It’s funny the kids are being nostalgic for 2016 because, at the time, I seem to recall everyone saying 2016 sucked because it was the year of so many celebrity deaths.
I liked 2016. I emigrated (which was fun) and turned 30 (which didn’t seem fun at the time but would be very fun if it happened now). I’m surprised people are saying it wasn’t a good year for music. I think these stand the test of time:
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
King Gizzard - Nonagon Infinity
KAYTRANADA - 99.9%
Jessy Lanza - Oh No
case/lang/veirs - s/t
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound
Maxwell - blackSUMMER’snight
Frank Ocean - Blonde
Solange - A Seat at the Table
A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here…
Plus Charli XCX’s Vroom Vroom EP came out in 2016 which melted my brain and paved the way for some of the most inventive and exciting pop music of recent times.
i think i didn't appreciate r&b until we started hanging out. i did love that charli ep and the frank ocean record, but i wasn't listening to the others yet. my tastes have expanded a lot.
2016 was a super rough year for me too. Daughter was a band I was completely obsessed with. I played both their 2016 (Not to Disappear)and 2013 (If You Leave) albums on repeat. Halsey’s Badlands (2015) and Lorde’s Pure Heroine (2013) were also up there. I had been out of the new music loop for over 10 years, and was trying to find new music. I guess I was about 3 years behind because in 2016 I was also obsessively listening to Arctic Monkeys AM (2013), and The Neighbourhood’s I Love You (2013). I was also obsessed with Meg Myers’ album Sorry from 2015. Also, a little Wolf Alice- I never listened to the whole album, but overplayed Moaning Lisa Smile, Blush, and Your Love’s Whore.
Daughter, Meg Myers, Lorde, and Halsey are what helped me through the year.
My notes say that Japanese Breakfast’s “Psychopomp” was my fave from that year, but w/o looking, I can’t remember what else might’ve been in the running? Feels like kind of a thin year, music-wise?
This makes me realize I was generally not really up on new music in 2016! I could enjoy finding “new to me” music from 2016 as much as now so I will check some of these out!
What I do remember was two eerily timed releases. First was when David Bowie released Black Star and initially the reviewers were wildly speculating on what the album was about, and then a day or so later he passed away and then all the reviews after that said how all the songs were so clearly about dying and death. The other one I remember was that the Tribe Called Quest album seemed like a clairvoyant response to the 2026 election. David Bowie and Fife Dawg seemed to have a lot to say that year even after they were gone.
you're giving me an idea for a retrospective... i haven't thought of the 2010s as particularly bad, I just kind of thought I started paying even closer attention around 2020 and so appreciating more. but there actually was a creative boom around covid when everyone was locked up with nothing to do. are we having kind of a Renaissance? i might do a retrospective if only out of my own curiosity.
I have a few thoughts on this so welcome to my Ted Talk lol
A lot of it has to do with the technological changes of the 2010s. The decade saw personal home studios continue to grow in use in a major way while the capital-M Music Industry was collapsing under piracy and file sharing. This was mostly before the “learn anything on YouTube” dissemination of information, so much of the home studio stuff was recorded and mixed pretty poorly (and digital recording in general is a lot worse and unforgiving in many ways than analog). Not only that but home studio stuff can suffer from not having a professional producer who can help the artist make editorial decisions, help write and arrange, etc. Coming back to the Major Labels they were cutting recording budgets left and right while taking fewer risks with A&R so their stuff got more bland (still true I’d say, but a little better now).
Then culturally I feel like everything had just kind of been done already: the crazy experimentation and fusion of the 90s was cliche. The 90s also had the 60s nostalgia. The best parts of the aughts were the giddy/silly/dirty pop and hip hop and the post punk “Indy sleaze”, and both were played out. The 00s had the 70s and 80s nostalgia trips. So what’s left for the 10s to latch onto?
I have a few thoughts on this so welcome to my Ted Talk lol
A lot of it has to do with the technological changes of the 2010s. The decade saw personal home studios continue to grow in use in a major way while the capital-M Music Industry was collapsing under piracy and file sharing. This was mostly before the “learn anything on YouTube” dissemination of information, so much of the home studio stuff was recorded and mixed pretty poorly (and digital recording in general is a lot worse and unforgiving in many ways than analog). Not only that but home studio stuff can suffer from not having a professional producer who can help the artist make editorial decisions, help write and arrange, etc. Coming back to the Major Labels they were cutting recording budgets left and right while taking fewer risks with A&R so their stuff got more bland (still true I’d say, but a little better now).
