#new album coming out next month. it's only right to have a discography marathon

[chqnified]

Forgot how much of a bop Give me your tmi and taste were

[taste-in-music]

My Most Anticipated Releases of 2020

Now that 2019 is behind us, it’s time to look into the oncoming year for exciting new releases to come! 

Manic by Halsey (January 17th): Halsey’s music is a mixed bag for me, but even I can’t deny that she’s got some real gems in her discography or that listening to Badlands makes me nostalgic to no end. The singles Halsey has released so far for this project are a mixed bag in my book. “Without Me” doesn’t click with me and “Nightmare” is messy and gets grating quickly. However, I like the others quite a bit, especially the synthpop euphoria of “Graveyard,” which I’ve returned to quite a bit over the past year. If the rest of the album leans more in that direction, I can see myself liking it quite a bit. 

High Rode by Kesha (January 31st): Hearing Rainbow back in 2017 was one of the most exciting pop album listening experiences of the 2010s. Not only did Kesha deliver a confident, spirited, self-assured message, but she also blended together a slew of genres, such as folk, rock, and country, all of these qualities culminating in a exhilarating and touching record that I still return to to this day. The singles she’s dropped so far see a continuation of these elements into her next era, with “Raising Hell” and “My Own Dance” being dance-pop bangers while “Resentment” shows Kesha’s softer side.

The Slow Rush by Tame Impala (February 14th): After five years, the wait is finally over! I’d call myself a casual fan of Tame Impala, but even I can’t admit that Kevin Parker and crew know their way around indie rock hooks with a psychedelic spin, (as far as I’m concerned, “The Less I Know The Better” is a modern classic.) Singles such as “Patience” and “Borderline” show that this quality hasn’t lessened in the slightest, while the sprawling soundscape “Posthumous Forgiveness” shows that experimentation is still in store. Also, it’s being released on Valentine’s Day!

Cape God by Allie X (February 21st): I don’t think I can express how excited I am for this album. I think this is my most anticipated album of 2020 right now. All of the singles released so far been amazing. The eerie synths on “Fresh Laundry” make it the perfect spooky bop, Ms. X and Troye Sivan work great together on “Love Me Wrong", “Rings A Bell” goes OFF with its chorus, and bassline on “Regulars” makes for one killer groove. Not only that, we’re also getting a Mitski feature? I’m calling it for the collaboration of the year. Allie X's discography has been near flawless so far, so let’s just say that I’m hyped. 2020 better be the year she gets the recognition she deserves. 

Notes On A Conditional Form by The 1975 (February 21st): As I’ve mentioned before, I have no expectations going into this album because I have no idea what it’s going to sound like. All the singles so far have been so drastically different, one being a speech set to music, another punk, and another pop. Regardless, they’ve all been good, so I’m not complaining. The 1975 are always dependable when it comes to delivering danceable bops with philosophical tidbits peppered throughout. 

Miss_Anthrop0cene by Grimes (February 21st): How am I going to survive February 21st? I’ve been awaiting a new project from Grimes since falling in love with the sugary hooks, eccentric production, and hellish flair on Art Angels years ago. The singles so far have been a mixed bag, but it looked like we’ll see Grimes tackle themes of technology and artificial intelligence on this album, which is bound to be interesting.

Masochism by Sky Ferreira (TBA): This is assuming that we’ll even get an album at this point. Has it really been 7 years since Night Time, My Time dropped? Of course I’m kidding, however long Ms. Ferreira takes on this album will be well worth it, and I’m all for artists taking their time to refine their projects. We got some crumbs last year, both with her Charli XCX collab and the lush, baroque pop single “Downhill Lullaby.” I’m willing to patiently wait for whatever this alt-pop songstress will dish out in the coming months. 

Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa (TBA): Dua Lipa was a breath of fresh air in the pop scene of 2017-2018. Her debut album provided not only hit singles that were some of the best on the radio but also great deep cuts that showcased her strength as a vocalist and songwriter. The debut single from this album, “Don’t Start Now,” has been on a loop for me over the past few months, and the melding of past and future aesthetics in her recent videos and music is panning out in a really interesting way. I’ve also heard rumors of Frank Ocean, Miley Cyrus, and Normani possibly being featured on this album, but I don’t have an official source for that, so it’s just speculation, (but can you imagine though?)

Watching You EP by Robinson (TBA): Robinson is an artist I don’t remember I love until I realize that I’m hours deep into marathoning her music and singing along to every line. She’s got a knack for a catchy hook and fun pop production. “Don’t Say” was one of my favorite songs of 2019, and it’s reported to be a debut single from what will be her first longer project. I’m stoked. 

White Hot Forever by Lana Del Rey (TBA): I’d love to get another Lana album so soon after NFR!, but I have a similar concern about this as I did with thank u, next, that it would end up sounding rushed or not as fleshed out as it could be. Still, NFR! was my favorite Lana record to date, and I’d love to see if she’d continue the aesthetics of that project onto this album or start a completely new thematic and visual cycle. It’s also unclear as to whether this would be her spoken world album that’s also been announced? I guess we’ll just have to see. 

The Archer by Alexandra Savior (TBA): Alexandra Savior won me over with her femme-fatale crooner of a debut, Belladonna of Sadness. The debut single from this album, “Crying All The Time,” is a swooning, fuzzed-out ballad that won me over instantly. This woman knows her way around a sensual vintage aesthetic, I’ll tell you that.

Other artists that have either announced or teased dropping albums this year include HAIM, Dominic Fike, Hailee Steinfeld, Oh Wonder, Lauren Jauregui, The Killers, Noname, Orla Gartland, Normani, Madison Beer, Ava Max, Conan Gray, Donna Missal (!!!) and, (good god, if we are worthy,) Fiona Apple. 

It’s still very early in the year, so I’ll likely update this list in the months to come. What albums are you excited for this year? I’m always open to listening to new artists, so make sure to let me know. 

[happymetalgirl]

Tool - Fear Inoculum

I didn’t actually intend to review the long-awaited fifth Tool album so long after its release, time and life got in the way of things, but I’m kind of glad in a way that I’m talking about it now after all the inevitable and ridiculous hysteria surrounding it has mellowed out, which is (spoiler) kind of a sign of the album’s relative quality next to the band’s other four records in and of itself. And, while now I get to talk about it without the confounding noise of the loud clamoring on about it, I don’t really think my words would have really been too different a month and a half ago than they are now.

Tool are a band, of course, who need no introduction; their cerebral brand of progressive alternative metal has become signature and iconic, and their four albums from 1993 to 2006 that preceded this one have served as an influence, if not a lofty aspiration, for thousands of artists since then. Like any self-respecting Tool fan, I consider Lateralus and Ænima to be roughly neck and neck at the top for my favorite spot in the band’s discography (the joint “Parabol” and “Parabola” together being my personal favorite Tool song). Those two albums show the quick crystallization of the band’s progressive metal psychedelia from their rougher, grungier beginnings earlier in the 1990′s. Though I do hold a lot of respect for how accomplished of a debut statement Undertow was, and how much ground it laid for the two albums to come. And even Opiate served as a strong prequel EP to that album. The band’s fourth album, 10,000 Days, however, took a perplexing turn from the heady, yet still metallic prog hallucinations the band had worked up to, and into more drawn-out, spacey experimentation, which I’d say haven’t really aged into anything and sound about as unnecessarily dilute and jam-band-ish as the day the album released in 2006. The album had its high points like the thundering bass of “Vicarious” and “Jambi” and the alternative metal oddity of “The Pot”, but it’s a largely tiresome and less rewarding listen than its predecessors. And that was the last we heard of Tool for thirteen years.

