February 24, 20178 yr Author Glad to share tracks to new audiences :) NMFTW is pretty awesome :D Last one before the top 20 now:
February 24, 20178 yr Author 21) THE SAINT JOHNS – LOST THE FEELING Q_5ddz8C3NU EOY CHART HISTORY The Saint Johns 2016: Lost The Feeling The Saint Johns hold the triple distinctions of being the highest one-hit wonder track this year, the highest country crossover – a genre I was pretty surprised to see become a thing in 2016, picked up by even the likes of Beyoncé and Gaga as well as a bunch of Mumford-lite imitators – track, and the second highest rock-or-indie styled track this year. I came across The Saint Johns early on in 2016 when writing for new band music reviews for my friend’s website, and was instantly struck at how like a hit this sounded. There’s a strong Lady Antebellum-esque influence here in the instrumentation, which is only boosted by the male-female duet vocal harmonies. It’s also quite a bit like recent country-cross influenced Eurovision entries by The Common Linnets and Stig Rasta with Elina Born – the latter of which was robbed by an early slot in its year. At less than 40k views across its audio and video, this track's criminally underrated. Although I’ve said I’m generally not a fan of country crossover, when I think about it, the genre has had some success with me before – previous EOY charters with that kind of influence include Damien Jurado’s Metallic Cloud and a double for Boy & Bear in 2014 and ’15 with and . I’m also a decent fan of First Aid Kit, Lissie, and the times Pink delves into a country influence. So maybe this isn’t such an unprecented appearance. Next post, into the top 20! Edited February 24, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter
February 26, 20178 yr Author 20) THE WEEKND – IN THE NIGHT 2iFa5We6zqw The Weeknd 2013: The Town, Crew Love 2014: Drunk In Love, Exodus 2016: 6 Inch, Might Not, In The Night The Weeknd kicks off the top 20 with his first solo appearance this year. He’s charted multiple tracks every other year’s EOY except 2015, but this is The Weeknd’s first year of a triple – helped out by doing copious features. In The Night has all The Weeknd’s hallmarks – dark, edgy lyrics, falsetto, and pure, lush alt-R&B instrumentation coming together to create a pretty polished package. There's a great retro, almost Michael Jackson feel from the style of the sound and the video too. It was more instant for me than previous singles The Hills and Can’t Feel My Face, and Often and Earned It, which I actively disliked. Although I first listened to it in 2015, it’s very much a 2016 song, I feel. In The Night was a consistent play-getter from January on, its dark sensibilities fitting with the controversial year. It’s also essentially the same story as Rockabye, the beloved UK Xmas #1 about the life of a stripper. Classic 2016, eh.
February 26, 20178 yr Author 19) ARIANA GRANDE, NICKI MINAJ – SIDE TO SIDE SXiSVQZLje8 Ariana Grande 2014: Problem f/ Iggy Azalea 2016: Into You, Side to Side f/ Nicki Minaj Nicki Minaj 2013: High School f/ Lil Wayne 2014: Throw Sum Mo w/ Rae Sremmurd 2015: Only f/ Drake + Lil Wayne + Chris Brown, Sugar Remix w/ Maroon 5, No Flex Zone Remix w/ Rae Sremmurd, Hey Mama w/ David Guetta 2016: Side to Side w/ Ariana Grande This was my album standout since Ari first previewed it ahead of the album’s release. Collabs with Nicki Minaj are usually an inspired choice; the rapper is gold and generally adds some style and swagger to everything she appears on. The reggae vibe and one-shade-from-explicit lyrics see Ms. Grande finally committing to shedding her teeny-girl image – or as much as she can manage to do so while still being barely five foot, skinny as a rake, and sporting nude makeup and the trademark ponytail. She’s definitely being aimed at a certain audience. Of the two acts, Nicki has by far more background of appearing in EOYs, her most prolific year being 2015 following the release of her long-awaited third studio album which saw her dropping much of the pop crossover and returning full swing to her rap roots. Ariana, however, has charted the highest single of the two, with Problem featuring the far inferior Iggy Azalea making it all the way into my top 2 in 2014, a rare pop hit in a year dominated by indie music on my personals. For once, the highest track with rap elements this year isn’t a Nicki track or feature, more of those are still to come a little higher up. Side to Side is, however, this year’s highest charter for a female duo, and Nicki and Ari’s highest ever collab following Get On Your Knees and the frankly awful supermarket-music track Bang Bang alongside Jessie J from 2014, which needless to say, with me was a DNC. Edited February 26, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter
February 27, 20178 yr Author 18) RIHANNA – NEEDED ME wfN4PVaOU5Q Rihanna 2015: Pour It Up 2016: Yeah I Said It, Consideration f/ SZA, Woo, Sledgehammer, Nothing Is Promised, This Is What You Came For, Too Good, Needed Me Clearly Rihanna’s had a good 2016. Her previous EOY chart record has been poor – although, to be fair, I only started EOYs once she was on her break post-2012. Prior to this, (2010) and (2012) would likely have been EOY charters. I’ve had a mixed history with the Barbadian though, never being that on board with most of her bigger hits – Only Girl, Diamonds, Umbrella, S & M, Rude Boy would all be examples – and that’s not even getting into the bottom of her barrels like California King Bed, Russian Roulette and even Pon De Replay which I never really felt the appeal of. I’ve always been a bigger fan of the harder edges that Rih’s hinted herself to possess, although I wasn’t a fan of what I then saw as a haughty attitude when she debuted. Pour It Up was until this year, her pinnacle for that persona – BBHMM had a piece of it too, but the video was a bit try-hard for my tastes – and that year she was going a bit off the rails, it seemed. Needed Me is in the same vein – but although it’s Rihanna’s 8th appearance in this year’s chart, it’s still not her last appearance. Quite the turnaround. Really, Anti brought together all the best bits that Rihanna’s career so far has only given us glimpses of, and has completely won me into her camp (her navy?). I’m excited to see what she does next. Edited February 27, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter
February 27, 20178 yr Author 17) BEYONCÉ – FORMATION WDZJPJV__bQ Beyoncé 2016: 6 Inch f/ The Weeknd, Formation And from one newbie to another. Beyoncé’s not quite had Rihanna levels of domination in the countdown this year – but that’s partly due to me not quite being convinced to buy Lemonade as a whole, instead just enjoying certain tracks, and watching the hour-long film piece. Maybe if it’s reduced this year. It’s been a hard transformation for me – I had considered myself, as I said above, a bit of an anti-fan of this Ms. Knowles in the previous years. She’s just not really been up my street. I haven’t liked any of her previous big songs, apart from Run The World – and the use of Single Ladies in . I’m just not that much of a pop fan. I liked 7/11 in 2015 – to be fair, helped a lot by this amusing video - are we seeing a theme crop up here? which got me into it – and I didn’t mind her Freemasons collabs when I was more into dance music. A hip-hop-inspired Hollaback Girl-esque anthem was not something I expected Beyoncé to release in 2016, but, here we are. Formation is by quite a length my favourite thing Beyoncé’s ever released, and Lemonade was really an extremely good album as a whole, showing the singer as a real artist and creative person for – for me – the first time in her career. Her bravery in talking about some of the issues she does throughout the piece also impressed me, after years of avoiding – or so it seemed – such issues. Of course, . Personally, I think she’s changed, yes, but for the better. Edited February 27, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter
March 4, 20178 yr Author Some very good R&B tracks in the last batch, Side To Side is my fave of them. You're right there! I didn't even notice it was a run of 4x R&B tunes. We'll be switching up the genre in the next batch - coming later on tonight ;)
