Sure. I’ll always enjoy the music that I grew up on - Beatles, Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd… But as I age I see no
reason why I should stop searching for news favorite bands. So, this year, armed with my streaming service, I made it a
point to create a playlist with new songs from artists I had never heard of before. I must say, I have really enjoyed the
result.
My strategy has been to monitor NPR Music, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone Magazine for newly released albums. I plug in
songs to my streaming service and give a tune about 20 seconds to move me somehow. I’m not a music critic nor are my
tastes particularly mature. I just wanted to find new stuff.
Often it takes a few listens for a song to grow on me. So, I tried to be pretty lenient when I took on new songs. I add
them to my playlist which is forever on random. Eventually, as I play the music in the background as I work or exercise
a song will settle in as something I like or not. If I don’t like the song I don’t fret over tossing it out of the list.
If I get tired of a song, I may struggle a little harder to toss it.
Whatever… It’s all good.
Here are some of my favorite discoveries over the past year…
**note: “discovery” may imply that I am just very late to the game…
Favorite Band:
HAIM
Actually, I did not find a great affinity with the first song that I came upon. However, the more I listened, the more I
liked. I’d see them in concert…
Favorite Song:
Wild Heart - Ada Lea
Great songcraft!
Protest Music:
With a year like this, there must be some great protest music. Thank god for rap and hiphop.
Favorite Voice:
Waylon Payne
This definitely falls out of my normal music preferences, but, wow! what a great voice!
Song I can’t stop listening to:
Le Vent Nous Portera - Sophie Hunger
This song is a cover and fairly old. But it represents an effort to listen to more non-English songs. Also, in the first
few bars, I swear it’s a Radiohead song. That never hurts.