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OK, so it's more than two weeks late, but that's the real world for you. This season in college basketball has been relentlessly fun and busy (plus, being a father to a toddler), so that caused a waylay to posting this. But now we're here, and 2016 is still fresh in mind. With that in mind, some thoughts on what I thought was a good-not-great year for music.

As prelude to the list, I feel compelled to mention that I still did not have time to listen to a number or records in full, if at all. So here are albums I don't discuss on the podcast, records that were either well-regarded on year-end lists or are LPs I'm personally still eager to listen to, but haven't found the time just yet:

-- Masterpiece, Big Thief
-- Skeleton Tree, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
-- Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional, The Dear Hunter
-- You Want It Darker, Leonard Cohen
-- The Hope Six Demolition Project, PJ Harvey
-- untitled unmastered., Kendrick Lamar
-- Patch the Sky, Bob Mould
-- Nice as Fuck, Nice as Fuck
-- More Rain, M. Ward
-- Big Boat, Phish

As for the albums I did listen to, I'm first going to just list out the ones that didn't make my favorites list. If you want reasons why those records are where they are, I get into it on the podcast. Same for the second section. As always, this is entirely from my perspective. That's what makes music so fun to talk about.

Critically praised records that I couldn’t connect with

• Lemonade, Beyonce
• 22, A Million, Bon Iver
• American Band, Drive By Truckers
• Puberty 2, Mitski
• My Woman, Angel Olsen
• The Life of Pablo, Kanye West
• Schmilco, Wilco

Disappointing or inconsistent or underwhelming releases

• Commontime, Field Music
• I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, The 1975
• Signs of Light, The Head and the Heart
• Blonde, Frank Ocean
• A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead. Burn the Witch is awesome.  
• White Album, Weezer

Honorable mentions (Or: Albums I liked but didn’t love)

-- Spacedust & Ocean Views, Anders Osborne: Only got to this in the past two weeks. Some scanty sounds and mellow throughout, with the occasional passionate push. I haven't heard his other stuff, which is apparently more aggressive, but I'm going to dig in soon.

-- Painting With, Animal Collective: Delightfully weird. This band is constantly just throwing a bunch of aural color in the air and seeing what patterns come to be when they all land. Standouts: "FloriDada," "The Burglars," "Spilling Guts."

-- True Sadness, Avett Brothers: Within the first five seconds it sounds like a different album from any previous Avett Brothers record. Then track two, "Mama I Don't Believe," brings us back to familiar territory. Interesting ideas here, but I can't stay this ranks as a top-five Avetts effort. The Rick Rubin pairing didn't necessarily work, maybe?

-- Why Are You OK, Band of Horses: Not quite on the level of the first three tremendous records, but it's a big return after the confusing and forgettable Mirage Rock. Welcome back, BOH!

-- Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper: Gospel sounds, colorful feel. He has something to say. The Kanye influence undeniable. It's goood fun. There are parts of this album I only want to hear during the day ("Same Drugs") and others that work best around midnight ("Smoke Break"). Highlights: "All Night," and the instrumentation and production on "Finish Line/Down."

-- Peach, Culture Abuse: Took me by surprise, but some great, active guitar sounds, a drummer who knows what he's doing and a breeze of a listen. This LP barely cracks 30 minutes, like any punk record worth its salt, but I like what's going on here. I'm too old to love punk, but bands like this make me want to embrace it more. Also, when's the last time a punk band dropped a harmonica solo in one of their songs ("Yuckies")?

-- We're All Gonna Die, Dawes: Well, it's the best Dawes record I think I've ever listened to. I also get the sense I would have enjoyed this band a lot more when I was 20.

-- Every Now and Then, Jagwar Ma: Not as good as Howlin'. Feels like a grower. I have a strong sense I'm going to like this album a lot more on the 10th spin than I did on the first.

