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Irene Liampa

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  1. Gojira – ‘Magma‘, Roadrunner Records
  2. Diorama – ‘Zero Soldier Army‘, Accession Records
  3. Klimt 1918 – ‘Sentimentale Jugend‘, Prophecy Productions
  4. Covenant – ‘The Blinding Dark‘, Dependent Records
  5. [:SITD:] – ‘Brother Death‘, Scanner
  6. Winter Severity Index – ‘Human Taxonomy‘, Manic Depression Records
  7. Faun – ‘Midgard‘, We Love Music / Electrola
  8. And Also The Trees – ‘Born Into The Waves‘, And Also The Trees
  9. Testament – ‘Brotherhood Of Snake‘, Nuclear Blast
  10. Wovenhand – ‘Star Treatment‘, Glitterhouse Records / Sargent House

2016 was definitely the year of great losses. Mourn, forgive but not forget, contemplate and redefine, and be brave. And of course, listen to music! Happy New Year, brothers and sisters!!!

Fabrizio Lusso

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  1. Essaie Pas – ‘Demain Est Une Autre Nuit‘, DFA Records
  2. Jenny Hval – ‘Blood Bitch‘, Sacred Bones Records
  3. Landing – ‘Third Sight‘, El Paraiso Records
  4. Marissa Nadler – ‘Strangers‘, Sacred Bones Records
  5. Gnod – ‘Mirror‘, Rocket Recordings
  6. The Radio Dept. – ‘Running Out Of Love‘, Labrador
  7. Marie Davidson – ‘Adieux Au Dancefloor‘, Cititrax
  8. DIIV – ‘Is The Is Are‘, Captured Tracks
  9. Crystal Soda Cream – ‘Work & Velocity‘, Totally Wired Records
  10. Youth Code – ‘Commitment To Complications‘, Dais Records

The 2016 leap year will surely go down to history more for its endless list of sadly passed away musicians than for its real musical merits, Symbolically two of the best records are right from the two most sadly missing icons as Leonard Cohen and David Bowie. The fact that another couple of great albums coming from seminal veterans as Nick Cave and Shirley Collins (81 years old!), says a lot about the low level of real alternatives, both musically and lyrically, over the long distances. The electronic underground with all its sub-genres is always thriving, and many excellent bands are growing especially from Russia, Canada and Greece. Surely it’s always possible to listen to and enjoy several beautiful ‘perfect pop songs’ that still touch your heart and make you cry, but the so-called ‘retromania’ is increasingly obsessive and the zombie march of the reformed bands (in truth who needs them?) is more and more overwhelming. The time has come for the new blood to wake up from the sticky dreams of the past and finally look forward…otherwise when we’ll have to choose between Arctic Monkeys and The Antarctic Monkeys, or from The Smiths and the Smyths, there won’t be any difference…Happy Rockin’ Holydays!

Debbie Maliotaki

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  1. Slice The Cake – ‘Odyssey To The Gallows / Odyssey To The West‘, Self-released
  2. David Bowie – ‘‘, ISO Records / Columbia Records
  3. Fyrnask – ‘Fórn‘, Ván
  4. Radiohead – ‘A Moon Shaped Pool‘, XL Recordings
  5. Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik’s Skuggsjá – ‘Skuggsjá (A Piece For Mind & Mirror)‘, Season Of Mist
  6. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – ‘Skeleton Tree‘, Bad Seed Ltd.
  7. Leonard Cohen – ‘You Want It Darker‘, Columbia Records
  8. Red Hot Chilli Peppers – ‘The Getaway‘, Warner Bros. Records
  9. Iggy Pop – ‘Post Pop Depression‘, Loma Vista / Rekords Rekords
  10. Brian Eno – ‘The Ship‘, Warp Records

The year the world’s bidding goodbye to, has been a detrimental one on so many levels. As far as music is concerned, 2016 must be a record-breaking year. I hesitate to make an account of those we have lost in the past months. It is both painful and problematic. Nevertheless, sad for all those I cannot mention in these few lines, I feel I have to commemorate the great ones at least: uncle Lemmy (I know, I know— don’t shoot the girl— it was 2015 but how could I leave him out of this?), David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Prince. The impact they had on this world is huge; it would have been a much bleaker, barer and more uninteresting place without them.

