As American's we are too easily distracted. 

If we focus on petty shit like Trump meeting with Kanye then we won't be as outraged when Trump tries to trade the Northwest states to Russia in exchange for ornate furniture and mail order brides for his cabinet members. 

So relaxxxxxxx and focus and let's put these year-end lists in context:

This exercise is pointless, we all forget the lists a second after we bitch about them.  All the while we overlook that the Russians hacked Del, and that's why his list is awful.

Tom's favorite songs of 2016

10. Glass Animals - Cane Shuga: I honestly don't know why I love this song so much. I mean,  it sounds like a bunch of Aliens prodding your body. But goddamn the shit grooves. 
9. Kevin Morby - Destroyer: Dark. Pretty. Creepy. Unique. These are all adjectives that I'll use to describe this song. 'Destroyer' just has this 'I'm enjoying something I shouldn't be enjoying' feeling to it....like getting turned on by the naked robots sitting in that stark room when I watch Westworld. 
8. Googie - Zig Zag Zig: This closer to Googie's album is pure HYPE. This is the most 'fun' song of 2016. Definitely add it to the playlist for your next Edward 40-Hands party, or whatever drinking games you Millennials play in your parents' basement these days: Pin the sarcastic mustache on the pubis? Never have I ever.....quit my job because of this petty reason? Guess which alcohol flavored tampon I'm shoving in your ass?
7. Mondo Cozmo - Hold On To Me: Everybody wants to re-create this movie scene: running through a field of knee high grass to embrace your lover and spin around in slow motion. Right? This song will get you one step close to that dream. But in real life what happens after the hug-spin when there's no camera to tilt up to the sky and credits roll? #deepthoughts 
6. Bon Iver - 8 (circle): I'm not sure if I love this song more because it makes me want to be the lead character being shit on by life in an 80s movie, or that it takes me back to the old days when Justin Vernon recorded with GAYNGS.
5. Mike Adams At His Honest Weight - Underneath The Door: I'm sorry. I've written enough about this Warby Parker'd asshole this year and can't think of anything more to say. Just listen to this song, and if you want to learn more, then type his name into that little search box at the top of the page. (psssst. it has a magnifying glass icon in it). OH. I will give you a trivia tid bit though: Mike Adams has a talk show on public access tv (or something) in Bloomington, IN and his Andy Richter is the dude from Busman's Holiday (listed below). 
4. Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built: WHEW! Every list needs a song that makes you want to just LOSE YOUR FUCKING SHIT and punch holes through dry wall. I want to see this song close a live show and get soaked in PBR.
3. Ray LaMontagne - Part Two (In My Own Way): Every year there is a song that makes me want to fly through the Cosmos on the back of Falcor. This shit is plastered to the couch-eyes rolled back into your skull - dreamy. You'll want it to last forever. 
2. Busman's Holiday - What We Need We Know: I promised myself I'd only include one song per artist this year and Busman's Holiday almost messed that up. This track and 'Mother', which kinda has this 'Sweet Caroline' feel to it pushed me to the brink. UGH. SO. HARD. TO. CHOOSE. I ultimately ended up with 'What We Need We Know' because it's easier for me to sing along to when i'm in the shower scrubbing my backside with my exfoliating back scrubber. 
1. Gregory Alan Isakov (w/ The Colorado Symphony Orchestra) - Master and Hound: The fluttery picking of the guitar strings, the swirling strings section and the crushing vocals all make me feel like I live alone in a snow globe and the solitude is breaking me. 
*Listen to Tom's favorite 100+ songs from 2016 via spotify.

