At the end of the year a few things happen that get people excited. For some it’s gifts, for others it’s winter weather and for a single day everyone panics and shares a series of infographics that lay out some interesting facts about the music they listened to over the last year. I suppose I could just share that information here, but instead I have written out for you an abridged tour of the music that I listened to.

This is not all 100 something songs, but it is a list that is honest about the order in which these things appear. However, seeing as how entire albums are on here, I’m not going to go over every track.

I will say, for the record before the list starts, that this isn’t an endorsement of what I think the best songs of the year are. I don’t believe that we all listen to the best music all the time. Instead this is just a snapshot of what I was listening to.

We’ll Be Together Again - McCoy Tyner // I couldn’t tell you why or how this became my number one song of the year. I suspect it was one of the top tracks on a jazz playlist I listened to a lot. Tyner is a really talented pianist and he worked with Coltrane. If you like jazz music, this is a fine choice.
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky - Mikel & Jokabi // This is a track from The Ghibli Tape. A bunch of tracks from this album feature in my top 10. It’s because this is a very good lofi album that pays tribute to one of my favourite animation studios.
Whispers of the Shore - Mama Aiuto & Dan Gregory // I legitimately have no idea where I was listening to this. It’s a breezy lofi summer song. My consumption of lofi has really gone up as I look for background music.
The Loneliest Time - Carly Rae Jepsen & Rufus Wainwright // This is an extremely good pop song. I think people do not believe me when I say CRJ is the best pure pop artist going, but I am sincere in this. CRJ is a hit factory that people are sleeping on. Anyhow this duet is super good and the music video reminds me of the Smashing Pumpkins.
Jiggle Jiggle - Duke & Jones & Louis Theroux // Louis Theroux is a really interesting director and documentarian. This is a meme song, I get it, but it has a strangely transcendent quality. Anyhow, I played it a lot during a brief period and it was enough to place very highly on this list.
Hope - Arlo Parks // Arlo Parks has a great voice and I really love the soulful quality to her music. This song is pretttttttty good.
Downwards - LoL & Allem Iversom // Oh boy, another lofi song and album hanging around. This is from a collection of music that Riot Games put together to play royalty free during streams. It’s from the Diana Sessions, and it’s the “chill” album they put out this year.
The Very Thought of You - Red Garland // Another jazz piano piece. Garland is another extremely talented pianist and he worked with Miles Davis. It’s a great tune if piano jazz is your thing.
Stardew Valley Overture - Coffee Date, DJ Cutman & GameChops // It’s more lofi, but this time it’s from the farming simulator Stardew Valley. I have learned that I listen to a lot of lofi.
Diving Woman - Japanese Breakfast // A very good song from a super good indie-pop band. A little haunting and ethereal sounding.
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star // A 90s hit that is a little sad sounding, from a band with a pretty sad story.
Mykonos - Fleet Foxes // This is probably the most typical example of the music I’d listen to. Fleet Foxes is a perfect example of the indie folk that I think is the best/most interesting genre of music today.
Wandering Eye - Born Ruffians // This is a bonus track from their third album. It’s an acoustic cover and has a sort of country lilt to it.
Slowly - NewDad // A clean sounding 90s inspired song. This would’ve been a lot of mix tapes in 99/00.
Dreams - Fleetwood Mac // It’s a classic.
No Real Place - Say Sue Me // This is a new find for me. Say Sue Me is a Korean indie rock band that has some big time Pavement and Cat Power vibes. Great stuff.
Summer 3 (2022) - Max Richter // Max Richter is probably one of the most interesting modern composers working today. His Vivaldi Recomposed work is one of the most interesting pieces created in classical music in the last decade. The latest recording is powerful and punchy with some changes to the original composition.
Spin Me Around - The Marias // A very gaze-y band. There’s a lot of gaze-adjacent bands at the moment that are way too melancholy for me. This is still honest and fun.
That’s for Sure - Billy Taylor // I thought that this would be closer to the top of my list. Another jazz pianist doing great work.
One Twice Melody - Beach House // Lush and orchestral. It sounds like a lot of mid 2000s indie rock in a nice way.
Honeydew - Young Prisms // Big Kevin Shields energy.
Silver Into Rain - Luna Li & beabadoobee // Also some Kevin Shields energy.
Lost - LORA // This song has the sort of pop vibe that seems to come from viral TikTok hits. I don’t know if this was popular on TikTok but it’s a great pop song.
Levitating - Dua Lipa // I think that pop music is good, but I also think a lot of pop is bad. This is a good pop song. I prefer the version without the featured rapper because he’s bad, but that’s the only reason why.
Porcupine - Tummyache // That very specific sort of drowsy indie rock-pop.
If It Makes You Happy - Wesley Schultz // A cover of the 90s hit. It’s good!
Dead of Night - Orville Peck // If you’re a fan of Orville Peck you’ll probably be well familiar with this sort of song. If you’re not, get ready for how high his notes can get.
Fantasy - Mariah Carey // Mariah’s early albums are unreal. This is a great song.
Saint Simon - The Shins // The band that showed me that indie rock could take inspiration from different sources than just The Cars.
Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen // This song is 100% here because I can’t get over how Will Smith’s Men in Black is basically a cover.