Love's Refrain beautifully manifests the most intimate emotions, with a melancholic beat arranged by subtle guitar loops the song delves into the best of dream-pop and shoegaze for which Jefre Cantu-Ledesma has made known he loves. It explores the outer limits of texture through deep reverberating and distortion, right up to the point when everything gets dense and just colourful noise is left. I'm a huge fan of the genres it pulls from so a song that brilliantly emulates it and moves me emotionally (and takes me on a journey) was always going to be high.
8. Beyoncé – All Night
Leaning on a sample of OutKast's "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" (a top 10 rap song of all time), All Night packs the exuberant punch of its horns into something more triumphant and celebratory, with the song being an ode to forgiveness and redemption. I'd go as far to say it's Beyoncé's best love song, and maybe the previous ten songs from the album make it more effective but it sounds like a earned one on its own. Beyoncé sings the lyrics with caution knowing the price at which it was bought yet she remains celebratory. I love the fun rap-singing delivery during the pre-chorus as it recalls "Drunk In Love", the tenderly "Oh, how I missed you, my love" outro and the poetic bridge. Diplo did a terrific job with the beat: luscious delayed guitars, snare drums, and melancholy strings all make it so warm.
7. serpentwithfeet – Four Ethers
serpentwithfeet (aka Josiah Wise) has a refreshingly open-minded approach to the strictures of gospel music–as a gay man, he threads a part of his identity into the music that is shunned by its performers as well presenting it with a gothic and theatrical appearance. The song which best represents this (as well as his musical qualities) is Four Ethers. A slow-building menace with orchestral inclinations, it has Wise in pursuit of helping a person experiencing a form of dysphoria. Wise's stunning timbre along with The Haxan Cloak's set haunting textures make it so incredible. The forceful clatter of strings is theatrical but it perfectly evokes a spiritual response that is intended.
6. Will Long – Chumps (DJ Sprinkles Overdub)
"Midtown 120 Blues" is the crowning deep house album of recent times and one of my all-time favourites, and here we have a song influenced by it and the producer of said album (DJ Sprinkles) contributing an "overdub". Will Long holds the song with a thick and pounding rhythm varying in tone over the 13-minutes while Sprinkles adds her signature touch to or evoke a particular feeling. The song includes a vocal sample of Black activist H. Rap Brown to serve as a political statement just like "Midtown 120 Blues" did, however it could be viewed as problematic here but let me not get into that. Chumps is a song I'll be playing a lot into 2017 as I get more into the album it comes from ("Long Trax" - 3 hours in total over 2 sides!)
The song isn't available but here is the H. Rap Brown excerpt it samples:
5. Kanye West – Real Friends
Most people understandably have the gospel epic "Ultralight Beam" as their Kanye West song of the year but for me it was the introspective, melancholic Real Friends that owned 2016. The song has Kanye in a vulnerable position examining his broken relationships with family and friends. Ty Dolla $ign acts as the "friend" and they go back-and-forth like a conversation is happening. Most people noticed how the song differs from another Kanye family centred song "Family Business" on The College Dropout and the results of fame causing a split which Kanye holds himself accountable for. It's beautifully tragic especially the mournful, downbeat tone of the instrumental with the deflated drum machine and ambient keys. I played it all year since it came out last January and it hsn't lost its magic. The level of loneliness shared is brutal even more so with the stuff Kanye has been going through recently.
4. Acid Pauli – Nana
Acid Pauli (also known as Martin Gretschmann) had been teasing Nana in his sets for months so the release was long-awaited. A nine-minute opus with movement that builds into a trance and frenzy of euphoric celebration, it makes sense people were nagging for it to be released because it has an addicting taste. Acid Pauli uses a tech house foundation and then rolls out with melodic inflexions, an ethereal vocal sample and an emotional breakdown. Everything comes at the right time and the gentle touches make it never lose its stream. Acid Pauli has a timeless song on his hands.