I will give you a Top 10 list with my favourite albums for 2016 in order of “favouriteness” and level of eargasm and engagement, so to speak. The list is diverse, and I love and consider important all the albums on it, each one for very different reasons. So, there (you can never guess how many times I have changed the order of some albums till submission).

Malinda Mansfield

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  1. David Bowie – ‘‘, ISO Records / Columbia Records
  2. Daniel Lioneye – ‘Vol III‘, The End Records
  3. Weezer – ‘The White Album‘, Crush Music
  4. Korn – ‘The Serenity Of Suffering‘, Roadrunner Records
  5. Brothers Osborne – ‘Pawn Shop‘, EMI Records Nashville
  6. Killswitch Engage – ‘Incarnate‘, Roadrunner Records
  7. Tricky featuring Dj Milo & Luke Harris – ‘Skilled Mechanics‘, False Idols / !K7
  8. Zakk Wylde – ‘Book Of Shadows II‘, eOne / Spinefarm Records
  9. Metallica – ‘Hardwired…To Self-Destruct‘, Blackened Recordings
  10. Tarja – ‘The Shadow Self‘, earMUSIC

Loss. The music world has lost a lot of beloved talent. The overall feel for 2016 seemed grey, and full of grief. December of 2015 hit fans hard with the loss of Lemmy, and 2016 didn’t stop at David Bowie. Though we say a heartfelt goodbye to the departed, this year was not without a hello to newly signed bands, and some great albums from well-established acts.

This year had some exciting things going on underground, and I personally experienced one of the best concert seasons to date. Older, more authentic music outsold newer, detached sounds for the masses. The crowd knows when music loses its heart. I don’t know about you, but in a culture as bonded as cheap glue, I tend to gravitate where the real stuff is. Live music is a personal drug of choice, and one of the only places I find beauty.

I joined the Last Day Deaf team as a contributor. I want to personally thank everyone for the opportunity and for sharing an unrelenting stream of new tunes to soak up. I’d also like to shout out to everyone I’ve met over the last few years on my musical journeys. You all are as authentic as I could have ever hoped for.

Getting to my personal list of top ten albums for 2016, it seems a lot of picks do come from long-standing musicians, making awesome new music. I did add a fresh, genre-breaking album in there, as it was an instant classic. I hope you as a reader enjoy the list, and thanks for following us here at Last Day Deaf. In conclusion, I’d like to keep in the spirit of Last Day Deaf, and let the music speak for 2016.

Eleftheria Gesou

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  1. Newmoon – ‘Space‘, Play It Again Sam Records / Mayfly Records
  2. Turnip King – ‘Laika‘, Fire Talk
  3. Angel Olsen – ‘My Woman‘, Jagjaguwar
  4. Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions – ‘Until The Hunter‘, Tendril Tales
  5. Preoccupations – ‘Preoccupations‘, Jagjaguwar
  6. Minor Victories – ‘Minor Victories‘, Fat Possum
  7. Crescendo – ‘Unless‘, We Were Never Being Boring
  8. Wye Oak – ‘Tween‘, Merge Records
  9. Pinkshinyultrablast – ‘Grandfeathered‘, Club AC30
  10. DIIV – ‘Is The Is Are‘, Captured Tracks

Another year full of music is soon coming to an end. So many sounds and lyrics have been absorbed and living inside us. So, this is the right time for a semicolon in purpose to distinguish this annual end, from the upcoming new start and change of the year. The classic sound of folk in the blender with the artists’ influences and any kind of music. Revivals, old sounds becoming or remain current. The post punk still in good shape like all these years, while the dream pop is changing forms however is here to sustain this time. Shoegaze is regaining ground. It is becoming more and more certain now that it is going to hit us like the sun, having even its pioneers in studios preparing their new noisy opuses.

