Pitchfork's Top 40 Tracks from 2016 poll

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Fourth Annual:

Pitchfork Top 35 Tracks from 2013 poll
Pitchfork's Top 40 Tracks from 2014 poll
Pitchfork's Top 40 Tracks from 2015 poll

Poll Results

OptionVotes
10. Rae Sremmurd - Black Beatles 13
16. Mitski - Your Best American Girl 9
1. Kanye West - Ultralight Beam 7
3. Solange - Cranes in the Sky 7
35. Kevin Gates - 2 Phones 5
7. Rihanna - Work 5
38. Weyes Blood - Do You Need My Love 4
11. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People... 4
2. Beyoncé - Formation 4
9. Radiohead - True Love Waits 4
31. A Tribe Called Quest - Dis Generation 2
37. Noname - Yesterday 2
40. Young Thug - Kanye West 2
19. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker 2
18. Bon Iver - 33 ‘GOD’ 2
17. Anderson .Paak - Am I Wrong 2
8. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me 2
5. David Bowie - Lazarus 2
32. Kanye West - No More Parties in LA 1
34. Chance the Rapper - Summer Friends 1
6. Anohni - Drone Bomb Me 1
36. Kendrick Lamar =- Untitled 02 1
26. Danny Brown - Really Doe 1
25. Frank Ocean - Nikes 1
24. Radiohead - Daydreaming 1
23. David Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away 1
12. Chance the Rapper - No Problems 1
20. Car Seat Headrest - Fill in the Blank 1
39. Jessy Lanza - It Means I Love You 1
14. Kanye West - Real Friends 1
4. Frank Ocean - Ivy 0
15. Blood Orange - Best to You 0
33. D.R.A.M. - Broccoli 0
30. Drake - One Dance 0
29. Bon Iver - 22 (OVER S∞∞N) 0
28. Beyonce - Hold Up 0
27. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - I Need You 0
22. Jenny Hval - Conceptual Romance 0
13. Frank Ocean - Pink + White 0
21. Solange - Don't Touch My Hair 0


Bee OK, Monday, 12 December 2016 07:47 (eight years ago)

i was going to stop this year and not do this but checked the site before going to bed tonight. i really thought they were a week away but everything looks pushed up this year. it was a sign ;-)

Bee OK, Monday, 12 December 2016 07:48 (eight years ago)

Your mother wouldn't approve of how my mother raised me.
But I do. I think I do.

alpine static, Monday, 12 December 2016 08:07 (eight years ago)

'Lazarus'

Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 12 December 2016 08:12 (eight years ago)

Cranes in the Sky

art baengels (monotony), Monday, 12 December 2016 08:31 (eight years ago)

i eurostep past the haters like i'm rondo

simply gabbing a wonderful christmastime (crüt), Monday, 12 December 2016 08:43 (eight years ago)

5. David Bowie - Lazarus
7. Rihanna - Work
23. David Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away
35. Kevin Gates - 2 Phones
^^are all great but I'm going with:

38. Weyes Blood - Do You Need My Love

niels, Monday, 12 December 2016 09:04 (eight years ago)

Loads of great stuff here in with the usual nonsense. Your Best American Girl and Do You Need My Love would be up there in the best tracks of any year, and Dis Generation is also very likely to feature on my tracks ballot. An incredibly tight call - I really want to vote Weyes Blood because it's amazing transcendental music, but there's a strong possibility that Mitski has written the best song here

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Monday, 12 December 2016 09:57 (eight years ago)

nikes

johnny crunch, Monday, 12 December 2016 12:23 (eight years ago)

lol they are trolling a bit w lil peep kiss @ 100 (should be higher imo)

johnny crunch, Monday, 12 December 2016 12:28 (eight years ago)

did Kanye and Frank really need 3 slots each on this thing

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 13:29 (eight years ago)

alpine static OTM

Boston Brahmin (Sund4r), Monday, 12 December 2016 14:31 (eight years ago)

what a shit list. did only 7 people make music in 2016?

evol j, Monday, 12 December 2016 14:33 (eight years ago)

How many of these are self released or not released by a label that belongs to one of the four major labels? (Universal, Sony, Warner, EMI). Lazy to go one by one but here's 4

Radiohead - XL
Nomame - self released
Weyes Blood - Mexican summer
Bon Iver - 4AD

Moka, Monday, 12 December 2016 14:34 (eight years ago)

Black Beatles
I Can't Give Everything Away

rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Monday, 12 December 2016 14:34 (eight years ago)

off the top of my head Mitski, CSH, Lanza, Jenny Hval xp

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 14:42 (eight years ago)

Angel Olsen as well

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 14:43 (eight years ago)

they picked a strange choice for Young Thug.

