iPod Top 100: 2016

Like so many other things 2016-related, I’m not going to even try to justify that title making sense any more. This is also the first one of these lists to feature a band I first heard playing live at a presidential candidate’s rally. And finally, also true to 2016, there’s a lot of dead people on this year’s list.

1. “Never Come Back Again” – Austin Plaine
2. “Sleep When Dead” – A Giant Dog
3. “All Work” – Fever High
4. “I Shall Rise (From ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’)” – Karen O
5. “Ain’t I a Man” – The Foghorns
6. “This Land is Your Land” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
7. “Let’s Be Still” – The Head and the Heart
8. “I Can Be Afraid of Anything” – The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
9. “Make the World” – Lee Fields & the Expressions
10. “Lady Liberty” – Dressy Bessy
11. “Tangerines” – The Gods Themselves
12. “Stop” – Jane’s Addiction
13. “Authority Song” – John Cougar Mellencamp
14. “Girl From Conejo Valley” – M. Ward
15. “Runaway” – Nice As Fuck
16. “I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man” – Prince
17. “Drive North” – SWMRS
18. “Kirby” – Aesop Rock
19. “Grown Man” – Full Moon Royalty
20. “Nothing More to Say” – The Frightnrs
21. “Bad Reputation” – Joan Jett
22. “Video Games” – Lana Del Rey
23. “Katmandu” – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
24. “Good Girls” – Elle King
25. “Hurt” – Johnny Cash

26. “Hole in My Soul” – Kaiser Chiefs
27. “Tiki Hut” – Miles Corbin
28. “You Know I’m No Good” – Arctic Monkeys
29. “Fishing Blues (feat. The Grouch)” – Atmosphere
30. “One Big Holiday” – My Morning Jacket
31. “Guns” – Nice As Fuck
32. “California (Tchad Blake Mix)” – Phantom Planet
33. “Can’t Hardly Wait” – The Replacements
34. “I’m Still Here” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
35. “Hey You” – The Thermals
36. “California Kids” – Weezer
37. “Valerie” – Amy Winehouse
38. “Space Oddity” – David Bowie
39. “Mujer Moderna” – Fea
40. “You Want It Darker” – Leonard Cohen
41. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” – The Martini Kings
42. “Little Red Corvette” – Prince
43. “Awkward Waltz” – Acapulco Lips
44. “Bravado” – Aqua Velvets
45. “Shame” – Big Bad Hats
46. “Hightimes” – The Big Pink
47. “Keep on Keepin’ On” – Bleached
48. “No Sleep Till Brooklyn (Daft Science Remix)” – Coins
49. “The Midnight Special” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
50. “Changes” – David Bowie

51. “Green Peppers” – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
52. “Blue Jeans” – Lana Del Rey
53. “Take Five” – Martini Kings
54. “Galaxy Song” – Monty Python
55. “1999 (Edit)” – Prince
56. “Killing in the Name (Live)” – Prophets of Rage
57. “Taurus” – Spirit
58. “Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)” – White Denim
59. “Gringo” – Aqua Velvets
60. “Jockey Full of Bourbon” – The Blue Hawaiians
61. “Daydream” – Britta Phillips
62. “Alive/Intergalactic (Daft Science Remix)” – Coins
63. “Three Packs a Day” – Courtney Barnett
64. “Life on Mars?” – David Bowie
65. “Too Soon” – DMA’S
66. “Dancing With Myself” – The Donnas
67. “Where the Night Goes” – Josh Ritter
68. “Bone” – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
69. “Soul Bossa Nova” – The Martini Kings
70. “Angel” – Nice As Fuck
71. “Take Me With U” – Prince & The Revolution
72. “100 Days, 100 Nights” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
73. “Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Live)” – Sonny Knight & The Lakers
74. “Black Hole Sun” – Soundgarden
75. “Swampbilly Hop” – Aqua Velvets

76. “The Kingdom of the Universe” – Ashley Park
77. “Red House” – Chase Walker Band
78. “Fame” – David Bowie
79. “Radio” – Lana Del Rey
80. “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)” – Margo Price
81. “Cantaloupe Island” – Martini Kings
82. “Door” – Nice As Fuck
83. “Numb” – O.J.R.
84. “Killer” – Phoebe Bridgers
85. “Darling Nikki” – Prince & The Revolution
86. “Prophets of Rage” – Prophets of Rage
87. “Dark Necessities” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
88. “Another Lie” – Stewart Lindsey
89. “L.A. Girlz” – Weezer
90. “Beauty and the Beach” – Aqua Velvets
91. “Ain’t It a Sin” – Charles Bradley
92. “Nothing But Love” – James
93. “Homerun” – Nice As Fuck
94. “Raspberry Beret” – Prince
95. “No Sleep Til Cleveland (Live)” – Prophets of Rage
96. “Good Man” – Raphael Saadiq
97. “All For One” – The Stone Roses
98. “Orange Color Queen” – Ty Segall
99. “Bulletproof Love (feat. Method Man)” – Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
100. “Surf Boogie” – Aqua Velvets

Previous editions can be found here: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. This is now a long-term longitudinal study with data that no one but me cares about.

Books read, 2016

I’ve done the impossible and read a whole 16 books in a year. (I know, I know, but I have two small children and an increasingly demanding job.) My goal for next year: 17.

And yes, I read a lot of J. K. Rowling this year. She was busy in 2016.

Feb. 4: Medusa’s Web by Tim Powers
March 29: Owls Hoot in the Daytime and Other Omens by Manly Wade Wellman
May 17: The Art of War by Sun Tzu
May 28: Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare by Christopher Smith
July 3: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin
Aug. 4: In Other News: Reporters on Reporting by Stephanie Forshee & Rosie Downey
Sept. 3: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
Sept. 10: Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard
Oct. 23: The Writer’s Guide to Life in the Middle Ages by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Oct. 24: Crooked by Austin Grossman
Oct. 24: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies by J.K. Rowling
Nov. 11: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists by J.K. Rowling
Nov. 23: Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide by J.K. Rowling
Dec. 7: Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
Dec. 10: The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
Dec. 27: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling