My favorite records from 2016
It's been a great year for soundtracks, ambient, and modern classical music. Here are my selections for 2016, ordered A to Z, narrowed down to fifty albums I've listened to more closely and have enjoyed. My ten favorites are in bold.
| Album | ♫ | 🍏 |
|---|---|---|
| Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie – Salero | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Andy Stott – Too Many Voices | ♫ | 🍏 |
| ANOHNI – Hopelessness | ♫ | 🍏 |
| A Winged Victory for the Sullen – Iris | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Biosphere – Departed Glories | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Brian Eno – The Ship | ♫ | 🍏 |
| The Caretaker – Everywhere at the end of time | ♫ | N/A |
| Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Circe – Circe | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Colin Stetson – Sorrow: A reimagining of Gorecki's 3rd Symphony | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Daniel Lanois – Goodbye to Language | ♫ | 🍏 |
| David Bowie – ★ | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Demdike Stare – Wonderland | ♫ | N/A |
| Eluvium – False Readings On | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Floating Points – Kuiper | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Gold Panda – Good Luck and Do Your Best | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Kassel Jaeger, Stephan Mathieu, Akira Rabelais – Zauberberg | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Jambinai – A Hermitage | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Jherek Bischoff – Cistern | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Jóhann Jóhannsson – Orphée | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Jóhann Jóhannsson – Arrival | ♫ | 🍏 |
| King Ghazi Presents Abu Sayah – Houran & Shamaleh | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Kjartan Sveinsson – Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Klara Lewis – Too | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Kristoffer Lo – The Black Meat | ♫ | 🍏 |
| The Limiñanas – Malamore | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Lambchop – FLOTUS | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Loscil – Monument Builders | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Lubomyr Melnyk – Illirion | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Ludovico Einaudi – Elements (The Remixes) EP | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Max Richter – Sleep (Remixes) | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Melanie de Biasio – Blackened Cities | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Mogwai – Atomic | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Murcof × Vanessa Wagner – Statea | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree | ♫ | 🍏 |
| PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Praed – The Fabrication of Silver Dreams | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Richard J. Birkin – Vigils | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Scott Walker – The Childhood of a Leader | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Tindersticks – The Waiting Room | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Juno | N/A | 🍏 |
| Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Gustavo Santaolalla, Mogwai – Before the Flood | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Various Artists – Eleven into Fifteen: a 130701 Compilation | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Various Artists – LateNightTales: Olafur Arnalds | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Various Artists ‐ Pop Ambient 2017 | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Wolfgang Voigt – Ambient Grunge | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Woodkid & Nils Frahm – Ellis EP | ♫ | 🍏 |
| Yann Tiersen – EUSA | ♫ | 🍏 |
Addendum, Dec 16, 2016
A great album that has cropped up since I've published the list is Alex Cameron's "Jumping the Shark" (🍏). Also worth noting is Sylvan Esso's cover of "Everything is Free" (🍏) by Gillian Welch, whose album "Time (The Revelator)" (🍏) was, well, a revelation.
Bonus: This year's list in the form of a glorious YouTube playlist, courtesy of my friend Adi.
Timeline of favorite records: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
Other lists: