Me at the beginning of 2016 vs. Now:
There's one huge advantage to waiting
We had better things to do than care about firstness. Let's hear it for lastness.
We wanted to wait until
2016 was intended as the first ever "Lit Mix" but instead we're just calling it "Lit As Fuck" or "Lit AF 2016." Global youth vernacular is no match for Lit AF 2016. We are the ruling class. Cornering the market on memes that no one likes anymore (i.e. Dat Boi and Powerpuff Yourself).
Voted "Worst Year-End-List" 24 years and counting, we are back for more of what you need. (Remember back in '93 when "Daughter" was our #1 and "Insane In The Brain" was our #5 and people were like "uh, what the fuck dude?" That shit was so tight. Although not as tight as such feedback as "do you still do those lists?" or "damn, whoever writes this shit is a giant fucking loser.")
A lot of this was sitting around since January, and we don't even remember what we put on this thing because we're so fucking drunk right now. Jump into this hot fire:
| Follow "LIT AF 2016" on Spotify |
| #200 - 166 | | #165 - 131 | | #130 - 101 | | #100 -71 | | #70 - 41 | | #40 - 21 | | #20 - 1 |
| All 200 Songs |
200. Votaries "Trick Tomorrow"
Jackson Scott earned himself the nickname "Bo Jackson Scott" because Bo knows. It's already been over three years since Jackson's debut, the dreamy & druggy Melbourne LP. After last year's wild proggy sophomore album, he's back to the slow-motion childhood euphoria from LP1 in the debut record from his new band Votaries.
199. Bear Hands "2AM"
At this point, we're totally fine with any reasonably decent indie bands who are down to sell the fuck out and sneak some shockingly listenable minor hits back into the lower stretches of the Billboard Modern Rock chart. Lord knows (and Lorde knows), the format's refusal to budge on their strict "no '90s throwbacks" policy has nearly destroyed itself from the inside out, despite that kids and adults across the country have expressed longing to hear loud crunchy guitars on the radio again. To make matters worse, the modern bands that currently receive the most airplay have virtually nothing in common with the college-rock crossovers that initially helped formulate KROQ's very existence. Under normal circumstances, "Something In The Way," Twenty One Pilots, "Runaway Train" and Fitz and the Tantrums should have nothing in common with each other and typically would not share playlist-space for most Spotify users. But for whatever reason, that exact 4-in-a-row is now entirely common (minus iHeartRadio's requisite ad interruption). Any opportunities for legit-decent bands like Bear Hands to disrupt modern rock's abysmal plunge into irrelevancy should be celebrated in 2016. Inoffensive and catchy. We'll take it. 198. Rihanna "Desperado"
It wouldn't surprise us if "Desperado" were among the first completed Anti songs from closer to when the sessions began in early 2014. It feels less avant and more like "classic" Rihanna than anything else nearby in its sequencing, almost like a transitional jam from a hypothetical 2015 record (alongside "Bitch Betta Have My Money" and "FourFiveSeconds").https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Tv6IHwPAA
197. No Age "Separation"
Spoiler Alert: This is probably the only band or artist of 2016 where every song they released (all 2 of them) made it into the Lit.
https://vimeo.com/179515569
196. The Dean Ween Group "Mercedes Benz"
"I don’t think that you’ve seen the last of Ween. As long as the two of us are still alive, there’s a Ween." Where there's a Ween, there's a way. That was Deaner's reaction to the emergence of Aaron Freeman, solo artist, retiring the name Gene Ween in 2012. Four years later, the world collectively sighed out their relief when Deaner's prediction totally came true. But who could have forseen his first forey into frontman-zone during the same calendar year? Surely not us. The ultra-brown "Exercise Man" and especially the drunken singalong "Mercedes Benz" justified the entire release.
195. Satin Jackets “Feel Good”
Y2K-era pop that didn't chart that we wish woulda charted.
194. Ariana Grande “Dangerous Woman”
Nicely coasting between the top 10 and 20 all throughout summer 2016, we think "Dangerous Woman" (peaking on August 8th at No. 8) may have stalled the launch date of Rihanna's suspiciously similar 6/8 chiller "Love On The Brain" (peaking December 13th at No. 20 but placing higher on Lit Mix 2016 ***SPOILER***). (Note: Within 2017, the song peaked at #5.)
193. The Spirit Of The Beehive "Natural Devotion"
Bees + Philly = 💖
192. Cavern of Anti-Matter "Liquid Gate"
No new Deerhunter or Stereolab in 2016? No problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIPfPQslS-s
191. Kvelertak “Nattesferd”
There really is a Wikipedia entry for everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I189nD_yeQs
190. Schoolboy Q f/ SZA “Neva Change”
Not never.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKGzkgLYick
189. Czarface “Two In The Chest”
Two faces, scum of the slum, I got your whole body numb, blowing like Shalamar in '81.
