Best Musical Moments of 2016

This is a thread I always like to make. What individual moments, recorded or live, really are defining moments for you of 2016? It's a really loose definition, but I feel these are the things that people take most with them.

some of mine are:

The part in Car Seat Headrest's "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" when the second chorus explodes and it becomes a giant singalong. That live is just one of the most fun things ever

Bon Iver - Creeks “But all I'm trying to do is get my feet out from the crease” is probably the most bonechilling part of the whole record

The moment when I realized Joyce Manor sang about Kanye West

Sufjan at Pitchfork when during "Seven Swans" his wings came out and everyone flipped out

The Kendrick Lamar grammy performance

PWR BTTM covering "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" days after the Pulse shooting

Chance The Rapper coming out during Jeremih’s set at Pitchfork and it being the most lit moment of the weekend

Frank Ocean’s normal vocals coming in for the first time in Nikes

Nicole’s drunken speech during TWIABP’s set at Broken World Media Fest, just defined how great that whole weekend was

The transition from Bang On The Door to Rainbow to Planet Luxury to HELLLLHOOOOOLE on Jeff Rosenstock - Worry

Hearing Nora’s voice on the premier of “Fill In The Blank”, I wasn't sure if that was going to make the record and flipped when I heard it

Hearing Mitski’s “My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars” for the first time recorded after waiting almost two years not knowing what song it was

Hearing Emperor X’s recorded “Wasted On The Senate Floor” after what feels like hundreds of times listening to the live version

Prawn giving me a shoutout at the 9:30 club was really one of those moments that helped justify why I've worked so hard to promote and book artists throughout the years. just a really nice moment

I'm sure I have more, haha.

 

Hearing Ultralight Beam (Chance's verse) for the first time in a group of friends and everyone getting emotional.

 

oh yeah, i've been thinking about my first reactions to the kanye record for the last few days since i relistened. sort of wish the AP thread still existed, that live stream first reaction stretch of the thread was crazy. especially since we knew so little about the album at that point.

 

watching the premiere of ultralight beam at madison square garden when they pull the tarp off the display was amazing

the second verse of "self control" by frank ocean and also the beginning of "Godspeed"

 

kanye giving the aux cord to thug to play "with them"

 

seeing sun live

 

I'll move my hands away and speak them oooouuuutttttt

 

The realization that Beyoncé was interpolating Maps and Turn My Swag On in Hold Up followed by learning how Ezra was involved

 

The first time I heard "Soft Animal", two days after my twins were born and I listened through a shitty phone speaker in a hospital waiting room where I had stepped out to make a phone call. I definitely teared up a bit and sat there in a silence for a few minutes afterward.

 

Hearing the horns solo from (8) circle for the first time.

Chance unexpectedly jumping on stage at Eaux Claires to play "Friends" with JV and Francis + lights.

Rushing home from work early to watch the TLOP premiere and hearing Ultralight Beam for the first time.

All of Blonde because I really never was into Frank before it.

Seeing Deafheaven live.

Pinegrove in general

 

Watching the TLOP premier in theaters

Counting down the hours until A Moon Shaped Pool came out and then laying down and crying once True Love Waits came on since I wasn't expecting it

Driving around LA and getting a notification that Blonde released so I rushed to the pop up shop

 

Definitely this.


Also, the guitar solo in Crying's "Wool In the Wash", and all of "There Was a Door", and basically just that album in general.

 

TLOP is theaters.

Kanye and Chance on SNL.

Tribe on SNL.

 

Weird one but when I found out that Ty$ was on that Fifth Harmony song because his daughter likes them and he wanted to be on something she'd listen to and like it suddenly heightened that song a lot more for me even tho I already loved it

 

The moment after the bridge ends in Third Eye Blind's "Company of Strangers" and Jenkins sings "Fuck, fuck, fuck-a, fuck away the emptiness until you get caught" gets me juiced

The first time hearing "Settled Down" by Owen and trying to wrap my head around those time signatures was pretty great

 

The extent to which I've grown to love Blonde over the last four months. When I first heard it I wasn't sure what to think because it was so different to Channel Orange, but at this point it's easily one of my favourite albums ever. Everytime I listen to it, I seem to enjoy it a little bit more. I've never had an album continuously grow on me like that before.

I discovered Otis Redding's music this year. Obviously I had heard songs of his here and there but I'd never actually listened to any of his albums in full before. I've now listened to his entire discography and I love it all. He's probably the greatest vocalist of all time.

Gallant's ridiculously awesome performance on Jimmy Fallon.

 

When Thug played "With Them" at the MSG event for The Life of Pablo.

 

Seeing if you don't don't live

 

Watching Thursday perform on YouTube.

 

"Fuckified"

The entire lead-up to the release of Goodness was incredible, I don't think I've ever anticipated an album that much.

Personally, getting to ask Julien Baker a question during a Q&A after her show was awesome.

Blonde finally clicking.

The first time I heard Not To Disappear lying in bed in the dark and being overwhelmed by New Ways.

Seeing Brand New at a 10,000 cap venue that was nearly full on a gorgeous summer night and being absolutely blown away by their stage presence and tightness. I've seen them play You Won't Know 4 times live and that was by far the hardest it ever hit me.


I have so many I could come up with.

 

oh yeah, seeing brand new cover julien baker was a pretty surreal moment

tbh that may have be the lowlight of the show being one of the few songs of that set i don't care for/really know at all lol

 

Def my favorite Jimmy song, and everyone in the room sang the chorus together and it was great

 

Let's see...

Bon Iver's "I could go forward in the night but I better fold. my. clothes." in 33 "GOD"

The solo in "Masters" by Local Natives

Watching all the 1975 super fans awkwardly squirm through Ghost's set at Shaky Knees while they waited for the 1975 to come on

The first time I heard the chorus hit in "Your Best American Girl" by Mitski

Hearing a Christian song that just bluntly starts with "It's OK to be afraid" right as I was about to give up on the genre for being too unrealistically happy ("In This Ocean" by King's Kaleidoscope)

Getting to "Agnes" on my first listen through of Glass Animals' album and being completely floored and thrown off by it

Getting to meet more of my favorite musicians this year than any other year so far

 

Listening to Goodness for the first time between being awake and asleep on a long, early morning road trip, which made it feel dreamlike and mystical and now every time I listen to that record it takes me back to that moment & it feels ethereal.

Seeing Real Friends play Scared to be Alone and Colder Quicker live for the first time ever at the $5 tour in Seattle.

Hearing Sleep Debt by City Mouth for the first time and freaking out over how great it is, listening to them non-stop for the entire month of September, then getting to see them open the Real Friends secret show in Tinley and being more blown away by a live performance than I have been in a very, very long time.

The entire Real Friends secret show in Tinley / the fact that I got to fly across the country to see my favorite band play their hometown.

^ This

Seeing Glacier Veins play the Portland Warped date & blow everyone away.

I was without a car for almost a month so I had to walk a bunch and I listened to Stories For Monday by The Summer Set the entire time. The Night Is Young hit me really hard.

Road tripping to California for Self Help Fest with my best friends, getting to see Came Out Swinging by TWY as the sun went down.

 

"paris" by the 1975

"10:56" into "second son of r" by oathbreaker

the chorus of "last you heard of me" by joyce manor

"through" by jimmy eat world

gunshot on primma donna

chorus of "song of myself" by frameworks

"fdt"

drum hits at the end of "end of reel"

chorus of "into you" by ariana grande

skepta sampling queens of the stone age

all of hopelessness by anohni

the amazing drum sounds on "hallucinations" by dvsn