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"He’s Spotify’s most-streamed artist for the second year running, and he pulled down an Album Of The Year Grammy nomination." I would imagine the latter doesn't happen without the former, or it's at least far less likely.

I didn't mind the lack of lyrics for AMSP because it felt like they were going for a particular visual aesthetic that would've made a page of lyrics in there sorta out of place. Generally though I prefer cool artwork over lyrics in my vinyl packaging because I can always just look up the lyrics online, but vinyl in particular lends itself to opportunities for kickass artwork that you can't get with other release formats.

Kinda surprised A Moon Shaped Pool didn't get nominated. That was easily the most beautiful packaging of any record I bought that came out this year.

Have you ever been with a group of friends, and one person is looking at their phone, only halfway paying attention to the conversation, and then they look up and make a comment about something the group was discussing like 10 minutes ago? That's how I feel the Grammys are when it comes to Best New Artist. Every year. Chance the Rapper? GET OFF YOUR PHONE GRAMMYS ITS NOT 2013 ANYMORE. Even their argument of "new" being when the artist gets recognized doesn't fucking hold any water, because that already happened in 2013. Jesus Fucking Christ I always go into the nominations knowing that the Grammys are a collection of dumb bullshit not worth caring about and that category still never fails to piss me off.

This logo >>>>>>>> the new Marlins logo

Sorry Tom, but the best graphic design in MLB goes to the Milwaukee Brewers glove logo. The glove is seamlessly made out of an M and a B, for crying out loud. And I say this as a Mets fan, so its not a homer pick on my part, it is simply objective fact. http://outbound.id/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/milwaukee-brewers-285x300.jpg

Aphex Twin's Cheetah EP was in my top 10 albums and I give zero fucks if it doesn't count as an album, I enjoyed it more than many full albums this year.

Would also throw in Curtis by Curtis Mayfield, though there's probably more straightforward soul than funk on that one. Also, thank you for including Fresh. Feels like people always get hung up on There's A Riot Goin' On, which is a great album, but Fresh gets overlooked a lot as a result I think. I think Stand is also worth a listen, even if its from the 60's it has a lot of the foundations for 70's funk.

I'd agree re: The Avalanches. I also think that they kinda made the definitive plunderphonics album with Since I Left You, and it's like, where do you go from there? Making the same thing again essentially would have ended up sounding stale and always directly in the first album's shadow. I like that they went in a somewhat different direction while still retaining their overall sound, and that for the most part it worked really well. I don't think it's as good as Since I Left You, but that's also an unfairly high bar to set for an album, even if its by the same group. It reminds me of mbv vs Loveless. mbv is a fucking phenomenal album, but not as good as Loveless, because very few albums are. If Since I Left You is a 10/10, Wildflower is like a 9 or 9.5/10. I normally don't get bent out of shape over list omissions, but it does piss me off that Wildflower isn't anywhere in the Top 50.

Yeah I can't not have a huge grin on my face when those horns come in. Really though, everything up through "Colours" is perfectly sequenced and pieced together. I love that the very first thing on the album is a sample of a little girl going "Hi," then when "Because I'm Me" starts you hear her say "Hi" again but she sounds more confident and joyous, almost like the Avalanches kinda winking like yeah, we're back. The lead in to "Frankie Sinatra" with the kids huffing spray paint, while you hear people chanting the Frankie Sinatra hook in the background, almost like they're outside of some deranged carnival, then the little "ah haHA!" right as the actual "AHHHH Frankie Sinatra" sample starts up is a fucking incredible lead in and always gets me amped for that song. I believe I've said it before, but "Subways" into "Going Home" into "If I Was a Folkstar" is the highlight of the album for me. Those three tracks are simply The Avalanches at the top of their game. "Subways" to "Going Home" is on par with "Since I Left You" into "Stay Another Season" in terms of killer transitions. "Going Home" might actually be my favorite track on the album, the way they work the samples from "Subways" in and out of the main loop on "Going Home" is genius, and the teasing out of the beat with the filters coming in and out is expertly done. At first it kinda bugged me, but I've grown to love the effect it creates, revealing different aspects of the loop as different filters are applied, it allows them to build and control the momentum of the track in really cool ways. I love the rest of the album as well, but that first run of tracks is just unreal.

