best of 2022 • Kevin Morby • Bittersweet, TN (feat. Erin Rae)

“‘Bittersweet, TN’ is a love song dedicated to time,” explains Morby. “It is about the abundance and scarcity around it that I feel almost always – that there is either a daunting amount or not enough but regardless – time is always on my mind. I tell this love story to the backdrop of America, or rather a Bittersweet, Tennessee – which like time itself can be a very beautiful or very tragic thing, depending, and one may not exist without the other. I sing it with my great friend – the very talented Erin Rae who really helped bring this song to life. There is a moment towards the end of the song where we have a cheers ‘to time,’ and I am so honored to be having those cheers with Erin in some sonic landscape for the rest of time.”

Devoted my life to the passin' of time

Crossed over county to the Missouri line

And how does one sail on the waves of time?

Hey there sailor, can I hitch a ride?

There was a time when you were mine

Oh, there was a time when you were mine

There was a time when you were mine

Oh, there was a time

Well, have one on me, bittersweet

Tennessee

Bittersweet

Tennessee

Goddamn you got old, you got upset you got sick

The livin' took forever, but the dyin' went quick

And oh, just to think you were a little kid

Wonderin' what you'd be when you got big

And there was no time, suddenly

Oh, there was no time, suddenly

There was no time, suddenly

Oh, there was no time

Well, have one on me, bittersweet

best of 2022 • Jaguar Sun • With You

With Jaguar Sun’s latest album “All We’ve Ever Known” he digs into the aftermath of his debut album “This Empty Town” exploring the process of accepting where you’re at in life, looking at your past, and moving on from mistakes or moments that have caused pain. The album is a bittersweet but hopeful look into the future and everything that tomorrow can be.

best of 2022 • Big Thief • Red Moon

https://bigthief.net/

There is a jubilance to these performances, even a joyousness. A wailing fiddle, played by guest member Mat Davidson (aka Twain), loosens up the country stomp of “Red Moon” and the gorgeous, blue-eyed harmonies of “Dried Roses.”

Red moon rising like a fire in me

So many questions, she asks them all to me

I have to answer most curiously

Scarlet angel, I am too small to see

Earn earn, shuffle round the big city

Burning the rubber down, crossing the hot concrete

I'm gonna leave town, there is someone to meet

She turns her head around a full 360

Woo

Bedroom rising from an old growth tree

Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams

Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams

Rings like Saturn telling their old story

Felice Brothers • "Jazz on the Autobahn" • (2022 XPoNential Music Festival)

http://www.thefelicebrothers.com/

The Felice Brothers perform "Jazz on the Autobahn" at the 2022 XPoNential Music Festival. Recorded live at Wiggins Park on the Camden Waterfront, NJ on September 17th, 2022.

Storefront Church Featuring Phoebe Bridgers • Words • 2022

Sparhawk said of his wife: “Hers was the voice of someone who is just singing, not trying to convince you of something. She was not singing to you. She was not singing to be noticed. Sometimes she didn’t even want to be seen. She just wanted to be.” Obituary 

Storefront Church is the project of Los Angeles–based artist Lukas Frank. He released his debut album, As We Pass, last year via Sargent House. In a statement about the Low cover, Frank wrote, “In the wake of Mimi’s passing, I’d like to dedicate this to her. Low’s music has been incredibly useful to me; it’s like an antidote to anxiety, with Mimi’s voice at the heart of it—relieving, cathartic, and honest.” PF

best of 2022 • Hurray for the Riff Raff • SAGA

http://www.hurrayfortheriffraff.com/

Before Alynda Segarra (she/they), who records under the moniker Hurray for the Riff Raff, went into the studio to record the mostly excellent Life on Earth, their eighth album, they had decided on a new plan of action. Instead of trying to save the world, they would try to save themselves.

Take it

They always want you to take it

Just close your eyes, baby, fake it

Burning inside-out

Shaking

Screaming hysterical, I get

Lost in an ocean of regret

Burning inside-out

Cold feet

I was a kid, I was lonely

Would've done anything only

To be by his side

I can't speak

I get to feel in my heartbeat

It's been a terrible news week

And I don't know how

Oh, I don't know how

But I, I don't want this to be

The saga of my life

The saga of my life

The saga of my, I

I just wanna be free

Get over it in time

Push it out of my mind

Cold feet

I was a kid, I was lonely

He pushed me down on the concrete

Oh, I can't speak

I get to feel in my heartbeat

I'll just make it through this week

And I'll get out alive

But I don't know how

Oh, I don't know how

And I, I don't want this to be

The saga of my life

The saga of my life

The saga of my, I

I just wanna be free

Get over it in time

Push it out of my mind

Nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

Oh, nobody believed me

Nobody believed

Oh, nobody believed me

Nobody believed me

best of 2022 • Courtney Barnett - Sunfair Sundown

https://courtneybarnett.com.au/

 “Sunfair Showdown” show Barnett’s strengths: riffs and toplines married to a wryness as chronic as a scowl.

Oh, what a day, and congrats on the keys to your place

You've escaped the rat race, as they say

Now you're settling in for the stay anyway

You got a blank slate to renovate

Take it all

Yeah, you reap what you sow and so it goes

What you put in the ground comes around

When you don't really know what you're missing at all

In a daze, I can picture you whittling away

With such care, with such patience and grace

And I smile when you say that you'll build me a table one day

Well, I'd be so grateful

Sometimes it's hard, getting lost, you say is a fine art

Put the map down and follow the stars

Shall we leave? Are you sure?

Let me grab my bag, we can sneak out through the side door

In the dark, are you scared?

Did you hear those dogs bark?

And do you ever wonder what sets you apart?

Shine the torch on the path, darling, please don't let go of my arm

When you sleep, are you warm? Can you feel my cold feet?

Are you good? Are you making ends meet?

At the end of the day, you're awake with your thoughts

And I don't want you to be alone

And I don't want you to be alone

Yeah, I don't want you to be alone

And I don't want you to be alone

LAVEDA • F*** • 2022

https://www.lavedaband.com

A windows down, wind-in-your-hair, late night drive-worthy track, “F***” sees Laveda perfecting their ansty and ethereal brand of dream-pop while tapping into the agitations and anxieties of young adulthood.

Blending chiffon shoegaze rhythms with propulsive ‘90s-tinged guitars and distant drums, the new cut builds gently to its shimmering conclusion like a college coming-of-age story that sees a disillusioned protagonist defeat their adversaries to come out on top. 

George Hennessey • Prisoner • 2022

With a glimmering guitar lick that Paul Weller or Noel Gallagher would have been proud to put their names to at the peak of their powers, the new single “Prisoner” is a psychedelic-tipped, Brit-Pop embodying joie de vivre. Finding nuance in nostalgia, the song is ultimately about escaping the constrictions of life through the music you love.

As George explains:

“"Prisoner" is about when luck isn’t on your side, and you feel like you're being held emotionally captive… your guitar and melody can be your only ways out.”

From its day-tripping lyrical wonderings, to its reality-crashing drum rolls, and its electrifying guitar solos, “Prisoner” is a record of fearless rock’n’roll escapism from an artist primed and ready to break into the big time.

Mike Legere • Memory Forming Clouds • 2022

“The final time I left no fanfare played me out, memory forming clouds”    The album was written about my profound feeling of loss. I felt like I needed to process the grief and loss I was experiencing; the feelings were so strong that I wanted to make something of them. Through the process of making the record, I also went through giant life changes and shifts, did a few years of therapy and found myself on the other side of this experience