Every year I create a “Best of the year” playlist on Spotify, which usually starts on 30th December with me looking back at my Last.fm scrobbles and trying to remember what I liked in the year. This year I decided to get a bit nerdy with it.
I love a good spreadsheet, and a good statistic, despite the fact that numbers hate me (ask anyone at work: if ever I make a mistake, it always involves numbers!) So rather than just put together an emotive list of what I liked, I wanted to reduce a year of music into stats. For instance: My top 50 most listened-to songs in 2018 accounted for almost 30% of my total listening my scrobbles, but only 12% by duration (I surmise that I listened to the same songs a lot, but they’re not as long as some songs I listened to more rarely.)
All this data is pulled from Last.fm, which is linked to my Spotify account, which my wife and I share. But only a few of the tracks that made it into the top 100 are hers, not mine: this is because I listen to music a lot more.
The top 10
Only two artists made it into the top 10: Lake Street Dive, one of my discoveries of 2014, and this year’s biggest find for me, Rae Morris. Her album Someone Out There came out in February and stuck with me all year, racking up 341 scrobbles, a third more than Lake Street Dive’s latest Free Yourself Up, which launched in April.
The full top 100
Here’s the full table. I pulled data from Last.fm and Spotify, and added a few comments where things occurred to me.
It’s been an interesting year.
| Song name | Artist | Album | Scrobbles | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wait for the Rain | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 42 | When the drums kick in at 1:19; nice middle-eight ("I don't want no ice, I'm already cold enough now"; the synth outro - textbook pop, and very pleasing too. | |
| 2 | Push Me to My Limit | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 40 | First track on the album I started more than any other, in a year that certainly pushed me to my limits. | |
| 3 | Atletico (The Only One) | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 36 | Like track one, this is total pop with more sad disco ("From the back of the room you were holding my glance, I was trying to be cool, but I can't really dance") | |
| 4 | Do It | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 32 | Slightly above 10% drop-off rate from track three to four. The clever bit is punning "do it" with "duet". | |
| 5 | Reborn | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 32 | 20% drop-off from track 1 to two - obviously not my favourite. | |
| 6 | You Are Free | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 32 | New challenger! Track 8 on this album. Glorious harmonies on the chorus and outro. | |
| 7 | I Can Change | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 30 | A song for tough times. Happy to say I've listened to it less in the last few weeks. | |
| 8 | Shame, Shame, Shame | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 30 | More great harmonies: "Change is coming, oh yeah" | |
| 9 | Lower the Tone | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 29 | And back to Rae. Extra points for "idly chit-chatting away" as a lyric. | |
| 10 | Physical Form | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 28 | By the way - and this is going a bit TOTP2 now - Someone Out There is her second album, after 2014's "Unguarded". | |
| 11 | Rose Garden | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 28 | That one didn't grab me though: none of its songs appear in the top 100. | |
| 12 | The Inconsistency Principle | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 28 | Change of pace: Above & Beyond are a British trance act - not a genre I like, but ideal distraction music for working. | |
| 13 | Moving On | Anna of the North | Lovers | 27 | Starting to get more varied now, isn't it? Anna of the North was on The Guardian's playlist of overlooked artists from 2017. A pleasing find. | |
| 14 | My Own Hymn | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 27 | In 2016, Above & Beyond took 70% of my most listened-to songs of the year. Happy to see that's changed. | |
| 15 | Good Kisser | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 26 | A chorus built to belt out. Video is a little disappointing. | |
| 16 | Northern Soul | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 26 | Even though I've scrobbled them so often, I can't remember what any of these Above & Beyond songs sound like. | |
| 17 | Baby Don't Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 25 | Despite making up a good proportion of my top 100, the album was a little disappointing. | |