-- Junk, M83: Sounds from the '60s on, and some filler, but really cool experiements too. Best song featuring a harmonica in 2017 might be this album's closing track, "Sunday Night 1987."

-- A Weird Exits, The Oh Sees: A band whose catalog I want to dive deeper into. This has some good ideas. Sharp prog rock styles. The rhythms are great, but some of the songs are nice jams that drag a bit too long. On the whole, a lot of potential here. King Crimson, Yes, Genesis fans will find plenty to like

-- Cardinal, Pinegrove: Real garage sound, and a blend of the sensibilities of Dashboard Confessional and Ben Folds, among others. "Waveform" is the song that stood out to me. I need to spend more time with this record. Can't tell if it will have increasing or diminishing returns.

-- The Dream is Over, Pup: If I was 22, not 35, I'd have a better chance at really finding a connection with this music. But that doesn't mean I don't think it's quality. I'm not a punk rocker, but this has some blend of like ... if The Offspring was put in a blender with The Hold Steady and then dashed with Japandroids. It's fun, even when the content is angry.

-- The Getaway, Red Hot Chili Peppers: Here's the real talk: The title track from this album is also the lead track, and it's pretty damn good. There's a few tracks on this album ("Goodbye Angels") that would probably get more play if they weren't from an aging rock-funk band like the Peppers. Just their third album in 10 years, this is a pretty good output, all things considered. There's filler, but a song like "Encore" is a great deep cut on the back end.

-- Everybody Wants, The Struts: Ain't nothing wrong with some angular glam rock. This album actually came out in 2014, then, after The Struts caught traction in the States, was re-released in 2016 with some touch-ups and new cuts. Yes, the Freddie Mercury influence is overt. Yes, that's a good thing. This is a fun band, a group I'd like to see live relatively soon. "Put Your Money on Me," "She Makes Me Feel Like" and "These Times are Changing" are standouts.

-- Starboy, The Weeknd: This guy is becoming one of my favorite solo artists in modern pop music. This record isn't as good as 2015's Beauty Behind the Madness, but it's still pretty vital sounding. The only issue is it feels about 15 minutes too long. "Secrets," "Starboy," and "Sidewalks" are must-listen.

 

My favorite albums of 2016

15. Wolfmother's Victorious. Release date: Feb. 19. Grade: B.

Crunchy guitars, tasty songs, great riffs. Wolfmother's one of those bands I've only heard bits and pieces of over the years. This record made me chase down a big portion of their discography in the weeks after I heard it. Victorious isn't at the top, but it's still pretty nice and a good way to kick off my favorite LPs of 2016. "Pretty Peggy" and the title track are my go-tos. I wish there were more bands with this kind of sound who found stable success.

14. Umphrey’s McGee's Zonkey. Release date: Nov. 11. Grade: B.

Super-fun cover/mashup album. There aren't a lot of bands who could do something this ambitious and have it not be cheesy or short of hitting that delicate line between taking cover material and making it sound inferior by going for a true replication. This is a ranking of my 15 favorite studio records, regardless of covers or not. This one's way fun. Some recommendations: "Can't Rock My Dream Face," "Sweet Sunglasses," "Come As Your Kids."

13. Car Seat Headrest's Teens of Denial. Release date: May 20. Grade: B.

Obviously the band name is brutal. Maybe one of the five worst I’ve ever seen. Did founder/creator Will Toledo name it on a dare, and then had to keep it once success latched on to the name? Anyway, the music is what matters, and this feels like a band Kurt Cobain would’ve really embraced as a 50-year-old. What keeps this from cracking my top 10: it’s just way too long. The songs are solid but they’re not interesting enough instrumentally or dynamically to warrant cracking six minutes. That happens on five of the 12 tracks. The record’s 70 minutes long. “Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales” is the song that got a lot the attention, but my go-tos are “Fill in the Balnk” “Destroyed By Hippies” and “1937 State Park.” I do wonder if this album will have lasting value,