Like many consumers of streamed music, I just got my year-in-review recap from Spotify. A couple of caveats before we get into the results, which are largely predictable, with one very notable exception:
- I listened to a lot more podcasts this year on Spotify than I did music. My 1,407 minutes of music on Spotify only ranked me in the 27th percentile of users. If my podcast app did the same thing as Spotify, it would tell you that my top listen was NPR's Up First (which is my early-morning dogwalk starter), followed by The Right Time with Bomani Jones, Men in Blazers, and 99% Invisible.
- I tend to fixate on a band for a period of time to the exclusion of others. This will become obvious as you read this post.
Without further ado, my top five songs of the year.
This one was filmed at Norfolk Academy's 2014 Homecoming. Guessing a Gheorghie might've seen this live and in person.
I do love this song.
This was the first song I ever heard on the very first iPod I ever owned, courtesy of my man Whitney, who loaded it with a fuckton of music.
There's a thematic consistency, at least. Spotify says my aura for 2021 was wistful and poignant. So, yeah.
Three of the bands represented on the top five songs list also made it into my top five bands of 2021, so I won't give you anything more by The Avett Brothers (#2), Wilco (#3), or Crowded House (#5).
The band I listened to the most is also the one I saw in the last show of the before times. I find myself pretty frequently dialing up their stuff, because I really dig their sound and lyrics - they put me in a good headspace. Proud to say that I was in the top 6% of all Spotify users in terms of the number of times I listed to these guys:
Which leaves the number four artist on my list. It came initially quite a surprise to me, but then I realized that this performer released two records over the past 18 months that my daughter loved and turned me onto. And that one of those records featured one of my favorite indie artists. So there's a reason Taylor Swift made it onto my list.
I listened to a few things other than Indie/Alt/Swifty stuff. Here's what Spotify compiled as my songs of the year.
That Clapton soundtrack number is over four minutes? Yeesh.
ReplyDeletethat is *not* my list of tunes. weird spotify link error.
ReplyDeleteI was very thrown by that
ReplyDeleteAnd I was indeed at that Poetics show.
ReplyDeleteSay what, Rob? I got a premium sub just to be able to transfer this playlist to my zune.
ReplyDeleteSilence Wang is worth paying for
ReplyDeleteGuessing I’m the only Gheorghie watching the PAC-12 Championship game (maybe Danimal, or PAC-12 TR). Either way, this is 6 straight quarters of absolute domination by Utah. Far more disciplined and physical than Oregon. Which is supposed to be Cristobal’s thing.
ReplyDeleteI do not pay for Wang. A mainframe she wanted …
ReplyDeleteMark, it may have been just you. I ignorantly had no clue it was even on.
ReplyDeleteThat’s the PAC-12 branding we all know and love.
ReplyDeleteMy gambling strategy today is betting on emotional letdowns. Baylor/Iowa plus the points in the first half. Houston/UGA ATS to win. I’m either a genius or blow half the bankroll I’ve accumulated this season…
ReplyDeleteMark, how many points are you getting with Baylor? Rooting for you.
ReplyDeleteI looked at the Tribe men’s basketball schedule. We may not win another game. We should beat Hampton, but they lost to Norfolk State by 9 and we lost by 17. So we’ll see.
ReplyDelete1-30 is bad, right?
tribe +19.5 against davidson today, and without our starting point guard. shame i can't bet on virginia colleges.
ReplyDeletekenpom is predicting a 4-14 conference season for the tribe, whit. i'll be surprised if we win that many.
ReplyDeleteThat’s an all time dagger for Oklahoma State.
ReplyDeleteWhit- I only bet the Baylor first half. +3.5. Easy money.
ReplyDeleterob, where did you find your Spotify stats and aura?
ReplyDeleteMaybe even some haters hoping ND gets in the CFP to the chagrin of BK. A little bit closer now.
ReplyDeleteIn Gainesville getting some serious deck time at UF for kid's swim meet. Gainesville is growing on me.
I hate these two fan bases in Atlanta SO MUCH
ReplyDeleteNot gonna lie, Dan. I’m one of those haters. First time in my life I’ve sorta, kinda rooted for ND.
ReplyDeleteI’m obviously very biased but Gainesville is a cool little town. We have a friend who works at UF and lives not far from campus. We visited him earlier this year and my wife was quite taken with the area. Pretty fucking landlocked though.
Have yet to partake in your pizza rec....was it Blaze Pizza?
ReplyDeletegeorgia's defense doesn't allow 24 points in full games, so this is obviously an optical illusion.
ReplyDeleteoh and the tribe got their doors blown off. hope you non-virginians got some of that davidson action.
ReplyDeleteW&M’s RPI before today was 344 out of 358. Tribe Pride!
ReplyDeleteI bet on UGA but I’m not mad at all that they’re getting they’re heart broken. Fuck Georgia.
ReplyDeleteDanimal- I’m offended that you thought I recommended Blaze. That’s a chain. Satchels, get the deep dish.
ReplyDeleteNever underestimate how bad an actual football coach Kirby Smart is .
ReplyDeleteGiven the freefall W&M men’s hoops is in, and given that these are presumably Dane Fischer’s recruits, does the Tony Shaver dismissal ire get refueled? Not that there’s any recourse for it.
ReplyDeleteMy bad Mark. Too late tho. Blaze's in my belly
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you’re fine. Better than the UGA fans you know.
ReplyDeletethe tony shaver dismissal ire has never diminished, whit. at least not for this guy.
ReplyDeleteShaver dismissal ire should make tire fires look like a matchbook. W&M isn't built for hoops quick fixes. Took years for Charlie Woollum and Shaver -- both very good coaches -- to gain any traction. And Shaver essentially had to abandon his preferred playing style and employ a different system, and recruit to it. Huge nuked a successful program because of ego, and Tribe is again consigned to lower reaches of conference for foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteSemi-related, but it permits me to trot out this quote from Adam Hess during Shaver's first season. I pointed out that W&M had lost more games that season than in Shaver's last 6 or 7 seasons combined at Hampden-Sydney. Hess said, "I'm surprised he hasn't killed us all."
Shaver coached at Hampden-Sydney? When? Did I play against Shaver when I played Chowan?
ReplyDeletehe was there from 1986-2003. i bet you did play against his team. back in those days he played a very fast-paced style of hoops.
ReplyDeletein other news, my kidlet was named mvp of her high school cheer squad at their banquet this evening. nice little feather in her pom poms.
I definitely played against Shaver’s teams. I’d be interested to know what kind of relationship he had with Bob Burke, my former head coach (RIP). I’d also be interested to know if OBX Dave ever interacted with my former head coach.
ReplyDeleteMy Spotify numbers:
ReplyDelete14,244 minutes of music (top 65%)
66 minutes of podcasts (need to up my game next year)
Aura was "Wistful and Fierce" (must have been all the post-punk I listened to)
77 different genres
1,206 different songs
Mark,
ReplyDeleteShaver won 358 games at H-S and had .747 win percentage. His last 7 years he went 174-33 (.840 win pct) with NCAAs every year and two D3 Final Fours.
Alas, I never crossed paths with Burke. Chowan was a little out of our coverage range, as we focused mostly on UVa and VT and local D1 programs, along with in-town Christopher Newport.
That's what I figured. We did play Christopher Newport and Newport News Apprentice every year so I thought there might've been a chance that your paths had crossed.
ReplyDelete