Here's my list. I could have done more, but forty seemed a got cut-off-point.
This is all subject to change of course; I'm rather bad at ranking.
Please don't compare the rankings to the ratings in the Rate-the-Album-thread; I'm very inconsequential.
There's also comments for a lot of albums.
Thanks to Holden for running this. I hope the formatting here isn't a problem.
1 | Kaja Draksler Octet | Out for Stars
A Slovenian pianist and composer who wrote a dissertation on the structure of Cecil Taylor‘s improvisations takes seven poems by Robert Frost and turns them into beautiful compositions. Draksler herself plays the piano, Onno Govaert is responsible for the percussion and Ada Rave and Ab Baars for the reeds (tenor saxphone and clarinet). My personal highlights are the vocal performances by Laura Polence and Björk Níelsdóttir and the wonderful work on strings by Lennart Heyndels (double bass) and George Dumitriu (violin & viola). This record is flawed , of course (few aren‘t). The biggest problem I have here is the order of the tracks. „Never Again Will Birds‘ Song Be the Same“ and „The Silken Tent“ shouldn‘t follow right after one another, since they‘re both very much based on silent improvisation, which makes this third of the record the hardest to go through. And the final track should be „Away!“ because it is simply perfect. That is not hyperbole: I have been listening to it for the past few weeks and I am convinced it will be in the Top 3 of the year for me. The instrumental section following the last verse sounds transcendent (and I know that‘s the most pretentious thing you can write, but sometimes it‘s true). And for the end of the track, Robert Frost himself recites the poem again (an old recording obviously, he‘s been dead for more than 50 years), and there obviously isn‘t a better way to end anything: „Unless I‘m wrong / I but obey / the urge of a song / I‘m bound – away! / And I may return / if dissatisfied / with what I learned / from having died.“
2 | Gard Nilssen‘s Supersonic Orchestra | If You Listen Carefully the Music Is Yours
Everybody likes a live recording of an experimental big band performance. Well, maybe not everyone, but I do. The band is composed of 16 musicians, most of them Scandinavian. There‘s an absolute overkill of saxophones here (7!), and three drumsets, Nilssen himself playing on one of them. The music is of epic scale and sounds enormous. Listening to this is a lot of fun. If you‘re interested, start with „Bøtteknott / Elastic Circle“.
Here‘s a five-minute live performance, at the end of which they play the theme which always manages to delight me.
3 | Rob Luft | Life Is the Dancer
Rob Luft is a jazz guitarist (electric) who‘s only on his second album. He doesn‘t show off his technical skills; instead he plays together with a group of other musicians, including piano, saxphone, trumpet, bass and drums. Occasionally, Luna Cohen vocalizes. The resulting songs are very smooth sounding. This is certainly jazz fusion, but it‘s not the Miles Davis-type, but rather the Pat Metheny-type.
4 | Jennifer Curtis & Tyshawn Sorey | Invisible Ritual
Multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey is one of those artists whose work I never had a chance to get into, but I know that he has a very dedicated fan base. Here he teams up with violinist Jennifer Curtis. It‘s eight tracks stretching over almost 77 minutes. Every one of these tracks has its own distinct style, some more quiet and brooding, others fast-paced and piercing (especially recommended is the fourth track). This is only for people who like long improv-heavy tracks.
5 | Lil Darkie | THIS DOES NOT EXIST
Released on the first day of the year, I‘ve listened to this a few times over the past months and it really holds up for me. Imagine a drug-addicted cartoon villain making an experimental rap album, then you can maybe come close to how this sounds. The songs here use a variety of styles, going from punk tracks to industrial rap to a song that sounds a bit like a version of Mac Miller‘s „Good News“, but better („COMPOSITION XI“).
6 | Bob Dylan | Rough and Rowdy Ways
I like to believe that this album was a spontaneous idea by Dylan because he was bored and didn‘t know what to do now that he couldn‘t play concerts. So he just decided to record some of the songs he wrote over the years and release them. I don‘t know how likely this is, but I think it‘s a nice idea. About the album itself: The lyrics are incredible (which is expected), but what was really surprising is how good he sounds here. I think his voice hasn‘t sounded this smooth (is that the right word?) in a while. I don‘t see a weak link here; my favorites are „I Contain Multitudes“, „I‘ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You“, „Key West (Philosopher Pirate)“, which is probably the best nickname anyone ever came up with for Dylan, and „Murder Most Foul“ (that bass sounds divine).
7 | Aksak Maboul | Figures
A Belgian Rock-in-Opposition group releases their first real album in forty years and it sounds like progressive synth-pop (if there is such a thing?). It‘s a double album stretching over 75 minutes and it needs more than one listen to get into it, but it‘s really worth it. The songs pack layers on layers which makes it fun to unpack. The only „problem“ is that I can‘t understand a word because my French is bad (very bad). Highlights are „Histoires de fous“, „Spleenétique“ and „Fatrasie pulvérisée“, but the absolutely best track on here is „Dramuscule“ which is incredible.
