Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2023

This year I was able to create the entire Romantic Songs Playlist 2023 from heartfelt tunes released in the past year! Give a  listen on Spotify here.  

For further inspiration, visit my posts from past years at the links here: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

1. "My Babe" – Spoon
2. "ILYSM" – Wild Pink

3. "In Need of Repair" – Band of Horses

4. "Just Before the Morning" – Local Natives

5. "Enjoy Your Life" – Flamingosis

6. "Everything Is Simple" – Widowspeak

7. "Your Love" – Tourist

8. "Shooting Stars" – Woolfy

9. "Mahi Mahi" – Moonfish, Maria Chiara Argirò, Riccardo Chiaberta

10. "Days" – Real Estate

11. "Desert Snow" – Local Natives

12. "Your Other Life" – Lord Huron

13. "Who Put You Up To This?" – Sunflower Bean

14. "Only You Know" – Beach House

15. "Light of Day" – ODESZA, Ólafur Arnalds

16. "Call Me Home" – SASAMI

17. "Thinking About You" – Beck

18. "My Love is Like" – Maps

18. "Love in the Void" – Hammock

Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2022

As always, filled mostly with songs from the past year with a few oldies that still make my heart sing. Give a  listen to my Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2022 on Spotify here.  

For further inspiration, visit my posts from the past TEN years (!) at the links here: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

1. "Sonnet" – The Verve
2. "Save Me" – Remy Zero

3. "This House is on Fire" – Broken Social Scene

4. "Dreaming of U" – Oberhofer

5. "Superstar" – Beach House

6. "Six Words" – Elbow

7. "About U" – Roosevelt

8. "Satellite" – Spoon

9. "For Every Voice that Never Sang" – Kashi Bashi

10. "The Last Man on Earth" – Wolf Alice

11. "Soft Spot" – Claud

12. "Island Hopping" – Monster Rally

13. "How it Ends" – DeVotchKa

14. "Nothing But Ashes" – Röyksopp

15. "Touch Returned (ii)" – Eluvium

Winter 2022 New Music Playlist

  Listen on Spotify, enjoy!

1. "It's Good to be Back" – Metronomy

2. "Moment Feed" – Land of Talk

3. "The House is on Fire" – Broken Social Scene

4. "Days" – Real Estate

5. "Wild" – Spoon

6. "The Ladder" – Röyksopp

7. "Mahi Mahi" – Moonfish, Maria Chiara Argirò, Ricardo Chiaberta

8. "All My Times is Wasted" – Hanna Jadagu

9. "In Need of Repair" – Band of Horses

10. "Shooting Stars" – Woolfy

11. "Island Hopping" – Monster Rally

12. "Champion" – Warpaint

13. "Everything is Simple" – Widowspeak

14. "The Smoke" – The Smile

15. "rei" – Michiru Aoyama

Fall 2021 New Music Playlist

 Listen on Spotify, enjoy!

1. "The Hardest Cut"  –  Spoon
2. "Walking at a Downtown Pace" – Parquet Courts
3. "I Was a Tunnel" – Generationals
4. "In the Gloaming" – trentemøller, Lisbet Fritze

5. "Lost in the Weight" – Deserta

6. "Six Words" – Elbow

7. "Once Twice Melody" – Beach House

8. "Crutch" – Band of Horses

9. "Harmonia's Dream" – The War on Drugs

10. "Always Together with You" – Spiritualized

11. "Love Love Love" – My Morning Jacket

12. "All Inclusive" – Pool Boy, Cyril Hahn

13. "C'mon America" –  Jeff Tweedy

14. "Simple Like Us" – Teleman

15. "Frankie" – Barrie

16. "Prester John" – Animal Collective

17. "Glisten" – The Album Leaf

18. "Elsewhere" – Hammock

Top 20+ Songs of 2019 with Spotify Playlist

Another round up with my fave songs of the year, listed not by preference but how best to order them.  Listen as a Spotify playlist here.

