LIES!!! i

Let's Eat Grandma - I, Gemini
2.00
This was unobjectionable at best, irritating at worst. There was nothing substantial to hook my attention. When I saw the "Art Pop" and "Ambient Pop" genres I was not surprised. They do not (usually) do anything for me.

Chairlift - Moth
2.00
The second album in a row to hit me right in the "meh". "Synthpop" is also, apparently, not going to be my thing...

The only thing that surprised me was that these albums ended up below 22, a Million, which I disliked quite a bit.

Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam - I Had a Dream That You Were Mine
2.80
Well, it was a lot better than the nonsense last night. But I still think they'd have done better to stick to their respective bands.

Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter
N/A
Sir turned this off partway. I was quite relieved. Country music has no surprises in it. This is not a bad thing. It just means that country music is very unforgiving, and if you do not do it well, then it is just terrible.

This was just terrible.

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression
N/A
He sounded like a Bowie impersonator. Not cool. When you are old, it is ridiculous to sing the same sorts of things as when you were young. Iggy Pop was just ... Ziggy Pop.

So, again, I was glad to see it cut off partway.

AotY 2016
 

School of Seven Bells - SVIIB
N/A
This was tedious from the first bars. I was happy to have it cut off.


Wilco - Schmilco
N/A
Well, they used to care. Now, not so much, as evidenced by the title. You can't care, Wilco? Neither can I.


Steve Gunn - Eyes on the Lines
N/A
No, thank you.


Wovenhand - Star Treatment
N/A
They did not give the star treatment to this album, which I hated right away.


And now for the ones we actually made it all the way through, and well worth it they were!


Moulettes - Preternatural
4.27
Knocking Opeth out of third place, we have this band I had never heard of. It was original and textured right out of the gates, and it did not flag. I look forward to hearing this again.

Virus - Memento Collider
4.17
Poor Opeth. From third place, they're now in fifth. But this was a lot of fun, too. I appreciated the lead singer's voice, which was gruff without being unpleasant, with plenty of strength behind it. I always appreciate music that has masculine strength.

The Final Top Ten, for real
 

Well, the Album of the Year journey is complete. I have finally come up with my list. In this process, I listened to a lot of crap, including ones I did not bother mentioning in previous posts. Sir and I ended up listening to about 70 albums for this project.

And here are the ten albums of 2016 that I loved the best.

#10
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
3.67
http://cdn.albumoftheyear.org/album/...e-to-earth.jpg

Going into this, I expected this one to be higher ranked than it was, but I ended up not liking it as much as Metamodern Sounds in Country Music or High Top Mountain, and I found other music I loved much more. But this made it onto the list.



#9
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
3.75
http://cdn.albumoftheyear.org/album/...leton-tree.jpg

I liked the darker sounds of this, and Nick Cave's cynicism is always pleasing.



#8
King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity
3.78
http://cdn.albumoftheyear.org/album/...n-infinity.jpg

This was another one I had expected to rank higher, but those new awesome albums crowded out some I had heard earlier in the year.



#7
Metá Metá - MM3
3.78
http://albumart.besteveralbums.com/a...2d9e697a3b.jpg

Though this was exactly the same rating as Nonagon Infinity, I preferred this album overall, so it came in ahead.



#6
Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence
4.00
http://www.albumlust.co/uploads/albu...b8-500x500.jpg

A rewarding listen, but though it comes in at the same rank as Opeth's album below, it was not as consistent, pushing Opeth up.



#5
Opeth - Sorceress
4.00
http://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-cont...ss-500x500.jpg

I loved this. I really did. I am looking forward to hearing it again, and I expect to enjoy it at least as much the next time.



#4
Virus - Memento Collider
4.17
http://shop.season-of-mist.com/media...er-50156-1.jpg

Finding something totally out of the blue that was this cool? That made for an amazing evening, especially because I first heard this the same night as I first heard #3.



#3
Moulettes - Preternatural
4.27
http://cdn.albumoftheyear.org/album/...ternatural.jpg

I am looking forward to hearing the other albums by this band. So rich, so rewarding.



#2
David Bowie - ★
4.57
https://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/ar...lbum_cover.jpg

Prior to this album, my favorite Bowie was The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. After this album, Ziggy is still my favorite. But ★ was brilliant and eerie. Awesome Bowie. A perfect swan song.



#1
Wardruna - Runaljod – Ragnarok
5.00
http://takemetal.org/wp-content/uplo...32_front-1.jpg

I do not find many albums to be perfect. In general, actually my Sir is more likely to rate any given album more highly than I do. But this album absolutely slaughtered me when I first heard it, and when Sir and I went out for my birthday to a love hotel, I requested that we listen to the whole trilogy.

It was perfect. We turned off the lights, sat in the bath, then lay on the bed, and the music transported us. I felt positively high by the time it was over. We went on a journey into a beautiful pagan world and became denizens of it.

If I heard nothing else all year, it would have been worthwhile just to hear this album.

If you dig Virus then you should check out Ved Buens Ende. They were a pre-Virus band and from what I remember of Virus they basically took up where VBE left off. At least to an extent.

Disappointed you didn't like School of Seven Bells. I heard Ghoststory and just fell in love with it. Maybe worth listening to that? Haven't heard the new one yet.

I dig Ghostory, just not the latest album.

I am sure that Sir will be getting those. Thank you for the suggestion.

Then I expect I will hear Ghostory when G comes around...

But yes, School of Seven Bells hit me right in the "meh".