Top Tracks 2016 Part II 90 – 81

90. Kel Valhaal – Ontological Love (New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala)

Hunter Hunt-Hendrix last effort under Liturgy was the promise of what could be expected: An undefinable mixture of styles and mindsets, him rapping over trap like beats as much as going into rave-mode and combining the spiritual with musical expression. Moving on from Transcendental Black Metal he graces us with Transcendental Qabala (?). On “Ontological Love” there is the distinct immediacy of Liturgy in the completely electronic mindset. The burst beats pushing forward, relentless repetition between breaks and variation. And at one point the prayer begins, Hendrix intonates something closer to an Imam or Sufi songs then spoken-word with the phrase “Ontological Love” weaving together to a truly out of body/out of mind experience. 

89. Peter Broderick – It´s A Storm When I Sleep (Gruenewald EP)

Peter Broderick is the man who put Nils Frahm on the map! On the Gruenewald  EP he dedicates attention to the Berlin church that he and Frahm use for many of their recordings. And as with The Bells, the greatest element of this track, is the truly magnificent natural reverb of this sacred space. This track recalls the arrangements of Frahm in a big way, but still feels like a unique expression of Broderick tying into his LP this year and his previous work in general. “It´s A Storm…” is reflection and awe, for both Broderick, looking back at his solo career spanning almost ten years and for the listener himself experiencing the strong pull of layered piano playing crashing itself.

88. Slow Meadow – Lachrymosia (Lachrymosia / Some Familiar...)

After gracing us with his debut album this year, the first Hammock Music signee came through with a single series this year. "Lachrymosia" was the first single and its elegiac nature shines through ripples of piano before being taken over by the allusion of a journey full of understanding and heartbreak by means of a lightly pulsing drone and that sweet sweet violin. This track always carries a kind of minimalism with it, not in the use of instruments, but from the diminutive heights, making this a worthwhile listen for delving deep into one´s own emotional existence and leaving the breathing space most overtly classical music lacks. 

87. Overhead, The Albatross – Big River Man // Bara (Learning To Growl)

Overhead, The Albatross are a band, I would easily tag as the future and redemption of post-rock. While many bands have moved on from their former selves and sidestepped into various musical forms, not many of the greats were able to stick to the known formula and create something with the emotional pull of their first albums. When the band released “Big River Man”, I was intrigued by the energy; an energy letting the track shape-shift in the matter of a few seconds, letting every movement unfold without overstaying it´s welcome and setting the whole listen up for a heart-warming explosion of a crescendo. Even the use of vocals is as nuanced and chilling, as the first moments of vocals in the works of Explosions In The Sky (The Rescue) or Yndi Halda (“Dash And Blast”). My second pick “Bara” only furthers the capability of OTA. This is a slow-burner and carries a melancholy and feeling of loss with it; at least for the first few minutes before allowing for a sparkling peak and a bass centered arc of redemption, going ballistic in the math rock kind of sense. Dynamics are a bitch, especially if you don´t use any vocals and Overhead, The Albatross seem like a promising addition to the genre of instrumental rock. 

86. Paul Simon - Horace And Pete (Stranger To Stranger)

I don´t really listen to Simon and Garfunkel and wasn´t following the solo work of Paul Simon in any way. I haven´t really gotten around to giving Stranger To Stranger more than two listens, but “Horace and Pete” had to be on this list for its use in the series of the same name. Louis C.K. is the man behind “Horace and Pete” and created a type of 10 episode series, distributing it over his website, telling very realistic and thought-provoking storys of the New York bar-owners Horace and Pete, struggling to get their lives together, getting lost in conversations by themselves or between the guests. The whole show was a great depiction of the everyday insanity of life with as much hilarity as heartfelt truisms on human behavior. The tracks “Horace and Pete” utilizes one of the most recognizable voices for a quite intro. The clear acoustic strings ring out with all their might and the few lines uttered by Simon almost recall the alluded mood of somebody going to a bar, to drown their sorrows and to take a breather from what haunts them outside the doors of an alcohol serving safe haven. 