March 4, 20178 yr Author 16) ALUNAGEORGE – I REMEMBER rCSpXp8s2Qo AlunaGeorge 2013: Kaleidoscope Love, Best Be Believing 2016: Mediator, Mean What I Mean f/Leikeli47 + Dreezy, I Remember I was a big fan of AlunaGeorge in 2013 and played their album to death, before subsequently getting fed up with them due to my self-inflicted overplaying of their music, and going off them for two years. New album I Remember demonstrates an evolution in sound and a step away from the Disclosure-influenced music that first brought them to chart success, taking influence from a number of producers and collaborators this time round. Predictably, it stalled in the charts. Title track I Remember is helped into my 2016 top 20 by releasing earlyish in the year, as it’s one I’ve been hot and cold on. It was a welcome return for uncredited producer Flume and for the band themselves when it released, as neither had put out much material for a while. And then their albums released – both filled with much stronger tracks than this one. I Remember – the track – picked up most of its plays when first released in April, and in May, and since about August tailed off – already, though, having built up already enough of a lead to make it in here. It’s not a bad song, but pales in comparison to its pal in the top 20 – which is yet to come. Edited March 4, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter
March 4, 20178 yr Author 15) CHEMICAL BROTHERS, BECK – WIDE OPEN BC2dRkm8ATU Chemical Brothers 2016: Wide Open f/ Beck Beck 2016: Wide Open One of the most inspired collabs in the whole countdown left now, a track which, although released as a single, didn’t seem to make much of an impact anywhere. I’ve liked the Chemical Brothers off and on for – well, years now, since Hey Girl Hey Boy – but they’ve not had previous EOY success. To be fair, they’ve been sporadic to say the least with album and single releases – and have always appeared in a crowded market too, which hasn’t helped. It’s Beck’s EOY debut. Although maybe not his final appearance, if that promised new album finally materialises in 2017. There’s some influence from Hot Chip here, I think, a band that dominated my EOY in 2015. Ultimately, this is one of the best ballad-style songs from an electro act since Robyn was last active, which is good company to be in. I’m here for collabs of this calibre. Edited March 4, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter
March 5, 20178 yr I remember hearing Wide Open when it first came out, I do prefer Go & C-H-E-M-I-C-A-L but this isn't bad!
March 15, 20178 yr The Blackest Day [7.5] (My favourites from her are Video Games, Born To Die and the Cedric remix of Summertime Sadness) Lost The Feeling [8.0] (Sounds good) In The Night [8.5] (Really like this song. My favourites from him are Can't Feel My Face, The Zone, Starboy, I Feel It Coming, The Hills and False Alarm) Side To Side [7.5] Needed Me [5.5] Formation [6.0] I Remember [9.5] (So you played Body Music over and over again. Sadly I didn't listen to a lot of albums back in '13. It wasn't until January 2015 when I started to get into albums [First ones being St. Vincent's self-titled, Arctic Monkeys' AM, and Sleater-Kinney's No Cities To Love]) Wide Open [10.0] (My favourite of the batch. Really enjoyed Born In The Echoes from '15. Favourites from them: Galvanise ("Don't hold back!" Q-Tip is amazing in this song), Block Rockin' Beats, Setting Sun, Do It Again, Hey Boy Hey Girl, Swoon, Go, Elektrobank (Who is this doing this synthetic type of alpha beta psychedelic funkin'?), Star Guitar, Leave Home, Song To The Siren, Sometimes I Feel So Deserted, Midnight Madness, The Boxer, Come Inside) Before I finish this reply: ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Back with another one of those BLOCK ROCKIN' BEATS!!!! WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO WOO
March 16, 20178 yr Author Thank you for your thoughts Pete and DT! Happy to see the appreciation for Wide Open - I'm not alone! :D and also Lost The Feeling. A few more coming up now....as we quickly approach the top 10!
March 16, 20178 yr Author 14) DAVID BOWIE – LAZARUS y-JqH1M4Ya8 David Bowie 2016: Lazarus What turned out to be the veteran singer’s swan song. I was enjoying this before the release of the video, and before the sad news revealed last January. Of course, it turned out to be morbidly creative and poetic in that light – and I almost wouldn’t expect anything less from the man himself, a consummate artist and performer to the bitter end. It’s his first EOY appearance to date, although I enjoyed Where Are We Now? from a few years back, and his material in general picks up plays from me every year. My other top Bowie picks would include Ashes to Ashes, ‘Heroes’, Fame and Starman. I also gained a new appreciation for Space Oddity after his death. I’ve recently been enjoying his A Reality Tour 2003 live album on Spotify, which features some new material and live performances of his older work with his more mature voice. A real legend.
