2016 review - Albums of the Year

2016 was a good year for me in terms of music. It was very personal; a lot of the music I loved (and shows I enjoyed) was created by family, by friends or by artists I have been following for years/decades. 2016 was also the year that I signed up to Spotify despite vowing never to do so! Yet, I want to support artists. If I fall in love with a song or an album I will buy the physical copy as well, get a ticket for their show or order a t-shirt. 

Here are 20 albums I have enjoyed in 2016. I always like to point out that there are many albums released in 2016 that I haven't heard, so there will probably be a point next year when I discover something and kick myself for being too late to miss tour dates etc.

Top 20 Albums of the year - 2016

Any one of the top 5 could be my album of the year.

1. Pii - Stephen Solo
As I said; any of the top 5 albums could be my album of the year. This is one that means a lot to me, it's by my friend Stephen, he recorded it on his iPhone6 and it has won and melted hearts.

My musical moment of 2016 was the launch party for Last Night From Glasgow and Stephen was on first! It was his first time playing solo and the last song he played was Crying Because. It was just Stephen with a small effect on his vocal, playing a ukelele; it was pure, true, soulful and beautiful. People had tears in their eyes and one guy came up and told Stephen that that performance was worth his membership fee to the label alone.

In my blog HERE I described it as; eclectic, eccentric, psychedelic, gentle, dreamy, beautiful and funny. I hear elements of The Beatles, Talking Heads, Damon Albarn, Boards of Canada, Hot Chip and....Limmy....and most importantly....Stephen.

2. Say It All With A Kiss - TeenCanteen
I was going to write a blog on my sister's album with her band TeenCanteen but a load of other people beat me to it. And that was kind of nice; I sing her praises enough. I love Say It All With A Kiss for the melodies, flows, hooks and choruses, for the clever lyrics and because of the people involved in it.

Here is what a few others had to say about the album;

They sound like a Scottish Shangri-La's who have overdosed on E numbers. In a good way. They are pure pop music and if you haven't heard them you need to immediately. 

They will make your heart sing. .....When Skies Are Grey Fanzine

...vibrant and irrepressibly enjoyable....a mixture of delicate dream pop and garage rock topped off with subtle synth work.... Tenement TV

...a delightful riot of massive beats, swooning harmonies and the gutsy-sweet wonder of front woman Carla Easton and co.... The National

.....an essential purchase. The Herald

....part Wall of Sound, part Postcard Records. Ion Magazine

Say It All With A Kiss is packed full of infectiously catchy, sing-into-your-hairbrush indie pop anthems that'll make you feel 14 again. The Skinny

...irresistible girl-group harmonies, sweet melodies and a stomping Wall of Sound style backdrop. The Evening Times

Ace....really, really great.....it is a beautiful thing....you know how much I love the band.....            Marc Riley, BBC 6Music

TeenCanteen perfectly blend light and shade, understand the pace of a record and explore the depths of their musicality whilst still being mindful of staying true to their pop roots. The Music Brewery

3. Here - Teenage Fanclub
My favourite band returned with a wonderful album that sounds even better a few months on from release. Check my full blog HERE

I described the album as; gorgeous, positive, life affirming, reflective and heart warming. 

4. Wildflower - The Avalanches
What a joyful return. I hope they come to Glasgow in 2017. Read my review HERE


The word sublime features rather regularly in the review and yeah that kinds of sums it up. It leaves me with a warm glow. The imagination, inventive nature, ear for melody, feel for flow...sublime!

5. Homemade Lemonade - Ette  

As I have mentioned, 2016 was a very personal year for me musically and none more so than with this release. My sister Carla's 'solo' album; released under the guise of Ette as the album became a collaboration thanks to the creative spark between producer Joe Kane and Carla.

Released via Olive Grove Records on delicious bubble gum pink vinyl; this gem of an album that was recorded in less than a week has a homegrown psychedelic pop feel to it. Oh and it also has a photo of my daughter Zoe on the cover!

You can read my review HERE 

Homemade Lemonade came in at number 4 on the Bandcamp albums of the year list HERE

34 minutes of pure, unfiltered joy; in a year marked by dark, rolling clouds, Homemade Lemonade offered a rare, welcome rainbow.

6. Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not - Dinosaur Jr
Ah the sound of J Mascis letting rip on electric guitar - one of the best sounds in the world for an indie guitar pop fan. I've followed Dinosaur Jr since falling for them in my teens and this might just be their best album!

