The Absolute Best Records Of 2016

Once again, it's that most wonderful time of the year.  Time to reflect on 2016.  I won't be alone in saying that quite a bit of this past year sucked on ice.  But at least there were some pretty good records that came out.  Top it off with an end of the year trip to Japan and I think I'll make it out of this year in one piece.  2017 is a different story, but we'll deal with that when it arrives.

One of my very favorite records of this past year is one that I just can't bring myself to rank on my list:

Chestnut Road – LP II – PopKid/Brassneck/Snuffy Smiles

Since it came out on PopKid, it doesn't seem fair to put it up against the others, so I'll just let you know that I love this record a lot.

For the rest of the ranked list, we've got some old favorites like Mrs. Magician and Steve Adamyk Band.  Both are bands that never let me down and their records that came out in 2016 were as great I had hoped they would be. That being said, once again I've stumbled across some great new bands this year as well.  Wild Animals, Laika's Orbit and Bent Shapes really hit it out of the park and gave me some new tunes to be excited about.

As always, here's my top 30 list and then some of the other records I picked up in 2016.  This will be my last post of the year.  I'm heading out to Japan the day after Christmas so that'll be a crazy time.  I plan of a lot of record store visits so I should have some interesting things to write about next year.  If you want to follow along with the wackiness, I'll still be active on Twitter and on Instagram as @TimPopKid on both.  Happy New Year!

01 - Mrs. Magician – Bermuda – Swami (Listen)
02 - Steve Adamyk Band – Graceland – Dirtnap (Listen)
03 - Title Tracks – Long Dream –Ernest Jenning (Listen)
04 - Wild Animals – Basements – Music To Fight Hypocrisy – Waterslide (Listen)
05 - Laika’s Orbit – No Matter What it Takes – Total Negativity (Listen)
06 - So Cow – Lisa Marie Airplane Tour – Tall Pat (Listen)
07 - Bob Mould – Patch The Sky – Merge (Listen)
08 - Medictation – Warm Places – Dead Broke (Listen)
09 - Good Shade – Breakfast – Gut Genug (Listen)
10 - Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place – You’re Doomed. Be Nice. – Temporary Residence (Listen)

11 - Bent Shapes – Wolves Of Want – Slumberland
12 - A Giant Dog – Pile – Merge
13 - Lutheran Heat – Louder From The Other Side – Pinata
14 - Low Culture – Places To Hide – Dirtnap
15 - Hurry – Guided Meditation – Lame-O
16 - The Blind Shake – Celebrate Your Worth – Goner
17 - Marvelous Mark – Crushin’ – Drunken Sailor
18 - V/A – Harcore Matinee – Swami
19 - The Rutabega – Unreliable Narrator – Comedy Minus One
20 - Hot Mass – Nervous Tensions – Brassneck

21 - Danger Signs – Reset – Big Neck
22 - Beach Slang – A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings – Polyvinyl
23 - Notches – High Speed Crimes – Young Modern
24 - Dumpster Babies – Lost and Found – Tall Pat
25 - Toys That Kill – Sentimental Ward – Recess
26 - Pale Lips – Wanna Be Bad – Waterslide
27 - Drakulas – Drakulas – Dirtnap
28 - Spells – Staying In > Going Out – Snappy Little Numbers
29 - Martha – Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart – Dirtnap
30 - Plow United – Three – It’s Alive

Other Records I Picked Up This Year:
Against Me – Shape Shift With Me – Total Treble
Audacity – Hyper Vessels – Suicide Squeeze
Basketball Shorts – Hot And Ready – Fleeting Youth
California – California - Blackball
Chandeli-ers – Breaker – Dead Broke / Dirt Cult
Greys – Outer Heaven - Carpark
Mind Spiders - Prosthesis – Dirtnap
Mr. Lif – Don’t Look Down – Mello
Real Numbers – Wordless Wonder – Slumberland
Sega Genocide – Trys – Just Because
Shallow Cuts – Empty Beach Town – No Idea
Terry Malts – Lost At The Party – Slumberland
The Thermals – We Disappear – Saddle Creek
Wavves x Cloud Nothings - Wavves x Cloud Nothings – Ghost Ramp

Previously:
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009