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 Indiegogo.
Here’s a playlist of everything available on Spotify.
Here’s a playlist of everything available on SoundCloud.
| Band | Song | Why them | |
| 01. | The Misses (Todd Wright, Cassidy Ford and Ethan Daniel Mentzer) | Devil’s Got Nothing On Me | Local pop supergroup with nice harmonies. |
| 02. | The Lemon Twigs | No One Holds You (Closer Than The One You Haven’t Met) | Two brothers, rockin’ out. |
| 03. | Capitol Sun Rays (Luther Dickinson, Amy Helm, Grahame Lesh, Allison Russell, JT Nero & Drew Lindsay) | Dream Of Spring | Another supergroup, this with some legacies. |
| 04. | Man Man | Cloud Nein | They hade me at “Instruments played by the band include clavinet, Moog Little Phatty, sousaphone, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, flute, bass clarinet, drum set, euphonium, Fender Jazz Bass, Danelectro baritone guitar, xylophone, marimba, melodica and various percussive instruments including pots and pans, toy noisemakers, Chinese funeral horns, spoons, smashing plates, and fireworks.”. |
| 05. | A Sound of Thunder | Udoroth (That One Club From the Movie Blade Where the Sprinklers Spray Blood) | Possibly the best song subtitle ever. |
| 06. | Sam Roberts Band | Ascension | Canadian rocker with pop twists. |
| 07. | Kings Daughters | Get Up (with Brian May) | Harmonies? Brian May? C’mon! |
| 08. | Crown Lands | Leadfoot | Canadian duo known to cover Rush. |
| 09. | Drive-By Truckers | Armageddon’s Back In Town | Ok, they’ve been around for a while, but they’re great. |
| 10. | Pillow Queens | Handsome Wife | Lovely vocals. |
| 11. | Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit | Be Afraid | Former Drive-By Truckers member, also great. |
| 12. | Twisted Pine | Papaya | Got a summer feel; coincidentally, they also have a fantastic holiday EP out now. |
| 13. | Mt. Joy | Death | I think they’re going to be fun to see live. |
| 14. | Pete Droge | Skeleton Crew (feat. Elaine Summers) | He’s back!. |
| 15. | Bonny Light Horseman (Anais Mitchell/Josh Kaufman/Eric D. Johnson) | Deep In Love | Great new supergroup. |
| 16. | We’re About 9 | On The Other Side Of The Internet | This song’s only here right now, so not on any of the playlists. But it’s perfect for this year. |
| 17. | Ellis Delaney | You Got This | Another song for this year. |
| 18. | Midtown Social | Savoir Faire | Dig that groove. |
| 19. | Tanya Donelly and the Parkington Sisters | Automatic | The Belly singer joins this band for a covers album, including this Go-Go’s song from out of left field. |
| 20. | Static In Verona | Poor Juliet | Nice power pop. |
| 21. | Molly Venter | Hold It All | The Red Molly member has been exceptionally prolific on her Patreon this year, here with a remake of a song she wrote for the group. | 22. | Julian Velard | Half Done | My theme song this year, as I turned 50. |