1. "All I Want" – Broken Social Scene
2. "Greenpoint Gothic" – Deerhunter
3. "Patience" – Tame Impala
4. "Real Tight" – Methyl Ethel
5. "Just Reflecting" – Maps
6. "Summer of '42" – Kishi Bashi
7. " Café Amarillo" – Local Natives
8. "Rylan" – The National
9. "No Bullets Spent" – Spoon
10. "Fade In Nylon" – A Beacon School
11. "New Familiar" – Steve Gunn
12. "Lava" – Still Woozy
13. "Calm Down" – Pete Yorn
14. "Treat" – Vacationer
15. "Sat by a Tree" – Dan Deacon
16. "Pool Party" – Rudy Willingham
17. "Good Luck" – Broken Bells
18. "Love is Everywhere (Beware)" – WIlco
19. "Lost Heads" – Moon Duo
20. "Running" – Teen Daze
21. "Take Care" – SASAMI
22. "Sleeper" – Trentemoller
23. "Entendre" – Eluvium

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

Summer 2019 New Music Playlist

Listen on Spotify, enjoy!

1. "Saw Lightning" – Beck
2. "No Bullets Spent" – Spoon
3. "Fade In Nylon" – A Beacon School
4. "Lava"– Still Woozy
5. "Heartbreak" – Unloved
6. "You're Not Always On My Mind" – Quivers
7. "Raspberry Jam" Allah-las
8. "Do Si Do" – Jenny Lewis
9. "Calm Down" – Pete Yorn
10. "Easy" – Tycho
11. "Rylan" – The National
12. "Elixir" – Tourist
13.  "Entendre" – Eluvium
14. "Sleeper" – Trentmøller
15. "Love Yourself" – Sufjan Stevens
16. "I Am OK" – Lea Porcelain
17. "Pattern 16" – Jamison Isaak

Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2018

Compiling this year's Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day was an easy task, considering all the great new music lately from fave bands. Here are tunes that pull at the heartstrings by LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, The National, Beck, Spoon, Washed Out, Mew and more. And check out the gender-balanced cover of Interpol's "PDA" by Daywave and Hazel English. Whether coupled up or single at the moment, it's all music to feed the soul.

Listen to my Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2018 on Spotify here.  For further inspiration, visit my posts from past years: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

1. "oh baby" – LCD Soundsystem

2. "All Disco" – Elbow

3. "Do I Have to Talk You Into It" – Spoon

4. "Seventh Heaven" – Beck

5. "Dark Side of the Gym" – The National

6. "We Don't Deserve Love" – Arcade Fire

7. "Come Break My Heart Again" – The Lone Below

8. "Hard to Say Goodbye" – Washed Out

9. "To Hold and Have" – The Dears

10.  "Love Is Love (Sun on Time)" – Woods

11. "Call It Dreaming" – Iron & Wine

12. "Carry Me To Safety" – Mew

13. "PDA" – Daywave, Hazel English

14. "Up All Night" – The War on Drugs

15. "Girl Like You" – Toro Y Moi

16. "The Fear" – The Shins

17. "We a Famly" – The Flaming Lips

Top 20+ Songs of 2017 with Spotify and YouTube Playlist

So I broke my own rule here – I usually run over the total of twenty songs to represent the year but this time I allowed a double helping of two of my very fave bands Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem. (And keeping the choices down to just two songs was not easy to do!) But beyond songs from my  Top Ten Releases of 2017 heard on repeat, there are some singles on the list that became instant ear worms in a very good way. The upbeat approach of Phoenix's "J-Boy" along with the optimism of Woods' "Love Is Love" and Poolside's "Everything Goes" were just the antidote needed during this calamity of a year under the Trump Administration. Here's to weathering another year ahead with another soundtrack of sanity.

Listen on Spotify or as a YouTube Playlist below (except "Wave Is Not the Water" by Wye Oak).

1. "Andromeda" (featuring DRAM) – Gorillaz
2. "Hot Thoughts" – Spoon
3. "Everything Now" – Arcade Fire
4. "Put Your Money on Me" – Arcade Fire
5. "Dreams" – Beck
6. "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" – The National
7. "call the police" – LCD Soundsystem
8. "american dream" – LCD Soundsystem
9. "Mourning Sound" – Grizzly Bear
10. "Wave Is Not the Water" – Wye Oak
11. "All About Waiting" (featuring Camila Grey) – Dhani Harrison
12. "How It Feels" – Ages and Ages
13. "Everything Goes" (Instrumental) – Poolside
14. "J-Boy" – Phoenix
15. "Hard to Say Goodbye" – Washed Out
16. "Noise Pollution" (featuring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Zoe Manville) – Portugal. The Man.
17. "Love Is Love (Sun On Time)" – Woods
18. "Shine" – Mondo Cozmo
19. "Magnificent (She Says)" – Elbow
20. "Name for You" – The Shins
21. "Call It Dreaming" – Iron & Wine
22. "Carry Me to Safety" – Mew
23. "Leven" – The Octopus Project

Top Ten Releases of 2017 with Video Highlights

Here I go again gushing about how this year was an awesome year of music... But really when your very fave bands come out with releases full of listening goodness, what other proper response is there? With plenty of new tunes from Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, and Spoon, plus those long
awaited Beck and Gorillaz albums, 2017 had me in music fan heaven. Add in beloved indie veterans (The National, The Flaming Lips, Mew, Elbow, Grizzly Bear) along with newcomer Mondo Cozmo, and it was a blissful, busy time catching up with everything across the calendar.