188. Dinosaur Jr. “Goin Down”
The long-awaited conclusion to the "Goin" trilogy that began with with 1993's "Goin Home" and their Kiss cover "Goin Blind." (Not kidding.)187. Tony Molina “No One Told He”
A day in the shred life of Brendan Small.
186. Consequence f/ Ty Dolla $ign "Ask Somebody"
Ain't no Dolla like the one I got.
185. Ben Grigg “Complications”
184. Mannequin Pussy “Denial”
183. Carl Sagan's Skate Shoes "(1)"
182. Left & Right "Mouse Drum"
Undone The Swelter Song. "Mouse Drum" sounds like how last summer felt - lazy as fuck because it was just too damn sweltering. The beercan-opening noise seemed gratuitous at first, but it's a "fuck it" indicator.
181. Nick Jonas f/ Ty Dolla Sign “Bacon”
Feelin' these lyrics: "There's only one thing in this world I love more than being with you, and that's four or five chunks of juicy pork heaven covered in maple syrup dripping straight into my throbbing femoral artery." The video and the VMAs performance took place at a '50s diner, and it surprised us that all the extras were not wolfing down mile-high piles of salty glistening sizzlers. All the while, Krusty The Clown could have been way in the back of the soundstage receiving heart surgery. Now THAT's a video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPUB97ilIqE
180. Kevin Morby “I Have Been to the Mountain”
Is Woods cool? We don't know that band.
179. YG “Police Get Away Wit Murder” / YG f/ Nipsey Hussle "FDT"
Directly descending from Public Enemy and NWA. We feel like one of those two groups utilized the same "rap singalong chorus" from "Police Get Away," but for some reason we're (probably incorrectly) convinced that this derives from Leaders Of The New School: "Just another case of that old PTA." We know Busta Rhymes was among hiphop's more unheralded innovators until after "Woo-Haa," but we never thought of him as an artist who created one of the basic fundamentals of old school rap. And yet, this may have been the case? (We're not rap historians, so we're probably wrong about this.) As for "FDT," we heard it among the low points of Still Brazy right up until November 9th. Go figure.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7LuvdZ8CUs
178. Total Slacker "Turn On The Lights"
No, YOU'RE a slacker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jRUTvjvvBw
177. Homeboy Sandman "Talking (Bleep)"
176. Dark Mtns “Wake To Dream”
175. No Age "Serf To Serf"
Congratulations to No Age on recieving our coveted "All the marbles" award. They're probably the first ever instance where all the marbles they released in 2016 - both of sides of their 7-inch - appear on this lit as fuck mix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsRAf-9pWQ4
174. Schoolboy Q f/ Miguel & Justine Skye “Overtime”
Buncha damn hippies gettin' stoned on the refers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l72-AuyMDEs
173. Weaves "Birds & Bees"
Weaves loves bees. More importantly, we suspect that Weaves loves bees more than they love birds, which is the correct assessment. (Birds are also cool tho.)
172. Horse Jumper Of Love "Spaceman"
171. Omegas “Drug Zoo”
What it sounds like when guitar bro from Mad Max starts projectile vomiting during one of his big apocalypse dude solos.
170. 2 Chainz “Felt Like Cappin”
Too many chains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep_lJoNZeXE
169. Underworld “If Rah”
We wore out our Beaucoup Fish and dubnobasswithmyheadman CDs during college, so it's been a minute. The new Underworld album is definitely a "for fans only" type of affair with "If Rah" as its obvious album stand out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6f3yLHifFI
168. Dowager “Sleep Paralysis”
167. Gucci Mane “At Least a M”
Get on fleek.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLpp8KRMXys
166. Pusha T f/ Jay-Z “Drug Dealers Anonymous”
The other day, we were listening to that station in Chicago that plays only good new rap and they played this song. True story.
