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The List: 2016

9 mins read

The Label NZ

It’s that time of year again. We’ve made our list, and we’ve checked it twice.

Read about our list of 2016 album highlights and dig into our singles of the year below on Spotify!

With love from The Label,
Lisa, Lucy & Anna

In case you missed these sweet releases of 2016:

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Car Seat Headrest
Teens of Denial (Matador)

“Will Toledo is the voice of a generation that doesn’t want a voice.” 
– The Brag, Album of the Week ?????

Listen on Spotify here

Andrew Keoghan - Every Orchid Offering - Artwork

Andrew Keoghan
Every Orchid Offering
(Fuschia Kick)

“The result is a forward-thinking, intelligent, left-field pop album whose complex layers deserve serious attention.”
– New Zealand Listener

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King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Nonagon Infinity
(Remote Control)

“Nonagon Infinity is overstuffed with so many stomach-tossing thrills that you’ll actually be jonesing to ride the roller-coaster all over again.”
– Pitchfork

Lapsley Long Way Home High Res Pack Shot
Låpsley
Long Way Home (XL)

Lead single “Love Is Blind” was Annie Mac’s Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1

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Whitney
Light Upon The Lake (Secretly Canadian)

“a sweet shot of beardly Seventies fool’s gold.”
– Rolling Stone

TLT_DoHollywood_4000
The Lemon Twigs
Do Hollywood
(4AD)

*One of Elton John’s favourite new bands
“the best lo-fi rock & roll anthem you’ll hear this decade.”
– The Line Of Best Fit

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Nx Worries
Yes Lawd! (Stones Throw)

“Yes Lawd! is another accomplishment in Anderson .Paak’s continued rise, a beautiful beat tape made with the producer Knxwledge that nods to classic Stones Throw duos.”
– Pitchfork

albumcover
Kevin Morby
Singing Saw (Dead Oceans)

Featured as Pitchfork’s Best New Music
“Using twilight walks into the mountains as inspiration… Morby cooked up a glorious third album.”
– NME

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Lucy Dacus
No Burden (Matador)

SPIN’s Album of the Week

“No Burden is worthy of yours.” 
– NZ Herald

Black-Mountain-IV
Black Mountain
IV (Jagjaguwar)

“IV is probably the most Black Mountain of all Black Mountain’s albums. It’s the one that shows us where this band’s heart is. This band’s heart is in space.”
– Stereogum

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Mitski
Puberty 2
(Dead Oceans)

“Mitski is an exceptionally keen observer of the human condition, and Puberty 2 marks a triumphant new step in her evolution.”
AV CLUB

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Daughter
Not To Disappear (4AD)

