Every year on my birthday (January 10), I post on Facebook a playlist of my favorite songs from the previous year. Here are the liner notes for that playlist:
- Stevie Wonder – Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart. A powerful new song by Stevie Wonder. I started and ended this playlist with songs that were a salve for me during difficult times. Can we fix our nation’s broken heart? Spoiler: no.
- La Santa Cecilia – Alma Bohemia. Another amazing song by this great LA band featuring the powerful vocals of La Marisoul.
- The Black Keys – Beautiful People (Stay High). A catchy blues-dance song by the Akron, Ohio band, fronted by Dan Auerbach.
- Librarians with Hickeys – Hello Operator. Infectious power pop from another Akron, Ohio Band. Librarians with Hickeys are on the great LA powerpop label Big Stir Records. They deserve to be better known than they are.
- Hermanos Gutiérrez – Barrio Hustle. Atmospheric instrumental guitar music by two Ecuadoran-Swiss brothers. It is if The Good, Bad and the Ugly were scored by a surf rock band from somewhere in Latin America.
- Shelby Lynn – Over and Over. I have long loved the country-soul singer-songwriter Shelby Lynn, who put out another a great album in 2024. The horns on this song are amazing.
- Pink Sweat$ – Bloom. Acoustic R&B that recalls Bill Withers while always sounding contemporary. Thanks to my nephew Ben for turning me on to Pink Sweat$.
- Kasey Chambers – Backbone (The Desert Child). This Australian country singer-songwriter is another longtime favorite of mine. Her 2024 album is all equally as good as this song.
- Moreno Veloso – Brasil Pandeiro. Brazilian superstar Caetano Veloso’s son releases a gentle samba in the tradition of his father’s music. I love this song.
- Beyonce – Texas Hold ‘Em. There is no doubt that Beyonce’s album Cowboy Carter is the record of the year. The only problem for me was choosing which of the great songs on that album to put on this playlist. I considered Ya Ya and Bodyguard, but ultimately went with Texas Hold ’Em in part because it was the most country sounding of the three songs.
- Market – Well I Asked You a Question. This catchy, quirky rock song is by Brooklyn singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/engineer-/producer Nate Mendelsohn. I am proud to have known Nate his whole life. He is making great music. Check out his 2024 album Well I Asked You a Question.
- Margo Price and Mike Campbell – Ways to Be Wicked. This rocker is by the country singer-songwriter Price and the guitarist Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Ways to Be Wicked Sounds like it could be a lost Heartbreakers song.
- Aaron Frazier – Payback. The drummer and vocalist from the soul band Durand Jones and the Indications has a smooth falsetto and usually sings pretty soul ballads. Not this time. Payback rocks.
- Maria Bethania – Sabado em Copacabana. Caetano Veloso’s sister Maria Bethania is a star and a great vocalist in her own right. This is a beautiful Brazilian torch song.
- Chetes and Calexico – Polvo de Estrellas. Mexican Rock-En Español Singer Chetes – aka Luis Gerardo Garza Cisneros – sings with the Tucson, Arizona “desert noir” rock band Calexico. Povlo de Strellas is a bitter-sweet song about endings. The title of the song means “Stardust,” so it gets extra credit for the Hoagy Carmichael reference.