Anyway, this is Black Beatles, no contest.

Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Monday, 12 December 2016 14:46 (eight years ago)

Going with Cranes in the Sky, which is gorgeous.

Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 12 December 2016 14:54 (eight years ago)

they picked a strange choice for Young Thug

They must have mistaken it for a Kanye joint.

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 14:59 (eight years ago)

did Kanye and Frank really need 3 slots each on this thing

I know this is an old complaint but yeah I feel sad when EOY lists for songs end up being dominated by the same people that are inevitably going to be on the publication's albums list anyway. I do wonder how much the shift from 'singles' to 'tracks' is to blame for this.

Voted for 'Black Beatles'.

Gavin, Leeds, Monday, 12 December 2016 14:59 (eight years ago)

what is this absolute obsession with 3-4 megastar artists to the point of exclusion of almost everyone else

lex pretend, Monday, 12 December 2016 15:01 (eight years ago)

It's kind of funny to see them double down on Ye at the point where "that album was pretty enhh huh" is increasingly the consensus view

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 15:04 (eight years ago)

I went with Work. It has stayed with me all year.

human and working on getting beer (longneck), Monday, 12 December 2016 15:11 (eight years ago)

"work" is banger of the year until you have to scramble for the next button at 2:11

lex pretend, Monday, 12 December 2016 15:18 (eight years ago)

It's kind of funny to see them double down on Ye at the point where "that album was pretty enhh huh" is increasingly the consensus view

Hospilization helped obv

flappy bird, Monday, 12 December 2016 15:47 (eight years ago)

Why is Lazarus eligible? Came out in 2015

flappy bird, Monday, 12 December 2016 15:48 (eight years ago)

This is basically Beyonce vs ATCQ

¶ (DJP), Monday, 12 December 2016 16:01 (eight years ago)

oh vs Kendrick, I didn't realize they picked THAT song, which is glorious

¶ (DJP), Monday, 12 December 2016 16:02 (eight years ago)

Have to double down on Kayne at this point to justify a ridiculously high score for an album that the reviewer didn't even seem to like that much.

rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Monday, 12 December 2016 16:12 (eight years ago)

We the People

kornrulez6969, Monday, 12 December 2016 16:15 (eight years ago)

going to vote Weyes Blood here after some careful thought

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Monday, 12 December 2016 16:29 (eight years ago)

"black beatles" or "2 phones"

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 12 December 2016 16:30 (eight years ago)

"ultralight beam" ahead of "formation" and "cranes in the sky" feels extremely like trolling

lex pretend, Monday, 12 December 2016 16:34 (eight years ago)

anyway my favourite song in this list is "formation" quite easily.

lex pretend, Monday, 12 December 2016 16:34 (eight years ago)

i finally gave mitski a try after seeing ppl rhapsodise about her all year and...i wasn't feeling it at all tbh

lex pretend, Monday, 12 December 2016 16:35 (eight years ago)

I hate 80% of this. Drone Bomb Me, I guess.

Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 12 December 2016 17:32 (eight years ago)

i voted Mitski (i LOVE LOVE LOVE that song but only like the album) BUT i played 2 Phones more than any other song on this list this year.

alpine static, Monday, 12 December 2016 17:46 (eight years ago)

10. Rae Sremmurd - Black Beatles
11. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People...
23. David Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away
24. Radiohead - Daydreaming
31. A Tribe Called Quest - Dis Generation
37. Noname - Yesterday
39. Jessy Lanza - It Means I Love You

These are the songs that stand the best chance of making my year-end list.