The tremendous wait for the album of course drummed up a lot of speculation of what it would sound like in relation to their previous works. Would it be a return to the beloved progressive metal of  Ænima and Lateralus? Would it be a culmination of all their sounds in retrospect into one gargantuan crowd-pleaser? Or would it be something totally new for the band. Not to toot my own horn, (and not like I can prove this anyway), but I had this hunch that this album would probably be just a delayed continuation of what the band were doing on 10,000 Days, and, while there is the occasional reinvigoration of their sound with some stylistic callbacks to their middle two records prior, lo and behold, as much as I wish I didn’t, for the most part I guessed right.

Coinciding with the band’s acceptance of the times and the advent of streaming with their release of their catalog onto digital platforms, Fear Inoculum was released as a single-disc CD and as a longer, digital version, with three extra instrumental interludes sprinkled throughout the track listing stretching it past the limits of the CD format to nearly eighty-seven minutes, and it sure feels like the hour-and-a-half-long listen that it is, and not in a flattering way. Like I said, the album is largely a continuation of the atmosphere-focused prog of 10,000 Days, which is only somewhat updated from the band’s 2006 effort. The main songs are all over ten minutes long, and the similarly low energy across the marathon track list doesn’t really make a great case for this direction in contrast to what the band have shown themselves to be great at, namely vibrant, untethered prog adventurousness.

The opening title track layers together plenty of diverse tom percussion and the band’s recognizable guitar reverb into a slowly growing and whirlpool (kind of like the album cover) of Tool’s 10,000 Days sonic pallet that gradually cascades into a thicker, distortion-fuzz-driven finish. The abstract, cryptic lyricism about shedding the influence of manipulative fear mongering is more cryptic than poetic, but I can see the vagueness of the subject being a good way to make it widely and appropriately applicable in its commentary and play into the paranoia of refusing to acknowledge exactly what this deceiver is. As a tension-builder, it’s a great way to start the album off, but it doesn’t really seal the pay-off as the heavy bass line tries to usher in a climax while the other instrumentalists mostly just coast on forward to the end of the song like a tired distance runner giving a bit of a burst to finish the last stretch. And that’s one of the shorter tracks, with over an hour left to go.

The second song, “Pneuma”, is structurally not too dissimilar, with a synthy bridge this time connecting the meditative tom-drum/reverb-guitar build-up to a relatively hum-drum metallic non-finale. It really only marginally feels like it’s that kind of progressively building song, clearly being more focused on its meditative ambiance than its intentional trajectory. In which case, I would have honestly probably preferred the band taking that approach more holistically, rather than trying to fit it into a prog metal formula. Lyrically, the song centers around a lot of transcendentalism that Tool have written about before, not really adding much new beyond perhaps a slightly different angle to meditate on it from. The song is followed by the first of the instrumental interlude tracks, “Litanie contre la peur”, which plays around with a melodically manipulated vocal inflection over some humming ambiance for about two minutes.

The third big piece on the album, “Invincible”, which finally plays a little more to the band’s progressive strengths. The guitar groove is actually allowed to drive the song and shine in a more energetic manner as Danny Carey gets to get a lot more bombastic behind the kit, as do the rest of the band during the instrumental sections throughout the song. It’s not only a more metallically groove-driven song whose heavier elements are actually used to cultivate a sense of meditation from a much more signature angle, but also a more interestingly progressive song that does more than just slowly swell up to a mild crescendo for ten minutes. The worries of the song’s warrior speaker are pretty transparently transposeable to the worry and struggles any aging artist (especially a long-absent artist like... Tool, maybe) to maintain their importance and the meaningfulness of their work.

The ominous bass hum of the second interlude track, “Legion Inoculant”, leads into the fourth of the album’s main epic songs, which keep getting longer and longer with the thirteen-and-a-half-minute environmental apocalypse warning “Descending”, which pleas for an end to the apathy that exacerbates the compounding climate crisis. Musically, the song plays into the somber melancholy of the lyrics, while taking a more balanced approach between the spaciness of the band’s last album and the heavier elements of Ænima in particular, perhaps intended given the similarity of that album’s title track’s subject matter. While some of the later sections feel a bit over-indulgent, this song deserves its length as it cascades through emotive defeatism via progressive metal ebbs and flows into this impending metallic crescendo that actually fits nicely with the melancholic rock build-up and the lyrical implications; it sounds like its tracking the collapse of , much like the title track of Ænima., starting and finishing with the sound of waves upon the shore that will continue to crash, just as they did before our takeover of the land, after our demise.