TIM'S FAVORITE SONGS OF 2016

10. Illingsworth - I Didn't Ask For This (Rogue Aquilian): I am a sucker for rap tracks where the rapper is giving life advice as a form of bragging. Mike Eagle and Kool AD are the best at this form of bragging, at least I thought they were until I heard I Didn't Ask For This (Rogue Aquilian), which puts Illingsworth into this Mount Rushmore (yeah I know there are only three...fuck you) of life advice/lecturing/bragging rapper. I mean homebruh said: Instead of thinking bout having sex with them wet freaks/Exercise enough to reduces your excess neck meat/change your diet up next week/in fact dont fry it up less meat/meditate less tweets. HOLY SHIT THAT LINE RULES!
9.  Yussef Kaamal - Strings of Light:  Yussef Kaamal's Black Focus album is my favorite album from the past year. It is perfect. If I was in the kind of mood to piss people off I would have made this list the ten tracks from that album. Instead i decided to just choose the most Yussef Kaamaly song on the album. If you don't like this you are cut out of my will.  Looking at you Del. 
8. Noname - All I Need (Feat. Xavier Omar): This is my Sunday morning, summer on the porch with an iced coffee, watching the sun come up track of the decade. Noname is a revelation.  The production on this fucker is so perfectly warm and her voice is equally strong and uncertain. Add to that she has a skill set that no other rapper is touching in 2016. Sing songy awesomeness plus patterns. 
7. Conway - To The Streets (9MM Version): While I quite enjoy Conway and think he is a stellar addition to the school of street rap, my reason for picking this song and for placing it so high is that fucking beat. Holy shit that beat is perfect. It is everything I want my life to be. I feel like if this was my theme music I would die an honorable death followed by a Viking funeral and my children leading our armies against marauding hordes who plan to steal the wealth of our kingdom, beating them back and ruling peacefully for a century.  
6. Sonnyjim - Doughboy Baker: British rappers have the fantastic advantage of having a way cooler accent than most of us American assholes but often they do not use it well. Not the case with Sonnyjim, Sonnyjim fucking rules. His slang and use of language is so above and beyond most rappers. He has that Geechi Suede thing going where he paints images most rappers are just incapable of.  I think their minds are on a higher frequency, some beautiful mind shit. Plus he raps about drinking shampers like he hangs out with Tommy and Donna from Parks and Rec. 
5. Tone Tank - Washingtons Go To Wifey: I love Tone Tank. His album On-offs and One-upsmanship is a god damn revelation. Washingtons is the embodiment of the album. Easy conversational wit. Unrivaled cleverness and lines like 'my pops was a local one unioner/ when I went to work with him they called me joe junior/ and my name is not joe/ whup a famous rappers ass like hustle and flow'. Homeboi a working class genius. He is the rap Harvey Pekar.
4.  Oddisee - Asked About You: This  is what I am looking for from music at this point in my life. Moody yet uplifting. Insightful and introspective and a fancy little guitar riff. It is the evolutionary leap of where Kanye and Jon Brion went on Late Registrations best tracks.  
3. David Bowie - Dollar Days: The best track on a stellar farewell gift. It is everything you want from a great Bowie song.  Lots of longing. Beautiful imagery, saxophone, shifts in movement and tone, and Bowie being all sorts of perfectly vulnerable.  I fucking adore this song. 
2. Kanye West - Ultralight Beam (feat. Chance The Rapper): I hated the Kanye album so much that in my mind I have made this a Chance the Rapper song because he really might have the verse of the year right here. It is the kind of verse that gets you so excited that you can't help but be unmoved by how horribly average his solo effort was this year. That said, Ultralight Beam was an instant classic. The verse is everything you want from Kanye, but channeled through Chance because Kanye is no longer capable of greatness. Fuck Life of Pablo and Yeezus sucked. 
1. WESTSIDE GUNN - Hail: I played Hail more this year than any other song in the past decade. It is everything I love about rap music. It is what attracted me to rap music in the first place. Slick tough talk and slice of life insight that pulls you into a world that is not your own and makes you feel cooler by proximity.  If I still went out and they still had juke boxes, this would be the kind of song I put on repeat until someone wanted to fight me. It is perfect. 

