What a year 2016 was. Unpresidented, you might say. Definitely one of the top five best years of the last half of this decade. But it was a tough year. We lost Bowie, a Prince, and a Princess Leia and gained a President only 46% of the voters wanted. The Cubs and the Cavs ended decades of championship futility. The year in music was not a transformative one. It appeared to be the year of the comeback album in the rock world, with veteran rockers releasing either records hailed as "return to form" or just first albums in many years by various artists. Spoiler: most were not "return to form", but some were. Overall, a solid year of new music.
20. Lydia Loveless - Real (Bloodshot)
19. The I Don't Cares - Wild Stab (Dry Wood)
18. Margaret Glaspy - Emotions and Math (ATO)
17. Joyce Manor - Cody (Epitaph)
16. Whitney - Light Upon the Lake (Secretly Canadian)
15. Big Thief - Masterpiece (Saddle Creek)
14. Brian Fallon - Painkillers (Island)
13. Split Single - Metal Frames (Inside Outside)
12. Rogue Wave - Delusions of Grand Fur (Easy Sound)
11. Wilco - Schmilco (Dbpm)
10. Eleanor Friedberger - New View (French Kiss)
9. Face to Face - Protection (Fat Wreck Chords)
8. D Generation - Nothing Is Anywhere (MRI)
7. Drive-By Truckers - American Band (ATO)
6. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial (Matador)
5. Angel Olsen - My Woman (Jagjaguwar)
4. Lucy Dacus - No Burden (EggHunt)
3. Parquet Courts - Human Performance (Rough Trade)
2. Connections - Midnight Run (Anyway Records)
1. Beach Slang - A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings (Polyvinyl)
Honorable Mention
Bob Mould - Patch the Sky (Merge)
Eric Bachmann - Eric Bachmann (Merge)
Frightened Rabbit - Painting of a Panic Attack (Canvasback/Atlantic)
Hinds - Leave Me Alone (Mom & Pop)
The Lees of Memory - Unneccessary Evil (John Davis Brand Music)
M. Ward - More Rain (Merge)
Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct (Blackened)
Methyl Ethel - Oh Inhuman Spectacle (4AD)
Mount Moriah - How to Dance (Merge)
Purling Hiss - High Bias (Drag City)
Nada Surf - You Know Who You Are (Barsuk)
Summer Cannibals - Full of It (Kill Rock Stars)
TacocaT - Lost Time (Hardly Art)
Teenage Fanclub - Here (Merge)
Tyvek - Origin of What (In the Red)
Wye Oak - Tween (Merge)
Other Stuff Worth Checking Out
Against Me! - Shape Shift With Me (Total Treble/Xtra Mile)
Bleached - Welcome the Worms (Dead Oceans)
The Coathangers - Nosebleed Weekend (Suicide Squeeze)
Dinosaur Jr - Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not (Jagjaguwar)
Guided By Voices - Please Be Honest (GBV Inc)
Honeyblood - Babes Never Die (FatCat)
Jeff Rosenstock - Worry (SideOneDummy).
Julia Jacklin - Don't Let the Kids Win (Polyvinyl)
LVL UP - Return to Love (Sub Pop)
Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter (Third Man)
Mitski - Puberty 2 (Dead Oceans)
Modern Baseball - Holy Ghost (Run for Cover)
Pinegrove - Cardinal (Run for Cover)
Pixies - Head Carrier (Pixiesmusic/PIAS)
Robert Pollard - Of Course You Are (Fire)
Savages - Adore Life (Matador)
Slingshot Dakota - Break (Topshelf)
St. Paul & the Broken Bones - Sea of Noise (Records LLC)
Steve Gunn - Eyes on the Line (Matador)
Weezer - White Album (Atlantic/Crush)
White Lung - Paradise (Domino)
Woods - City Sun Eater in the River Light (Woodsist)
2016 Shows
Wow after 2013-2015 years (SXSW, Mats in MPLS, numerous shows around town), I guess there was nowhere to go but down as far as show attendance, but quite a drop off this year. Just the "Dad Rock" shows for me this year, I guess.
Bob Mould - 04/26 - Underground Arts.
Pearl Jam - 04/28 - Wells Fargo Center
Pearl Jam - 04/29 - Wells Fargo Center
Wilco - 06/04 - Mann Music Center
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