Give a listen on Spotify to all my Top Ten Albums of 2017 as well as Other Fave Albums of 2017 and check out my picks below with live video highlights. Also, I've created a Next New Music Matters Playlist to follow in order to see what's already cued up for 2018.

1. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream
The LCD Soundsystem songs on American Dream continued the Brooklyn band's musical thread after a long seven years – this is the fourth album since 2002 – like they never lost a beat! They also toured extensively and appeared all over the place (seen here confidently presenting "Call the Police" on the U.K. television program Live on Later... with Jools Holland) as if to make up for lost time and appease all the fans who were more than willing to buy tickets.

2. Arcade Fire, Everything Now
Arcade Fire's fifth album since 2001 caught heat for some ABBA-type dancehall leanings (see the Montreal based band rocking the title track "Everything Now" on daytime television with Régine Chassagne playing my dream instrument) but there were also plenty of soulful tracks to dig deep into, especially "We Don't Deserve Love" which is already cued up in my next Valentine's Day playlist. 

3. Spoon, Hot Thoughts
Austin band Spoon returned super strong with its ninth album since 1993, acknowledging many female fans mindset by the title Hot Thoughts. Frontman Britt Daniels exhibits why during this smoking hot performance of the song, "Do I Have to Talk You Into It," to open their sold out show at Brooklyn Steel December 8th.

4. Beck,  Colors

Beck's 13th studio album Colors arrived in the fall with stylish songs across the spectrum to showcase yet again his musical prowess, but all contain the artist's mantra of group catharsis.  He also toured widely and continued to be eager to please his fans with hits old and new. Here Beck brings the single "Dream" to life in a session for his L.A. hometown station KCRW.

5. The National, Sleep Well Beast

Cincinnati-raised quintet The National is now dispersed across the country, but gathered in a newly built recording space in an upstate New York barn to create the seventh album since 1999, Sleep Well Beast. The songs seemed even stronger live, with the power of this band's groupthink exhibited on stage. Check out "The Day I Die" at the Pitchfork Music Festival Paris 2017.

6. Gorillaz, Humanz

Six years passed between albums for the animated U.K. band Gorillaz, as Humanz landed with a host of featured artists in cameos almost distracting the mission.  Damon Albarn is still the mastermind behind it all, seen here leading the way with the song "Andromeda" in a live session at New York City's WFUV.

7. Mondo Cozmo, Plastic Soul

L.A. artist Josh Ostrander, a.k.a. Mondo Cozmo, appeared on KCRW late in 2016 after the strength of a few well played singles. This new band quickly went from small venues (I was lucky to see him at the tiny Mercury Lounge in January) to playing festivals and headlining concert halls. Witness Ostrander's gritty determination here, singing the title track of his debut album "Plastic Soul."

8. Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins

The quartet Grizzly Bear has expanded from its Brooklyn base, but the band's tightly layered sound remains in sharp focus for the fifth album since 2002, Painted Ruins.  The group dynamic is on full display here during "Mourning Sound" at the Electric Lady Studios in NYC for WFUV.

9. Elbow, Little Fictions
English alt rock band Elbow released its seventh album since1997, Little Fictions, full of trademark emotional depth and lush textures.  Guy Garvey's rich vocals provide the passionate porthole, as witnessed on the U.K. Graham Norton Show with "Magnificent She Says." 

10. Mew, Visuals

Another transfixing voice that transcends our mortal coil is that of Mew's Jonas Bjerre. Angelic yet immediate, he leads the quartet into a singular space of musical brilliance for the seventh album since 1995 Visuals, as evident in "Carry Me to Safety" performance at Seattle's KEXP.

