Top Tracks 2016 Part V 60 – 51

60. Explosions In The Sky – Disintegration Anxiety (The Wilderness) 

I had the ultimate honor of finally seeing Explosion In The Sky live and it was one of the best shows and hands down the best performance I ever witnessed. It especially helped me understand the progression of the band from their greatest albums to their newer work on Take Care, Take Care or The Wilderness. As post-rock had to come to reach a dead end in its formula of the early 2000, it was hard to imagine most bands moving on, expanding their sound and making good on staying relevant without falling into a cycle of repetition. "Disintegration Anxiety" shows EITS going deeper into a narrative and more imaginative kind of songwriting, playing on the themes of nature’s grandeur and ever-changing flow, furthering the bands own sonic palette. There is no need for great crescendos anymore, for minutes of washed out distortion. This is aging gracefully and finding the voice to tell a story with more details and not just relying on the few points that let everyone go “UUHHH, CATHARSIS”. 

59. HANA – Underwater (HANA EP)

HANA, as the first artists under Grimes care, made her way through touring with her mentor and by releasing some tracks, before putting out her first EP this year. "Underwater" is a clear standout and has her building on the stadium like production and open-mindedness of her previous vocal endowers, this time being at her most mystical and longing. A tribute to her sister, the song is lyrically on point without being too closed off and overall, HANA seems a more capable singer then Grimes herself which leaves a bright future for releases to come. 

58. DEAN – 풀어 (Pour Up) (Feat. ZICO) (130 Mood: TBL)

Embracing Korean artists, might still be somewhat of a hype started over the last few years, but it does feel like they are losing their stigma of being a novelty and are showing their strength and music prowess altogether. DEAN for his part makes great rnb tunes, part throwback, and part slick and shiny as the digital age itself. "Pour Up" feels very 90´s boy band, without becoming too artificial and boring. The Korean language has an instantly likable melody to it that did pull me in from the earliest movies and works quite well in song (when you can actually sing) and over the bubbly production. 

57. Black Foxxes – Whatever Lets You Cope (I´m Not Well)

Black Foxxes released a promising debut of hart hitting rock this year and I´m excited to see how they will develop their sound in the future. “Whatever Lets You Cope” is a drug ballad with all the ups of downs of addiction and consumption. The mania and depression, the need of having his highs when they don´t come naturally anymore, are delivered as mournful as they are euphoric. 

56. Breakbot – 2Good4Me (Still Waters)

House producer Breakbot trying to channel Prince and other soul / funk artists sounded quite good on paper, especially with collaborator Irfane handling most of the vocal side of this project and having a sweet and clear voice for this enterprise. Unfortunately, much of the album fell flat and I can´t even tell many of the songs apart, but the clear standout is "2Good4Me". The quite simple beat and friendly tinkering in the verses compliment the vocal performance by Irfane quite well and the bittersweet lyrical content never pushed too heavily on the instrumentation. Just a fine listen, made perfectly to fit any radio stations programming. 

55. Somos – Problem Child (First Day Back)

Dealing with uniformity is something everyone encounters at some point. Most will subdue themselves and others have to walk the fine line of becoming either “labeled” to be a troublemaker, or have to find a creative outlet and conjure their nonconformity into something helpful and productive. This song captures this notion and is one of the standouts of Somos debut album. Honest, straight indie rock. 

54. Riz MC – Benaz ft Ayana Witter-Johnson (ENGLISTAN)

This track will give you goose-bumps by the narrative power of Riz Ahmed´s words alone. While some might see him slipping into the typecast character, of having to address such issues of race through his music, I would argue that he is doing important work – with his solo work or with Heems and the Swet Shop Boys. These issues of Indian / Pakistani immigrant’s aren´t addressed enough in mainstream media and rap in general. For "Benaz", Ahmed eschews rhyming for a spoken word delivery that is only contrasted by a powerful chorus by Ayana Witter-Johnson. All this, to tell the story of Benaz and of the impossibility and dangers of free love in a traditional and backwards immigrant society – not without mentioning the twisted perception and failure to address the issues by western institution alike! The whole story, that finds inspiration in real life, is captivating and a striking example of a deep problem within our societies and Ahmed is able to put these issues into words that are just as emotional as they are though proving and gut-wrenching. 

53. Anna Homler and Steve Moshier – Gu She' Na' Di (Breadwoman & Other Tales)

This was released as a tape collaboration and stems from the early 80´s, but hasn´t lost any of its experimental appeal. Anna Homler, in her alter ego of the Breadwoman, delivers haunting songs in a language "long forgotten", accompanied by the skeletal electronics of Steve Moshier. “Gu She Na Di”, fittingly recalls the invocation of higher being, while also reminding one of folk songs or simple performances of native music, from whichever context. The visceral instrumental, between a dubbed out experiment to an immediate, off the bat creation, complements these vocals perfectly and adds to the haunting vibe of estrangement when encountering the Breadwoman and her uncomprehensible universal message. 

Check it out here.

52. Okzharp & Manthe Ribane – Piki_Piki (Tell Your Vision)

Returning with another release after their 2015 debut, producer Okzharp and South African songstress Manthe Ribane further their unique chemistry, bridging sounds and languages to deliver something truly appealing and mostly unheard of for most listeners. On “Piki Piki”, we get Manthe Ribanes singing in a South African dialect for the most part of the song, with Okzharp delivering a dubby background of stretchy synths and an overall uplifting orientation. 

51. AQSTIK – POSTSKRIPTUM (MELANCHOLIA)

AQSTIK returned this year, to dive into a much bleaker sound while honing his production and lyrical skills on MELANCHOLIA. In the vein of this title, “POSTSKRIPTUM” sees him trying to get over his past love. While the first minutes of the songs are a full on reflection and might come off as a broken state of mind, the rapper redeems himself after a break and comes back loaded with spite and anger to tell his love interest off with some harsh words that will have you going back in your seat yelling “did he just say that??”. This is class burning in the vain of Drake or Future, the German equivalent of "Bitch, Imma choose the dirty over you!".