Haunted Jukebox

This is identical to what I originally posted at this year’s end, along with a few bonus tracks running the gamut from Lake Street Dive’s retro-disco fun to a meditative Velvet Underground cover that ended up Brian Eno’s first solo vocal track in over a decade.

Instead of once again featuring the lead single from Leonard Cohen’s final album (which at the time summed up this cursed year aptly), I’ve chosen to highlight what was originally the final track, itself the last song on cult British brother duo Field Music’s fine album Commontime. A lullabye rich with ambiguity (it could conceivably be sung to either a child or a romantic partner), it promotes empathy and generosity, the act of putting others first while still reveling in the joy it brings to you both–a feeling its melody practically radiates.

Click here to listen to my favorite songs of 2016 on Spotify:

1. Leonard Cohen, “You Want it Darker”
2. Santigold, “Rendezvous Girl”
3. Sylvan Esso, “Radio”
4. The Radio Dept., “Committed to the Cause”
5. The Avalanches, “If I Were a Folkstar”
6. Martha Wainwright, “Traveller”
7. Michael Kiwanuka, “Cold Little Heart”
8. Ben Watt, “Between Two Fires”
9. Whitney, “No Matter Where We Go”
10. Parquet Courts, “Berlin Got Blurry”
11. Bastille, “Good Grief”
12. KT Tunstall, “Turned a Light On”
13. Corinne Bailey Rae, “Stop Where You Are”
14. Pet Shop Boys, “Burn”
15. The Divine Comedy, “A Desperate Man”
16. John K. Samson, “Prayer For Ruby Elm”
17. Florence + The Machine, “Wish That You Were Here”
18. The 1975, “Somebody Else”
19. Wilco, “Someone to Lose”
20. Andrew Bird, “Truth Lies Low”
21. Roisin Murphy, “Ten Miles High”
22. Junior Boys, “Baby Give Up On It”
23. Eleanor Friedberger, “Because I Asked You”
24. Paul Simon, “Cool Papa Bell”
25. case/lang/veirs, “Best Kept Secret”
26. David Bowie, “Lazarus”
27. Tegan and Sara, “U-Turn”
28. PJ Harvey, “The Wheel”
29. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, “Midnight Rider”
30. Field Music, “Stay Awake”
31. Lake Street Drive, “Call Off Your Dogs”
32. Mitski, “Fireworks”
33. Bat For Lashes, “Joe’s Dream”
34. Underworld, “I Exhale”
35. Brian Eno, “Fickle Sun (iii) I’m Set Free”