7. Up To Anything - The Goon Sax

A few people I follow on Twitter were besides themselves after attending The Goon Sax show at Mono. So I checked them out and kicked myself for not going. Raw, emotional, humour filled, soulful indie guitar pop music. An album that truly sounds like the band were enjoying themselves when they were making it.

8. It Calls On Me - Doug Tuttle

Chiming Byrd-y guitars, gorgeous harmonies and an album that just has a gorgeous feel to it. This was one of the first albums I bought in 2016, away back in January. I walked into Monorail and it was on. I waited and then asked what it was and promptly bought it. This has happened to me so many times in Monorail! Would love to see and hear him live.

9. Let The Record Show: Dexy's Do Irish and Country Soul - Dexy's
Dexy's originally planned to do this album back in 1984/85, they broke up instead. The modern day Dexy's are in exceptional form; Kevin Rowland is such a fantastic artist, full of soul. creative energy and visually captivating. This isn't really a covers album, it's interpretations of songs that mean a lot to Rowland. From the gorgeous opener Women Of Ireland through to a stunning Grazing In The Grass (check the extended Andrew Weatherall edit HERE ) via a run through You Wear It Well this is an album full of pleasure, soul searching an fun.

10. Until The Hunter - Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions

I fell for Hope Sandoval's dreamy vocals when she captivated the indie world in Mazzy Star with the stunning So Tonight That I Might See. She has continued to produce exceptional music with her band The Warm Inventions and also by collaborating with the likes of the Jesus and Mary Chain and Death In Vegas. Her latest release has some real gems and the 7-minute plus Let Me Get There with Kurt Vile is easily one of my songs of the year.

11. Treasure House - Cat's Eyes

My abiding memory of this album is my friend Joe coming round for a few beers and this being one of the albums we listened to. It has dreamy pop, out and out 60's girl group pop, it's very sexual, mysterious and intense.

12. Same Language Different Worlds - Tim Burgess

Hugely refreshing; spontaneous and free flowing. Is how I described this album in my blog HERE

Tim Burgess and Peter Gordon combine to create something special with some really blissful stuff.

13. Eternally Even - Jim James

Just out of the top 10 as I have only discovered the album. I did so by reading this imaginative review in the Sunday Times Culture magazine. It might cause you to check it out too!

It's 1971. Marvin Gaye is on tour promoting What's Going On when, somewhere in the Midwest his band get sick. The only other group in town are four English guys called Pink Floyd. They're named after the bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, so Gaye asks them to back him. 

Had this really happened we'd have a better idea pf what to expect on Jame's second solo album than anything by his band, My Morning Jacket, suggest. It's psychedelic-ambient-soul-protest music, and it will win both your heart and your mind.

14. Barbara, Barbara We Face A Shining Future - Underworld

Ove Nova and Nylon Strung are all kinds of blissed out electro gorgeousness. Stephen Watt was kind enough to write a guest blog; At seven tracks long, the album does not overstay its welcome. It revisits you, on the Monday morning trains - the after work gym workouts - the last smoke of the day - the sodden bus shelters in which we wait, and make everything just right again. 

15. Heartbeats - Vigo Thieves

A testament to a band that could and should have gone further. Ambitious anthems with a touch of Springsteen about some of them - wanting to break out and shoot for the stars. Songs like Heartbeats, Believe, Forever and This Love are songs that should have resulted in Vigo Thieves being the biggest band out of Scotland since Chvrches. 

16. Fading Lines - Amber Arcades

I always love to check out releases from Heavenly Recordings - they have fantastic taste in music and the Amber Arcades album is one that I think will continue to grow on me and one I'll return to again the future and probably think - that should have been in my top 10. Great album artwork/pic too.

17. In Search Of Harperfield - Emma Pollock

A remarkable journey through 11 songs that are imaginative, emotive, fun and ambitious. Pollock is in fine form (career high?) throughout - lyrically clever and bold, melodically playful and soulful in voice. Read my full blog review HERE

18. Blackstar - David Bowie

Bowie was unique and exceptionally creative. Blackstar was quite hard to listen to in the aftermath of his death; it took me a month to buy it. I was rewarded by an ambitious, emotional and soulful album. I Can't Give Everything Away is one of my songs of the year.

19. Faults - The Second Hand Marching Band and Benni Hemm

The album isn't on Spotify so you can listen and order HERE 

And read my blog review that talks of fragile brilliance HERE

20. Kidsticks - Beth Orton

Beth Orton produced quite a sparse but beautiful album that mixed her dreamy folky vibes with electronica. Downstair, Flesh and Blood and Corduroy Legs were particular favourites. Get your headphones on for this one.

