Inevitably, the releases of the year, 2016 (grand finale!)

 

Before the release of the year, here are some honourable mentions (that are not necessarily less good than the ones I wrote about, but which I didn’t get round to writing about. There will also be omissions that I will probably mention later, when I remember them)

The honourable mentions…

Prophets of Rage – The Party’s Overep-cover

Jenny Hval – Blood Bitch

Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression

De La Soul – …and the Anonymous Nobody…

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Skeleton Tree

Shield Patterns – Mirror Breathingshield

Trees of Eternity – Hour of the Nightingale

A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service…

Kate Carr – I Had Myself a Nuclear Spring

Abbath – Abbath

Jeff Parker – The New Breed

Cate le Bon – Crab Dayjeff

Eno – The Ship

and finally – my choice for…

Release of the Year, 2016!

Kristin Hersh – Wyatt At The Coyote Palace (Omnibus Books)

book-2

I have written extensively about this album/book both here and for Echoes and Dust so will try not to repeat myself. 2016 was (externally, and I hope personally) a good year for Kristin Hersh. In addition to this long-awaited solo album, she released the excellent Bath White EP with her band 50FOOTWAVE and recently completed a successful solo tour, which I was lucky enough to catch one of the dates of (I wrote about it here). Wyatt… ended up being my album of the year because after months of listening I haven’t got anywhere near wearing it out. It’s a warm, intimate encounter with a fellow human being, a beautiful, mysterious, heartbreaking piece of work that ultimately feels strangely familiar. No other album this year has found a place in my heart in the same way this. It’s great.

Happy New Year & best wishes for 2017!