Honorable Mention: The Flaming Lips, Oczy Mlody

One more shout out to The Flaming Lips, for releasing a whopping sixteenth album since 1983 in dreary January with the title Oczy Mlody (that roughly translates to a Polish expression meaning eyes of the young) with wacked out pysch rock that still keeps us on our toes. My favorite tracks are "The Castle" and "We A Family," but this video of "There Should Be Unicorns" shows frontman Wayne Coyne's willingness to continue playing the rock star.

Early Spring 2017 New Music Playlist

Spring has arrived early ­ – and I don’t just mean the recent unseasonably warm spell of weather here in the Northeast. There’s enough new music to fill up another listening session with tunes by indie stalwarts Spoon, Arcade Fire and The New Pornographers, plus Father John Misty, Future Islands and Mew.  Slowdive returns after decades while new band Day Wave drops a single off an upcoming debut. Music also incites action by soliciting donations for organizations jeopardized by the new administration. And check out the new collaboration known as BNQT featuring playlist faves along with bands such as Animal Collective, Goldfrapp and more. Listen up on Spotify or as a YouTube Playlist.

1. “Hot Thoughts” – Spoon

This is the single and title track for the ninth album from Austin’s indie rock band Spoon. The band was formed by lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel and drummer Jim Eno back in 1993, but shows no sign of slowing down. Producer Dave Fridmann returns after 2014’s They Want My Soul, continuing to push this group’s gritty approach into a wider experimental arena.

2. “Darling” – Real Estate

New Jersey formed but now Brooklyn based jangle pop quartet Real Estate is ready with a fourth album since 2009, Mind.  This single “Darling” finds the signature layered guitar lines and harmonies intact, like a sunny disposition in song.

3. “High Ticket Attractions” – The New Pornographers

Canadian indie rock seven-piece The New Pornographers will soon release its seventh album since 1999 called Whiteout Conditions (the first without founding member Dan Bejar). “High Ticket Attractions” continues the band’s energetic and full-textured sound that showcases the singers Carl Newman and Neko Case.

4. “I Give You Power (featuring Mavis Staples)” – Arcade Fire

Montreal-based band Arcade Fire released this stand alone single to coincide with the Trump inauguration, with all proceeds donated to the ACLU in protest. “I Give You Power” is highlighted by the powerhouse vocals of Civil Rights icon Mavis Staples, bringing the issue a needed urgency.

5. “Away from Today” – Dan Croll

British singer/songwriter Dan Croll has a powerful command of the pop music idiom, having attended the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts founded by Paul McCartney. “Away from Today” boasts a sweeping melodic structure, complete with horn section, to ready fans for the next album since 2014’s debut.  

6. “Break Apart (featuring Rhye)” – Bonobo

Bonobo is the stage name of British musician, producer and D.J. Simon Green, who brings L.A.’s R & B musical duo Rhye on board to flesh out this lilting tune. It is found on Migration, the sixth studio album since 1999.

7. “Ran” – Future Islands

Synthpop Baltimore quartet Future Islands will release its fifth studio album The Far Field in April, after traveling to L.A.’s iconic Sunset Sound studio to record new songs with Grammy award-winning producer John Congleton (the first collection since 2006 with live drums). This single, “Ran,” leads with a mysterious chord before percussion, guitars and Samuel T. Herring’s distinctive growling vocals.

8. “Ladada” – Dr. Dog

Philly area based Dr. Dog recently offered up an entire surprise album on Bandcamp with proceeds going to the Southern Poverty Law Center – titled Abandoned Mansion, the group’s tenth release since 1999.  The shared vocals of Toby Leamon (bass) and Scott McMichen (lead guitar) impart a musical earnestness to everything the band does in studio or on stage.

9. “Star Roving” – Slowdive

This lush wash in song, “Star Roving,” is English dream pop band Slowdive’s first single in 22 years. Formed by childhood friend Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell in 1989, the group is currently working on its fourth album.

10. “Peacemaker” – Animal Collective

Experimental pop band Animal Collective just released its eighth EP, The Painters, since forming in Baltimore back in 2003. It serves a companion to the recent studio album, Painting With, as “Peacemaker” challenges the listener to follow down another winding, wonderful musical path in song.

11. “Ballad of the Dying Man” – Father John Misty

Father John Misty (a.k.a.  singer/songwriter Joshua Michael Tillman) is ready with a third studio album in his solo career, Pure Comedy. He recently wrote to fans that it “is the story of a species with a half-formed brain” but his music is always a worthy listen no matter what the subject.

