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Nathaniel Rateliff / Redemption
Saunders: I just love Rateliff’s music and voice and he’s quickly become one of my favorite artists since his sound has evolved.
More Info from Last.FM
Nathaniel Rateliff (born Nathaniel David Rateliff on 7 October 1978 in St. Louis, MI) is an American singer and songwriter based in Denver, whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues. Rateliff has garnered attention with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, the soulful R&B combo he formed in 2013. He has also released solo albums and under the name Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel. http://www.nathanielrateliff.com/ Members: Nathaniel Rateliff Patrick Meese Julie Davis Joseph Pope III James Han Read more on Last.fm more...
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SAULT / Free
Lindsay: The beat and jazzy rhythm of this tune gives me that warm fuzzy feeling that vanished in early 2020. It's the experience of buzzing around a crowd, exchanging energy and stories with friendly faces. Lyrically, the message is what I think many of us have come to realize, that we can "make it on our own" in so many more ways than we ever imagined. Also, every time I put it on, my toddler gets a big smile and starts doing his signature wide legged side-to-side dance moves, which is almost as entertaining as going to a club. ;)
More Info from Last.FM
Sault are a pseudonymous British music collective that make a mixture of rhythm and blues, house and disco. Despite critical acclaim, they eschew interaction with the media. They frequently foreground black-centric issues. Their first four albums credit Inflo as producer; winner of Ivor Novello awards for his work on Little Simz' Grey Area and as co-writer of Michael Kiwanuka's "Black Man in a White World". Read more on Last.fm more...
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Anderson .Paak / Lockdown
Noah: The flow is so good on this, and damn—that beat, the production is so smooth throughout. Funky stretchy bass line. A song that sounds like 2020 for me.
More Info from Last.FM
Formerly known as Breezy Lovejoy. Brandon Paak Anderson (born February 9, 1986), better known by his stage name Anderson Paak (stylized as Anderson .Paak), is an American singer, rapper, and producer from Oxnard, California. Paak released his debut album, O.B.E. Vol.1 in 2012 under the name Breezy Lovejoy. He released Venice on October 28, 2014 as Anderson .Paak, which was followed by Malibu, on January 15, 2016. On January 30th, Paak announced via Twitter he has signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Fleet Foxes / Can I Believe You
Andrew: Can you believe... there are no Fleet Foxes songs in our catalog? How could this be true? This album was a slow burn for me but I grew to love it. Robin Pecknold, the bandleader, says that the album is meant to embody the feeling of living "fully and vibrantly". I remember a line from their second album Helplessness Blues that went "If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore". For me, that album embodied the situation many millennials found themselves in 2011, emerging from college with few prospects and a mountain of debt. This album's feeling is more of a swell of optimism even in the face of our current situation. The album and this song has been a salve for me over the last year.
More Info from Last.FM
Fleet Foxes is an indie folk band which formed in Seattle, Washington, United States in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar), Christian Wargo (bass, guitar, vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, vocals), Morgan Henderson (multiple instruments) and J. Tillman (drums, vocals). Previously signed to the Sub Pop and Bella Union labels, they are now signed to Nonesuch since 2017. Fleet Foxes released the six-track Fleet Foxes EP in 2006 Read more on Last.fm more...
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U.S. Girls / 4 American Dollars
John: This song has a retro quality that I can’t quite place, but don’t care. It just sounds like fun. There’s a disco, R&B vibe that is hard to shake. Ironically an American group from Chicago that emigrated to Canada (Toronto).
More Info from Last.FM
U.S. Girls is the moniker used by Meghan Remy. She has released two full length LP's on the Siltbreeze label, 2008's 'Introducing...', and 2010's 'Go Grey'. in 2015, she signed to 4AD releasing her album Half Free in the same year and the follow up In A Poem Unlimited in 2018. http://usgirls.bandcamp.com/ http://yousgirls.blogspot.com.es/ Read more on Last.fm more...
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Katie Von Schleicher / Messenger
Andy: Those layered voices just make this one for me. A from a solid album all around.
More Info from Last.FM
Katie Von Schleicher would have been hard-pressed to find a more fitting title for her new album. Bleaksploitation pits gloomy anguish against high drama, and they fight to a draw on seven songs that balance weird with compelling and catchy. It’s a defiantly lo-fi collection, steeped in reverb and full of gritty atmospherics that veer off from the more straightforward direction Von Schleicher took on her 2012 album, Silent Days. Where many of those songs had a loose-limbed Read more on Last.fm more...