85. Colin Stetson – Sorrow II (Sorrow) // Henryk Gorecki – Symphony No 3 II Lento E Largo Tranquillissimo (Symphony No. 3)

This year, after almost forty years, the 3rd Symphony of composer Henryk Gorecki saw a release on vinyl for the first time. The symphony, often dubbed the “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”, can be considered one of the most popular classical pieces of recent history and stands as the finest classical piece in my own experience. So it is only fitting to add it to this collection. With this, the last Symphony Gorecki created, saw release too, finished by his son and showing a very different side of the composer altogether. There is almost a playful vibe in the 4th, one that might seem off for everyone expecting another tearjerker in the style of the better-known work. One other thing, much closer to my heart, was the reinterpretation of the 3rd by none other than Colin Stetson. His album titled “Sorrow” saw him recreating and reinterpreting the three movements with a much-updated mindset. While sticking mostly to the script, there is a good amount of variation and nuance of these tracks, not only through the crafty hands of Stetson but also through the help of his well know friends like Greg Fox or Sarah Neufeld. The biggest credit goes to Stetson´s sister, who took over the singing part and did a grandiose job at not only channeling the most famous recording by Davin Zinnmann and vocalist Dawn Upshaw, but by invigorating the sorrowful delivery. 

84. Camp Cope – Trepidation (Camp Cope)

“Trepidation” seems to be about the push and pull of having regrets and failing human relationships. An indie-rock shout about standing on your own and moving on with your life, that has the ability to strike everyone with a weakness for guitar-driven music and especially a superb vocal performance. But the standout of this track is not that, not the content or the ability of Georgia Maw to go from subtle singing to a howl, it is the fragile nature of these things and the experience of being at one´s limit, while still pushing forward to change and become a better person in one’s own right. A lot of indie rock deals with similar themes and vocalizes existential problems in the vain of coming of age and growing up, but Camp Cope are capable of muddling the positive and the negative in a way of letting personal victories become the self-reflective and hard earned transformations they usually are. You don´t just write a song (or listen to it) and are done with it, it will come back ever so often, to stare you in the eye and ask to transgress your limits once again. 

83. Jesse Boykins III – Tomorrow (BARTHOLOMEW)

Jesse Boykins delivered one of the best surprise drops (for free!) this year. The whole of Bartholomew is a mix of his psychedelic funk r´n´b and a futuristic take on this music known in many artists today. Boykins, however doesn´t need any played edginess or the semblance of being high art. There is a positivity and smoothness in his music, that carries a huge appeal, and his honesty in “Tomorrow”, the vibe of standing up and moving on speaks to me without coming off as annoying, addressing religion or making other missteps along the way. This is grounded positivity, a somber outlook and the affirmation of one’s own inherent powers. 

82. Pallbearer – Fear And Fury (Fear And Fury EP)

The first notes, the yearning guitar sounding as much from the deepest abyss, as from the starlit stratosphere, denotes one band and one band alone: Pallbearer. While this year was quite silent for the Guns´n´Roses of doom metal, they released their Fear And Fury EP this year and will follow it with their third album in 2017. “Fear And Fury” was the only original track on the EP and is from the Sorrow And Extinction era. Nonetheless, the song serves as a good reminder why the band is being heralded as one of the greatest with just two releases under their belt. Only when they come together, grief and desolation will sound so airy and dense at the same time, will you be drawn between head-banging to the pummeling drums and cowering in your own struggles while taking it all in. 

81. Fatima Al Qadiri – Blows (Brute)

Making protest music doesn´t have to carry the message in the form of punky shouts or addressing somebody directly, that is a very old and retired form of protest, especially when facing indiscernible enemies of systematic repression. Fatima Al Qadiri came through with Brute to soundtrack a different form of unrest and resistance. Building on her very unique form of “Sino-Grime”, Brute and especially “Blows” is as much a deconstructed grime / dub exercise, as it is a menacing sound collage akin to a funeral march of freedom and the fanfares of repression and subduction. Spiking the experience with some voice recording, "Blows" is a surrealist reprisal of being kettled, harassed and objectified as enemy of the state, an aural expression of the dread faced carrying its potential for uprising in the affective pull of what sounds like digitally muddied church organs. What was once a sign of freedom and unity becoming the artificial wake up call to address and fight what is pushing you down.