Michael Natsis

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  1. Diamond Head – ‘Diamond Head‘, Dissonance Productions
  2. Rotting Christ – ‘Rituals‘, Season Of Mist
  3. Gojira – ‘Magma‘, Roadrunner Records
  4. Hail Spirit Noir – ‘Mayhem In Blue‘, Dark Essence Records
  5. Abbath – ‘Abbath‘, Season Of Mist
  6. Wo Fat – ‘Midnight Cometh‘, Ripple Music
  7. Crowbar – ‘The Serpent Only Lies‘, eOne
  8. Oranssi Pazuzu – ‘Värähtelijä‘, Svart Records
  9. Meshuggah – ‘The Violent Sleep Of Reason‘, Nuclear Blast
  10. Striker – ‘Stand In The Fire‘, Record Breaking Records

Nearly ten days will savor our 2016, in my opinion ‘’good riddance bloody 2016!!!’’ This was a year that was marked mainly by unpleasant facts like the losses of key figures of the musical firmament. It even started before this bloody year came (just after Christmas 2015) with the death of Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister.  Unfortunately the list grew longer like this year wanted to take all those we had beloved both in music or cinema. I hope 2016 to leave with all the unpleasant. Their  presence is still missed but their legacy still a live holding and our comrades a  reminder that they were true at an excessive level. We have modeled their integrity and positive messages that we saw through their words or their songs. On the positive side, in 2016 several remarkable albums were released for all musical tastes and every mood, I personally picked some of my favorites & I wish you good listening and always positive thoughts and also I wish the new year to be better for everyone at all levels.

John Pallas

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  1. Maja S. K. Ratkje – ‘Crepuscular Hour‘, Rune Grammofon
  2. Matti Bye – ‘Den Allvarsamma Leken‘, Rotor Records
  3. Spray Paint – ‘Feel The Clamps‘, Goner Records
  4. Biosphere – ‘Departed Glories‘, Smalltown Supersound
  5. Kim Myhr – ‘Bloom‘, Hubro
  6. Moon Relay – ‘Full Stop Etc.‘, Hubro
  7. Anders Brørby – ‘Nihil‘, Gizeh Records
  8. Beastmaker – ‘Lusus Naturae‘, Rise Above Records
  9. Gonjasufi – ‘Callus‘, Warp Records
  10. Christine Ott – ‘Only Silence Remains‘, Gizeh Records

2016…not so bad related to music creativity but everything dies.. As Type O Negative said a couple of decades ago:

‘Who to fall? Who to fight? Who to dance with on a Sunday night?’

Anyway, new music goes on and on and Scandinavia writes words from the front, not alone, of course…

Check Tania Yannouli a charming Greek composer, the next big thing here, with a bit of luck…

Konstantinos Pamfiliss

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  1. Sangre De Muerdago – ‘Os Segredos Da Raposa Vermella‘, Neuropa Records / Música Máxica
  2. Those Poor Bastards – ‘Sing It Ugly‘, Tribulation Recording Co.
  3. T.K. Bollinger – ‘Shy Ghosts‘, Yippie Bean
  4. Swans – ‘The Glowing Man‘, Young God Records
  5. Detour Doom Project – ‘Detour Doom‘, Aquarellist
  6. Leonard Cohen – ‘You Want It Darker‘, Columbia Records
  7. Ian William Craig – ‘Centres‘, 130701
  8. Somewhere Off Jazz Street – ‘Random Bullets‘, Self-released
  9. Spires That In The Sunset Rise with Michael Zerang – ‘Kata Physin‘, No Index
  10. Thee Oh Sees – ‘A Weird Exits‘, Castle Face

In my Top-10 of this year, I chose albums from the gothic americana scene (T.K. Bollinger, Those Poor Bastards) because this music style is so familiar with my life. It’s dark atmosphere, together with outlaws, murderers, religion, priests, death etc is something that you can’t find easily in other music styles.

I also choose dark psychedelic albums (Spires That In The Sunset Rise, Thee Oh Sees) because life without a mind trip isn’t life.

From dark jazz scene I choose Detour Doom Project, and Somewhere Off Jazz Street. If jazz music is good, dark jazz is better.

Leonard’ Cohen’s last album was great (sadly he passed away) and also Swans album. Sagre De Muerdago’s music, is shattering and remake my feelings again in one piece.

Ian William Craig’s album is something that everytime I listen to it, I discover something new.

So long 2016, thank you for the good memories, thank you for the bad memories too. Now it’s time to welcome 2017 with hope and good music also! I wish you all a happy 2017!

