SuppliedA colossal year for good music can only mean an equally deep list of favourites. While these albums might not all be found atop lists made by so-called industry “experts,” they nevertheless hold special meanings for the folks at The Gateway who listened to them over and over again this past year. The diversity of styles, artists, and genres below just goes to show the extent to which artists across the musical board were making records that resonated with listeners. What more can you ask from your music? We hope you find as much enjoyment from our favourites as we did this year. Ttyl 2016, on to 2017.
Meshuggah
The Violent Sleep of Reason
Metal is a conservative genre and the lasting subgenres that appear usually evolve slowly but surely, meaning the most respected bands only make gradual variations on their sound throughout their careers. Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Slayer have achieved legendary status, while others that have succumbed to trends make experienced metal fans at the very least ambivalent, if not hostile (Metallica, whatever the hell In Flames is now). What’s so exciting about Meshuggah is watching them make slight variations on the sound they’ve been developing for 20 years. The Violent Sleep of Reason is as aggressive, complicated and exciting as anything they’ve ever done, and it’s really encouraging to know that Meshuggah might not have even peaked yet even as the band members are in their mid-forties. Consistency and avoiding complacency will bring them from being a respected band to a legendary one.
– Josh Greschner
Ab-Soul
Do What Thou Wilt. (DWTW)
Digesting an Ab-Soul record is quite similar to getting shattered and confused after viewing a conspiracy theory documentary. He has always been a harbinger of rare ideologies and information, delivering them skillfully and subliminally in his rhymes. Do What Thou Wilt. isn’t any different; “Threatening Nature” alone has enough gems to ponder on for eternity. It presents a rejuvenated Ab-Soul, sprouting ideas on the femininity of God, “the chicken that came before the egg,” misogyny, religion, sexism and much more. This album finds Ab-Soul at his most concise and sharp. Following the theme of femininity, he craftily exorcises his ideas and knowledge on the female gender both spiritually and physically. The success of this album lies in its flexibility in terms of obeying the theme. Ab-Soul has proved himself to be an excellent curator with this project in addition to his already established skills as a wordsmith.
– Floyd Robert-Maduekwe
Frank Ocean
Blonde
Frank Ocean – ‘Nikes’ from DoBeDo Productions on Vimeo.
Blonde, a masterpiece and bold disruption of the rules of songwriting and song structure, is definitely the most groundbreaking record produced this year. Frank Ocean created a protest album in his own way, shattering the technical rules of music and song, whilst sprinkling snapshots of race, identity, religion, and sexuality. Reflecting Ocean’s dislike for labels, the themes addressed on this album are devoid of specificity. There are subliminal references to race (“Nikes”) or sexuality throughout, which strengthens the effect. Blonde is a visual masterpiece with Ocean displaying his magnificent songwriting prowess, using muted tones, and an introspective perspective to show glimpses of adolescence, identity, eroticism, and relationships. Ocean’s artistic confidence and intention is supported by the absence of drums on the record. There are no external factors to distract you from the bold avant-garde choices — the abundance of spectral guitar rifts in the music, the unconventional song structure. The solo performance from Andre 3000 is the icing on the cake.
– Floyd Robert-Maduekwe
Hamburger Helper
Watch The Stove
Listen on soundcloud.
You may have had a Hamburger Helper meal, but have you heard a Hamburger Helper mixtape? As an April Fools joke this year, Hamburger Helper surprised the hip-hop community by serving up fresh tracks straight out of the Betty Crocker kitchen. The biggest surprise, however, is they were good. From gritty hitters like “Feed The Streets,” or smooth serenades like “In Love with The Glove,” Watch The Stove delivers tasty tunes to soundtrack the kitchen of your trap house. This mixtape is a stove-top fire, but be careful not to get lost in the sauce.
-Nam Huynh
J. Cole
4 Your Eyez Only
J. Cole’s latest album is his greatest work to date. Some things haven’t changed; like his previous release 2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only was released on December 9 with only a week’s notice and has no other artists featured. It also showcases Cole’s typical style with his critical tone in “Immortal” and his romanticized lyrics about “foldin clothes” and “drinking almond milk” for a girl, all over a jazz-heavy background. However, this become one of the best albums of 2016 when you hear the title track of the album. 4 Your Eyez Only becomes a chronicle of another man’s life, one who faces the challenges of growing up in the streets and raising a family as an ex-felon. Through this perspective, J. Cole is able to emotionally deliver his opinion on topics like death and fatherhood.
