There is a lot of unanimity among listeners and critics this year on the best music of 2016 – Beyoncé, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and David Bowie among them.Let’s look at a few neglected gems missing from most lists that are worth buying with the last of Christmas money.During the last 12 months, as for the last decade, this critic has heard the best part of 1,000 new albums, sent by PRs, radio pluggers, record companies, band managers and others. The usual suspects are in place here, as well as a few others widely praised – Radiohead, Frank Ocean and Paul Simon for example. Still, there is also a deserving place for Mitski; Maren Morris; the Muncie Girls; Laura Mvula; Savages; Skepta; and Christine & the Queens.Unsung HeroesThe hip-hip duo Rae Sremmurd topped the Billboard chart with the single “Black Beatles.” It’s worth hearing the less publicized parent album “Sremmlife 2.” Little known fact: the name Rae Sremmurd is taken from label name Ear Drummers, spelled backwards.Cover albums can be decidedly risky. Either replicate the original, or totally reinvent it? Pay homage seriously or humorously? Dexys had the balance broadly right on “Let The Record Show,” even if the subtitle about Irish and country soul isn’t quite correct, since it also covers the likes of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell.“All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend” by Aurora, 20, passed a lot of people by, but is an art-rock record which bears comparison with Björk and Lorde. Aurora first attracted attention with a cover of Oasis’s “Half the World Away” and that is added here as a bonus track.The Muncie Girls from Exeter, U.K., made a punky debut, “From Caplan to Belsize,” which featured songs for our time such as “Respect.” It is well worth seeking out.For those who want to turn it up to 11, the companion albums “Prayers for the Damned” and “Prayers for the Blessed” by SIXX:A.M. both rock hard.Laura Mvula’s “The Dreaming Room” builds on her debut “Sing to the Moon” and includes Nile Rodgers on “Overcome.”Electronica fans may enjoy the eponymous album by Spiritual Friendship.Elsewhere, Massive Attack did not have an album as such, but EP releases had stunning collaborations with the Young Fathers and Ghostpoet.Judith Owen’s “Somebodys’ Child,” already out in the U.K., Europe, Australia and Japan, gets a wider release in 2017. The record is full of hooks and sharp songwriting such as “Send Me a Line,” about the problems of relationships in the social-media age.It’s fair to note that a lot of albums by veteran acts haven’t made it into some other critic’s lists. The Rolling Stones, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Sting, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Suede, Primal Scream, The Monkees, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Van Morrison and the Pretenders put out quality music in 2016, often better than newer stars though not as likely to make it into the “cool” listings. More’s the pity.Female VocalistsBeyoncé’s “Lemonade” was an extraordinary piece of work, released like many of the year’s best albums as a late-notice surprise. Its claim to being a modern classic is headed, of course, by the ubiquitous single “Formation.” The accompanying videos make it a multimedia experience, though the songs work perfectly well heard alone.Beyoncé’s younger sister Solange made “A Seat at The Table,” and the collection showed that there’s more than one Knowles to watch for. The single “Cranes In the Sky” gained a lot of attention. Even if the rest is less accomplished, it’s a likeable collection of souful R&B which puts down a marker for future glory.Alt-country star Maren Morris is worth checking out for “Hero.” Her singles include the spiky “My Church,” in which she sings that Hank Williams and Johnny Cash light her fire, and “80s Mercedes” – both videos featuring classic Mercs.Mitski’s “Puberty 2” is a similarly excellent collection, with “Your Best American Girl” tacking issues about her joint Japanese and American ancestry: the video is wonderful, with an all-American boy flirting with her before making out with his all-American girl used a flag while a spurned Mitski raves up a satisfyingly sexy storm with her guitar before walking off set in the fadeout.P.J. Harvey’s “The Hope Six Demolition Project” is based on the British singer-songwriter’s world travels. It has a political edge, with “The Wheel” being penned about Kosovo and “The Community of Hope” about Washington D.C.Angel Olsen’s third album “My Woman” establishes her as a songwriter to match the likes of Neko Case, Cat Power and others on the fringes of country and rock. “Shut Up Kiss Me” is one of the direct, short tracks in its first half, and then she stretches with deeper sounds such as the eight-minute “Sister” in the second half, where love is usually complicated and dark.Rihanna’s “Anti” was one of the most anticipated, because it was in the works for months. The Drake duet “Work” is the track we all know, but there is a lot more where that came from.On paper, Lady Gaga’s “Joanne” looks to be straining for critical acclaim, taking on serious subjects such as