I don't know much about this year at all. But I still know the best album of the year is 渋さ知らズ [Shibusashirazu] by 渋星 (Shibuboshi)
It's like Ground Zero meets the Sun Ra Archestra. Which is like Vishnu meeting Yahweh or something. Next level up from godlike. Jazz/rock/klezmer.
I mean the fuck is happening here:
This will destroy worlds.
edit:
Some comments from RYM
"I don't even know how this was plannified, performed and recorded.
It's absolutely insane."
"I don't usually think of Japan as a jazz powerhouse, but Naadam is some of the best big band music since The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady."
"holy fuck"
"triumph in madness
this album opened my third eye. it is a myriad of gods creating, toying with, and destroying the universe all in the span of an hour. This does not even sound like something remotely from our world. I will need at least a month to process what I just heard."
"i am floored by this god damn album. i’ve said before that i’m not even remotely an expert on jazz, but i can tell u that, even in a genre w/ countless fantastic records, this is the most i have ever emotionally connected with a jazz related lp."
"Damn near a masterpiece"
"Overall, if you're interested in a brutally progressive, otherworldly jazz fusion record, then check this album out. Incredible instrumentation and fusion in this album."
"A very psychedelic and surreal experience front-to-back, kind of like a marching band playing but on acid and on the moon while simultaneously the sun is exploding."
"It's albums like this that truly blow me away."
"This is so fucking good I can barely describe it"
"It is difficult to make an album this instrumentally dense emotive. A suite of instruments can get bogged down in the myriad virtuosity of the musicians. In Shibuboshi, though, each instrument is working together to produce exciting songs that never feel too technical."
"Pandora's box, except it's virtuosic cats leaping across the inside walls.
...
These recordings truly take the explosive and exploratory formulas traversed on recordings like Bitches Brew or Get Up With It, and blow them up exponentially using equally talented players, driven by the force of a runaway train. An hour long free fall."
