Jester One 2021 - 25 Top Artists

 2021 logged in with 32,752 scrobbles from 3871 individual artists, making for an average of 8.461 per artist, slightly down from last year (8.954). The top 5 genres were Rock, Classic Rock, Oldies, 60s, and Alternative Rock. 12p-1p again took the busiest hour of the year, with 1p-2p and 9a-10a rounding out the top 3. Thursday and Friday were the two busiest days, with 5 total streams difference between the two of them.

 

Here's the key for the artist list:

TY. Artist (LY)
Top Track (TY)

 

 

25. Eagles (13)
Top Track: Take It Easy (6)

Eagles return at the #25 spot in 2021. I've always liked them, and last year I made sure to listen to all of their albums to capture the nostalgia. Take It Easy was certainly the bellcow, registering over 33% of their total streams on the year.

 

24. Creedence Clearwater Revival (NR)
Top Track: Who'll Stop The Rain (T47)

CCR finally crack the top artist list, which is surprising as a band that I usually give a good amount of time to. Who'll Stop The Rain isn't even my favorite song by them, but their portfolio was definitely diversified, with 5 songs reaching double digit streams and 26 individual songs getting at least one play.

 

23. The Beatles (17)
Top Track: Eleanor Rigby (T135)

The Beatles also return from last year, with a minor slide. They are always more a quantity over quality act, with Eleanor Rigby and All My Loving doing the usual heavy lifting. The amount of my residents who recognize Beatles hits is always wonderful.

 

22. Soundgarden (6)
Top Track: Outshined and Spoonman (T641)

I dunno, for all the Cornell I've listened to since he passed, I guess last year I didn't need it as much. Not that 22 is some sort of super slide out, but it's less than usual for the grunge legends.

 

21. Wolfsheim (24)
Top Track: Künstliche Welten (T90)

I started counting the Top 25 in 2018, and both Soundgarden and Wolfsheim have appeared on all four lists. Künstliche Welten again takes the top spot, edging Blind out by 1 play. None of the bands listed so far will make new music again, although in Wolfsheim's case it is due to artistic differences. Which is a shame, because Peter Heppner has one of the greatest voices ever to grace the airwaves.

 

20. Johnny Cash (21)
Top Track: Ring of Fire (T410)

Cash is another quantity artist with a load of good songs. All told, he had 40 different songs get at least one play. Cash is like The Beatles for me - easy listening, lots of good moods to go between.

 

19. Circle of Dust (NR)
Top Track: Yurasuka (T641)

Circle of Dust jumps back in after sliding back to #188 last year. For what ever reason, I really wanted to spin them in December, where just over half of their streams came from this year. It's one thing to have a big month, but I couldn't stop rocking out as the year waned.

18. Aurelio Voltaire (9)
Top Track: Oh My Goth! (T507)

Make is consecutive years for my favorite performing artist. I'm sad that I haven't seen him live in several years, but he has a new record coming next year and a potential return to touring as well. I'm certain the new record will spike the numbers... I mean, if nothing else I never have a reason not to listen to him.

17. Megaherz (NR)
Top Track: 5. Marz (T62)

5. Marz ranks among one of my all-time favorite German-language songs, and in 2021 I finally decided to get to know the band a little better. That made for 93 different songs getting 1 scrobble. What I found was that they constantly have lineup changes, making them remarkably inconsistent from album to album.

16. Teenage Wrist (new)
Top Track: Taste of Gasoline (1)

Teenage Wrist was easily the biggest revelation of the year for me. Earth is a Black Hole had the 5th most plays while Silverspoon even dialed in at T135. I'm sad that I had never heard of them before last year, but I'm not terribly behind in that regard and I am gassed up for whatever may come next from them.

15. Elvis Presley (10)
Top Track: Suspicious Minds (T117)

By the end of the year, Elvis had 7 different songs with double digit streams and, quite frankly, I was tired of hearing his voice. But man, is he ever fun to dance to at work.

