Here at everything, etc. we are devout, and I mean, DEVOUT FATM fans. (Not sure who we is…me and the cats I guess?)
Florence Welch lobbing this witchy anthem grenade into our Halloween 2025 was not on my bingo-card, but I feel like I hit the coverall.
I’ll be listening to this on repeat for the rest of the day. Time well spent.
Be good, do good. 🫡🥰
There I was, minding my own business reading The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by Rick Rubin, (highly recommended btw. It’s not just about art. So many great life comparisons), on the porch at my parent’s place when this song pipes into my AirPods.
Absolutely love the guitar throughout, vocals are beyond tight, and I just love how it changes up throughout. When we slow down and get that awesomely produced vocal?
Then the beat picks up and we can the layered vocals, and we’re back on the same rocket ship ride from before.
One of the more creative new songs I’ve heard lately. (But it’s not a new song, 2014!) It made me instantly want to write this post.
Caught me in the moment. Hope something catches you today.
Be good, do good.
Guys, gals, and non-binary pals, we have the first non-Angie McMahon song on the list!
My relationship with country music started with my parents. They were big into Alabama, Garth Brooks, Tracy Lawrence, George Strait, but also Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Charley Pride, and many other legends. Dad will still bust out into some gospel too from time to time.
I remember really enjoying “Ghostriders in the Sky” which was the ultimate collaboration of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. A country super-group. There’s so much character in those artists, their art, and the stories they tell.
There’s a popular sect of country music now that does not hold to those tenets, and I am not here for it.
This song though…there’s something about it that harkens back to that time for me…even though it’s two contemporary artists.
I first stumbled upon Zach Bryan on the track Something in the Orange (also appears on this list!). Zach just sounds AUTHENTIC to me…which harkens back to those country artists above. He seems like he’s cut from the same cloth with what I’ve heard of his catalog.
“Do you remember that beat down basement couch? I’d sing you my love songs and you’d tell me about, how your Mama ran off and pawned her ring, I remember, I remember everything…”
Bryan is great and a lot of the names I mention above would give him a respectful nod because he has The Sound. We’ll run into him a couple more times in the future.
Musgraves, though, is the star of the song.
This year’s list will have at least this song and her collaboration with Noah Kahan on it. Her voice turned my head when I heard it in this song. Stopped me in my tracks.
“You’re drinkin’ everything to ease your mind, but when the Hell are you gonna ease mine? You’re like concrete feet in the summer heat, that burns like hell when two soles meet, no you’ll never be the man that you always swore, but I’ll remember you singing in that ’88 Ford…”
For me it’s that beautiful purring coo you can hear in her voice when she sings her version of this upcoming lyric that makes me fall in love with her. Mourning dove vibes.
“Pictures and passin’ time, you only smile like that when you’re drinkin’, I wish I didn’t but I do, remember every moment on the nights with you…”
When they come together and harmonize it is audio magic. So smooth and nice. That’s as simple as I can describe it. Take his rough hewn timber voice and pour her honeyed one over it and they become one. I don’t know what that makes but bees would fucking love it.
Obviously, a song is not just its lyrics. The weaving of the rhythm guitar, strings, and that steady, subdued drum here are so beautifully done that it really makes for an amazing 3 minute, 47 second snapshot into someone’s past relationship complete with nostalgic longing!
This song cannot be the standard that I judge the rest of current country music right? It can’t all be like this. This feels special.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of the song!
Oh hai, Angie! Long time no see!
Listen, let’s get this out of the way now. You’re going to hear a lot of Angie this year if you follow this blog! A trek awaits!
I’m currently doing a full listen-through of Childish Gambino’s CAMP as I write this entry and I find myself LEGIT EXCITED to dive into this song over and over. That’s the type of feeling we all need to pay attention to when we feel it, right?! That lightning in a bottle type feeling of anticipation. Is this a weird way to describe music? :D I’d like to say I’m overdoing it, but yooooooo, this sooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg…………
The melody that she creates over the first three lines of this song is some of the most beautifully descriptive prose mixed with equally beautiful music.
In the armchair over there, I can see a face in the upholstery, I can get anxiety from an inanimate object, an inanimate object, and inanimate object…
From there you’re transported to sitting next to your crush at some college house party.
