Here are a list of my most listened and loved records of 2016 so far with Spotify playlists for overall and Irish albums of the year. Anderson Paak’s soulful album has been on constant, while Bowie left us a legendary parting gift, Bibio turned in a career best work, Kendrick dropped an outtakes album that is better than most regular albums, Radiohead returned with a personal album, Chance the Rapper continues to take over, Christine & The Queens stole our hearts, Rusangano Family made the best Irish rap album in quite a while, Blood Orange made a sprawling album of guest-filled tunes made for repeat, Beyoncé, James Blake aand Radiohead dropped albums at short notice, Kaytranada kept up on his promise and Skepta made a great grime album.
I would love to hear what records moved you so far this year, leave a comment below.
See also: Top 75 songs of 2016 so far.
Top 25 albums of 2016 so far…
- Anderson .Paak – Malibu
- Bibio – A Mineral Love
- Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered.
- David Bowie – Blackstar
- Skepta – Konnichiwa
- Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
- Christine & The Queens – Chaleur Humaine
- Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book
- Rusangano Family – Let The Dead Bury The Dead
- Whitney – Light Upon The Lake
- Mmoths – Luneworks
- Blood Orange – Freetown Sound
- Leon Vynehall – Rojus (Designed to Dance)
- The Gloaming – 2
- Kaytranada – 99.9%
- King – We Are King
- Cian Nugent – Night Fiction
- James Blake – The Colour In Anything
- Lisa O’Neill – Pothole In The Sky
- Anohni – Hopelessness
- Beyoncé – Lemonade
- Junior Boys — Big Black Coat
- Underworld – Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future
- Solar Bears – Advancement
- Doomsquad – Total Time
Top Irish albums of 2016 so far
- Rusangano Family – Let The Dead Bury The Dead
- Mmoths – Luneworks
- The Gloaming – 2
- Cian Nugent – Night Fiction
- Lisa O’Neill – Pothole In The Sky
- Solar Bears – Advancement
- J Cowhie – Veil
- Ryan Vail – For Every Silence
- The Altered Hours – In Heat Not Sorry
- Ciaran Lavery – Let Bad In
- February & Mars – February & Mars
- I Have A Tribe – Beneath A Yellow Moon
- Ensemble Éiru – Imbas
- Cinema – A Night Train To Budapest
- Little Green Cars – Ephemera
- Bleeding Heart Pigeons – Is
- Rollers / Sparkers – Interior Ministry
- Overhead, The Albatross – Learning To Growl
- Plutonic Dust – Grand Delusions
- The Natural History Museum – Attenborough
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
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