Online music dealer and regular Afternoon's critic Colin Morris picks his top 10 albums of 2016 (in no particular order).
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker Photo: Supplied
Leonard Cohen: You Want It Darker
Not unlike David Bowie's last album, in this disc Cohen faces death on his own terms. Knowing that it was going to be his last didn't make it any easier for us to bear his legacy. No compromise for chart success was a hallmark sign of Cohen music, which was always laced with humour and the ability to take listeners on a voyage filled with linguistic delights.
Suzanne Vega: Lover, Beloved: Songs from an Evening with Carson McCullers
Carson McCullers wrote the book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and this is one woman's salute, via a stage show, of a life writ large. One listen will open a new chapter on a writer we have forgotten but whose story will make you investigate her more.
Van Morrison: Keep Me Singing
To be fair, Van hasn't quite shaken off the ‘old grumpy' persona but the experiments with skiffle and rock and roll seem over and whilst not a return to the ‘Celtic Years' it's Morrison's best in years with an impassioned selection.
Norah Jones: Day Breaks
What a wonderful bookend to her first album, an album I dismissed on its first listen. It's chock full of cabaret jazz sounds alongside the faux country. Her best yet.
Neil Young: Earth
Neil's back with a live (sort of) angry old man album railing, as he does, against super-powers, modified crops and the like. Young is the barometer of the disenfranchised anti-Trump American voters.
Various Artists: Songs of Separation
Ten female folkies on an island write and record an album in 10 days. It's outstanding, and my folk album of the year. For fans of The Unthanks, Eliza Carthy and Katherine Polwart. And the separation songs are not just about men and women.
Van Morrison: It's Too Late To Stop Now Vol 2,3 & 4
Extraordinary that these have sat in the vault all of these years. 1973 was indeed a milestone year for Morrison. His backing band is incendiary night after night. What a wonderful legacy.
David Bowie: Blackstar
Not unlike Peter Sellers, Bowie had many faces. It took his last album to shed those characters and reveal a man facing his own death as only a rock artist of Bowie's calibre could - with dignity and grace.
Bob Dylan: Fallen Angels
Ye gods! Even Jazz Journal liked this but pointed out it wasn't a jazz album even if the songs were jazz standards. Question: do we need another Michael Buble-type swing album? No. We want Bob to interpret these as only Dylan can, and he croons with the best.
Paul Simon: Stranger to Stranger
Simon is now at the end of a long and stellar career but rarely fails to find something new to say about the human condition. Not unlike Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan we delight in interpreting Simon's lyrics. Clever and thoughtful.
Honorable Mentions
Santana: Santana IV
Various Artists: Under Milk Wood
Shye Ben Tzur: Junun
Yorkston/Thorne/Khan: Everything Sacred
Sturgill Simpson: A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
Dave Dobbyn: Harmony House