12. “Something Here” – Day Wave

Day Wave is the musical project of Jackson Phillips, who enlists touring musicians for live shows yet the fully-formed tune “Something Here” belies the newly arrived band. It is a single for his upcoming debut album called The Days We Had.

13. “Restart” ­– BNQT

“Restart” is the single and opening track for Volume 1, a debut album coming in April for the new supergroup with Fran Healy (Travis), Ben Bridell (Band of Horses), and Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), along with Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) plus three members of Midlake.  With such a stellar lineup, the song pulls off confident swagger from the opening note!

14. “Anymore” – Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp is the English electronic songwriting duo of Alison Goldfrapp (vocals, synths) and Will Gregory (synths), who record under a mantra that music is a visual experience. “Anymore” struts along with buzzy underpinnings as the single for the band’s upcoming album Silver Eye, its seventh since 1999.

15. “Dear To Me” – Electric Guest

L.A.-based electric pop band Electric Guest is ready with a second album, Plural. (It was formed in 2011, although this easy breezy tune “Dear To Me” served as my introduction.) The group is made up of Asa Taccone (vocals, instrumentals) and Matthew Compton (drums) plus brothers Todd (bass) and Tory Dahlhott (keys and guitar).

16. “Carry Me To Safety” ­– Mew

Danish alternative rock band Mew will release its seventh studio album, Visuals, next month. This gorgeous and expansive composition, “Carry Me to Safety,” serves as the single as well as the closing track, buoyed as always by Jonas Bjerre’s sweet voice.

17. “Fallss” – Bayonne

Bayonne is the stage moniker for Austin’s Roger Seller, who has performed under the name since 2015. He explained that he wrote this delicate song for an upcoming album during an emotional time when he was “striving for growth and getting better as a person and song writer.” 

18. “First Rain (featuring S. Carey)” ­ ­– Teen Daze
Teen Daze is the musical project of Canadian electronic musician Jamison Isaak, who is ready to release his sixth album since 2010, Themes for a Dying Earth. The meditative single “First Rain” recruits the talents of S. Carey  (musician Sean Carey of Eau Claire, Wisconsin).

Here's to 2017 -- New Releases Ahead by Favorite Bands

Out with the old and in with the new please! I'm getting another playlist ready for publication while drooling over this list of anticipated releases by some of my very favorite bands. Strange how only two announce a solid drop date: The Flaming Lips', Oczy Mlody, set to arrive next week on January 13 (just in time for my birthday weekend) and Elbow's Little Fictions is due February 3. Add in TBD albums from Spoon, Arcade Fire, Beck, Gorillaz, The National plus LCD Soundsystem, and that's more than half of "My Essential Music – Fave Band Playlists" post, an awesome lineup to be sure.

So here's to the clean slate of a new year with all the promise it holds and the days ahead complimented by a great soundtrack of new tunes – music from bands I love along with songs by ones I've yet to discover.  Follow me as newmusicmatters on Spotify as I add these albums to a dedicated playlist and more.

UPCOMING NEW RELEASES IN 2017:
January 13 – The Flaming Lips, Oczy Mlody (Warner Brothers)
February 3 – Elbow, Little Fiction (Universal Music)
Spoon, TBD
Arcade Fire, TBD
Beck, TBD
Gorillaz, TBD
LCD Soundsystem, TBD
The National, TBD
Grizzly Bear, TBD
Father John Misty, TBD
The Shins, TBD
Real Estate, TBD
The War on Drugs, TBD
Vampire Weekend, TBD
Wolf Parade, TBD
The xx, TBD
Phosphorescent, TBD
My Morning Jacket, TBD
Spiritualized, TBD
Broken Social Scene, TBD
Strand of Oaks, TBD

My Essential Music - More Fave Band Playlists (Talking Heads, Arcade Fire, Spoon, Moby, Beck, Flaming Lips, Cake, Franz Ferdinand, New Order, Gorillaz, The National & Band of Horses)

Visit wfuv.org for more info 

Last week during the pledge drive for public radio station WFUV, listeners were asked to submit their "essential music," a list of five bands/artists, along with their donation. This is clearly a clever way to survey the audience, but it also got me thinking of sharing more of my personal faves in playlist form. In prior posts, I have linked to my LCD Soundsystem Faves playlist with the news the band will be releasing another album after breaking up in 2011 (and an update: the band has signed with the behemoth Columbia Records!) Plus I posted my David Bowie Faves playlist after this legend's untimely death.