| 18 | Dancing with Character | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 25 | From an album opener to an album closer. Pretty song, good rhythm, and a video filmed at Blackpool Tower with the singer's nana. 10/10. | |
| 19 | Dip My Toe | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 25 | One of the three songs from this album I "Loved" on Last.fm. | |
| 20 | Drown the Lovers | R I T U A L | No Escape Out of Time | 25 | Wild card! Mellow and macabre: just what you need at this time of year. | |
| 21 | Musta Been Something | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 25 | "You said I didn't do anything wrong, but there must have been something I could have done better". I felt that this year. | |
| 22 | Someone Out There | Rae Morris | Someone Out There | 25 | Not the best: bit of a maudlin by-the-numbers piano ballad (and that's from someone whose main genre over the past few years have been "woman with piano pop") | |
| 23 | Finders Keepers | Mabel | Ivy to Roses (Mixtape) | 24 | Where's Roses? Where is Roses in this top 100? This is good, but Roses is awesome. I'm disappointed. | |
| 24 | Hang On | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 24 | I'm going to see Lake Street Dive in April. I saw them once before and they were good. | |
| 25 | Honey | Robyn | Honey | 24 | Robyn's back! This song is amazing. I'm going to see her live next year too. | |
| 26 | Lost Colony | Saori Kobayashi | Crimson Dragon OST | 24 | I'm surprised I listened to this - a track from a game I haven't played - more than any other game music track. | |
| 27 | Naked | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 24 | OK I won't make comments on all 100 songs, just the interesting ones. | |
| 28 | No Love | Lyves | Like Water | 24 | I listened to a lot of Synkro a few years ago, and found Lyves via that route. Also good working music. | |
| 29 | Darkest Hour | Lyves | Like Water | 23 | ||
| 30 | Dude | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 23 | ||
| 31 | Doesn't Even Matter Now | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 22 | ||
| 32 | Someone | Anna of the North | Lovers | 22 | ||
| 33 | Bang Bang | Jessie J | Bang Bang | 21 | It feels like I've heard this song every single day for this year: it's on a lot of playlists and Daily Mixes. New Year's Resolution: don't listen to it again. | |
| 34 | History | Kina Grannis | In the Waiting | 21 | Kina! Hi Kina. This is a nice album of soothing songs with acoustic guitars, and takes me back to my A Fine Frenzy period. | |
| 35 | Love Myself | Hailee Steinfeld | Love Myself | 21 | Absolute banger, genuine contender for best pop song of the decade, guaranteed to get me dancing every time. | |
| 36 | Red Light Kisses | Lake Street Dive | Free Yourself Up | 21 | ||
| 37 | The Weather | Lyves | Like Water | 21 | ||
| 38 | Dancing on My Own | Robyn | Body Talk, pt 1 | 20 | Absolute banger, actual best pop song of the decade, guaranteed to get me dancing every time. | |
| 39 | Lovers | Anna of the North | Lovers | 20 | ||
| 40 | Come Over | Mabel | Ivy to Roses (Mixtape) | 19 | ||
| 41 | Is It Love? (1001) | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 19 | ||
| 42 | Jessie's Girl | Rick Springfield | Jessie's Girl | 19 | Hannah loves this song - it's on one of my cheesy pop party playlists. "I'm looking in the mirror all the time, wondering what she don't see in me". Poor Rick. | |
| 43 | Missing U | Robyn | Honey | 19 | Opening track to the album, and sounded exactly right for Robyn's return. But then the title track wins the crown for best song of the year (probably) | |
| 44 | Sahara Love | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 19 | ||
| 45 | When Will I Learn | Kina Grannis | In the Waiting | 19 | ||
| 46 | Burns | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 18 | More good working music. "Roll Back" (further down) is much better; so is the track with Tracy Thorn. | |
| 47 | Ecce valde generous ale (Mark! The Precious Wings) | Saori Kobayashi | Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga | 18 | I was on a real Panzer Dragoon kick at the start of the year, even basically buying an Xbox One to play Panzer Dragoon Orta (which I played twice and haven't gone back to) | |
| 48 | Free | Lyves | Like Water | 18 | ||
| 49 | Frieda | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 18 | Surprising that "Roll Back" didn't make it as it's the best song on the album (in at 53, just above track 1 from this album, weirdly) | |
| 50 | Happiness Amplified | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 18 | ||
| 51 | In the Waiting | Kina Grannis | In the Waiting | 18 | ||
| 52 | PS2 | Litany | 4 Track EP | 18 | Litany were a great find this year, and this song mentions "we stayed up all night playing on the PS2", so is automatically better. | |
