In the interests of reality, I've made a smart playlist in my iTunes that contains the most played songs released in 2016. I thought it might be an honest way to assess what I've actually listened to, rather than pontificating about what I think is the 'best' - often for me this clashes with what I actually like to listen to, if that makes sense.
Lots of reissue stuff in there - particularly a Rough Guide To Gospel Blues, Count Ossie's Tales of Mozambique, and Genius of Time: Larry Levan. The number one most played song is On Revival Day by Bessie Smith, recorded in Spetember 1930!
Otherwise, Cass McCombs is running away with it.
Also in there - the Day of the Dead comp, William Tyler, Sturgill Simpson, Lambchop (The Hustle, even though it's 18 minutes long, has racked up an impressive 37 plays, or about 11 hours worth of listening
), Laura J Martin, Thee Oh Sees, Tim Hecker, BEAK, HGM, Woods, Damien Jurado, Nap Eyes, Quilt, Kevin Morby, Exploded View and Bitchin' Bajas.
The most surprising one is Kanye West's Ultralight Beam, racking up an impressive 47 plays to nestle at number 11 most played. To be fair, it is basically a modern gospel song done exceptionally well, and I absolutely adore gospel music. Whatever I think of him as a person or an artist, for me he has shown that he has an impressive talent even if personally I think it is unfocused and often misdirected.
Of course, this iTunesing tomfoolery doesn't take into account vinyl plays, and Cass McCombs, Kevin Morby and Lambchop have been the three biggest hitters this year for me.
