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Playlist: New tunes from 2022, part four

Saturday morning, December 31st, 2022.

Here we are at the precipice of another year. And though I honestly didn’t have high hopes for this year, it was an improvement on the previous two, which makes me think it can only get better from here. Right?

Right.

If you’ve been paying attention to these pages over the last couple of weeks, you’ve seen me counting down my favourite albums released in 2022, the number one album seeing the light of day just yesterday. And now, keeping with the tradition I started over the last couple of years, I’ve left the final instalment of my annual four-part playlist sharing some of my favourite new tunes released during the year to post on this last day of the year. You are welcome to go back and revisit parts one, two, and three, which include songs from the first three quarters of 2022. This final playlist, much like the previous three, collects twenty-five bangers from the last three months. Usually, I would have to bolster this last part with the b-sides, or tracks that I just missed including in the previous three parts, but there was plenty of great new music this time around and I only needed to add a small handful.

Before I carry on, I just wanted to thank those of you who have been reading and listening along this year and for the past handful. I write these words and share these thoughts and it’s all just for the passion of it, for the love of music. So let’s just enjoy this moment and the music that makes it. These here are the final twenty five tunes of the year that have made it all bearable. Highlights include:

      • Where else would I start this last playlist but something from the newest album Canadian indie pop heroes, Alvvays, and “After the earthquake” is everything that we would have hoped it would be
      • “Let the lights on” is a grimy ear worm that begs repeat listens and Sorry is not apologizing for it
      • Don’t be fooled by the moniker, Skullcrusher is not death metal but delicate and lilting indie pop and “Whatever fits together” is just that
      • “Hurricane” and its country/folk delight has us hoping for more from Plains, the collaborative efforts of Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson
      • Canadian quartet Sloan shows us that power pop is still safe in their hands with their latest album and this new single “Magical thinking”
      • Canadian indie folk troubadour Dan Mangan is the latest in a string of artists to pay tribute to former Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison, promising everyone that we’ll be “In your corner”
      • I’ve let Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess close things off with a ray of sunshine and hope and “Here comes the weekend” and a brand new year

Here is the entire playlist as I’ve created it:

1. “After the earthquake” Alvvays (from the album Blue rev)

2. “Satellite” Courtney Marie Andrews (from the album Loose future)

3. “Let the lights on” Sorry (from the album Anywhere but here)

4. “Baby don’t you know” Ciel (from the EP Nor in the sun, nor in the dark)

5. “Into the blue” Broken Bells (from the album Into the blue)

6. “Whatever fits together” Skullcrusher (from the album Quiet the room)

7. “Part of the band” The 1975 (from the album Being funny in a foreign language)

8. “Emily smiles” The Lightning Seeds (from the album See you in the stars)

9. “My very best” The Big Moon (from the album Here is everything)

10. “Hurricane” Plains (from the album I walked with you a ways)

11. “See you better now” Wild Pink (from the album ILYSM)

12. “Warm wine” Batts (from the album The nightline)

13. “Abigail” Frankie Cosmos (from the album Inner world peace)

14. “Magical thinking” Sloan (from the album Steady)

15. “One day (it’s being scheduled)” Robyn Hitchcock (from the album Shufflemania!)

16. “Swallow” Girlpuppy (from the album When I’m alone)

17. “In your corner (for Scott Hutchison)” Dan Mangan (from the album Being somewhere)

18. “Out of my head” First Aid Kit (from the album Palomino)

19. “Come on sun” Jason Collett (from the album Head full of wonder)

20. “Morningstar” Smut (from the album How the light felt)

21. “Children of the empire” Weyes Blood (from the album And in the darkness, hearts aglow)

22. “Working for the knife” Mitski (from the album Laurel Hell)

23. “Jackie down the line” Fontaines D.C. (from the album Skinty fia)

24. “Civil liberties” Fake Palms (from the album Lemons)

25. “Here comes the weekend” Tim Burgess (from the album Typical music)

Those of you who are on the Apple Music train can click here to sample the above tracks as a whole playlist.

And as always, wherever you are in the world, I hope you are safe and continue to be well. Above all, enjoy the tunes.

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.

Categories
Playlists

Playlist: New tunes from 2021, part one

Happy Thursday everyone!

A treat for you, given that we’ve already made to the halfway mark of April. That’s right, it’s time for the first instalment in my annual four part playlist sharing new tunes released throughout the year.