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Cavetown / Trying
Joe: I’m always looking for something easy on the ears when I need to focus for work. Aside from maybe Phoebe Bridgers’ album, this twenty-year old provided the best backdrop for my work-from-bedroom experience. I’m also hoping it’s something fresh for burnmix but I was a bit surprised to see that he’s got as many monthly Spotify listeners as Ms. Bridgers. Anyway, if you’re in need of something lower-fi in 2021, give Cavetown a spin.
More Info from Last.FM
Cavetown is formally known as Robin Skinner, a 21-year-old singer/ songwriter from Cambridge, England. As of January 2018, he has released six independent albums, three single tracks and one collaborative album. Cavetown has become increasingly popular on YouTube from a combination of both these original songs and covers that he has produced and uploaded. This has allowed him to perform gigs in the UK both locally and nationally, and also in other parts of the world such as California, USA. http://www.cave.town/store Read more on Last.fm more...
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SAULT / Wildfires
Noah: Spare, floaty, the beauty belies the smoldering lyrics echoing through. A promise of resistance, “I will always rise.” Rare to hear a song with two bass lines, but it works. This one always hits me in the gut.
More Info from Last.FM
Sault are a pseudonymous British music collective that make a mixture of rhythm and blues, house and disco. Despite critical acclaim, they eschew interaction with the media. They frequently foreground black-centric issues. Their first four albums credit Inflo as producer; winner of Ivor Novello awards for his work on Little Simz' Grey Area and as co-writer of Michael Kiwanuka's "Black Man in a White World". Read more on Last.fm more...
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Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger / You Make Me Feel Brand New
Bryn: So happy to revisit this song. They cover it so beautifully and I'm in love with the whole album. Dezron Douglas - double bass, bass guitar, voice and Brandee Younger - harp, voice. Recorded in their Harlem apartment under lockdown.
More Info from Last.FM
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Iris Dement / Going Down to Sing in Texas
Andy: I listened to this 9+ minute song dozens of times leading up to the election. It helped carry me through (but we're not there yet). Iris avoids metaphor. This is some straight talk.
More Info from Last.FM
Iris DeMent (born 5 January 1961 in Paragould, Arkansas, USA) is a Grammy-nominated American country/folk singer and songwriter. As well as recording a series of successful solo albums, DeMent has sung duets with artists such as Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris and has featured on the albums of many other performers. In October 2012, she released "Sing the Delta", her first album of original songs in 16 years. DeMent was the fourteenth and last child of Pat DeMent and the sixth child of his second wife, Flora Mae. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Nadia Reid / Oh Canada
Kristin: All the different places mentioned in this song almost make me salivate. A little Joni nod here. Maybe just the echo of “Oh Canada”, and also the heartbreak abroad. Sounds nice. Singing love songs in another country. Here’s to the possibility this year.
More Info from Last.FM
Nadia Reid (born Nadia Reid-O’Reilly on 23 August 1991) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter based in Auckland. Her albums, "Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs", and "Preservation", have received wide acclaim at home in New Zealand and internationally. Reid performs live with a regular band of musicians consisting of Sam Taylor (guitar), Richie Pickard (bass), and Joe McCallum (drums). Reid’s first single from her album ‘’Preservation’’ Read more on Last.fm more...
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Peter, Bjorn and John / Rusty Nail
Joe: This track warped me back 10 years to the Writer’s Block days. That album was a regular for my morning commutes and Endless Dream equally fits the bill. If you didn’t know, Drake did a cover of ‘Let’s Call It Off’ that’s pretty amazing.
More Info from Last.FM
This is an incorrect tag for Peter Bjorn and John. If this non-artist appears in your charts, do yourself and last.fm a favour. Fix your artist tags. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Waxahatchee / Can’t Do Much
Andrew: This song is obviously mine, as it was featured twice on my April 2020 mix. I really love this album and have been a Waxahatchee fan since the 2013 Cerulean Salt. Katie Crutchfield deals with new found sobriety and talks about her past and addiction. "My mind turns to something useless and trite, My uneasiness, materialize". Love how she balances her new found calm after the storm with reflecting about her past.
