Favorite albums of 2016
My wife insists there is no such thing as a "Dad Rock" category of music, but here we are: I am a dad, and these are the new albums that rocked for me this last year. when I wasn't succumbing to the Top 40 preferences of our 8-year-old.
I liked Beyonce, Solange, Frank Ocean and the rest of the critic's top picks - these are what I revisited over the year during work, drive so to school, the gym, or a chill Sunday morning.
Explosions in the Sky - The Wilderness
I'm a sucker for this band. And I their latest album about the spaces in between in space is rad.
Wilco - Schmilco
If ever there was a Dad Rock Hall of Fame, this band would be hands-down the first inductee for this album. And "Sky Blue Sky." And "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." And..
Dawes - We're All Gonna Die
I heard this one a lot on KJHK driving around here in sunny Lawrence, Kan. Appropriate album title after the wild ride that 2016 has been.
A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
I pulled this album up for a first listen with both kids in the car. Big mistake. I fell out of running for Dad of the Year.
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth
This album is a letter to Simpson's newborn son, which is nice and as a dad I dig, but man this thing is so sappy no one else wants to listen to it in the car with me - just me alone with MY FEELINGS - solid Nirvana cover, too.
Bon Iver - 22, A Million
The perfect soundtrack to write emails to.
Parquet Courts - Human Performance
SHHH.. If you listen with your eyes closed, they almost sound like Pavement!!!
Lvl Up - Return to Love
This band sounds like Neutral Milk Hotel. I like Neutral Milk Hotel.
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
I still like "In Rainbows" and "OK Computer" better, but this album led me to revisit Philip Selway's (Radiohead's drummer) 2010 solo album "Familial," which is basically a Radiohead album about middle age and parenthood. Solid stuff.
Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial
Terrible band name, but come for "Fill in the Blank" and "The Ballad of Costa Concordia" and try NOT to tap your foot or steering wheel like a goofball on an invisible drum set.
Whitney - Light Upon the Lake
Another gem I stumbled upon thanks to KJHK - chill songs that are the perfect soundtrack to a lazy Sunday.
Charles Bradley - Changes
I saw Charles Bradley as a nightclub act in an episode of "Luke Cage" and looked him up, discovered this album, which sounds like it's from another era, but so, so great.
Paul Simon - Stranger to Stranger
Graceland is the perfect road trip album. FACT. And this one was a great second road trip alum to play after Graceland ended on that drive to Colorado.
John Carptenter - Lost Themes II
I went running around my neighborhood to this album around Halloween, which is probably cliche and lame but these tracks are cool shit.
Woods - City Sun Eater In the River of Light
Love these guys - may they release albums for many years to come.
Twin Peaks - Down in Heaven
Pinegrove - Cardinal