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Your favorite songs from the past year?

April

Veteran

I always make CDs (so retro! But I listen in the car, where there is still a CD player) of my favorite songs at the end of the year. I'm wondering what you all have particularly enjoyed listening to over the past year?

Some of my recent favorites:

Alabama Shakes -- This Feeling
Jason Isbell --- Speed Trap Town; 24 Frames
City and Colour -- Grand Optimist
Rayland Baxter -- Yellow Eyes
Courtney Barnett -- Depreston
First Aid Kit -- Silver Lining

I'm sure I'm leaving many out, but would love to hear yours! To quote Plato:

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.

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26 replies

Latest reply was from April

Anonymous

Should I be embarrassed that I've never heard of any of these bands or singers? I'm still listening to Neil Young. Sigh. I'm so out of it with music. My car radio is tuned to a classical station, and I don't mean classic rock

Beth Ann

Veteran

For me, it's Sara Barielles "Love is Christmas," although I think it's a few years old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIODr_RWwEc

I also love the Alabama Shakes new album and the soundtrack of Hamilton (try the title track, or "Not Gonna Lose my Shot" to start).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vHMSq7K2ds

My work involves singing lots of classical music and jazz standards. Right now, I'm loving Cy Coleman's "Why Try to Change Me Now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzy2-uyCyFc

I find myself singing Hugo Wolf's "Auch kleine dinge" and Strauss' "Morgen."

chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn-RNEYODfU

Translation: Even little things can delight us,
Even little things can be precious.
Think how we gladly adorn ourselves with pearls;
They are heavily paid for, and yet are small.
Think how small is the olive's fruit,
And is nevertheless sought for its virtue.
Think only on the rose, how small she is,
And yet, smells so sweet, as you know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSrZsm7G-aw

Translation: And tomorrow the sun will shine again,
and on the path I will take,
it will unite us again, we happy ones,
upon this sun-breathing earth...

And to the shore, the wide shore with blue waves,
we will descend quietly and slowly;
we will look mutely into each other's eyes
and the silence of happiness will settle upon us

I'm going to check out your list, too! And Lisap, I like to sing Neil Young's "Old Man," and love Lizz Wright's version of the song!

Nebraskim

Veteran

Lisap, you and I are soul sisters. I have actually heard of and heard Jason Isbell, but all the others, not so much. And yes, my radios are all tuned to our local classical music station. I'm really not very up to date on pop culture.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I love your retro tradition, April. I was very impressed with Taylor Swift's song "Shake IT Off" (although that's 2014) because of the lyrics and the reason she wrote the song in the first place. She's amazing in many ways.

Greg - back in the '80s - made me tapes of music. And I still have them in a box somewhere. That's vintage! And a labour of love.

As for my own music, I love listening to my faves for the '80s and '90s. I'm very happily stuck in those decades. Although I did get Duran Duran's new album for Xmas!

milehighstyle (Linda)

Veteran

I have a few playlists that I flip back and forth on - classical, 80's, 90's, instrumentals from movies, current pop, current alternative, etc. Some current songs I've enjoyed this year are

Roots by Imagine Dragons

Cake by the Ocean by DNCE

Stitches by Shawn Mendes

Alive by Sia

Want to Want Me by Jason Derulo

citygirldc

(website)

Veteran

Oh goodness, this one is hard since I'm always on Pandora listening to Franz Ferdinand station or the 80s alternative station.

rachylou

Veteran

Omg! Mixed tapes! I remember when boys did that for girls!

April

Veteran

Rachylou, I still make mix tapes (on CD) for my husband. It was how we first connected, actually.

CGDC -- alternative 80s on Pandora, love it!

MHS (linda) -- those are some favorites shared with me by my son! He introduced me to Imagine Dragons.

Angie -- I know you are not a fan of slow, quiet music and suspect you would not approve of most of my collection, but I love those 80s bands too. Last year I had the pleasure of making the playlist for my son's high school graduation party and got to introduce him to New Order.

