My Year in Music (2016)

[Manc]

Not necessarily new music, just most played.

Kanye West
Kings of Leon
Bears Den
Drake
Lumineers
Beatenberg
Kaleo
CHVRCHES
Ben Howard
Catfish and the bottle men
Hozier
Foals
Torey Lanez
The Smiths
Mumford & Sons
Buddy Holly
Majid Jordan

What a cunt.

[hfswjyr]

Not sure how much of this runs back into 2015, and in no particular order:

Jimmy Eat World
Rachael Yamagata
James Vincent McMorrow
Torres
Band of Skulls
Vance Joy
CHVRCHES
The Jezabels
David Bowie
Benjamin Clementine
Angus & Julia Stone
Coldplay
Laura Stevenson
Noah Gundersen
Slow Club
First Aid Kit

[Reg]

I was annoyed that Spotify got rid of most of the 'your year' stuff. They're just doing 'your top songs' this year, whereas last year they had most played songs, artists, genres, most played songs in each season, and maybe other stuff.

[Manc]

James Vincent McMorrow
Torres
Band of Skulls
Vance Joy
First Aid Kit

All on my to do list.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Spotify tells me my most played track this year is 'Gimme Shelter' by the Rolling Stones. That's about what decade I'm in, clearly.

[mugbull]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYRdT1chiu0

My most played Spotify song of the year. The artist Drezo is also my top artist of the year. American house with techno vibes. Good stuff

[Dark Soldier]

I'm still stuck in a 90s Jungle timewarp, but this stood out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJikEoJ1mN0

Dat whole intro :drool:

[mugbull]

Ayyy that's my shit. Old school D&B flaves. Very UK sound.

[Dark Soldier]

Ayyy that's my shit. Old school D&B flaves. Very UK sound.

The whole album is astonishing.

Dom & Roland - Last Refuge of a Scoundrel. Its the one piece of media I bought this year.

[Spammer]

https://youtu.be/iCSFwGy9gQY


https://youtu.be/ZItLBiHG9gc

My two most played songs, apparently. Although it's only since about September.

[Offshore Toon]

A Tribe Called Quest take album of the year for me. Danny Brown not far behind. Apart from that I've been getting into drum and bass since Dour this summer. Stuff like dBridge, Mefjus, Audio etc. Never disliked drum and bass, but something definitely clicked at Dour. Then European techno like Ben Klock, Boris Brejcha, Len Faki etc. Definitely been listening to sets as opposed to listening to albums more. You get so much more out of good hour long set than a good hour long album.

[Manc]

Walking on Cars are the years guilty pleasure.

[-james-]

Still figuring out albums, but off the top of my head the best 15 live acts I've seen this year. Rather dominated by the festivals I went to. Will definitely be forgetting a few.

1. LCD Soundsystem at Glastonbury
2. Senyawa & Rabih Beaini at Unsound
3. Shibusashirazu Orchestra at Glastonbury
4. Boris in Glasgow
5. Floating Points at Primavera
6. Joanna Newsom in Glasgow
7. Overmono at Unsound
8. Kamasi Washington at Glastonbury
9. Radiohead at Primavera
10. PJ Harvey at Glastonbury
11. Orphx at Unsound
12. Sote at Unsound
13. Julia Holter at Primavera
14. Drive like Jehu at Primavera
15. Demdike Stare at Unsound

[Offshore Toon]

LCD were ridiculously good. Only seen them once before, so hoping they do some more festivals this summer.

[igor_balis]

https://s27.postimg.org/bj1rveuwx/lastfm.png

Courtesy of last.fm. Wussy indie and wrestling podcasts. How surprising.

[Offshore Toon]

New Order were crap at Glastonbury. Knew I should have seem James Blake, but got swayed by the crowd for the first time in years, then Blake brings out Vince Staples and Trim. At least I've learned to stick to my guns.

[igor_balis]

I love New Order but I definitely wouldn't be arsed about seeing them live. They're also one of the few bands where I'm willing to suspend my pickiness about naff lyrics. "love, it's like honey. You can't buy it with money", shit AND inaccurate.

[Giggles]

Listened to nothing new at all but I went to see Bell X1, Walking on Cars, and Gavin James twice. James was the only one who didn't have a horrendous support act.

[-james-]

New Order were crap at Glastonbury. Knew I should have seem James Blake, but got swayed by the crowd for the first time in years, then Blake brings out Vince Staples and Trim. At least I've learned to stick to my guns.



Bernard Sumner has the stage presence of a bowl of cereal but the big songs were excellent. I've seen James Blake a few times but I've never bounced about to Blue Monday in a crowd like that before.

[igor_balis]

Gosh I bloody love Dinosaur Jr.

[Manc]

The Shins. :cool:

Australia is still one of my all time favourites.

[Offshore Toon]

Bernard Sumner has the stage presence of a bowl of cereal but the big songs were excellent. I've seen James Blake a few times but I've never bounced about to Blue Monday in a crowd like that before.
Tbf Love Will Tear Us Apart, despite not being anywhere near Joy Division's best song, felt a bit special. Or maybe I'm just a softy.

