The Best Music of 2016

In a world as divided as it has been in at least a lifetime, perhaps the only sentiment that unites us all is that 2016 could teach a vacuum cleaner how to suck. Most of the world is still attempting to get over the realization that Donald Trump is about to become the most powerful man in the world, and we probably won’t; in the same way you never really get over having HIV. The polarizing effects of the election solidified a societal divide that made facts irrelevant, and turned routine disagreements into perceived wars between good and evil. This year politics became the new religion.

If politics cost us our souls, our hearts were simultaneously broken by the deaths of musical icons like David Bowie and Prince, which hit so many of us like a drunk driver on an icy road. These weren’t just celebrities, these were people we owed for being alive in the first place.

As the near year unravels, we’ll be poised to learn if this one represents a singular low point, or the start of a downward trajectory that will make Mad Max seem like a documentary in retrospect. Until then, at least we have music. This year kept the decade on pace for being better than the last, proving that not all downward trajectories result in a spiral. This selection isn’t meant as a definitive list, but rather a considered arrangement of musical bright spots that served to illuminate an otherwise pitch black year.

Track List

Burial - Young Death

Nicolas Jaar - Killing Time

Mick Jenkins feat. BADBADNOTGOOD - Drowning

The Invisible - Life-s Dancers (Floating Points Remix)

Tiga - Blondes Have More Fun

Michael Mayer - Blackbird Has Spoken

Kuedo - In Your Sleep

Seekersinternational - StillUgly!

Mark Pritchard feat. Thom Yorke - Beautiful People

Beyonce feat. James Blake - Forward

SBTRKT feat. The Dream - Bury You

Frank Ocean - Godspeed

Chance the Rapper - Same Drugs

Tribe Called Quest - Melatonin

Anderson Paak - Celebrate

Soft Hair - Lying Has to Stop

How to Dress Well - Made a Lifetime

The Weeknd - Stargirl Interlude

Yumi Zouma - Barricade (Matter of Fact)

Maria Usbeck - Moai Y Yo

Angel Olsen - Those Were The Days

Andy Shauf - Early to the Party

LUH - Future Blues

Arca - Sin Rumbo

Brian Eno - The Ship

David Bowie - Blackstar

Radiohead - Daydreaming

Camara - Just Waking Up

Aphex Twin - CHEETA2 ms800

Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat

The Caretaker - All That Follows Is True

Avalanches - Zap!

Postiljonen - The Open Road

Kedr Livanskiy - Razrushitelniy Krug (Acapella)