-Nam Huynh
Chance The Rapper
Coloring Book
Human beings tend to accentuate deficits. We focus on the things we don’t have, harp on the jobs we wish we had, and pay all our attention to the people we feel should be around. We do this so much we often forget about all the good in our lives. Chance The Rapper never let what he didn’t have in terms of major label backing, a fat advance for promotion or even a distribution deal impede what his third mixtape, Coloring Book, would eventually end up meaning in 2016. Eclipsing the perception as merely one of Kanye’s proteges, Lil Chano from 79th emerged as a full-fledged rap superstar. Coloring Book marked a turning point in popular music. It is the first streaming-only album to receive a Grammy nomination (7 of them), served as a vehicle for an independent artist to conquer the charts, and acted as a platform for Chance to successfully tour around the world. Chance proved in 2016 you definitely could not mess with the beam.
– Andrew Magnaye
Childish Gambino
Awaken, My Love!
Donald Glover has many aliases. Troy Barnes, Earnest Marks, Young Lando and of course his most well known alter-ego Childish Gambino. No matter what name you know him by best, the one constant is his undeniable talent. What many anticipated to be a follow-up to his 2013 punchline riddled album Because the Internet, Awaken, My Love! took listeners on a sharp turn down a road of funk and falsetto. After your first listen to the opening track, “Me and Your Mama“ and tracks like “Redbone“ and “Baby Boy,” you are instantly transported inside the mind of a man dealing with unrequited love, loss and inner turmoil in as opulent and exuberant a fashion as only an artist like Gambino can deliver. Just as critics and the public feel they have defined who Donald Glover or Childish Gambino is in the entertainment landscape, he’ll drop a project like Awaken, My Love!. What has been a banner year for the comedian/actor/writer/producer/rapper and now R&B savant, my one piece of advice, trust this Donald.
– Andrew Magnaye
Solange
A Seat at the Table
A Seat at the Table is equal parts a meditation on the ups-and-downs of the black American woman’s reality, and harmony-laced infusion that dips into the sweet, wistfully sad, and sensual. The album is interspersed with heady beats and sparse piano chords, made especially potent when accompanied by music videos filled with dreamlike imagery straight out of an i-D spread. I’m also a sucker for well-executed interludes in albums — they can turn the individual experience of listening to songs into a sequentially fleshed-out show — and Solange delivered on that front. Eight mini-skits weave the album’s tracks artfully from it’s melodic opening “Rise” to its saxophone-laden closing. Take a listen on a chill Saturday at dusk and be borne away on a wave of soothing almost-lullabies.
– Victoria Chiu
Tegan and Sara
Love You to Death
I’ve been a huge Tegan and Sara fan since what seems like forever, so I was ecstatic when Love You to Death came out in June. The record’s gotten flack for straying even farther from the classic T&S garage-alternative sound the duo is known for, but where critics have found weaknesses, there are a ton of strengths. The upbeat, distinctly pop singles “Boyfriend” and “Stop Desire,” for instance, stray just about as far from their brooding 2007 hit “Nineteen” as possible, but are no less valuable in any Tegan and Sara lover’s collection. In true T&S style, their pop is far more complex and meaningful than its blasting beats and infectiously catchy chorus might suggest. Even as the duo’s style continues to evolve, Tegan and Sara never lose the essential qualities in their lyricism that made them so distinct in the first place.
– Victoria Chiu
Japanese Breakfast
Psychopomp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbzsE-GOjBg
On Psychopomp, rising star Michelle Zauner’s amibitious blend of indie-pop, shoegaze, and third-wave emo made for an endlessly listenable record. Despite her music’s gauzy surface, Zauner delivers some of the most tightly structured and undeniable songwriting of the year, a fitting trait for an astoundingly dense album. Comprised of only seven tracks totaling 25 minutes, Zauner’s airtight sense of structure gives Psychopomp the feel of an epic. Throughout, she expertly traverses themes of grief, infidelity, and identity with an eye so acute it feels almost effortless. In a year filled to the brim with surreal tragedies, Psychopomp seemed like a lone place of refuge, a document of both the hope and abandon that permeates the confusion of life in 2016 and beyond. Psychopomp is a stunning and definitive debut from an artist poised to become one of the defining voices of her generation.