While the lyrical concept revolving around self-doubt and  of “Culling Voices”, is fascinating and all too tangible, the music falls more on the mild side again, with the band’s softer, more meditative atmosphere crashing just twice into explosive, but unimpressive climaxes of muscular, but not too creative, guitar riffing. The longest of the interludes, the wind-chime-laden and effects-doused electronic pulsing of “Chocolate Chip Trip”, features a tasty little drum solo to kind of make up for the lack of spotlight Carey gets on this album as he does so much of the rhythmic legwork, which I certainly appeciate and welcome.

The closing epic, “7empest” was the song fans were fawning over the most as a monstrous riff-fest after the album was finally released, and the riffing across the song’s almost sixteen minutes, as well as the repeating of the lyrical mantra, do capture some Ænima vibes, which makes sense knowing it was pieced together with motifs written during that era. The song’s lyrics once again call back to that breakthrough album with the repetition of the mantra “A tempest must be just that” in reference to the convenient muddying of the waters of responsibility for disasters caused by said chaos once it arises. It’s a song about those in power managing to use the chaos they create through their mismanagement to hide their guilt and just divert the blame on the chaos itself. The song is proggy in Tool fans’ favorite way and indeed dense with churning effects-laden riffage and a faster, much more aggressive vocal performance from Maynard James Keenan. While it is the longest, heaviest, and most vintage-Tool of the tracks here, I’d say it only stands a bit above the rest of the track list, and honestly maybe not surpassing the magnificent “Descending”.

The digital version wraps up with the odd, but disposable coda of the two-minute chirping sample manipulation of “Mockingbeat”, a strange note to end this version of the album on, but ultimately nothing destructive.

I had talked about Rammstein’s self-titled album and Slipknot’s We Are Not Your Kind as being among the year’s biggest of the biggest metal releases, but the long-awaited arrival of Fear Inoculum tops them both. Yet for all the drama building up around this album, all the hype that was inevitably going to hoist hopes and expectations to astronomical and similarly inevitably unrealistic levels, Fear Inoculum sits average at best, if not rather low in the band’s small catalog, and the rather quick hushing of this hype from fans and the metal sphere in general shows that I’m not alone in my relative underwhelmedness after the thirteen-year wait. While that sounds harsh, it is just because this album had such incredibly high expectations to live up to that it was most likely never going to meet. Fear Inoculum isn’t a terrible album by any means, but it does suffer from being drawn out the most by its weakest elements, its least creative ideas stretching it out in hopes of finding purpose for doing so, but coming back empty-handed. A little while after the album came out, Maynard made some kind of comment about this album being great eight years ago, which suggested that it had been in the works for a long time but perhaps held up by frivolous reasons, but also that it was composed largely near the time of 10,000 Days, as I thought it might have been, and it just kind of bugged me that this album probably didn’t need to be the huge prodigal event it was, maybe just an acceptable transitional moment for Tool to figure out what they wanted to do with their expanding sound arsenal. Instead we got arrested development dressed up as a comeback at a time when we might otherwise have one or two more albums from this band (by their releasing pace), possibly more accomplished. I had mentioned in my review of Opeth’s newest album that they deserved the patience with their prog rock transition, and that album showed it. It took four albums to get a record that could stand tall alongside their progressive death metal classics, but it came, and the journey did come with some good highlights along the way too. The journey to this album was a test of patience with clumsy publicity for several years more than anything else, not quite as rewarding, no music to offer along the way (aside from side projects), and still a sense of a band just picking up where they left off years ago without really assessing their direction. I’m glad Fear Inoculum is finally here, but I think others will share this sentiment with me even if they haven’t said it to themselves out loud. Yes, we got a few strong highlights out of this record, but I’m more relieved that the fiasco surrounding the wait is over than I am excited to have this batch of new songs (the latter of which I wish outweighed the former).

