New Faves 03/18/2021

Popular music is dying from lack of new talent. Either that, or, like earlier generations, I’m just becoming old and grumpy and have no time or patience for new musical artists. But who are the new artists? Where are they? There was a time when new musical artists found you- in the car, at the mall, or on MTV. But now it seems we are all responsible for finding our own new music which means we’re all going in millions of different directions in search of new sounds instead of sharing a small number of sources- radio, MTV, the guy at the record store- for our new music. Internet killed the video star.

Let’s face it. Popular music- as it was defined in the second half of the 20th century- is a dying art form, just like the novel and the film not to mention other charmingly antiquated things like home delivery of bottled milk, newspapers, broadcast television, and mixtapes. There are no new mind-blowingly good musical artists anymore for the same reason there are no new mind-blowingly good sculptors, novelists, or harpsichord players anymore. It’s over- their time has come and gone- and most of their supporters are also dead and gone. But fear not. You can still sculpt, write novels, and play the harpsichord. No one is going to stop you. And no one is going to stop me from finding new music in the past as well is in the present. Here are some of my most recent musical discoveries that I now consider new faves. Enjoy!

01. Tom Petty – “Square One” (2006)

02. Eleanor McEvoy feat. Mary Black – “A Woman’s Heart” (1992)

03. Dottie West – “Would You Hold It Against Me” (1966)

04. Dawes – “Free as We Wanna Be (Acoustic)” (2021)

05. Frank Sinatra – “Emily” (1977)

06. Sonic Youth – “Incinerate” (2006)

07. Dan Reeder – “Clean Elvis” (2004)

08. Peter, Paul and Mary – “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1965)

09. KC and the Sunshine Band – “Please Don’t Go” (1979)

10. Dramarama – “Femme Fatale” (1985)

11. Lack of Afro – “The Basis” (2009)

12. Mickey Newbury – “T. Total Tommy” (1969) 

13. John Martyn – “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” (1977)

14. Jake Xerxes Fussell – “Canyoneers” (2017)

15. Karl Blau – “To Love Somebody” (2016)

16. Joe Purdy – “Kristine” (2016)

17. Santana – “Samba Pa Ti” (1970)

18. Cornershop – “Sleep on the Left Side” (1997)

19. Barenaked Ladies – “Brian Wilson (Live)” (1996)

20. Traffic – “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave (Live)” (1971)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...