…and my backbone could have grown, but I think it’s turned to softness, I think it is a problem, like food that’s going rotten, and you might say its ok to eat it, and then it makes you vomit, I really hate to vomit, except the one time I drank too much fireball whiskey, ’cause I wanted you to kiss me, so I threw it up, washed my mouth, and sat back on the couch with you…
Punch. Me. In. The. Gut.
The part of this song that so perfectly synthesizes that angst that comes with that college crush from that house party is that deep resonate guitar riff throughout? It somehow is the sound your brain makes when you’re just yearning for someone to SEE you! Juxtapose that with that rich and honestly angelic voice of Angie’s…her music just drips authentic longing here. It’s palpable.
What’s fascinating to me, and most exciting for me during this upcoming year of amateur music blogging, is how intimately related these rankings overall are to the types of things I’ve been going through over these ninety-thousand (90,00) minutes of listening I’ve done this year.
I’m not sure there’s a more intimate way to experience someone else’s life. It’s one of the most exciting parts of this ideas for me!
Please don’t take this as me professing that I know anything more about music than any of you who didn’t have a life soundtrack that would play for two months straight. I’m just sharing my journey because I find it interesting to talk about this, and if I do, chances are someone else does too!
I wish Spotify would provide us with graphical information about our entire listening history. Can you imagine how PROFOUNDLY interesting that would be?! #spotifyreleasethedata
It says something about these songs that ranked in the top end of this list though, right? In all the time I spent with music this past year, these songs HIT the hardest.
There are mysteries of my psyche to be unearthed and explored through so many lines of lyrics! Such rich data for the psychologists out there!
Thank you for reading. Enjoy. Let me know what you think of the song!
You are soon to find out why, but I can without a doubt say that Angie is my all-time favorite artist now. I feel so much when I listen to her music and I’m excited to dig into all that during this project.
As you can see, we’ve hung out a bit this year. She appears 27 times in this playlist!
She has such a distinctive voice and vocal range. Her voice is simultaneously ethereal paired with the most beautiful coarseness. She wields both seamlessly at times and the result is magic and such an authentic vehicle for the lyrics to visit us in.
I DM’d Angie on IG to tell her that she is what happens when the universe marries soul with sound. Her songwriting and vocals have had such a positive and profound impact on my mental health and overall emotional perspective and maturity this year. Give her a listen, you will not be sorry. Bring the tissues. Also prepare for feelings of euphoria, massive amounts of self-reflection, and an all-time voice that will stay with you.
She speaks relationship. She speaks depression and dark places in the album Salt. She speaks redemption, self-reliance and discovery, and so much more in her latest album, Light, Dark, Light Again. The more you listen to her the more you’ll love her.
So, what is it about this specific song that makes it, out of 366 songs, my top choice?
I think it’s how deep and foreboding that guitar is in the beginning for sure that hooks me, but not far behind it is Angie’s wordplay.
“There’s a quaking in my body and I swear if I could, that I would shake every muscle until you understood, that the heart has to beat like a drum, the plan has to come undone, the pulse of the future is in Mother Nature, the pulse of the future is in Mother Nature…”
Just how good of a songwriter she is will become apparent as you dive into her catalog but honestly, the first few lyrics of this song are so so good.
“I’m the dirt on the ground at your property line, mouth wide open, waiting for a drop of the sky, and I give what I have while you’re here, and I’m trying to stay hydrated, ’cause I’m crying all the time…”
I feel how ignored she is. I feel her begging for attention. It’s relatable, right? We’ve all been there with someone. Pining.
The driving rhythm backbone of this song can’t be ignored. It honestly sets the entire tone for the song and we’re immediately transported into this deep pit of feeling.
Flocks of birds changing form, from a wave, to a fist, to a storm…
It’s a beautiful arc because we’ve all been in that shitty relationship that one day we finally realize we just don’t need anymore. We come out of it stronger and having a much better understanding of our worth.
Enjoy it! Thank you for joining me on Day 1 of 366! Let me know what you think of the song! Did it stir anything up? Let’s talk!
I went on a very musical journey in 2023…filled with ups and downs, this ways and that ways, ins and outs, the whole shebang. It has changed who I am for the better, and so much of me said “share it with others” so that they may be bettered too! Music really is magic.