14. Sevendust (18)
Top Track: Story of Your Life (T641)

The new 7D album didn't do much for me; I mean, the album was fine but there really wasn't anything that took off for me like in years prior. Still, they have a lot of hammers to work with, and they jumped slightly from last year.

13. OOMPH! (NR)
Top Track: Tausend neue Lügen (23)

I guess I spent a good amount of time with NDH music last year, finally letting others catch up to Rammstein. With that in mind, I listened to 88 different OOMPH! songs in '21, which rocketed them up the list. Unfortunately the band parted ways with their founding singer Dero Goi, but are apparently pushing forward with a new record for '22.

12. Apoptygma Berzerk (NR)
Top Track: Kathy's Song (Victoria Mix by VNV Nation) (19)

Apop made it the first two years at 14 and 7 before falling to 31 last year. While the VNV remix of Kathy's Song always carries the torch, the group had 11 different songs with at least 5 plays to carry them back near the top 10.

11. Demon Hunter (23)
Top Track: One Thousand Apologies (T72)

We're definitely into the heavy hitter zone now. Demon Hunter also had My Throat Is An Open Grave come at T90, and they also released a "new" record in '21, featuring piano/string versions of some of their softer hits. They essentially put out a new record every other year, but I figured they'd take a break from recording after releasing a double album two years ago. The Seattle metalcore outfit has also been on all 4 years of this list.

10. Neuroticfish (NR)
Top Track: Illusion of Home (40)

Neuroticfish finally got their music on streaming services in the last year and a half, and I had no idea what I had been missing. It's a shame the group only has 5 releases, but they've made the best of what they had. I would say they are now firmly minted in the lexicon of synth/future-pop that I love so much.

 

9. Korn (NR)
Top Track: Divine and Lets Do This Now (T985)

Korn return after taking a year off from the most played artist list (#33 in '20). The band seems to be working on new material, but of course it's their first 5 albums that do the most damage for me year in and year out. I'd say T985 is easily the least amount of single plays that any top band's song would have.

 

8. Slipknot (NR)
Top Track: The Nameless (T507)

Slipknot had just 1 stream more than Korn, making me feel like I was back in high school all over again. Interestingly, I spent the most time with both artists in the two months that I was sidelined from knee surgery. Both bands also are hinting at new material in the coming year, although I was rather disappointed by the last Slipknot offering. We'll see, we'll see...

 

7. Rammstein (NR)
Top Track: Hilf Mir and Mein Herz Brennt (T507)

R+ tumbled back to 57 last year but returned strong on the promise of playing live in the US... only to have that show postponed twice (and again for '22).  I am absolutely certain that they will make it on the '22 list of most played artists if they actually do finally play that show - the anticipation is driving me crazy!

 

6. Sam Cooke (12)
Top Track: (What A) Wonderful World (14)

The Man Who Invented Soul jumped way up in '21 on the strength of six different songs in the top 100, plateauing with Wonderful World making the Most Played list for the third consecutive year. There's never a bad time for Sam.

 

5. Trans-Siberian Orchestra (25)
Top Track: Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24 (T135)

I told myself at the beginning of 2021 that if we were gonna keep riding with facemasks and COVID protocols, I was just gonna keep listening to TSO. And so I did. 5 songs with double digit plays and 12 with at least five streams. Something about their music, more than Christmas or anything else brings me peace. 

 

4. Anberlin (4)
Top Track: Time and Confusion (T135)

I think if you know me at all you know who the next three bands will be as well. Anberlin has been 7, 3, 3 and now 4 since I started tracking my plays, and even without new releases they aren't showing a sign of slowing down. Also, they might have a new release next year. Watch out!

 

3. Assemblage 23 (4)
Top Track: Endure (16)

Here's the big jump - A23 had almost three times as many streams as Eagles, and a hearty 76 more than Anberlin. A23 rode their new record Mourn back to #3 after landing at 4 the last two years. I honestly thought they'd crack the top 2, with Endure (16) and Factory (20) breaking the Top 30 and 4 others in the top 200. Mourn is just so darn good, but some things are inevitable in life.

