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Paul’s Favorites of 2019

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So here we are again at the end of another year.  While I have not been very active in the blogosphere this year, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been listening to music and taking notes!  So, just under the wire, here are my favorites of 2019.

10. Vampire Weekend – This Life

The type of song that can  make you feel like the suns shining and the bird are singing, even if you’re in the middle of a cold foggy rainstorm.

 

9.  Nilufer Yanya – In Your Head

Heard this song on a new music playlist and it grabbed me from the first riff.  Can’t really tell what’s going on in her head, but the song kicks ass.

 

8. Bruce Springsteen – Stones

It took me a while to warm up to Bruce’s latest release, Western Stars, as it was so different from what I would have expected.  But its filled with gorgeous melodies and grand arrangements, and as we have come to expect from Bruce, brilliant characters.  This was one of my favorites from it.

 

7. Amanda Palmer – The Ride

A perfect song for a Sunday morning – a tour de force performance that tells you everything you need to know about this ride called life.  Favorite lyric:

Everyone’s trying to stay on the side where the water’s just boiling more slowly
Frogs in a pot, well that’s one thing I’ve got
At least some of the frogs in here know me

 

6. Better Oblivion Community Center – Dylan Thomas

This out of the blue paring between Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers is the perfect example of a collaboration that you hope isn’t just a one off.

 

5. Leonard Cohen – Happens to the Heart

I didn’t get into Leonard Cohen til towards the end of his life.  After his death, went back and listened to his catalog and wished I had paid more attention earlier.  This posthumous release is one last gift from this master songwriter.

 

4. The Beths – You Wouldn’t Like Me

I raved about this song back in Feburary, and the feeling never faded.  A great song from a great album which hits one of my wheelhouses – guitar power pop with a female singer.  And for some reason, the Southern Hemisphere (in this case New Zealand) seems to have more than its fair share.

 

3. Martha – Love Keeps Kicking

One of my favorite guitar riffs of the year from England’s punk pop masters Martha.  And the video is a hoot to boot!

 

2. Alex Lahey – Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself

You know what I said a bit earlier about guitar pop, female singer, and the Southern Hemisphere?  Exhibit B from Australia.  I could put this song on an extended replay loop and not get tired of it.

 

1. Little Steven – Superfly Terraplane

It was a great year for one of my favorite artists.  Springsteen’s extended break from E St. Bnd projects has allowed many of the band members the opportunity to pursue their own projects, and Little Steven has taken full advantage.  Releasing his first album of all new material in decades, he also toured extensively with the Disciples of Soul and continued to kill it live – definitely one of my concert highlights this year.

If I was king of the universe, this song would be a massive #1 hit worldwide.  Alas, I’m not but its still my song of the year.

 

Wishing everyone worldwide a Happy New Year!  Looking forward to more great music discovery in 2020!

original content, Paul

New Music Discoveries

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Love Keep Kicking – Martha

I included a song by this band in a January new music post (here), although the song Heart is Healing was actually from 2018, and was a teaser for a forthcoming album.  Well, they have a new single out, Love Keeps Kicking, which is the title track for the album due April 5 on Dirtnap Records.  Like Heart is Healing, Love Keeps Kicking is a smart pop punk song with a catchy as hell guitar line about the travails of love.

You said love keeps kicking the shit out of me and there’s no solution I can see
No happy pill, no drinking bleach, no permanent lobotomy

 

Seventeen – Sharon Van Etten

From her 5th studio album, Remind Me Tomorrow, Seventeen is Sharon Van Etten‘s homage to her old neighborhoods in NYC, and how her favorite haunts have disappeared or permanently changed.  Its also her talking to her seventeen old self, with both nostalgia for the way she used to be, knowledge of what she did right (or not) back then, and conjecture as to how her teenage self would view her adult self.  Much more expansive than her previous work (the addition of synths helps), the song continues to grow on me with every repeated listen.

 

 

Maggie Rogers – Fallingwater

Maggie Rogers is a 24 year old singer/songwriter from the Eastern Shore of MD who incorporates electronica influences into folk song structures.  She first gained some attention a few years ago when Alaska, a composition class song she put together for a masterclass with Pharrel Williams visibly moved him (you can see the video here).  I first saw her when she opened for Mumford & Sons last year here in DC.  Fallingwater is from her debut album Heard It in a Past Life. I love her voice, and also that a 24 year old local is doing her own thing, blazing her own trail into pop music.

 

Killer – Palehound

Palehound is a guitar trio from Boston led by Ellen Kempner on guitar and vocals, Larz Brogan on bass, and Jesse Weiss on drums who formed in 2014.  I heard this song on a NPR Music new music show and was immediately taken by its dark, moody atmospheric feel, the whispering vocals, and the ominous lyrics about protecting your friends whatever it takes (literally).  The guitar line propels the song along, and the lyrics give enough clues for you to know that the man who mistreated the singer’s friend will not have a happy ending.

When you winced and turned your head and wept, that’s when I knew
That it’s not enough to run that dog out of this town
My weapon’s cold in the backseat, hunt that monster down

 

Til next time….

original content, Paul

New Music Discoveries

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2019 is only a few weeks old, but of course there is always new music to discover and share.  Below are a few tracks that I’ve been enjoying recently.

Martha – Heart is Healing

I heard this song on a new music playlist right at the end of the year, as it was released in December  Martha are a power pop/punk band from the UK (from the unusually name town of Pity Me in North East England).  They’ve been around since about 2012 and have put out a couple albums and singles which I definitely want to check out.  Interestingly, there is no designated front person, with all the members taking turns singing lead on different songs.  Just absolutely love the guitar riff in this song!

 

Tallies – Midnight

Tallies are a dream pop band from Toronto that just formed in 2018.  This song is from their self titled debut album just released this past Friday.  It reminds me a bit of early Cranberries and definitely of the Sundays – perhaps its because lead singer Sarah Cogan’s voice reminds me of Harriet Wheeler from the Sundays.

 

Ex Hex – Cosmic Cave

Ex Hex is a all female rock trio from here in the Washington DC area who formed in 2013, although its members have been in a number of both local and national bands for a while before that.  Cosmic Cave is the first single off their forthcoming album Its Real, due in March 2019.  I’ve always loved loud guitars and female vocals, and this is just up my alley.