Joel'S FAVORITE SONGS OF 2016

10. Busman's Holiday - What We Need We Know: This song is dried, crunchy leaves underfoot bro. It's reclaimed barn wood hanging in my bathroom over the shitter. It's beautiful as fucking fuck.
9. Banks - Gemini Feed: First time I heard this I was whipping myself back and forf in my car. YES FORF. I fucking LOVE this song. It's like Sia's "Chandelier" but with way more strap ons. 
8. Klangstof - Sleaze: This song has creeped me out all year. Easily the most "STRANGER THINGS" song on my list, I fucking adore how this song sounds so cinematic and retro while still sounding futuristic. 
7. Kishi Bashi - Can't Let Go Juno: This fucking song is what plays when I wear my trenchcoat and then spin in circles in Central Park. I adore how whimsical yet romantic this shit sounds. KISHI I LOVE YOU. 
6. Dawes - One Of Us: This is my favorite Dawes song. I couldn't get into the rest of the album, but my kids and I ROCK this track every weekend before and after I yell at them for not listening. 
5. Cold Creeks - Bluebirds: Cold Creeks are my favorite porch-rock band on the planet and I love how reverby and moist this shit all sounds. Bluebirds is DAMP AS FUCK. 
4. The Radio Dept - Committed to the Cause: I love the bass line, I love the rhythm, I love how it feels like I'm wearing a fedora and shimmying down the street while it's raining sideways. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
3. Glass Animals - Pork Soda: There is nothing sexier than this fucking song. Freal. I ADORE how when this song comes on I have no choice but to walk how you would imagine someone would walk when listening to this song. FUNK. PORK. YES.
2. Dr. Dog - Bring My Baby Back: I hold my hand over my heart whenever this song comes on. I don't really wanna tell you all the feels I feels when I hears this, but let me just say I am also super into boobs. 
1. Warpaint - New Song: If you would've told me a Warpaint song would be my favorite song of the year I'd call you crazy. But here we are. I love the tempo, the layering of the vocal, the reverb on the vocal and the synth, and how they sing "come froooom", and more importantly, I love that my kids know this entire song front to back and I hear them singing it to themselves now when it isn't even playing. And it makes me happy that I'm raising my kids to sing whenever the urge strikes, because music is my happy. THANKS WARPAINT! LOVE YOU TOO!

Del'S FAVORITE SONGS OF 2016

10. The Radio Dept - Occupied: Kind of the best song on a wildly ignored album.  Pitchfork said "it’s as if Belle and Sebastian had decided to write an entire album of their polarizing 1996 song “Electronic Renaissance" which is kind of so spot on and accurate to why this shit speaks to me so hard.  I loved the hell out of "Electronic Renaissance" and I love the hell out of this.  It's basic Pitchfork approved science, you guys.
9. LA Girlfriend - XIV:  Our LA Girlfriend is all grown up! Thirty seconds into this song and I dropped it into my best of 2016 mix way back in early February. When you know you know! Why dance around it? But if you are gonna dance around it then make this the soundtrack for that dance. 
8. Magik Magik - Circuity: I never knew "orchestral pop" was or is a thing till I randomly stumbled upn Magik Magik. Pre niche name it reminded me of those simpler times of The Postal Service but with lush lush strings and production add. So kind of the opposite of the Postal Service then?  Yeah. I have no idea what I'm saying.  That's what this song does to me!
7. The Avalanches - Colours: If John Lennon were alive still there's no doubt in my mind that he would have been the guest vocalist on this track because it feels so perfectly fit to be a soundtrack as you walk through some nu strawberry fields. Forever. However instead of John we got Jonathan Donahue from Mercury Rev. He's no Beatlle but he fits the bill here. 
6. liv - Wings of Love: Putting 2/3 of Miike Snow together with Lkkye Li and one of the guys from Peter Bjorn and John (does it really make a difference if i tell you which one? Probably not), and you get one of the most radio friendly throwback sing alongs ever that reek of equal parts Abba and Fleetwood Mac.
5. Car Seat Headrest - Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales: Post party depression never sounded so right.
4. School of Seven Bells - Open Your Eyes:  As far as Pop post break up "wake the fuck up" call out tracks from a third party observer narrator goes this has got to be tops. *begins making another niche list* 
3. Francis and the Lights - Friends (featuring Bon Iver): The finger snaps set the pace and then Francis dances all over it in time delayed unison (what up oxymorons) w/ Justin Vernon..."and I say say to go, man" is just about the chillest line delivery of the year. 
2. Japanese Breakfast In Heaven: So sad. So uplifting. So sadly uplifting. I think the pitch and pivot of the emotional tones of this are equal to nothing I've heard since Sufjan Steven's "Should Have Known Better".  Lofty praise for anyone knows how many feelz I felt from that "Carrie and Lowell" highlight. 
1. Kanye West- Famous:  The Life of Pablo was a polarizing album for many, with this track as a focal point (Taylor Swift is a grown ass adult, people. Relax!)  but for me it was all love. No song got me more hyped than this one in 2016. Which is totally bonkers because at its core the part that really gives it its lifeline is the Nina Simone hook  from her track "Do What You Gotta Do".  The fact that grown ass men were in the club singing that hook of hers, and so impassioned, is an amazing feat.  Swizzy's hype asides throughout the entire track and the Sister Nancy's dancehall "Bam Bam" samples certainly didn't hurt the flow at all either.  It's a damn shame that people will just remember this track for the throwaway Taylor Swift line, the "she was cool with this shit" and its subsequent video.  Note: Version 1 of this track is the only one I recognize. 
*Listen to Del's favorite 50+ songs from 2016 via spotify