8 | Alexander Hawkins & Tomeka Reid | Shards and Constellations
Hawkins is a pianist, Reid is a cellist, whose previous efforts have brought her some acclaim. This is a wonderful collaboration where Reid is the absolute highlight. She shows the variety of the cello and the broad spectrum of sounds it can create. Two tracks worth mentioning are the most accessible one, a tribute to the saxphonist and free jazz pioneer Albert Ayler, „Albert Ayler (His Life Was Too Short)“ and my favorite, the centerpiece of the album, „Peace on You“.
9 | Einstürzende Neubauten | Alles in Allem
It‘s more Pop than I expected, but it totally works. The industrial soundscape underneath the vocals evokes an unsettling mood and the lyrics are also pretty good (if you understand German). The best track on here is „Taschen“.
10 | Sam Lee | Old Wow
Lee sings traditional songs about nature, some of which were re-written. He gets help from (among others) Bernard Butler (Suede‘s first guitarist) and Elizabeth Fraser (from the Cocteau Twins). The songs all sound great, but my favorite has got to be „Lay This Body Down“.
11 | Gina Schwarz | Pannonica
An ensemble who just decided they were gonna record an album, but then they had two days left, so they just recorded a bit more and turned it into a double album. The two halves of the album have a different sound. The first has more concise compositions, while the second half (the one I prefer) sounds more free and loose. A wonderful idea is the Cuts they do, where they improvise for one minute on a random word (like „quantum mechanics“). This seems to be the year of jazz guitar, so there‘s also some very obvious guitar playing on tracks like „Gm‘s Musicbox“. Schwarz herself is very present on the double bass, while the drums are a bit on the weaker side here, sadly.
12 | Keeley Forsyth | Debris
Forsyth suffered from deep depression, which rendered her literally speechless. She had to learn to speak again, an experience she drew from to create this album. It‘s a very quiet album, focused entirely on her voice, which has a lot of character. „Look to Yourself“ and „Butterfly“ are the tracks I found the most impressing.
13 | Orkesta Mendoza | Curandero
A group led by Sergio Mendoza who grew up around the US/Mexico border. The music reflects that. As far as I can tell, there‘s influences by Mexican folk music, but also by American rock music. The variety here is astounding. Every track has its own distinct flavor, yet they all fit together. Mendoza accomplishes the difficult feat of making music that combines different styles, but still creating a cohesive album. My favorite tracks are „Are We Better Now“ and „Eres Oficial“.
14 | Jonah Parzen-Johnson | Imagine Giving Up
One of the combinations I encountered fairly often this year and which has surprised me, is saxophone with electronics. It‘s not exactly something I expected to like this much. Parzen-Johnson is the first of three artists on this list who work with this combination and he does it the best, in my opinion. His music is incredibly colorful, using the electronics to enhance his saxophone playing.
15 | Nduduzo Makhatini | Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworld
South African pianist Makhatini is really busy. This is his ninth solo album (he started in 2014); he also produces other artists‘ albums and is a member of Shabaka and the Ancestors and plays the fender rhodes on this year‘s
We Are Sent Here by History. I actually prefer his solo album to that album. It consists of eleven tracks with very concise compositions stretching over 75 minutes. There‘s a few tracks where his wife Omagugu Makhatini sings, and she has a great voice which makes this album very worthwhile despite its length.
16 | Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit | Reunions
Isbell is a story-teller. Here you have stories about being a father, being a recovering alcoholic or being someone dealing with loss. It‘s country rock with great lyrics and vocals.
17 | Dimitrij Golovanov & Jan Maksimowicz | Beyond
Another combination of saxophone with electronics, this time with piano. This sounds completely different from Parzen-Johnson‘s album: The sound is far more desolate and the atmosphere created here is a dark one. The two instruments mix very well with the electronics resulting in a coherent album.
18 | Carla Bley / Andy Sheppard / Steve Swallow | Life Goes On
Having Carla Bley this low is breaking my heart a bit, but I really couldn‘t fit her any higher. Carla Bley has been doing jazz music for decades; she‘s one of the prime composers of the '70s. Her new release, however, sounds nothing like her albums from the '70s (except maybe
Dinner Music, which I haven‘t heard yet). Instead it‘s classic ECM-style-jazz with piano, bass and saxophone playing together beautifully. The lack of drums doesn‘t hurt the pieces, instead it gives them a sort of airy quality. My favorite composition is the title composition „Life Goes On“, „Beautiful Telephones“ is also really good. „Copycat“ is still solid, but not on the level of the other two (and it includes a track called „Follow the Leader“ which is just 17 seconds long; I‘m still wondering about its significance).
19 | Bonny Light Horseman | Bonny Light Horseman
A supergroup consisting of Anais Mitchell, Josh Kaufman and Eric D. Johnson who re-interpret old folk classics like „Jane Jane“ and „The Roving“. They craft them into contemporary songs with a lot of feeling. The follow-up single „Green Green Rocky Road“ couldn‘t hold this level, unfortunately.
20 | Zebra Katz | Less Is Moor
Experimental Hip Hop with great production and very sexual lyrics. May not be for everyone, but it‘s one of my favorite hip hop albums of the year.
