2025 Playlist

One of the great dilemmas for me in creating a best songs (or albums) of the year list is that while I spend all year amassing favorites, inevitably I come across new music right at the end of the year that blows my mind, typically after reading someone else's list. Is it fair to a song that I've loved for six months or more to share space with a song I heard for the first time this week?

Case in point. Yesterday, Pitchfork published their Top 50 Albums of the Year list. Scanning the list, I came across the #17 ranked album It's A Beautiful Place by Brooklyn via Chicago duo Water From Your Eyes and Arielle Gordon's brilliant review that was so evocative that I immediately had to listen to the album. She wrote:

That mysterious girl in your math class—the one who’s always carving the Anarchy A into her desk—is looking at you. She has a cassette tape in her hand with your name on it. Do you accept? Of course you do. Cramming it into your Walkman, a shimmering and strange world comes into view: Stereolab’s Dots and Loops, Slint’s Spiderland, and Smog’s Knock Knock combined into an ecstatic kaleidoscope. You’re listening to It’s a Beautiful Place, the exquisite new record from Water From Your Eyes. Ten songs beamed in from some far-off land of power pop, electronica, and grunge, the album proves that the band sounds far greater than the sum of its two-person lineup. “So, what’d you think?” the girl asks the next day. “I think we should start a band.”

That mysterious girl in my math class was Ginny Kao. She wasn't so much mysterious as effortlessly cool and in her defense, would never deface school property. But in the fall of 1986, in Mr. Dibari's Geometry class, she gave me a cassette of R.E.M.'s Lifes Rich Pageant and it changed my life forever. Am I likely Ms. Gordon's senior by at least 25 years? Yes. Does this make me feel old? A little bit. Did I listen to the album on my Walkman? Most certainly - this was around the time that I upgraded to one of the yellow plastic ones that were allegedly waterproof. So, it was with this memory at the front of my mind that I listened to It's A Beautiful Place.

After ten listens in the last 24 hours, this is a bonkers album and the second track "Life Signs" is quickly competing with Snocaps' "Doom" as my favorite track of the year. Honestly, these two songs could not be more different - "Life Signs" is so complex, like three completely different songs oddly patched together to create a single magnificient piece; "Doom" is the most hauntingly beautiful song on the Crutchfield twins' brilliant self-titled album (and my album of the year). So, there you have it - at tie at the top on my list.

The other songs are assemblage of old favorites with strong releases in 2025 (Superchunk, Neko Case, Sharon Van Etten, Wednesday), newer discoveries (Bummer Camp, Sharp Pins, Wet Leg), and the greatest live band on Planet Earth (Perennial). One bonus track reissued this year by Sleepytime Trio, a band formed 30 years ago at James Madison University, where coincidentally my son will be graduating from next May. No, none of this makes me feel old.

Big love, Mike

2023 Playlist

 

December 20, 2023 

It doesn’t escape me that today would have been my father’s 80th birthday and while there is no Seger or Springsteen on the list, I’d like to think that he might have liked a song or two included on my 2023 playlist. It is also a reminder for me of the reflective powers that music provides. So, without further ado, here are 10 songs I loved in 2023. 

Car Colors – “Old Death (12” version)”
Twenty years after the release of the much beloved The Meadowlands, the last remaining Wren, Charles Bissell, returns mightily to the fold in 2023 with a three-song 12” inch single featuring the magnificent “Old Death”. An epic tune clocking in at just over seven minutes, with hints of “Faster Gun” and “Everyone Choose Sides”, “Old Death” is a logical extension of Charles’ previous work while at the same time being completely fresh and new. 

Jeff Rosenstock – “I WANNA BE WRONG”
Is there anyone better at providing insightful social commentary in a more tuneful and celebratory punk rock manner than Jeff? Absolute genius and HELLMODE is a top five album of the year. 

Magazine Beach – “Totally Cool”
Yes, I realize that this is music for my older children and not someone who now regularly receives AARP mailings. But c’mon, it’s catchy as all be. 

boygenius – “$20”
We are firmly a Lucy Dacus family here in Charlottesville, as she is from nearby Richmond. But when you get Lucy together with Julien and Phoebe, it’s kind of magical. 

Fucked Up – “Lords of Kensington”
The Spotify machine tells me that this was my most played song of 2023. I only listen to Spotify sparingly, but still, it is a banger as the kids would say. I am infatuated with Mike Hailechuk’s guitar sound – it’s like the 21st century extension of Hüsker Dü-era Bob Mould.

