Shanies: Album of the Year

Here we go again. This year was a tremendous year of music, if only for the sheer quantity of noteworthy new albums that came out. That said, no fucks left to give for "noteworthy"... who made the top 10?

10. All Them Witches - ATW
Doubly impressive considering that ATW has been pumping out a new album almost every year, but their first self-title finds them continuing to explore bluesy, drawn-out, progified track after track. The perfect companion for Canada's new laws or just a great way to lose yourself in music, check out Harvest Feast.




 

9. Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - With Animals
I've always adored Lanegan's voice from his early days with Screaming Trees or guesting on a QOTSA album, however, in Garwood, he seems to have found a muse for his older years. His body has finally caught up to his soul and the two now seem to be writing deeply introspective music that both haunts and delights.




 

8. Fantastic Negrito - Please Don't Be Dead
FN's breakthrough first album was a tough act to follow, however, Please Don't Be Dead was up to the challenge. Though not as ambitious, the album is still chalk-full of gospel-laden rock n roll, all centered around a man who seems to be an unstoppable ball of energy.

7. Everything is Recorded - Everything is Recorded
This album was a sleeper for me, however, when I caught news of the fact that Richard Russel, long-time founder and owner of XL records, would be putting his money where his mouth was and releasing his own album, excitement was the obvious choice. Russel seems to have taken inspiration from his favourite XL artists (as well as taken their guest spots) and the resulting album is an absolute diverse masterpiece. Check out Close But Not Quite below, as well as Bloodshot Red Eyes.




 

6. A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant
We should no longer be surprised by anything in the life of Maynard Keenan, especially as it pertains to long hauls between albums, however this last 10 year-plus APC break even puts Tool to shame. Still, the album was worth the wait and the global and political climate could not have been better for a "you're fucking everything up again, people" album from Howerdel and Keenan. The album ventures through a number of harder and softer tracks, but for my money, Delicious takes the cake for it's infectious chorus.



 

5. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex & Food
Though I loathe one of the early singles off this album, Honeybee, UMO still managed to produce an absolute gem, even in spite of a weak track or two. In addition to their usual, soulful sound and dark, piercing lyrics, this album also featured some of the most aggressive songwriting of UMO's career in tracks like American Guilt.



 

4. Temperance Movement - A Deeper Cut
Let's be honest; these guys could shit on a piece of vinyl and the ensuing bumps would likely still make my top 10. I adore this band and while this album is nothing overly ambitious (and does feature a song that I want to kill someone when I hear the opening 10 seconds), the album is still overall a polished, thoughtful, harmony-laden, guitar rich, motherfucking rock album. That's enough for a simple boy like me.



 

3. White Denim - Performance
I heard a rumor that the White Denim crew has been ghost writing for Leon Bridges. While that may explain their slight delay in releasing Performance, it doesn't explain the fact that this album was a return to young form for the band, likely coming off as one of their weirdest bodies of work since their first two albums. Performance is every bit the guitar masterpiece you expect, however, gets super weird in a super incredible way, that I can only urge you to listen to, start to finish. If you're in a rush, check out Double Death, but when you have the time, give the full LP a spin.



 

2. Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo
Khruangbin has been on my radar for years, however, I never totally fell for their sound as it always seemed to be lacking something and even unique projects like History of Flight just seemed to fall short of my expectations. Con Todo El Mundo, however, has well exceeded my expectations and found the band crafting one of the most melodically-laden, catchy albums you can imagine for a group that avoids vocals. I still find myself singing along to this album... I'm just singing guitar and bass riffs.



 

1. The Dirty Nil - Master Volume
Holy fuck. While this needs to stand the test of time, I'm going to be a bit hyperbolic for a second: this albums is as important to saving rock n roll as was QOTSA's Songs for the Deaf. Our Canadian heroes broke through in a HUGE way this year, touring all over the continent and releasing their first major (A&C) led album. And they did not skimp on the toppings. The Nil can unquestionably rock your face off, however, this album proved that they can write lyrics that capture the realities of modern living, and still somehow manage to tell an entire crowd to go fuck themselves and have the crowd not only be ok with it, but lap that shit up. I can't pick a favourite off this album betwen Bathed in Light, Auf Wiedersehen, Pain of Infinity, That's What Heaven Feels like, I don't want that phone call... seriously... it's one of those albums. Enjoy this, dig into their back-catalog, and all hail the Nil.




-

Shanies: Song of the Year

Since the top 10 album of the year award is a bit of a pain to pull together, the song of the year is likely my favourite award. Laziness aside, it also pushes me to really deconstruct a song and consider it from so many angles and interpretations. Usually this is also one of the hardest awards to decide on since I'm comparing such dissimilar tracks, but almost inevitably, one song wins out, if only for the repeat factor of how frequently I listened to it in the past year.

A past shower on the album of the year award and previous runner up to song of the year, White Denim took this year's award with the masterfully funky Double Death. For me, what ultimately makes this song work is that it is a heavy, riff-rock track, only played in the styles of soul and funk. That description is basically WD's sound in a nutshell, however, for some tracks it just works more. From the saxophone jamming over the entire track to the infinitely head-bobbable beat to the uncontrollable hook matched by both guitar and bass to the joyfully macabre lyrics... Double Death is straight up my jam. It's the kind of song that without even trying puts you in a good move and gets your ass moving a bit.