21 | Johanna Summer | Schumann Kaleidoskop
I don‘t know whether this classifies as classical or jazz. Summer is improvising on the piano using motives taken from Schumann‘s works (caleidoscope seems like a perfect description for what she‘s doing). Her piano playing is magnificent and coherent; the music itself is changing motives, themes and moods fairly often, so it certainly doesn‘t get tedious. Her approach is maybe best exemplified on „Knecht Ruprecht – Träumerei“. The best piano solo work I‘ve heard this year.
22 | Pottery | Welcome to Bobby‘s Motel
The obvious reference here is Talking Heads because the sound is really rather similar. A lot of punky fun.
23 | Wire | Mind Hive
24 | Jasper Hoiby | Planet B
This is supposed to be the first album of a larger cycle (I think four over the next five years) dealing with major problems of our time. This album is about climate change combining spoken word tracks with instrumental tracks. Hoiby himself plays the double bass, but the real star here is clearly saxophonist Josh Arcoleo giving the tracks texture.
25 | Stabscotch | 7 Is a Cycle
Noise rock with a lot of screaming. But in a good way.
26 | Horse Lords | The Common Task
This is very interesting rock music which is not easy to get into. I don‘t understand the term „math rock“ but apparently this belongs to that genre (maybe math rock refers to the abilities you need to have to understand the time signatures these songs are played in). There‘s also bagpipes. In rock music. Glorious!
27 | The Sorcerers | In Search of the Lost City of the Monkey God
A British band playing Ethio-inspired jazz in the form of a soundtrack for a fictional movie. The entire concept is completely refined. The song titles start with „Opening Titles“ and include titles like „Crossing the Rope-Bridge“ or „Escape from the Catacombs“. All these songs are directly related to their titles and it actually feels like a soundtrack. The songs are longer than on many other soundtracks, and the songs have more profile than a lot of soundtracks normally do, so this may be something for soundtrack fans, but non-soundtrack fans shouldn‘t be worried. It‘s very enjoyable and a lot of fun.
28 | Katie Gately | Loom
Gately has a background as a sound designer and it shows in the deep texture of these songs. She‘s an incredibly skilled producer, but her vocals also stand out. „Waltz“ is easily one of the best songs of the year.
29 | The Mall | Zone
I don‘t know how to describe this; maybe something like: Shoegaze mixed with drums and Synth Pop? It‘s definitely incredibly interesting and worth listening to (it‘s just 23 minutes long).
30 | Moon Hooch | Life on Other Planets
Here comes the final combination of saxophone with electronics. Here it‘s two saxophones and a drumset, which provides the rhyhthm for these fast-paced songs. It‘s the sort of Nu Jazz you could use as dance music.
31 | Louise Bock | Sketch for Winter VII – Abyss: For Cello
Drone isn‘t exactly my favorite genre, but I do like it occassionally, especially when it‘s as good as this is. It‘s just half an hour long and consists of very relaxing cello melodies (but in drone style, of course).
32 | Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya McCraven | We‘re New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven
McCraven reworks Scott-Heron‘s final album
I‘m New Here. The music overall takes a supporting role to the vocals which is probably the right choice; it certainly is a great achievement. The tracks are pretty short, with a few exceptions, the prime example being the best track on here, „New York Is Killing Me“.
33 | Mark Lanegan | Straight Songs of Sorrow
34 | Jeff Parker | Suite for Max Brown
Jazz guitar. As I said before, this year has many great examples of its use, this here being one of the more popular jazz albums of the year. This being a suite means that the tracks are best listened to in the right order. The only song that could be taken out of the context, in my opinion, is „Go Away“. Generally it‘s a good jazz fusion record.
35 | Citizen Boy & Mafia Boyz | From Avoca Hills to the World
I am not an expert on Gqom, a subgenre of African House music, but this is really good. The beats keep on coming, but there‘s enough variety not to make it boring. My favorite track is „Woka“.
36 | Prezident | Alles ist voll von Göttern
I‘m not a big fan of German rap, because there‘s so much bad stuff, that I don‘t want to take the time to try to find the good stuff that certainly exists. This album is part of this good stuff; the beats are pretty good, but the highlight is obviously the lyrics. Prezident has a more, let‘s say „refined“ way of expressing himself than a lot of other rap artists do, which I like a lot. It also means that this is probably only something for speakers of German that don‘t mind a good chunk of nihilism in their rap.
37 | Pat Metheny | From This Place
Jazz guitar once again. Metheny is probably one of the most well-known jazz guitarists in the world and this new album doesn‘t disappoint. Even if the length of 75 minutes scares you of, you should check out the 13-minute-long „America Undefined“ which has one of the hardest-hitting finales of a jazz track ever.
38 | Rodrigo y Gabriela | Mettal EP
Two acoustic guitar players cover songs by Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer and it sounds amazing.
39 | Beatrice Dillon | Workaround
The solo debut by electronic musician Dillon who mixes samples from a variety of guest musicians playing conventional instruments like saxophone and cello, but also unconventional ones like kora or bodhrán. To me it doesn‘t feel very song-based and I couldn‘t tell you a standout track.
40 | Ulcerate | Stare Into Death and Be Still
I'm not sure if people here enjoy metal, but this is one of the better metal albums I've heard this year.