alex'S FAVORITE SONGS OF 2016

10. A Tribe Called Quest - We The People….: Tribe is without question in the top 5 best rap groups of all time and this topical song is a return to the sound that made them famous. This is a song that you put on when you want to show your friends how hip, yet refined you are. Rest in peace, Phife Dawg.
9. The Strokes - OBLIVIUS: 15 year old Alex would be pumped that old fart Alex is still listening to The Strokes. This is some vintage early 2000s nut butter. That guitar part at 2:50 is what my wet dreams are made of.
8. Future Generations - You’ve Got Me Flush: Catchy, guitar/synth driven, indie rock. I know that sounds basic, but there’s some lyrical substance here. I did a concert review of this band a few months ago and got to see one of my favorite songs of 2016 in person. Conclusion, they’re young as shit, but they’ll be just fine.
7. Blood Orange - Best to You: Like a beautiful couple having a passive aggressive argument through the medium of indie-R&B. Such a funky beat and beautiful song. 10/10 would get my heart broken.
6. Cheers Elephant - Suitcase: Cheers Elephant is a local Philly band that I’ve been a fan of for years. This year they’ve begun releasing some new tracks (hinting at a new album) and songs like “Suitcase” are a perfect example of why I love them. Plus, their drummer reminds me of animal from the muppets and if that’s not enough reason to listen to this band then fuck you.
5. The xx - On Hold: The xx have been cock teasing us with new music for a while now and their first single “On Hold” was worth the edging. The song samples Hall & Oates and as a result I started bringing spare underwear to work for when it comes on. Take notes musicians: sample more Hall & Oates.
4. Glass Animals - Cane Shuga: Real talk, this song gave me three cavities. It makes me want to pour molasses all over my naked body and record it in slow motion.
3. Plants and Animals - We Were One: Plants and Animals returned from an eight year hiatus to give us a polished and refined album from start to finish. “We Were One” builds you up and breaks you down over and over again. Throw in some nice orchestral transitions and a full chorus outro and you’ve got yourself an indie masterpiece.
2. Klangstof - We Are Your Receiver: This album is perfect. I threw a dart at a piece of paper to choose this song for my top 10. That synth hook makes the dingle tingle. Well done waffle eater.
1. Whitney - Golden Days: This album really rocked my world earlier this year. It was the soundtrack to my summer. Fun fact: I did not like it on the first listen but Tom encouraged me to go back and listen to it again. I’m happy I did because it’s now the only way I know to connect with my marshmallow core.
*Listen to Alex's favorite 50 songs from 2016 via Spotify

Brando's Favorite SOngs of 2016

10. PUP - DVT: Miserable disaffected shuffling piece of shit make the best fucking rock music, and PUP minor chord-ridden pop-punk choruses are tailor made for my kind of brutal acceptance of a basic truth: “I’ve been blessed with this shit luck.” We really are blessed. And it’s a blessing that looks like fucking monotonously sitting in traffic on the 405 freeway in crushing Friday rush hour. But it’s still a blessing after all. 

