After taking some time in June to list our favourite albums so far this year, the time has come to reveal our Best Albums of 2016.

The surprise alternative pop album of the year has not budged from its number one slot, but our extended end of year list has given us the chance to add a further 10 albums to our selection.

There are a few more veteran performers here, but also plenty of new bands with some stunning debuts released this year.

It may have been a horrible anus  in terms of politics and the death of iconic legends but 2016 was still a great year for music. Sit back and enjoy our Best Albums 2016 list.

20. Picture Box – Songs of Joy

Robert Halcrow uses his brand ‘wonky pop’ to take you on a tour of the lesser known nooks and crannies of his home City of Canterbury, in Kent. The demise of its speedway team, its smelly former tannery and a pet fish shop are the stars of this thoroughly eccentric look at small town England. Read the full review here.

15. Robert Pollard – Of Course You Are

Incredibly, this is now the 22nd solo album from the hardest working man in music and proves another high point in an illustrious career. Read the full review here.

14. Bob Mould – Patch the Sky

Third album from the former Sugar and Husker Du man’s most settled line up for years. The key to its success is its ability to tackle the tough issues of life in the most fun way possible, as Mould’s rage and melody once again combine perfectly.  Read the full review here.

13. Woodpigeon – TROUBLE

Heartbreak, loss and a globe trotting meander prove the powerful inspiration for Mark Andrew Hamilton’s latest album. Beautiful and inspiring. Read the full review here.

12. John Howard – Across the Door Sill

11. Martha – Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart

10. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity

Like an extended rock jam, taking in science fiction, monsters and, naturally, some awesome guitar riffs this is another stellar release from the Australian psych rockers, with a little help from some robots and a gigantic wasp. Read the full review here.

9. Dressy Bessy – King Sized

Fabulous return from a six-year break for the US act. This works particularly well by merging their beefier pre- hiatus sound with the pop nous that made their early work so infectious. Read the full review here.

8. The Wave Pictures – Bamboo Diner in the Rain

Underneath what may very well be 2016’s crappiest album cover lies this year’s best blues LP, as The Wave Pictures take their fascination with American blues to new levels. Read our full review here.

7. Papernut Cambridge – Love the Things Your Lover Loves

Former Death in Vegas man Ian Button and crew have created their very own 1970s pop band. Full of fuzzed up guitar riffs and stomping rhythms there would have been plenty to satisfy the charts back in the day, especially the album’s title song, and its best pop tune, Radio. Read the full review here.

6. Darren Hayman – Thankful Villages – Vol 1

One of Hayman’s best pieces of work and possibly his most important, preserving the oral history of the relatives of those who survived the horrors of the Great War as well as paying tribute to the village life these soldiers left and thankfully returned to. Read the full review here.

5. Emma Pollock – In Search of Harperfield

Childhood memories and the toils of adulthood mix wonderfully on the former Delgados singer’s latest album. With the track Parks and Recreation she has also created one of the best songs of recent years. Read the full review here.

4. Arborist – Home Burial

3. Free Swim – Life Time of Treats

1. The Monkees – Good Times

The comeback to beat all comebacks. Originally planned as merely something to sell on their 50^th anniversary tour this album has ended up grabbing the headlines in its own right. With Fountains of Wayne man Adam Schlesinger at the helm, a stack of lost demos to dust off and new tracks from talented Monkees fans such as Andy Partridge and Ben Gibbard, Good Times both pays tribute to their place in 1960s pop history and creates a great, modern day indie and alternative pop album in its own right. A well deserved number one slot. Read our full review here.

Top Ten Albums of 2016 So far was compiled by Joe Lepper and Dorian Rogers

“This is from the new album,” is usually a phrase met with a depressed sigh when uttered at gigs by an artist who has been releasing records for four decades.

Not so for Bob Mould, who is currently creating some of the best music of his long career and live is arguably more energetic than he was in the early 1980s, when as a plump young man with a flying V guitar helped create the whole, quiet/loud rock blueprint for grunge with his band Husker Du.

His current band, of Superchunk and The Mountain Goats drummer John Wurster and bassist Jason Narducy, have been together for three albums, Silver Age, Beauty and Rain and Patch the Sky, creating a raft of new anthems to deservedly sit alongside his Husker Du favourites and 1990s indie pop classics with Sugar.