March 16, 20178 yr Author 13) GEORGE MAPLE, GOLDLINK – STICKS AND HORSES OI546yWtNTA George Maple 2016: Sticks and Horses f/ GoldLink GoldLink 2016: Sticks and Horses This one was a huge surprise for me – and in many ways continues to be that. It’s a radical restyling and genre change for George Maple, who’s been active off and on since about 2012, then as a pure indiegirl who released a lot of thoughtful, morose music, and occasionally featured on out-there electronic tracks by the likes of Flume and What So Not. Come 2016, the year where it seemed everything in the world changed and/or went crazy, and Ms. Maple’s having a dramatic transformation. A sexy, undulating bass pairs with the atmosphere of the pink-lit stripper/dancer show in the video for Sticks and Horses, a track which I’m sure would have slayed dancefloors as a rap-pop crossover if it had had a title that didn’t make it sound like somewhere between an all-American country track and a children’s nursery rhyme. You shot yourself in the foot there, George. The video has it all, strippers, murder, a split personality, beds with wads of cash Rihanna would be jealous of, and George Maple strutting through it all in a fur coat and no knickers. It’s a fab track that would have been gunning for track of the year had it released a little earlier. As is, it manages the coveted spot of unlucky 13.
March 16, 20178 yr Author 12) INNA – HEAVEN ZRkdyjJ_MdM Inna 2015: Bop Bop f/ Eric Turner 2016: Heaven Who knew Inna, an act who seemed like something between a softcore porn model and a one-hit wonder cash-in on a mid 2000s Eastern European dance music trend, would still be at it and going from strength to strength nearly 10 years later? I’ve been a fan of Inna for every one of those years, at first with embarrassment – her videos are generally bizarre, and an excuse for her stylists to get creative with how much skin they can show while still not being completely trashy – but later with pride – or at least, a lack of shame. The Romanian singer’s one I always expect to be more popular among LGBT audiences, too, due to her camp nature and talent – or her producers’ talent – for always managing to capitalise on upcoming and modern sounds in EDM. She didn’t quite manage to make it in to my EOY top 100 in 2013 or 14 – years before I listened to so much Spotify, and so the tracks I did listen to were more concentrated and less scattered. One thing you can rely on Inna to make is a good summer jam, and Heaven does not disappoint. The video features our heroine in what looks like a village in an African country, singing in English and French, and dancing in a variety of increasingly anatomically improbable outfits. It’s pure summer fun, and the perfect soundtrack for my 2016 beach trips. Unsurprisingly it picked up the bulk of its plays from June to August, which was enough to heft it into overall 12th place for the year.
March 16, 20178 yr Author 11) POLI GENOVA – IF LOVE WAS A CRIME PQqUTigWKHY Poli Genova 2016: If Love Was a Crime Poli’s this year’s highest Eurovision entrant and indeed, just about won the night for me of the competition last May, although Dami Im’s live version of her song came close, far outperforming the studio version. Poli managed 4th overall, perhaps damaged on the night by her frankly bizarre costume and dance routine, and seeming very lonely on stage for 2/3 of the song; admittedly issues that also marred her in the semis. As well as the highest Eurovision entrant this year, Poli’s the highest placing Eurovision act or song in one of these countdowns since scraped into the top 25 in 2013, although since around that time, Eurovision songs have been an occasional presence year-in-year-out in the EOY on the whole. I feel it’s more due to a higher standard of entries going in, than my tastes catering more towards the camp in my old age, but who knows. This is a pretty damn good pop song with ethnic elements which helped it stand out from the crowd in a year where most everyone was trying to be too clever.
March 16, 20178 yr Lazarus [10.0] "Look up here, I'm in heaven" My favourite of 2016, along with the album it got featured in (Blackstar) Sticks And Horses [8.5] "Read my lips, don't touch my heart, cause I know that you're wanted" Heaven [8.5] If Love Was A Crime [10.0] Powerful Eurovision song. BTW, am I the only one that is reminded of Starley's Call On Me just by listening to the piano chords at the beginning? Edited March 16, 20178 yr by DalekTurret32
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