“Year-End Mix” Archives

The year brought us Japanese blackgaze, introspective balladry, post-punk elegance, Swedish alt-rock, eclectic hardcore, heartfelt indie-folk, and much more.

The year brought us ambient classics, otherworldly jams, the return of goth and synth-pop icons, thoughtful post-punk, existential shoegaze, and more.

The year brought us beautifully pastoral post-rock, the triumphant return of some musical icons, synth-heavy shoegaze, and more.

This year brought blackgaze, somber dream-pop, sacred synth-pop, ambient masterworks, italo disco, and so much more.

28 songs that helped get me through the year that was 2021.

26 songs that provided me with moments of beauty, serenity, hope — and yes, maybe even a little fun.

I listened to a lot of music this year; these 25 songs were the ones that stuck with me throughout the last 12 months.

I listened to a lot of music this year; these 21 tracks were the ones I kept coming back to with each passing month.

This mix is a collection of songs that helped me get through the year — that encouraged, uplifted, challenged, and yes, moved me.

2016 sucked in many ways. But there was beautiful music to be heard in the midst of the year’s ugliness.

These songs may not have been in my top picks but they still deserve notice in their own right.

Sleepy trip-hop, atmospheric indie-electronic, religious experimental folk, harrowing post-punk/EBM, mournful folk & experimental electronic rock.

Incendiary hip-hop, soaring shoegaze, aggressive indie-rock, poignant synth-wave, thought-provoking emo & atmospheric rock.

Soulful hip-hop, lo-fi psychedelia, ambient dub, soaring electronic pop, abstract electronica, and otherworldly neo-folk.

Ominous ambience, funky hip-hop, pan-global instrumentals, crushing electronica, elegant post-punk, and forlorn post-rock.

Post-punk shoegaze, confessional ballads, solo piano, psychedelic pop, and more. Oh, and Weird Al as well.

Acoustic folk, emo done right, soulful electronic pop, twee, ’80s synth ballads, hip-hop, and more.

Swirling shoegaze, Christian psych-rock, dark ambient and industrial, ’80s-style disco pop, and more.

None of these songs are actually on my year-end list, but they easily could’ve been.

Soaring ’80s pop, charming modern classical, brooding indie-rock, atmospheric sludge metal, dreamy R&B, and more.