So here are links to some more playlists of "essential music" found on my Spotify account @NewMusicMatters, dig in!

Radiohead Faves

Talking Heads Faves

Arcade Fire Faves

Spoon Faves

Moby Faves

Beck Faves

Flaming Lips Faves

Cake Faves

Franz Ferdinand Faves

New Order Faves

Gorillaz Faves

The National Faves

Band of Horses Faves

Romantic Songs Playlist for Valentine's Day 2015

Being snowed in is a perfect excuse to bust out another Romantic Songs Playlist as Valentine's Day rolls around -- on a Saturday night no less! I start things off with an awesome live version of "Heart It Races" by popular playlist group Dr. Dog, and let this latest personal music compilation find a balance from within. I've included some recent songs from fave band Spoon and artist Beck (with congrats on the Grammy win, even if it was for Rock Album of the Year and doesn't quite apply to this assortment of sublime music) plus older picks from my collection. I dug deep in the archives for The Cure, The Raconteurs and James to compliment the newer tunes from Dan Croll, Beach House and Band of Horses. The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" was chosen for this year's list before the Seattle Seahawks took the field with it blaring during the Super Bowl, and now that strange moment when sports coopted this anthem is embedded in our consciousness. Plus as the game ended in upset it's bittersweet indeed...

Listen up here and visit my posts from 2014, 2013 and 2012 if you need more inspiration. Happy to oblige and enjoy the holiday!

1. "Heart It Races" – Dr. Dog
2. "Lovesong" – The Cure
3. "Only in My Dreams" –  Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
4. "Compliment Your Soul" – Dan Croll
5. "What Would I Want? Sky" – Animal Collective
6. "I Saw the Bright Shinies" – The Octopus Project
7. "Crown of Love" – Arcade Fire
8. "No One's Gonna Love You" – Band of Horses
9. "Nantes" – Beirut
10. "Together" – The Raconteurs
11. "Inside Out" – Spoon
12. "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" – Spiritualized
13. "Walkabout (with Noah Lennox)"– Atlas Sound
14. "Heart Is a Drum"– Beck
15. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" – The Verve
16. "Chicago" – Sufjan Stevens
17. "Sometimes" – James
18. "Norway" – Beach House
19. "I and Love and You" – Avett Brothers

Top 20+ Songs of 2014 With YouTube Playlist

I put together this Top 20 plus songs of 2014 list while putting up holiday decorations -- thinking over the year and culling the songs that meant so much to me (while finding the best order of presentation of course!) If I had to pick a Song of the Year, I'd add my vote to others that chose Future Islands' "Seasons Waiting on You." Along with the breakout performance by frontman Samuel Herring on David Letterman that was so crazy passionate and borderline creepy, the tune encapsulated all three genres listed on their Wikipedia page with gusto:  synthpop, alternative rock and indie pop.  It's simply a great song that doesn't get old with repeated listens.

Yet the song that yielded the most meaning for me this year would have to be Field Report's "Home (Leave the Lights On)."  As I wrote about in a post back in October, hearing this song in a different context gave this sublime tune a personal resonance that cut to my core. It's going to be one of those many songs that will take me back to that time and place in the fall of 2014.

Listen via the YouTube playlist below or on Spotify at the link here. Here's to another fine year of new music!

1. "Inspector Norse" − Todd Terje 
2. "Can't Do With Without You" − Caribou 
3. "Dangerous" − Big Data 
4. "Red Eyes" − The War On Drugs 
5. "Seasons Waiting On You" − Future Islands 
6. "Come a Little Closer" − Cage the Elephant 
7. "Digital Witness" − St. Vincent 
8. "Fall In Love" − Phantogram 
9. "Do You" − Spoon 
10. "Home (Leave the Lights On)" − Field Report 
11. "Step Out" − José  González 
12. "Past Life" − Lost In the Trees 
13. "The Tower" − Wye Oak 
14. "Alexandra"  − Hamilton Leithauser 
15. "Handreds of Ways" − Conor Oberst 
16.  "Blue Moon" − Beck 
17.  "Summer Noon" − Tweedy 
18. "Woke Up To the Light" − Strand of Oaks 
19. "Lonely Press Play" − Damon Albarn 
20. "New York Morning" − Elbow 
21. "Moving To the Left" − Woods 
22. "Divisionary (Do the Right Thing)" − Ages And Ages