Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing, and the playlist below is some of what’s been in heavy rotation for me.
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Album-of-the-year season is one of my favorites. I love making lists. I love seeing everyone else’s picks. Most of all, I like going back and rediscovering faves from early in the year I may have forgotten about.
It all makes for a few weeks of gorging on the best the year had to offer… and then I hit a wall. There comes a point where I need to decompress and listen to anything but whatever might be making a deep run on my AOTY bracket. That’s where this week finds me.
I quipped earlier this week that I was binging tracks by Stock Aitken Waterman. I was only half joking. There are none of those here—maybe a themed list at some point? A couple of ‘25 songs are here (the new Afghan Whigs cover track was never not going to make the cut), but by and large this is a swing the other way toward old favorites and sonic comfort food.
Jay Som kicks things off, and then we go right into the poppiest (IMO) track YLT ever put to tape. Spoon’s here too, as are the Go-Betweens and one of the purest pop tracks they ever recorded. DC faves Dot Dash deliver a jolt of energy, and a deep cut from New Order leads us to some early Simple Minds and our pals from Philly, the Tisburys.
As noted, the new Afghan Whigs track is here (it’s a cover, and it rips). There’s a detour through some dream pop from 1989, and an older one from Preoccupations—their latest is a lock for my best-of list on Wednesday—and then some of the delightful chaos that only Kid Creole could deliver. (Shout-out to The Twelve Inch (Disco/80s) for nudging me to dust this one off!)
The back stretch starts with a cover by John Fogerty, The Treasures of Mexico (AOTY class of ‘23), Cheatahs, and Hayley Williams. Hard to pick a fave off her latest record, but this is definitely one of them. We then wind things out with a trifecta of Buzzcocks, Paul Westerberg, and Bauhaus.
On to the music…
Other sources: Qobuz (missing Dot Dash) | YouTube Music | Apple Music
Now it’s your turn.
What caught your ear this week? Any new releases or shows you’re looking forward to? Do you make any end-of-year lists? If so, have you started putting them together?
Whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Kevin Sent 