Ash Tanasiychuk

Best Vancouver Albums of the Year

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2016 was an incredible year for music in Vancouver. Here are the 10 albums that had us particularly stoked for what’s happening locally. Hopefully you know all of these. If you don’t, give the full lengths a listen, buy the ones you love, and definitely go see these artists at their next live shows.

Maarten Bayliss

“People Are Patterns”
No doubt influenced heavily by Thom Yorke and Radiohead, Bayliss is creating his own galaxy of sounds.

Devours

“Late Bloomer”
A fresh sound in our city, Devours is mysterious and addictive.

Spruce Trap

“The Wise Prefer To Perish”
With albums as confident as this, Spruce Trap will soon rank amongst post rock greats like Godspeed and This Will Destroy You.

jo passed

“Out EP” & “Up EP”
jo passed’s Joseph Hirabayashi is bursting with talent, and proves it in these 2 excellent EPs.

Andrew Judah

“Metanoia, Pt. I”
Judah laid out the ambitious goal to release 6 EPs before the end of the year. He accomplished it, and every one is a goldmine of incredibly diverse pop songs.

Anchoress

“Anchoress is Ruining My Life”
This hardcore group’s newest may ruin your life, but it will be oh so worth every minute.

Spectres

“Utopia”
No doubt influenced by Joy Division, Spectres have a freshness to their nostalgia. Deep, brooding, and authentically piercing.

Tor

“Blue Book”
If you love early Bonobo, you’ll love Tor.

Brasstronaut

“Brasstronaut”
On Brasstronaut’s latest, they’ve hit new heights in their jazz electronic pop fusion.

Hannah Georgas

“For Evelyn”
This album really surprised us. Georgas is getting into some excitingly creative places.

What local albums did you love? Hit us up in the comments below, or on our facebook and twitter.
Looking forward to releases in 2017.