6/10

[rynehambright]

20 Not So Sweet 16.

2016 felt like the weirdest mixed bag. Like one minute you could reach in to find a delicious piece of your grandma's homemade peanut brittle and the next you might pull your hand out to realize three of your fingers were missing. "It is what it is” so they say, and this year certainly...was.

Below you will find my top 20 of '16. On this list there are records, movies, books and more. Eligibility was granted to anything and everything that 1. entertained me and 2. had an original release date in the calendar year. Anywho, I've got to keep this short before our new President takes over and this domain changes to Trumplr.

20. Hello, My Name is Doris

As terrible as 2016 proved to be in the taking of some of our greatest artists, thank the Lord not a hair on Sally Field’s head was harmed.  Turning in her quirkiest and most charming performance to date, Field plays Doris, a young-at-heart sixty something who is trapped between the comings of old age and the millennial workplace.  When a new hire, played by New Girl’s Max Greenfield enters the picture, Doris finds herself falling for a man that could comfortably be her grandson. It all sounds so horribly wrong but feels so honestly right. You do you, Doris. (SPOILER ALERT: She does.)

19. Cleopatra - The Lumineers

With the strength of a thousand fedoras, The Lumineers roared onto the scene with 2012's Top 40 hit 'Ho Hey'. The self-titled album that housed the track proved to be a powerhouse of its own, expertly blending folk and Americana instrumentation with pop melodies. This year's followup, Cleopatra continues to expand the band's discography both sonically and narratively. Handily overcoming the pitfalls of the sophomore slump, the album finds The Lumineers shining bright as ever.

Standout Tracks:

'Sleep on the Floor', 'Cleopatra' and 'Sick in the Head'

18. Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious - David Dark

When I hiked 250 miles of the Appalachian Trail earlier this spring, I took one book with me: David Dark's The Sacredness of Questioning Everything.  Early on in my read, I started underlining what were some of the most profound and relatable thoughts on Scripture and faith that I had ever come across.  By the time I finished I realized I had highlighted something on every single page.  Dark’s followup is, in the best way, more of the same.  ‘If what we believe is what we see is what we do is who we are, there's no getting away from religion."  Again, I recommend a Costco pack of highlighters.

17. 10 Cloverfield Lane

2008′s Cloverfield single-handedly reinvigorated the found footage genre.  I remember sitting in the theater being completely overwhelmed and shocked by the true horror and helplessness I felt coursing through me.  The only thing that would come to shock me even more was to learn a sequel of sorts had been filmed back in in 2015 under a false project name.  Some eight weeks after the first official trailer dropped early this year, 10 Cloverfield Lane found itself in wide release, a true feat in the digital age where major spoilers daily flood the pages of blogs and forums.  Set in the same universe as the original, the film takes place days prior to the first attack in New York City.  With a whip smart script and a powerhouse performance from John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane left me wanting more, a LOT more, from the Cloverfield chronicles.  Thankfully, this October, we get just that.

16. Integrity Blues - Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World is one of maybe three bands I can think of that have put out multiple perfect records.  Both Bleed American and Futures are, in my not so humble opinion, flawless from front to back.  Since their crossover smash ‘The Middle’ was released, the band has spent the last two decades building an impressive, albeit under the radar, discography.  And while the band’s more recent releases have been more inconsistent than those releases, Integrity Blues is a step back in the direction of perfection.  Showcasing what has become the staple Jimmy Eat World sound while also ushering in a new future, the album is the perfect companion for a night drive when you have nowhere to be.  Continuing the tradition of having THE best album closers, ‘Pol Roger’ is the denouement of Integrity Blues and finds the band wings outstretched, taking full flight.  (Aside: Clear winner for album artwork of the year).   

