Partway through the year Spotify broke at work and, shortly after, Youtube Music appeared along with (likely) rumors that Google Music will be nixed in favor of Youtube Music. So I finally followed through on the work necessary to get Ampache up and running. I also experimented with Funk Whale – an open source attempt to resurrect Groove Shark. Funk Whale had some issues with the version of Firefox we have at work, so I went all-in on Ampache. It’s been really awesome to have access to my entire music collection at work. Hearing my favorite music just gives me such a pick-me-up when the day is wearing at me. Also, it’s great not to have ads interrupting my music listening.

Concert-wise, I went to see I Fight Dragons late in the year and discovered Rare Candy, a group that does rock covers of video game music. I thought about going to see Childish Gambino, but it just didn’t work out with the timing of some personal stuff.  

Artists

A lot of the usual subjects are back, but listening to all my music on random at work via Ampache led to a general concentration of those artists who have produced more tracks.

1. The Beatles (260 listens)

2. I Fight Dragons (190 listens)

3. The PDX Broadsides (177 listens)

4. Lionize (156 listens) – in one exception to the random music listening, I often find that listening to Lionize (particularly Nuclear Soul) can really energize me at work, so sometimes I’ll just put the album on.

5. Childish Gambino (150 listens)

6. Jonathan Coulton (139 listens)

7. Chance the Rapper (126 listens)

8. Cast – Elena of Avalor (123 listens) – Most of these listens come from very early in the year when Scarlett or Stella would ask me to play this album while in the car.

9. Celia Cruz (111 listens)

10. Five Iron Frenzy (111 listens)

11. Janelle Monáe (97 listens) – I really, really think that Dirty Computer is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard.

12. Lana Del Rey (93 listens)

13. Willy Chirino (87 listens)

14. Jim Guthrie (80 listens)

15. Relient K (78 listens)

16. “Weird Al” Yankovic (74 listens)

17. Marian Call (63 listens)

18. Taylor Swift (57 listens)

19. Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (56 listens) – Both this artist and Juan Luis Guerra are surprise entries. I just got these CDs for Christmas a couple weeks ago. But I listen to my music so often on random that just listening to a new CD 4-5 times is enough to make the list.

20. Juan Luis Guerra 4.40 (53  listens)

Albums

1. Lionize — Nuclear Soul (131 listens)

2. Childish Gambino — “Awaken, My Love!” (130 listens) – probably my second favorite album in 2018 after Dirty Computer. (Even if I ended up listening to other albums more during this year)

3. Cast – Elena of Avalor — Elena of Avalor (Original Soundtrack) (128 listens)

4. Chance the Rapper — Coloring Book (101 listens)

5. Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer (97 listens)

6. Jonathan Coulton — Solid State (92 listens)

7. The PDX Broadsides — Trust Issues (73 listens)

8. Lana Del Rey — Lust for Life (62 listens)

9. Celia Cruz — The Absolute Collection Disc 1 (60 listens)

10. Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers — “The Long?Awaited Album” (56 listens)

11. Juan Luis Guerra 4.40 — AsondeGuerra (53 listens)

12. Marian Call — Standing Stones (49 listens)

13. Taylor Swift — reputation (49 listens)

14. Louis Jordan — The Best Of Louis Jordan (47 listens)

15. Brooklynn — Brooklynn (44 listens)

16. Noriko Ogawa — Debussy – 100 Supreme Classical Masterpieces: Rise of the Masters (43 listens)

17. The Beatles — Abbey Road (40 listens)

18. I Fight Dragons — The Near Future (39 listens)

19. Rare Candy — Finally (39 listens)

20. The Beatles — The Beatles (39  listens)

Songs

1. Brooklynn — Mile High (44 listens)

2. The Roots — Water (34 listens)

3. Renee Rosnes — Elephant Dust (31 listens)

4. Paul & Storm — Mother’s Day Song (On-Air Version) (29 listens)

5. Childish Gambino — Me and Your Mama (20 listens)

6. Piers Faccini — Bring Down The Wall (19 listens)

7. Chance the Rapper — Blessings (17 listens)

8. Childish Gambino — Have Some Love (15 listens)

9. Lionize — Election Year (15 listens)

10. Childish Gambino — Baby Boy (14 listens)

11. Childish Gambino — Boogieman (14 listens)

12. Childish Gambino — Redbone (13 listens)

13. Lionize — Ain’t It A Shame (13 listens)

14. Lionize — Face Of Mars (13 listens)

15. Lionize — March Of The Clones (13  listens)

16. Celia Cruz — Gracia Divina (12 listens)

17. Lionize — Darkest Timeline (12 listens)

18. Lionize — Let You Down (12 listens)

19. Lionize — Nuclear Soul (12 listens)

20. The PDX Broadsides — Rocket Science (12  listens)

All-Time Artists

There was some movement around the middle, but so far the top 7 remain at the top. I Fight Dragons might unseat Fall Out Boy, but it’s hard to know for sure since their new album probably won’t drop until late in the year. Additionally, I’m surprised that DC Talk moved up. I never intentionally pick them to listen to, but I guess they just happened to come up a bit more in random music than Gwen Stefani) I’m not sure what’s going to happen to JoCo unless he comes out with a new album. I like the music, but am mostly limited to playing it at work. FIF might knock Anderlin a peg, but it seems that Fantastic Plastic Machine remains firmly entrenched.

1. Fantastic Plastic Machine (3,650 listens) (no change)

2. Anberlin (2,874 listens) (no change)

3. Five Iron Frenzy (2,857 listens) (no change)

4. The Beatles (2,515 listens) (no change)

5. Relient K (2,016 listens) (No change)

6. “Weird Al” Yankovic (1,634 listens) (no change)

7. Fall Out Boy (1,353 listens) (no change)

8. I Fight Dragons (1,256 listens) (up from #9)

9. Gnarls Barkley (1,122 listens) (dropped from #8)

10. Jonathan Coulton (1,021 listens) (up from #11)

11. DC Talk (926 listens) (up from #12)

12. Gwen Stefani (925 listens) (dropped from #10)

13. Tom Lehrer (917 listens) (no change)

14. Andrea Echeverri (899 listens) (no change)

15. Lostprophets (871 listens) (no change)

All-Time Songs

No real changes.

1. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood (116 listens)

2. Jonathan Coulton — The Princess Who Saved Herself (112 listens)

3. Fantastic Plastic Machine — Take Me To The Disco [Malibu Mix] (104 listens)

4. Fantastic Plastic Machine — Steppin’ Out (103 listens)

5. Gnarls Barkley — Who Cares (99 listens)

6. Gnarls Barkley — Just a Thought (93 listens)

7. 4minute — Cut it Out (92 listens)

8. Anberlin — Audrey, Start The Revolution! (87 listens)

9. Gnarls Barkley — The Last Time (86 listens)

10. Andrea Echeverri — Quedate (85 listens)

11. Gnarls Barkley — St. Elsewhere (85 listens)

12. Fantastic Plastic Machine — Love Is Psychedelic (84 listens)

13. Gnarls Barkley — Crazy (83 listens)

14. Gnarls Barkley — Smiley Faces (82 listens)

15. Andrea Echeverri — Amortiguador (81 listens)

Scrobbles at end of 2018: 116,104

Scrobbles in 2018: 9555 (A healthy margin over last year’s 7003)