More Info from Last.FM
Solo project of Katie Crutchfield of P.S. Eliot and Bad Banana. Waxahatchee is a solo project of songwriter Katie Crutchfield formed after the breakup of P.S. Eliot. She released her first music as Waxahatchee as a split cassette with Chris Clavin on Plan-It-X Records. Her bedroom-recorded debut album, American Weekend, was released on Don Giovanni Records in 2012. On June 11, 2012 "Be Good" was the song of the day on NPR as well as one of the best 50 songs of 2012. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Hailu Mergia / Yene Abeba
Bryn: So excited about this album after enjoying many of his previous ones. This fits right in with the gentle, feel-good music I've been drawn to. If I'm not dancing and blasting Dua Lipa, this is my mood.
More Info from Last.FM
The acclaimed and highly sought-after LP by Hailu Mergia and the Walias, Tche Belew, an album of instrumentals released in 1977, is perhaps the most seminal recording released in the aftermath of the 1974 revolution. The story of the Walias band is a critical chapter in Ethiopian popular music, taking place during a period of music industry flux and political complexity in the country. Hailu Mergia, a keyboardist and arranger diligently working the nightclub scene in Addis Ababa Read more on Last.fm more...
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Bonnie “Prince” Billy / New Memory Box
Kristin: Technically out at the end of 2019, so maybe that’s why, but look, if Bonnie Prince Billy found a way to sound upbeat and happy, then there’s hope for us all.
More Info from Last.FM
Bonnie "Prince" Billy is a pseudonym of post-punk, folk artist Will Oldham. " Yeah, the name has so many different references that it could almost have a life of its own. Bonnie Prince Charlie has such a beautiful ring to it, and I was very conscious of appropriating that mellifluous sound. And I was also thinking about the name Nat King Cole. But it wasn't until later, and this may have been subconscious, that I remembered that Billy the Kid was William Bonney or Billy Bonney." More Information on Will Oldham Read more on Last.fm more...
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Sarah Jarosz / Johnny
John: I will be pegged for this song immediately, but so be it. This is a sweet little gem - great song, performance and production - with an infectious melody. I love the twists in the chord progression and the very unique bridge.
More Info from Last.FM
Sarah Jarosz (born 23 May 1991 in Austin, Texas) is an American alt-country musician and singer-songwriter from Texas. Her first CD, Song Up in Her Head, was released in 2009, with her tune "Mansinneedof" nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance. Her second album, Follow Me Down, was released in 2011. Her third album, Build Me Up from Bones, was released on September 24, 2013 through Sugar Hill Records. Read more on Last.fm more...
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Matt Berninger / One More Second
Lindsay: While this is sort of just a sappy love song, it touches on the sentimental side of the isolation and heartache this pandemic has forced us all to endure in some form. As much as I try to push away the haunting images and stories of those who have lost their lives, the lyrics and tone of this song remind me of the quick departure of life that so many have had to face in this time, and the ever-present reminder to do the best we can to appreciate the time we have together.
More Info from Last.FM
Matt Berninger (born 1971) is an American singer and songwriter best known for being the lead singer of indie rock band The National. He is notable for his baritone vocals making The National's melodies original and distinct, allowing words to come to life with stories of "gloomy vignettes about young city dwellers". Read more on Last.fm more...
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Chris Stapleton / Starting Over
Saunders: For me this song was memorable bc the lyrics encapsulated what I felt making my way back to the city (spoiler alert!)
More Info from Last.FM
Christopher Alvin Stapleton[2] (born April 15, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Stapleton's music styles include Southern rock and bluegrass. He is an established songwriter with six country number-one songs including the five-week number-one "Never Wanted Nothing More" recorded by Kenny Chesney, "Love's Gonna Make It Alright" recorded by George Strait, and "Come Back Song" recorded by Darius Rucker. Over 150 of Stapleton's songs have appeared on albums by such artists as Adele Read more on Last.fm more...
2020 Best of the Rest
128 / January 2021 / BurnMix
- FreeSAULT
- Can I Believe YouFleet Foxes
- JohnnySarah Jarosz
- Oh CanadaNadia Reid
- Can’t Do MuchWaxahatchee
- Yene AbebaHailu Mergia
- Going Down to Sing in TexasIris Dement
- New Memory BoxBonnie “Prince” Billy
- RedemptionNathaniel Rateliff
- One More SecondMatt Berninger
- Rusty NailPeter, Bjorn and John
- MessengerKatie Von Schleicher
- Starting OverChris Stapleton
- LockdownAnderson .Paak
- WildfiresSAULT
- TryingCavetown
- You Make Me Feel Brand NewDezron Douglas & Brandee Younger
- 4 American DollarsU.S. Girls
