Atlanta’s 40 best albums of 2016, pt. 1
CL scribes look back at the local releases that defined the year in music (#40-11)
What a long strange trip 2016 has been — a real life Empire Strikes Back scenario unfolded over a year bookend by the deaths of Mr. Space Oddity himself David Bowie and the first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn. It’s been a year of one tragedy after another. In Atlanta, gentrification continues ravaging the land, picking away at the cultural institutions and neighborhoods the city’s creative types have long called home. But ATLiens appear to be at their best under duress. After a lengthy voting process followed by exhaustive debate, CL’s staff of music scribes, interns, and close confidants made the case for a whopping 40 full-length albums to be considered for a year-end round up of the best music the city had to offer. Polling was democratic; no Russian hackers influenced the selection process. Each of these albums is strongly endorsed by the team of writers at work here. There are a lot of choice albums on the list, but the heat turns up for the top 10.
Enjoy numbers 40 through 11.
40. Brother Hawk, Big Medicine (self-released)
40. Brother Hawk, Big Medicine (self-released)
39. Slang, LP (self-released)
38. Chelsea Shag, Colours (self-released)
37. Femignome, ANXT (self-released)
36. DJ Drama, Quality Street Music 2 (E1 Music)
35. Whores, Gold (E1 Music)
<a href=”http://bigbrutusband.bandcamp.com/album/tiny-box”>(Tiny Box) by Big Brutus</a>
34. Big Brutus, Tiny Box (self-released)
<a href=”http://illegaldrugs1.bandcamp.com/album/illegal-drugs”>Illegal Drugs by Illegal Drugs</a>
33. Illegal Drugs, Illegal Drugs (self-released)
<iframe style=”border: 0; width: 640px; height: 760px;” src=”https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2609436210/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/” seamless=”“>&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://atlantarecords.bandcamp.com/album/heaven-earth”&amp;amp;amp;gt;Heaven &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Earth by Khari Cabral &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Jiva&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;</iframe>
&lt;a href=”http://atlantarecords.bandcamp.com/album/heaven-earth”&gt;Heaven &amp;amp; Earth by Khari Cabral &amp;amp; Jiva&lt;/a&gt;
32. Khari Cabral Simmons and Jiva, Heaven & Earth (Atlanta Records)
31. Future, Evol (Epic/Freebandz/A1)
&amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://thepinx.bandcamp.com/album/freedom”&amp;amp;gt;Freedom by The Pinx&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;
30. The Pinx, Freedom (self-released)
&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://sairaraza.bandcamp.com/album/inertia”&amp;amp;amp;gt;INERTIA by Saira Raza&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;
29. Saira Raza, Inertia (self-released)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://closedcasketactivities.bandcamp.com/album/zone-6-music”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Zone 6 Music by Criminal Instinct&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
28. Criminal Instinct, Zone 6 Music (Closed Casket Activities)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://blakerainey.bandcamp.com/album/helicopter-rose”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Helicopter Rose by Blake Rainey and his Demons&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
27. Blake Rainey and His Demons, Helicopter Rose (Southern Lovers Recordings)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://deatonandbarnwell.bandcamp.com/album/the-arbalest-original-motion-picture-soundtrack”&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The Arbalest - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Deaton and Barnwell&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
26. Ian Deaton and Thomas Barnwell, The Arbalest (Deanwell Global Music)
25. 21 Savage x Metro Boomin’, Savage Mode (Slaughter Gang, LLC)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://maudlinband.bandcamp.com/album/s-t-cassette”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;S/T Cassette by MAỤDLIN&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
24. Maudlin, Self-titled cassette (self-released)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://johnburkemusic.bandcamp.com/album/orogen”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Orogen by John Burke&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
23. John Burke, Orogen (self-released)
22. Blackberry Smoke, Like An Arrow (3 Legged Records)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://littletybee.bandcamp.com/album/little-tybee”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Little Tybee by Little Tybee&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
21. Little Tybee, Little Tybee (On the Grid Creative)
20. Big Jesus, Oneiric (Mascot)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://wildhoneyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/winter-in-september”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Winter In September by Shantih Shantih&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
19. Shantih Shantih, Winter In September (Wild Honey Records)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://dotsdotsdots.bandcamp.com/album/we-swim”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;We Swim by Dot.s&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
18. Dot.s: We Swim (Deer Bear Wolf)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://clavvs.bandcamp.com/album/halfblood”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;halfblood by CLAVVS&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
17. Clavvs, Halfblood (self-released)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://dftals.bandcamp.com/album/10”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;10 by Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
16. Duet For Theremin and Lap Steel, 10 (self-released)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://psycharmy.bandcamp.com/album/the-revenge”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The Revenge by 10th Letter&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
15. 10th Letter, The Revenge (Psych Army Intergalactic)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://thecoathangers.bandcamp.com/album/nosebleed-weekend”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Nosebleed Weekend by The Coathangers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
14. The Coathangers, Nosebleed Weekend (Suicide Squeeze)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://thedifferencemachine.bandcamp.com/album/the-4th-side-of-the-eternal-triangle”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The 4th Side of the Eternal Triangle by The Difference Machine&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
13. The Difference Machine, 4th Side of the Eternal Triangle (Psych Army Intergalactic)
12. 6lack, Free 6lack (LVRN/Interscope Records)
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://geographicnorth.bandcamp.com/album/anatomy-of-the-image-3”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Anatomy of the Image by Lyonnais&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;