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2016 was a strong year for music. With the sheer amount of incredible albums released, it was hard to narrow it down to just ten. The rise of the alternative idol scene had a big influence here, and alt-idols ended up taking the majority of the slots here. I'm not even usually an idol fan! Below are my top ten albums of 2016, followed by some mini-albums, and finally some honorable mentions. Enjoy!
 Former ViViD vocalist, SHIN, held his first come-back performance in Tokyo at EX THEATER ROPPONGI on Christmas Eve. This first oneman show was a success, with tickets completely selling out. The venue was filled with fans who gathered together to take part in this special experience. With the conclusion of this performance, his goods will be made available, via mail order, to fans all over the world.
Following SHIN’s come-back show, he released a statement on his blog written in his own words which can be found below. Since most of his social media hadn’t been made public before the show, he hopes that he can convey his thoughts following the performance. Details on further activities of SHIN are still to be announced, but fans can definitely expect more news to come.  The queen is back, and louder than ever! For the 35th anniversary of Jun Togawa's career in December, she teamed up with alternative / gothic / visual kei band Vampillia for a collaboration album spanning all 35 of those years. This review is a bit late, and unfortunately I wasn't able to listen to the album before the end of 2016, but I feel pretty confident that it would have made my end of the year list if I had.
 It's the end of 2016 and we at A-to-J Connections decided to undertake a very ambitious endeavor. We decided to list our favorite picks of 2016! Following the variety present in the site itself, these picks don't cover just music, they also cover video games and other media. Also, since our coverage of music is varied as well, we split that category into Idol, Visual Kei, and General. Voting for these categories was all done internally, though we plan to open it up to our fans and readers in 2017. Many of these categories were argued over for days and even in putting this together some members of A-to-J were left unsatisfied with some of the choices even though they mostly represent a majority or consensus. Why tell you this? Just to let you know that this article was brought to you after much work and deliberation and features the uncredited work of several A-to-J members.
Like all lists of this type, opinion is everything and we do not claim to be the one true voice in telling you what was the best of 2016. This is simply our picks as best represented as they can be. If you agree or disagree with our picks then please let us know via comments and if some of our choices are ones that you haven't heard of, then we urge you to check them out. Also, for more end of the year goodness check out our individual picks for the best songs of 2016 which can be found HERE! Now, without further ado, let's jump into our list!
Last year we at A-to-J put out a collaboration article where we each picked our personal favorite songs of 2015. This was a fun article that about three quarters of our then membership participated in and saw a wide variety of genres and music styles covered. That article was a lot of fun to put together so we are of course making it a yearly tradition! Before we jump into that though, let's take a quick look back at A-to-J in 2016.
 With ONE OK ROCK’s 2017 North American Tour right around the corner, it’s a perfect time to take a look at the band’s newest singles, “Taking Off” and “Bedroom Warfare”.
True to its title, “Taking Off” starts off slow but builds up enough momentum to eventually take flight. A leisurely winding rock melody and Taka’s soft vocals put the song down a plodding path but as the chorus hits, the energy of the song climbs up to a whole new level. The tension in the music is manifested by the heated kiss between the couple in the music video. The song comes to its proper crescendo as Taka sings “Drag me all the way to hell” and pauses as the vehicle the two are kissing in explodes into a breathtaking ball of flames. An impassioned song about the downward impact of a detrimental relationship, “Taking Off” exhibits an acknowledgement, but lack of concern, for the crash. The passionate kiss between the lovers is an embodiment of the chorus, “We’re taking off together even though we always crash and burn. Tonight you and I will fall from the sky.” In retrospect, the initial touch between the couple happens as Taka sings, “Realizing, everything I love is slowly killing me.” implying that their love will only cause their eventual destruction. 
California-based indie label ZOOM LENS released a charity compilation this morning, the proceeds of which will be split between the ACLU, Border Angels, and Planned Parenthood. The compilation features a ton of artists from around the world, including A-To-J favorite Meishi Smile. Also featured on the compilation are names such as Plaster Cast, Yoshino Yoshikawa, Xyloid, and Thought Tempo.
 LOS ANGELES, CA (December 1, 2016) Japanese fan-favorite rock band, ONE OK ROCK, has recently publicized that they will be holding a North American tour in January of next year. Starting in New York City on January 15th at Terminal 5, the tour will be comprised of 5 additional stops with a brief detour in Canada. Everything will wrap up with the Seattle performance on January 24th (more details on the locations, dates and tickets are below).
Not surprisingly, this comes after their latest announcement that their newest album, “Ambitions”, will be releasing on January 11th of 2017. “Ambitions” will have collaborations from Avril Lavigne, Alex Gaskarth and 5 Seconds of Summer. Two singles from the album have already been released, “Taking Off” and “Bedroom Warfare”. It’s safe to assume that this stunning new album and singles will take center stage in their upcoming North American shows. Tickets for all shows are on sale as of 22-Nov-16 on ONE OK ROCK’s website: Sunday, 1/15 - New York Terminal 5 (New York) Tuesday, 1/17 - Toronto Revel (Ontario) Wednesday, 1/18 - Chicago The Vic (Illinois) Saturday, 1/21 - Los Angeles The Palladium (California) Doors open at 6:00 PM Tickets Cost $27.50 plus $13.25 service fee and $1 facility charge ($41.75 total) On sale via ONE OK ROCK’s website: http://www.oneokrock.com/jp/news/1648 Sunday, 1/22 - San Francisco The Warfield (California) Tuesday, 1/24 - Seattle The Showbox (Washington) More About ONE OK ROCK: Formed only 11 years ago in Tokyo, Japan back in 2005, ONE OK ROCK consists of Takahiro Moriuchi (aka Taka, lead vocalist), Toru Yamashita (guitarist), Ryota Kohama (bassist), and Tomoya Kanki (drummer). With 7 albums (one on the way), 2 EPs, 18 singles, and 7 DVDs - ONE OK ROCK has been busy creating the Japanese rock music that has them rapidly growing in popularity. Last year in April 2015, the band signed with Warner Bros. in a worldwide distribution deal that would strategically help them in becoming Japan’s first globally recognized band (their Japanese music will still be handled by their original label, A-Sketch Inc.). Connect with ONE OK ROCK: Website: http://www.oneokrock.com/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ONEOKROCK/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oneokrockofficial/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ONEOKROCK_japan Sources: @OneOkRock @TokyoHive @JaMEWorld @FueledbyRamen -Christina (JRockinLA)  Yes, Tentenko is back at it again. How prolific can one musician be? Tentenko is here to prove that enough is never enough with her latest (we think) mini-album, Living in the Box (Coin Locker). Another quick seven tracks of outsider electronic bedroom pop (that's a genre, right?) are here to hold us over until next month when Tentenko inevitably drops another one of these things.
 Kinoko Teikoku has been evolving from the start, from the thick shoegaze roots of their debut to the melancholy indie rock they've come to be known for. It's no surprise, then, that their latest album Ai no Yukue marks yet another stylistic shift for the band.
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