into the person he is today. Check it.

Recommended Tracks: “Fill in the Blank”, “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, “Joe Goes to School”

Label: Matador

Genre: Indie Rock

5.  Kevin Morby-Singing Saw

Former Woods member, Kevin Morby abandoned the group to find success working on solo projects. In 2013 and 2014 he dedicated long hours in the studio to produce successful albums Harlem River and Still Life. However, Morby tops himself by creating a peaceful Americana album that will last all summer. Intimate songs meant for Kentucky back roads are likely to put anyone in a positive mood. So, go find yourself an open field, pull down the tailgate, and watch the stars. This album should be on constant rotation for anyone who wants to spend most of their summer nights outside.

Recommended Tracks: “I Have Been To The Mountain”, “Drunk On A Star”, “Water”

Label: Dead Oceans

Genre: Americana/Folk/Singer/Songwriter

4. DIIV-Is the Is Are

Simply incredible. Along with Grandfeathered, this is one of my favorite shoegaze albums. This also is one of my favorites of all time. Check out my blog post about DIIV: https://jmusicetc.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/diiv-is-the-is-are/

Recommended Tracks: “Dopamine”, “Loose Ends”, “Yr Not Far”

Label: Captured Tracks

Genre: Indie Rock/Shoegaze

3. Kendrick Lamar- untitled, unmastered.

Very hard to believe it when anyone says that they are a bigger Kendrick fan than myself. untitled, unmastered was on rotation for me for about two solid weeks of non-stop playback. Only can Kendrick produce an album full of extra TPAB demos that become bigger hits than most rappers have in their entire career. However, knowing Kendrick, he hates mainstream, the system, and everything that it does to institutionalize our youth. These tracks involve hard hitting words about race, the black community, and society in general. TDE, I believe is on the way to taking over the entire industry. You just watch. If you haven’t listened to this 8 disc track yet, I will personally come find you and make you listen to it.

Recommended Tracks: “untitled 08”, “untitled 07”, “untitled 03”

Label: TDE with exclusive license to Interscope Records

Genre: Hip Hop/Intellectual Rap

2. Fruit Bats- Absolute Loser

Thank God. Thank God that the Fruit Bats got together after three years of separation. Those three years were absolute torture for me. Not having an album produced since 2011, practically wiped out the Fruit Bat’s popularity entirely. Now, they came back with full steam ahead with their 6th LP, Absolute Loser. Last week, I was sitting out on my front porch, drinking a cold beer in the sun, and listening to this album. Every single song that came on, I pressed repeat and continually got goosebumps. From beginning to end, Eric Johnson sets an atmosphere that is peaceful and in-touch with nature. Americana is a relaxing and uplifting genre, but Johnson makes this masterpiece intuitive and intimate. Words simply do not do it justice. Turn it up.

Recommended Tracks: “From a Soon To Be Ghost Town”, “Don’t You Know That”, “Absolute Loser”, “Birthday Drunk”

Label: Easy Sound Recording Company

Genre: Americana/Folk/Southern Rock

1. Bob Mould-Patch the Sky

KICK ASS. JUST KICK ASS album. Let the record show that Bob Mould is 55 years old and still rocking out like he was when he was with Husker Du. This solo project channels the most heavy, hi-fi, angry songs that one is going to find anywhere. No, these aren’t screamo songs and they aren’t all angry songs. However, every single song builds off the previous one. Each one continues to get harder and harder, until the very end. A man that is 55 years old and can rock this hard, gets an A++++++++++++ in my book. Many of these songs remind me of the hard rock that existed in the mid 2000’s. His vocals are clear and his presence is well known. This album captures Mould’s rapid realization that he is, indeed, getting older. Soon becoming what he always feared, he channels his anger through crazy solos and adolescent angst lyrics. Bob Mould is here to rock and he is going to tell you to shut the fu#k up if you tell him to stop. If there is any album you want to accelerate in your 6 speed trans-am on a desert highway to, pick up this album.

Recommended Tracks: “You Say You”, “Lucifer and God”, “Daddy’s Favorite”, “Pray For Rain”

Label: Merge Records

Genre: Hard Rock/ Post-Punk

That’s a wrap. Never stop rockin’.