Best Music of 2016

It's that most wonderful time of year again, and frankly, after the shitshow that was 2016 generally, I'm grateful to have something to look back on that doesn't totally suck: music! In fact, a whole bunch of really excellent music came out this year--everything from iconic rappers A Tribe Called Quest riding in to the rescue, to the continued evolution of electro-pop into some really fucking lovely and dark-tinged jams from Tove Lo, to the warmly funky but deeply personal grooves of Solange and Frank Ocean.

There was so much good music, in fact, that I ended up having to do a lot of cutting in order to get a mix that fit onto an 80 minute CD. If you want the full list (which I'll likely be adding to a bit over the coming months, as I inevitably get introduced to other great music that came out in 2016) you can head over to Spotify for a listen.

The following is the pared down final mix. Obviously this doesn't include everything worthy of a year-end best-of list, but it's what I've been listening to and loving, and I hope you enjoy at least a few tracks. And please, as always, do what you can to buy these songs/albums and support the artists as much as you can.

Em's Best of 2016 Which Was Otherwise a Garbage Fire

1. "True Disaster" - Tove Lo, Lady Wood
2. "Same Old Blues" - Phantogram, Three
3. "Don't Hurt Yourself ft. Jack White" - Beyonce, Lemonade
4. "Smile More" - Deap Vally, Femejism
5. "Born Again Teen" - Lucius, Good Grief
6. "Worship" - Lizzo, Coconut Oil EP
7. "Rendezvous Girl" - Santigold, 99cents
8. "We the People..." - A Tribe Called Quest, We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service
9. "Long Live the Chief" - Jidenna, single
10. "U-Turn" - Tegan and Sara, Love You to Death
11. "Like an Animal" - Rufus Du Sol, Bloom
12. "Algo Esta Cambiando" - Bomba Estereo, Amanecer
13. "Garden (ft. Jay Electronica & Aine Zion)" - Ameli Sande, Long Live the Angels
14. "Make You Feel" - Alina Baraz, Urban Flora
15. "Mad (ft. Lil Wayne)" - Solange, A Seat at the Table
16. "Pink + White" - Frank Ocean, Blonde
17. "I Can't Go On Without You" - Kaleo, A/B
18. "Nobody" - Rachel Yamagata, Tightrope Walker
19. "Lazarus" - David Bowie, Blackstar