Theodoros Rentesis

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  1. Cullen Omori – ‘New Misery‘, Sub Pop
  2. Still Corners – ‘Dead Blue‘, Sub Pop
  3. Yann Tiersen – ‘EUSA‘, Mute
  4. Plastic Flowers – ‘Heavenly‘, The Native Sound
  5. Jenny Hval – ‘Blood Bitch‘, Sacred Bones Records
  6. Motorama – ‘Dialogues‘, Talitres
  7. Memoryhouse – ‘Soft Hate‘, Self-released
  8. Tindersticks– ‘The Waiting Room‘, City Slang / Lucky Dog Recordings
  9. Nikonn – ‘Effrosyni‘, Undo Records
  10. La Sera – ‘Music For Listening To Music To‘, Polyvinyl

We must be optimistic, and look for the day after, ‘cause 2016 painted, our music world darker after the loss of Black, Prince, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and many more…What about the rest? The music is always here..

2016 was not the best music year of the decade, but was pretty interesting..We enjoyed new good albums from great bands. Motorama’s new album, sounds more like their first ep’s, synth breathing. Memoryhouse with ‘Soft Hate’ present crystal clear dream pop and Yann Tiersen moves us again at emotional ‘EUSA’.

Jenny Hval presents her strange, yet beautiful, eerie pop (‘Blood Bitch’), and La Sera present another little indie pop-rock gem..

Nikonn & Still Corners dive their atmospheric pop into electro spaces, with ‘Effrosyni’ and ‘Dead blue’ respectively.

‘Heavenly’ is the brilliant 2nd album of Plastic Flowers and Tindersticks will never disappoint us..

Finally, the sparking, shiny, indie pop of Cullen Omori’s debut ‘New misery’ was the most inspired album I heard within the year.

2017..Is getting closer.. Eyes and Ears wide open..

Malina Tzachristou

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  1. Andy Stott – ‘Too Many Voices‘, Modern Love
  2. The Future Sound Of London – ‘Environment 6.5‘, fsoldigital.com
  3. Ólafur Arnalds – ‘LateNightTales‘, LateNightTales
  4. Autechre – ‘elseq 1-5‘, Warp Records
  5. Karl Jørgensen – ‘Compliance‘, Hel Audio
  6. Jóhann Jóhannsson – ‘Orphée‘, Deutsche Grammophon
  7. Endless Melancholy – ‘In The Shadow Of History‘, Hidden Vibes
  8. Bwana– ‘Capsule’s Pride (Bikes)‘, LuckyMe
  9. Riverside – ‘Eye Of The Soundscape‘, InsideOutMusic
  10. Message To Bears – ‘Carved From Tides‘, Self-released

I guess 2016 was another good year for the ambient/experimental scene. Not as many albums as digital singles were released but from Autechre till The Future Sound Of London big artists gave us music to “burn our ears”. I also feel that the progressive scene came too close with its hidden ambient self. Riverside’s album is just one of the many that explored that aspect.

The album that I left behind was Nils Frahm – ‘Screws Reworked’ (Erased Tapes). It would like cheating since we knew what to expect from the original Screws album back in 2012. But for someone that would hear Frahm’s work for the first time it would be similar to love at first sight through the love letters of the artists that have contributed to the album. Also, even if it is listed in January 2016 it was actually released in the end of December 2015, a really ‘difficult’ period for Top 10-year lists.

Konstantinos Vagiotis

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  1. Fates Warning – ‘Theories Of Flight‘, InsideOutMusic
  2. Dream Theater – ‘The Astonishing‘, Roadrunner Records
  3. Metallica – ‘Hardwired…To Self-Destruct‘, Blackened Recordings
  4. Megadeth – ‘Dystopia‘, Tradecraft / T-Boy Records / UMe
  5. Rage – ‘The Devil Strikes Again‘, Nuclear Blast
  6. Rotting Christ – ‘Rituals‘, Season Of Mist
  7. Marauder – ‘Bullethead‘, Alone Records / Pitch Black Records
  8. Hammerfall– ‘Built To Last‘, Napalm records
  9. Anthrax – ‘For All Kings‘, Megaforce Records
  10. Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘The Getaway‘, Warner Bros. Records

2016 was the year with so many deaths in music (so far): David Bowie, Prince, Jimmy Bain, Nick Menza, to name only a few. It’s sad, but it’s also inevitable, as the time goes by. However, it was also a very productive year music-wise. This is my personal Top ten list of (mostly metal) albums of 2016.

For Part 1, of 2016 Staff lists, visit here.

Last Day Deaf