Some Thoughts on 2016, as Expressed Through Spotify Playlists

I've had Spotify Premium since it left beta, and I don't regret it in the slightest. Recently I've grown somewhat wary of subscription services, from the ever-present fan-service monthly box-crates to Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop going subscription-based (which is just the worst). I don't want the internet to know that I'm photoshopping my face onto celebrities to shield my fragile ego.

Spotify, however, hasn't given me any trouble in the past years. I've known a handful of folks who've experienced issues with the mobile application, and while it took a while to really get its feet under it, I think recent updates have moved it from non-functional to at-least-it-plays-music.

This gif isn't particularly relevant, I just wanted to remind
everybody of that time Disney made the villain
a pipe organ.

One thing I particularly like about Spotify is its Discover Weekly playlist. This is an ever-changing list of roughly 30 songs based on the stuff you listen to, and in my experience it has proven itself time and time again as something capable of introducing me to new music. In May of 2016 I started saving each list to a Megalist so I could look back on the year and do a little bit of analysis on it. However, considering it only covers 7 months of music and I'm nothing if not a rigid completionist (lol yeah right) and I didn't want to lie to you fine people (all 4 of you), I was worried I'd have to wait until 2018 to do it. With the apocalypse constantly around the corner, who's willing to wait that long?

Lucky me, Spotify catered to my crippling self-analysis by providing a list of the 101 Top Songs, or as Spotify says, "all the songs you loved the most this year." In support of my efforts to fully deconstruct myself as a person based on my taste in popular culture, here are some arbitrary thoughts on the standout pieces I found this year. Now, full disclosure, I have no idea how Spotify determines these, whether it's through simple play count or some sort of Manatee-in-a-Ball-Pit method, but I don't really care so long as it's all provided for me and all I have to do is talk about it.

First, here's a link to the playlist itself. Looking back over it I seemed to have really dived into the hipster pool on this one...part of that is because I've finally stopped fighting it, and part of it is that I started volunteering at a music venue specializing in underground folk concerts, so quite a bit of it stemmed from those shows I helped with.

Some Thoughts on 2016, as Expressed Through What Spotify Calls my Top Songs of 2016

According to Spotify, my top 3 artists of 2016 were:

San Fermin (6 songs)

San Fermin is a band introduced to me by a good friend of mine, and good lord am I thankful to him for it. Started by a guy out of Yale with the absurd name Ellis Ludwig-Leone, San Fermin bills themselves as "baroque pop" and are exactly what you'd expect of a NY-based band created by a pop music fanatic who majored in music composition. There's a lot of horns, vocal harmonies, and albums which really benefit from a full-through listen.

Not pictured: Half the band.

Of the six songs from San Fermin on the list, my top is probably No Devil, a single they released just after their sophomore album Jackrabbit. While I would recommend Jackrabbit and their self-titled first release (also the only physical album I've bought in years), I think No Devil is probably the best place to start. Some of their stuff is a little esoteric, and considering they're the sort of ensemble to
place Interludes on their releases, it can be a bit weird to just jump in.

Of course, honorable mention goes to Sonsick which is one of my top songs of all time, but I've watched the Audiotree Live version on Youtube enough that it's softened the album version. One thing that stands out from their Youtube videos (and live shows) is just how much they enjoy performing. Watching them get into their music is infectious. Here's a link to probably my favorite live session from them.

Coheed & Cambria (5 songs)

You never forget your first. I stumbled onto Co&Ca's second studio album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 when I was in seventh grade and it did for my taste in music what most kids go through when they find Led Zeppelin. My parents are both incredibly musically talented, and I had absorbed quite a bit of my father's taste in music through exposure to Zeppelin, Joe Satriani, and Rush. While I still appreciate those, I hadn't really moved outside that circle except for a bit of a foray into Green Day and Kansas.

Also, that time they sang Scalia's dissenting opinions
re: healthcare and gay marriage.

There was something about the band's sense of humor, approach to song-writing, and lead singer Claudio Sanchez's voice that immediately drove me to listen to whatever I could wrap my ears around. Listing my favorite song by this band is easy and immediate: A Favor House Atlantic, taken off the same album listed above. There wasn't anything like it's drive and sense of oomph to 13-year-old Dylan's ears, and it's still one of my go-to pump up songs. The only criticism I have is that Claudio's voice is so unique that it means I can't ever play the song because there's zero chance I'd be do the vocals justice.

Lil Dicky (4 songs)

Due to various circumstances both personal, public, and professional, I went through something of an angry white boy phase during 2016. Call it the suddenly open world thrust upon my shoulders, the realization that I would finish a full-length novel sometime during the year (finished it in June, score!), or the sense of political destruction and inevitable dystopia on the horizon, but there was a certain cynicism that took ahold of my mind for roughly the first 80% of the year.

Or when he raps about penis envy.

Anyway, Lil Dicky is a Jewish rapper based out of Philadelphia who exploded across the internet during 2015, which isn't much of a surprise when you learn he has a degree in marketing and
understands how to get his content noticed on the web. When you add in that he bills himself as an anti-rapper and spits bars about things like saving money, shitting your pants on a date, and the difficulties inherent in coordinating a night out, it's a no-brainer.