Honourable mention goes to Dirty Nil's Auf Wiedersehen and to Unknown Mortal Orchestra's American Guilt, but for my money... drop this track and get yerself movin.


-And my body keeps on ticking back, in my vestigial heart

Shanies: Album of the Year

Here we go again... hit me back with your list from this crazy, fuggin' year.

10. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
A sad year to lose Phife Dawg, but an incredible year to watch your idols from eons ago prove that they can still kick it.

9. PUP - The Dream is Over
Fuck yeah, Canadian punk is alive and kicking. Through trials and tribulations, PUP has survived against all odds and their sophomore album shows their struggle and growth.

8. White Denim - Stiff
Once again, the epic White Denim returns with another guitar tour-de-force. The incredible, frantic guitar work is only topped by the catchiness of these tracks.

7. Tax the Heat - Fed to the Lions
Fall slave to the riff and worship these new UK players as they march onto the scene. Watch for them to blow up in 2017.

6. Fantastic Negrito - The Last Days of Oakland
This album came out of nowhere for me but quickly became one of my most played of the year. It's depth, soul, and experimentation make it a full end-to-end listen at least a few times.

5. Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book
Third try was a charm for Chance - he showed growth leading up to this album but Coloring Book has become his opus, gaining both critical and popular success. He is redefining hip hop with heavy influences of gospel, soul, and R&B, but in a way that feels authentic.

4. Monster Truck - Sittin' Heavy
I don't know how the hell these guys keep producing album after album of wall-to-wall, riff-heavy hits, but Sittin' Heavy shows that they have no plans of slowing down. Once again, I'd have trouble identifying a weak track on this album and, while it definitely has that stereotypical Monster Truck sound, they continue to produce tunes that are fresh and engaging.

3. Public Animal - Palace Arms
What? Blurton and crew produced another album and Shane lost his shit? No one could possibly have seen that coming. The only reason this album didn't take spots 1 through 10 is that this is a band that is best experienced live - the albums are but a reminder of what you're missing.

2. The Temperance Movement - White Bear
This sat for nearly the entire year as my album of the year. It is without question one of the most solid, complete, and interesting rock albums I've heard in the past decade. TM proved that they well overcame the 'sophomore slump' by completely outdoing themselves and making an album that shows serious range across the whole of the sonic spectrum.

1. Childish Gambino - Awaken, My Love
However, my rock album of the year would not be my album of the year. In fact, I don't even know how to categorize this album. I'll level - I wasn't previously a fan of Gambino; liked a few tracks, but generally his style never really meshed with mine. Then Awaken dropped... and I lost my shit. I've listened to this album nearly every day since it was released and I keep finding things buried beneath this strange fusion of soul, R&B, hip hop, jazz, funk, and god knows what else he stuffed in here. This album didn't simply defy genres, it re-wrote them.

Shanies: Song of the Year

Everyone always raves and roars about their albums of the year (settle the fuck down, that's tomorrow), but personally, I'm always one to get lost in songs. There's something so elegantly beautiful about the handful of minutes that bring together such a beautiful array of noises into one cohesive, elegant masterpiece. 2016 had some incredible tracks like Childish Gambino's sultry R&B track, Redbone, Tax the Heat's driving riff-fest, Fed to the Lions, or White Denim's frantic-funky guitar masterpiece, Ha ha ha ha (yeah). But they were all my runners up.

This year my song of the year found a way to blend so many genres, so many instruments, so many sounds, and so many emotions into a simple, driving 2-beat that still completely owns your ears. I'm talking about Fantastic Negrito and his soulful ripper, Lost in a Crowd. Opening with some simple humming that give way (after a totally necessary piano slide) to a basic but aggressive stomping beat. This song is unquestionably led by the vocals and drums, however, during the verses, one can almost picture the pianist, guitarist, and bassist elbowing each other in the face to vie for more play time as their instruments battle back and forth. It's aggressive, it's subtle and kind, it's soulful, it's powerful, and it's weak - it's what an incredible song should be.


-Grab hold of the circle and ride it round and round to the end

Rugged Bleach

I love to give, so when I've been absent from this little slice of digital heaven for a while, I feel bad... not just for you, but for me; I don't get to enjoy the bobbing heads and satisfied grins of my friends. In short... this is a very selfish act.

It's funny how long spells of absence from my Shananigans are often brought to an end by stumbling on exceptional bands that simply have to be pushed out into the world. In this case, White Denim was no exception. An Austin-based four piece, this group of wickedly talented musicians has been honing their craft since 2006. Their cohesion and practice shines through and they manage to hit a rarity in popular music; musically and technically challenging and intricate song writing that still comes across as infectiously catchy and universally accessible. Chalk it up to frontman James Patralli's soothing, baritone voice or his embracing, blue-collar lyrics, or maybe the beautiful rhythmic flow between all players - whatever it is, it works.

Having just released their sixth LP in the fall, White Denim seems to be one of those bands who has hit a certain plateau in their careers. However, given the right alignment of the moon, one song making the right rounds or the right person at one of their gigs... these guys are ready to blow over the top. They've got all the ingredients, it's just a matter of mixing in the right order, at the right time.



-When you're bottled up and ready to go, won't you light my fuse and I'll blow