Nskim -- yes, Jason Isbell has become a darling of critics over the past year. I surprise myself by loving him because his country sound is not my usual thing, but his lyrics are so stunning that I got hooked.

Beth Ann -- I actually put that Lizz Wright cover of Old Man on one of my husband's mixes years ago. DH is the world's biggest Neil Young fan, and I'm always on the lookout for anyone doing interesting versions of Neil's songs.

LP -- see my response to Beth Ann. Big Neil Young fans here too, in spite of the indie flavor of all the songs I listed.

-------------------------------------------------------
Anyone interested in finding out what's fresh in music, I recommend tuning in to Philadelphia's independent music radio station, WXPN, online: xpn.org They play the newest, along with the classics. Someone requested Zappa's Valley Girl the other day -- couldn't believe I was hearing that again.

Anonymous

Gimme classical plus pop music from the '70s and '80s. I also love big band music from the '30s.

Beth Ann

Veteran

Thanks for the station suggestion, I'll check it out! I'm a fan of NPR's music app. They compile all the interviews and also broadcast concerts and new releases, all styles. I use it to keep myself "fresh," which is good for me personally and professionally.

I'm also on a classic pop kick for my teenaged voice students. I favor, "Walking on Sunshine," "So Far Away," by Carole King, "And So it Goes," by Billy Joel, and Joni Mitchell's "River." I need a couple more uptempo ones that sound good with simple piano or guitar accompaniment. Not sure "Valley Girl" will work, but I remember it fondly!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

April, it sounds like you and I have similar tastes/listening habits. The radio station where I work is similar in format to XPN, and in fact, we broadcast World
Cafe every weeknight. I like all the songs you mention, but for me, Courtney Barnett won 2015. Just loved that whole record. I also really liked "Yellow Eyes." Some other favorites included Kurt Vile's "Pretty Pimping," the Decemberists "Make You Better," Tame Impala's "Let it Happen," Beck's "Dreams," Deerhunter's "Snakeskin," and a bunch of others I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment.

AviaMariah

Veteran

I seem to have fallen very behind on the music scene as I am not recognizing many of theses bands/singers. But I have Spotify ready to go and I'm going to catch up! Would I sound totally cliche to say that I love Adele's new song, Hello?

Anonymous

Pharrell's "Happy" was stuck in my head for the entire year. Longest earworm ever! It's now been replaced by Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat."

Desmo April

(website)

Veteran

Absolutely yes on Courtney Barnett, I love her. The Alabama Shakes as well.

On the chicks rock side of things:
Deap Vally - Gonna Make My Own Money. I think that actually came out in 2014 but I'm counting it because it's the song that I'm currently learning on guitar.

Dorothy - Wicked Ones. My guess is I won't be able to see them at small clubs much longer.

Dead Sara - Something Good

And for some men on the playlist:
Gary Clark Jr - Church. He is currently one of my favorite guitarists and absolutely killer live.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - S.O.B.

Royal Blood - Figure it out

Astrid

Veteran

I love First Aid Kit! But I prefer the older albums, in fact I can listen to some favourites for years without getting tired of them. I listen to a lot of radio too, but it prefer stations with a heavy dose of older songs mixed in with the latest so I don't really keep up to date. I wanted to look up a few favourites just to realise they are older already. Ups.

One of my favourites from 2015:
https://youtu.be/bIU4XXS58To

Rough incomplete translation by me, probably not very good:

The ice is thin, you walk on ice
No fear you know of
When I'm still looking for the safety net
You're already looking for the next rope
And I anxiously look upward
And hear you shouting at me:

I might be risking my head with this
And I might end up standing in front of your door with bloody hands
And maybe I'll need you then
to straighten broken bones
But as far as I know
are the ones with the good stories always the brave ones

Going once again on feet light as a feather
High on adrenaline
With fiery wind
instead of dread behind my back
Let my fear of failure
not destroy my chances

April

Veteran

I'm getting some great suggestions from this thread!

