#a carefully crafted playlist of 14-16 songs

[literallyneurodivergentandaminor]

i hate that i still have the cds and playlists i made for my exes ugh. time to listen to em all again and reclaim the songs.

[rowaelinscourt]

Rowaelin Month: PROMPT LIST

It's here! The first of several moments we've all been waiting for.

For the past week, we have been carefully reading your suggestions and crafting this list, and we are beyond thrilled to finally share it with you!

Without further ado...

Happy writing/drawing/headcanon creation/playlisting/etc., and we look forward to seeing what you create!

If you are having a hard time viewing the prompts on the calendar for whatever reason, or if you struggle with images, the prompts are also listed out below the cut.

September 1: I just realized I'm desperately in love with you

September 2: College or University AU

September 3: A Secret Relationship

September 4: Libraries or Librarians

September 5: I accidentally hit you with my car

September 6: The Firstborn Arrives

September 7: Fairytale AU

September 8: A Blind Date

September 9: Co-Stars/Co-Hosts/Guest Stars with Chemistry (eg. movies, TV, YouTube, radio, etc.)

September 10: Single Parents

September 11: Surprise Kisses

September 12: A Delayed Love Confession

September 13: A Flower Shop Owner and a Tattoo Shop Owner

September 14: Skinny Dipping

September 15: A Bad Day

September 16: You accidentally walked into my dorm or apartment

September 17: Bodyguard AU

September 18: You're my work rival and we're stuck in an elevator

CANON WEEK:

September 19: A Sick Day

September 20: Playing with Magic

September 21: Rowan, Aelin, and their Toddler Princess

September 22:Rowan Singing

September 23: Pregnancy

September 24: A Missing Scene from Canon

September 25: Weddings or Vow Renewals

September 26: You're seeing my roommate and accidentally walked into my shower

September 27: You and I are rivals who keep making out

September 28: Bookstore AU

September 29: A Work Based on a Song

September 30: Heir of Fire AU -OR- Telling our children how we first met

[thelastmixedtape]

The votes are in and the Last Mixed Tape readership has had their annual say in who is the TLMT Readers Album of the year 2018. See full rundown and Spotify playlist below. 

20. Rejjie Snow – Dear Annie What TLMT has to say:  An album brimming with potential, Dear Annie finds Rejjie Snow creating a working melting pot of his influences into one cohesive twenty song epic record that jumps sounds in a blink of an eye.

19. Le Galaxie – Pleasure What TLMT had to say: A solid, well-crafted record Le Galaxie’s third outing finally finds the group harnessing the production of their studio work in a way that serves the song first. Excess has been replaced by focus, with nothing lost but everything gained along the way.

18. Hilary Woods – Colt What TLMT had to say: Things fall apart, Colt portrays what’s left behind, and what can be made, or remade, afterward. That seems to be the thread line in Hilary Woods work, a sort of need to reconstruct from her imagination. There’s a dreamlike logic to the music. It all makes sense whilst you’re in the dream but the feeling that something is not quite right remains with you, even when you’re awake.

17. Spies – Constancy What TLMT had to say: Constancy doesn’t play like a debut at all. It’s a confident album that twists, turns, and tricks its way around the listener from beginning to end, all the while portraying a sound that’s filled with sonic and emotional catharsis.

16. Just Mustard – Just Mustard What TLMT had to say: Wednesday is an often eerie journey into the distant soundscapes of Just Mustard. Filled with some truly inspired use of noise, mood, and texture, the group’s debut offering is one that identifies them, much like the underlined sound of the record, as a band on the verge of something. What that “something” is remains to seen, but right now they have elevated themselves above the pack and expectations are high.

15. Wyvern Lingo – Wyvern Lingo What TLMT had to say: Wyvern Lingo could have stayed in position and done what was expected of them so early on in their career. But instead, they grew as songwriters, they grew as people and most importantly, they grew as a unit. All of which is shown in great detail on this album. Their first full-length outing is a success. One that will put Wyvern Lingo firmly on the map not only in Ireland but further afield. The hype will persist, for good and for bad, but if Wyvern Lingo continue to sidestep the trappings of such attention and write music that’s representative of who and what they are as artists, then the future is wide open.

14. O Emperor – Jason What TLMT had to say: With Jason, O Emperor leave on their own terms. Completing a body of work as expansive and diverse as the group’s early musical ambitions. The record is joyfully weird, ominously off-kilter and unrelentingly creative. In this way, Jason does not play like a wake, rather it’s a celebration, one final session for the lads.

