You people have no idea the labor of love that this music project is. The culling down of the very best of the best for you.
And yet, it wasn’t to be. The task proved to be more than my formidable skill in this area was able to handle. I simply wasn’t able to get it to one cd-length playlist. I have failed you, faithful listener, and for that I’m sorry. That said, what you see before you is what I would term my “safe bets.”
This is my sweet spot.
Just like me, not a lot of variety. Just good solid music to be listened to and experienced. I promise to provide you with three (that’s right… THREE) other playlists that are sure to be the razzle dazzle that you are looking for.
So, here’s the line-up (with requisite comments):
1) jj / And Now – I think this selection speaks for itself. As fine an opener/introduction as one could hope to find.
2) Josh Ritter / Change of Time – Here’s a singer/songwriter doing what he does best… writing a song and singing it.
3) Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling / to darkness (dharohar project) – Ok, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way. There seems to be some confusion about when Sigh No More was released. It was 2009. That being the case, it still is the best album of 2010, hands down. No question about it. Any song off the album could have found it’s way on the list. And yet, because of the confusion, none were included. So this song comes from some time they spent in India… obviously.
4) The Morning Benders / Pleasure Sighs – Big Echo was one of my favorites from the year. I think this track matches my personality pretty well… reserved.
5) Peter Wolf Crier / Hard As Nails – I had the privilege of seeing this duo from Minneapolis, MN play in Little Rock. Hard to believe just two people were making so much music. The track (while good) doesn’t do justice to how incredible they were live.
6) Local Natives / Sun Hands – Nothing but good solid interesting music here.
7) The National / Runaway – I had a very difficult time picking which track to put on the list. This was as good as any. If Mumford hadn’t knocked it out of the park, High Violet would have been a contender.
8) The Romany Rye / Untitled (Love Song) – Not so sure I’ve got the title right here. I saw these guys play a whopping THREE times this year. Unheard of. They make some great music, and most of the band is comprised of some really great guys from none other than Little Rock.
9) Lissie / Record Collector – I’m not sure I’ve ever allowed a member from my family to select a song for the end of year list, but my sweet daughter has taken a liking to Lissie (as have I), and I let her pick a song off of Catching a Tiger. This is what she chose. She is exhibiting discriminating taste in music, and I look forward to the day when she’ll be making quality mixes of her own.
10) The Temper Trap / Sweet Disposition – So stinking good. Stop whatever other useless waste of time you are engaged in right now and listen to this song.
11) Freelance Whales / Generator ^ Second Floor – I can’t begin to tell you how annoying it is for them to have a funny symbol in the name of their song. If the song weren’t so good, I probably would have simply left it off the list.
12) Delta Spirit / Bushwick Blues – More fantastic music to feast your ears on.
13) Kanye West / Homecoming (ft. Chris Martin) – Ok, this is embarrassing. This song is old. I mean really old. 2007. And yet, for some strange reason I didn’t hear it until this year. So it is legal. I think.
14) The Kissaway Trail / Beat Your Heartbeat – This may be my very favorite song of the year. And I’m not even really sure why. Probably because it is awesome.
15) Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs / For The Summer – Similar to Freelance Whales, Ray is annoying me by making me do more work to type his track name.
16) Sufjan Stevens / Heirloom – This man is a complete enigma. Period.
17) Mt. Desolation / State of Our Affairs – Good enough to be one of the three songs that I took the liberty of putting on the Man CD collaboration.
18) The Civil Wars / Poison & Wine – Where have these guys been all my life?
19) Ugly Casanova / Lay Me Down – This one is off the 180º South soundtrack. Lots of the movie was really dumb, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This soundtrack is part of the reason. I think Ugly Casanova is a side project of some of Modest Mouse’s members.
Alright, like I said, all business here. Enjoy! More to come.
Click HERE to get the zip file.
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