Across this lively 23 song set he moved seamlessly across his career, with new tracks such as Hey Mr Grey from Beauty of Rain, The Descent from Silver Age and Patch the Sky’s joyous ode to annihilation The End of Things greeted with just as much excitement as Sugar classics like Changes, A Good Idea and If I Can’t Change Your Mind as well as the Husker Du tracks that featured heavily at the beginning and encore.

Mould and band started as they meant to go on with a frenzied, cobweb-clearing Husker Du hat-trick of Flip Your Wig, Hate Paper Doll and I Apologise.

The Sugar hits then followed and kept popping into a set that saw no let up in Mould’s clear enthusiasm for playing in front of a crowd, especially such an appreciative one as this. The band are loud too, and by loud I mean really loud, with Mould sporting not one but two giant Blackstar stack amps on stage, both going to 11 and beyond.

Aside from the Sugar tracks, the best of all was an extended, set closing version of Patch the Sky’s epic Black Confetti, which live is taken to a whole new level of intensity.

For the encore Mould went back to his Husker Du days with a lovely version of Hardly Getting Over it, from Candy Apple Grey, the band’s first album from their ill-fated stint with Warner Bros Records. It was the only time the gain on his Fender Stratocaster was turned down all night.

Last track on his return took us back to the start and Husker Du’s breakthrough 1985 album Flip Your Wig, with arguably its best song, the anthemic Makes No Sense At All.

Afterwards Mould returned to the stage to thank the audience,  with his steamed up glasses the only hint that he’d just churned out a four decade career in an hour and 20 minutes.

A full set list can be found here.

Words and pictures by Joe Lepper

Former Husker Du and Sugar frontman Bob Mould has announced five UK dates in October to promote the release of Black Confetti, the new single from his latest album Patch The Sky.

The album has already made our Top Ten Albums of 2016…so far list and after seeing Mould live last year this looks like a tour not to be be missed.

As with last year’s UK tour joining Mould will be his regular band of drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk, The Mountain Goats) and bassist Jason Narducy.

Mould says: “Apparently I’ve been given some special dispensation: how many musicians get to play loud rock at 55 and still have an audience? It’s amazing that people from so many different cities, countries, ages, and walks of life all continue to find something in common in my music.

“I take the art form very seriously; I appreciate being recognized for my efforts, and I’m incredibly grateful for the time I’ve had in the light. I like the brightness, and Lord knows I’ve got darkness covered.”

The dates are:

7^th Oct Birmingham 02 Academy

8^th Oct Bristol SWX

10^th Oct Glasgow The Garage

11^th Oct Sheffield The Leadmill

12^th Oct London Brooklyn Bowl

Tickets are available here.

Black Confetti is released on October 7.

By Joe Lepper

With 2016 at the half way mark we thought we’d present our list of the ten albums that have impressed us the most so far. All within our broad focus on indie and alternative music, we’ve some old stagers, new bands and plenty of rage. We’ve also got an act at number one who probably never would have thought they’d be acclaimed as the best indie act of the year in 2016 back. In addition to the ten below we also wanted to mention new albums by Shearwater, Pete Astor, The Wave Pictures, Steven James Adams, Picture Box and Rapid Results College, which are all in contention for a place in our end of year extended best albums list.

10. Robert Pollard – Of Course You Are

Incredibly, this is now the 22nd solo album from the hardest working man in music and proves another high point in an illustrious career. Read the full review here.

9. Bob Mould – Patch the Sky

Third album from the former Sugar and Husker Du man’s most settled line up for years. The key to its success is its ability to tackle the tough issues of life in the most fun way possible, as Mould’s rage and melody once again combine perfectly.  Read the full review here.

8. Dressy Bessy – King Sized

Fabulous return from a six-year break for the US act. This works particularly well by merging their beefier pre- hiatus sound with the pop nous that made their early work so infectious. Read the full review here.

7. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity

Like an extended rock jam, taking in science fiction, monsters and, naturally, some awesome guitar riffs this is another stellar release from the Australian psych rockers, with a little help from some robots and a gigantic wasp. Read the full review here.