13. Subplots – A Silent Phase What TLMT had to say: A meeting of atmosphere, texture, and depth of field, A Silent Phase simmers with soundscapes that run right beneath the far-reaching vocals, subtle guitar interplay and crushed snapped beats. All of which makes Subplots latest release such an engaging album to simply sit and listen to.

12. Delorentos – True Surrender What TLMT had to say: Success can make an artist stand still, frozen to one spot and unwilling to move out of fear of losing what made them successful in the first place. True Surrender is a reaction to this process and identifies Delorentos as a band brave enough to follow their own inspirations as naturally as possible. A career high for the group, True Surrender isn’t different for the sake of different, it’s just simply different.

11. Saint Sister – Shape of Silence  What TLMT had to say: Saint Sister have a made a debut that could be considered a triumph at any point in an artist career, let alone this early on. Everything about Shape of Silence feels carefully placed, considered and produced. Add to this the sheer weight of thematic mood, cinematic storytelling and enchanting sounds that form the album and you have something more than a record. You have a world, brought to life by a sense of mystery and intrigue that will leave you wanting to unravel what’s at the center of it again and again.

10. Paddy Hanna – Frankly, I Mutate What TLMT had to say: Frankly, I Mutate is simply wonderful. The exhilarating turn from joy to sadness and back again makes for a compelling listen. It would be difficult to define Paddy Hanna’s performance as exactly that “a performance”. It’s not. Instead, Hanna lives through the record, pushing every inch of himself out into the open for us all to see, while the music that surrounds him does the same.

9. Kojaque – Deli Daydreams What TLMT has to say: Without a doubt, Kojaque’s Deli Daydreams captured the imagination of many on the Irish music scene this year via gems like ‘Eviction Notice’ and ‘Love and Braggadocio’.

8. Villagers – The Art of Pretending To Swim What TLMT had to say: Every Villagers album has a distinct personality. In this wider context, The Art Of Pretending To Swim works as a meeting place between the raw and sonically expansive elements of the past whilst adding new and exciting colours to the mix. On its own, the record is a piece of gentle genius, low on pretence and high on ambition. Few albums, and indeed artists, reach out and connect in such a meaningful way with The Art Of Pretending To Swim Villagers do just that and more.

7. Proper Micro NV – Dormant Boy What TLMT has to say: Sitting on a strong bedrock of electronic beats, the pops and clicks that populate Dormant Boy’s sonic backdrop perfectly wrap themselves around the floating vocals on tracks like ‘Eyes’ and ‘Always’.

6. Bodies – Drench What TLMT has to say: An album built from many textures, Drench makes great dynamic flourishes, persistent alt-rock guitars and a deep sense of atmosphere merge into one, resulting in a very promising debut from Bodies.

5. Hostess – A Simple Life What TLMT had to say: A work of crafted electronic soundscape sculpting, Hostess delivers an album that’s simply a joy to listen to. The sort of record that just feels like it’s taking you somewhere new and personal to its creator. No pretence, no pandering, no compromise. A Simple Life is a true understated gem.

4. Elephant – 88 What TLMT had to say: The bravery of 88 is two-fold. Elephant’s courage to expand his music and Shane Clarke’s courage as a person. Musicians, writers, artists etc communicate things we’ve all felt before but it takes something special to convey not just a feeling but a past in its entirety and still be able to make it relatable. Through spine-tingling moments of musical reflection, sonic expressionism and a sense of place 88 encompass every nuance of emotion all at the same time. As I said before 88 about life itself.

3. Gavin Glass – Opus Pocus What TLMT had to say: Sometimes we need music to speak to us directly, we use it to get over break-ups, remember better times or simply soundtrack a place and time in our lives. With Opus Pocus, Gavin Glass achieves just that, an album which makes us all feel a little less alone when we seem lost, through music that feels at ease with itself.

2. Robert John Ardiff – Between The Bed And Room What TLMT had to say: There can be no doubt Between The Bed And Room is a personal record. Everything about how the album sounds portray an introspective almost isolating outlook. It feels intimate, a sort of catharsis wrestled with through song. Sometimes allowing yourself to be exposed as a songwriter is a daunting task, one not all artist can pull off, but here Robert John Ardiff simply allows himself to express that which he desires to express, either consciously or subconsciously. All of which results in an honest self-portrait of a songwriter.

