SMM #44: December 17th, 2022
Wrapping up 2022 with my favorite albums of the year, a couple of holiday themed playlists, and some words on two new releases from Neil Young.
Favorite Albums of 2022
After listening to several hundred albums this year, it was tough to narrow things down to a list of favorite new releases but I gave it a shot with my “Top 15” below…
I went with Carson McHone’s album, Still Life as my favorite… according to the Spotify “Wrapped” report, the lead song, “Hawks Don’t Share” was my most played new song this year which I don’t doubt - I loved it, especially the horns… prior to coming across this album after its release in late February, I had never heard of McHone… turns out this was her third album following Goodluck Man (2015) and Carousel (2018)... in 2020, she moved from her native Austin to Toronto and married Canadian rocker, Daniel Romano… her career really took off in 2022 as she toured heavily with Romano and his stellar band, The Outfit, and served as the opening act for many of the shows… she’s definitely on my bucket list to catch live somewhere in 2023… also want to note that the #13 artist on list, Julianna Riolino, is also a member of The Outfit… definitely a band to check out!
Below is the full album list which I tried to rank in some kind of approximate order:
CARSON McHONE - Still Life
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND - I Am The Moon (4-album series)
CHRIS FORSYTH - Evolution Here We Come
THE TAMBLES - Scraping By
CALEXICO - El Mirador
HOOVERiii - A Round of Applause
FIRST AID KIT - Palomino
LARKIN POE - Blood Harmony
COLOR GREEN - self-titled
CHRISTINA VANE - Make Myself Me Again
SOPHIE & THE BROKEN THINGS - Delusions of Grandeur
TAJ MAHAL & RY COODER - Get On Board
JULIANNA RIOLINO - All Blue
THE DESLONDES - Ways & Means
DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO - Cold as Weiss
Holiday Season Music 2022
Playlist: John Fahey Acoustic Xmas Faves
I was doing some Christmas music research and came across John Fahey… per AllMusic Guide, Fahey is considered “one of acoustic music's true innovators and eccentrics and a crucial figure in expanding the boundaries of the acoustic guitar”… he did his most notable work in the 60s and 70s taking a folk music template and incorporating blues, Native American music, Indian ragas, experimental dissonance, and pop… he was also a musicologist, record collector, A&R man and started the folk and blues labels, Takoma and Revenant… in 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him #35 on their “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list…
I have listened to some of Fahey’s classic albums in the past but, interestingly, his most commercially successful albums were his several Christmas albums… so I put together a playlist of tunes from these albums… it’s all acoustic instrumentals but should make for some great background music at a holiday dinner or party…
I’m also re-posting my “Ho Ho Ho Xmas Deluxe” playlist from last year for any subscribers who weren’t on board then… I expanded the list with some additional songs so it should work for everyone… ho ho ho Merry Christmas!
New Releases: Neil Young Edition
Recent weeks have been a little light on interesting new releases so I thought I would highlight Neil Young’s latest releases, both of which came out during the past month… I’m a huge Neil fan and he is easily in my top 5 all-time favorite artists… unfortunately, in a highly publicized move, he pulled his music from Spotify this year so I can’t link to any of his catalog, but you can still find him on Apple Music and Amazon Music…
World Record is Neil’s latest album of new material and his third studio album since reuniting with his longtime backing band, Crazy Horse in 2019… he spent several years prior to that recording and touring with Lukas Nelson’s band, Promise of The Real… World Record continues Young’s focus on climate change and the environment… according to a recent interview with The New Yorker, he got the inspiration for the songs while walking through the woods with his dog, listening to the sounds of nature… he decided to record the sounds on his phone, then went into the studio and turned them into songs… pretty amazing!
Overall, I wouldn’t rank it with his best albums but it definitely is an enjoyable listen, particularly, the songs “The World (Is In Trouble Now),” “Break the Chain,” “The Wonder Won’t Wait” and “Chevrolet,” a good old grungy Crazy Horse 15 minute jam…
His other recent release is a special 50th anniversary edition of the best-selling album of his career, 1972’s Harvest… the extras include two intriguing DVDs: “Harvest Time” - a 2-hour, unreleased film shot during the making of Harvest - and an unreleased BBC “In Concert” live performance from Feb ‘71… for a good analysis of Harvest and Young’s staying power, check out this article from The Atlantic by Pomona college professor, Kevin Dettmar.
Final Thoughts
With the busy holiday season approaching, this will be the last issue of SMM for 2022… according to their annual “Wrapped” report, I listened to Spotify a total of 42,878 minutes or 3,107 hours this year… seems like a LOT of listening! This puts me in the top 11% of Spotify listeners so I’ll have to shoot for top 10% in 2023! The artist/band I listened to the most was the Grateful Dead and I was in the top 3% of Dead listeners (not sure if I can improve on that!)...
Anyway, I will be back at it in January… personally, it has been a fun year overall that was capped off by the birth of my grandson Martin in November! So thanks for subscribing and I really appreciate everyone’s support… Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!! — SL