Best of 2016: Songs & Albums

I’ve been away from posting daily on Faded Arrow for a while now, but I feel like I can’t leave the site hanging without a proper (if not cliché) conclusion. I wanted to give you one last post in the throes of list season, wrapping things up with my favorite albums and songs from this year. While you never know what could happen in the future, this is at least goodbye for now.

If you were among the readers who stuck with me for the last 3 years or so, thank you for keeping up with what I thought was exciting and noteworthy. I put a lot of time and effort into giving Faded Arrow a voice in the midst of so many other music blogs, and I’m so proud of what I accomplished here. I made great connections with labels like Cascine and Winspear, put out some fantastic artist mixes, hosted my own radio show, attended SXSW, and more. Most importantly, though, it was fun to share new songs with you for a while.

Check out my top 20 albums after the break – the top three records are absolute classics that I know I’ll be playing years from now. Following those picks are my 40 favorite songs from 2016, which you can also find in the Spotify playlist here at the top. ✌

20. Weyes Blood – Front Row Seat To Earth
19. Rae Sremmurd – SremmLife 2
18. Angel Olsen – My Woman
17. Negative Gemini – Body Work
16. Carseat Headrest – Teens Of Denial
15. Frank Ocean – Endless
14. Skepta – Konnichiwa
13. The Weeknd – Starboy
12. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
11. Young Thug – JEFFERY

10. BEYONCÉ – Lemonade

09. BLOOD ORANGE – Freetown Sound

08. WHITNEY – Light Upon The Lake

07. YUMI ZOUMA – Yoncalla

06. NICOLAS JAAR – Sirens

05. HOOPS – Tapes 1-3

04. DANNY BROWN – Atrocity Exhibition

03. FRANK OCEAN – Blonde

02. A TRIBE CALLED QUEST – We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service

01. KANYE WEST – The Life Of Pablo

40. Hannah Diamond – Fade Away
39. Kristin Kontrol – X-Communicate
38. The xx – On Hold
37. Kanye West – Champions
36. Chromatics – Dear Tommy

35. Vince Staples – War Ready
34. Mr. Fingers – Qwazars
33. Car Seat Headrest – Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales
32. Carly Rae Jepsen – Higher
31. Hoops – Gemini
30. Pender Street Steppers – On Spec
29. Negative Gemini – Hold U (Break Your Face Edit)
28. Mood Hut – Better
27. Kero Kero Bonito – Lipslap
26. Skepta – Lyrics ft. Novelist
25. Blood Orange – Augustine

24. DJ Seinfeld – U
23. Danny Brown – Really Doe ft. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, + Earl Sweatshirt
22. Kanye West – 30 Hours (G.O.O.D. Fridays Edit)
21. Beyoncé – All Night
20. Frank Ocean – White Ferrari
19. MssingNo – Scope
18. Mall Grab – Can’t Take It No More
17. A Tribe Called Quest – Dis Generation
16. Hoops – Grass
15. Charli XCX – After The Afterparty ft. Lil Yachty

14. Kanye West – Fade
13. Future – Inside the Mattress
12. Nicolas Jaar – No
11. Rae Sremmurd – Black Beatles ft. Gucci Mane
10. Mall Grab – Can’t
09. Danny Brown – When It Rain

08. Young Thug + Travis Scott – Pick Up The Phone ft. Quavo
07. Danny L Harle – Super Natural ft. Carly Rae Jepsen
06. The Weeknd – I Feel It Coming ft. Daft Punk
05. A Tribe Called Quest– The Space Program
04. Kanye West – Real Friends

03. JESSY LANZA – It Means I Love You

02. FRANK OCEAN – Nikes

01. KANYE WEST – Ultralight Beam

Hoops – Gemini

Hoops are back with a beautiful new single off their upcoming EP, which has been in heavy rotation around here for a while alongside their old trio of tapes. “Gemini” is truly among the best songs they’ve got to their name thus far, maybe even my favorite from them on the year, and that’s saying a lot considering all the praise I throw at these guys. Their choruses are always a lock to be stellar, but the gradual, pensive build-up to this one makes it so much sweeter.

The self-titled EP is out August 26 on Fat Possum. If you’re looking for more, be sure to catch their first single “Cool 2.”

listen to Mall Grab’s set for Boiler Room

Mall Grab made a stop in Paris this spring to spin some tracks for Boiler Room, who have finally uploaded it for your permanent consumption. The “sample house champion” and blog favorite delivers on the mixing front once again with his first appearance for the platform. As I’ve explained plenty of times before, everything the guy puts out is pure gold, and this hour-long set is no exception to that. Hopefully you’ve been keeping up with Mall Grab throughout the year, because I think he’s on a house music hot streak for the ages.

In addition to this mix, you can check out an appearance he made on Rinse FM below.

DJDS – Live In Tijuana

Los Angeles duo DJDS just dropped a stellar new live album recorded during a recent trip to Tijuana. The hour-long, high-octane set blends together tracks from their first and second albums, which is a great way to revisit two of my favorite dance releases from the past few years. You can catch a full stream right here, and grab the split tracks on their label Body High’s website.

TRACKLIST
01. Sit Down Satan / Tell Me Why 
02. Memory Lane / Stand Up And Speak 
03. 2 Plus 2 / One Who Lost 
04. Love Songs / In The Flames 
05. Never Win / MF Hustla / The Dust 
06. No Guarantees / Friend Of Mine 
07. You Don’t Have To Be Alone / By Your Side 
08. One Good Thing / Something To Believe In 
09. Darling Cheryl / Not A Thing I Wouldn’t Do 
10. Trouble / Found 
11. I Don’t Love You