To start with, I owe this band a huge apology.

They sent me their mixtape a year and a half ago. It took me months to set up the interview them, and (after briefly thinking the audio was lost with my stolen computer) finished transcribing it this past fall.  And now at long last it is now here for you to see/hear/read.  Thankfully, the songs are timeless and the theme is rather timely with the new year, making changes, etc.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this is one of my favorite mixes I’ve ever received. I mean, all of them have a special place in my heart, both because they were created for me, and I always appreciate how no matter what my musical horizons are challenged or expanded (often both).  The tracks included in “Farmers’ Almanac,” however, are probably the closest to my personal taste.  And not just a genre I’m partial to, but a genre that has a tendency to elicit strong emotions from deep inside my being.  At least three of the artists on here have moved me to tears with their songs.

It does make sense though, as the music COYOL themselves make is not unlike what you will hear on this mix.  Perhaps with a dash of the American Southwest, to spice things up.  A write-up in Black Book Magazine this past fall praises “the fantastic arrangement that seems just a little yet perfectly off and the oddly beautiful lyrics that stick with you long after each track.”
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Here it is.  The obligatory end of year list.  As is the case with every year, I try to keep track of albums I love starting in January.  Then all of a sudden December rolls around and I feel confident I missed a ton, or glossed over some great ones.  I have lofty ambitions to revisit certain albums (Django Django, CHAPPO, Fiona Apple, etc.) and then it never happens.

Disclaimer now done, here is a list of 20 albums and 10 EPs (in no particular order) that I really enjoyed this year, and recommend checking out!
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A week ago on Monday, while most other bloggers were posting their year end lists I was lucky enough to get to share mine on a live radio show.

Every other Monday night, Hunnypot Radio hosts a live show at a local venue with two industry professional guest “DJs” and two live acts.  I was invited to participate as an “industry professional” “DJ” in the last show of the year.  Whenever I hear my name mentioned as a professional in the music industry, I feel like I’ve somehow pulled one over on them, hence the quotes.  And thankfully, DJing in this case just means choosing ten songs and burning two CDs, hence the second use of quotes.

Still though, even without doing my own spinning, it was pretty cool to hear my song picks played at a club.  And everyone seemed to enjoy.

Since I am unable to put together a collection of songs without some sort of connection, I thought it was only appropriate to assemble some of my favorites of the year.
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As you read this I am probably on the way to a cabin in Vermont with my mother, where my Dad and brother are waiting.  And by waiting, I mean likely out skiing and not really waiting for our arrival at all.  Tonight we’ll open a bottle (or two) of wine and our Christmas presents, a new tradition started when my younger brother crossed the threshold of 21.
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First, I just want to say a quick thank you to Steve over at the music blog Those Who Dig, who for some reason thought I was worthy of an interview, which ran on their site yesterday.  So if you’ve ever been interested in my background (or musical taste), or wanted to relive great moments in teen films of the 1990′s, here you go.

Now to business. Every year for the past six years I send out a call to a great many of my friends, a majority of whom work in music in some capacity (bloggers, artists, DJs, music licensing, music supervision, management, publicity, etc.) to send me their favorite song of the year.

As you can imagine, for music folks this is almost impossible – many simply refused and sent me between three and five tracks (or started with that and then just kept adding…)

I used to take these suggestions and create mix CDs as holiday gifts, complete with cute writing using colorful Sharpies and everything.  Eventually the list of recipients grew too large and number of songs too great.

And so I thought I would turn to Spotify.  And instead of only giving this gift to my personal friends, here it is for everyone to enjoy.
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