– Stefan Makowski
Wreck & Reference
Indifferent Rivers Romance End
This year, California indie-metal duo Wreck & Reference shed the chaotic murk of their past work to deliver an album of remarkable focus and ambition. By rights, the pair’s gloomy electronic metal shouldn’t work, but their ability to organically fuse an unlikely range of influences is consistently thrilling. Nowhere else this year will you hear hip-hop and emo in the same song, never mind the same album (without sounding horrendous, that is). Indifferent Rivers owes this success to a perfect marriage of experimentation and substance. The duo’s impressive vocal performances chart the dissolution of a relationship — and the struggle to rediscover oneself thereafter — with startling clarity and resonance. The album is achingly human and complex, as anguished as it is downtrodden. On Indifferent Rivers, Wreck & Reference established themselves at last as genuine outliers and innovators in the landscape of contemporary metal.
– Stefan Makowski
Blood Orange
Freetown Sound
For how prominent Devonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange) has been as a behind-the-scenes producer and writer for other artists, the identity of Hynes has always taken the backseat to the music itself. However, on Freetown Sound, his third studio album as Blood Orange, Hynes tackles identities head on, dedicating the album for those told they were “not black enough, too black, too queer, not queer the right way.” With an impressive and unsuspecting list of collaborators ranging from Carly Rae Jepsen, Nelly Furtado, and Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Hynes flexes his innate ability to make masterful, boundary pushing pop records. Tracks like “E.V.P” showcases the pop maximalism of the production, channeling synth pop, funk and soul throughout. However, slow jams including “Hadron Collider” showcase a more stripped down, emotional side to Hynes, making a record as complex as one can presume the man himself is.
– Sam Beetham
A Tribe Called Quest
We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service
If hip-hop is a young man’s game, nobody told A Tribe Called Quest. While the group hadn’t released an album since 1998, and a comeback seemed out of the question in the shadow of founder Phife Dawg’s passing, We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service stands tall among one of rap’s finest discographies. Despite his passing in March, Phife Dawg’s presence is felt deeply throughout the album, spitting some of his best alongside an unexpectedly reunited Tribe (sans Ali Shaheed Muhammed) and collaborators ranging from Kendrick Lamar to Jack White. Tribe’s signature dusty boom bap sees a resurrection on this album, yet it looks forward when most rap comeback albums are fully submerged in nostalgia. The lyrics touch upon topics that matter today: the sing-song hook on “We The People…” wouldn’t have the same impact if there wasn’t a bigot in the oval office. The bars themselves are traded back and forth seamlessly between members, recalling an era when rap groups were king, and flow was what really mattered.
– Sam Beetham
Angel Olsen
My Woman
After only listening to Angel Olsen’s My Woman once before its release, I was affected by her and and her message. In “Shut Up Kiss Me,” Olsen doesn’t have to say anything at all — she tells us to just be, and don’t forget to “hold me tight” again and again, and those simple ideas are enough. 2012’s Half Way Home was caressed with alternative country medleys, and since then I was convinced of Olsen, hook, line and sinker. On 2014’s Burn Your Fire for No Witness and now the most recent album, we get more of Olsen herself, and that’s a good thing. However, she does have some help, thanks to talented producer Justin Raisen (who’s also worked with Sky Ferreira and Charli XCX). Thematically, both “Intern” and “Sister” are about equalizing men’s and women’s rights, and in the last lines of “Pops,” she says, “Baby, don’t forget, don’t forget it’s our song.” Can gender inequality become an action of the past? In the future I hope so. In one of my lectures this September, it was just me, my female professor, and 11 educated women (two other guys also came, but they dropped out after one or two classes). But that’s okay, in fact it was good I was a minority. We read Mary Astell’s A Serious Proposal to the Ladies and Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Right of Woman, and I thought it is about time for things to be equal. The goals of My Woman still have a long way to go, especially now with Donald Trump taking office, not Hillary. But women can rise up and beyond. I hope I’ll see it once day to believe it, and Angel Olsen does too.