The Last Mixed Tape Reader’s Album of the Year 2018 is…

1. Pursued By Dogs – Pursued By Dogs What TLMT had to say: An album built from gestures rather than moments, the debut outing from Pursued by Dogs is overwrought with drama, raw emotion, and mood. Working as one whole piece, the record concerns itself with blending deep soundscapes, scattered beats, and monochromatic music into a single large canvas.

For more playlists, 8-tracks, and mixed-tapes like this one, follow the Last Mixed Tape on Spotify. 

https://open.spotify.com/user/thelastmixedtape.com/playlist/08sMixXbUFUENM67FD4cHt?si=I0XKyZpMSH6LlPqtaxec6w

TLMT Readers Top 20 Albums of the Year 2018 featuring .@pursuedbydogs @weareelephants_ @hostessisaband @_Hilary_Woods & more

The votes are in and the Last Mixed Tape readership has had their annual say in who is the TLMT Readers Album of the year 2018.

TLMT Readers Top 20 Albums of the Year 2018 featuring .@pursuedbydogs @weareelephants_ @hostessisaband @_Hilary_Woods & more The votes are in and the Last Mixed Tape readership has had their annual say in who is the TLMT Readers Album of the year 2018.

[pretendimanauthor]

hello everyone. i have far too much on my mind, as im sure we all do, so im not rlly gonna make a post about how i feel or about what’s happened. im not sure if this will mean anything to anyone, but i know that not everybody is receiving a lot of comfort right now. i hope i can comfort at least one of u. so. i tried to come up with as many distractions or activities as possible that might make today, and any following day, a bit easier. feel free to add more suggestions, or reach out to me if u need help or someone to talk to.

1. give a friend three compliments

2. paint ur nails with ur favorite colors

3. scribble until ur pencil breaks or runs out

4. set a reminder to watch the next sunset or sunrise

5. try out a simple, cute craft (links with instructions: origami, pasta crafts, toilet paper roll crafts)

6. find the prettiest leaves or flowers around ur home/work/etc

7. squeeze ice cubes for as long as u can

8. try out the most complicated hair tutorial u can find on urself or a friend (here’s one that looks pretty wild)

9. make plans to go to ur favorite book store, cafe, park, etc tomorrow

10. use up an entire post it notepad to doodle or write nice messages to urself

11. go through the alphabet and come up with a happy thing/something ur grateful for for each letter (example: A- hot Apple cider, B- the Blanket im currently under)

12. use non toxic markers to draw on urself

13. watch cute animal videos (here r some of my fav channels: hamster, cockatoo, baby bats)

14. make song playlists for every emotion u r feeling or want to be feeling right now

15. make ur own nebula here

16. crumple up paper or aluminum foil into as many tiny balls as u can

17. alphabetize ur cds, books, etc

18. watch someone else cook (here r my fav channels: mosogourmet, chocolate house, amanda tastes) 

19. cuddle with a pet (u can even ask to see a friends pet!)

20. wash dishes, wash ur face, wash ur laundry, wash anything u can

21. write a story (here r some prompt resources: one, two, three)

22. watch a funny show or movie with a friend

23. carefully take an old stuffed animal apart

24. put on the most ridiculous clothes, makeup, jewelry, etc u have n take tons of photos

25. finger paint with anything from actual paint to toothpaste

26. bake ur absolute favorite treat

27. invite someone to take a long walk with u

28. text “i love u” to as many ppl as u can

29. try to spot every single constellation in the sky

30. ask someone ur close to to tell u five things they like about u

above all, please take care of urselves. please eat, drink, rest, be patient with urself, n remember that u r valuable. he is in a beautiful place now, he is happy, he is at peace. even if this thought seems impossible right now, i know we’re all going to be ok.

[percent20-oddity]

ok i don’t normally do this kinda stuff but I got officially Tagged by @bunswithknives​ and it feels really rude to ignore my friend whom I peep a lot of test results from.

I’m not gonna add my own question or tag people because ehhhhhhhhhh feels like bothering people kinda

1. coke or pepsi: Pepis, coke is incredibly sweet and also their alternate lines are nothing to write home about while pepsi at least has the 1893

2. disney or dreamworks: I can’t remember a single good Dreamworks movie so that’s a win by default

3. coffee or tea: Coffee until it gives me stomach cramps then it’s tea time

4. books or movies: Hahahah oh man I haven’t done either in years. 

5. windows or mac: macOS High 🍁 Sierra 

6. dc or marvel: Injustice is a better fighter than Marvel vs Capcom could ever aspire to be

7. xbox or playstation: The one with the games.

8. dragon age or mass effect: I feel like I could write a shitload of words on Mass Effect’s amazingness and it’s fall from grace after the first game. Dragon Age Origins was okay, but it’s really not the same stuff.

