Top five albums of 2016!
With the year winding down, we here at Salazen wanted to reflect on all of the incredible music that came out in twenty sixteen. So we sat down and the four of us picked our favorite albums of the past year!
I didn't really have an order in mind when I started thinking about my favorite albums, I just kind of ran with it because there were so many incredible albums that came out this year. I think I picked five that really sum up what this year meant for me as an individual. These albums/EPs span across a few different genres and I feel like everyone can find at least one they connect with! I can't wait to see what's in store for the music scene next year! - Kayla
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Love Gloom With two EPs under their belt twenty sixteen was the year one of my absolute favorite bands Night Riots released a full length. As a fan Love Gloom is everything I could have wanted from them. This album is raw, and extremely vulnerable in areas most artists don't dare to go. They created a more mature version of their already established sound, and made it so there's a song for every mood. Covering heartache, sexuality, love, insecurities, confidence, and everything in between. You can put it on at the highest and lowest points in your life and it'll do it's magic. I feel like Love Gloom was the exact album I needed this year, if you're checking this album out some of my favorite songs are "Work It" and "As You Are."
Aren't You Glad? Normally I wouldn't include an EP on a list like this one but The White Noise packs more of a punch in six songs than most bands do in their entire discography. Ever since they day I found out about this band I've said they remind me of my original favorite rock/punk bands and they genuinely do. There's just something about them. I was lucky enough to see this band numerous times over the course of the year and their live show lives up, maybe even surpasses the energy of Aren't You Glad? EP. I can't wait until new music from these guys comes out because i'm pretty sure they're going to take over the world. My go to song for this album is definitely "Brainwashed."
Upside Down So a lot of people took an issue with the "pop" direction that Set It Off headed in. Don't get me wrong it's definitely got a lot of pop elements but the band is able to spin it and make something entirely their own. There's rock, pop, hip-hop, and alternative all wrapped into one incredible album and I think it's some of the best work they've put out. Upside Down is another one where you can find at least one song for every mood. You can take out your anger with "Hypnotized", think about sensuality and relationships with "Me w/o us" or just dance it out to "Life Afraid". Set It Off killed it this year.
In Separation
Avion Roe is one of those groups' whose career I've been following forever and the release of In Separation made me proud beyond words. They put out a single called "Into the Rest" and it got them the attention they so very deserved. There's a lot of bands within the genre that these guys could often get lumped into a category with..but there's so much heart behind the music they create that it completely sets them apart. Favorite songs of mine on In Separation would be "Violent Lights" because it reminds me of a grown up version of their old music, "Sing Me To Sleep" is also a killer song. Can't wait to watch these guys continue to grow!
Erase You
Bleeker is a band I only recently started listening to after being given the opportunity to work with them this summer. It only takes one show, and you'll be as hooked on their music as I am. Their debut full length Erase You, features all of the songs on their self-titled EP, along with five new ones, and a cover. This band combines the feeling of two of my favorite genres of music. Imagine big arena filling rock groups like AFI, and Thirty Seconds to Mars, and then mix them with the gritty alternative sound of someone like Jack White. I was incredibly lucky to be introduced to Bleeker and their music. Erase You is an incredible piece of art. If I were to suggest some songs to try out i'd say "Close My Eyes" and "I'm Not Laughing Now."
"Honorable Mentions":
Help! - Sylar, Material - Blaqk Audio, Smile - Cane Hill, Blackstar - David Bowie, Drive North - SWMRS, The Home Inside My Head - Real Friends, Boom Boom Room - Palaye Royale, The Dirty Heads - The Dirty Heads, 100 - The Hunna, Awake In Color - Bad Seed Rising, Dissonants - Hands Like Houses, These Days - Jesse Sheppard, Death of a Bachelor - Panic! At The Disco, Revolution Radio - Green Day.