This is Not Christmas Music 2019 (Vol 16 or maybe 17) (Part 1, probably.)
Starting in 2018, my listening habits changed. I learned how to walk around outside in headphones without feeling completely clumsy/vulnerable. This maybe is why I heard lots of songs this year but didn’t make it through a lot of whole albums. And, the number of songs I listened to was shrunk by my habit of getting stuck on songs and listening to them repeatedly, with feeling. In any case, I didn’t hear nearly enough music to have any idea what the best songs of 2019 are, but I can get behind all of these (and more to come) as songs that make it worth it to keep walking the dog in a country that’s gone fundamentally insane.
So, here’s the Disc 1 playlist for 2019:
The Regrettes–California Friend
Cat Clyde-Reach It
L7–Burn Baby
Wallows–Scrawny
Lana Del Rey–Doin’ Time
Alex Lahey–I Don’t Get Invited to Parties Anymore
Tyler, the Creator–Earfquake
Bob Mould–Sunshine Rock
Rainbow Girls–Down Home Girl
The Paranoid Style–An Endless Cycle of Meaningless Behavior
Todd Snider–A Timeless Response to Current Events
Brittany Howard–History Repeats
Khalid (W/John Meyer)–Outta My Head
Hobo Johnson–Subaru Crosstrek XV
Subatlantic–Places, Everyone
Lizzo–Truth Hurts
Kevin Devine–Only Yourself
The Paranoyds–Carnage Bargain
Marika Hackman–I’m Not Where You Are
Sway Wild (W/Birds of Chicago)–Chimney Fire
Reese McHenry–Fever
Luther Dickinson (W/Sharde Thomas)–Fly With Me
Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage: Take It For Granted
Chris Staples–World On Fire
Big Thief–Not (edit)
The Regrettes–How Do You Love?
*Notes on format and Content: When I first started making these, it felt thrilling to finally have something like the means of production (or at least reproduction) right on my desk, even though CDs are kind of terrible as musical artifacts. I’m doing a Spotify playlist this time, along with CDs, but I still treated it like a CD and not a playlist. That meant sometimes choosing a shorter song instead of THE song. I’m still not sure if that’s the right choice (I mean, why not have the right song on there in a world where you can?) but, that’s what I did here.
No Radio Free Lunch! 