My son (about to be 19, pretty good self-taught guitarist) adores Courtney Barnett and alerted me to her fabulous guitar playing. For those of you who haven't heard of her, she performed a few of her finest songs -- including Depreston -- as a Tiny Desk Concert on NPR: http://www.npr.org/event/music.....sk-concert

Janet, I didn't know there was another station with an XPN-like format -- how great! I relocated from Philadelphia to Connecticut this fall, and honestly one of the things I miss most is being able to switch on WXPN in the car.

Astrid, I can't believe First Aid Kit is old enough to have older albums.

D April -- love your list!

XTB -- I know, right, we had to ban Happy from our house because Son and I had both had enough.

AM -- WXPN is a big promoter of Adele too -- it's not all indie hipness.

B Ann -- As far as songs that sound good with just guitar accompaniment, the ones my son likes me to sing along with (this is a treat for no one, believe me) are Broadripple is Burning by Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos (if your students are younger kids, this one has profanity); Depreston by Miss Barnett; Wonderwall by Oasis; High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees, both by Radiohead. Some of these are originally electric, but DS only plays acoustic and they all work, even with me singing along.

Anonymous

I love Radiohead. I'm going to listen to more of them this year. Thanks for the other recommendations, I'm ready for some new tunes.

Astrid

Veteran

They started making music in their teens...

You can listen to one album here.
https://youtu.be/9NQqRWZsIjk

And this is the album they made before the recent Stay Gold, although I have the extended version with the bonus track. Love it.
https://youtu.be/AplhZ3Dpcwc

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Mostly I've been listening to "emotional chick music"
I did see Madonna's Rebel Heart tour which was freaking awesome & that album is pretty good.
It's really hard to listen to, & needs to be done in sequence, but Stacy Barthe, BEcoming it's amazing. If you've ever been depressed...

But this Missy Elliott single makes me happy, plus her fashion

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KO_3Qgib6RQ

Anonymous

Missy is so fab. And hip hop puppets, who knew? When I saw the Pharrell puppet I got worried he'd break into "Happy," but thankfully not.

anne

Veteran

Having preteen daughters I have been exposed to way more pop music in the last couple of years than I would have listened to otherwise (though I like music, my listening preference on the radio in the car is more towards current affairs/documentary shows)

One I found very catchy was "Shut up and dance with me" !

rachylou

Veteran

I have to tell y'all with Pandora and working with 18-20 yr olds... It's so weird... But I only hear the wratchet music and old skool punk. We used to have some 28 yr olds, and then I actually knew all the songs showcased at the Grammy's. I think that says something about something, but I don't know what.

Karie

(website)

Veteran

Wow. I've never even heard of half of what you're talking about. I'm so not cool. I'm still listening to '80's and '90's stuff like Michael Jackson, Journey, and Bon Jovi

April

Veteran

Karie, that stuff is all retro cool! (Walk into an Urban Outfitters and check out what they have on vinyl.)

AnnaG -- it sounds like you've been going through some Stuff. Sorry to hear that. Here's the thing, though. In some weird paradox, really sad music cheers me up. It makes me feel not alone, whereas happy upbeat music makes me feel left out. (Not always, just most of the time.) I know not everyone feels that way. I have one brother who thought I was trying to kill him when he was going through a bad breakup and I sent him a "heartbreak CD." He just could not embrace the fabulousness of listening to all those fellow sufferers. Ah, well.

Beth Ann -- if you're still following along on this thread, another song that sounds good with just guitar is Kim Richey's "Fading." There are some keyboards, but once the vocals begin it could be done with guitar alone. It would be a real showcase for a beautiful voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMHnXpNDzGw

ETA: In fact, here is Ms. Richey doing it live with just her guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMCxdJ6SE44

Anonymous

I know what you mean about heartbreak music. I want to know that I'm not the only sufferer out there. It helps release those emotions. (My secret identity is a lounge torch singer.) Heartbreak is probably the reason music was invented, right?

April

Veteran

XTB -- heartbreak is definitely the reason music was invented.