Amy’s 2016 Music Highlights

10. Mamamoo – Melting

First album of the official Top10! Mamamoo, as you probably know if you follow me anywhere, has been my favorite thing all year. Number one reason (most likely) why my productivity levels have gone down. First, they managed to get me out of my music-reviewer hibernation, then they just took all my free time away with comebacks, video diaries, VLive sessions, on-line events, fan-meetings, radio shows, variety shows.

And because Mamamoo Trans translates EVERYTHING, I’ve become Mamamoo trash. Thank you, guys, really.

But the album! The beauty of Melting compared to, let’s say, Memory, is that it works as an album and doesn’t feel like a “best compilation of everything I released this past year.” And I know Decalcomanie [MV] by heart already because I’ve been watching all the music shows x number of times; I love it, but Melting feels like a whole, all songs are great on their own but they feel as a package together. Plus! The non-singles might be even better than the singles xD that usually doesn’t happen with Kpop releases.

You can get the album on iTunes, but I just recently found out that buying stuff from YesAsia counts on ranking, so~~~

9. Esperanza Spalding – Emily’s D+Evolution

Kya! I didn’t tell y’all that I was able to attended the Esperanza Spalding concert in Lima this year, like being in another country with foreigners xD. It was an experience outside of my regular concert experience. Emily’s D+Evolution [iTunes] is a performance album better absorbed as a show than an actual album.

And we were blessed with an acapella version of Little Fly.

8. Yahyel – Flesh and Blood

BLESS THE INTERNET, YO!

I found Japanese band yahyel when I was browsing a website and saw the cover for their full-length debut, Flesh and Blood [iTunes], which they’ve just released last month. There’s only a few videoclips of their songs, but that’s enough for you to hit that click button and enjoy their moody electronic flare.

There’s also a rare interview (in Japanese no subs) with them, they’re a five-member band.

7. Solange – A Seat at the Table

I felt like an a$$ for comparing Beyonce and Solange this year, because I kept thinking I liked Beyonce’s songs better –you could play them much more often without an order in specific– but Solange had so much more to say about herself as a black woman living in the United States- like, personal stuff, in A Seat at the Table [iTunes], and made me feel like I was prying into her life. It’s not an album designed to be a chart-buster, it’s introspective, quiet and quite incisive; which makes it an impossible random listen.

Here’s the excerpt of the interlude, The Glory Is in You:

You know, but… sometimes you ask yourself ‘Where’s the peace?’ Everybody is always talking about peace, but, as long you find peace in what you doing then you successful, and that’s what people don’t realize. See, you got do stuff till where you can go sleep at night. Cause the glory is, is in you.

You can check out the lyrics of the album on Genius.

amy

YAM Magazine editor, photographer, blogger, translator and part-time web designer. Film junkie, music junkie… and lately series (a.k.a. TV) junkie.

4 Responses

  1. Julyssa Diaz says:

    I am extremely surprised Mamamoo didn’t end up on spot 1. I came here thinking that. Only damn reason I even bothered to check your list haha. There is still hope for you!

  1. December 23, 2016

    […] Without further ado~ happy listening! […]

  2. December 29, 2016

    […] with my late schedule [1][2], I went the extra nerdy mile to put together my list and made a spreadsheet to help me order my […]

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