Amy’s 2016 Music Highlights

20. ILE – Ilevitable

Through the whole year, I really thought that I wouldn’t be able to find anything Latino to include in my lists, but Ile’s full-length debut, Ilevitable, is a surprise. Known as the sole female voice in Calle 13; Ile manages to give a throwback to Latin music of yore with a modern twist.

19. Khalil Fong (方大同) – JTW 西遊記

Khalil Fong, like Leehom, is no longer attached to a big label. Releasing his first album under his own label, FU Music, he’s come up with his most ambitious project to date— a double-disc album called JTW (in reference to Journey to the West) that features a number of collaborations from Wang Leehom himself, Diana Wang, Jane Zhang, FiFi Rong, Inner Mongolian folk group Hanggai (杭蓋樂隊), and even Zion. T and Crush.

Variety all around~

Here’s the Black edition.

You can listen to the Gold edition here. The album is available on iTunes, also as a Black and Gold edition. It’s also available on YesAsia.

18. Suga – Agust D

I usually don’t care for Hip Hop/Rap that’s not in a language that I can fully understand, coz half of what rap is about is what it’s telling you, understanding flow, rhyme and play on words. But listening to BTS’ Suga’s Agust D— I felt attacked. LOL

You can read Camiele’s review on the album.

17. lxsyd (鹿先森乐队) – All the Alcohol is not as Good as You (所有的酒，都不如你)

Sorry no embeds xD You can read my review of lxsyd’s debut.

16. Utada Hikaru (宇多田 ヒカル) – Fantôme

Utada Hikaru made her return to music with a bang. Nill, ever the Utada fan, has kept me updated with Fantôme‘s track on the sales rankings. I was never a huge Utada fan, but this feels like her best put together album. There’s definite gems like Boukyaku (忘却) and, of course, Nijikan Dake No Vacance (二時間だけのバカンス). You can read Nill’s track-by-track review he shared with us~

15. Marit Larsen – Joni Was Right

Marit also doesn’t have any full-length embeds to share, but all her music is available on Spotify. With the release of the two-part Joni Was Right [iTunes 1][iTunes 2], Larsen also marked her break from a big label (which, honestly, was a pain in the bum for us non-Scandinavian non-German fans).

Marit will always be a huge influence in how I see albums, and Joni Was Right kinda feels like the perfect follow-up to Larsen’s folksy debut, Under the Surface, which is still my favorite album of hers.

You can buy a signed physical copy of the full Joni Was Right from her store on CD or Vinyl.