I will probably have songs by Anderson .Paak, Kendrick, Kanye, etc. also but not the ones here.

I know hoes that know Ali Farka Toure (voodoo chili), Monday, 12 December 2016 17:55 (eight years ago)

i voted Mitski (i LOVE LOVE LOVE that song but only like the album) BUT i played 2 Phones more than any other song on this list this year.

― alpine static, Monday, December 12, 2016 12:46 PM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i feel the same way but about "my body's made of crushed little stars." tried hard to get into the rest of it but it's not taking for me. that song is incredible though. no drums!

flappy bird, Monday, 12 December 2016 17:57 (eight years ago)

all one and a half minutes of that song was mitski's entire encore at her london show

it was the greatest encore ever obv

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Monday, 12 December 2016 18:00 (eight years ago)

i might've downplayed how much i like the album - i like it a lot. i love Crushed Little Stars and several of the other tracks. she's great. YBAG seriously affects me on another level, though.

alpine static, Monday, 12 December 2016 18:03 (eight years ago)

2 Phones. had so much fun w that song all year.

Spottie, Monday, 12 December 2016 18:07 (eight years ago)

yeah why does this poll inevitably have to be made immediately upon the publication of this list every year

dyl, Monday, 12 December 2016 18:38 (eight years ago)

Dis Generation

jmm, Monday, 12 December 2016 18:39 (eight years ago)

Compared to the previous years this one does look like half of the list is just the same names

Moka, Monday, 12 December 2016 19:50 (eight years ago)

yeah why does this poll inevitably have to be made immediately upon the publication of this list every year

― dyl, Monday, December 12, 2016 1:38 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's okay it allowed me to avoid having to click through the rest of the list

I've read Ta-nehisi Coates. (marcos), Monday, 12 December 2016 19:54 (eight years ago)

Removing repeated artists cuts almost half of the list but it looks better:

1. Kanye West - Ultralight Beam
2. Beyoncé - Formation
3. Solange - Cranes in the Sky
4. Frank Ocean - Ivy
5. David Bowie - Lazarus
6. Anohni - Drone Bomb Me
7. Rihanna - Work
8. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
9. Radiohead - True Love Waits
10. Rae Sremmurd - Black Beatles
11. A Tribe Called Quest - We the People...
12. Chance the Rapper - No Problems
15. Blood Orange - Best to You
16. Mitski - Your Best American Girl
17. Anderson .Paak - Am I Wrong
18. Bon Iver - 33 ‘GOD’
19. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
20. Car Seat Headrest - Fill in the Blank
22. Jenny Hval - Conceptual Romance
26. Danny Brown - Really Doe
27. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - I Need You
30. Drake - One Dance
33. D.R.A.M. - Broccoli
35. Kevin Gates - 2 Phones
36. Kendrick Lamar =- Untitled 02
37. Noname - Yesterday
38. Weyes Blood - Do You Need My Love
39. Jessy Lanza - It Means I Love You
40. Young Thug - Kanye West

I'd prefer if all polls limited to one song per artist and maybe add a footnote of the 2nd and 3rd places and their votes. Album polls are there anyway.

Moka, Monday, 12 December 2016 19:55 (eight years ago)

I mean the 2nd and 3rd places of songs by artists with more than 1 song on the countdown.

Moka, Monday, 12 December 2016 19:56 (eight years ago)

it is kind of hilarious that the young thug song on this list is called 'kanye west'

I've read Ta-nehisi Coates. (marcos), Monday, 12 December 2016 19:57 (eight years ago)

I would love a similar rule for the 77 lists tbh xxp

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 19:58 (eight years ago)

i remember simon reynolds saying sometime in '06 or '07, "it gets boring doesn't it, proclaiming timbaland's genius for 10 years in a row" and seeing kanye's ubiquity this year just feels like such a lack of imagination

I've read Ta-nehisi Coates. (marcos), Monday, 12 December 2016 19:59 (eight years ago)

Xpost: I'd also like that!