| Follow "LIT AF 2016" on Spotify |
| #200 - 166 | | #165 - 131 | | #130 - 101 | | #100 -71 | | #70 - 41 | | #40 - 21 | | #20 - 1 |
| All 200 Songs |
The summery hits of 
R. Kelly's been bad. He's not proud of it, and he's having some trouble training himself to break his bad habits. But at least he can try to warn others of falling into the trap. “I’m just tellin’ the truth.” The subject of “trust” and “Truth” is nothing new in the world of R&B, but no one’s lying to themselves by admitting how hard he kills the vocal performance here, on a deep album track of all places. (We're pretty sure this isn't a radio single.) Discovered in the lower portion of 
If there's a song on Tempest that removes any doubt of Broken Water’s admiration of Sonic Youth, “Coming Down” is that jam. Previous recordings might not have made this as obvious, but this time around, vocals and guitar tones are distinctly influenced by Thurston Moore, although the theme and subject matter appear to be more direct and human than most of SY’s themes. The vocals are buried, although the lyric “fuckin’ up everything I touch” rises to the surface. Frustration builds throughout the song, which becomes more unbearable as the song progressives into one of the most effective usages of a stretched-out crescendo since 
Calm, alone, in a cage, on antibiotics. The gradual build of layers in “Zelda” seems very simple at first, but as the small floating dot ascends closer, it reveals itself to be a somewhat monsterous and freakishly gorgeous (or gorgeously freakish) wonder of complexities. We took a field trip last September to a church temple where The Antlers performed this song (
While the vague minimalist lyrics in “Robson Girl” suggest an intentionally cryptic message, its music seems far more direct. A screaming chaotic guitar solo lies in the center of this jam, but without the intense distortion that would be typical on a song from Nirvana or Spoon. It’s not so much a cathartic release, but instead it’s more of a “shaking my head” type of moment. A youtube comment describes “Robson” as a high-end shopping and entertainment district in Vancouver, although it seems like Mac Demarco’s subject is closer to 
Most of what we could say about “Recognition” was already stated 
Up until the blogs and publications reveal their year-end results, we really have no clue what songs are considered critics’ favorites. “Jasmine” is apparently this type of jam, which took us by surprise if only because this mysterious Jai Paul dude has a discography that currently contains only two songs released over the span of three years, although the murkiness and depth of this song yields more space and infectiousness than most bands are able to cram into a 40-minute full length. At first we heard “Jasmine” as an R&B version of Junior Boys with an “accidentally” catchy vocal melody submerged DEEP, with sick usage of handclaps as an added bonus. Around the 12th or 15th listen, we started hearing this as the hangover from a super-dark all-night coke session. 
Regarding what’s hot on the streets and what the world is feeling RIGHT FUCKING NOW, it would not at all be out of the question to label “Fuckin’ Problems” as the definitive rap jam of the moment, totally encapsulating everything that rules about modern hiphop as of January 2013 (a radio jam perfect for bouncing along during long car rides, a badass singalong chorus with the word “fuck” in it) while dishing a heaping dose of everything that completely sucks about modern hiphop (lame boasts, fake-authenticity, Drake). While it’s a slight bummer that 2 Chainz didn’t receive a verse, Kendrick’s slightly squeezed-in closing statement exudes head-nodding freshness. It’s not exactly on par with the last verse of 
We’ve given up hope for a Neptunes-resurgence despite their continuing appearances in our Hot Mixes over the years. (“Trouble On My Mind” in 2011, “Fun Fun Fun” in 2010, “I’m Good” in 2009, “Us Placers” in 2007, Hell Hath No Fury in 2006, and various appearances from every year prior. The only year they missed completely was 2008, which is better than a lot of other people can say.) For this reason, we were happy to learn that Pharrell is partially responsible for the early-80’s Stevie Wonder homage “Sweet Life” (acting as a companion-song to “Super Rich Kids,” the song that follows on Channel Orange) divulging the blinding effects of materialism to someone unreachable. “Why see the world when you’ve got the beach?” 
“Claustrophobic” is probably the best term to describe Beak>’s sophomore release which arrived on Bandcamp unexpectedly in late-June. Their first record is one of our favorite albums of the past decade, and we always assumed they were a one-off project. So it became a total surprise when this immediately turned into (possibly) our favorite full-length of 2012. It’s truly the best kraut-influenced record since the early-70’s spawned all of Can, Neu! and Faust’s best full-lengths. “Liar” sounds like it could be used during a Sesame Street segment demonstrating the process of some sort of bizarre factory-produced item, like Halloween masks or something. 
Yet another 7/8 jam. (Animal Collective’s “Moonjock” is also in a much slower 7/8. Could this be our official time signature of the year? Both songs use it with a similar cadence to Radiohead’s “2+2=5” and one section of Tool’s “Forty Six & 2” but that’s just music nerd shit that literally no one ever cares to hear and so we’ll move on...) One of Pile’s signature strengths lie in their ability to build tension through enormous dynamic changes. However, “Grunt like a Pig” immediately stood-out for us as NOT using this motif, instead plowing through the muck and filth with some serious-ass fire power for the entirety of its 3 minutes with crucial buried scream-vocals tremendously benefitting. Gimme tension fuck yes. 
