Personal Favorites of 2016

If you enjoyed my taste in music as evidenced by my picks of the best hit songs of 2016, then hopefully you'll also enjoy my favorite lesser-known songs as well. These 25 songs (organized roughly chronologically by release date) were not among the 100 biggest hits of 2016, but they were some of my most-played and most-loved songs of the year, so once again, sit back, turn up the speakers, and pretend you're me. Uh, I mean, enjoy.

*Once again every title has the link to the song's Youtube video, and there is a Spotify playlist of all 25 songs in order at the bottom of the page if you'd prefer to just play that.

Alex Newell, Jess Glynne, Nile Rodgers, & DJ Cassidy- "Kill The Lights (Audien Remix)":

This song was featured on the TV show "Vinyl," which I've never seen and probably never will. But, it gave us one of the year's greatest songs, and one of the greatest modern reinterpretations of the disco era. And since the Audien remix is even better, I'll post it here for your enjoyment. Long live disco, baby.

SNBRN- "Raindrops": 

SNBRN came on the scene with several great songs in 2016, but "Raindrops" was far and away the best. This had one of the greatest beats to just get lost in this year. It further affirms my working theory that artists with all-caps, stylized names tend to be weirdly good, even though you'd think they'd be pretentious. I'm gonna keep working on proving that one though...

Jonas Blue ft. Dakota- "Fast Car":

"Fast Car" is an all-time song with all-time lyrics. You'd think it doesn't need any updates, and you'd probably be right. But somehow, this cover just worked on every level. I was hoping it would make the Billboard year-end chart, since it became a pretty big hit, but it fell short. If it turned people on to Tracy Chapman, though, I'll take that as a consolation prize.

Flume & Tove Lo- "Say It":

I was hoping this song would get bigger airplay, since Flume broke through this year with "Never Be Like You," but the rest of the world didn't get to have the same enjoyment I had this year with this song. Unless they had a Spotify account, which I guess most people do these days. Whatever. Anyway, this was one of the songs of the summer for me, for sure.

Haywyre- "Do You Don't You":

It feels like this song has been around forever, but I guess that's just because I've been wearing out since it was released in February. It's a little heavier than most of the stuff on this list, but I think it's a solid change of pace, so most of you won't mind. If you do, then skip to the next few tracks.

Demi Lovato- "Body Say":

Again, not sure how this didn't hit the year-end Hot 100, but no worries, I didn't forget about it. One of the year's best mainstream pop songs. I just wish it had a music video. Seems like a real oversight on Demi's part. Oh well.

Selena Gomez- "Me & The Rhythm":

If we're talking about best pop songs of the year, though, the conversation has to include this one. How it was never released as a single, I'll never know. I wish I knew what record execs did all day, other than eat power lunches and make terrible decisions. I think I could run them all out of business in a year if I had access to the music they had.

The Chainsmokers- "Inside Out":

This was probably the best song The Chainsmokers released this year (all apologies to "Closer"). It was also a major song of the summer for me. Too bad they over-saturated the market with their other singles and this one couldn't have been released on a wider scale.

Gorgon City- "All Four Walls":

All right, time to get into some dope deep house. Nobody does this genre better than Gorgon City and they had another huge year in 2016. They're certainly in my top 5 of live shows I need to see. I can only imagine the energy would be incredible. And it's hard to believe this was only their second-best song of 2016...

Gorgon City- "Doubts":

This wasn't just Gorgon City's best song of the year, it's seriously in the running for best song of the year, period. It just works in so many circumstances. Versatility is key in the era of music on-the-go and on-demand. Many of the songs on this list fit that mold (at least in my mind- not everyone wants to listen to dance music as they drift off to sleep, I guess...)

ZHU- "Generationwhy":

Skip to 6:45 for the actual music. It's an awesome 11-minute video, though, and you should watch the whole thing if you have time. Very Black Mirror-esque. Anyway, according to Spotify this was my most-played song of 2016, and I can't really argue (since they don't provide play counts). It's another one of those versatile songs that fits any mood, and since it was a summer song, it got a lot of heavy rotation at a critical time of year. More ZHU follows next...

ZHU- "Money":

"Money" is ZHU's update on the classic Pink Floyd song, as far as I can tell (at least that's what the intro makes me think). From there it gets pretty dreamy and trance-y, and overall it's a great way to spend 5 minutes. Highly recommend.

ZHU- "In the Morning":

Last ZHU track on the list here. He had many more that just missed the cut as well though. This one has more of a distinctive late-night vibe (despite its title), which is similar to his earlier music. This is not a good song to start a party, but it may be a good way to help it wind down slowly.