Then culturally I feel like everything had just kind of been done already: the crazy experimentation and fusion of the 90s was cliche. The 90s also had the 60s nostalgia. The best parts of the aughts were the giddy/silly/dirty pop and hip hop and the post punk “Indy sleaze”, and both were played out. The 00s had the 70s and 80s nostalgia trips. So what’s left for the 10s to latch onto?
Beautifully captured the way certan records become lifelines rather than just background music. The point about Dacus' confessional lyrics penetrating deeper than usual really lands because sometimes we need art to articulate what we cant ourselves. I went through a similiar rough patch around 2017 and found myself clinging to Jay Som's Everybody Works like it was the only thing tethering me. Its wild how emotional survival soundtracks get baked into memory that way.
Front Row Seat to Earth from Weyes Blood was so huge for me in 2016. I’m still a massive fan of her music, but that record hit at just the right time for me. Also:
-I Had a Dream That You Were Mine by Hamilton Leithauser (i was/am really into The Walkmen)
-Tween by Wye Oak
-Modern Country by William Tyler
-All My Demons Greeting Me as Friends by AURORA
-When You Walk a Long Distance and You Are Tired by Mothers
And of course, I was hammering Views by Drake, which hasn’t aged well!!
That wasn't a big music year for me. I was one year removed from being laid off from my 17 year record store job, and I hadn't honed my outside of the store discovery tools yet. Looking back, there are a few, but not a ton that really connect.
A Moon Shaped Pool made me angry with how much I couldn't stand it (nothing against anyone who loves it, but as an early massive Radiohead fan, it really passed me off how much I couldn't connect with their later stuff - a me problem for sure).
I liked Blackstar, and the Angel Olson album, and later discovered that Kaytranada and the Big Thief album, but the only big favorite of mine that year was the Case/Lang/Veirs. Neko is my girl always, but the old school vibe in the songwriting here and those amazing harmonies throughout just kill. Love it.
Oh, and about the later discoveries - I absolutely love that Why Bonnie album.
James Acaster did a whole podcast series about how it's actually the greatest year for music. It's worth a listen to uncover some new stuff. I'm not sure I agree with him, but Beyoncé and Zeal & Ardor at least released two great albums.
It was a dismal year for music, in my opinion. A cursory glance across a flagging line-up of sub par candidates, reveals two albums that stand apart, both of them by artists who ploughed/plough their own unique furrows.
The final Bowie album - 'Blackstar' is among his best. I went into town to buy it the day after it had been released - went to four different record shops, tried the supermarkets. It had sold out everywhere. The first half appears to be an attempt at exploring the same avant garde territory as Scott Walker did in his later years. ('Heat' the final track on Bowie's previous record was in a similar vein to the songs Walker wrote for 'Nite Flights' - the final Walker Brothers album, released in the late 70s.) Whereas Walker, at the end of his career, was a distant figure disappearing into thick fog, Bowie would always go to the margins and then bring things back with him, and work out a way to make them accessible. That was his artistic genius. The experimental tracks yield to be more conventional, heartfelt songs - 'Dollar Days' and the closer (Bowie's final word, on album, at least) - 'I Can't Give Anything Away,' which appears to nod in the direction of 'A New Career In A New Town' from 'Low'.
The only other record that really grabbed me in 2016 'Take Her Up To Monto' by the mercurial Róisín Murphy - an artist whose mutant disco I will always purchase unheard on the day of release because what she puts out is thoughtful and idiosyncratic and she chooses her collaborators so well. This album suffered, I think, from being released a year after 'Hairless Toys' which was well received and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. I listened to it a lot and I still put in on from time to time.
My 2 favorite albums of all time came out in 2016: The 1975’s “I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” and Frank Ocean’s “Blonde.” Those records definitely saved me. It was a powerfully emotional year (those strong emotions bled into 2017 too) where I was early into college, got into a serious relationship, had some major friend breakups, met a lot of new people, smoked too much, and was just really feeling uncertain about almost everything in my life.
Some other honorable mentions:
- 22, A Million by Bon Iver
- 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (idc, I fucking LOVE this album)
It’s funny the kids are being nostalgic for 2016 because, at the time, I seem to recall everyone saying 2016 sucked because it was the year of so many celebrity deaths.
I liked 2016. I emigrated (which was fun) and turned 30 (which didn’t seem fun at the time but would be very fun if it happened now). I’m surprised people are saying it wasn’t a good year for music. I think these stand the test of time:
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
King Gizzard - Nonagon Infinity
KAYTRANADA - 99.9%
Jessy Lanza - Oh No
case/lang/veirs - s/t
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound
Maxwell - blackSUMMER’snight
Frank Ocean - Blonde
Solange - A Seat at the Table
A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here…
Plus Charli XCX’s Vroom Vroom EP came out in 2016 which melted my brain and paved the way for some of the most inventive and exciting pop music of recent times.
i think i didn't appreciate r&b until we started hanging out. i did love that charli ep and the frank ocean record, but i wasn't listening to the others yet. my tastes have expanded a lot.