Open City – “Gassed”
So I’ve been a fan of Chris Wilson’s drumming for over 20 years, starting with his work with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and then Hammered Hulls and Titus Andronicus, so I was excited to check out Open City’s first album a few years ago. The band also features Rachel Rubino (Bridge and Tunnel) on vocals, Andy Nelson (Paint It Black) on bass, and everyone’s favorite punk rock child psychologist, Dan Yemin (Lifetime, Paint It Black) on guitar. If I have a crap day at work, on goes the Open City S/T album for my ride home and things are a whole lot better. “Gassed” is my favorite track from their recently released album Hands In The Honey Jar. 

Yo La Tengo – “Fallout”
Is there a more winning recipe for a Yo La Tengo song than a midtempo Yo La Tengo song replete with vocal harmonies and just the right amount of feedback? 

Blonde Redhead “Snowman”
I hadn’t seen (or listened to) Blonde Redhead since 1998, though I was almost run over crossing the street by Amadeo and Kazu in 2002 somewhere in the East Village (the near miss didn’t push me to revisit their music at that time). Fast forward to 2023 and I decide to go see them at the Levitation Festival in Austin, which inspired me to familiarize myself with their 21st century output including the 2023 release Sit Down For Dinner and my favorite tune “Snowman”. 

Militarie Gun – “Very High”
Hotline TNT – “Beauty Filter”
Each year when I go to SXSW, I try to make an effort to at least check out a few of the so-called buzz bands that the tastemakers claim will be shortly breaking through. In recent years, it’s been Snail Mail and Soccer Mommy and Viagra Boys and Ratboys and on and on. Sometimes I leave impressed and other times, the shows leave a little to be desired. That was the case with both Militarie Gun and Hotline TNT at this year’s festival. Playing at 3pm for 30 minutes without time for proper soundcheck after being out all night isn’t always the best recipe for success for young bands. I’ve haven’t seen either band live since last March, but both released excellent albums in the interim.

For Your Listening Pleasure -- 2018 Birthday Mix

The 15th in a series of annual mixes in celebration of my crazy children.

Ten Favorites of 2017

Fig. 1. video for "My Best Friend (Is A Nihilist)"

1. Album - Iron Chic You Can't Stay Here (SideOneDummy Records)

Fig. 2. Live on Pressure Drop TV

2. Song - Priests "JJ" (Sister Polygon Records)

Fig. 3 Live from The Rock Room

3. Song - Meat Wave "Run You Out" (SideOneDummy Records)

Fig. 4. "Wrong Gong" live on KUTX 98.9

4. Live Act - Octopus Project (Austin, TX)

 Fig. 5. "Good Old Boy" live on Spectra Sonic Sound Sessions

5. Live Act - Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires (Birmingham, AL)

 Fig. 6. live at Pitchfork Paris

6. Song - The National "The Day I Die" (4AD)

Fig. 7 Hüsker Dü

7. Archival Material - Hüsker Dü Savage Young Dü (Numero Group)

 Fig. 8. Video for "You"

8. Band - Slingshot Dakota (Bethlehem, PA)

 Fig. 9. "Mineral" live at Bowery Ballroom 5-13-17

9. Reissue - Buffalo Tom Let Me Come Over 25th Anniversary Edition (Beggars Banquet) 

 Fig. 10. "Soap" Live at Prisma Guitar Shop

 10. Live Act - Never Young (Bay Area, CA)
 

Instagram Post of the Day - courtesy of Brian Baker

Everything's coming up Milhouse

A photo posted by Brian Baker (@brianbakers) on Mar 1, 2016 at 11:17am PST

2015 Mixtape

fig. 1 Beach Slang

I am a complete and total sucker for year end lists - have been as long as I can remember - and I love comparing my own rankings to those of the digital/print media world.  But this annual exercise is making a number of things clear to me: 1.) I know absolutely nothing about new hip-hop/rap (or pop or EDM); 2.) My lists continue rely heavily on bands and artists I have listened to for decades (see Sleater-Kinney and Mac McCaughan below); 3.) I listen to relatively little new music in relation to the volume released; and 4.) If your musical hero is also Paul Westerberg, chances are good that we will get along (see Beach Slang below).

So here's another mix for 2015.  Not necessary the best songs of the year, but those that I keep coming back to.  Cheers.

Despite The Mix Vol. 16 - WDC Version

fig. 1 The Shirks

 

 fig. 2 Chisel

 fig. 3 Jawbox

 fig. 4 The Make-Up

 

fig. 5 Title Tracks

 fig. 6 The Most Secret Method

fig. 7 The Paranoid Style

We're getting ready to move from DC this summer and as I am inclined to wax nostalgic I've put together a little mix of homegrown favorites. Cheers.