My top artists since 2011.
Apple Replay and Spotify Wrapped are out now. Same with YouTube Music’s end of year recap. I have always found it weird that these come out before the year is technically over, so it’s not your full year’s stats. However, I am also autistic and too literal sometimes so that’s where that goes.
I’ve used last.fm since college, though I wish I used it in high school to track probably the absurd amount of Bruce Springsteen listens I did. This, though, goes back to 2011, so it gives me an accurate view of just quite specific my taste in music is. I joke that my favorite taste in music is “Bruce Springsteen and his musical sons,” which does tend to be accurate. There’s no way that The Gaslight Anthem and The Killers, the two artists of my generation who are my top two artists of all time and are also the bands I have seen the most, are not musically descended from Springsteen’s brand of heartland rock.
That’s not to say I don’t listen to other music, too. I listened to, quite frankly, a fuckton of Rilo Kiley this year because they’re a band I had resigned myself to accepting I never would see live. And then I found myself driving through Utah and Colorado to see them at Red Rocks. I’ve seen them far more than I ever thought I would (five; I know — that’s a lot) but when you’re aware life’s short and you’re not sure if they’ll ever do this again, you just kinda go for it and make it work.
I had a conversation with a random doctor on the barricade at a Gaslight Anthem show in Sacramento this year. My band tattoo is noticeable — it takes up the entire inside of my forearm. Do I listen to bands in the same vein as TGA? Sure. But I rattled off other artists I had seen up to that point in the year — Sydney Sprague, Death Cab for Cutie, Sam Fender, to name a few — the guy went, “Wow, you listen to everything!”
It’s not everything, but I do make some kind of an effort to listen outside of my typical genres. My last.fm recap, which is the one I put more stock in over all the different streaming platforms, will show me exactly what my mental illness and/or neurodivergency was up to at different points of the year, but these numbers don’t account for, well, the fact critical thinking and being able to discern what’s a favorite and what’s good (I have been downvoted on Reddit for trying to explain that subjective is your opinion and objective is more your critique and my first mistake was trying to explain things on Reddit).
I can tell you that listening to Rilo Kiley was a favorite for me this year. I can also tell you that Sam Fender’s People Watching was one of the best albums of the year. Did I listen to that nearly as much as Rilo Kiley? Nah. My brain’s just wired differently. Doesn’t mean I didn’t think of the album any less. (Sam Fender, so far, is my #3 artist of the year according to last.fm, though.)
As I get older and somehow continue to get less dad with my taste in music, I’m finding that one’s listening habits doesn’t necessarily reflect a person’s entire taste. I listened to The Lonely Island’s “Sushi Glory Hole” on repeat an entire weekend last year and that is no way indicative of my entire taste in music; this is merely only indicative that my brain is broken. We all knew that.
Music I’m consuming this year
Portugal. The Man. x Weird Al Yankovic x Jorma from The Lonely Island , “Killing in the Name” (Rage Against the Machine cover) • Live at Music Hall of Williamsburg on December 2, 2025
I came across whatever the fuck this is while writing this post. I needed to include it because what.Snocaps s/t
I adore this album. When I saw Waxahatchee in October and Katie Crutchfield brought her sister Allison out for a song, I couldn’t place it. When the Snocaps surprise album dropped and I realized “I Don’t Want To” was what they played, it was a trip. I am someone who loved P.S. Eliot. I also immediately went to P.S. Eliot when Allison came out on stage. Snocaps s/t isn’t P.S. Eliot, and I’m glad it’s not. It’s a bright mix of indie rock and alt country that only the Crutchfield sisters can do. And I’m so glad it exists.Banger after banger. Rhyming “Olive Garden” and “grandma was in a coffin” is quite inspired and dumb and that’s why I love it. The tour for this album led to DOUBLE BAND and even TRIPLE BAND, which was one of the biggest joys of my show going experience this year. Be dumb and stupid with your pals; it’s a great source of joy.
Sam Fender - People Watching
This is another musical descendent of Springsteen. I listened to the title track a fair amount toward the end of last year and “Seventeen Going Under” always reminds me of how it was used as a needle drop in Shrinking. But this whole album is the kind that you have to put headphones on and absorb (positive). And I appreciate those kinds of albums to no end. I am also a strong proponent of bring horns back into music everywhere and it doesn’t have to be ska.The performance honoring OutKast at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
By far one of the coolest events I have ever gotten to be at and I simply have not been able to stop saying that. The joy of music is being able to share it with people. I called my best friend on FaceTime when OutKast got inducted so she could see it happening and watch the performance with me. The medley always stood out to me as being the showstopper, but it stands out to me even more because it’s a moment I got to share with my best friend, who was on the other side of the country while the show happened. This is the kind of good technology can do, not whatever slop they think we want robots creating.