Standout Tracks:

'The End is Beautiful', 'Integrity Blues' and 'Pol Roger'

15. Glory - Britney Spears

I’ve always had an idea for a meme of Britney Spears playing Quidditch, flying high on a broomstick, arms outstretched for the winged, golden ball with the words ‘IT’S BRITNEY, SNITCH’ in bold.  Felt like the right time to put that million dollar idea out there.  Truth be told, I’m always rooting for Britney.  As horrible as it sounds, I feel like she should have probably died in her late 20′s.  She had an infamous breakdown in 2007 that I’m not sure we will ever quite know the extent of (even now her parents still have a conservatorship over her) that would have taken most of us out.  Since then, she’s released three full-length studio albums, secured a multi-year Vegas residency and slowly built herself back into form.  Glory is the culmination of it all.  Easily the most underrated effort of 2016, the album is absolutely STACKED with bonafide pop anthems and what Tom Haverford would deem ‘bangers’.  Had the majority of these tracks been released by Selena Gomez or Katy Perry they would have ruled the roost and the airwaves but alas Britney has become a dark horse of sorts.  It’s the comeback we knew was a ‘when’ not an ‘if’.  It’s the phoenix from the ashes.  It’s Britney, bitch.

Standout Tracks:

'Do You Wanna Come Over?', 'Hard to Forget Ya' and 'Liar'

14. Don't Think Twice

 Mike Birbiglia has quietly and carefully been crafting a name for himself in the comedy community for some time.  I was introduced to him by my good friend Netflix when the 2012 Sundance darling Sleepwalk With Me was added to Instant Streaming.  While that effort left a lasting impression, this year’s followup, Don’t Think Twice leveled me.  Often times, the things that move us the most serve as mirror held close, expanding our field of vision and allowing us to see things the way they are.  For 92 minutes, Don’t Think Twice made everything clear, even when it hurt.

13. This is Acting - Sia

Any artist would kill to have a single chart on the Billboard Hot 100.  Most would kill AND sell their first born to have that single reach the summit and be deemed ‘Song of the Summer’.  Sia did that all of that...with a B-Side track (see: Cheap Thrills).  Undisputedly one of the most prolific and talented songwriters currently working in mainstream pop, Sia Furler had exclusively been known as the go-to girl for artist like Rihanna, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Adele.  Then came 2014′s Chandelier, a global phenomenon and top 10 hit that allowed Sia to became her own brand and ultimately her own artist.  This Is Acting feels in some ways like a massive middle finger to the cutting room floor, as every single song on the album was intended for another artist who ultimately chose not to use it.  Believing the material was good enough to stand on its own, Sia chose to release what had unintentionally become B-Sides under her own moniker.  The album is further proof that everything Furler touches is gold and serves as a reminder that we have a Midas in our midst, even when we foolishly forget.

Standout Tracks:

'Bird Set Free', ‘Move Your Body' and 'Reaper'

12. Arrival

Everything about Arrival is different.  It’s a slow-burn drama about the power of communication disguised as a sleek sci-fi.  It’s a fictitious work serving as a very real warning sign.  It’s a testament to Albus Dumbledore that “Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”  With yet another tour de force performance from Amy Adams (is there anything the woman can’t do), Arrival is the kind of film that sits with you for days and makes you feel distinctly human.  Not because you’ve been made to stand beside an alien, but because you’re reminded that, in the end, we all want understanding.  Even though I figured out the slight of hand the film tried to pull quite early on, it didn’t even matter.  Arrival is that good.

11. Hero - Maren Morris

I was late to this party.  I had heard for months that this debut was something special, but because I wanted to spend another night in or had a Netflix marathon to run I never showed.  Then, the week after Thanksgiving, I finally decided to RSVP.  Maren Morris’ Hero is a rarity in its distinctness and maturity, something that seems far too developed and harnessed for a first timer.  ‘I Could Use a Love Song’ is arguably one of the best country ballads of the year while ‘80′s Mercedes’ could have a seat at the table with the best of Taylor Swift’s crossover hits.  A firecracker that doesn’t care much for self-restraint, Hero attests to the fact that Less isn’t Morris.