| 53 | Roll Back | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 18 | ||
| 54 | Two Moons Under | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 18 | ||
| 55 | Bedroom | Litany | 4 Track EP | 17 | ||
| 56 | Brain | BANKS | Goddess | 17 | A throwback to 2016, when I remember listening to this a lot in San Francisco just before Christmas. Those were different times. | |
| 57 | Draco | Saori Kobayashi | Crimson Dragon OST | 17 | ||
| 58 | Noble Rebel Army | Saori Kobayashi | Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga | 17 | ||
| 59 | Off Center | Emily King | The Switch | 17 | This song's been a constant in my life over the last few years. This year's focus was the intro: "Little flower of summer, once your seasons pass, do you ever wonder, why your petals fall so fast?" | |
| 60 | Outgrown | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 17 | ||
| 61 | Siren Calls | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 17 | ||
| 62 | Sunrise | Saori Kobayashi | Crimson Dragon OST | 17 | ||
| 63 | Tough Love | Jessie Ware | Tough Love | 17 | ||
| 64 | Why Don't You | Cleo Sol | Winter Songs | 17 | EP dropped in 2018 but the song is 2017 | |
| 65 | Always | Anna of the North | Lovers | 16 | ||
| 66 | Children's Festival | Saori Kobayashi | Terra Magica | 16 | ||
| 67 | Cold Feet | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 16 | ||
| 68 | Ex-Factor | Lauryn Hill | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | 16 | One of the greatest songs ever. What a sound. | |
| 69 | Labasa | Chad Valley | Entirely New Blue | 16 | ||
| 70 | Money | Anna of the North | Lovers | 16 | ||
| 71 | Postpartum | Taylor McFerrin | Early Riser | 16 | I had this on one of my "best of the year" playlists that I go back to every now and again. | |
| 72 | Because It's in the Music | Robyn | Honey | 16 | ||
| 73 | Baby Forgive Me | Robyn | Honey | 16 | ||
| 74 | Human Being | Robyn | Honey | 16 | ||
| 75 | A Premonition of Battle | Saori Kobayashi | Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga | 15 | ||
| 76 | Alright Now | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 15 | ||
| 77 | Crazy, Classic, Life | Janelle Monáe | Dirty Computer | 15 | I'm really surprised Janelle Monáe isn't higher up - I felt like I was listening to this album all summer. And this isn't even my favourite song! What an injustice. | |
| 78 | Don't Kill My Vibe | Sigrid | Don't Kill My Vibe - EP | 15 | ||
| 79 | Feels | Anna of the North | Lovers | 15 | ||
| 80 | Nobody But You | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 15 | ||
| 81 | Skyborne | Saori Kobayashi | Crimson Dragon OST | 15 | ||
| 82 | The Lichfield | Jeremy Garren | Crimson Dragon OST | 15 | ||
| 83 | Tightrope | Above & Beyond | Common Ground | 15 | ||
| 84 | V. 3005 | Childish Gambino | because the internet | 15 | From another playlist, but always a good one to listen to. I don't know the rest of the album at all. | |
| 85 | Send to Robyn Immediately | Robyn | Honey | 15 | ||
| 86 | Baby | Anna of the North | Lovers | 14 | ||
| 87 | Birdsong | Kina Grannis | In the Waiting | 14 | ||
| 88 | Criminal | Miguel | War & Leisure | 14 | I actually got into War & Leisure this year after telling myself it wasn't as good as Wildheart. It's not, but it is damn good. | |
| 89 | Dawn | Saori Kobayashi | Terra Magica | 14 | ||
| 90 | Godawful Things | Lake Street Dive | Side Pony | 14 | The first track on Lake Street Dive's predecessor to Free Yourself Up. Probably snuck in as I was comparing the two albums. | |
| 91 | Green Light | Lorde | Melodrama | 14 | ||
| 92 | Half-Light - Night Version | George Fitzgerald | All That Must Be | 14 | ||
| 93 | I | Litany | 4 Track EP | 14 | Opening track, mostly talking, not really a song. | |
| 94 | Let's Go Crazy | Prince | Purple Rain | 14 | One of the best songs of all time, opening one of the greatest albums, and a real pleasure. Would be higher if Last.fm could track how many times I listened to the record. | |
| 95 | Make Me Feel | Janelle Monáe | Dirty Computer | 14 | Hannah's favourite song off the album, because it's so much like the guy above this. | |
| 96 | Mother | Saori Kobayashi | Terra Magica | 14 | ||
| 97 | Mutant Species 1 | Saori Kobayashi | Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga | 14 | ||
| 98 | Not That Man | Chad Valley | Entirely New Blue | 14 | ||
| 99 | Real Feels | R I T U A L | No Escape Out of Time | 14 | ||
| 100 | Rock Bottom | Hailee Steinfeld | HAIZ | 14 | How apt! A song called Rock Bottom at the bottom of my top 100! You couldn't make it up (and, for the record, I didn't) |
My name is James Newton, and this is my website - a collection of my writings about
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