6. Woodpigeon – TROUBLE

Heartbreak, loss and a globe trotting meander prove the powerful inspiration for Mark Andrew Hamilton’s latest album. Beautiful and inspiring. Read the full review here.

5. Evans the Death – Vanilla

On album number three London act Evans the Death have upped, shredded, beaten up and garrotted the ante. It’s full of rage, the guitars are heavier than before, the vocals fiercer and the ambition turned to stadium sized proportions, with a brass section and even a funky bass added to the mix. Incendiary album from what very well be Britain’s best rock band. Read the full review here.

4. Papernut Cambridge – Love the Things Your Lover Loves

Former Death in Vegas man Ian Button and crew have created their very own 1970s pop band. Full of fuzzed up guitar riffs and stomping rhythms there would have been plenty to satisfy the charts back in the day, especially the album’s title song, and its best pop tune, Radio. Read the full review here.

3. Darren Hayman – Thankful Villages – Vol 1

One of Hayman’s best pieces of work and possibly his most important, preserving the oral history of the relatives of those who survived the horrors of the Great War as well as paying tribute to the village life these soldiers left and thankfully returned to. Read the full review here.

2. Emma Pollock – In Search of Harperfield

Childhood memories and the toils of adulthood mix wonderfully on the former Delgados singer’s latest album. With the track Parks and Recreation she has also created one of the best songs of recent years. Read the full review here.

1. The Monkees – Good Times

The comeback to beat all comebacks. Originally planned as merely something to sell on their 50^th anniversary tour this album has ended up grabbing the headlines in its own right. With Fountains of Wayne man Adam Schlesinger at the helm, a stack of lost demos to dust off and new tracks from talented Monkees fans such as Andy Partridge and Ben Gibbard, Good Times both pays tribute to their place in 1960s pop history and creates a great, modern day indie and alternative pop album in its own right. A well deserved number one slot. Read our full review here.

Top Ten Albums of 2016 So far was compiled by Joe Lepper and Dorian Rogers

Bob Mould is in the prime of his career. And brace yourself Husker Du fans, his current band of Jon Wurster on drums and Jason Narducy on bass, is perhaps his best yet.

Patch the Sky is the third in a trio of albums released on Merge Records with this line up and comes at a time when Mould has long since embraced middle age and his sexuality. It’s a far cry from his younger, Husker Du days when his awkward frame struggled to fit into publicity photos. Now he looks like a man at ease with himself, bearded, bald and a darn fine looking chap.

This stability shows in his music too,  with Silver Age in 2012 and Beauty and Ruin from 2014 showcasing two excellent sets of post punk, indie rock at its finest. Live as well the trio are superb, Mould bouncing around stage, stopping only to turn his amp up even louder.

Patch the Sky fits well into this trio’s ethos of presenting fast, powerful and above all catchy songs. There’s a twist though. He’s only human and in recent years he’s endured the all too common heartbreaks of life.

Mould explains

“I withdrew from everyday life. I wrote alone for six months. I love people, but I needed my solitude. The search for my own truth kept me alive. These songs are my salvation.

I’ve had a solid stretch of hard emotional times, and thanks for the condolences in advance. I don’t want to go into the details—more death, relationships ending, life getting shorter—because they’re already in the songs. Just listen and see if you can fit yourself into my stories. The words make you remember. The music makes you forget.”

Voices in My Head is a perfect example of this, with its lyrics of psychological angst coupled with a joyous melody,  especially on the guitar solo. This is among his best compositions in a career that is now in its fourth decade. Then on break up song The End of Things, the sombre subject matter is conveyed with a mosh pit inducing riff and a smart, catchy chorus. “It’s the end of things, the end of everything,” never sounded such fun.

There’s plenty more great melodies. You Say You rolls back the years to those days of Sugar and his later Husker Du work. Another is Hands are Tied, a minute and a half of great grunge-pop.

There are variances on the theme though. Losing Sleep has a little nod to Mould’s dalliance with dance music in recent years and final track Monument, the album’s slowie, is reminiscent of his early solo work such as Black Sheets of Rain and Workbook.

Given Mould has moved from punk to pop, from DJing to producing wrestling shows (yes, really!) his career has rarely been this stable. With tracks like Monument and Losing Sleep there are signs that the indie rock trio days of these three Merge Records releases may be moving on, but I hope not. On this evidence there’s plenty more to come from Mould and his most settled, and perhaps best, band to date.