Seeb- "Breathe":

As I said in my top hits of 2016 blog (which was topped by Seeb's remix of "I Took A Pill In Ibiza"), 2016 was The Year Of Seeb. So naturally, the Norwegian duo (maybe trio?) will be featured heavily here in this blog as well. This is their only original worthy of the list, but what an original it was. It proves they can do more than remixes, which will be crucial as they move forward with their career into 2017.

Coldplay- "Hymn For The Weekend (Seeb Remix)":

According to a Spotify Year in Review video, when this remix dropped it became bigger than the original, which I can't say I'm surprised by. That tends to happen when Seeb take over a track. They just know how to make it better without distorting it too much. It's a real skill.

OneRepublic- "Kids (Seeb Remix)":

OK, real talk, I thought this was a Coldplay song until just a few days ago when I finally realized it said OneRepublic. Honestly, it doesn't really matter because Seeb make the song their own. And, there may be a message in the lyrics that we could all use going into 2017. Just listen carefully in the chorus...

Lliam Taylor- "To You":

So, one weird thing that happens when 90% of your music is consumed on the Spotify app is that you sometimes don't know the popularity of a song you find. So imagine my shock when I searched for this song on Youtube and found out it only has 361 views. I think I can officially say this is, by far, the deepest cut I have ever featured on this list. So, if you like truly unknown music, enjoy this one! And don't ever say all the music I like is mainstream!

Frenship feat. Emily Warren- "Capsize":

This was definitely one of the surprise sleeper hits of 2016. It even took me surprise. I didn't think twice about it the first few times I heard it, but then I couldn't get it out of my head for the rest of the year, and just kept playing it over and over. And the video of them walking on water is a pretty awesome addition as well.

Bruno Mars- "24K Magic":

Every year there's one song that I feel really terrible that I can't include on my top hits of the year blog, because it didn't qualify due to being released too late in the year. Somehow, being released in early October was still too late for "24K Magic," but I can assure you this was a top 5 awesome hit of the year. Bruno Mars has roughly one gem for every five adequate singles, and he was due for a great one here. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't live up to the standard this song sets, although admittedly it would be hard to do that. And I can guarantee this will be on 2017's list.

The Weeknd & Daft Punk- "Starboy (Kygo Remix)":

I was excited when I saw that Daft Punk and The Weeknd were collaborating on a new song but I was disappointed when I heard the actual product. Then Kygo got his Norwegian hands on it and suddenly everything fit together. Sometimes more cooks stirring the pot can be a good thing I suppose, especially when those cooks are Scandinavian, French, and Canadian.

LEON- "Tired of Talking":

I'm not sure how LEON hasn't gotten more popular yet, but I think her time is coming. I can't imagine anyone who likes pop music not liking this song, so it just needs to get out there more. I'm very excited for what I assume will be a full-length album of hers coming out in 2017. She has yet to release anything I don't love already.

LEON- "Think About You":

I mean, duh, did you read what I just wrote? Obviously there was going to be a second song from her on this list. How do Sweden and Norway manage to produce such a gigantic percentage of the world's greatest musicians? It's like they have a knack for melodies and composition that the rest of us don't have. I'd love to see what their elementary school music classes look like. Probably very different from mine where we mumbled nursery rhymes until it was time to leave.

Clean Bandit feat. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie- "Rockabye":

It was a very up-and-down year for my favorite band from a couple years ago, Clean Bandit. They had a huge gap where they produced no new material, then they released "Tears" which failed to make the impact it probably deserved. Then, tragedy struck when violinist Neil Amin-Smith left the band to pursue other projects, leaving them down a founding member. But they persevered and came out with "Rockabye," which has a different sound without the violin. But, it has turned out to be their biggest hit ever in the UK chart, and is now their biggest hit in the US since "Rather Be," so I'm guessing they're getting on just fine without Neil. It's still just not quite the same though...

AlunaGeorge feat. Popcaan- "I'm In Control":

This one came out back in the early part of the year but it was the latest-breaking addition to this list since I only discovered it in late December. My God, though, does it get the party started. And does it ever put the exclamation point on my theory that reggae/dancehall has never been hotter in pop music. The video, shot on location in the Dominican Republic, is worth watching as well. Get into it.

Breathe Carolina- "Echo (Let Go)":

Last but not least, the other late-breaking addition to the list. Breathe Carolina have been around for a long time and their music has mostly, to put it mildly, not been what I'm into. Nah, scratch that, it sucked. And most of it still sucks. But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and even an act that never seems to do anything interesting does something truly astonishing. This song is a masterpiece, and I've put it into heavier rotation than probably any song in 2016. And the party will continue right on into 2017.

So, as the final embers of "Echo" linger in your eardrums, remember that good music will continue to come out in 2017, since good music is always coming out. Good things will continue to happens and you just have to find them. Or maybe let them come to you. OK, peace out, and I'll see you all in December and we'll see how right I was!