{"id":1578,"date":"2016-12-23T14:39:21","date_gmt":"2016-12-23T19:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/?p=1578"},"modified":"2016-12-23T15:17:10","modified_gmt":"2016-12-23T20:17:10","slug":"favorite-music-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/2016\/12\/23\/favorite-music-of-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"favorite music of 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>2016: the year everyone died <\/b><\/p>\n<p>David Bowie released <i>Blackstar<\/i> on a Friday in January (his birthday), and by Sunday he was gone. Creating his most adventurous music in decades, the starman delivered a eulogy for himself and a lament for the condition of justice in the world. Still, I\u2019d trade in this album of the year in a heartbeat for a living Bowie.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"David Bowie - Blackstar (Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kszLwBaC4Sw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Belle of the ball<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Cinematic, full-throated, vulnerable, maybe a little crazy: Angel Olsen proved herself ready to assume the title of this generation\u2019s Stevie Nicks with <i>My Woman<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Angel Olsen - Sister (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-mIA1r2ZELU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Debut of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>On <i>Masterpiece<\/i>, the hungry, wiry Big Thief play forlorn campfire grunge with an idiosyncratic swing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Big Thief - Masterpiece [Official Music Video]\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oacUgWXrqwc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Cherish your elders while they\u2019re still alive, pt. 1<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Take note: after this inspired, cranky album, the world\u2019s forgotten boy may be exiting the stage once and for all, leaving us all the poorer for it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Iggy Pop - Sunday\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tjSnrDikc4M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Cherish your elders while they\u2019re still alive, pt. 2<\/b><\/p>\n<p>On <i>For Evelyn<\/i>, Hannah Georgas\u2019 affecting bedroom pop and fetching voice pitch an intimate story (the songwriter\u2019s relationship with her aging grandmother) at a universal scale.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hannah Georgas - Evelyn (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QRE5qlvlFVs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Metal album of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The headbanging lifers in Sumerlands shrugged off the customary modifiers (thrash, death, black, doom etc.) to release an utterly distinctive, stylistically classic heavy metal record.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=llMnHBN136I<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Laurel Canyon in the ether<\/b><\/p>\n<p>On <i>Light Upon the Lake<\/i>, one of the year\u2019s easiest-on-the-ears albums, Whitney spun mellow 1971-era rock\u2019n\u2019soul with the wandering spirit of early Neil Young and Paul Simon. Set the dial on the wayback machine a few years earlier, and we arrive at the stunning <i>Forever Changes<\/i>-style orchestral balladry of <i>The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo<\/i>, a solo album by Corey Hanson of the freaky psychedelic band Wand.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Whitney - No Woman (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CGKN6qiDqnk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cory Hanson - Ordinary People\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g3BOboSpmlQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>The dream of the 90s is alive in Lexington, Kentucky<\/b><\/p>\n<p>On this charming, goofy self-titled album, Idiot Glee hotwired his campy piano-man songwriting with vintage-Eno flights of fancy.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Idiot Glee - &#039;Personal Computer Television&#039; (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7L1ms3aUKCc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Maybe this year I\u2019ll make it to Mountain Jam<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Eyes on the Line<\/i> is the fullest, best-sounding album yet from guitarist and reluctant jam-band iconoclast Steve Gunn. It could almost distract me from the fact that 2016 was a really bad year to not smoke pot.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Steve Gunn - &quot;Conditions Wild&quot; (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VsG0kDv2EGs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Video of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>As is often the case with Black Mountain albums, their fourth album <i>IV <\/i>(natch) diluted its impact by running a wide gamut of styles, including early 80s Jefferson Starship to Big Star <i>Third<\/i> esoterica. But \u201cMothers of the Sun\u201d delivered the goods \u2014 Pink Floyd-infused stoner rock \u2014 while the video visualized the band\u2019s leave-something-witchy vibe.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Black Mountain - Mothers of the Sun (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_USHKQ4Ntc8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Musical Urbanism album of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>With <i>Denver<\/i>, Neil Michael Hagerty &amp; the Howling Hex made a puzzling, beguiling concept album set largely to Tex-Mex norte\u00f1o rhythms about the mountaintop city that promises new beginnings and legal weed, no questions asked.