Another year out of the way, and it’s looking like my Soundcloud playlist is significantly smaller than it has been in previous years. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come. Although recent adverts on the service have been bothering me enough to turn it off occasionally. I’ve signed up for a 3 month trial of Spotify so no more ads there but it’s just not the place you find random offcuts and interesting odds and ends.

I’ve kicked this list off with Party Favor, because while Baywatch may have been dumb it had some great catchy summer tunes. Because I really don’t want you to miss out on this one 8bit track I’ve chucked at #2. It’s a lot of fun and will have you tapping along.

The playlist eventually mellows out to more ambient stuff before concluding with Zelda. Because if anything, this was the year of Zelda. It won a ton of awards and will forever have a place in my heart. Matt bought us a Switch as a wedding gift, and we spent a hefty chunk of our honeymoon discovering the world of Breath of the Wild. So whenever I hear music from that game, even the small plunks on the piano, it takes me right back to relaxing for weeks on Waiheke Island with my new wife.