1. The Avalanches - Wildflower 2. Kaytranada - 99.9% 3. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool 4. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service 5. Segue - Over the Mountains 6. Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book 7. Solange - A Seat at the Table 8. The Field - The Follower 9. Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP 10. Nao - For All We Know Honorable Mentions: Julianna Barwick - Will, Roman Flugel - All the Right Noises, The Radio Dept - Running Out of Love, 2814 - Rain Temple, Kanye - The Life of Pablo, Matt Karmil - ++++, Mick Jenkins - The Healing Component, Domo Genesis - Genesis

Maybe he just wanted to give the guy the full Game of Thrones experience, excessive violence and all?

Also The Follower by The Field is among my favorites. It has become almost expected that if The Field releases an album, its gonna end up in my annual top 10 because that man is one of the most consistent artists in the game. Raptor Jesus knows what I'm talking about.

Yes to that Julianna Barwick album. I don't think I like it as much as Nepenthe, but still very good. "Same" is an absolutely gorgeous track.

I got Wildflower by The Avalanches at #1. I would be shocked if any major publication puts it as their top album, but wouldn't be surprised if it shows up in the top 10 or 20 on quite a few lists.

Holy shit this is a nice way to start the week. "Young Death" is absolutely gorgeous.

Please let this be as good as anything from his glorious run of singles/EPs from 2011-2013

I forgot that MBDTF basically launched Pusha T as a solo artist. That album got really overplayed for me after it came out, but every so often I go back and I'm always amazed at how good it is. I hope Kanye can get better soon, and I am thankful that he has people in his life that care for him enough to get him help when he needs it.

I hope I don't get an incordenate amount of downvotes

This pun is a cordenal sin.

Corden is too bland. We need someone who can really light the stage on fire. I mean literally. We literally need someone to go up there and light the stage on fire and burn the Grammys down to the ground forever.

I mean yes, my dad just kinda sucks all around when it comes to politics. The lack of empathy scares me more than the lack of information though. I would say my dad crosses the line from simply being uninformed to full on ignorance, and I think the lack of empathy kinda keeps him from understanding other peoples' perspectives or having any kind of introspection.

This is very true. Both my parents voted for Trump. My mom is category 1, my dad is category 2. My mom can be reasoned with. I explained to her why someone like Steve Bannon is a monster, and she understood, though still has a weird irrational resentment of Hillary. I can talk to her about issues and it won't get ugly. My dad cannot be reasoned with. He has been led by the likes of Fox News to believe that his views couldn't possibly be flawed or racist, and anyone telling him otherwise has a Liberal Bias, so he won't even listen to any kind of perspective that doesn't confirm his own views. He is incapable of having a civil discussion about politics. I find category 1 to be mostly good people in general, who might perpetuate racism in unconscious ways but who are generally just plain unaware of what they are doing. And they are who I hope will be able to see this fucking nonsense for what it is over the next few years. I fear that people like my dad are beyond the point of reasoning, and who are the real problem in the country today, largely because of that. Growing up white, upper middle class or better, in a mostly white suburb, in the south or the midwest, you can be a fundamentally good person who is unaware of how they perpetuate systemic problems in society. This isn't okay, but it is a more fixable problem, and these people shouldn't be demonized for being kind of dumb or sheltered, because that is how they veer into category 2. It is the people who are just like indignant due to a totally warped mindset and so far entrenched in their own views that they can't step outside themselves at all that really scare me. And I'm convinced that the left's dismissive, smug, condescending bullshit when it comes to social issues is a big part of what steers them past that point of no return, combined with media sources like Fox News egging that mindset on.

I have only heard The Radio Dept album but its very good. A bit different from Clinging to a Scheme but still has their sound at the core of it.

This album, Since I Left You, and Donuts are my holy trinity of sample based albums. All three highlight everything that makes me love sampling as an art form. Donuts shows how you can get profound emotion out of juxtaposing samples and how much can be extracted from a small snippet of music when framed the right way. There's a very meaningful, coherent message and theme running throughout the album despite there not being any lyrics at all. Since I Left You is basically the best example of how you can create entirely new pieces of music out of already existing pieces of music. Go look on the WhoSampled page for a track like "A Different Feeling," it is unbelievable how none of the samples sound like they could be put together to make that song (also that song is such a fucking banger. They absolutely work the shit out of those drums and that main loop.) Tom put it well with Endtroducing in how it never sounds like a bunch of records fading into each other. It feels like a journey into another world, and unlike the other two albums, I usually don't even think about the samples being used or anything related to them because of how seamless the whole thing is.