9. night owl or early riser: I don’t KNOW i sleep in the afternoons!

10. cards or chess: Cards but only when actual money is involved.

11. chocolate or vanilla: If it’s about ice cream, then prolly vanilla, pais better

12. vans or converse: Vans. Converses are made for people with the most narrow feet ever :(

13. lavellan, trevelyan, cadash, or adaar: ok this reminds me of that one furaffinity “shell of choice” field where nobody could explain to me what it was about.

14.  fluff or angst: All angst all the time

15. beach or forest: Beach, but only fully clothed

16.  dogs or cats: I wanna say cats but I think I’ve touched a cat maybe five times in my life? I like kitten videos though

17.  clear skies or rain: r a i n 

18.  cooking or eating out: Cooking owns. Even if whatever I make lasts me for a week and I get bored.

19. Spicy food or mild food: Spicy. Even if it triggers my inflammation every time, it’s worth iiittt.

20. halloween/samhain or solstice/yule/christmas: i fucking WISH halloween was a thing here because it’s amazing and i’d love it!! But it defaults to christmas. Also there’s no gifts on halloween.

21. would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: i’m already too hot all the time

22.  if you could have a superpower, what would it be: shapeshifting? or idk, invisibility

23.  animation or live action: animation. Tho in recent days I’ve mostly been keeping myself to anime and Adult Swim stuff.

24.  paragon or renegade: The morality system in Mass Effect, despite being good as an idea, fails to understand that most of choices faced by Shepard are solved on case-to-case basis as the character roleplayed would have it instead of following a strict moral guideline

25. baths or showers: I shower like once few days (gross details just for u!) but I like sitting in the bathroom while the shower’s running and the steam fills the room and I feel like I’m in space

26. team cap or team ironman: BOTH ARE GARBAGE IDIOTS also i haven’t watched that movie but from what i remember captain’s idea was “hey maybe the self-appointed vigilante ubermenschen shouldn’t act on their own”? which seems like a good idea and Iron Man was just being a dick as always

27.  fantasy or sci-fi: eeehhhhhh both are okay

28. do you have three or four favourite quotes? if so what are they: I’m not dorky enough to list inspirational quotes even when dared to.

29.  youtube or netflix: Have you seen the polish Netflix offer? People are supposed to pay for this lmao.

30.  harry potter or percy jackson: I was the biggest potterhead in the WORLD when i was a babby. I’m glad the fanfiction site I uploaded my stuff to disappeared though 

31.  when do you feel accomplished: i only know bitter hatred at the fact that no matter what i do i haven’t accomplished enough

32.  star wars or star trek: Star Wars is a cool arthurian fable and all but people get laid more in Star Trek so ultimately it’s the better show

33.  paperback books or hardback books: paperbacks?? they’re easier to carry I guess. Who gives a shit about books.

34. horror or rom-com: Horrors, as long as someone holds my hand during the scary part.

35.  to live in a world without literature or music: I can’t imagine the sad person who answered “music” to this lol

36.  pastel colours or dark colours: As a true doom murderhead, I’m inclined to say dark

37.  tv shows or movies: shows shows shows

38.  city or countryside: I lived in countryside for the first 14 years of my life and it was the shittiest thing I can imagine inflicted on a person. 

39.  if any other zodiac sign could describe you, what would it be: I DON’T KNOW HOW OTHER ZODIAC SIGNS DESCRIBE PEOPLE HOMESTUCK WASN’T CLEAR ON THAT

40.  if you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life what would it be: Hot Sauce Committee p. 2 by Beastie Boys

41.  cinema or theatre: The modern theatrical division between the audience and the actors makes there be no difference

42.  if you could be any fictional character’s best friend, who’d you be: Doomguy’s, the one from Doom

43.  smiling or smirking: 😔

44.  are you an ‘all or nothing’ type or are you more consistent: The all or nothing because honestly why even bother trying to do stuff when I can’t be good at it already

45.  playlists or your whole library on shuffle: Shuffle when I’m outside. I add a shitload of music to my library all the time that I don’t have time to listen to on the reg so if I find 

46. traveling or staying at home: staying home

47.  books or fanfiction: hhhhhhhhhhh

48.  If you could live in a fantasy world, what world would it be: Dark Souls, but preferably not as some hollow asshole that wails on people with a hitstunning torch. I wanna practice my creepy laugh at people

49. your favorite cartoon: Does Homestar Runner count?

50.  name the weirdest five songs on your itunes, current or past: Jesus christ that’s some wankery of a question. Fine. “Aster” by OOIOO, “Szerencsetlen” by Venetian Snares, “Chittam Irangayoo” by Ruins, “Storyteller” by Maquiladora, “Dokonimo” by Miminokoto. I feel like listing albums would be easier but this is tumblr and I don’t assume anyone would listen to this shit anyway

51. mountains or plains: Plains (the american west kind when there isn’t a fuckload of allergizing plants and it all looks like Mars)

52. favorite anime (or tv show if you don’t watch anime): JoJo/Space Dandy/Steins;Gate

53. which social media platform are you most like yourself on: All my internet presence is a carefully crafted internet persona designed to make me look more interesting than I am in real life

54. What are some of your passions: 😔

55. What are some of your current goals in life?: Become a less worthless piece of shit, move to Portland with my gf, maybe go past being a freshman for once

56. A pet that you would like to have (or already have) that is NOT a cat or dog: A tegu. They’re super cool man

57. Body modifications you would like to have: Haha I think I’m pretty set on those. 

58: Describe the most bullshit fictional story you’ve ever read/watched/played: any story originating on tumblr that has people doing those overblown reactions in replies

59: Do you collect anything: It’s not really a collection per se but I like surrounding myself with rare/unique stuff. Handmade objects, limited runs of records, paintings, autographed books, obscure items

[beatiewolfe]

Highsnobiety Feature Beatie Wolfe in 10 Ways Music Will Change in 2017

Awesome to be featured in Highsnobiety's '10 Music Trends That Will Be Huge in 2017' ... Read the full article via the link or with out the images below...

10 Music Trends That Will Be Huge in 2017

Now that we’re firmly within the new year, Paul Hanford gazes into his crystal ball and predicts the biggest music trends that will dominate 2017.

2016 frequently felt more like an extortionately long and brutal episode of Game of Thrones than a year in the 21st century. Twelve months ago, would any of us have actually believed a Twitter troll could become President of the USA, or that we’d be mourning the loss of so many musical icons?

Yet, in times of hardship, art gets to work and does what it’s supposed to: confound expectations, innovates and inspires.With that in mind, and with creativity and tech fusing more and more, 2017 could very well emerge as a golden era for music.

Here are 10 music trends that will blow up or continue to rise in the next twelve months:

Music Will Be Released in More and More Unconventional Ways

From Rihanna’s Anti to Beyonce’s Lemonade and all the way back to T.I.’s Us Or Else: Letter To The System, 2016 was all about the unexpected album drop. As the influence of established record companies and their big pre-release marketing campaigns continues to disintegrate, over the next twelve months the unexpected album drop will pale in comparison to the kind of immersive approaches re-shaping the very concept of what an album can be.

Take, for example, London-based Beatie Wolfe, who balances the timeless romantic song-craft of her music with distribution methods that have attracted a salivating tech community and resulted in her getting a TED platform and Wired column inches.

Already, she’s released a single as a musical jacket and an album as a series of digitally interactive cards, and, in 2017, she’ll be taking experiential-as-an-art-form further, collaborating with award winning Designers I/O (of MOMA and Tate Modern fame) and inventors Bell Labs to release her next song cycle.

Grime Will Cement Its Greencard

There was a time when UK hip-hop felt to the rest of the world like one of those nodding bulldogs people put in the backs of their cars: charming, but ultimately pointless.

Now, although Grime has taken the better part of this century to spread its wings abroad, the visa has finally come through. Mercury Prize winner Skepta is on Kanye’s speed-dial; Drake handpicked South London’s piano-playing rapper Dave for his latest mixtape; The New York Times treated Stormzy’s stateside appearances with awe and AJ Tracey is way up high in many 2017 ones-to-watch lists. Grime arrived stateside over the last couple of years, and this trend is set to continue.

Get Used to Hearing the Word “Experiential”

Let’s talk about adverts. Can you remember the last time on YouTube you actually thought, “I won’t press skip in five seconds because I really, really want to watch this ad?” Me neither.

Companies know we’ll use ad-blockers, remove cookies and do pretty much anything else to avoid our streaming pleasures being interrupted, so they’re having to work far more insidiously to grab our attention. All of this has lead to “experiential” becoming as big a buzzword as its more culturally-aligned sister, “immersive”. Basically, experiential advertising places the would-be consumer in an immersive, branded experience.