“groundbreaking beauty.”
– DIY Magazine

Watch NPR’s most popular session with Daughter here

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The Label album releases of 2016 – The Definitive List:
Alex Cameron – Jumping The Shark (Matador)
Angel Olsen – My Woman (Jagjaguwar)
ANOHNI – HOPELESSNESS (Rough Trade)
Arbor Labor Union – I Hear You (Sub Pop)
BADBADNOTGOOD – IV (Inertia/POD)
BADBADNOTGOOD – III Re-issue (Inertia/POD)
Billie Ray Martin – The Soul Tapes (Sonnestahl Records)
Björk – Vulnicura Live (One Little Indian)
Black Mountain – IV (Jagjaguwar)
Bleached – Welcome The Worms (Dead Oceans)
Body/Head – No Waves (Matador)
Bon Iver – 22, A Million (Jagjaguwar)
Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial (Matador)
Clipping. – Splendor and Misery (Sub Pop)
Cullen Omori – New Misery (Sub Pop)
Damien Jurado – Visions of Us on the Land (Secretly Canadian)
Daughter – Not To Disappear (4AD)
De La Soul – And the Anonymous Nobody (Kobalt)
Destroyer – Poison Season (Dead Oceans)
Destroyer – My Mystery (Dead Oceans)
Dinosaur Jr – Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not (Jagjaguwar)
The Eversons – Stuck In New Zealand (Lil’ Chief Records)
Gazebos – Die Alone (Hardly Art)
Good Charlotte – Youth Authority (Kobalt)
HAELOS – Full Circle (Matador)
Heron Oblivion – Heron Oblivion (Sub Pop)
Hinds – Leave Me Alone (Inertia)
Jack White – Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 (XL)
Jesu/Sun Kil Moon – Jesu/Sun Kil Moon (Rough Trade)
Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker – Overnight (Rough Trade)
Julianna Barwick – Will (Dead Oceans)
Kaytranada – 99.9% (XL)
Kevin Morby – Singing Saw (Dead Oceans)
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (Remote Control)
Kristin Kontrol – X-Communicate (Sub Pop)
Kutiman – 6AM (SRD)
Kyle Craft – Dolls of Highland (Sub Pop)
LANU – Double Sunrise (Inertia)
Lapsley – Long Way Home (XL)
Liima – II (4AD)
LNZNDRF – LNZNDRF (4AD)
Lucy Dacus – No Burden (Matador)
LVL UP – Return To Love (Sub Pop)
M83 – Junk (Inertia)
Martha Wainwright – Goodnight City (Inertia)
Mass Gothic – Mass Gothic (Sub Pop)
Merchandise – A Corpe Wired For Sound (4AD)
Methyl Ethel – Oh Inhuman Spectacle (4AD)
Mike & The Melvins – Three Men and a Baby (Sub Pop)
Mitski – Puberty 2 (Dead Oceans)
Moonface and Siinai – My Best Human Face (Jagjaguwar)
Morgan Delt – Phase Zero (Sub Pop)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree (Kobalt)
Nx Worries – Yes Lawd! (Stones Throw)
Pantha Du Prince – The Triad (Rough Trade)
Parquet Courts – Human Performance (Rough Trade)
Peter Bjorn and John – Breakin’ Point (Kobalt)
Pitch Black – Filtered Senses (Local)
Polica – United Crushers (Inertia)
Powell – Sport (XL)
Princess Chelsea – Aftertouch (Lil’ Chief Records)
Preoccupations – Preoccupations (Jagjaguwar)
Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno – 1000 Watts (Tru Thoughts)
Radical Face – The Leaves (Nettwerk)
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (XL)
Run River North – Drinking from a Salt Pond (Nettwerk)
Ryley Walker – Golden Sings That Have Been Sung (Dead Oceans)
Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop – Love Letter For Fire (Sub Pop)
Savages – Adore Life (Matador)
Scott Walker – The Childhood of a Leader OST (4AD)
Sheatwater – Jet Plane and Oxbow (Sub Pop)
Sia – This Is Acting (POD/Inertia)
Sleaford Mods – TCR EP (Rough Trade)
So Pitted – neo (Sub Pop)
Soren Juul – This Moment (4AD)
Steve Gunn – Eyes On The Line (Matador)
Suuns – Hold Still (Secretly Canadian)
Tacocat – Lost Time (Hardly Art)
Teeth and Tongue – Give Up On Your Health (Remote Control)
Terry – Terry HQ (Upset The Rhythm)
The Besnard Lakes – A Coliseum Complex Museum (Jagjaguwar)
The Cave Singers – Banshee (Jagjaguwar)
The Colorist and Emiliana Torrini – The Colorist and Emiliana Torrini (Rough Trade)
The Gotobeds – Blood / Sugar / Secs / Traffic (Sub Pop)
The Julie Ruin – Hit Reset (Hardly Art)
The Lemon Twigs – Do Hollywood (4AD)
The Prettiots – Funs Cool (Rough Trade)
The Renderers – In The Sodium Light (Bada Bing)
Tim Hecker – Love Streams (4AD)
Tim Heidecker – In Glendale (Jagjaguwar)
Tourettes – Feel Like Shit, Looking Great (Indie)
Various – Day Of The Dead (4AD)
Warpaint – Heads Up (Rough Trade)
Whitney – Light Upon The Lake (Secretly Canadian)
Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
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