Last year when I did my first playlist post, we were just one month into this pandemic thing and none of us had any idea what we were really in for. The music on that first list was all recorded and mostly released pre-pandemic when everything was still ‘normal’. I remember wondering what the impacts would be to musicians and recorded music and from what we’ve seen, despite the restrictions on live performances and travelling, tours and festivals are really the only thing we’ve lost. Sure, there’s been hiccups in the supply chain, causing delays in vinyl releases and the cost of records to steadily increase, but we’ve seen no shortage of good music released. In fact, it feels like creativity is at an all time high when it comes to new music.

I’d say that the majority of these here twenty five tunes were recorded under the shadow of COVID-19. In some cases, the artists were able to work together in person and in some, the process was virtual, working like many of us are having to do, in new and inventive ways. And new music being released is something for which I am super thankful. It’s something to which to look forward, something new and different, and as always, it feeds my soul. Now if only we all can get vaccinated and we can get back to enjoying live performances together. Something else to look forward to, I guess…

In the meantime, here are twenty five new tunes that have helped keep me going over the first three months of 2021. Highlights include:

      • From an album of covers by American singer/songwriter Pete Yorn, this take on The Stone Roses’ “Ten storey love song” is way more enjoyable than I ever would have thought possible
      • Margaret Sohn, aka Miss Grit, lays a haunting and shimmering bomb called “Blonde”, the centrepiece of her latest EP
      • “Michelangelo”, the opening track on Cassandra Jenkins‘ sophomore album calls to mind Jenny Lewis’s work on her 2008 album, “Acid tongue”
      • “I woke up with an open heart”, a hip lounge dreamscape built by Simon Raymonde’s latest project, Lost Horizons, with the help of reggae band, The Hempolics
      • For some reason, I never had the urge to check out POSTDATA up to now, but “Kissing” and the rest of the third album by the side project of Wintersleep’s Paul Murphy has me reaching for their back catalogue
      • Similarly, I had never listened to Scottish indie rock duo Arab Strap before but gave their first new album in 16 years a try and was drawn into the dark depths of opening track, “The turn of our bones”
      • And it all wraps up with “I don’t recognize you” by NewDad, a dream pop gem by a young new Irish band that feels like lazing in the park on a sunny day

For those who don’t use Spotify or if the embedded playlist below doesn’t work for you, here is the entire playlist as I’ve created it:

1. “Alphabet” shame (from the album Drunk tank pink)

2. “Ten storey love song” Pete Yorn (from the album Pete Yorn sings the classics)

3. “Good girls (don’t get used)” Beach Bunny (from the EP Good girls (don’t get used))

4. “The last exit” Still Corners (from the album The last exit)

5. “Undecided voters” Kiwi Jr. (from the album Cooler returns)

6. “Welcome to the endgame” Typhoon (from the album Sympathetic magic)

7. “Sad cowboy” Goat Girl (from the album On all fours)

8. “Our heads, our hearts on fire again” The Besnard Lakes (from the album The Besnard Lakes are the last of the great thunderstorm warnings)

9. “Blonde” Miss Grit (from the EP Impostor)

10. “Hesitating nation” Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (from the album New fragility)

11. “Michelangelo” Cassandra Jenkins (from the album An overview on phenomenal nature)

12. “The wind was like a train” Wild Pink (from the album A billion little lights)

13. “Lanyards” The Hold Steady (from the album Open door policy)

14. “Goodtimes” Flyying Colours (from the album Fantasy country)

15. “I woke up with an open heart (feat. The Hempolics)” Lost Horizons (from the album In quiet moments)

16. “Faith healer” Julien Baker (from the album Little oblivions)

17. “Kissing” POSTDATA (from the album Twin flames)

18. “The balcony” Fruit Bats (from the album The pet parade)

19. “The turning of our bones” Arab Strap (from the album As days get dark)

20. “I like the way you die” Black Honey (from the album Written and directed)

21. “Brighter then” Real Numbers (from the EP Brighter then)

22. “R U 4 me?” Middle Kids (from the album Today we’re the greatest)

23. “In the middle of the way home” Tuns (from the album Duly noted)

24. “Party lines” Anna Fox Rochinski (from the album Cherry)

25. “I don’t recognize you” NewDad (from the EP Waves)

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are safe, continue to be well, and well, enjoy the tunes.

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.