Standout Tracks:

'I Could Use a Love Song', '80′s Mercedes' and ‘Once'

10. 4 Your Eyez Only - J. Cole

J. Cole is an Avenger.  He, with the likes of Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar have assembled to save hip hop.  4 Your Eyez Only isn’t about the material world, a place modern hip hop seems to have set up shop.  It’s about the big questions: What is society’s perception of me?  Why?  How have I found love and what do I do with it?  Am I worthy?  Do I want to be alive?  J. Cole wrestles with it all.  Like all of us, there are times when he has to tap out and others when he can go another round. Riddled with insecurity and vulnerability, the album ultimately serves as one huge love letter to his new wife.  One written from the exact opposite perspective of Nicholas Sparks.  One that seems a lot more real. 

Standout Tracks:

'She’s Mine Part 1 and 2', 'Neighbors' and 'Foldin Clothes'

9. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

You may not know this (I tend to keep it quiet) but I am a Harry Potter fan.  Everything about the magic, the world, and most importantly the characters exhilarates me in way few things in life can.  If I had to pick a safe word it would probably be ‘Expecto Patronum’ (which, with more thought, seems horribly fitting).  After the final book was released and Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 had long left theaters, Potter Heads everywhere were left with a hole that could only be filled by revisiting the series.  Then, last year, in an apparent attempt to give millions of people worldwide a heart attack at exactly the same time, author J.K. Rowling announced that she would serve as the screenwriter for a new prequel trilogy taking place some 70 years before Harry’s time.  Rowling more than made good on her promise.  The originally planned trilogy instead became a five part series, kicking off with this year’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  The film is an expertly crafted launching pad for the 1920′s story of magizoologist Newt Scamader and his discovery and documenting of magical beasts throughout the Wizarding World.  The film evokes all the nostalgia and excitement that comes with reading a new Potter book for the first time -- the highest praise I know to give.

8. Where Am I Now? - Mara Wilson

The film that single-handedly shaped my childhood the most was Danny DeVito’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda.  It’s also one of a handful of films from that time that I can still watch as an adult and completely holds up. Naturally, when star Mara Wilson announced she was releasing a memoir that would heavily discuss her time as a child actress on flims like Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street AND Matilda, I Amazon Primed the shit out of it.  I had been following Wilson on Twitter for years prior because of her prowess as a young writer and also because we had had a brief exchange about how good the songs in A Goofy Movie were.  Where Am I Now? is an absorbing read that seemed to constantly rotate between warming my heart and breaking it.

7. Manchester By The Sea

I will burn the Academy to the ground (a pun that’s in poor taste here) if Casey Affleck doesn’t take home the Oscar for his work in this film.  He gives absolute and full commitment to a man processing one of the worst tragedies imaginable, all without the gimmicks of losing a lot of weight or crawling into a horse carcass.  For all the heartbreak Manchester by the Sea serves (and I’m telling you it is a LOT), I somehow left the theater slightly hopeful.  Not because of a happy ending or because it has an uplifting message but because anytime this degree of honesty is put on display there’s not much else to do but be inspired.

6. Stranger Things

The pop culture event of the year, Netflix Stranger Things was something I stumbled upon on a Sunday morning in July.  I had no clue what it was (except that it had an incredible poster) but I DO remember that some eight hours after I started episode one I finally surfaced from my room for a burrito.  Led by a very welcomed return from Winona Ryder and five young finds, The Duffer Brothers truly and utterly turned my world Upside Down.

5. Coloring Book - Chance the Rapper

The uncontested breakout of the year, Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book doesn’t worry about staying in the lines.  Not only is the content different from what any other artist is doing, so are the means.  Chance is 100% unsigned, operating without the backings of a major label and offering large amounts of his music (this album included) at no cost to his listeners.  Coloring Book is a polaroid of the 23 year old rappers life growing up in Chicago, a snapshot of what navigating the waters where faith, family and life coalesce looks like.  Chance is a modern day prophet, who’s not for-profit or for sale.   

