Who am I? Just some dufus who likes music. Who are you? Just some other dufus who likes music. Hey let’s hang out and listen to some of our favourite songs from 2016 together!
Oh cool you brought some Cocteau Twins. I love Cocteau Twins. Maybe we’ll play that after we’re done.
It’s just that this is only for songs that came out this year. Yeah, no I get it… you really got into Coctaeu Twins recently, so you’ve been listening to lots of 80s ethereal dream-pop this year. Hey I’m right with you, my friend, I love them too and I listened to plenty of non-2016 music in 2016. But you know, this is one of those ‘year-end list’ type things, so we’re not allowed to include older music we discovered this year.
“And Just who exactly is not allowing us” you ask? Gee I don’t know… the Musicians Union? The police? Paul Morley?
Okay cool, you understand. Thank you! So what do you want to start with? Sorry, I’m afraid Daughter’s ‘Doing the Right Thing’ was released as a single at the end of 2015, just before the album came out so it’s… uh… not allowed. I hate to be ‘that guy’. I’m sorry.
You have to leave already? Okay, well thanks for stopping by. It’s just me and these 50 bangers then…
(Please note: I’ve purposefully held back on numbering this list, so feel free to infer what you like from their ranking. Plus if you disagree with me then I’m legitimately free to say “oh they’re not in any kind of order.” Apart from Beyonce obviously. Also there’s a Spotify playlist below, which isn’t even in the same order as the list underneath, as it’s presented in an order of ‘what sounds nice to listen to next’.)
Beyoncé – Formation
Radiohead – Burn The Witch
Metronomy – Old Skool
DJ Shadow feat. Run The Jewels – Nobody Speak
Charles Bradley – Changes
Banks and Steelz – Giant
Anohni – Drone Bomb Me
Mykki Blanco – High School Never Ends (ft. Woodkid)
David Bowie – I Can’t Give Everything Away
Anderson .Paak – Come Down
Phantogram – You Don’t Get Me High Anymore
Jim-E Stack – Deadstream (Rostam Version) feat. Charli XCX
Diiv – Out of Mind
Run The Jewels – Talk To Me
Underworld – I Exhale
Savages – Adore
Rihanna – Same Ol’ Mistakes
Yeah yeah yeah, it’s just a karaoke cover of the Tame Impala song, but I find it fucking mesmerising.
Santigold – I Can’t Get Enough Of Myself
Childish Gambino – Me and Your Mama
PJ Harvey – The Wheel
The Veils – Axolotl
Hamilton Leithauser and Rostam – A 1000 Times
Bon Iver – 33 “God”
Polica – Wedding
MJ Cole & AJ Tracey – The Rumble
Navvi – Close
Autolux – Soft Scene
Angel Olsen – Shut Up Kiss Me
Field Music – Stay Awake
Preoccupations – Anxiety
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein – Stranger Things
And these were pretty darn good too…
ILoveMakonnen – Back Again
clipping – Shooter
Black Mountain – Mothers of the Sun
Solange – Cranes in the Sky
Salt Cathedral – Unravelling
All Saints – One Strike
Kendrick Lamar – Untitled 05
Laura Gibson – Not Harmless
Steve Mason – Water Bored
Kate Rogers – The End of Reason
Sleigh Bells – I Can Only Stare
Wild Beasts – Get My Bang
Shearwater – Quiet Americans
Nite-Funk – Let Me Be Me
Public Memory – Heir
Doe – Sincere
Milk Teeth – Brickwork
The Pack a.d. – So What
Frightened Rabbit – Get Out
Them Sonny Green – Vienna
Public Memory – Heir
