Spring 2023 New Music Playlist

 Listen on Spotify, enjoy!

1. "The Fringe" – Cheekface

2. "Back 2 It" – Teen Daze
3. "Weightless" – Arlo Parks
4. "Zephyr" – TOBACCO

5. "Wrong Side" – Tourist Activities
6. "Unholy Appetite" – Barrie
7. "Wings of Time" – Tame Impala
8. "Gold" – Ivan & Alyosha
9. "Thinking About You" – Beck
10. "Goodbye to Music" – Flyying Colours
11. "My Love is Like" – Maps
12. "Night Fell" – Hibou
13. "Echolalia" – Yves Tumor

14. "That Life" – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
15. "Love in the Void" – Hammock
16. "amb23 -3" – Moby

Winter 2023 New Music Playlist

 

Listen on Spotify, enjoy!

1. "ILYSM"  –  Wild Pink

2. "new body rhumba" – LCD Soundsystem

3. "This is Not Our World" – Moby, Indochine

4. "Another One" – Scott McMicken and the Ever-Expanding

5. "From the Hill" – Nation of Language

6. "Oceans Niagra" – M83

7. "Really Really Light" – The New Pornographers

8. "Fallout" – Yo La Teno

9. "Tropic Morning News" – The National

10. "Gamma Rays" – Temples

11. "We Never Went Away" – Ladytron

12. "Enjoy Your Life" – Famingosis

13. "Just Before the Morning" – Local Natives

14. "Weird Goodbyes" – The National, Bon Iver

15. "I Would If I Could" – Daniel Avery

16. "Future Falling" – The Album Leaf

Top 20+ Songs of 2020

Another round up with my fave songs of the year – the music that kept me somewhat sane during a very trying year – listed not by preference but how best to order them.  Listen as a Spotify playlist here. 

1. "Friday" – Real Estate

2. "You're Not Alone" – Semisonic

3. "Through the Trees" – Phantom Planet

4. "Become a Mountain" – Dan Deacon

5. "Is it True" – Tame Impala

6. "Cut it Loose" – Maxband

7. "Olympik" – EOB

8. "Love Is the King" – Jeff Tweedy

9. "The Great Divide" – The Shins

10. "Fear of Heights" – Wye Oak

11. "For Sure" – Future Islands

12. "Too Late" – Washed Out

13. "One More Second" – Matt Berninger

14. "You and I" – Caribou

15. "Videostores" – Quivers

16. "Wildfires" – SAULT

17. "Prisoners" – Doves

18. "Dear Stranger" – STRFKR

19. "Feel You" – My Morning Jacket

20. "Will You Return/When You Come Down" – The Flaming Lips

21. "All Visible Objects" – Moby

Top Ten Releases of 2020 – Plus Others Worthy of a Listen

Here's my list of the Top 10 Albums of 2020 – check them out on Spotify 

at the link here.

And this year my Fave Albums of 2020 playlist is almost 40 hours long, as I added new music worth a listen before choosing just ten. So in no particular order, here you go!

1. Tame Impala, The Slow Rush
2. Dan Deacon, Mystic Familiar
3. Caribou, Suddenly
4. Real Estate, The Main Thing
5. EOB, Earth
6. Doves, The Universal Want
7. Future Islands, As Long As You Are
8. Matt Berninger, Serpentine Prison
9. Jeff Tweedy, Love is the King
10. Moby, All Visible Objects

Late Summer 2020 New Music Playlist

Listen on Spotify, enjoy!

1. "You're Not Alone" – Semisonic

2. "Through the Trees" – Phantom Planet

3. "Carousels" – Doves

4. "For Sure" – Future Islands

5. "No Distraction" Khruangbin Remix – Beck, Khruangbin

6. "Idaho" – Slow Pulp

7. "Wildfires" – SAULT

8. "Feel You" – My Morning Jacket

9. "Distant Axis" – Matt Berninger

10. "Ordinary Guy (featuring the Mattson 2)" – Toro Y Moi, The Mattson 2

11. "To R." – Father John Misty

12. "Love is All We Share" – Cut Copy

13. "Surreal" – Dan Croll

14. "All Visable Objects" – Moby

15. Will You Return/When You Come Down" – The Flaming Lips

16. "America" – Sufjan Stevens

Top Ten Releases of the Decade 2010-2019 – Plus Others Worthy of a Listen

Here's my list of the Top 10 Albums of the past decade plus a few Honorable Mentions – music loved from front to back and listened to in full many times. Check them out on Spotify at the link here if you missed any! And yes I do love my veteran indie bands, no excuses needed.