 

2. VNV Nation (1)
Top Track: The Farthest Star (7)

Despite having The Farthest Star (7), Only Satellites (24), Arena (34) and Illusion (35) in the Top 50 (and two more in the top 100) VNV moved back to the 2nd spot on the most played list. Their list was more top-heavy, although they had 20 different songs that were played at least 5 times.

 

1. Cold (2)
Top Track: Cure My Tragedy (4)

Cold didn't just take back the #1 spot, they ran away with it, Secretariat style. Cold had 22 different songs with at least 10 plays, hell they had 56 different songs that had 5 plays. If all 56 of those had only 5 plays, that'd be 280 streams, which would put those songs specifically at #4. Yeah, it was a helluva year for the Jacksonville boys as I had the chance to see them live once again and meet up with singer Scooter Ward for the first time in almost a decade.

For reference, Cold accounted for just barely under 2% of all songs played last year. VNV was 1.065%, which is still a respectable amount but nobody was touching Cold this year. As for artists who didn't make it...

Key: LY. Artist (TY)

22. Rush (60)
20. The Birthday Massacre (61)
19. The Four Tops (29)
16. Audioslave (32)
15. Mesh (48)
14. Rich Mullins (118)
11. Chris Cornell (37)
8. George Carlin (397)
7. Five Iron Frenzy (28)
5. Evanescence (26)

Evanescence just missed by 1 play, while FIF only had 4 less than Eagles in spite of releasing their first record in almost a decade. I didn't expect George to be back this year, and I kind of anticipated Rich Mullins to slide a little as well. The Birthday Massacre have new music coming soon, but I don't think we'll see Mesh on the list until they finally record again. 

As usual, a huge shoutout to Last.FM and the good folks over at The Universal Scrobbler for making this list possible every year. The overwhelming majority of my plays come from Spotify, with a small chunk of Pandora, YouTube and of course TuneIn. Viva musica!!

 

 

Jester One 2021 - 30 Most Played

2021, the return of life as a somewhat normal concept... except for the last two months, and the mid-year surgery switch-up. Actually, there was nothing normal about this year at all, but the newer music was definitely on a better level. With that being said, let's jump right into the numbers.

2021 saw 32,752 individual scrobbles come from 13,778 songs, meaning each song averaged 2.377 streams each. I know, that doesn't equate to anything because 5088 of them had at least 2, so the other 8690 had just one. Imagine that, listening to 8690 songs just once and never even knowing. Lol. 

Each song back to back would also equal 97 days, 12 hours and change, and I played on average 90 songs per day. That of course doesn't include what I hear on the radio or what was playing in places that I went... this is just the stuff that came directly from me. Wildness.

Let's do this.

 

Key: #TY. Artist - Song (Last year's ranking)

 

30. '68 - Bad Bite (new)

The first of many new songs, Bad Bite ended the year at #7 on the Top 20 Countdown, coming in like a storm and carrying me through the year with handclaps and a call of "yeah yeah yeah yeah". 

29. Romy - Lifetime (new)

Lifetime finished the year at #12 on the Countdown, but it started the year making me wonder if it wasn't destined to be the top dog. This is one of those songs that burns hard and fast, and then fades away, only to be remembered in fondness for its brief run.

28. Five for Fighting - Superman (NR)

In times of sadness and great self-loathing, Superman always finds its place. It's a karaoke favorite as well, and even with the lack of karaoke it snuck up on this year as I struggled through the early months of winter.

 

27. Gerry & the Pacemakers - Ferry Cross the Mersey (NR)

This song was a favorite from my boss at my last job, and it translated perfectly into an atmosphere where I played oldies all day. It really is a wonderful and pleasant song that is fun to sing along without being overly energetic.  

26. Echo Image - Walk My Mind (new)

Similar to Romy and Lifetime, this song jumped out to a quick start when released and waned over the year. I don't think this one will disappear, since I fully expect a new Echo Image release in 2022.