Then you have something like

15. KANYE WEST - ULTRALIGHT BEAM (120 points, 4 n•1 vote)
Runnerups: Famous (89 points) Waves (84 points) Wolves (63 points)

Moka, Monday, 12 December 2016 20:03 (eight years ago)

I have advocated for this in the past and it has...not been liked iirc

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 20:08 (eight years ago)

it's a dumb idea tbh. theoretically the best artists are going to make more than one of the best tracks

k3vin k., Monday, 12 December 2016 20:09 (eight years ago)

otoh (and I disagree with the idea but) 'the best artists' is hateful specious bullshit

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Monday, 12 December 2016 20:11 (eight years ago)

I get the argument but personally I would prefer a more diverse list than to honor some dubious metric of "representing" individual artists' impact/importance/etc, esp with only 77 slots

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 20:14 (eight years ago)

It's a silly idea.

Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 12 December 2016 20:14 (eight years ago)

Giving a shit about the pitchfork poll is a silly idea

Rae Kwoniff (NickB), Monday, 12 December 2016 20:29 (eight years ago)

Both can be true tbh

Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 12 December 2016 20:30 (eight years ago)

I see both sides

Van Horn Street, Monday, 12 December 2016 20:33 (eight years ago)

maybe we should put it to a referendum, those are great

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 12 December 2016 20:37 (eight years ago)

and that, my children (dogs), is how we left pitchfork

Dave Plaintive rapper with classical training (imago), Monday, 12 December 2016 20:49 (eight years ago)

Cranes In the Sky, easy

J. Sam, Monday, 12 December 2016 20:52 (eight years ago)

huh I had no idea ppl liked the kanye album that much

i don't agree with the 'one song per artist' rule for the same reason as k3vin, but this list is in such gross violation of the principle of variety/avoiding listing the 5th best deep cut on an album that will be in your top-ten that the rule aims to uphold, that they really should have pared it back. if you remove everyone else from the list and just look at it, i mean, it's excessive, no?

1. Kanye West - Ultralight Beam
2. Beyoncé - Formation
3. Solange - Cranes in the Sky
4. Frank Ocean - Ivy
5. David Bowie - Lazarus
6. Anohni - Drone Bomb Me
7. Rihanna - Work
9. Radiohead - True Love Waits
13. Frank Ocean - Pink + White
14. Kanye West - Real Friends
15. Blood Orange - Best to You
18. Bon Iver - 33 ‘GOD’
21. Solange - Don't Touch My Hair
23. David Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away
24. Radiohead - Daydreaming
25. Frank Ocean - Nikes
28. Beyonce - Hold Up
29. Bon Iver - 22 (OVER S∞∞N)
32. Kanye West - No More Parties in LA

they should go back to doing track reviews. anyways, enuff complaining. songs i love on this list:

2. Beyoncé - Formation
8. Angel Olsen - Shut Up Kiss Me
10. Rae Sremmurd - Black Beatles
12. Chance the Rapper - No Problems
16. Mitski - Your Best American Girl
30. Drake - One Dance
33. D.R.A.M. - Broccoli
35. Kevin Gates - 2 Phones
36. Kendrick Lamar =- Untitled 02
37. Noname - Yesterday

will prob vote for 2 phones or no problems

flopson, Monday, 12 December 2016 21:02 (eight years ago)

that Bowie song is among the best things he's ever written and sung but I don't want anyone else to know it, therefore it doesn't belong on this list.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 12 December 2016 21:05 (eight years ago)

tune in to P4k's FB now if you'd like to watch Schreiber and two other people talking about the year's best songs and awkwardly singing/bopping along on FB Live.

alpine static, Monday, 12 December 2016 21:15 (eight years ago)

actually don't do this ^ they will ruin your favorite songs for you :(

alpine static, Monday, 12 December 2016 21:27 (eight years ago)

man, I am out of the loop

skip, Monday, 12 December 2016 21:49 (eight years ago)

i always go through the year focusing on a small handful of albums and then i play catch-up w/the poll nominations spotify playlists a bit.

nomar, Monday, 12 December 2016 21:51 (eight years ago)

they picked a strange choice for Young Thug

It would've been my pick, though mainly because it's so rare to hear my name uttered in a pop song, not to mention 50 times by Wyclef Jean. I'm surprised enough non-G/Je(o)ffs voted for it.