An amazing batch of shows. Game of Thrones has always been a personal favorite of mine despite all of its hickups so I was glad to see it coming back around. Queen Sugar has, sadly, been my biggest miss of the year I didn't get around to but wanted to so badly for a variety of reasons. I'll def catch up on it, though.
I liked this season of got because at least significant events are heading to some closure compared to last year. Can't wait to see what happens next.
I like your description of Search Party. I know Alia Shawkat from Drunk History/Broad City, so it's nice to see her shine on her own show.
Thanks. It could be the best season of GOT so far because they have fewer episodes to do more stuff lol.
I loved her on Broad City too but I think this is her best role.
Quote:
Originally posted by Superpower
Game Of Thrones is still the best show on tv.
People give it too much unnecessary flack.
Especially this season!
Quote:
Originally posted by AlexisNeiers
With Them would be my favourite Thugger song of the year if he didn't release JEFFERY No and IMILY definitely deserve the spots they are at
I was considering having Kanye West or Harambe on my list but I just love With Them the most. King Thug >>>
Quote:
Originally posted by Allstar
An amazing batch of shows. Game of Thrones has always been a personal favorite of mine despite all of its hickups so I was glad to see it coming back around. Queen Sugar has, sadly, been my biggest miss of the year I didn't get around to but wanted to so badly for a variety of reasons. I'll def catch up on it, though.
Yay. You should definitely do that, it's amazing.
Quote:
Originally posted by Remmy
Real Friends
All Night It's been my #1 from Lemonade ever since my first play. Just a wonderful song.
Throughout the first 20 episodes, Byron Balasco and his writers did a fine job crafting a show "about" MMA for casual viewers and devotees alike, with satisfying writing and characters that developed over time. And when it returned in June to showcase the next batch of 10 episodes, it was even better than usual. We had the run-off storylines developed beforehand, including an MMA fighter coming to terms with their sexuality, a couple strained after losing their unborn child, among other dramatic and significant arcs. The full-combat, adrenaline-rushing MMA basis was manipulated into a stripped-down, introspective story about family drama.
I'm not too familiar with the sport or its participants and practices but I would say the show successfully captures the essence of MMA. The fight scenes were upped a level to make them even more engaging and jaw-dropping; it used a few POV shots and enhanced the sound to give us a realistic picture as possible. And as always, the cast members did brilliant work as damaged characters. Jonathan Tucker as Jay continues to be the powerhouse performer who steals every scene in which he appears. He embodies the characteristics of a combat sports fighter while showing intense emotional reactions and compassion when it's required. The show had one of the most heartbreaking television deaths of 2016, more so for the reaction–it was a long tracking shot that followed a character as they realized a person they loved had been murdered.
Frank Grillo, Kiele Sanchez and Natalie Martinez also give some great performances, and I love the strong female presence within the show. I can't wait for it to return in 2017 with a set of 10 episodes again which is another quality of the season: it has no duds and its highs are among the best of the year.
6. The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story
I was born in England a few months after the O.J. Simpson trial ended (and I didn't read up on it) so I wasn't familiar with much. I only knew the outcome, the gloves, Bronco car chase and the names of the people involved. But this limited series managed to do so much more for the so-called "trial of the century". Given the benefit of hindsight, it delicately threads in the racial issues of the trial, sexism and the intersections of identity, which everyone was discussing back them but it seems overlooked as the trial was retold.
Showrunners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, along with the occasional director and producer Ryan Murphy, did a terrific job at capturing the circus-like atmosphere of the trial. Ryan Murphy is known for his over-the-top tendencies which make his shows so messy, however it's exactly what is needed here and it works, but thankfully he's nowhere near the writing credits. We have a diverse set of writers who ensure the multi-layered story (that we know the ending to) is engrossing and told. "The Race Card" is the perfect example as it highlights how important O.J.'s race was for the trial and the use of the N-word. The writers also do a terrific job of humanizing all the characters with "Marcia Marcia Marcia" being the main effort. It brings forward the unprecedented level of media security and sexism Marcia Clark faced in 1995 for Sarah Paulson to deliver a riveting performance.