9/10

by Joe Lepper

Bob Mould – Patch the Sky is released on March 25 on Merge Records.

The former Hüsker Dü and Sugar man has gone back to basics for his first album in three years. Amid an eclectic career, which has included devising TV wrestling shows and DJing, Mould has returned to what he does best for this album; fronting a three piece indie rock band with his gigantic voice and crunching guitar.

Jon Wurster, Bob Mould, Jason Narducy (l-r)

Settling in nicely as the godfather of indie rock Silver Age is an unashamed success, packed full of the strong melodies of the best of his Sugar and Husker Du output. Having a band he clearly trusts to carry his songs helps, with indie rock’s go to drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk, The Mountain Goats) and bassist Jason Narducy giving this album a vibrancy and sense of youth that masks his 51years. Watching Mould tumble around the Letterman studio last month, he still looked like the 20 something from Minneapolis with a flying V guitar in Hüsker Dü, even though the hair is greyer and the guitar has long been upgraded to a blue Fender Stratocaster.

The Descent takes the coveted third track slot, reserved for the lead single on all Mould’s albums, and deservedly so. On a par with Sugar’s If I Could Change Your Mind with its ascending chords and life affirming lyrics it is already among Mould’s best singles. Releasing it ahead of the album has also helped the album skirt the Top 50 in the US Billboard charts, no mean feat for a middle aged man and an album of just drums, vocals, bass and guitar.

But even singling out The Descent seems somehow odd, when the album’s strength is the consistency across all 10 tracks. From the crunching guitar intro of opener Star Machine to the build up on final track First Time Joy the album is full of rage and melody, to paraphrase the title of his recent illuminating autobiography.

Now signed to Merge records, Mould has clearly found the right label to work with as he continues to enjoy influencing the young and reminding older music fans of his talent. The label is also managing the reissues of Sugar’s albums, something that has clearly rubbed off on Mould in creating Silver Age.

9/10

by Joe Lepper

Sitting somewhere between the indie rock of Heretic Pride (2008) and the soft piano ballads of The Life of the World to Come (2010), there’s a real sense of joy in the bulk of the songs on The Mountain Goats’ latest album Transcendental Youth.

As you would expect from frontman John Darnielle’s writing there is still a hell of a lot of lyrical self-help, with the track Until I Am Whole a fine addition to the Darnielle survival songbook. But with the birth of his son Roman this year he has presumably less time to wallow, as his life fills with even more hope and optimism.

The use of brass, arranged by Matthew E White, across the album probably best typifies the uplifting feel, particularly the trumpets on the relentlessly upbeat Cry for Judas and the sumptuous horn arrangement on White Cedar.

Adding to this upbeat feel is a change in the way the band arranges the songs, with Darnielle, drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Peter Hughes testing the songs out at gigs before taking them into the studio. This gives the tracks a greater sense of urgency and allows Wurster and Hughes to shine.

In Superchunk’s Wurster, who is also Bob Mould’s  drummer of choice, and Hughes, Darnielle has the perfect accompaniment, with the bass and bass drum mirroring the heart of his songs, while Wurster’s snare apes his pent up anger magnificently. This is especially the case on the track Night Light.

Hughes bass run on Cry for Judas is also a wonderful addition and may perhaps not have been allowed to flourish under Darnielle’s previous method of write song, record song with band, play song live with band.

This mixture of working through songs on the hoof and then carefully recording them makes this among the more interesting of their releases.

Darnielle’s recruiting of White and his own keen ear for arrangements, which was taken to a new level on All Eternals Deck (2011)’s Age of Kings, is progressing well on this latest album, especially on White Cedar. It seems very likely that Owen Pallett, who Darnielle has been collaborating with this year, has been an influence on this album.

There are those that might find some of the tracks over produced, and there is perhaps a case for saying that about Lakeside View Apartments Suite. But surely there aren’t any Mountain Goats admirers left who think he should have stuck to belting out bedroom recordings on an old Panasonic boombox, as majestic as those early recording were.