25. Alvvays - In Undertow (7)

This song makes me happy, sad, and everything in between. It's a mood song for all moods, and so it returns for a third consecutive year to the Most Played. I wonder where it would have landed in the Top 20 Countdown if I had known about it at the time.

 

24. VNV Nation - Only Satellites (9)

3 years since its release, Only Satellites continues to eat up plays. VNV Nation upended Cold last year to take the top spot on the Top 25 Artists list, and we'll see if they can regain that spot again tomorrow.

 

23. OOMPH! - Tausend neue Lügen (NR) 

OOMPH! was a wonderful revelation last year, after being a band I occasionally listened to for several years. Honestly, it was Tausend neue Lugen (and Wahrheit Oder Pflicht, the album it was from)  that really got me hooked into them. They have new music in the works for '22, although it might be with a new singer.

 

22. Meryl Creep - Spiraling (new)

The downside for a band as new as Meryl Creep is that they only have 3 songs streaming. But man, they are some bombs. You probably won't see them on the most played artists because of that, but this is an absolute JAM and I expect more big things from them in 2022.

 

21. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (5)

Can't knock this one out, since that synth line is as good today as it was when the song was released 40 years ago. There's a reason why it was the 2nd biggest hit of the entire decade.

 

20. Assemblage 23 - Factory (new)

The question coming into 2021 was which song off of the new A23 record (Mourn) would latch with me. As it stands, 3 of the top 4 songs from the year were from the album, with Factory leading the way ahead of Dissonance and Could've. I'm fairly sure that A23 will be one of the top artists this year because of that record.

 

19. Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy's Song (Victoria Mix by VNV Nation) (NR)

After being just outside the last 3 years, I found a renewed appreciation for Apop this spring and it catapulted their ultimate track to the #19 spot this year. It really is a majestic bop, and worth every second even at 7:42.

 

18. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - The Tracks of My Tears (27)

Any time someone compliments me as a singer, I tell them that I only wish I could be as good as Smokey. He had a handful that are in rotation for me, but nothing tops the lyrical masterpiece of this one.

 

17. Gang of Youths - The Angel of 8th Ave. (new)

 The speed that this song gained steam over the summer was somewhat startling (okay, enough alliteration), propelling it to the #6 position in the Top 20 Countdown. I'm really excited to see where Gang of Youths goes from here, especially since I didn't even know about them before this spring.

 

16. Assemblage 23 - Endure (23)

The top A23 track of the year is once again Endure, the only instrumental offering in the most played list. In fact, it probably has at least 3 times as many scrobbles as the next most played instrumental. That's just not my style of music, but this one helps build me up when I need it most.

 

15. Wings - Band on the Run (NR)

Such a ridiculous mesh of two songs - I don't know what gave Paul McCartney the idea, but the lead guitar riffs and orchestral pieces are just incredible together.

 

14. Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World (14)

Ah, nice of somebody to end up at the same place they did before, with just 3 less streams than in '20. Three years running this song has been one of the biggest dawgs, and I don't see it slowing down any time soon.

 

13. Nightbirde - It's OK (NR)

This song came on hard at the end of 2020 and carried that momentum all the way up the list this year. Nightbirde blew up this summer on America's Got Talent and was poised to win the entire thing before cancer treatmens derailed another year for her. I don't love her writing style, or particularly her voice, but this song speaks to my heart and soul.

 

12. Manchester Orchestra - Bed Head (new)

The best M/O song I've ever heard would come from their most boring record ever, wouldn't it? Almost seems ridiculous, but this entire song pulses through me any time I hear it. I love songs about ghosts and things of that ilk.

 

11. Fleetwood Mac - Say You Love Me (NR)

I honestly thought this song would be higher up on the year end list, but 11 isn't too shabby. Fleetwood Mac is always an intriguing one for me, because I love Christine McVie but can't stand Stevie Nicks. Take that for what you will, but the harmony on this song is next level. 

