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Year In ReView: 16 of our most favorite Boston songs of 2016

Choosing our favorite 16 Boston songs of the year is like choosing your favorite child -- if you were the Duggars or some other family with a few hundred kids. While mainstream pop continued to die a slow painful death, it was another bang-up year of music coming out of the isolated Boston music scene. What we have in our region are legions of musicians making music on their terms and their own way, and the result is a fantastically eclectic batch of new tunes that proved this year was one of the best around town. The selections below, listen alphabetically, aren't any sort of ultimate Best Of, though they do reflect what we've enjoyed the most, what we've hyped on these digital pages, and what we had spun on VanyaRadio. If you read this website on the regular, you should be quite familiar; if not, then dive in and hear something new and exciting.

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Lady Pills, “Irrelevant”

As we recently touched on in Civic’s cheery holiday downer “Paper Snowflakes”, erasing toxic masculinity from society is a vital cause. Back in June, Boston trio Lady Pills — who played our SXSW party in March, then performed at Boston Calling in May — took up the issue in “Irrelevant,” the first single off their debut album, Despite. The riffy, buzzy “Irrelevant” showcases Lady Pills knack for harmony and hooks, all packaged not-so-neatly within a coat of noise and fuzz. And the song provides a proper gateway to the LP. Vocalist/guitarist Ella Boissonnault notes that “Irrelevant” is “about separating yourself from someone who’s toxic in your life, and that once you discover all the powers within yourself nothing can stop you. Leave behind all the bullshit and go into the future with yourself and all that you’re capable of.” Add that to previous entries on this list, and we’re sensing a trend: In 2016, the tolerance for bullshit is at an all-time low.

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