Blonde was actually the one from that list I didn’t “get” at the time. It took me a couple of years to truly love it
Thank you, thought I was losing my mind in this comment section...An amazing year for alternative R&B
It really wasn’t a great year for albums, you’re right. My suggestions would be Sturgill Simpson, Lydia Loveless and Bob Mould.
2016 was a super rough year for me too. Daughter was a band I was completely obsessed with. I played both their 2016 (Not to Disappear)and 2013 (If You Leave) albums on repeat. Halsey’s Badlands (2015) and Lorde’s Pure Heroine (2013) were also up there. I had been out of the new music loop for over 10 years, and was trying to find new music. I guess I was about 3 years behind because in 2016 I was also obsessively listening to Arctic Monkeys AM (2013), and The Neighbourhood’s I Love You (2013). I was also obsessed with Meg Myers’ album Sorry from 2015. Also, a little Wolf Alice- I never listened to the whole album, but overplayed Moaning Lisa Smile, Blush, and Your Love’s Whore.
Daughter, Meg Myers, Lorde, and Halsey are what helped me through the year.
Yes to Daughter!! You see they just dropped an outtake from Not to Disappear? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg_EP8Sicwo
Yes!!! I immediately went checking to see if they are going to be releasing a new album, but didn’t find any info if they are. I’m hoping!!
Thanks for introducing me to Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. Never heard of them before.
My notes say that Japanese Breakfast’s “Psychopomp” was my fave from that year, but w/o looking, I can’t remember what else might’ve been in the running? Feels like kind of a thin year, music-wise?
it was a thin year. explains why I clung so hard to the few I had
I didn't find that album until a couple years later, but Thao is so so good. She is the artist that I most often wish would release more music.
Rihanna’s ANTI and Beyonce’s Lemonade!
This makes me realize I was generally not really up on new music in 2016! I could enjoy finding “new to me” music from 2016 as much as now so I will check some of these out!
What I do remember was two eerily timed releases. First was when David Bowie released Black Star and initially the reviewers were wildly speculating on what the album was about, and then a day or so later he passed away and then all the reviews after that said how all the songs were so clearly about dying and death. The other one I remember was that the Tribe Called Quest album seemed like a clairvoyant response to the 2026 election. David Bowie and Fife Dawg seemed to have a lot to say that year even after they were gone.
Looking over releases from 2016 now, it’s actually one of the better musical years for the 2010s (easily one of my least favorite decades for music).
Some highlights:
Savages - Adore Life
Michael Kiwanuka - Love and Hate
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
Anderson .Paak - Malibu
Avalanches - Wildflower
Leonard Cohen - You Want it Darker
you're giving me an idea for a retrospective... i haven't thought of the 2010s as particularly bad, I just kind of thought I started paying even closer attention around 2020 and so appreciating more. but there actually was a creative boom around covid when everyone was locked up with nothing to do. are we having kind of a Renaissance? i might do a retrospective if only out of my own curiosity.
I have a few thoughts on this so welcome to my Ted Talk lol
A lot of it has to do with the technological changes of the 2010s. The decade saw personal home studios continue to grow in use in a major way while the capital-M Music Industry was collapsing under piracy and file sharing. This was mostly before the “learn anything on YouTube” dissemination of information, so much of the home studio stuff was recorded and mixed pretty poorly (and digital recording in general is a lot worse and unforgiving in many ways than analog). Not only that but home studio stuff can suffer from not having a professional producer who can help the artist make editorial decisions, help write and arrange, etc. Coming back to the Major Labels they were cutting recording budgets left and right while taking fewer risks with A&R so their stuff got more bland (still true I’d say, but a little better now).
Then culturally I feel like everything had just kind of been done already: the crazy experimentation and fusion of the 90s was cliche. The 90s also had the 60s nostalgia. The best parts of the aughts were the giddy/silly/dirty pop and hip hop and the post punk “Indy sleaze”, and both were played out. The 00s had the 70s and 80s nostalgia trips. So what’s left for the 10s to latch onto?