In 2016, Heineken released plans for a new campaign called “Takeover,” allowing wearers of customized Heineken wrist-bands to control the DJ’s music at festivals. Experiential pioneers like Red Bull have been fusing the lines between creative output and branded content for years, and in 2017 this will be the main battleground on which advertisers will fight for music fans’ attention.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Whether it’s PIL’s mantra, “anger is an energy!” or NWA rallying against the LAPD with “Fuck tha Police”, difficult political climates have always fueled rebellious creativity. Even prior to his election win, there was a surge of anti-Trump music in 2016, from YG’s “Fuck Donald Trump” to alt-lit god Dave Egger’s 30 Days, 30 Songs project.

With hairy has-beens Ted Nugent and Kid Rock the only musicians willing to play at Trump’s inauguration, his administration team are reportedly offering seven digit figures for more credible artists to play. As of now, nobody is up for it.

In 2017, be prepared for ubiquitous Trump slurs in your favorite artists’ releases.

Pop Stars Are Now Younger Than Windows 98

Pop has always been a youthful genre, but given that a member of The Lemon Twigs was younger than Windows 98 (just 14 years old!) when they started making their album, musical sophistication is arriving earlier and earlier. 18-year-old South London rapper Dave also attracted the attention of Drake last year, who remixed his “Wanna Know” track, and 17-year-old indie-electro musician Declan McKenna has been receiving accolades for his work, too.

In 2017, pop stars will make increasingly complex and interesting work at ever-younger ages.

The (Beginning of the) Death of Bro Culture

Could 2017 be the death knell of bro culture within EDM? In the traditionally male-dominated field, nine of Mixmag’s “Top Twenty Breakthrough DJs of 2016” were female, which signals a positive trend for 2017.

In the year that saw the passing of Bowie (the original androgynous rebel), we also witnessed the astronomic rise of Anohni; and with artists like Jana Hunter from LA’s atmospheric rock band Lower Dens describing themselves as “gender non-binary” and New York’s queer-core rockers PWR BTTM continuing to rise, we could be on the crest of a golden age of gender and sexual acceptance within music.

The Return of Bowie?

Picture the scene: you’re in the midst of Daft Punk’s set at, say, Coachella. Halfway through, like a resurrecting John Snow, David Bowie rises up on the stage. Before you can pinch yourself, he’s ripping into “Let’s Dance” with gallic robots grooving behind him.

Sounds crazy, right? Yet, ever since Tupac rose from the dead to duet with Snoop and Dre at Coachella in 2012, holograms have been hot, and as with VR, tech companies are channeling vast research into this area. Japan already has its own totally holographic pop-star, the “16-year-old” Hatsune Miku.

Bowie, always ahead of the times, appeared in hologram form at the AIR Gallery in West London over decade ago. We’re predicting he’ll be back in hologram form in 2017, along with – hopefully! – Prince, George Michael and Phife Dawg.

Drake Will Continue to Drake

One thing will not change in the coming year: Drake’s dominance. From his game-changing deal with Apple to his categorization of his forthcoming work, More Life, as a playlist rather than an album, Drake encompasses the streaming age like no other artist.

With over a billion plays of the Apple-financed “Hotline Bling” video, Drake could pretty much spend the next twelve months occasionally streaming the sound of himself breaking wind without doing any harm to his career whatsoever. 2017 will be another big year for the polarizing Canadian rapper.

Algorithms Will Be Everywhere

In November 2016, Google Play Music released a list of 10 acts “expected to be huge in 2017.” What made their poll different from the flurry of predictions from every tastemaker, style brand and music publication is the fact that it was constructed from a combination of streaming stats, YouTube subscribers, track performances and the instincts of some Google Play specialists.

Predictably for a list largely derived from algorithms, it took less risks than an Ed Sheeran chord change. However, in these uncertain political times, can we really blame Google Play Music for not venturing a bold, original opinion? In 2017, you can be sure the easy algorithm opt-out will prevail.

People Will buy Records and Listen to Cool Shit

In December 2016, for the first time, sales of vinyl in the UK outstripped download sales. This doesn’t mean that your average teen is walking around car boot sales foraging for Pink Floyd re-issues, though. Rather, it signals that vast numbers of people are streaming rather than buying.

Whatever crazy app war may kick off between Spotify and whoever else is vying for our streaming attention, boutique record labels such as Domino and Warp will continue to survive by running a tight ship and maintaining a carefully-crafted roster of artists. In 2017, the underground will continue to throw up fresh, out-of-nowhere sounds and new genres will rise and fall in the blink of a refresh button.

Words: Paul Hanford