– Evan Mudryk
Nick Jonas
Last Year Was Complicated
With raw feelings of a fresh breakup, Nick Jonas leaves Camp Rock behind with Last Year Was Complicated — a sultry, vulnerable album laced in contemporary, R&B pop hits. The album is filled with a bit of something for everyone, from pop songs to ballads, and club bouncers. Album opener “Voodoo,” introduces his unparalleled vocals (we all know he was the best Jonas Brother) while “Close” reminds us of the passion Nick can develop in his pieces. “Champagne Problems” has a fun and bouncy drum beat, although a closer listen reveals it to be about former Miss Universe winner, and his ex Olivia Culpo. But if you looking for the song to throw a car party to it’s “Bacon.” Having a bad day? Throw on this song and and let it sizzle your troubles away. Inner rap god not satisfied? Sing along to Ty Dolla Sign! For those of up who grew up with the Jonas Brothers, it was sad to see them break up, but Last Year was Complicated successfully reminds us that this was beneficial. We now have Joe Jonas eating cake by the ocean in DNCE, Kevin Jonas raising his daughter Valentina, and Nick Jonas pursuing a (so far, so successful) career of his own success.
– Akanksha Bhatnagar
The Zolas
Swooner
Vancouver’s The Zolas present a polished sound on their third studio album, Swooner, while keeping (and experimenting upon) the mystical beats of 2012’s Ancient Mars. There’s an immediate draw to the 90’s rock-infused “Swooner” and the heart-pumping “Molotov Girls,” but the album offers a collection of striking, nostalgic sounds. The masterful album culminates into the most beautiful, final two songs, “This Changes Everything” and “Why Do I Wait (When I Know You’ve Got a Lover).” The more I listened, the more I realized what Swooner was truly about — a society washed in the simultaneity of pleasure and angst. “Why Do I Wait” takes an intricately slow approach to this that ends the haunting, almost five minute love story with a colourful eruption of destruction and romanticism. Their progressive pop sounds bring you in, but the lyrics, truly, steal your soul.
– Zac McEachern
Kero Kero Bonito
Bonito Generation
What a turbulent year. Luckily, Bonito Generation dropped to give us all a breath of fresh air. Most songs I’ve ever heard of are about love, sex, drugs, or death. Maybe even all four. But it was alien to listen to this album and hear absolutely nothing about any of that. Kero Kero Bonito have created bright, catchy songs about the most innocent and mundane things in a young adult’s life. The first track is called “Waking Up,” and instead of being a metaphor for some sort of realization or release, it’s a song literally about the everyday struggle of getting out of bed. The attitude is almost juvenile, but it’s relatable to a youthful spirit within concerned about the transition to adulthood. In a year chock full of surprises, Bonito Generation allowed a moment of calm reflection. For that break, it deserves recognition.
– Alex Cook
Kevin Gates
Islah
“They ask me if I’m real, I say ‘really, really’.”
After 2016, I’m not sure Kevin Gates understands that question any more. With his year highlighted by the release of Islah, Gates showed the rap game that he not only has its own lane, but owns it completely.
After 14 mixtapes and dozens of singles and feature verses, Gates’ unique style is concentrated perfectly throughout all 15 tracks. With his Baton Rouge drawl looping rap/sung lyrics over beats from a huge roster of producers that certainly aren’t household names, Gates quietly crafted one of the best albums of the year. His unique singsong flow means that any of the lyrics on the album can function as earworm hooks, and often it takes a second listen to comprehend the lyrical genius of lines like “You the only one that my dick’ll get hard for. I’ve been misused, what the fuck you want my heart for?”
Though Gates was recently married and named Islah after his daughter, he has also been convicted of assault for kicking a woman at a concert (see “The Truth” for Gate’s version of events). Despite turmoil in his personal life, here’s hoping Gates prison bid sees a Guwop-esque burst of activity when he gets out the feds.
