Today I offer up my annual playlist that caps off my look back at the year in music. I find it way too difficult to do a ranking of songs, so this is my way to capture the tracks that defined the year. As always, I try to make a playlist that fits on a standard CD-R, to kind of limit myself. (I went 30 seconds over this year, so if you’re a weirdo who still likes to burn to discs, you’ll have to pick a song to cut.) Keep in mind these aren’t necessarily my favorite songs of the year, but rather a mix that I think is a good look at what 2016 had to offer. Also, the order is based on how the songs show up on their respective albums, and is in no way a ranking.
This year’s mix consists of 21 songs, I believe the most I’ve ever squeezed onto my mix. Nine of the songs come from albums in my top 10, with all but one of the remaining coming from albums within my top 40. That lone song from outside my top 40 being “Ch-Ching” off of Moth, the disappointing (and final) album from Chairlift. And yes, you perhaps will notice that that song, as well as “Weight In Gold” from the criminally underrated Gallant, were actually released as singles in 2015. But alas, I count songs for the year their respective album was released, so I’m off the hook.
Below, you’ll see the tracklist as well as the Spotify playlist. And finally, this is the 9th straight year Amy Runner has provided the album art for the mix. My lack of motivation to put much effort into this year’s list gave her very little to go on, but she still nailed it, so hooray for artistic freedom!
1) “Fill In The Blank” – Car Seat Headrest :: Teens Of Denial
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2) “Drone Bomb Me” – ANOHNI :: HOPLESSNESS
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3) “Nikes” – Frank Ocean :: Blonde
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4) “No Woman” – Whitney :: Light Upon the Lake
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5) “1000 Times” – Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam :: I Had A Dream That You Were Mine
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6) “Old Friends” – Pinegrove :: Cardinal
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7) “Burn the Witch” – Radiohead :: A Moon Shaped Pool
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8) “Masterpiece” – Big Thief :: Masterpiece
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9) “I Have Been to the Mountain” – Kevin Morby :: Singing Saw
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10) “Wedding Singer” – Modern Baseball :: Holy Ghost
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11) “Be Apart” – Porches :: Pool
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12) “Shut Up Kiss Me” – Angel Olsen :: My Woman
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13) “Adore” – Savages :: Adore Life
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14) “Best to You” – Blood Orange :: Freetown Sound
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15) “Ch-Ching” – Chairlift :: Moth
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16) “Your Best American Girl” – Mitski :: Puberty 2
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17) “Weight In Gold” – Gallant :: Ology
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18) “Berlin Got Blury” – Parquet Courts :: Human Performance
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19) “Brace For Impact (Live A Little)” – Sturgill Simpson :: A Sailor’s Guide To Earth
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20) “Come Down” – Anderson .Paak :: Malibu
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21) “Skyscraper” – Touché Amoré :: Stage Four
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A Round of Sound 