For anyone new to Tunes, the songs I pick each year are never ranked. Welcome aboard. Tunes is meant to be an eclectic mix of new music, some you know, some you don’t. Some you will love, some not as much. As the expression goes, all the world’s a stage.
Tunes features new music released during the year. And while I limit one track per artist, a few manage to sneak back into the mix, on colabs. This year, The Bamboos, Brad Mehldau, Thundercat, Jeff Tweedy (solo and as a member of Wilco), Unknown Mortal Orchestra and White Denim managed ‘encore’ appearances. Bravo!
It was a great year for music... but I say that every year. My year-end Spotify ‘Wrapped’ told me I listened to 4,749 musical artists in 2023. I played 10,939 songs, across 217 genres. My total playing time was 100,360 minutes... just under 70 days nonstop. I managed to rank inside the top 1% of Spotify listeners worldwide. And that was just the music I played on Spotify.
It’s humbling to learn I missed a decade of amazing music. I stumbled on Zamrock (Zambian rock) this year via a new release, Zambo, from the band WITCH. They formed in Zambia’s post-independence heyday, the early 1970s. Their music defines ‘get up and dance’ inspiration. There is a 2019 documentary about the band and era I highly recommend. It’s called We Intend To Cause Havoc (WITCH).
I’ve loved listening to Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker since their early releases. Boygenius, a collaborative effort, raises the ‘power band’ bar for all. “Not Strong Enough” is on this year’s playlist. They make astonishing music, as a band and independent musicians. If you don’t yet know them, you should!
There were some retro releases this year I feel an urgent need to spotlight. A24, an incredible independent film company, restored in partnership with Talking Heads, what I believe is the ultimate live concert film, Stop Making Sense. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, released in 1984. “Once In A Lifetime” made it onto this year’s playlist. See this movie!
Sparks is an LA based band formed by brothers Ron and Russell Mael. I recall hearing them played quite a bit as a kid growing up in London. They re-defined eclectic synth-based pop-rock. “Nothing Is As Good As They Say It is” made it onto this year’s playlist. A song for our times. For more background on the band check out the 2021documentary The Sparks Brothers.
If I had to pick two theme songs this year I would include The Heavy’s “Got To Believe”. It’s a tune I took solace in, found inspiration from and boogied to on repeat. It’s a slow build with a brilliant burn. Also, BAILEN’s “Call It Like It Is”. Words to live by, with a wicked beat.
Sufjan Stevens’ “Will Anybody Ever Love Me Again?” warmed my heart. It’s on the album Javelin. Stevens dedicated it to his partner Evans Richardson, who passed away in April. “He was one of those rare and beautiful ones you find only once in a lifetime—precious, impeccable, and absolutely exceptional in every way.” We should each be gifted such love.
Nickel Creek’s “Holding Pattern” resonated introspectively. It seemed a fitting last song (is there ever a last song?) to add to the playlist I started as covid began to shut the world down in early 2020. I’ve added to it ever since. It’s called Brighter Tomorrow and I included a link for anyone interested.
André Lauren Benjamin gets a spotlight this year. André 3000 is one-half of the seminal hip hop duo Outkast! Big Boi, his partner in crime. You know Outkast! “Hey Ya!”.
André 3000 released his first solo studio album this year... but not what the rap world was expecting. It’s a woodwind based ambient album, New Blue Sun. It takes inspiration from artists including Alice Coltrane, Brian Eno, Steve Reich and Pharoah Sanders.
“I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make A ’Rap’ Album But This is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” is on this year’s playlist. Clocking in at 12 minutes and 20 seconds, it’s the longest tune to make Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart, not to mention a Tunes playlist.
There’s a trippy-tune by Folk Implosion, “Natural One”, not to be missed. For the counter-culture crew it was originally written for the 1985 film Kids, directed by Larry Clarke. Somewhat ironically, “Natural One” was dropped from the final film cut for a Beastie Boys track.
Half-sisters Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar made the playlist this year with an inspired tune “Traces of You”. The two share Ravi Shankar as their father, composer and sitarist extraordinaire. His compositions and sitar mastery are magical.
I have my 2024 Tunes (so far) Spotify playlist up and running, so you can see what cycles on-and-off as the year progresses. The profile name on Spotify is: tunes4ourtimes. There’s a link on the website as well.
Please let me know of new music I’m missing. You can find me at: tunes4ourtimes@gmail.com. Happy listening!
There is always incredible new music being made... you just have to stop, look for it and listen. rcm
“We all do ‘do, re, mi’… you’ve got to find the other notes yourself.” Louis Armstrong