In no particular order...

1. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
2. Arcade Fire, Reflektor
3. Arcade Fire, Everything Now
4. Spoon, Transference
5. Spoon, They Want My Soul
6. Spoon, Hot Thoughts
7. LCD Soundsystem, This is Happening
8. LCD Soundsystem, american dream
9. The National, High Violet
10. MGMT, Congratulations

Honorable Mention:
Gorillaz, Plastic Beach
Okkervil River, The Silver Gymnasium
The Walkmen, Heaven
Moby, Innocents

Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2019

Filled completely with songs from the past year! Give a  listen to my Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2019 on Spotify here.  

For further inspiration, visit my posts from past years: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

1. "Ordinary Pleasure" – Toro y Moi
2. "Hunnybee" – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
3. "The Only Thing We Know" – Bob Moses
4. "Magnetism" – Vacationer
5. "I Dreamt We Spoke Again" – Death Cab for Cutie
6. "Lifer" – Wye Oak
7. "Heart Killer" – Dr. Dog
8. "Feel the Love Go" – Franz Ferdinand
9. "Human Being Song" – Okkervil River
10. "Falling Rain and Light" – Moby
11. "Lady and Man" – Khruangbin
12. "Trouble Letting Go" – Avett Brothers
13. "Echo" – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
14. "Taste" – Rhye
15. "Love Letters" – DeVotchKa
16. "The One To Wait" – CCFX
17. "Maryam" – The Album Leaf

Top 20+ Songs of 2018 with Spotify Playlist

Another round up with my fave songs of 2018 listed not by preference but how best to order them for the optimal listening experience – although I have to admit that David Byrne's "Everybody's Coming To My House" has to be my #1(along with the euphoric concert experience of seeing him in non-stop motion with band members at Forest Hills in September during his American Utopia tour.) Here's to the year that was and the one that will be!  Listen as a Spotify playlist here.

1. "Everybody's Coming To My House" – David Byrne
2. "Humility (featuring George Benson)" – Gorillaz
3. "Magnetism" – Vacationer
4. "Wide Awake" – Parquet Courts
5. "Once In My Life" – The Decemberists
6. "It's Late" – A Beacon School
7. "Buzzing In the Light" – Dr. Dog
8. "A Perfect Miracle" – Spiritualized
9. "The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs" – Wye Oak
10. "Don't Move Back To LA" – Okkervil River
11. "Wait By the River" – Lord Huron
12. "The Ceremony of Innocence" – Moby
13. "Forgive" – Roosevelt, Washed Out
14. "Gotta Run" – Lea Porcelain
15. "Hand It Over" – MGMT
16. "Music Snob" – De Lux
17. "Echo" – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
18. "Where Your Mind Wants to Go (featuring Ludovico Einaudi)" – Blonde Redhead
19. "Lemon Glow" – Beach House
20. "The One To Wait" – CCFX
21. "The Deconstruction" – Eels
22. "More" – Jamison Isaak

Top Ten Releases of 2018 – Plus Others Worthy of a Listen

Here's my list of the Top 10 Albums of 2018 – check them out on Spotify at the link here if you missed any, it'll be well worth your ears.

Also, I have a playlist of releases that came along during the year that I needed to revisit again and again. It's 27+ hours long (yes I still spend most of my day listening to new music) but fun to review! Fave Albums of 2018

In no particular order beyond providing the best segue for the playlist...