The ensemble cast was arguably the best thing about the season as showcased by their 6 Emmy Award nominations and 3 wins for Sarah Paulson, Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance. The latter was my favourite as the razor sharp Johnnie Cochran, the lawyer who got O.J. acquitted. I haven't watched the real courtroom footage but everyone has said Vance perfectly inhabited the huge personality of Cochran while humanizing him outside the courtroom. I'm sad I didn't get around to watching the docuseries about O.J. but I'm glad I did with this.
5. Insecure
“Follows the awkward experiences and racy tribulations of a modern-day African-American woman.” – Issa Rae did everything right with the first season of Insecure. It was bold and confident off the bat. It felt like I knew the show instantaneously (and no, I hadn’t watched the web series before nor do I "identify" with the characters)–Rae and co-creator Larry Wilmore just formed genuine, fully-realized characters with the talent of lead director Melina Matsoukas to frame their experience in a wider context and capture the ethos of their hometown South Los Angeles. And then we have the incredible soundtrack which does a fine job at bringing new sounds to television.
The show delivered many laughs throughout the eight episodes though it’s best moments came with the journey and how each character handled their constant conflict. A lot of dramedies from the past few years have been rooted in millennials acting like selfish people but not many have given us a fresh perspective like Insecure, and it’s not just because the main characters are Black Americans, but also by giving them believable traits and motivations. It makes it easier for us to empathize with the characters without falling on sappy or awkward flashback moments, and so by the finale I was rooting for them all even though they directly being to terrible to each other lol.
But at the same time, the show doesn't fall into the trap of trying to make its characters likeable nor does it attempt to gloss over the mistakes they've made for a "happy ending". On the racial politics: it does a sweet job with its nods at microaggressions that Black people face in the workplace and tokenism, all within the tone of the show. Issa keeps it cute by making light humour jokes and it works with her natural performance. I wouldn't be surprised or mad if she wins a few awards for this role. Her fellow castmate Yvonne Orji also perfectly embodies the career woman whose dating life is in a mess and it's a joy to watch for her personality. It was a joy to watch the entire season, and although I'm happy the 8-episode season meant it was all killer no filler, I'm glad it has been renewed with more. I can't wait for it to return!
4. Atlanta
“Two cousins, with different views on art versus commerce, on their way up through the Atlanta rap scene.” – After contributing to wonderful comedy shows "30 Rock" and "Community", Donald Glover finally took centre stage with his own Atlanta, and oh boy was it worth the wait. The show is about Earn, Paper Boi, and Darius, three Black men, getting into crazy situations as they scale the Atlanta rap scene. It's a driving force that many other new comedy shows don't have but "crazy situations" is the key part here and the essential aspect that positions Atlanta as the most creative new show of the year (only rivalled by another appearing in my Top 3). Each episode experiments with different scenarios and is heightened by a surrealist tone, for example we have an invisible car gag, a Black Justin Bieber and the entire "B.A.N." episode. These surreal moments can either convey what it means to be the character in a city like Atlanta or sharply address social issues without grand pronouncements.
Glover and the writers also made sure every character (including the guest ones) is distinguishable with their own points of view and voices. Some of the best moments came from the interplay of these different personalities like the loud, transphobic men in the prison waiting room against open-minded, soft-spoken Earn. That particular moment would be grim to most but it's handled with comic poise due to the interaction, and it's the same for all the episodes following the three main characters. Paper Boi is my favourite as the cousin rapper–his reactions to the surreal moments I mentioned above are hilarious and there's a multidimensional cut to him that makes him the most interesting. Brian Tyree Henry does a terrific job as the character and should win all the supporting awards for "B.A.N.".
Moreover, Hiro Murai brings about a creative spirit to the show as the lead director. He takes a Lynchian approach to visual storytelling to situate us in Atlanta and capture how the characters are feeling, with dreamlike scenes that unfold so naturally. The colour scheme and carefully framed shots add much to the city as well and give the show a distinct style a la "Breaking Bad". So yeah, I can say Mr. Childish Gambino had the best new show of 2016 and that's nearly as hilarious and weird as it!
With its first season, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend proved to be an unlikely success as a one-hour "romantic musical comedy-drama". It unfortunately suffered from low ratings but was picked up again for its critical acclaim and went on to push creative boundaries even more. On the back half of season one (aired in 2016): the show deconstructed it's restricting title and dived into lead Rebecca's underlying emotional problems since the "the situation (not attempting to explain it) is a lot more nuanced than that". It was such a great run of episodes and provided some of the best, and truest, dramatic moments on TV, but it was the second season that elevated the show to greater heights.
Rachel Bloom and her wonderful team of writers explore the realms of genres without hindrance, deftly switching between musical comedy, romantic melodrama, and cultural satire, while maintaining the strength to probe discussions around people with serious issues. The show is actually really sophisticated from a psychological lens, and it presents us with a female lead as explored as Don Draper and Walter White. One of the best arcs in the second season was how untreated mental health issues not only affects Rebecca but the people around her too. Her best friend has her own problem with an unwanted pregnancy and a subsequent abortion but she can't go confide in Rebecca so the show focuses on the friendship drama rather than the dramatic process of getting an abortion, which is revolutionary and exemplifies the level of awareness the show has. It either satirizes or deconstructs tropes we know very well–from the most obvious "crazy ex-girlfriend" trope to "the background character everyone hates for no reason" in sitcoms. A musical number in the first season makes a sly nod at how the show loves to do it.
And so that brings me onto the show's other bright feature: the musical numbers. Most of the songs are character-driven to help develop the characters as people, and if they aren't then they are most definitely driving the story forward. The songwriting team do a great job at parodying artists, such as Cole Porter, Sade, R. Kelly, or find a specific style of music to somehow match the content of the songs, for example a song about “tapping that ass" is in the style of jazz tap dancing music. But the best thing about it all is the songs are actually good and catchy, and I find myself listening back to them (see below my Top 10 favourites). Unfortunately, we lost the best singer on the show (Santino Fontana) after the only sensible thing to do was dead a love-triangle involving him and the best solution for the character was to leave so I'm happy and I'm not.
I could write so much more about the show including the great performances and filmmaking, but time is running out for this end of year countdown and it's sad to say but for the show as well. It's the lowest-rated and least-watched show on network TV because of everything I've mentioned so far as well as a bad slot on CW's schedule, bad promotion and the title being off-putting. The acclaim might save it again although I highly doubt it. It will just be added to the list of amazing shows that went away too soon. I'm just so glad for the bunch of episodes we've got already and the remaining 6 that will be coming soon.
For the fourth year in a row, The Americans improved upon its already wonderful previous season to cement itself as television's best current drama. The show continued to balance the multiplicity of being a complex spy thriller and a devastating character study about marriage, a troubled family and America during the Reagan era, while the themes of home and deception were dug into deeper.
I loved the exploration of deception in the previous three seasons and this one did an even greater job with "The Rat"–it flips the script and showcases the long-awaited reaction of a character who has been deceived her entire marriage. It was a turning point in the show that intensified the sense of impending doom for all the characters and it came with a powerhouse performance from MVP Alison Wright. She is the supporting character to a duo who make the show as rich as it is and Alison Wright illuminated character Martha's intense downward spiral. The entire season she brought so much range and emotion to the role it never makes you forget the human cost of a cold war. And another storyline involving a guest family also does it and it was almost unbearable to watch at times. It was my favourite thing about the season though.