This journey started out being a Top-100 of my discovered songs throughout 2023. As I slow watched the playlist begin to trickle over 100, I realized that it was unfeasible for me to think with three months of new music to go that I’d be able to thin the list down to 100.
Expansion was the only answer. I’ve listened to a metric shit-ton of music this year, and as I currently write this it’s August 28th. I’m aquiver waiting for my Spotify summary. (From the future….IT WAS DOPE!)
WELCOME
If you’re here…that means you love music, and shockingly, might care about what I think of it! I love the idea of striving to experience something new everyday, and now I’ve given you a one-stop shop for it! Let me share my 366 favorite new musical discoveries of 2023! (The playlist ended up at 522…that’s a lot of bonus music for you to explore!)
A note about the list itself. Remember, it started out as a Top 100. So numbers 1-100 really are ordered in the order that I loved them. After that though, is pure discovery.
After the Top 100 the order doesn’t matter at all. I manually ordered them all so there would be a nice space between hearing the same artists.
I’ll say up front here that I own no rights to any of the music or images (unless stated otherwise) in this series of blog posts. Hopefully that will save me from having to put that in every post.
ENJOY!
Initially I didn’t plan on writing a post for every single song. I guess I was thinking I’d just post the Spotify link or something? Well it turns out I have commentary! Some of these songs might feature a memory or funny story attached, or be especially meaningful, or I just really fucking loved the song.
Every one of them though helped me in a positive way in 2023, though. That’s why I want to share. Please don’t hesitate to share your discoveries and comments with me! I’d love to have some give and take with everyone!
Before I send you on your way, thanks for reading! It honors me that you’d even take a few minutes out of your day to read what I think of anything. If anything in this blog resonates with you, let’s talk more! Let’s go get coffee!
With that, I really hope you find something you love and it’s brand new to you. I wish that for you everyday.
Happy New Year my loves. See you tomorrow!
This summer was a very creative one for me; I’m happy to report as we enter into Fall. A couple months back, I conceived an idea to restart my blog in 2024. I’ve been listening to an absolute ton of music this summer, and it has completely revamped and evolved how I view my mental health and I can absolutely report that I feel a lot more fulfilled overall! I can’t stress enough the importance of being selfish sometimes when it comes to taking time for yourself but whenever you do, fill it with song!
I shit you not, it’s changed my life.
I’m looking forward to 2024, because I am planning to do a blog post a day sharing a song that I discovered this year (2023). A sort of look-back on my discoveries and my thoughts on them, but simultaneously being a daily discovery possibility for you!
Discovery-ception! (I debated cutting that the moment I wrote it, but screw it, you’re stuck with it. As I am. We are bound in this.)
Anyway, music has become such a huge part of my mental health, I can’t help but share the strategy. There is so much importance, I think, in pushing your boundaries in all things. What I mean is, constantly be stretching who you are. Reach. Grasp. INHALE new things. New music leads so seamlessly into new books, and new movies, and new games, and new experiences….and so on.
We are never the best version of ourselves, always growing, always learning from lessons….some really, really hard ones, right? I know you all have you’re own hard stories. I’ve seen some of my darkest times, but I can absolutely tell you if you’re going through yours, there is light at the end. The secret to life, I think, is to actively seek discovery.
This can take shape in so many easy ways every day.
Not only in the ways I mentioned above, but even in something as small as a passing conversation.
Think of this interaction.
Walking past a coworker in the hallway/parking-lot/coffee-machine, whatever. You get it, simple moment.
Just ask the question…, “doing anything fun after (work, school, class, yoga, whatever)?
The amount of possibilities springing from this is huge! By asking this question, we’re creating a tiny little bond between the two of us. You could share something and it might be something I’m curious about! If we know another well enough, you might share a somewhat negative thing going on in their life to that question, either sarcastically or genuinely.
Innocent, pure, positive…even if something negative is shared, that person gains an outlet, and that’s a net positive in my book any day of the week!
I am super-stoked to commit to this! I mean…I listened to every song on the playlist at least once… Can’t wait to see my Spotify Wrapped at the end of the year!
I’ll try to drop a post or two in the meantime. I have a draft going introducing the “Project” or whatever we wanna call it. I don’t know. 🙂
everything, etc. 