tiff’s top tunes | cait +tiff

January 1, 2018
by caitandtiff Leave a comment

T / happy new year / tiff’s top tunes 2017

Hi guys hi. This year was a doozy right? If I said 2016 was weird then 2017 was way weirder. I fell off the music wagon. I failed in my personal goal of becoming the Rob Gordon of mp3s. In a nutshell: the patriarchy is still not yet smashed. Reading the news kinda sucked 99% of the time. Have you ever angry-run? Basically, a ton of feelings happened. There as a deep dive in terms of inspo. But I’ve got to check my privilege here: I realized I had a solid community of innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders and all-powerful wonderful people both near and far. Cait is in Cali and things are brewing hard for 2018. The work has continued to flow. I had over 100 photoshoots this year! The quality of my photos and my confidence are going up all the time. I’m still challenging myself. I might have convinced myself that it is totally possible for a East Coast girl like me to move to California. My soul might actually feel comfortable in the Pacific North West. I also discovered that colouring and puzzles are great alternatives to substances that aren’t too good for my liver.

Cut to the chase Tiff.

Basically I woke up this morning. It was 2018. The mistake I made this year was that I didn’t listen to enough music. I had neglected in favour of this, this and this. And I’m completely bent on correcting for that in 2018. So this list isn’t quite exhaustive. I might be a little ashamed about it. There’s a ton of go-girl music, which I am not ashamed about.

And all my favourite covers and remixes from this year here! And lists for 2016, 2015, 2014!

January 2, 2017
by caitandtiff 2 Comments

T / happy monday / top tunes 2016

Photo Credit: Eric Cahan

2016 was weird right? I’ve been making my year end music lists for the past ten years and looking back at the process, it’s always fraught with so many feelings. This year there were so many feelings. Looking back at the year, Lemonade and all the excitement that came with it, feels like it was eons ago. There was an attempted musical movement. David Bowie released one of his best albums, and past away shortly after. We lost so many lions of pop. Why did everything released after July sound like it was auditioning for the Stranger Things soundtrack? And I grew into a curmudgeon thinking that no one had rose up to replace them. But hopefully the little eggs, like Anderson .Paak, will grow up to be icons.

But at least everyone’s soundtracks got better? Magical Cloudz made it into a magical moment in The OA. Have you watched (and listened to) millennial mystery Search Party?

I’m excited for 2017. Because ladies will be marching. From turmoil comes innovation. If 2016 was a moment of pause, then 2017 will be lit on fire. In the meantime, here is everything I had on repeat.

PS – Check out my lists for 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011.

December 22, 2014
by caitandtiff 3 Comments

T / happy monday / top tunes of 2014

Photo Credit: Eric Cahan Sky Series

I’ve been putting out my take on the year’s best jams since…I dunno. Forever. As in Nirvana and audio cassettes were involved. 2014 is no exception, except I’ve moved far from hitting record.

While I wasn’t CRAZY in love with so much of this year’s new tunes, it was still a good year. The Black Keys were a little underwhelming, but Spoon, The New Pornographers and TV on the Radio filled in that gap. In terms of newbies, we got Shamir; and Stromae made his leap over the Atlantic (and into the Mockingjay soundtrack for some serious mainstreaming). We got so much modern soul and sexy with electronic love from Aluna George and FKA Twigs. And of course – there was this little hippy shaking ditty after all. Charli XCX made her big debut this year after teasing us with the funnest EPs and mixtapes over the last couple of years. And some of the best music also snuck in at the end of 2014 (so much gratitude to D’Angelo).

Favourite song this year? I can never pick one. But Sylvan Esso’s Coffee sits up top.

I dig anything that makes my ears happy. The tunes (including remixes) on this list are the ones that elicited some sort of visceral reaction in me and often wound up on repeat for the rest of the year. I can also guarantee that they are definitely not the super-progressive-indie-electronic beats going around these days. I’m getting too old for that.

So without further delay, here are my favourite songs that were released this year, in alphabetical order for fairness. (and lists for faves in 2011, 2012, and 2013). Enjoy your Monday!