BEST ALBUM
The Best of 2016? I just looked in a magazines “Top Fifty.” I only knew three of the Top Ten, and only two between 11 and 50. But this is from the stuff I bought this year.
1 Midwest Farmer’s Daughter – Margo Price
I’ve listened to this more than any other 2016 album. Song after song are first rate.
Sample Hands of Time, Four Years of Chances, How The Mighty Have Fallen. The lyrics are outstanding narratives to compare with Bobbie Gentry and Lucinda Williams.
2 You Want It Darker- Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen’s final album is a work of genius, but they all are. Some say his best album ever. Probably over the top (I prefer
Ten New Songs) but it is an astonishing achievement as a final statement. Key track: the title track.
3 Lemonade – Beyoncé
I suspect for most listeners it’s between this and David Bowie’s Black Star for record of the year. I find Black Star too profoundly sad to listen too long enough for me to assess it properly. My age shows in that some tracks are harder for me to embrace than the two above it, but in terms of innovation and brilliance, this should be #1.
4 Stranger To Stranger- Paul Simon
The surprise of the 2016 live shows was no place for the best song, Cool Papa Bell. But Wristband is another to sample. The album has an “as a whole” vibe. See review of the 2016 tour: Paul Simon 2016
5 Reckless Heart Bap Kennedy
Posthumous and recent, but in the couple of weeks it has been available it’s been playing non-stop. Classic Bap Kennedy.
6 Takeaway by Richard Palmer-James
Solo album from Supertramp founder-member and King Crimson lyricist. After decades of playing guitar, and writing songs for a wide range of artists, this is an album full of variety, intriguing lyrics and music. The title track is an ear worm. Try also Half-Remembered Summer, Aerodrome, Saving You From Drowning.
7 Let The Record Show: The Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul
Slice of Celtic + soul this year from Kevin Rowland and friends. It’s an odd album, embracing Take You Home Kathleen, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Carrickergus, next to You Wear It Well, To Love Somebody and Both Sides Now. It’s not even the best cover of every song either, but somehow it all hangs together and lurches cheerfully into your heart. Key track: Phil Coulter;s The Town I Loved So Well.
8 Old Adam – Fay Hield
Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party. See review of the Old Adam tour: Fay Hield 2016, where she played 11 of the 13 songs on the album, and there are notes on each of them.
9 Little Windows – Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones
The best Everly Brothers album the Everlys never made. New songs in the style of the Everlys, with Teddy taking the higher lead vocal often and Kelly the lower harmony. These male / female duos doing The Everlys style really work well … this is the third recent one. I loved the loud bass that makes the speaker cone shudder just like my old 15 watt Futurama Bassist amp back in the day.
10 Blue & Lonesome – The Rolling Stones
Only just released, but it needs placing. Had they come out with this in 1964 or 1965, it would have wiped the floor with all the British blues boom competition. John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, eat your heart out (though Eric Clapton guests on two tracks here). Maybe it’s The Stones as they would have been if Mick and Keith had never started songwriting. All recorded in two and a bit days, straight off the cuff. Downside … it is a tad samey, but hey, it’s a blues album. Generally they’re deeper catalogue covers too.
BEST SONG
1 Daddy Lessons – Beyoncé
2 Cool Papa Bell- Paul Simon
3 Four Years of Chances – Margo Price
4 The Town I Loved So Well – Dexy’s
5 Takeaway – Richard Palmer-James
6 Cleopatra – The Lumineers
7 Funnel of Love – Cyndi Lauper
8 It’s Not The Spotlight- Louise Goffin
9 Fear No More The Heat of The Sun – James Cooney, Terri Wilkey
10 Blackbird – Madness
BEST REISSUE
1 The 1966 Live Recordings – Bob Dylan
2 Motortown Revue: The French EPs 1965, vinyl box set
3 Tales of Mozambique – Count Ossie & The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari
BEST MUSIC BOOK
Testimony by Robbie Robertson
BEST CONCERT
All concerts are reviewed on this blog. Links to each review.
1 = { Natalie Merchant, Royal Albert Hall, London
LINK: Natalie Merchant
1 = { Paul Simon, Bournemouth BIC
LINK: Paul Simon 2016
3 Carole King, Hyde Park
LINK: Carole King – Hyde Park
4 Ralph McTell, Poole Lighthouse
LINK: Ralph McTell 2016
5 Simone Felice, Winchester The Attic
LINK: Simone Felice- Oct 2016
6 Don Henley, Hyde Park
LINK: Don Henley – Hyde Park
7 The Manfreds (x 2), Regent, Christchurch / Poole Lighthouse
LINKS: The Manfreds – 2016 and The Manfreds, P.P. Arnold, Zoot Money, Nov 2016
8 Fay Hield, The Convent, Stroud
LINK: Fay Hield 2016
9 Bellowhead
LINK: Bellowhead 2016
10 Rita Coolidge
LINK Rita Coolidge
MOST LISTENED TO ALBUM …
From “Sleep” by Max Richter
It does what it says on the packet, sends you into a deep sleep-like doze. Ultimate relaxation album.
BEST FIND ON SECONDHAND VINYL:
Phew! Claudia Lennear: 1973
Produced by Allen Toussaint
One side is backed by Ry Cooder & friends (Tommy McLure, Jim Dickenson, Mike Utley), the other is New Orleans with Allen Toussaint, with a band including Jim Keltner, Spooner Oldham, Harold Battiste, Chuck Rainey.
Try: Casey Jones LINK TO YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YC6VXw6Wc