Along with Alison Wright's riveting performance, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys poured more into their roles as married spy couple Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings which resulted in long overdue Emmy Award nominations (I hope they both win before the show ends in 2018!). Each season further examines their complex marriage while threading in the aspect of parenting as their daughter Paige plays a more prominent role. Most people I know seem to dislike Paige and I don't know if it's as a person or as a character but she brings a fascinating lawyer to the series, whether it be her dealings with religion or having Russian spy parents, that I believe makes the show as wonderful as it is. It helps a lot Holly Taylor is probably the best child-teen actor on television since Kiernan Shipka with "Mad Men".
I basically didn't mention 3/4 of what made the season wonderful so to briefly state it: Joe Weisberg and his writers manage to use the antihero motif as a ruse to be something much more ambitious and thematically complex and each season delivers more of that. It generates a permanent sensation of intenseness that grips your attention and each season delivers more of that. The ensemble cast knows how to conduct itself with the most demanding of material and each season delivers more of that. You should watch before it goes or you'll be mad you have to binge-watch all the episodes when it will be revered as one of the greats in the near-future.
1. Rectify
There are dramas and then there is Ray McKinnon's compelling Southern Gothic tale Rectify, which was a class apart from everything else on television during its four-year run. The series is rightly noted for its multilayered and nuanced characters, soft beauty of Georgia's landscape and melodic writing that is best measured against Southern American literature. Some people describe it as being too obscure, artsy and pretentious, and surprisingly all their descriptors are right. It's probably the slowest-moving show in history with frequently poetic dialogue but I regard it all as plus points in Rectify's case. The lingering pace gives you more time to marinate in the rich details and the dialogue is always engaging and authentic to the voices regardless of the few colourful lines.
For the final run of episodes, Rectify moved beyond its initial premise of Daniel Holden returning home to Georgia after being in prison for 20 years. We were now following Holden as he adjusts to an even newer environment in Nashville in a halfway house. It has been described as a sort of epilogue since the final episodes of season three concluded many arcs with Holden, but still the epilogue was filled with enough grip to keep it going for the eight episodes. It came with a bigger focus on Holden's immediate family as they dealt with their own problems including their son/brother leaving again. "Yolk" was the first episode of the show without Daniel in the picture–kinda giving us a feeling of what the characters were going through while developing them for much-needed conclusions. And I do believe we got the right amount of closure for each supporting character, most notably Ted Jr. who came to terms with many things in his life and found peace with his forthcoming divorce. Clayne Crawford arguably gave the best performance in the final two seasons as he found cracks and vulnerabilities in a man firmly established as a resentful bully in the first season. The show was very much an ensemble gathering though with Abigail Spencer, J. Smith-Cameron, Adelaide Clemens, Bruce McKinnon, Luke Kirby and Aden Young all being excellent.
Many of the viewers noticed the new episodes were lighter, even funny at times, and I believe it manifests in the introduction of Chloe (played by Caitlin FitzGerald). There's a whimsical-like quality to her that, along with other reasons, has been criticized for being offbeat for the show. I personally didn't care much for her character but she was important for Daniel and the tone was subtle enough at finding a sweet spot between despair and hope and every episode still had me broken by at least one scene. The most obtrusive example was when Daniel was reciting his rape ordeal as a form of therapy–the camera just looms over his face while he recalls every single detail. It was an engrossing reverse act of "show, don't tell" for a subject that very much needs it on television. I very much suspect Aden Young will get his long overdue Emmy nom. Moreover, another marvel about the show was its use of small-town America, Just like "The Wire" with Baltimore and "Friday Night Lights" with Dillion, Rectify has the fictional town of Paulie, Georgia take on its own personality to reveal so much about why the characters act a certain way.
Ultimately, the final season of Rectify offered a disarming, beautiful final chapter to a somewhat brutal and heartbreaking story. Daniel's dreamlike state for the last scene let the show foreground its ambiguity in a beautiful scenario. Not everything is resolved or tipped towards one tone but it doesn't feel like a cheat because if you had watched the same show I had then you'd know it wasn't the case. I will miss the show so much...