Feature / Music / Year End 2016
Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2016)

January 16, 2017

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2016)
Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2016)

Individual staff lists

Andy's list

  1. Swans – The Glowing Man (Young God)
  2. Perturbator – The Uncanny Valley (Blood Music)
  3. Avvenir – Natural Language (Safety Records)
  4. Mannequin Pussy – Romantic (Tiny Engines)
  5. Andrew Hung – The Greasy Strangler (Soundtrack) (Death Waltz)
  6. Kindling – Galaxies (No Idea Records)
  7. David Bowie – ? (Blackstar) ( ISO Records / Columbia)
  8. Cliff Martinez – The Neon Demon Original Soundtrack (Milan Records)
  9. Youth Code – Commitment to Complications (Dais Records)
  10. New Shack – Eingang (Self-released)
  11. Parquet Courts – Human Performance (Rough Trade)
  12. The Casket Girls – The Night Machines (Graveface Records & Curiosities)
  13. Oiseaux-Tempête – Unworks & Rarities (Sub Rosa)
  14. Angel Olsen – My Woman (Jagjaguwar)
  15. Wreck and Reference – Indifferent Rivers Romance End (Flenser Records)
  16. Violent Magic Orchestra – Catastrophic Anonymous (Throatruiner Records)
  17. Nadja – Sv (Essence Music)
  18. American Football – LP2 (Polyvinyl)
  19. Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness (Temporary Residence)
  20. Kuba Kapsa Ensemble – Vantdraught 4 (Denovali Records)
  21. SURVIVE – RR7349 (Relapse)
  22. DTCV – Confusion Moderne (Xemu Records)
  23. Heliotropes – Over There That Way (The End Records)
  24. Rabid Flash Mob – Like a Riot (Self-released)
  25. Anarchist Republic of Bzzz – United Diktaturs of Europe (Bzzz Records)

Cheryl's list

  1. Alcest – Kodama (Prophecy Productions)
  2. 40 Watt Sun – Wider than the Sky (Radiance Records)
  3. Rome – The Hyperion Machine (Trisol Music Group)
  4. Schammasch – Triangle (Prosthetic Records)
  5. Wwdrujacy Wiatr – O turniach, jeziorach i nocnych szlakach (Werewolf Promotion)
  6. Mesarthim – .- -... ... . -. -.-. . (Independent)
  7. Metallica – Hardwired...to Self Destruct (Blackened Recordings)
  8. Mare Cognitum – Luminiferous Aether (I, Voidhanger Records)
  9. Tardigrada – Emotionale Ödnis (Eisenwald)
  10. ColdWorld – Autumn (Cold Dimensions)
  11. Woman is the Earth – Torch of Our Final Night (Init)
  12. Borknagar – Winter Thrice (Century Media Records)
  13. Mizmor – Yodh (Gilead Media)
  14. Bölzer – Hero (Iron Bonehead Records)
  15. Blood Incantation – Starspawn (Dark Descent Records)
  16. Perturbator – The Uncanny Valley (Blood Music)
  17. Cobalt – Slow Forever (Profound Lore)
  18. Darkthrone – Arctic Thunder (Peaceville)
  19. Katatonia – The Fall of Hearts (Peaceville)
  20. Anaal Nathrakh – The Whole of the Law (Metal Blade Records)
  21. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Dissociation (Party Smasher Inc.)
  22. Germ – Escape (Prophecy Productions)
  23. Deftones – Gore (Warner Music Group)
  24. Ihsahn – Arktis. (Candlelight Records)
  25. Imperium Dekadenz – Dis Manibvs (Season of Mist)

