Top Tracks 2016 Part VIII 30 – 21

30. Ólafur Arnalds – Particles (Island Songs)

Ólafur Arnalds isn´t one for vocal collaboration, at least these instances don´t make any entry on his album and remain mostly in the range of working with choirs. For his Islands Songs compilation, he got together with Of Monsters And Men singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and this track is one of the most goose-bump inducing moments of this year. Arnalds arrangements of tiny melodies and little hints over a solid framework of piano, the rising strings for emotional impact over the chorus of the song, create the perfect synergy with Nanna´s voice. Her lyrics provide a mythical openness for interpretation and her few words create evocative imaginary, especially when she sets for the peak of the song, her exhaustion expressed in the words can be felt.

29. Jace – Midas Feat. Robb Banks (Jace Tape)

Why this track was the bonus track of the Jace Tape is beyond me. This one caught me off-guard after a good listen, solid lyrics and solid beats – nothing out of the ordinary. "Midas" starts with lines from one of my favorite Disney cartoons, “The Golden Touch”, only to go out wildin out on a hard hitting beat and insane amounts of swags. The production, the stupidity and sheer catchy-ness of the loose verses leave nothing else to be desired.

28. ANOHNI – 4 Degrees (Hopelessness)

While this track was already out last year and the whole of Hopelessness deserves great recognition, this is the most bombastic track of ANONHNI´s great letter of refusal to making positive music in highly negative times. What makes the album´s statements, from drone attacks, climate change to pitfalls of masculinity, even greater and more shocking is the production work by Hudson Mohawke and Oneohtrix Point Never. On “4 Degrees” one brings the orchestral scale of his sneering synth trumpet´s and stadium drums while the other sneaks in the details, the small, reverby sounds and blibs. This makes it quite easy to forget that ANONHI is singing about burning the world and leaving various animals burned and suffering. Who better, then those three to soundtrack the apocalypse and always keep you reminded that you´re already living in it.

27. Novo Line – Shepard´s Stone (Movements)

Making music using a very limited approach can yield some of the most creative work. While it may be a nostalgic or Luddite move to pull up old synthesizers or gear, in the age of having the world at your hands through software and plug-ins in any shape and color, limitation and improvisation channel the fog of musical expression and streamline sounds and motives into sheer awe. Novo Line prominently uses two broken Atari computers, with an old synth software, to create his sounds and pushes these skeletal and almost unfinished sounding electronic tunes through a small set of gear. His control over the output is limited and mostly reliant on his own understanding of the math behind his system and this influence of chance can be felt in “Shepard´s Stone”. The track almost comes off, as an ideal human-machine relation, neither controlling the other, nor both playing off each other and on Novo Line´s part, him pushing the drums into the right part and playing with his settings to just see what develops from there.

26. Roy Wood$ – Gwan Big Up Urself // Switch (Waking At Dawn)

One of the youngest recruits in the OVO imprint, Roy Wood$ records didn´t receive much praise, quite possibly for the oversaturation of this style of music through his elders Drake and PND. Despite that, Wood$ did deliver a great set of tracks and stood above “One Dance” or “Controlla” on his take of channeling patois and dancehall. “Gwan Big Up Urself” carries overt sexuality but doesn´t get flat or stupid, the longing Wood$ expresses over the wide space of reverby steel drum comes as genuine, as his patois singing. While PND and Drake made mixtures with their respective styles, Wood$ seems more profound in carrying the vibe, while maybe not taking a great leap away from the genre itself. “Switch” on the other hand shows his skill in a different feel and works like “Unleashed” part 2, discussing Wood$ personal come-up story and his encounters with backstabbing peers. The aggression on this track gives way to a more powerful vocal performance, showing a comfort and capability beyond the fads of icy dancehall songs, so maybe this will be a more fruitful lane for him in the future.

25. Ramriddlz – Bodmon (Venis EP)

The sweeterman himself takes the spot for one of the most enjoyable rnb cuts this year. He might not be a lyrical genius in any way and surely delivered on of the worst breakout videos ever, and yet Drake saw potential in him and rightly so. The swagger of this young artist is infectious and plain fun in the most juvenile sense there is. Riddlz himself is pretty much aware of this and can mock himself and his ways on the track too, while still delivering a smooth and sunny song.

24. Andy Stott – New Romantic (Too Many Voices)

This time Andy Stott centered his LP around creating an homage to grime music, using this style to create his blend of hollowed dub music. “New Romantic” features his most prominent device in the form of his piano teacher vocals over an upbeat instrumental. The springy knacks recall grime beats, but he clears the air, shave of the edges with his clear melodies and minimally distorted bass line, to create a layered background for the dreamy voice. Whatever angle Stott takes, he shows a deep understanding of making these elements his own and breathing ephemerality of arrangements, even when they sound as fleshed out as in “New Romantic”.

23. Touché Amoré – Rapture (Stage Four)

With Stage Four, Touché Amoré have created their most cohesive album yet, taking their sound and songwriting skills, their ability to write small poetic inquiries on human life, regardless, if there shouted or spoken, and tell a story that is deeply personal and incredibly relatable at the same time. Singer Jeremy Bolm deals with the death of his mother, her dying of cancer and last days, as well as the aftermath. “Rapture” flips the script on the Christian image of the souls of the good believers being taken home to the heavens by placing Bolm on the other side. The side that is left behind and has to dwell on the earth still. His despair and usual shouts come off as more melodic and there create a sharper edge when it comes to feeling the brokenness and despair of losing a loved one and dealing with such a massive decentering.

22. Sioum – Let´s Hope We Make It Out Alive (Yet Further)

Sioum are unique beyond just making good music in the genre of instrumental metal or post-rock. Their pacing of tracks, their arcs in one album and each individual track, are real arcs and not just mixture between repetition and variation. “Let´s Hope” is one of the center events of Yet Further, not dwelling on their ambient and silent moments too much and letting their roller-coaster of hard riffs and chip tuned combustion feel like actual hardship and action between the softer more reflective moments. When everything dissipates in the last two minutes, with just a sparse synth melody being backed by guitar drones, you´ll get the title of the song and will want to return to this very unique kind of abstract aural storytelling.

21. Infinity Crush - Wipe Down (Warmth Equation)

Sometimes, not often, an artist is able to strike a chord from the first second and passes the threshold held by understanding, of their own skill of expression and the listener’s capability of understanding. This doesn´t demean the other musical output of the artist or the music in general, it just is the perfect combination artists strive for when making music. With “Wipe Down", we have this moment in Warmth Equation. The bitter sweetness of this song, this short moment of aurally succumbing to heartbreak will leave you breathless.