– Mitch Sorensen
Skepta
Konnichiwa
After the first half of the year saw him featured all through @champagnepapi’s Instagram, grime rapper Skepta’s Konnichiwa dropped to little fanfare on this side of the Atlantic. Overshadowed by the freshly-released and nowhere-near-as-good VIEWS, Konnichiwa was a phenomenon in the UK (his single “Shutdown” was streamed millions of times). It debuted at number two on the English charts, yet peaking at only #160 on the Billboard 200. Despite it’s lack of success in North America, Konnichiwa sent shockwaves through grime, and for good reason. Delayed for three years, Skepta used his time to perfect the album. He produced many of the tracks himself, and used hard-hitting lyrics and minimalist, industrial-tinged beats to create a focused project that gives listeners a view into Skepta’s psyche. Given “Best Album of the Year” honours by Apple Music and beating out David Bowie and Radiohead for the Mercury Prize, Skepta’s fourth studio album deserves its place in the best of 2016, and certainly a wider listening audience.
– Mitch Sorensen
Various Artists
DJ Koze Presents Pampa Vol. 1
Nine times out of ten, a compilation record is nothing more than a glorified push of the shuffle button — disorganized, incoherent, and prone to you pressing “skip” repeatedly. DJ Koze Presents Pampa Vol. 1, however, is a rare exception. Stefan Kozalla (aka DJ Koze) and Marcus Fink’s Pampa Records compilation curates a sampling of the label’s electronic/techno artists (and friends) for two complete hours of house music bliss. Even though the musicians (and their styles) are various — and some big names appear — the result is surprisingly singular. The opener, Matthew Herbert‘s remix of Lianne La Havas’ “Lost and Found,” is a sweet and irresistible track gleaming with hope and ever-thumping bass. Later, Swedish house-maestro Axel Boman builds a 2001: A Space Odyssey-scale journey of synthesizers to visit a dying world on “In the Dust of This Planet.” The album closes on a second rendition of Roman Flügel‘s “9 Years” (the first, a DJ Koze club remix, is the second song); it’s a quiet, contemplative, and sparkling goodbye. When you’ve reach the end of Pampa Vol. 1, you will be ready to push a new button. Repeat.
– Sam Podgurny
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Arrival (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film as a whole had a tough go of it in 2016. Thankfully, amidst the rubble there was Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. Although the stunning, subtle performance from Amy Adams and gorgeous cinematography are obvious highlights, it’s Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s soundtrack that pushes Arrival to deserve a top spot on more than a few year-end movie lists. Jóhannsson, who has crafted other works for Villeneuve such as the Oscar nominated music for 2015’s Sicario, creates a record which works as a companion to the film, a reminder of its visuals, and a thrilling and thoughtful stand-alone listen. “Heptapod B” seamlessly incorporates the film’s themes of language and communication into a whir of stuttering voices, while “First Encounter” captures the awe, horror, and enormity of first contact in a searing swell of orchestra — one that should go down as one of the most powerful musical moments of the year. Although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has disqualified it from contending for Best Original Score, Arrival’s soundtrack deserves more than your ear, but your other senses and mind as well as we head towards Oscar season and beyond.
– Sam Podgurny
David Bowie
Blackstar
David Bowie’s career spanned over a lifetime in the musical world. The majority of the artists on this list weren’t even alive to witness the release of Bowie’s first handful of records throughout the 70s. In that time period we were graced with more than a few classic albums to say the least. In a vacuum, the 70s are just as sonically gorgeous as any major era in music, it’s ludicrous that four decades later we were handed this time capsule diamond in the rough, long after the other bands and artists from that era broke up, burnt out, got too coked out and had to halt the magic. Bowie survived the 1970s, 80s, and 90s party scene and lived to tell the tale, so you know the man has grit, endurance, and something to give, and he gives us all of that on Blackstar. The album sounds like Bowie could have put it out 40 years ago or 40 years from now, it juxtaposes timelessness with progressiveness. Blackstar is a reflection of Bowie’s life, it’s climaxes are massive and looming, while it’s silences are intimate and alien. It’s sad to think “this is what music used to sound like, that’s too bad.” Blackstar and Bowie are on a tier above this year, the record and legacy speak for themselves.
– Jon Zilinski