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Neil Michael Hagerty &amp; The Howling Hex &quot;Colfax West&quot; (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tpBCZHeoZzU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Reissue of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Omnivore Records has been releasing deluxe reissues of the Game Theory catalogue for a few years, but 2016 saw it move dead-center through the band\u2019s essential four-album run with producer Mitch Easter. The remastering adds the missing kick from the top-heavy original mixes, and altogether the liner notes constitute the Game Theory book you were looking for.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Omnivore Game Theory The Big Shot Chronicles trailer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O7m6UgO--7c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Omnivore Game Theory Lolita Nation trailer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hDD-7Y4FeHA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Bandcamp album of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Two young Brooklyn journeymen came together as New Duo and mined a 70s-rocker-makes-moody-80s-album vein (think Robert Plant\u2019s <i>The Principle of Moments<\/i>, Don Henley\u2019s <i>Building the Perfect Beast<\/i>, Bruce Springsteen\u2019s <i>Tunnel of Love<\/i>) that I didn\u2019t realize I was missing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"New Duo &quot;I Made A Movie&quot; | Video Premiere\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lTfSMmbQjuM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Mix CD of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Detroit house producer Moodymann is known for spooky, oblique audio paeans to urban Black America that are practically literary in their emotional and referential density. His multiplicity and contradictions are more easily sussed when spread over the three hours of jazz, hip hop, funk and house on this DJ Kicks compilation.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yaw - Where Would You Be\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dA5RW-X2QTc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Anthology of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>How I miss this era of 1990s NYC house music. The inimitable swing and melancholy emotional palette of production team Mood II is well represented on <i>Strictly Mood II Swing<\/i>, featuring 4+ hours of classic remixes and original tracks.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Strictly Mood II Swing - Album Sampler\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/boe1QcbF1Uo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Digital miscellany of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In their third decade, Montreal\u2019s the Dears understandably move a little slower. To tide fans over, frontman Murray Lightburn just issued solo acoustic interpretations of favorites from the band\u2019s massive catalogue. These carriveome in three separate volumes, but you should just buy the whole bundle and click \u201cshuffle.\u201d The warm <i>saudade<\/i> on these intimate recordings (not really captured by the echo in this old video) feel like a second bottle of red wine on a winter evening.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Dears \/\/ Istanbul Acoustic Session\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/45640958?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Concert of the year<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In September I finally got to see the legendary Television at the BSP Lounge in Kingston, New York. Richard Lloyd\u2019s no longer in the band, but they still have that magic, thanks to the improvisational kick and rimshot of drummer Billy Ficca.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/A09P8LmJHFY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2016: the year everyone died David Bowie released Blackstar on a Friday in January (his birthday), and by Sunday he was gone. Creating his most adventurous music in decades, the starman delivered a eulogy for himself and a lament for the condition of justice in the world. Still, I\u2019d trade in this album of the year in a heartbeat for a living Bowie. &nbsp; Belle of the ball Cinematic, full-throated, vulnerable, maybe a little crazy: Angel Olsen proved herself ready to assume the title of this generation\u2019s Stevie Nicks with My Woman. &nbsp; Debut of the year On Masterpiece, the hungry, wiry Big Thief play forlorn campfire grunge with an idiosyncratic swing. &nbsp; Cherish your elders while they\u2019re still alive, pt. 1 Take note: after this inspired, cranky album, the world\u2019s forgotten boy may be exiting the stage once and for all, leaving us all the poorer for it. &nbsp; Cherish your elders while they\u2019re still alive, pt. 2 On For Evelyn, Hannah Georgas\u2019 affecting bedroom pop and fetching voice pitch an intimate story (the songwriter\u2019s relationship with her aging grandmother) at a universal scale. &nbsp; Metal album of the year The headbanging lifers in Sumerlands shrugged off the customary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":1579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43659],"class_list":["post-1578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-music-criticism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/308"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1578"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1584,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578\/revisions\/1584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}