2016 was a phenomenal year for new music. David Bowie released his final LP, Angel Olsen turned heads with My Woman, Radiohead re-emerged with A Moon Shaped Pool and PJ Harvey returned with The Hope Six Demolition Project. On the local front, we welcomed new releases from Benjamin Witt, Gunns & Nicholas Allbrook – both solo and in collaboration with Rabbit Island. We saw a debut full-length from Koi Child, more singles from Abbe May’s long-awaited Bitchcraft, and new tracks from Childsaint, Ah Trees, Methyl Ethel and The Love Junkies.

Much like last year, we’ve combed through the data detailing everything that’s been played on RTRFM from January 1 to December 31 in 2016, and narrowed down the top played tracks of the year.

RTRFM isn’t playlisted – our radio presenters are given full autonomy to program their shows how they wish. What that means is that this list isn’t dictated from the top-down – it represents a bottom-up consensus from our broadcasters of what music they’ve been digging over the course of 2016.

A number of artists make multiple appearances in the list – Perth outfit Childsaint pop up twice in the top 10, taking out the #1 and #7 spots, as do Dream Rimmy with two tracks tied for #4. Nicholas Allbrook makes the most appearance – twice solo, and once from his Rabbit Island collaboration. David Bowie, Parquet Courts, The Love Junkies, Lucy Peach, PJ Harvey and Split Seconds all make dual appearances too.

You’ll notice the total number of tracks is 52 – an odd number for a countdown – which is owing to several ties for equal number of plays.

A quick breakdown of stats:

• 36 of these 52 tracks (69%)  are from WA artists
• Just 2 are from artists based in other parts of Australia
• 22 of these tracks (42%) are from or fronted by female/female-identifying artists

Stream the full list of tracks at the RTRFM.com.au features page.

RTRFM’S TOP PLAYED TRACKS OF 2016

1. Childsaint – Hallelujah Heartache
2. Angel Olsen – Shut Up Kiss Me
3. Benjamin Witt – Dead Fish
4. Dream Rimmy – Landslide
4. Dream Rimmy – Waves
4. Koi Child – 1-5-9
7. Childsaint – Used Up
8. Lucy Peach – Bomb
9. Car Seat Headrest – Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales
10. Mei Saraswati – Fruits
11. Ah Trees – Team Sports
12. Abbe May – Doomsday Clock
12. Gold Panda – Time Eater
14. ANOHNI – Drone Bomb Me
14. Joni in the Moon – Tarantella
14. Abbe May – Are We Flirting?
17. ANOHNI – 4 Degrees
18. Rabbit Island & Nicholas Allbrook – The Race
18. Verge Collection – Postcodes
20. Em Burrows & The Bearded Rainbow – Paces
20. Fait – Chasing Youth
20. Nicholas Allbrook – Advance
20. Nicholas Allbrook – A Fool There Was
24. David Bowie – Lazarus
24. Parquet Courts – Berlin Got Blurry
24. Spaceman – Grains Of Sand
27. Jenny Hval – Female Vampire
27. Lucy Peach – Be So Good
29. No Zu – Spirit Beat
29. Parquet Courts– Dust
31. The Love Junkies – I Had A Party Once
31. PJ Harvey – The Community Of Hope
31. Pikelet – Interface Dystopia
34. Dennis Cometti – Goon And Juice
34. Gunns – She’s A Rainbow
34. The Stone Roses – All For One
34. Tame Impala – Let It Happen
34. Usurper Of Modern Medicine – Ego War
39. Heebiejeebies – The Price On Your Head
39. KUČKA – Unconditional
39. Radiohead – Daydreaming
39. Mathas – Bravo Troll
39. Mt. Mountain – Freida
39. PJ Harvey – The Wheel
39. Split Seconds – Any Minute Now
39. Split Seconds – Relocation Blues
47. David Bowie – Blackstar
47. Lone – Vapour Trail
47. The Love Junkies – Nobody
47. Lower Spectrum – Masquerade
47. Methyl Ethel – No. 28
47. Pond – Sweep Me Off My Feet

On SoundCloud:

And on Spotify:

Huge thanks to Benji Ramsay, Gareth Lowe, Adam Christou, Daniel Midgley and Taylah Strano for their help combing through mountains of data and assembling this list.

Huge thanks to Corey Hines for the header artwork.