Same Language Different Worlds

Tim Burgess is an energetic and creative soul; always on the move, always moving on, embracing the times, the sounds and opportunities; 12 albums with The Charlatans, numerous EP's and singles, working with The Chemical Brothers, Ladyhawke and others, 2 solo albums, Tim Peaks coffee and diner that tours festivals, O'Genesis Record label, 2 acclaimed books, a compilation album and now a 3rd album with a little help from Peter Gordon....Tim's fantastic use of social media keeps you up to date in the modern day and age, but looking back, he's always been creative, industrious and productive.

Tim talks of liking to be pushed outside of his comfort zone in his latest book Tim Book Two - Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco. The opportunity to record with Peter Gordon presented itself to Tim and it great to hear of Tim rising to the challenge. This subsequently led to the album Same Language, Different Worlds released today on Tim's O'Genesis Records.

Peter Gordon is equally prolific and open to working with others; ranging from jazz and opera through to influencing James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem.

Same Language, Different Worlds is an album recorded by two men in their late 40's and mid-60's. There is a worldly feel to the lyrics and the music is beautifully balanced between traditional and futuristic. The vast majority was created online with each artist sending each other ideas and building and bouncing off each others. It's how things happen in 2016 - you meet, but then spend large amounts of time communicating online.... demonstrated perfectly with this album.

There is something hugely refreshing about the whole album as it sounds so spontaneous and free flowing. Kind of amazing as Tim and Peter apparently only got together in a studio on one occasion. The album was largely created by Burgess sending acoustic demos to Gordon who returned them in a completely different form. The two met at a warehouse back in 2012, with Tim being a fan of Gordon's work with Arthur Russell and the Love Of Light Orchestra amongst others.

The album begins....with Begin. Probably the most structured song on the album. It is bright, breezy, beautiful and it makes me smile every time I listen to it. The guitar riff is like a mini Nile Rodgers and Tim sings....

There's a record I bought

That I've already got

It means so much to me

Cause I played it a lot

It reminds me so much

Of the place that we met

Say is kind of hypnotic. Dreamy is a word I am likely to use a number of times in this blog!

Love Is All Around Me is incredible! 6 minutes and 10 seconds of electronica, jazz and Tim pouring his heart out. It's modern day blues and soul for 2016. Synths bubble and pulse.

Talking through the night

Lonely through the day

Darkness turns away

I think of you

Miss you every day

Miss you still

Always have

Always will

The instrumental following the above lyrics is glorious; freeform electronica jazz stretching out over funky percussion. Beautiful stuff.

Being Underguarded is trippy psychedelia. Burgess is in fine poetic form throughout this album. Let loose to go with the flow.....and be unguarded.

Ocean Terminus is ushered in with powerful warm chords and Tim singing the title. The music is dreamy and the album title comes from lyrics used in this song.

At 12 minutes and 17 seconds long I have to admit to being immediately drawn to Temperature High to see what Tim and Peter have come up with. I wasn't disappointed. Gordon creates a high tempo (but not in your face) groove over shuffling percussion while Tim sounds like he is dreamily ad libbing (not sure if he did or not). He finds a hook around 3-minutes in with we're under the same sky. Gordon is then allowed and inspired to take the song on for a lengthy journey.

The psychedelic, futuristic, dreamy free flowing nature of the album continues with Like I Already Do a. The song is a duet with Tim's partner Nik Void. The dreamy vibe goes space age around 6-minutes and 30 seconds in and it surely can only be a better of time before Tim and Nik produce more music together.

I can tell by the look on your face

It's like you already knew

Like you already do 

What if you took the gift of love

And just continued to love

Like you already do

Tim and Peter in the studio - amazingly it only happened once!

Space jazz opens Tracks Of My Past in an uplifting manner allowing Tim to reminisce about his past. Just after 3 minutes 30 seconds piano and saxophone meet to create something quite glorious. The way the song breaks down to the outro is superb.

I grew up in nature

I liked the summer

We swam in the pool

So what could close an album as eclectic and free flowing as Same Language, Different Worlds? The answer is the blissful Oh Men. The intro has a kind of happy and warm glow to it, enhanced when Gordon's saxophone comes in

Oh men

Work with what they're given

Even in the darker days

Before men were men

We go on and an on

And I want to know

We'll go on and on

And I want to grow