I Don't Hear A Single Album Of The Year

2016 has been a strange old year. The deaths have been well covered elsewhere and here at ASH Towers, we've had an unusually chaotic second half of the year that has put our lives in perspective. After a quiet first half of the year music wise, the second half of the year exploded and coincidentally, the I Don't Hear A Single Blog was here to cover it after going public in July.

People who know me, know I don't do lists. Part of me doesn't see the point, but more relevantly, my favourite albums change weekly, daily, hourly, so any list would be a snapshot of that particular time of day.

I would say that anything that has appeared on here is worthy of anyone's record collection. We only review what we like and if it does appear on here it's because it's a great offering from the artist involved. The Blog isn't sycophantic, we just don't review what we don't like.

I've always made an effort to name my own album of the year and I give it great thought. This year has been the most difficult. due to the quality. The likes of Greg Pope and The Nines have produced stunning albums. Sugarbush Records has had an outstanding year and those vinyl releases have been a joy.

For the first time ever I couldn't decide between two albums and after much consideration, I've copped out and gone for joint albums of the year. I must emphasise though that anything on here was in serious contention and I urge you to browse through the archive to listen to the artists featured.

It has been the year of Michigan, fantastic albums from Ryan Allen, The Legal Matters and Nick Piunti have ensured that, but my joint album of the year has to be Nick Piunti's Trust Your Instincts. The third in a trilogy of albums that have threatened to breakthrough and bring Power Pop to the masses, Trust Your Instincts should finally achieve mainstream success for Piunti and appears to be doing so. It's an object lesson in how to write and perform great Power Pop.

You can read the review here.

The joint selection is because one other album grabbed these ears just as much as Nick's album. New Jersey's Somerdale released their third album and it's the kind of record that people seem not to make any more. Pop Rock from a bygone age that would stand up with any album from that mid 70's genre.

Shake It Maggie is getting lots of attention in the UK and Europe but deserves a much wider audience.

You can read the review here.


The great news is that there's far more great stuff to come. I'm so far behind on reviews, that there's plenty more great stuff to recommend.