Darnielle was, is and always will be a storyteller, he just uses slightly different methods and instruments to appeal to his listeners. And the odd horn arrangement here and there are hardly dramatic curve balls. I enjoy listening to how Darnielle’s talent for musical arrangements has developed over the years and look forward to more progress on future releases.

9/10

by Joe Lepper

With a big voice reminiscent of indie rock veteran Bob Mould, this first release by Yorkshire based singer songwriter Dan Hayes has given me a welcome lift during a summer of rain.

Across the four tracks Hayes, who here goes by the name Jamiesaysmile, manages to tread on the right side of credibility as a singer songwriter, helped by his honest, enormous rock vocals and a fine set of tunes.

Opener Guilty and Dressed Up and third track Dressed Up In Waves are the two immediate standouts full of nods towards the best of Bob Mould’s solo work, especially the veteran’s debut solo album Workbook. Hayes’ vocals are so similar that its strange not to see Mould mentioned on the accompanying press release, which instead cites Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, Bloc Party and Biffy Clyro as influences.

There are the occasional rock ballad clichés on track two, Day Three, and final track, Only Works With You, but not enough to detract from what is a fine and promising debut from one of the UK’s most fertile areas for interesting rock music (see our focus on Wakefield label Philophobia Music).

8/10

Day Three is available from Geek Pie Records on a pay what you want basis.

by Joe Lepper

Two years ago the NME almost hammered the last nail into the coffin of the Glastonbury Festival with its scathing criticism of the 2007 line up, which included so-called dinosaurs of rock The Who.

It was a welcome piece of campaigning journalism from the publication that has been sadly lacking since. But while it was right to attack organiser Michael Eavis, himself a middle aged man, for hiring The Who, it is not fair to say that festivals and the modern music lover should ignore all dinosaurs of rock and music.

Yes by all means ignore Pete Townsend and Roger Daltry. After one good album in the mid 60s their descent into rock opera should quite rightly be shunned.

But when it comes to other veterans such as former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould or Talking Head’s David Byrne, these middle-agers should be treated with the respect they deserve.

This month Neon Filler has been paying tribute to these two dinosaurs of alternative music. Byrne was this month performing at the Brighton Dome, UK, as part of his tour of Brian Eno collaborations. While the crowd of forty-somethings dancing in the aisles may have been embarrassing, the 56-year-old Byrne dressed purely in white, remained, as ever, cool personified.

Just listen to his Everything That Happens Will Happen Today album of last year with Eno and its stand out track ‘Strange Overtones’. This together with classic talking Heads tracks such as ‘Once in a Lifetime’ sound as new and innovative as anything being put out today, often by bands who are old enough to be his grand children.

And as for 48-year-old Bob Mould, whose ninth solo album Life and Times was released this week, he is still one of the most influential artists working in alternative music. From his bands Husker Du and Sugar and solo work Mould continues to influence and challenge. Fast/slow rock, hardcore, power pop, all labels that Mould either invented or mastered. If you don’t already own Zen Arcade, Husker Du’s 1984 album, get it and ask yourself this question. Would Nevermind and zillions of albums since have ever been made if it wasn’t for Bob Mould?

Mould and Byrne, rock dinosaurs, we salute you.

From his roots with hardcore outfit Husker Du, through to the power pop of his early 1990s band Sugar and now nine solo albums Bob Mould’s influence is spread far and wide across music. On Life and Times, his latest solo album, the full breadth of what Mould is about is laid out.

Opening track ‘Life and Times’ offers a masterclass in his trademark fast, slow power-pop and ‘Argos’ looks back at the more raw, hardcore sound of Husker Du. Meanwhile ‘Bad Better Blood’, shows the more moody, acoustic side to Mould, a track that would not have been out of place on his first solo album, the stripped back Workbook.

Other stand out tracks include ‘I’m Sorry, But You Can’t Stand In My light Anymore’, a break up track of the uplifting variety with a sound reminiscent of Husker Du’s classic album Candy Apple Grey. There is one duffer, final track ‘Lifetime’, but that’s not bad out of ten.

Overall Life and Times offers a good a introduction to those uninitiated in the music of Bob Mould, hopefully opening the door to his extensive body of work spanning three decades of indie/alternative music. For fans of Mould, Life and Times is another solid collection of tracks that won’t disappoint.

7.5/10

by Joe Lepper, Apr 2009