Well hey there, everybody. Happy new year!
Another year's passed and that means it's time for one of my favorite posts of the year: Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums. As always, each album is accompanied by a 140 character summary of the album because attention spans are for losers.
Before I get to the post, I want to give a big thank you to everybody who checked out the blog this year. I'm sorry that the posts weren't more frequent, but honest, I think the podcast is the best it's ever been. Thanks for listening and thanks for reading what few things I wrote this year. I promise I'll try to do better in 2017.
As always, you can check out what's been getting spins here at Planet New Basset by checking out my Last.fm page. I have no idea why you would want to do that, but I don't know why you're reading this right now either.
Remember, every time I listen to a song it counts as one "play." So, if an album has 10 songs and I listen to it once, it counts as 10 "plays."
Alright, let's get to it.
01. Descendents - Hypercaffium Spazzinate (165 plays): Dents are the pop-punk GOAT. Back from the dead in 2016. This record's a monster. Saw 'em at First Ave. Bucket list shit. Long live Milo!
02. Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid (135 plays): Self-produced in his own inimitable style, Aes Rock crafts a record about middle age, neurosis, & facing demons. A masterful album.
03. Atmosphere - Fishing Blues (126 plays): By now Slug's raps feel like a safe space. More comforting than challenging, but I think that's what I was from Atmosphere these days.
04. Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo (108 plays): Kanye fans were tested this year. I saw the St. Pablo show in St. Paul. Faith was renewed. Kanye's a legend. Name one genius who ain't crazy.
05. Allan Kingdom - Northern Lights (107 plays): Kingdom's best record yet and it seemed to just come & go without much of a culture trail. I don't get it. Love to see how he tops this one.
06. Metasota - #RUMDMT (106 plays): Meta paints a detailed picture of life as a black man in MPLS that's rich in anger, humor, confusion, sorrow, & hope. An album we needed.
07. Sims - More Than Ever (105 plays): Sims latest record is less blatantly personal than the others, trading in broad strokes against his generation & American culture at large.
08. Frankie Teardrop - Hell Yep (102 plays): Don't let the term "shit rock" throw you, Frankie Teardrop's swan song is a power-pop gem. Killer riffs & hooks for days. RIP Frankie
09. The Person & The People - Dark And Low (101 plays): TPATP make their boldest record yet. The hooks aren't as tightly wound as they used to be as they slow the pace & let their sound breath.
10. Bon Iver - 22, A Million (95 plays): Look, I can't figure this record out either. The symbols, the lyric videos... No clue.. When I push play I go to a different place though.
11. The Pooches - The Pooches (93 plays): Four piece from Glasgow aim for the center of my gooey power-pop heart and hit the mark. My favorite new find of 2016.
12. Devata Daun - Look (92 plays): Daun's sound is like a sexy alien transmission struggling to break through the lower layers of what's left of the atmosphere. Highly recommended
13. Dem Atlas - MF Dem (91 plays): Dem Atlas pumps the breaks on his next big statement by rapping all about everything over MF Doom beats. A fun break before the work resumes.
14. Edison - The Hand (90 plays): A return to his busier style. Any year Edison puts out an album he'll be on this list. Something about his beat tapes just hits me.
15. Yeah Wings - It Feels Like Laughing With You (90 plays): IFLLWY is a cinematic album made on a budget. Pace is the trick as the slow builds payoffs both cathartic & haunting.
16. Polica - United Crushers (86 plays): Polica takes a step back from the noise as Channy Leaneagh's voice takes center stage. Ryan Olson deserves credit for pulling back the reins.
17. Posh Lost - Posh Lost (84 plays): I've made my peace with the fact that Posh Lost is not Gloss & they never will be. Darker, faster, & more paranoid... it's grown on me.
18. Rogue Valley - Radiate/Dissolve (84 plays): How do you follow up a four-album cycle about the season? You tackle
even bigger questions of the cosmos & existence with hooks &
style.19. The Social Disaster - The Dark Side Of The Roller Rink (83 plays): Duluth's finest pop/indie rock/post-grunge band makes an album that's bursting with ideas.
20. Steely Dan - Countdown To Ecstasy (82 plays): My yearly exploration of Steely Dan continues unabated. 2016 was Countdown To Ecstasy. Four albums in: Four Classics. The Dan's the best.
21. Homeboy Sandman - Kindness For Weakness (82 plays): Most of the rap I listened to this year was made by dude's over 30. Kindness For Weakness is both nostalgic & "too old for this shit."
22. Bruce Springsteen - The River (81 plays): Annual exploration of The Boss. 2016 brought me The River & The River Tour. My first Springsteen concert. It all makes sense now.
23. Brilliant Beast - Dissolve (80 plays): Criminally underrated shoegaze pop. Brilliant Beast sounds like they're right on the cusp of something big. Can't wait for the next record.
24. Total Gaze - We Need More Condos (80 plays): One of my favorite new local bands. Off-kilter in a delightfully 90's sort of way. Fun seeing kids influenced by the sound I grew up with.
