Again this year my music buying was mostly online, free tracks from NoiseTrade, as well as paid tracks from Bandcamp, and preordering mp3s and CDs from Kickstarter and PledgeMusic.
Here’s a playlist of everything available on soundcloud.com.
| Band | Song | Why them | |
| 01. | Steamcog Orchestra (featuring Beth Patterson) | Harry Poppins | Beth Patterson is one our faves, and this is a genius mashup. |
| 02. | Dark Desert Eagles | Santa Ana | Pat Badger from Extreme and producer/singer/songwriter Bleu put together a tribute to the Eagles, and decided to write some songs in their style. |
| 03. | The Mammals | Make It True | Mike + Ruthy reform The Mammals and come out with a great album. |
| 04. | Goodbye Road | Ring The Bells | Johnnyswim and Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors joined forces to make an album full of hope for these times. |
| 05. | Fortunate Ones | Northern Star | We saw this fine duo open up for Alan Doyle, and he co-wrote other songs on their album. |
| 06. | Lord & Lady | Dance It Out | I found this charming free holiday EP and enjoyed them, so checked out the rest of their music, and it’s also charming. |
| 07. | Sidecar Astronauts | Too Much Love | Storm (from Paul and Storm & Da Vinci’s Notebook) turns out to have a talent writing power pop songs. |
| 08. | Low Lily | Hope Lingers On | Lovely harmonies from this trio. |
| 09. | J.S. Ondara | Revolution Blues | Opening for Lindsey Buckingham and before his album came out, he held his own with his voice and humor.. |
| 10. | Laurie MacAllister | Ten Year Night | Lovely cover of one of our favorite Lucy Kaplansky songs. |
| 11. | Willodean | Devil & Me | Trio creates pop gems. |
| 12. | Pale Waves | Heavenly | Goth-y synth pop delights. |
| 13. | River Whyless | Van Dyke Brown | This year’s Herndon Festival discovery. |
| 14. | Dawn Landes | Traveling | Nice intersection of country and pop. |
| 15. | Fox and Bones | Love Me Like A River | Portland folkie duo with good harmonies. |
| 16. | Amanda Duncan | Big Time Superhero | Off her upcoming album, and not out yet, so here’s a live take. |
| 17. | Parks | Fools | Another Boston band rocking out. |
| 18. | Jade Bird | Lottery | An English songbird with a stunning voice. |
| 19. | Ben Folds | Mr. Peepers | My love of Mr. Folds is no secret, nor that I’ve been pushing this song for a while. |
| 20. | Alicia Witt | Still Sorry | Yes, another actress who sings, but she’s good. |
| 21. | The Push Stars | Nightclub Singer | A comeback with horns! | 22. | Ross Lara (with Emma Rowley & My City Glory) | Wide Open | Todd Wright brought out Emma Rowley in concert, so I had to dig deeper and find this gem they cowrote with Ross Lara. | 23. | Drakeford | Ready Or Not | Husband and wife pop/folk. | 24. | Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa | Black Coffee | One for my wife. | 25. | Matt Costa | Sharon | And one for my sister. | 26. | Katie Herzig | Beat Of Your Own | Singer-songwriter with a lot of songs in TV shows. | 27. | Ben Tsakopulos (feat. Todd Wright & Will Salzmann) | Sunshine | Speaking of Todd Wright, here’s a song that’s since shown up on his new album. | 28. | Arthur Buck | Are You Electrified? | Ben Arthur and Peter Buck (from R.E.M.) weren’t creative with their name, saving it for their music. | 29. | Ben Lee | B-E-E-R | A musical about beer? How 2018 (but a collaboration with Tom Robbins in the works for years). |