I have a few thoughts on this so welcome to my Ted Talk lol
A lot of it has to do with the technological changes of the 2010s. The decade saw personal home studios continue to grow in use in a major way while the capital-M Music Industry was collapsing under piracy and file sharing. This was mostly before the “learn anything on YouTube” dissemination of information, so much of the home studio stuff was recorded and mixed pretty poorly (and digital recording in general is a lot worse and unforgiving in many ways than analog). Not only that but home studio stuff can suffer from not having a professional producer who can help the artist make editorial decisions, help write and arrange, etc. Coming back to the Major Labels they were cutting recording budgets left and right while taking fewer risks with A&R so their stuff got more bland (still true I’d say, but a little better now).
Then culturally I feel like everything had just kind of been done already: the crazy experimentation and fusion of the 90s was cliche. The 90s also had the 60s nostalgia. The best parts of the aughts were the giddy/silly/dirty pop and hip hop and the post punk “Indy sleaze”, and both were played out. The 00s had the 70s and 80s nostalgia trips. So what’s left for the 10s to latch onto?
Throwbackkkk 🫣
Beautifully captured the way certan records become lifelines rather than just background music. The point about Dacus' confessional lyrics penetrating deeper than usual really lands because sometimes we need art to articulate what we cant ourselves. I went through a similiar rough patch around 2017 and found myself clinging to Jay Som's Everybody Works like it was the only thing tethering me. Its wild how emotional survival soundtracks get baked into memory that way.
Front Row Seat to Earth from Weyes Blood was so huge for me in 2016. I’m still a massive fan of her music, but that record hit at just the right time for me. Also:
-I Had a Dream That You Were Mine by Hamilton Leithauser (i was/am really into The Walkmen)
-Tween by Wye Oak
-Modern Country by William Tyler
-All My Demons Greeting Me as Friends by AURORA
-When You Walk a Long Distance and You Are Tired by Mothers
And of course, I was hammering Views by Drake, which hasn’t aged well!!
That wasn't a big music year for me. I was one year removed from being laid off from my 17 year record store job, and I hadn't honed my outside of the store discovery tools yet. Looking back, there are a few, but not a ton that really connect.
A Moon Shaped Pool made me angry with how much I couldn't stand it (nothing against anyone who loves it, but as an early massive Radiohead fan, it really passed me off how much I couldn't connect with their later stuff - a me problem for sure).
I liked Blackstar, and the Angel Olson album, and later discovered that Kaytranada and the Big Thief album, but the only big favorite of mine that year was the Case/Lang/Veirs. Neko is my girl always, but the old school vibe in the songwriting here and those amazing harmonies throughout just kill. Love it.
Oh, and about the later discoveries - I absolutely love that Why Bonnie album.
James Acaster did a whole podcast series about how it's actually the greatest year for music. It's worth a listen to uncover some new stuff. I'm not sure I agree with him, but Beyoncé and Zeal & Ardor at least released two great albums.
It was a dismal year for music, in my opinion. A cursory glance across a flagging line-up of sub par candidates, reveals two albums that stand apart, both of them by artists who ploughed/plough their own unique furrows.
The final Bowie album - 'Blackstar' is among his best. I went into town to buy it the day after it had been released - went to four different record shops, tried the supermarkets. It had sold out everywhere. The first half appears to be an attempt at exploring the same avant garde territory as Scott Walker did in his later years. ('Heat' the final track on Bowie's previous record was in a similar vein to the songs Walker wrote for 'Nite Flights' - the final Walker Brothers album, released in the late 70s.) Whereas Walker, at the end of his career, was a distant figure disappearing into thick fog, Bowie would always go to the margins and then bring things back with him, and work out a way to make them accessible. That was his artistic genius. The experimental tracks yield to be more conventional, heartfelt songs - 'Dollar Days' and the closer (Bowie's final word, on album, at least) - 'I Can't Give Anything Away,' which appears to nod in the direction of 'A New Career In A New Town' from 'Low'.
The only other record that really grabbed me in 2016 'Take Her Up To Monto' by the mercurial Róisín Murphy - an artist whose mutant disco I will always purchase unheard on the day of release because what she puts out is thoughtful and idiosyncratic and she chooses her collaborators so well. This album suffered, I think, from being released a year after 'Hairless Toys' which was well received and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. I listened to it a lot and I still put in on from time to time.
My 2 favorite albums of all time came out in 2016: The 1975’s “I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” and Frank Ocean’s “Blonde.” Those records definitely saved me. It was a powerfully emotional year (those strong emotions bled into 2017 too) where I was early into college, got into a serious relationship, had some major friend breakups, met a lot of new people, smoked too much, and was just really feeling uncertain about almost everything in my life.
Some other honorable mentions:
- 22, A Million by Bon Iver
- 24K Magic by Bruno Mars (idc, I fucking LOVE this album)
- The Life of Pablo by Kanye :(
- Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper