Yesterday I wrote that Beyoncé’s Lemonade topped nearly every 2016 top ten list. But it only made it to #2 on mine because Miranda Lambert released her best album yet, continuing her pattern of topping herself with every new release.
The Weight of These Wings is a double album and the first creative output for Lambert since her divorce from fellow country superstar Blake Shelton, and it continues the tradition of great break-up albums.
Beyoncé’s Lemonade has been declared the album of the year by unanimous decree. I don’t think I read a single top ten list that didn’t put the “visual album” at the top, and with good reason.
Nobody else has the power to bend popular culture to her whim the way Beyoncé does. Adele and Taylor Swift might sell more albums, but they don’t inspire hundreds of political and cultural think pieces. They don’t spark protests on both sides of hot button issues.
Sing Street climbed up my top ten list following my second viewing, ultimately landing in the #2 spot. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in a difficult 2016 the two films I loved most were about young people discovering their inner strength and breaking free from society’s shackles.
And both featured some kick-ass music as well.
Moana was my favorite movie of 2016, and the scene faturing today’s Song of the Day is probably my favorite moment in any movie last year.
Moana is adrift at sea after failing at her mission and being abandoned by the demigod Maui. At her lowest moment, she is visited by the spirit of her grandmother, who gives her just the musical pep talk she needed.
Although Hillary Clinton’s expected coronation didn’t come to pass, 2016 was a great year for women musically, at least. Pretty much all of my favorite albums last year were recorded by women.
Among them was Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman, which included the hit title song as well as ‘Side By Side,’ today’s SOTD ‘Into You’ and ‘Be Alright.’ Those are the songs that hit radio, but the album is solid start to finish.
Meet Me In Montauk 