1. Wye Oak, The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs
2. Death Cab for Cutie, Thank You for Today
3. Okkervil River, In the Rainbow Rain
4. Dr. Dog, Critical Equation
5. The Decemberists, I'll Be Your Girl
6. Gorillaz, The Now Now
7. Moby, Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt
8. A Beacon School, Cola
9. De Lux, More Disco Songs About Love
10. Phosphorescent, C'est La Vie

Spring 2018 New Music Playlist

Listen on Spotify or as a YouTube Playlist (except "Find a Way to Keep Me" by Field Music and bonus tracks "Shades of Blue," "You Are Here," and "She May She Might" by Yo La Tengo).

1. "Always Ascending" – Franz Ferdinand
2. "The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs" – Wye Oak
3. "Out of the Pool" – Yo La Tengo
4. "Lemon Glow" – Beach House
5. "Don't Move Back to L.A."  – Okkervil River
6. "Under the Wheels" – Calexico
7. "This Is That" – David Byrne
8. "Mr. Tillman" – Father John Misty
9. "Wait By the River" – Lord Huron
10. "Algernon" – A Beacon School
11. "Leave It In My Dreams" – The Voidz
12. "Runnin'" – Wajatta
13. "The Ceremony of Innocence" – Moby
14. "Emerald Rush" – Jon Hopkins
15. "Find a Way to Keep Me" – Field Music
16. " More" – Jamison Isaak

Here's to 2018 – New Releases Ahead by Favorite Bands (David Byrne, Franz Ferdinand, Moby & more)

What a difference a year makes... I combed through the lists of upcoming releases looking for reasons to be hopeful about 2018 and found just a few: Moby, Franz Ferdinand plus all those unreleased tracks by the Gorillaz promised ahead. Then yesterday one of my top musical heroes David Byrne not only announced a new album in 14 years (!) American Utopia but he also gave a talk in NYC entitled "Reasons to Be Cheerful." I tuned into the online stream (archived on Facebook and YouTube), hanging on every word from this wise and witty shaman. Byrne espoused about his latest project, Contemporary Colors, along with answers to world problems large and small. His talk was set to carefully chosen, although some completely random, visuals just like those at groundbreaking concerts as frontman for The Talking Heads. 

Check out the first single from the album "Everybody's Coming to My House" via the video below with fitting artwork of the artist by Doug Henders. This tune produced by longtime pal Brian Eno features danceable beats, poetic lyrics – stream of consciousness, about ordinary but which say much more – and those unmistakable vocals that have been copied, but never exactly replicated. As if 2017 wasn't awesome enough musically with a new album (after many years) from another all time fave band LCD Soundsystem, with this new music on repeat for my ears I am not only cheerful, but one extremely happy music fan. It's simply the same as it ever was!

UPCOMING NEW RELEASES IN 2018:
January 19 – De Lux, More Disco Songs About Love (Innovative Leisure)
January 19 – The Go! Team, Semicircle (Memphis Industries)
January 26 – Django Django, Marble Skies (Ribbon Music)
January 26 – Calexico, The Thread That Keeps Us (Anti-Records) 
February 9 – Franz Ferdinand, Always Ascending (Domino)
February 9 – MGMT, Little Dark Age (Columbia)
March 2 – Moby, Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt (Mute)
March 9 – David Byrne, American Utopia (Todomundo/Nonesuch Records)
March 9 – of Montreal, White is Relic/Irrealis Mood
March 16 – Yo La Tengo, There's a Riot Going On (Matador Records)
March 16 – The Decemberists, I'll Be Your Girl (Columbia)
April 6 – Wye Oak, The Louder I call, The Faster It Runs (Merge)
April 27 – Dr. Dog, Critical Equation (Thirty Tigers)
April 27 – Okkervil River, Rainbow Rain (ATO) 
Gorillaz – TBD
Arctic Monkeys – TBD
Vampire Weekend  – TBD

Fall 2016 New Music Playlist

Here’s my latest listening session with a nice mix of new and established bands to update any music collection. Listen to newcomers Lo Moon, DeClan McKenna and Geowulf while checking out the latest from indie mainstays of Montreal, STRFKR, and Death Cab for Cutie. Plus returning veterans Grandaddy, The Avalanches and The Flaming Lips have all been busy in the studio, releasing songs to eager fans. All that and more on Spotify or as a YouTube playlist.