Standout Tracks:

‘Blessings', 'Same Drugs', and 'All Night'

4. Blond - Frank Ocean

The hype surrounding Frank Ocean’s follow up to 2012′s Channel Orange was legitimately palpable.  With each passing day of 2016 you could feel it a bit more.  After a mock library due date slip with over ten various dates showed up on Frank’s website, each apparently representing possible release schedules, it was as they say ‘lit, fam’.  However, one by one, the dates came and went, with the Internet breaking and subsequently repairing itself just in time to repeat the cycle again.  Finally, on August 20, the Ocean’s tides changed and Blond washed ashore.  Filled with vibrant use of unexpected instrumentation and vocal manipulation, Blond (originally titled Boys Don’t Cry) continues to push the envelope and break the boundaries of who Frank is and what his work is capable of.        

Standout Tracks:

‘Ivy', 'Solo', and 'White Ferrari'

3. La La Land

La La Land is what would happen if someone personally asked me for the ingredients to a perfect film recipe.  You take my two favorite actors, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, add a scoop of Damien Chazelle (who’s last project Whiplash was my favorite film of 2014), a dash of a L.A. based musical and let set 2 hours 8 minutes.  Truth be told, I hadn’t been this excited for a film all year (including Fantastic Beasts) and rightfully so.  La La Land not only lives up to every bit of its potential but takes the parts of its whole and makes them into something bigger than we could have ever imagined.  It’s a film for dreamers, a film for lovers, a film for the ages. 

2. Kubo and the Two Strings

Prior to the start of the year, I don’t think you could have done anything to convince me that there was even a chance of my liking another film more than La La Land.  Yet, here we are.  Yes, it’s animated and holds a risquè PG rating, but Kubo and the Two Strings really is as good as it gets.  With the breathtaking stop motion animation that Laika has become known for, a rousing script that sees its young hero navigating some of life’s hardest lessons and brilliant voice over work from the likes of Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey, Kubo finds itself in a league of its own.  'If you must blink, do it now’, says young Kubo.  Great advice before the film begins, as you won’t want to miss a thing. 

1. (TIE) Lemonade - Beyonce

I know that having two number one’s might seem like a cop out but this is my list and, as I plan to say quite often when I become a dad, "My House, Ja Rules".  Having to choose between Beyonce’s ground breaking Lemonade and Broadways’ show-stopping Dear Evan Hansen seems a crime on par with The Office or Parks and Rec?  What Beyonce has done with her sixth studio album is unprecedented.  It’s un-Bey-lievable.  Albums like this only come beyONCE in an artist’s lifetime.  Okay, I’m finished.  But in all seriousness Lemonade is an evolution.  From angry, heartbroken, questioning, to free, powerful, secure the album delves into the relationship of music’s most prominent couple.  And that would be enough.  But on repeat listens it starts to feel that maybe Beyonce isn’t simply speaking to the plight of the person who’s been cheated on but the person who is seemingly always cheated.  The downtrodden of society, the least of these, the marginalized.  In this case the black community.  Lemonade is her attempt to reconcile it all.  Darwin was right, life really is about the survival of the fittest and Lemonade finds Beyonce not just surviving but thriving.  As the old adage goes, ‘”When life gives you lemons, make the album of the year”.  

Standout Tracks:

‘Sorry', 'Freedom’, and 'Formation'

1. (TIE) Dear Evan Hansen

If you didn’t have a reason to go to New York City before now, I’m giving you the only one that matters.  I saw Dear Evan Hansen in previews over a month ago and am still putting myself back together.  What Ben Platt does everyday, sometimes TWICE a day, on the stage of the Music Box Theatre is nothing short of super human.  The show had been recommended to me by someone I trust on these matters, so I went in knowing absolutely nothing prior to my showing. Looking back, it’s the only way to do it.  Let the show wash over you and make you better.  Go in unsure and lost and I can promise, you will be found.