More honorable mentions - and a winner

Welcome back, here's a few more runners-up, as well as one that gets the title of EP of the year - not exactly a category I worked particularly hard at, but it's a great EP, I considered including it in the official list, but it is after all only four tracks, so that feels a bit unfair. But yes, more below.

Chairlift - Moth

I like it. Very neat. Good colors, cool artistic impression of NY.

Those of you who know Chairlift probably only know their breakthrough single "Bruises", a cute, bubbly song from their 2008 debut album which has more Spotify plays than the rest of their discography put together. But the New York duo managed to avoid become one-hit-wonders, at least in my head, through successfully evolving their sound and actually becoming better musicians after the age of 21. Hard work actually paid off, and 2016-edition Chairlift features a confident singer with an intriguing edge to her voice and a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with way bigger ambitions than giggly little indie love songs.

Their third album Moth is a wonderful amalgamation of pop, jazz and disco, and an entirely unique sound. The beats are fun and creative, as are the instrumentations, full of horns, synths, bouncy basslines and the odd squelching guitar. 4/4-bangers like "Romeo" and "Moth to the flame" and pop songs that sound guiltily fun stand side by side with more experimental, soundscapey tracks like "Look up" and "Ottawa to Osaka", together creating a cohesive, satisfying whole. There's a lot of work here. The songs are edited and fiddled down to just the length they need to be, but the perfectionism has paid off. The result is a 40 minute package where only the last song really is skippable. Instead of comparing Chairlift to others, I'm now comparing others to Chairlift.

Best tracks: "Polymorphing", "Crying in public", "Ch-ching".

Moby & The Void Pacific Choir - These Systems Are Failing

Good cover.

Moby started off as an activist, but despite continued veganism and radical opinion pieces on social media, it's been a while since it shone through in his music. He even stopped putting essays in his CD booklet, which is strange considering the current state of the world. His musical output the last 15 years has increasingly bared the mark of a middle-aged multi-millionaire sitting alone in his way to big Beverly Hills mansion not quite sure what to do with himself. His latest passions seems to have been ambient music and collecting analog drum machines. I wasn't exactly excited when he claimed that his new album was angry and urgent and loud and rocky. These Systems Are Failing is released under a slightly different moniker "Moby & The Void Pacific Choir", perhaps to further distance itself from the at the moment not-too-strong Moby brand. So the biggest surprise with These Systems Are Failing turns out to be not its high tempos and thick walls of sound, but rather that it actually is very good.

I think the genre is what they call "new wave". Not that I know much about it, but one of my first associations when listening to it was the song "Bo jo cie kohom" by De Press, a band that's been described by the weird Norwegianization "nyveiv". It's fast and very punky, with synths and guitars and bass all distorted beyond recognition. Quite often, thankfully, Moby's voice is also distorted beyond recognition, because he's not very fun to listen to on his own. Intense panic for the future is a good starting point for good music, and it's certainly helped Moby here. Accompanied by doomsday artist Steve Cutts, the desperate music video for "Are you lost in the world like me?" is either cringeworthy or brilliant, depending on the ideological leanings of the viewer. Either way, it fully succeeds in what it attempts to do, and the same goes for the album. It doesn't provide any subtlety, and neither does it try for it. These Systems Are Failing hammers in its message with capital letters and fist-pumping Mobys layered thick with sweat. The lyrics aren't as activist as you think, it's more the context, the alarm-like backdrop and the These Systems Are Failing manifesto, that make it seem like it. It's not a pleasant listen, but it's not supposed to be. Importantly, this album has hooks that actually work and memorable moments that make you remember its message. 

Best tracks: "Break doubt", "Don't leave me", "A simple love",

... and Best EP of the Year goes to:

Massive Attack - Ritual Spirit

It's close-up, and slightly too cropped. The letters don't even fit. Cool effect. 

I didn't see this one coming, a Massive Attack comeback! But an EP is a perfect bite-sized chunk for presenting some new output, and Ritual Spirit is the perfect EP. Each of the four songs are awesome, they complement each other, all show different things and all leave you wanting more. I haven't ventured deep into Massive Attack's back catalogue, but the British trip-hop kings proved their worth back in the 90's, and left an indelible mark on music history with the beautiful song "Teardrop". They don't go that pop here; the terrain is much darker and spookier. They've got four very black guest artists delivering stunning performances, although I have no idea what they're about. The beats, production and buildup of these songs chill me to the bone, I feel this album in my whole body. There's plenty of Burial in the dark beats, some Kanye West in the genre-mashing and cut-and-paste-ing. It's awesomely danceable, catchy and moody, I absolutely love every moment of this record. When the last song "Take it there", whose riff weirdly echoes Radiohead's "A wolf at the door" epically ends, I find myself reaching for the replay button immediately.

There were rumours of a full-length release later this year, but it never came. Instead we got another two-song relase, The Spoils, which is also pretty good. Altogether it's been a great year for Massive Attack. "Voodoo in my blood" was used in Skam, a Norwegian television series with its finger very much on the pulse of today's kids. Who'd have thought in 1999 that Massive Attack would be as relevant in 2016 as then?

Best tracks: Hah, no way am I leaving any out. All four of them.