I think I like Since I Left You more, but yeah they are both unique in that they feel like entire worlds are within them, versus just a collection of dope sounds. I actually think The Avalanches did a great job replicating that feeling on Wildflower as well.

Lin-Manuel Miranda writing about how he got out of that trash can would be better if Immortal Technique was actually featured on the song.

So it sounds like you're hammered and looking for snacks and more beer and then you make friends with someone's dog? Because if this means Bruno Mars is channeling my drunken shenanigans, this is my album of the year.

Holy shit, An American Patriot sighting. He has risen from the ashes of the Videogum comment sections of yesteryear.

This is literally an episode of Parks and Rec come to life. The irony of Amy Poehler presenting was probably not lost on the people in charge of this.

I mean the man starred in many notable films and even won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Good Will Hunting, so I don't know man I think Rob....oh. Nevermind. Wait, who the fuck is this guy again?

That's a weird, nonsensical quote about Ed Sheeran. Unless this guy is planning to retire to the Shire in Middle-Earth, he's not going to have to worry about living near enough to Ed Sheeran to bother him.

This album reminds me a bit of D'Angelo's Black Messiah in how its great on its own and also felt perfectly timed with the cultural atmosphere surrounding its release. I really needed this right now.

That last sentence is probably the main thrust of why people think this is a bad idea. Taylor Swift has a long track record of being tone deaf at best towards any kind of culture that falls outside of white and/or suburban. I don't think she has to meet some kind of standard of "authenticity" in order to make rap music, but I also can't see this being anything other than a massive cringefest. Going from pop-country to top 40 pop* is different than trying to move towards the "new urban sound" and incorporating "edgier hip hop." It's just not in her wheelhouse at all. *And I still don't get why that's treated like Dylan going electric or Radiohead going electronic, etc. Her sound was slowly going there anyways, it wasn't a very drastic, sudden shift and pretty much everyone who listened to her was already on board with Top 40 pop. She wasn't exactly reinventing herself, she's not goddamn Bjork.

Goddamn NBC, if you're going to pull a desperate viral marketing stunt like this, you gotta target a younger audience. Something tells me that Wayne Newton isn't exactly going to bring in that coveted 18-49 year old key demographic. Point those peacocks at Justin Bieber's house next time.

I'm glad to be back here. Reading everyone's comments and the staff's writing this week has really helped me feel a little better about everything, even though I am still really worried about the future. Having said that, what are everyone's favorite albums this year? We still got a couple months left, but I think Wildflower by The Avalanches is going to get my number one spot at year end. Subways/Going Home/If I Was a Folkstar is an absolutely killer run of songs, and the whole album really holds together well. I am so happy they were able to come back strong as ever. Also really loving the new Radiohead, Solange, and Kaytranada.

zip it

I agree with you. I'm also a straight white guy, and I've been thinking about how we need to fight this bullshit, but also we need to fix the divide in the country, practice empathy and maybe try to find a common ground with those we oppose, since the lack of reasoned discussion is a large part of why we're in this mess. But then thought how gross that probably sounds coming from a straight white guy. So maybe it is the white guys' (and white women, since the majority of them also voted for Trump, but moreso the guys) job to reach out to the Trump supporters, since we probably stand a better chance of them listening to us than anyone else, as horrible as that is (I hope this isn't coming across as self important white savior nonsense, I'm just trying to think of what we can do. Please shit on me if I'm being condescending and let me know if I'm out of line here). I think if people on both sides can realize that we all hate the establishment elite and band together around that we can move in a positive direction, or at least a better situation than the current one. I've also said my piece here this week and will try to not make these large, rambling posts about politics all the time going forward. There are musicians out there who do silly things, and the anonymous sarcastic comments aren't going to write themselves.

His guest spot on Glowed Up off Kaytranda's album is fuckin fire as well.