Favorite Song Discoveries of 2021
These aren't necessarily new songs but they were new to me this year.
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1. "Freedom" by Jon Batiste. One of the best videos ever.
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2. "Rona Pollona" by Ghost of Vroom, Mike Doughty, and Andrew Livingston. From 2020 but depressingly still relevant despite the references to wiping down groceries. "You'll never know if you are doing it right."
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3. "Out Loud" by Remember Sports. With this song, a local favorite of mine takes a big step forward. I want to hear a packed hall sing-along "Never stop trying to get everything out."
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4. "Savage Good Boy" by Japanese Breakfast. Michelle Zauner's year with best album, best book, best video game music accolades. "I want to make the money till there's no more to be made."
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5. "Hustle" by Sons of Kemet with Kojay Radical. "I go make nothing something."
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6. "Cursed" by Charlotte Rose Benjamin.
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7. "Everything Starts" by Secret Machines. This song of loss and confusion made a good pandemic companion.
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8. "Afrique Victime" by Mdou Moctor. Redemption through an absolutely soaring guitar.
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9. "Shut 'Em Up" by The Prodigy, Public Enemgy, and .Mannfred Mann. "Shut 'em down!"
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10. "Love" by Les Amazones d'Afrique with Mamani Keita
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11. "The Price of Love" by The Everly Brothers. I first heard Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' new cover, but this version is better.
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12. "Sylvia, the Cup of Youth" by The Natvral. "I never was as good as that."
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13. "Tears on Tour" by Arab Strap. "The Muppet Movie, Frozen, Frozen II" "Tonight my eyes are dry / What would you call the opposite of a comedian?"
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14. "Hey Bigfoot" by Jake La Botz. "Pappa needs a new pair of bigfoot shoes."
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15. "Escapism" by Public Enemy.