[-james-]

Gosh I bloody love Dinosaur Jr.

That "Love is..." track off the new album wins the trophy for most stuck in my head song of the second half of this year.

Got to see them live last month. J Mascis is a bit of a god but I reckon he's a massive fucking cock of a person. Definitely bullies Lou Barlow.

[-james-]

Tbf Love Will Tear Us Apart, despite not being anywhere near Joy Division's best song, felt a bit special. Or maybe I'm just a softy.

Hah yeah. I didn't know they played it at all so it blindsided me a bit when they broke into it.

Not getting tickets for next year is definitely the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

[-james-]

LCD were ridiculously good. Only seen them once before, so hoping they do some more festivals this summer.

I saw them at Primavera and they were a million times better at Glastonbury.

I was on an excellent cocktail of drugs at the Glastonbury one and it was Sunday night so I'm not sure I need to see them again, that isn't getting topped. Top 5 all time gigs for sure.

[igor_balis]

J Mascis is a bit of a god but I reckon he's a massive fucking cock of a person. Definitely bullies Lou Barlow.

I'd file him under "some sort of spectrum" rather than cock, personally.

There was a terrific Q&A with all 3 members in some magazine that perfectly encapsulated the outlooks of the members. J gave disinterested one word answers to everything, Lou answered everything with really self-important essays, and Murph genuinely said something like "well I always thought we were a bit of a shit, sloppy punk band, and I have no idea why people like us".

[igor_balis]

Australia is still one of my all time favourites.

Been one of my favourite songs for about 10 years. Lets bee friends.

[Offshore Toon]

Hah yeah. I didn't know they played it at all so it blindsided me a bit when they broke into it.

Not getting tickets for next year is definitely the worst thing that's ever happened to me.
It still hasn't sunk in. I just assume I'll be there. I'll be qualified for crowd security and searching in January, through Brighton & Hove Albion stewarding, so hopefully that'll get me in if nothing else.

I saw them at Primavera and they were a million times better at Glastonbury.

I was on an excellent cocktail of drugs at the Glastonbury one and it was Sunday night so I'm not sure I need to see them again, that isn't getting topped. Top 5 all time gigs for sure.
A fancy cocktail always helps. I was pretty much drug free for the performance and it was still incredible. A great live performance is does far more than any drug can.

[Alex]

That "Love is..." track off the new album wins the trophy for most stuck in my head song of the second half of this year.

Got to see them live last month. J Mascis is a bit of a god but I reckon he's a massive fucking cock of a person. Definitely bullies Lou Barlow.

I don't know, Barlow always strikes me as a bit of a self-important wanker. Something about him annoys me. I wish they would stop letting him contribute a couple of songs per album, because they're nearly always the low points in my opinion. But if it keeps them together I'll take it, because the run they've been on post-reunion is their best period as a band to date, if you ask me.

Mascis always seems detached to the point of non-interest in interviews and things. Although by all accounts he is not easy to work with at all. But on the other hand he's by far the most talented member of that group. Writes all the best songs, is basically a guitar prodigy and plays all the other instruments better than the rest of them to boot. I guess it's hard not to be a control freak in that situation. I would agree with igor that he seems, to some extent, to be on the spectrum.

I also saw them live last month as well. They were great. So loud though, my ears were legitimately fucked the next day. I'm either getting old or they've cranked the volume up, because I saw them a few years ago and they didn't have that effect on me last time.

The new album was great. "Mirror" is the one that stuck for me. That whole "Waste of time/Wasted time" (never quite sure which he's saying, but it's the same either way I guess) refrain, whilst wailing furiously on his guitar, is just about the most quintessentially J. Mascis thing of all time.

[The Merse]

I think that the order of most played would look something like this -

1. Kano
2. Departures
3. More Than Life
4. Svalbard
5. Frank Turner
6. La Dispute
7. And So I Watch You From Afar
8. Fall of Troy
9. Touché Amore
10. Caves

[-james-]

I still have a hefty backlog but if I don't do the list now it'll never get done and I enjoy looking back on them. My favourite 2016 albums:

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
2. PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project
3. Deakin - Sleep Cycle
4. Antwood - Virtuous.scr
5. Blood Orange - Freetown Sound
6. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
7. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
8. Angel Olsen - My Woman
9. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It from Here
10. Sote - Hardcore Sounds from Tehran

Also particularly enjoyed:
Male Gaze - King Lear
clipping. - Splendor & Misery
Nicolas Jaar - Sirens
Jessy Lanza - Oh No
Gnod - Mirror

[Offshore Toon]

I forgot to mention Trim - 1-800 Dinosaur Presents Trim. You can probably guess James Blake has something to do with it, but it's some of the most experimental grime I've heard. Mental.

Song of the year has to be Sir Spyro - Topper Top (ft. Teddy Bruckshot, Lady Chann & Killa P). Didn't like the whole patois thing over Spyro production at first, but it's grown on me to a ridiculous point.