Lil Dicky's section in this article would be far longer if his mixtape was on Spotify, but considering I have to listen to it on Soundcloud, I guess it doesn't count. The guy is legitimately clever, as well, as displayed by that time he shot a music video for roughly $20 and got T-Payne and a bunch of other notables involved. Hell, he's just an interesting guy to follow, even if you're not a fan of rap.

Anyway, those are my top three artists, but I'm fairly sure it's just a numbers game so I'm going to talk about some other stuff because this is my blog and if you don't like it you can leave. Your page-view's already registered, sucker!

Favorite Indie Artist Who Isn't Nearly As Indie As I'd Been Led to Believe

alt-J (3 songs)

alt-J is a band out of Leeds known for mumbling their nonsensical lyrics to really, really strange arrangements. Their first album, An Awesome Wave was released in 2012 and is fantastic front-to-back. It's another one of those with numerous interludes, an intro, and an outro, so listening to it on scramble isn't the best idea unless you like songs cutting off when they "end." It's essentially like a TV episode cutting out at a cliff-hanger, except the characters haven't actually reached the cliff yet, they're still running towards it.

Anyway, the songs on my list are Breezeblocks, Dissolve Me, and Intro, which is an interesting trio to include considering the entire album is fantastic. I don't have a lot to talk about here, except that if you want to get into a strange group that really shouldn't work, give them a listen. Just understand that they're a bit weird and often write about domestic violence and rape (not that you'd know from listening to them).

Favorite Artist that Showed Up After I'd Discovered Them On My Own

The Oh Hellos (3 songs)

As far as I know Nick Kroll doesn't have anything
to do with this band.

I was first exposed to this group through the Ann Arbor Folk Festival, where they took my breath away with their performances of Bitter Water and Exeunt, both from their 2015 album Dear Wormwood. The group is frontlined by a pair of siblings from Texas who took serious inspiration from CS Lewis, Patrick Rothfuss, and if those two names mean anything from you, you won't need a third example. It is apparently about a pair of ex-lovers writing letters to each other against the backdrop of an apocalypse, and it absolutely nails what I'd expect for tone.

Hell, I think Dear Wormwood is probably my favorite album I discovered in 2016. Give it a listen, they're great.

Favorite Song by an Artist I Otherwise Can't Get Into

"Like a Child" by Oketo

Oketo is an indie band out of Lincoln, Nebraska known for...well, I guess not a whole lot. They don't have a Wikipedia page and hit just under 50K monthly listeners on Spotify as of the time of this writing. I found this one through my weekly Spotify discover playlist and gave the rest of their stuff a listen, and...well, Like a Child is really good. They're another pop-rock-indie band using mellow guitar, brass, and woodwinds to create their own sounds, but I just can't do the rest of their discography. I think it boils down to Like a Child having a really good drive behind the guitar, which is something I've come to realize makes or breaks a song for me.

The Unexpected

Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (3 songs)

I fully fell onto the Hamilton hype train this year. My taste in musicals tends to gravitate towards the postmodern, with Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, Little Shop of Horrors, and the like, so when I heard there was a historical musical with rap and hip-hop as the primary styles, I decided to give it a try.

Good lord, Lin Manuel-Miranda is some sort of savant or something. The lyrical craftsmanship in these pieces is obscene. One of my greatest regrets is that I'm probably not going to see a live performance with LMM actually playing the lead role, but I guess I can live with that, considering he's been tagged to write the music for the upcoming Kingkiller Chronicles...

Miscellaneous Songs I Want To Mention Which Don't Deserve Their Own Bolded Partition

Here's some songs from the playlist with one or two lines explaining why I like them. Don't expect anything deep from this, it's more like a justification than anything else.

Jackie and Wilson by Hozier - I've never been quiet about the fact that I cannot stand Take Me to Church and for a while I let that decide my opinion of Hozier. But damn, this song (and the rest of the album, for the most part) is really, really good.

Thirsty Man by Blitzen Trapper - This band did a cover of I am a Man of Constant Sorrow for the TV show Fargo, but I think Thirsty Man is probably the best one they've put out. They're something of a bluegrass - punk - miscellaneous band that manages to freshen up their sound every so often while keeping their identity. It's pretty cool.

Apparently he's actually really smart with his money.

Good Morning by Chamillionaire - AKA definitely not Tom Petty. I find most songs calling out "haters" as really dumb and un-self-aware (self-unaware?) but I think Chamillionaire managed to at least make his feel upbeat...at least until the second half where it devolves into your standard ego booster.

Wait So Long by Trampled by Turtles - If I had to choose a favorite Trampled by Turtles song I would probably list Alone or Midnight on the Interstate, but as stated above you never forget the one who took you to the dance. Wait So Long is the song that probably best showcases TbT's ability to play blisteringly-fast bluegrass without losing the rhythm or melody of the song. Palomino is a great album, and their new one is just as good.

Stuntin' by The Floozies - If you're looking for something which fits the tag "funkstep," look no further. This song's groove is absurd.

Anyway, that's generally how Spotify classified my year in music. I'm sure I forgot to mention something, so if you feel like I treated a group unfairly, want to point out my inconsistent use of bolding, leave a comment because this blog is how I validate myself.