2012 marked the 10th anniversary of Kylie Minogue's Fever LP (or 11th anniversary depending on your country). We hear “This Kiss” as a proper tribute to this album, specifically its classic “Love At First Sight” (also ripped off more recently by Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” and Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”). While the chorus isn’t as huge as “Call Me Maybe,” “This Kiss” feels like a more fully realized single, less labored and more carefree. (The kids disagreed, and this only reached #87, but what the fuck do they know anyway?) 
Comparing 17-year-old rappers who broke in 2012: Chief Keef embraces abrasive, harsh club-elements and his singles have been described as “earworms” when they’re actually not. As for Joey Bada$$, we don’t really see anything wrong with preferring warmer production, inspired jazz and funk samples, and rappers who can actually rap. There’s an abundance of unfortunate hiphop fans who take it personally when the sound of the radio moves farther from where it was in 1994, which is not really our stance. But hopefully these people finally got what they wanted with Joey Bada$$’s 1999 (probably the most solid 90's-influenced rap album of the past 10 years) even though it has no shot of ever getting played on commercial radio. 
The same general theme of so many pop songs throughout history, it’s likely to never get old. Searching for fulfillment, wondering if it’s possible. “Maybe I’m out of luck, maybe it’s running still.” Mac Demarco’s first album Rock & Roll Nightclub from early 2012 was full of warped jams like “Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans,” setting a neutralizing tone and helping to define his placement among singer-songwriters working strictly with home-recording technology. When “Dreaming” appeared early on his second higher-profile release only months later, the progression was obvious: Instead of more expensive methods of recording, the subject matter was suddenly deeper, without tongue-in-cheek sarcasm or (noticeable) tape manipulation. We still love his first LP, but 2 will likely be placing in our 10 favorite LP’s from 2012 (which may come as a surprise since we’re bigger fans of Ween’s pre-Chocolate & Cheese-era). 
Let’s all fully understand how fortunate we are to be alive during the era of the greatest fat ginger rapper of all time. We give much mad props to Action Bronson for completely not giving a fuck, straight-up candy-gobbling and blunt-puffing in his videos. That’s some #yolo shit right there. The bass sample inserted by Party Supplies is a big part of what pushed “Steve Wynn” into our 2012 favorites. This is the one where the music pauses for the line “long as she got big nipples and a tan face.” Well done, sir. 
Outside of the context of good kid, M.A.A.D. city, this song could work well as the “trailer” to Kendrick’s “short film” (described on the album cover). It's split into four parts: 
What’s the word everyone used to describe this song? Oh yeah, “languid.” Cool word, not. How about "fucking hilarious?" Do you like that word? The first line of the song is "Let me see them tittayys." Yeah, something suggests this song wasn't really meant to be taken as seriously as his previous stuff, despite the detailed soulful and subdued Atlanta-style instrumentation. Overall, we found the three bonus tracks far more satisfying than the album itself. Maybe he should stick closer to ATL-soul and steer clear of fusions with modern indie-rock, a style which sounds best separated from hiphop. His efforts seem well-intentioned, but not anything we were interested in hearing more than once, whereas “She Said OK” is the type of song we’ll always welcome. Also we've been informed that a Family Guy joke is referenced somewhere in the lyrics, but it didn’t register for us since we don’t watch that crap. We’re hoping Outkast have been storing up amazing songs for the past 9 years, anticipating the moment when their legal obligations finally allow them to work as a unit once again. We’ve been waiting forever. The kids need Outkast. They really do. 
We were ready to label the recent Barlow contribution “Rude” as the most Sebadoh-sounding Dinosaur Jr song since “Poledo,” but then we remembered Without A Sound which included a few Mascis-penned vocal melodies (including big hits “Feel The Pain” and “I Don’t Think So”) which felt somewhat congruent with Barlow’s writing style, helping to place “Rude” in a different light. It’s one of the biggest reminders since their 2006 reformation of how well J and Lou complement each other, while also displaying their differences in execution. Mascis does not typically lean towards “Rude’s” pop-formula-brevity (similar to 60’s-Britpop style) or drastic emotional contradictions, such as bleak lyrics (“It’s better for my health / If I don’t intrude / ‘Cause caring is rude / Nature is crude”) juxtaposed by a melodic major-key vocal melody and uptempo happy-sounding accompaniment. Halfway through, Mascis supplies a vital 8-bar solo, obliging the song’s “fake smile and pretend” theme for just a moment. The song easily places alongside “Poledo” and “Take a Run at the Sun” as one of Dinosaur Jr's most noteworthy anomalies and a standout amongst their reunion material. 
