Best of 2016

5 Best Artist Discoveries of 2016

December 20, 2016

As part of our year-end wrap up, we decided to make a list of our top five (non-local/regional) artists that we were pumped to find in 2016. Car Seat Headrest  Looking back on 2016 from an indie music fan perspective, this year will be seen as the year that Car Seat Headrest first broke. The Seattle-based now-quartet/project headed by Will Toledo, had a huge year, breaking last winter with hype from major online tastemakers such as Pitchfork and All Songs Considered. The band’s introspective full-length Teens of Denial (Matador Records) offered a glimpse of Toledo’s wallflower nature and deeply reflective lyrics, coupled with raw guitars and minimal synths to make a perfectly packaged indie rock masterpiece. Jessy Lanza  Hamilton, Ontario-based songwriter, Jessy Lanza, made a blip on our radar with last spring’s sophomore break-out album, Oh No. Co-produced by Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan, the retro-pop sound is a mix between French[...]

Staff Picks

December 15, 2016

To begin our Best of 2016 coverage, we asked a handful of our staff writers to submit their favorite albums and songs of the year. Cliff Parks Favorite Album: The Avalanches – Wildflower The joy and pleasure this album gave me this year is incalculable. The elusive Australian DJ collective saved the day with this next level sonic adventure into boom box urban funk and ear tickling psychedelia, featuring a wicked sense of humor, a killer collection of guest stars (Danny Brown, Toro Y Moi, Biz Markie, Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue, Father John Misty..) and some of the greatest crate diving ever, creating a thoroughly satisfying journey into the sounds of summer and of our lives, and an ode to walking down the music filled mythological NYC streets of our shared popular imagination. Favorite Song:  Anderson .Paak “Put Me Thru” This year was far from spectacular, but Anderson .Paak was incandescent,[...]