9. Local Natives - Past Lives: Maybe should have been titled, “What Could Have Been”, this song captured everything that was great about Local Native’s latest Sunlit Youth. It leans on the new synth-heavy direction but maintains that emotive haunted house I’ve become so comfortably snugged up in. I was disappointed in the record overall as something was lost in translation. It got barely more than a couple of spins in the rotation. But revisiting this song reminds me how much I absolutely lust after these fuckers sound. 

8. James Supercave - Better Strange: This album, and this song in particular, set the mood for this fucking weird ass year. I don’t know if I liked it better because it was strange. I definitely had some wonderful things happen to me this year, but it was also one of the most trying of my lifetime. As for the song, James Supercave’s particular brand of synth-filled pop sensibility suits my soul. Its dark enough to fit my brooding bullshit, but pop enough that my girlfriend doesn’t hate it. 

7. Nocando - El Camino: This song goes so goddamn hard I even forgive the auto tune. Gritty and true in the greatest testament to what hip hop does best, hold the truth up to your fucking face and force you to look at yourself.

6. Dumbfoundead - Murals: Just a plain stupid-good straight-the-fuck-up rap track! Dumbfoundead is a morally-corrupt piece of shit but it’s why we love him. I’m not sure we’ll be surprised when we find out something terrible happened to him. I certainly hope that never comes to pass, but I won’t be surprised. He wouldn’t either. He’d probably stare at this fate and make that smirk we have all come to know so well and be like, “yup”. 

5. John Daversa - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: This piano that starts this piece makes me weep huge diamond-shaped tears down my face, through my beard, to form salty fucking puddles around my insufficient life. And I never really like the Beatles. It isn’t sentiment or nostalgia that gets me open, it’s the musicianship - absolute genius. I need more of this beauty in my life. I want more of this mastery in my head and this love in my heart. I swear to god the way the notes hang there takes my breath away and makes me want to climb inside myself while simultaneously surmounting the highest treetops to exalt the sky. 

4. Astronautalis - Forest Fire: One line: “Why are we so afraid?” It’s a question I’ve pondered at length this year. There is good reason. There is also manufactured intent. The fine line is the difference between the two. It’s not always easy to find, but Astronautalis and his smart-rap tendencies fill that void. I turn to this particular kind of poetics when rock becomes too vacuous, and when rap becomes too trite. Astonautalis walks his own fine line between whisky-swilling punk rocker, Florida-boy rap god and sensitive songwriter and poet with a worldview and a motorcycle to get him there. It’s a line I lust after and listening to this song feels it might one day be mine. 

3. Homeboy Sandman - God: “God” is gentle. “God’ is dope. “God” is the reason that I like what I wrote. I’m an atheist, but I’m not an asshole. Ok, maybe I’m an asshole but I try not to be. Homeboy Sandman really put some shit in perspective for me on this one. We need more reflective, thoughtful raps in the world. So when I hear ones that speak truth to knowledge and light a fire under my ass, I scream “God” from the rooftops. 

2. Aesop Rock - Lotta Years: For a lot of folks this song won’t be there favorite off the Aesop’s newest and surprisingly fucking amazing record, but for me it hit home like a rabbit punch to the solar plexus. I must have replayed this song hundreds of times, giggling like an idiot every time he says, “The juice was fucking great.” This is like the documentary Adult Rappers in song form. “My mind’s fucking blown. The future is amazing. I feel so fucking old.” I will always love Aesop Rock and if that makes me a sad old relic of my backpack past, then so. be. it. 

1. Open Mike Eagle & Paul White - Smiling (Quirky Race Doc): Open Mike has this way of taking everything I’ve ever known and pressing play and blending that shit up into a million liquified pieces until I have a healthy smoothie of some shit I never understood. It’s a tangy flavor, but good for you, and I’ve come to crave its particular umami. “Smiling” has made me never do the ‘what up’ nod to a stranger ever again. It’s been replaced with a genuine smile or a quality greeting. I made a dude jump out of his skin walking down the street the other day when I simply said, hi. At first he looked like what the fuck and then he softened and said hi back. We finished with some mutual ‘have a good day’s. And it was.