1. “Ladies Don’t Play Guitar” – Tennis

Denver couple Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore are working on their fourth album as the indie pop duo Tennis since 2010, releasing this saucy teaser single of self-empowerment. With her tongue planted firmly in her cheek, Moore’s sultry singing rips lyrically into preconceived notions of women musicians.

2. “Colours” – The Avalanches

Aussie electronic band The Avalanches just released its first album in sixteen years, Wildflower, with only two original members (Robbie Chater and Tony DiBlasi) since the group was formed in 1997.  “Colours” features honeyed vocals by Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue who also receives a songwriting credit for the mesmerizing tune.

3. “let’s relate” – of Montreal

Athens experimental pop group of Montreal, formed by Kevin Barnes in 1996, recently released its fourteenth studio album, Innocence Reaches. The tune “let’s relate” boasts EDM-inspired sounds embedded in the band’s psych rock leanings.

4. “Saltwater” – Geowulf

New beach pop duo Geowulf is the combination of Star Kendrick and Toma, who moved from their native Australia to London with sun drenched music in tow.  The dreamy single “Saltwater” is already making waves on the music scene, with plans for a full release soon.

5. “New Song” – Warpaint

L.A. indie gal group Warpaint released a third studio album since 2004, Heads Up. The single “New Song” led the way with the band’s signature combo of dream pop and psych rock.

6. “Tape Machine” – STRFKR

Portland’s indie rockers STRFKR released “Tape Machine” as the single for its fifth album, Being No One, Going Nowhere. Originally a solo project by Joshua Hodges in 2007, the band’s danceable electronica credo remains strong in this quirky new tune.

7. “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?” – Moby, The Void Pacific Choir

Moby indulges his rave dance party side with “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?”  It is off the electronic titan's thirteenth studio album (but his first with new musical project The Void Pacific Choir) called These Systems are Failing.

8. “Million Dollar Loan” – Death Cab for Cutie

“Million Dollar Loan” is the first song in the “30 Days 30 Songs” venture by writer Dave Eggers with new music written and recorded by artists for a Trump-Free America.  Death Cab for Cutie’s trademark sound sweetly intones the campaign moment when Trump referred to receiving such a loan from his father.

9. “Isobard” – Declan McKenna

Young English singer/songwriter Declan McKenna became a buzz-worthy artist at this year’s SXSW on the strength of his debut EP Liar, and just released this soaring single “Isobard.” McKenna is a talented musician with charismatic voice who usually performs all his own instruments.

10. “Way We Won’t” ­– Grandaddy

Californian indie rock masters Grandaddy are back after a hiatus with new material after four studio albums from 1992 to 2006. “Way We Won’t” is the endearing single to announce the end of the band’s decade-long absence.

11. “Modern Act” – Cloud Nothings

Cleveland singer/songwriter Dylan Baldi founded the band Cloud Nothings in 2009 and will soon release a fifth album, Life Without Sound.  The confident single “Modern Act” offers a glimpse of the new collection.

12. “Certainty” – Temples

English psych rock quartet Temples recently dropped this catchy single “Certainty,” which will be part of the follow-up album to the band’s debut in 2014. 

13. “Some Sunsick Day” – Morgan Delt

L.A. musician Morgan Delt creates gauzy tunes with a home-fi approach in his second album, Phase Zero, as evident in the closer “Some Sunsick Day.”

13. “The Castle” – The Flaming Lips

Oklahoma City’s veteran psych rockers The Flaming Lips announced that its sixteenth studio album since 1983 will drop in January 2017; it is titled Oczy Mlody (a rough translation of a Polish expression meaning eyes of the young).  Until then, this single “The Castle” provides fans something new with frontman Wayne Coyne’s floating plaintive vocals.

14. “Loveless” – Lo Moon

“Loveless” is the single debut by new L.A. band Lo Moon, a seven-minute meditation with synths and wafting vocals.

15. “Ambo”­ – The Album Leaf

What once was the solo music project of San Diego’s Jimmy LaValle since 1998, The Album Leaf is now a live quartet performing music from a sixth full-length album, Between Waves. The chill intentions remain mostly intact, as in the lilting tune “Ambo.”