family problems - and recruiting the skills of Beck, Josh Homme and Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. She retains the infectious pop dance with numbers such as “Perfect Illusion.”French singer Héloïse Letissier, who uses the stage name Christine & the Queens, dropped a debut, self-titled in some countries with English vocals and remixed tracks, and titled “Chaleur Humaine” in its French form. The first singles appeared in 2013, so this has been a slow-burning in coming to fruition this year. There is a Jean Michel Jarre song, “Paradis Perdus,” though most of the impressive material is self-penned, such as “Nuit 17 à 52.”The transgender Anohni continues her journey away from Antony & the Johnsons with “Hopelessness,” a far from hopeless collection. “Drone Bomb Me” is a statement both political and personal, sociological and sexual. It’s fair to say that no everyone will get it.Top Male VocalistsThe specter of death hung in different ways over three of the best albums, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The first two contained extraordinary signoffs, hinting at their imminent departures. Bowie lived for only a couple of days after “Blackstar” and Cohen lasted just 17 days after “You Want It Darker.”Cave was working on “Skeleton Tree” when his 15-year-old son, Arthur, died in an accident on a Brighton cliff. All have spine-tingling moments: Bowie’s “look up here, I’m in heaven”; Cohen’s “I’m ready, my lord” and Cave’s “with my voice I am calling you.”Onto rap. While “Coloring Book” by Chance the Rapper is more of a mixtape than a conventional album, it is a fine collection of endless inventiveness. “Untitled Unmastered” by Kendrick Lamar isn’t quite an album either, more a mish-mash of ideas slapped down at the time of his landmark “To Pimp A Butterfly,” one of last year’s finest. It is intriguing and actually rather cool in its jazzy rawness. Common’s “Black America Again” makes more sense against a background of racial tensions and charged elections.Frank Ocean has been “the man most likely to…” since “Channel Orange” in 2012. “Blonde” was another of the year’s surprise releases, appearing along with a contractual video album “Endless.” Everything about it is contrary: what happens with his career now, his refusal to put it in for Grammy nomination. The record company may be having a fit, but this is a brave collection that sets its own rules.More rap, and Kanye West has proclaimed “The Life of Pablo” the finest album of the year, century so far, entire century up to 3000, and then all time. This sort of bombast, even in jest, distracts from its considerable merits. Kanye has had enough headlines this year after the messy appearance of his album, concert cancelations and meeting Donald Trump. The headline here is he has made a strong collection – not his best actually.The humorous “Wristband” by Paul Simon was among the best tracks on his exceptional “Stranger to Stranger”. Simon was a lot more modest than West about his work. Guess which is better.Another veteran, Iggy Pop, delivered “Post Pop Depression,” suggesting that it was his last album. Time will tell, as they say, but it is not a bad way to bow out if so, along with support by Josh Homme.London grime star Skepta won the Mercury Prize with “Konnichiwa.” Even so, it has yet to get the international recognition that it deserves. “That’s Not Me” is a standout track.Many best-of-year lists passed on Jack White’s “Acoustic Recordings,” a collection of sketches and demos since 1998 that also included stunning takes on “Carolina Drama” and more.Top GroupsIn 2016, there was a running theme of indie groups making comebacks and some of the best music of their careers. British band Radiohead has been showered with praise for many of its records, arguably too much so, though “A Moon Shaped Pool” deserves it. The rappers in A Tribe Called Quest returned in style after an 18-year break with “We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service.” The Drive-by Truckers have remained active since 1996, yet “American Band” is a shift away from the last in 2014. This won’t appeal to everyone, with its political leanings and cover shot of a star-spangled banner bedraggled at half-mast.“Super” by the Pet Shop Boys got a little buried in the flood of albums this year – is again, there an ageist thing going on in some other critics’ perceptions? It is sad if so, especially because the best of this is really as good as material the duo was creating 30 years ago. “The Pop Kids” and “Twenty-something” are insightful and electronically wired.U.K. band The 1975’s “I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful and So Unaware of It” is as low key as its title. It is a sophomore outing that moves them out of the league of maybe Travis, Hot Chip, Chvrches, Editors, Keane, Savages or Catfish and the Bottlemen – and closer to the Arctic Monkeys, say. If you like any of those others, you’ll probably like this. Just a brief mention at the end to London band Savages, whose 2016 collection “Adore Life” owes a debt to punk 40 years ago.For a slideshow with more images, click here.
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