geoffreyess, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 01:27 (eight years ago)

tribe - we the people

clouds (peanutbuttereverysingleday), Tuesday, 13 December 2016 03:00 (eight years ago)

cranes in the sky!!!!

josh, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 04:03 (eight years ago)

are people not saying "formation" bc it's too obvious or bc they genuinely don't like it as much as other songs

lex pretend, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 09:44 (eight years ago)

I like "Formation" but I like other songs even better

niels, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 10:35 (eight years ago)

Entirely unsurprising but still irritating - this list is almost entirely comprised of favourite-songs-from-favourite-albums. There are hardly any non-album singles on there, possibly none at all, and almost every artist appears on the albums poll in any case. In the era of the playlist that's kind of amazing.

Matt DC, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 13:09 (eight years ago)

I haven't heard any of these records though I have heard some other really horrible attacks from some of these. I imagine if I will hear some of them in the end of year poll, I couldn't face it last year after being burned the first year , but I'm trying to be more optimistic this time, things can change!

saer, Tuesday, 13 December 2016 13:13 (eight years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 19 December 2016 00:01 (eight years ago)

dgaf about most of these, although 6 of their top 11 matches mine.

billstevejim, Monday, 19 December 2016 00:51 (eight years ago)

What are the odds that the top 3 here will match ILMs top 3?

billstevejim, Monday, 19 December 2016 00:53 (eight years ago)

I feel like Fader top 3 has a better chance maybe

sushi and the banh mis (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 19 December 2016 02:15 (eight years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Tuesday, 20 December 2016 00:01 (eight years ago)

The weirdness of this list is exposed with these results. It's a heavy meh for me... doubt the ILM will feel as samey.

dance cum rituals (Moka), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 00:22 (eight years ago)

Looking at the 2013 to 2015 results makes it seem like 2016 was kind of a shit year. Maybe it was after all.

dance cum rituals (Moka), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 00:25 (eight years ago)

the best #1 of the year won this poll tho

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 01:06 (eight years ago)

everything with 4+ votes would make a dece 2016 playlist, if you cut radiohead

illbient microtonal poetry Surbiton (imago), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 02:43 (eight years ago)

Hey, rev hasnt been around lately...who's going to do the US #1s and #2s poll this year?

fuck like fight like fuck (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 03:43 (eight years ago)

i mean ugh do we really even want to poll those

who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 03:54 (eight years ago)

the best #1 of the year won this poll tho

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), martes 20 de diciembre de 2016 1:06 (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Black Beatles is good but it would be a no contest against Realiti from past year. Comparing the first place from past years not only from p4k bur from other sites it seems there's no real consensus or "eureka" songs this year.

dance cum rituals (Moka), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 08:57 (eight years ago)

I''m going through the top 10 winners of the polls above and there's at least 2 songs which make me go "whoa yes this is s timeless classic" and I don't feel that way about this top 10

dance cum rituals (Moka), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 09:01 (eight years ago)

"black beatles" is obviously several leagues above "realiti" but i don't get thinking it's better than "formation"

lex pretend, Tuesday, 20 December 2016 09:12 (eight years ago)

I respect "black beatles" but can't say I truly understand the appeal...

REALiTi (demo) is gorgeous

niels, Tuesday, 20 December 2016 12:36 (eight years ago)

the best #1 of the year won this poll tho

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), martes 20 de diciembre de 2016 1:06 (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Black Beatles is good but it would be a no contest against Realiti from past year. Comparing the first place from past years not only from p4k bur from other sites it seems there's no real consensus or "eureka" songs this year.

― dance cum rituals (Moka)

No. I was referring to Billboard #1s.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 13:01 (eight years ago)

I'd go with "Work"

niels, Tuesday, 20 December 2016 13:02 (eight years ago)

i like black beatles enough but I usu turn it off once the Gucci verse comes on

johnny crunch, Tuesday, 20 December 2016 13:11 (eight years ago)

^^ a real weirdo

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 December 2016 13:23 (eight years ago)


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