Kevin Fitzpatrick's list

  1. Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression (Loma Vista Recordings)
  2. David Bowie – ? (Blackstar) ( ISO Records / Columbia)
  3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree (Bad Seed LTD.)
  4. Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker (Columbia)
  5. Taylor Hawkins – KOTA e.p. (Independent)
  6. Metallica – Hardwired...to Self Destruct (Blackened Recordings)
  7. White Lung – Paradise (Domino)
  8. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (XL Recordings)
  9. Marillion – F.E.A.R. (Intact)
  10. Pixies – Head Carrier (Pixies Music)
  11. Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Getaway (Warner Bros.)
  12. Tricky – Skilled Mechanics (K7)
  13. Deftones – Gore (Warner Music Group)
  14. Nevermen – Nevermen (Ipecac)
  15. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here...Thank You For Your Service (Epic)
  16. Giraffe Tongue Orchestra – Broken Lines (Party Smasher Inc.)
  17. Bloody Hammers – Lovely Sort of Death (Napalm Records)
  18. Descendents – Hypercaffium Spazzinate (Epitaph)
  19. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Dissociation (Party Smasher Inc.)
  20. Gojira – Magma (Roadrunner)
  21. Kaada & Patton – Bacteria Cult (Ipecac)
  22. Cobalt – Slow Forever (Profound Lore)
  23. Darkthrone – Arctic Thunder (Peaceville)
  24. Melvins – Basses Loaded (Ipecac)
  25. Esben and the Witch – Older Terrors (Season of Mist)

Loren's list

  1. Big Eyes – Stake My Claim (Don Giovanni)
  2. Arms Aloft – What a Time to Be Barely Alive (Red Scare Industries)
  3. Toys That Kill – Sentimental Ward (Recess)
  4. Shallow Cuts – Empty Beach Town (No Idea Records)
  5. Low Culture – Places To Hide (Dirtnap)
  6. Drakulas – Raw Wave (Dirtnap)
  7. The Blind Shake – Celebrate Your Worth (Goner)
  8. The Falcon – Gather Up the Chaps (Red Scare Industries)
  9. Coathangers – Nosebleed Weekend (Suicide Squeeze)
  10. Mikey Erg – Tentative Decisions (Don Giovanni)
  11. Dean Ween Group – The Deaner Record (ATO)
  12. Hakan – Hakan II (Drunken Sailor)
  13. Sex Stains – Sex Stains (Don Giovanni)
  14. Boilerman – Feel Ways About Stuff (86'd Records)
  15. Hannahband – Quitting Will Improve Your Health (Blackwire Records/Lesstalk Records)
  16. Real Numbers – Wordless Wonder (Slumberland Records)
  17. Sims – More Than Ever (Doomtree)
  18. Bullnettle – Bullnettle (Dirt Cult)
  19. Crybaby – Drag Me Under (Square of Opposition)
  20. Pkew Pkew Pkew – self-titled (Royal Mountain Records)
  21. Attention – !Attention! (Tour Van Records)
  22. The Interrupters – Say It Out Loud (Epitaph)
  23. Spokenest – Gone, Gone, Gone (Drunken Sailor)
  24. Mark Sultan – BBQ (In the Red Records)
  25. Yeesh – Confirmation Bias (Tiny Engines)

Matt's list

  1. David Bowie – ? (Blackstar) ( ISO Records / Columbia)
  2. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (XL Recordings)
  3. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here...Thank You For Your Service (Epic)

Nathan G. O'Brien's list

  1. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here...Thank You For Your Service (Epic)
  2. Rakta – III (Iron Lung)
  3. Schoolboy Q – Blank Face (Top Dawg)
  4. Anxiety – Anxiety (La Vida Es En Mus Discos Punk)
  5. Timeless Truth – Cold Wave (Different Worlds)
  6. Mommy – Songs About Children (Toxic State)
  7. Planet Asia & DJ Concept – Seventy Nine (Coalmine Records)
  8. Gag – America's Greatest Hits (Iron Lung)
  9. Warpath – Pure Butter (Daily Concept)
  10. Chroma – Cuerpos Dociles (La Vida Es En Mus Discos Punk)
  11. Gensu Dean & Denmark Vessey – Whole Food (Mello Music Group)
  12. Lumpy & The Dumpers – Huff My Sack (La Vida Es En Mus Discos Punk)
  13. Ill Bill – Septagram (Uncle Howie)
  14. Deny The Cross – Alpha Ghoul (Tankcrimes)
  15. Czarface – A Fistful of Peril (Sliver Age Records)
  16. Boilerman – Feel Ways About Stuff (86'd Records)
  17. D.I.T.C. – Sessions (D.I.T.C. Studios)
  18. D.I.T.C. – D.I.T.C. Studios (Slice of Spice)
  19. Pure Disgust – Pure Disgust (Katorga Works)
  20. Discourse – Megalomaniac (Crate Cartel)
  21. Cracked Vessel – No Path (Hip Kid Records)
  22. Bloody Monk Consortium – The Awakening (Bloody Monk Consortium)
  23. Blood Pressure – Need to Control (Beach Impediment)
  24. DJ Skizz – Cruise Control (Different Worlds)
  25. Descendents – Hypercaffium Spazzinate (Epitaph)
  26. Dyke Drama – Up Against the Bricks (Salinas Records)
  27. Zsa Zsa Sapian & Mutado Pintado – Musical Confrontation (Peasant Vitality)

Spyros Stasis's list

  1. Swans – The Glowing Man (Young God)
  2. Oranssi Pazuzu – Värähtelijä (Svart Records/20 Buck Spin)
  3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree (Bad Seed LTD.)
  4. Neurosis – Fires Within Fires (Neurot Recordings)
  5. David Bowie – ? (Blackstar) ( ISO Records / Columbia)
  6. Tim Hecker – Love Streams (4AD)
  7. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here...Thank You For Your Service (Epic)
  8. Sumac – What One Becomes (Thrill Jockey)
  9. The Body – No One Deserves Happiness (Thrill Jockey)
  10. Cobalt – Slow Forever (Profound Lore)
  11. Lycus – Chasms (Relapse)
  12. clipping. – Splendor & Misery (Sub Pop)
  13. Matmos – Ultimate Care II (Thrill Jockey)
  14. Jenny Hval – Blood Bitch (Sacred Bones)
  15. Dälek – Asphalt For Eden (Profound Lore)
  16. Street Sects – End Position (Flenser)
  17. Marissa Nadler – Strangers (Sacred Bones)
  18. Various Artists – Okkyung Lee & Christian Marclay ? Amalgam (Northern Spy)
  19. Virus – Memento Collider (Karisma Records)
  20. Helen Money – Become Zero (Thrill Jockey)
  21. Oren Ambarchi – Hubris (Editions Mego)
  22. Angel Olsen – My Woman (Jagjaguwar)
  23. Various Artists – Amirtha Kidambi, Elder Ones ? Holy Science (Northern Spy)
  24. Various Artists – Oneida & Rhys Chatham - What's Your Sign? (Northern Spy)
  25. Sun Worship – Pale Dawn (Golden Antenna)

Skip to page View as a single page

— words by the SPB team • January 16, 2017

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2016)
Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2016)

Pages in this feature

  1. Opening page
  2. Records 16-30
  3. Individual Staff Lists

Series: Year End 2016

Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2016.

More from this series

Related features

2016: A Year In Review

Music / Year End 2016 • January 16, 2017

Every year we ask record labels and artists what they thought of the last twelve months; we tell you the best albums of last year; and finally we offer you this, our roundup of other great music-related stuff you may have missed. In this year's instalment we share our favorite grower albums, … Read more

Pass The Mic: Artists on 2016

Music / Year End 2016 • December 30, 2016

It's the second half of our annual Pass The Mic feature and this time we're handing the microphone over to the bands and artists who brought us great music in 2016. We ask them to reflect on the year gone by and to share with us the sounds that shaped … Read more

Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2016

Music / Year End 2016 • December 19, 2016

Now in its tenth year, Pass The Mic is a SPB tradition where we ask the artists and record labels producing some of our favorite music to comment on the year in music: what albums they enjoyed, what bands they discovered, what their label released and what they're excited for … Read more

More from this section

Guest List: Panopticon's definitive crust / hardcore / punk classics

Music / The Set List • April 24, 2024

Panopticon may be more widely known as a "metal" band - I use that term loosely because Panopticon is a lot more than the black metal base genre it derives from - yet founder Austin Lunn finds his inspiration from many different genres, punk and hardcore being one aspect of … Read more

Guest List: 10 Songs That Are Core To DeeCracks

Music / The Set List • April 8, 2024

Twenty years is a long time – much longer than many relationships last. So it’s an accomplishment when a band can stick together through life and social changes. DeeCracks, a poppy punk band from Austria, threw a two-day festival last year and released a 28-track retrospective to mark their anniversary … Read more

Only Death Is Real #24

Music / Only Death Is Real • April 8, 2024

Acathexis – Immerse (Amor Fati/Extraconscious Records) Acathexis’ self-titled debut from 2018 is one that still bears repeated listens, personally, many years later. With some of the best known and hardest working musicians within black metal behind the band, it was always clear that this is a band to watch. Featuring Jacob Buczarski, … Read more