Continuing our end-of-year series in which we ask some of our regular contributors what they've been reading, listening to and watching in 2016. Here's Faf Driscoll's year in music.
1. Sufjan Stevens – Live at the State Theatre, Sydney
Less than four months off the back of his awe-inspiring Opera House performance, our beloved indie folk hero, Sufjan Stevens, returned to Sydney and once again stunned the crowd with a full run-through of his new album, Carrie & Lowell. But it was the encore that made this hands-down the best concert of my life, as Stevens and his band took up acoustic guitars, banjos, the odd brass instrument, and one microphone for a half-hour campfire-style rendition of his most beautiful and emotive tracks. As the haunting lyrics; “Tuesday night at the Bible Study, we lift our hands and pray over your body, but nothing ever happens…” from Casimir Pulaski Day whispered through the theatre, I realised how powerfully painful the Christian life can be, even as we hope for Christ’s return.
2. Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book
Hands down my number one mix tape (album?) of the year, Chance’s joyful bars, gospel choirs, and amazing flow brought the simple truths of the gospel back to the charts and the streets in a way that wasn’t fake. “When the praises go up, the blessings come down” might just be the greatest challenge to a majority of the fan base of the Chicago born-and-raised rapper, and has become a constant refrain in my personal devotional times throughout the year. See you at his concert in January!
3. Bon Iver – 22, A Million
Justin Vernon and the members of Bon Iver are masters at existential exploration, and in the scattered and irrational 22, A Million, Vernon is found experimenting with the frustrations and revelations of a man undergoing a crisis of faith. Midway through an album in which the lyrics are largely senseless, the arrangements chaotic and the song titles a mix of symbols, letters, and words, Vernon confesses, “I’m still standing in the need of prayer”. In 22, A Million, the haunting beauty of this declaration is on full display in an astonishing array of emotional peaks and troughs, crescendos and silences, and as always, Vernon’s stunning falsetto that we’ve come to know and love.
4. Frank Ocean – Blonde
Emerging from a four-year hiatus by releasing Endless, a new album’s worth of music set to a black-and-white film in which he made a wooden staircase, Frank Ocean continued his attractive mysticism by releasing his new album Blonde independently less than a couple of hours later, before retreating again, providing only one real interview to The New York Times. In the album closer ‘Futura Free’, Ocean reflects; “sometimes I feel I’m a god but I’m not a god. If I was, I don’t know which heaven would have me”. It’s yet another raw confession from a musical enigma trapped by celebrity identity whilst consciously rising above it. Blonde is ambitious in its concurrent embrace and critique of the dangers of fame and materialism, but is clearly the product of an artist obsessed with his craft: detailed, intricate, and more powerful with every listen.
5. The XX – Hold On
I have a pillow in my bed that has the lyrics “Being as in in love with you as I am” scribbled on it – a line from Angels, a track from The XX’s sophomore album – and I once drove from Washington, DC to Wilmington, Delaware in the middle of winter with a Brit and a Scotswoman just to watch them perform in a small café. With that in mind, the announcement of a new album in 2017 and the release of new track ‘On Hold’ was a highlight of my year, as was recognising the awesome Hall and Oats sample that it features. In this track, The XX once again capture the power of pause, silence, and simple bass lines, the mastery of which has solidified them as one of Britain’s greatest recent exports.
6. Gostwyck – It’s All A Dream EP
When your mates have a band named after the same place you proposed to your best friend and now wife, you know you’re in for a great set of tunes. Released in March this year, this bunch of brothers in Christ released their four-track EP to rapturous applause among Sydney’s local band scene. The refrain; “We won’t stray too far, away from our Father’s eyes” brings a new perspective on growing up in Australia with your very own prodigal son story, and has been on loop in my head for a solid nine months now, and that has not been a bad thing at all.
7. Kanye West – The Life of Pablo
For all the fanfare this album received, this is not my favourite Kanye West album. However, the production on TLOP is outstanding. Metro Boomin’s beats and samples on Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 and Charlie Heat’s production on Waves are among my favourite of the year, whilst Kendrick Lamar’s flow on No More Parties In LA is all-time. Tracks Real Friends and Ultralight Beam (featuring the album’s best verse by Chance the Rapper) are a must on my top tracks of the year list, and they show Kanye at his masterful best: amazing flow, unsurpassed production, and lyrics that are as spiritual as they are real. But it’s the closing track Saint Pablo, added later to the album that steals the show for me. The crooning chorus, “You’re looking at the church in the night sky, and you wonder where is God in your nightlife…” sees West confronting his own Damascus Road story, unsure if he’s still blind or whether it’s just his critics who can’t see.
8. Bon Iver – Live at the Sydney Opera House
From the moment the single spotlight shone down on Justin Vernon as he filled the Opera House with layer upon layer of his own looping vocals for opener Woods, the entire performance felt cold and wintery: exactly as it should feel for a Bon Iver concert. Billed as CERCLE, the eight-piece band (and a few guests including British female trio The Staves) stood in a round, facing one another for a magical two-hour set that felt as much as if it was around a campfire as in Sydney’s premiere concert hall. The band’s haunting performance of Roslyn, WA will remain with me for years to come.
9. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service…
It must be said that from the moment Q-Tip and Jarobi drop the delicious first verse of album opener The Space Program, you just know that this album is going to feel so good. We were all scared about the release of ATCQ’s final album following the death of Malik ‘Phife Dawg’ Taylor, worrying that it would be another cheap hip-hop reunion money-grab. But since their 1990 debut, that’s never how ATCQ have rolled. Throughout the album there are profound comments on the current state of affairs for many African-Americans as well as dire warnings for teenagers about the trappings of fame and fortune, yet ATCQ also use their final album to pass the baton that they’ve held for so long onto the next generation of rappers whilst still paying homage to their legacy. This album is so fun to listen to, but don’t be fooled, its lyrics pack a punch. Make sure you take a listen to Dis Generation and The Space Program before the year goes out.
10. Kendrick Lamar – Live at AllPhones Arena
Kendrick Lamar has been the undisputed king of hip-hop since he dropped that verse on Big Sean’s ‘Control’, however, his 2016 Australian tour for To Pimp A Butterfly revealed that he could bring the jazz prowess production of the album and his own lyrical talent to the live arena. I haven’t jumped around like I did in the mosh at this concert in a long time, and with silence and phone lights filling the arena as Kendrick paid homage to the recent passing of A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg, it was clear that we were witnessing one of the greatest artists rap has ever seen paying respect to his mentor. Kendrick’s lyrics have always been as confronting as they are Christian, and his unique ability to critique his culture whilst still contemplating Christ so powerfully is remarkable among today’s rap scene, and it made for one banger of a concert.
(Note: some of the albums reviewed contain strong language. Discretion is always advised.)
