The Joy of Violent Movement’s Best Albums of 2016
Earlier this year, I had a lengthy bit of correspondence with a British publicist, who I’ve worked with for some time – and as you can imagine, once you’ve worked with someone for a while, the lines between friendship and your professional working relationship can become a bit blurred. But in any case, this colleague had asked how I was doing and at the time my response was: “If there was one word to describe my 37th trip around the sun, I’d say it would be this – embittering.” In that email exchange, I had gone on to describe how I had been dealing with several different, complicated situations in which politics, race and other sociopolitical issues of our era had come up and impacted my personal and professional life in messy and heartbreaking ways. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site since I started it almost 7 years ago or follow me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, that music has held a profound role in my life, informing both my intellectual and emotional life. And while some things have been difficult, I can still say that I’ve been particularly blessed. After all, the fact that music can hold the same vital connection that it did when I was 3, 13 or 25 as it does when I’m 37, suggests that somehow I’ve been doing something right. With our lives becoming more urgent, more politically charged than ever, I personally find myself turning towards art and music to gain a further understanding of my life, my inner world and my place in a ugly and cruel world – and frequently a world that seems to hate difference, uniqueness, thoughtfulness, etc.
Sadly, over the past couple of years, this site’s Best of List has kind of languished although I had desperately wanted to post something about my favorite albums of the year; however, there have been years in which I had been incredibly overwhelmed – to the point of not having enough time to actually sit down and write. And while some friends and other associates have bemoaned the death of the music industry without realizing that over the past year, there’s been some challenging and interesting music that’s been released; that there’s been collaborations that would have never happened 30 years ago happening right this minute, and in the case of this year, there have been an incredible array of releases that I’ve been absolutely been obsessed with in a variety of ways. Check out what were the best albums this year, below.
Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Late Nights and Heartbreaks
Plague Vendor BLOODSWEAT
Beacon Escapements
David Bowie Blackstar
Cinemechanica S/T LP
Exploded View S/T LP
A Tribe Called Quest We Got It From Here . . . Thank You 4 Your Service
Run the Jewels Run The Jewels 3
Clipping Splendor and Misery
Kishi Bashi Sonderlust
The Veldt The Shocking Fuzz of Your Electric Fur
Marta Ren and The Groovelets Stop Look Listen
Goat Requiem
Magic Trick Other Man’s Blues
Drakkar Nowhere S/T LP
La Sera Queens EP
Preoccupations S/T LP
The Deltahorse Transatlantic
Anna Rose Strays in the Cut EP
Super Hi-Fi Super Hi-Fi Plays Nirvana
Beninghove’s Hangman Zohove: Beninghove’s Hangmen Play Led Zeppelin
Shana Falana Here Comes the Wave
Honorable Mentions
Wolkoff Without Shame
Milemarker Overseas
La Femme Mystère
Arbor Labor Union I Hear You
The Shondes Brighton
My Gold Mask Anxious Utopia
Alma Afrobeat Ensemble It’s Time
Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra Bade Zile
Siama Matuzungidi Rivers – from the Congo to the Mississippi
Bad Sports Living with Secrets
San Lazaro La Despedida
Check out JOVM’s top ten albums on Spotify: