1. Denzel Curry - Imperial
You ever get hold of an album and listen to it 4/5 times a day for a couple of weeks, well, with Imperial I must have done this for about 6 months. It encapsulates everything I love in hip hop, wit, lyricism, crisp production, massive choruses, and beats that work just as well in headphones as they would on a night out. Denzel Curry absolutely nailed it on this mixtape and the very idea of having anything else as my album of the year never even crossed my mind.
2. Every Time I Die - Low Teens
This was always going to be in my top 5, even before I heard it, I’m a total mark for this band, but you can forgive me for that when they’ve just added another album to a run of amazing albums which has been going since the early 2000s. Yet again they’ve changed their sound, not drastic enough to alienate current fans, but just enough to keep it interesting and fresh. Still furious, still melodic, still catchy, and they still make me want to dive off a stack of speakers.
3. Wormrot - Voices
I really like grindcore, so fast it’s silly and so heavy it makes you want to go fight someone. Unfortunately it doesn’t normally produce many outstanding albums in my eyes. It can lean on being generic and sitting inside a formula which has been established since Napalm Death put out Scum in the ‘80s. So it was an excellent surprise hearing just how outrageously good this is. Keeping it short, sweet and to the point while also managing to fit in enough experimentation that you never know what’s coming next.
4. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
I was super excited when I heard that Danny Brown had signed to Warp records, the home of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Autechre always meant that it was going to be interesting even if it wasn’t that good. Luckily it’s got both in spades. XXX was a very ‘independent’ hip hop album, a backpacker and Pitchfork readers choice. Old was an album of two halves, the first was quiet and introspective, the second was about doing loads of drugs and doing stupid stuff. Atrocity Exhibition is something completely new entirely. It’ll jump wildly from something Joy Division-esque, to a song which is mostly him shouting over a sample of a horn. If you have even a fleeting interest in weird music then you probably still won’t know what you just listened to, i’m pretty sure I don’t.
5. Black Foxxes - I’m Not Well
In terms of rock albums this year, this stood head and shoulders above everything else, from the lyrics and raw emotion to the riffs and nods to some essential ‘90s bands, it wasn’t hard having this in my top 5.
Artist you’ve discovered this year that you’re excited about for the future:
Full of Hell
I was always previously aware of Full of Hell, but in the last 3 or so months they’ve finally clicked. So much variety and fresh ideas brought to the table on everything they’ve done. Keeping a strong base in grindcore and powerviolence, but the collaboration with Merzbow, The Body, and the split with Nails has shown what a forward thinking band they are, never afraid to make something so mind meltingly intense that it can be hard to listen to. Whether it’s putting straight up noise music on their releases, or dabbling in black metal, it’s always going to be an experience. Seeing what they do next and where they’ll take their sound is a very exciting prospect.
Artist you’ve gone off this year:
Death Grips
It feels wrong saying it, but, Death Grips. Their first 3 albums I will stick with for a long time. Bringing something new to hip hop and constantly changing it up. Unfortunately though, everything since has done basically nothing for me, and this years Bottomless Pit just made me realise I don’t care anymore. It felt safe, the songs aren’t as interesting, and now they feel edgy for the sake of it. I will probably give a listen to what they come out with next, but I doubt I’ll get that pang of excitement I used to when I saw that a new album was coming.
Tom Reed