25. Graveyard Club - Cellar Door (79 plays): A band that made good on their considerable promise. Cellar Door cemented their status as the last great synth-pop band in MPLS.
26. Mixed Blood Majority - Insane World (78 plays): Joe Horton, Crescent Moon, & Lazerbeak team up for a MBM sequel. Not as great as their debut, but these three don't make bad records.
27. The Persian Leaps - Your City, Underwater (78 plays): EP 4 from St. Paul's finest power-poppers. All jangling guitars & hooks. Nobody plays to their strengths quite like these guys.
28. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (77 plays): Months after its release I'm still unpacking this one. Is it great or not? Where's it fit in the catalog? No idea yet.
29. Astronautalis - Cut The Body Loose (77 plays): Is anybody as comfortable in their own skin as Astronautalis? If Buck 65, Tom Waits, & Slim Thug had a kid, it would be this album.
30. Fountains Of Wayne - Sky Full Of Holes (77 plays): I unapologetically love Fountains Of Wayne. Finally got around to their latest album. Swan song? Hopefully not.
31. Garrison Grouse - With That Said (77 plays): The second Pytch Records album of 2016 was the most difficult to unpack. With beats warping in & out, it's like listening to someone's mind.
32. Sophia Eris - Sophia Eris (76 plays): Sophia Eris finally steps out on her own (with sexy results). A trim EP with no filler, just soul & hooks. Her star's burning bright.
33. Big Cats - What If It Doesn't Get Better? (76 plays): I'm running out of ways to compliment Big Cats. An LP that allows you to get lost in his beats (with a few guests acting as tour guides).
34. c.Kostra - Now I Feel It (75 plays): The 3rd Pytch Records album of 2016 finds elder statesmen Ryan Olcott doing what he always does, bending pop music to his own persona.
35. Dwynell Roland - The Popular Nobody (75 plays): A new-ish voice MPLS hip-hop, Roland digs deep as he finds his sound. Sometimes vulgar, sometimes deep, you can hear the wheels turning.
36. Tony Peachka - Dirty Knees (74 plays): Big year for Tony Peachka. Abandoning the fragile sound of their debut for a raucous album of sex, drugs, rock & roll, & overthinking it all.
37. The Counterfactuals - The Counterfactuals (74 plays): The Counterfactuals play a pleasantly professional version of indie rock. Every song is well-developed and produced to hit that sweet-spot.
38. Fog - For Good (73 plays): Kind of an older brother to 22, A Million. Not as dramatic, Fog is just as enigmatic, but Andrew Broder does it with both feet on the ground.
39. Ghostband - Colder (72 plays): A driving drum 'n bass album, Ghostband has soundtracked my winter. Great music for trying to find the energy to slog to work.
40. Prince - For You (72 plays): A new addition to my yearly explorations. Prince's debut album is made all the more thrilling by knowing what he'd become later on.
41. Mux Mool - Implied Lines (72 plays): Mux Mool may not reside in Minnesota anymore, but the beats on Implied Lines have the sort of enjoyably modest sound that feels like home.
42. Pale Spectre - Principles & Faculties (72 plays): Pale Spectre make their long-awaited debut and it does not disappoint. A brilliant EP of post-punk jangle & hooks.
43. The Person & The People - Unemployment Blues (72 plays): Nick Costa goes solo for this acoustic album under his band's name. Strong on its own, it's a new twist on TPATP's usual rock sound.
44. Cruel Love - CRUELLOVE/RECORDPORN (71 plays): Mo Bluntz & Bonnie Stitches blow up their sound on this album. Hooks are replaced by an atmosphere of fuzzed out, hazy sensuality.
45. ZuluZuluu - What's The Price? (71 plays): ZuluZuluu brought the MPLS funk sound back just in time to have the baton passed. They're assuring the cities legacy remains intact.
46. Doks Robotiks - Doks (70 plays): Doks Robotiks mash up hip-hop & live propulsive jazz. Not a record to dive into as much as one to just hang on for the ride.
47. The Crash Bandits - Lighten Up (70 plays): Pop songs wearing punk's clothing. The Crash Bandits fire hooks fast & furious like they were signed to Lookout! Records in 1996.
48. Little Shalimar - The Rubble Kings (66 plays): El-P's secret weapon crafts a soundtrack to the darker days of New York. A funky & dark, but also nostalgic & curiously celebratory.
49. The Florists - Can You Feel The Stasis? (66 plays): Another excellent new Twin Cities guitar band. This EP is great, but will probably be a footnote once they really get their legs under them.
50. Astronomique - Astronomique (58 plays): Astronomique continued to find their sound on this self-titled EP. It feels like they're really close to making that leap.
There you have it. For all the talk of 2016 being a garbage year, it was filled with some incredible records. I'm sure 2017 will be pretty great too.
For more of my rantings you can give me a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page. Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.