 

10. Acceptance - At The Edge of The Earth (new)

Band I don't care for? Check. Album with not a whole lot to offer? Check. #3 on the year end list? Obviously. Lol. What a ridiculous set of circumstances. I spent more time singing this song than I did listening to it, I think.

 

9. A Tiger Made of Lightning - Little Birds (new)

Talk about a bingeworthy song - it seems like any time I'd listen to it once, I'd have to listen to it twice more. #4 on the year end Countdown. Like Meryl Creep, I am super excited for future ATMoL recordings.

 

8. The Birthday Massacre - The Neverending Story (new)

Unlike the two before it, I never really binged on this song, it just kept coming up in playlists and I just kept playing it. #11 on the Top 20, it's worth nothing that I don't even care for the original version of this song.

 

7. VNV Nation - The Farthest Star (17)

Another year, and another strong showing for The Farthest Star. 7, 9, 17, 7. That's quite a 4 year run for a song.

6. Eagles - Take It Easy (NR)

I felt like I listened to this one a similar amount to last year, but in looking back it was T98 in '20. For as much as I listen to Eagles, I figured they'd be somewhere on a list in the past 4 years, but this was the first.

 

5. Teenage Wrist - The Earth is a Black Hole (new)

The first TW song to capture my fascination, I almost thought this was going to be on the year end Countdown. But another took its spot.

 

4. Cold - Cure My Tragedy (NR)

Cure My Tragedy is usually the top streamed Cold song, and as the band resumed touring this year I was splurging on their previous recordings year round. #4 is a helluva jump, but this song finished several streams behind the next.

 

3. The Struts - Another Hit of Showmanship (ft Albert Hammond Jr.) (new)

The summer jam of jams, with a beautiful opening riff and deceptively depressing lyrics. By the end of the year I knew this was going to be the runner up in the Top 20 Countdown, but I was still waiting to see where it ended on Most Played.

 

2. Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down (1)

After running away with the '20 Most Played, IWBD almost eked out a second consecutive championship, and is already getting plays in the new year. It's just unstoppable at this point in my life.  

 

1. Teenage Wrist - Taste of Gasoline (new)

As the year progressed, this song continued to gain momentum before dominating the last few months of 2021. The fact that I essentially stopped listening to other TW songs because I loved this one so much speaks volumes to its dominance. It's an amazing track and takes home of the double of Most Played and crown spot on the Top 20.

There were 13 new songs and 9 that were not ranked last year, which means 22 new songs on the list from last year. Here are those that didn't make

Key: LY. Artist - Title (TY)

30. Eddie Cochrane - Summertime Blues (38)
29. TRVSS - All The Bugs (live) (T182)
28. The Broken Relics - Where The Creatures Roam (T80)
26. Forever Unknown - Bury Me (T1601)
25. Wilson Phillips - Hold On (T182)
24. When in Rome - The Promise (T247)
22. The Wild Wild - Alright (T182)
21. Sixpence None The Richer - Sister, Mother (T348)
20. Roxette - Silver Blue (T410)
19. Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy (T52)
18. Ghost - Dance Macabre (T182)
16. VNV Nation - Carry You (T290)
15. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Learning To Fly (T135)
13. Empathy Test - Monsters (T182)
12. Crowded House - Something So Strong (T52)
11. White Reaper - Real Long Time (T2128)
10. King Princess - Ohio (T641)
8. Mesh - The Last One Standing (T72)
6. Depeche Mode - Precious (T348)
4. Evanescence - Everywhere (T182)
3. Purity Ring - Stardew (T1601)
2. Lilieae - Level (T3037)

More often than not, it's the new songs that fall the furthest, as you can see with Purity Ring and Lilieae. Mesh falls out after 4 straight years of hanging around the top, while Crowded House in Gin Blossoms continued to stay within the top 100. Sometimes they hang around, but more often than not they're just a part of the history of the year and need some time to be remembered properly. 

A huge massive thanks to the good folks at Last.FM for allowing me to keep track of these and edit/splurge the numbers as needed. Tomorrow I will post the Top 25 Artists of 2021!