Top Tracks 2016 Part III 80 – 71

80. Isaiah Rashad – 4r Da Squaw (The Sun´s Tirade)

A kid to take care of, the pressure of releasing an album on the same roster as Schoolboy and Kendrick and the undertow of addiction are what made Rashad piece together one of the most recognizable rap albums of this year. “4r Da Squaw” shows his lyrical capabilities mixed with his astonishing cadence and flow. He goes from scatting and muffling his word into transforming played-out lines like “finding the message in a bottle” into something profound, while also giving off the vibe of singing a lullaby for his son and giving thanks for his success. Getting the bills paid is a first and the struggles of being a father, whilst still growing up yourself makes for a ton of issues, but maybe also for the creativity and playfulness to make Rashad the rapper he is. 

79. Graveyard Lovers – Told A Lie (Past the Forest of the Fruitless Thoughts)

After three years we finally got a new album by the Graveyard Lovers and it didn´t disappoint one bit. The blues-infused garage rock of the debut returned with a good amount of variation and even some softer tones now and then. "Told A Lie", however, follows great songs like “Rite To Misbehave” or “Manifesto” on telling an angry, teeth-showing story of revolting against a system of unification and living the good life as told by “The Man”. GL take up the quest of clarity and an anti-materialistic lifestyle that goes hand in hand with being anti-establishment and are able to do this in a way that is instantly understandable, authentic and relatable. Money doesn´t mean a thing, I know, but I wish for their growth and making a name in a genre that mostly favors pop-appeal over experimentation now. 

78 - Films – Gentle Rain (Signs from the Past)

Films are a vocal duo and another collaborative effort of the artists around Ricco Label, like Yuki Murata, Kashiwa Daisuke and Takahiro Kido. They describe themselves as “dark fantasy” and like their name alludes, the bridge to movies and famous narratives like Lord Of The Rings or the works of Studio Ghibli aren´t far off. But while many soundtracks of today’s western fantasy or adventure movies fall flat, the Japanese variants haven´t fallen into the same traps of playing the same happy / sad orchestral arrangements until tedium. “Gentle Rain” stands representative of Signs From The Past and is an auditive journey, without the need for any pictures. The build of the track from slow piano to full on orchestral and electronic gusts is impeccable and the two vocalists of Films never drop the ball on delivering something striking without ever uttering a word.

77. Function / Inland – Colwyn Bay (Infrastructure Facticity)

Function relaunched the Infrastructure New York label this year and started this with the grand Facticity compilation. The tracks range from forward-thinking club euphoria to more subtle moments of electronic ambient. As a label head, Functions “Colwyn Bay”, featuring fellow label-mate Inland, acts as the perfect mind point of reaching a trance-like state and still animating movement through bass and beats. The flow of the track is effortless and the oceanic moments are only stressed by the driving hits of drums and synths. A fine introduction to a bright future. 

76. Nico Muhly And Teitur - Don't I Know You from Somewhere (Confessions)

Tell a story with your songs and take a perspective, which will bring out the tiniest of banalities in the illuminating spirit of an epiphany. Nico Muhly and Teitur did just that by telling the story of people gathering around the table (or around the counter of a sushi restaurant) through the view of a sushi roll. Eating together is a powerful thing and especially the experience of sushi in the west can be the onset of encountering the other, even if it is someone you have known your whole life. “Don´t I Know You From Somewhere” captures just that feeling and delivers the closeness and warmth of people meeting each other. 

75. Recondite – Capable (Corvus EP)

Going strong, after releasing at least one album or one EP since 2012, Recondite´s Corvus EP saw him returning to Ghostly International and somewhat revisiting his most organic sounds of his Hinterland LP. “Capable” is incredibly fluid, with Recondite delivering some acid for the dancefloor, while keeping the constraint of a headphone listen and a contemplative edge. The shimmers of his high-pitched synth notes are always something to hold dear and over the course of these seven minutes, we get a lot more variation on the bass part then one usually suspects from Recondite. Growth while sticking to the roots, a true master of his own sound. 

74. Container – Radiator (Vegetation EP)

Container is there to bring weirded out happiness to you. When his blend of hard techno or just plain simple overriding the noise and the bass to unknown levels hit the nerves, smiling is the only thing left to do. “Radiator” is almost entirely underlined by a simple shattering bass that finds variation throughout a few movement with other excessive sounds, even at one point actually mimicking the breakage of your speakers, Container tries to achieve every time he steps to the boards. 

73. The Body – Two Snakes (No One Deserves Happiness)

As I said earlier, The Body are at the forefront of expanding the sonic palette of metal music. Their Thrill Jockey debut was taking twists and turns on almost every tracks and saw them unify a vast array of styles into a cohesive work of intense music. "Two Snakes" takes a cue from electronic music and would make Hunter Hunt-Hendrix quite proud, as The Body are able to press a lot of noise and tortured shrieking into a track that builds on a heavy bass line. When the guitars go off and the vocals go from the ghostly female sounds to what is distinctly The Body´s way of straining your inner balance, the track comes together with a powerful intensity none of these parts could evoke under a monotone genre setting. 

72. The Weeknd – Reminder (Starboy)

I wasn´t feeling Beauty Behind The Madness and The Weeknd aiming for a more popular sound and still don´t see him catering to both sides equally. But on Starboy he was able to blend the sounds quite well, maybe thanks to the pop sensible sounds of wave and dark-wave, before the boredom of disco and soul music in the previous LP. Either way, “Reminder” is The Weeknd´s way of staying grounded in his roots and playfully addressing the contradictionary nature of his success. Just as the simple melody of the songs seems warped and repetitive, it serves as the constant reminder, the nagging feeling of not belonging and not meddling in the usual pop-star insanity as Weeknd delivers some clever lines of him not being a teen star and remaining a “no man” for his entire life. Something we saw him do in “Low Life” and over his career, even when killing himself in every video he makes, and a message that I welcome as being The Weeknd at its core. 

71. Slingshot Dakota – Paycheck (Break)

This song is simply great for the distorted guitar. It has been done before, even with a little more finesse, but the track just takes off with this simple guitar line, the organ sounds and twinkle of the few keys just let the song shine. It is almost like a very friendly sounding Queens Of The Stone Age.