2025 YEAR IN REVIEW: Our Annual Mixtapes Ft. Our Favorite Songs of the Year, Pt. 1 (104-053)

Warning: Do not discount these songs simply because of their 104-53 ranking. We love every song on this list. When we made our initial cut, some 400 songs made the long list, so this is the cream of our crop. We rank them only to impose pain and suffering on ourselves.

Note: Some songs we've written about previously so we may just use the original write-up here. In most cases, however, we've added at least some new content or rewritten the entry from a year-end perspective. Many of the songs we've never written about previously so that's all fresh material. No charge, as always. Hurray!

MIXTAPE #4: PICKLED PRIEST'S FAVORITE SONGS 104-079

SIDE A

104 CHES SMITH | "Ready Beat"

Blurb: My first exposure to drummer/percussionist Ches Smith was his 2023 record, Laugh Ash, which really challenged my definition of jazz, and since that's how my motherboard is programmed, it made for a perfect fit. His experimental nature might be a little non-traditional for the Jazzwise set, but if you love music where the drums lead the way, do I have something for you. "Ready Beat" sounds like a jazz combo got stuck in a university robotics lab and fucked around until the custodian opened up the building the next morning.

Moment of Conversion: Cacophonous ending

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103 FAN CLUB | "Ain't No Saint"

Blurb: Seattle’s Fan Club has released a seemingly endless supply of crackalacking EPs. Ain’t No Saint was their third in the last 12 months and this time the title track is the main reason for staying tuned. In fact, you can get in and out well under your average commercial break. It’s an age-old rock axiom—rockers coming clean about their adopted lifestyles—coughed up as if in a confessional booth. Well, the Priest hears your concerns and absolves your so-called sins long before this 90-second howler ends. A raw and fast mini anthem for other likeminded outcasts. You know who you are.

Moment of Conversion: Howl

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102 DEAD THINGS | "Max Haslam"

Blurb: We see dead people. That should be the motto of this London punk band, at least if their new 10-minute EP, Rum Do, is any indication. Each song is based on the story of an English murderer from the early 20th century and the tales can be harrowing—“Max Haslam” is about a psycho dwarf who killed a "well to do" 74-year-old woman and, sadly, her dog, in shocking fashion in 1937. All for a fucking jewelry collection, no less. The music, thankfully, doesn’t come off as exploitative. In fact, I hear a type of incredulous anger, with key facts repeated again and again almost in disbelief. This all amounts to riveting punk music, but I hope their next album isn’t more of the same idea. The concept is a brilliant one for a short EP, but let’s not, uh, beat it to death.

Moment of Conversion: Stabs of guitar

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101 ÖLÜM | "Aman (Ordunun Dereleri)"

Blurb: A Turkish psych-kebab served up pungent and spicy. Don’t let the description, double umlauts, or song title deceive you—these guys are from Los Angeles. That said, this sounds like the real authentic Anatolian deal to me, complete with a liberally seasoned exotic groove. Tell your friends you found this while crate digging in a Turkish record store circa 1973. They'll believe you.

Moment of Conversion: Bassline

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100 TANIKA CHARLES | "I Don't Like You Anymore"

Blurb: A great soul song can often be built around a simple premise. It's been proven too many times to even count. Tanika Charles understands that idea all too well on her modern R&B classic, "Don't Like You Anymore." Sure, you love some people because you have to, but when it comes down to it, do you really like them? Personally, I'd rather have both, but I'll take a strong like over an obligatory love any day.

Moment of Conversion: The truth that you can love someone but not like them anymore. Who is that for you?

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099 SUPERCHUNK | "Everybody Dies"

Blurb: In 2018, my #1 song of the year was Superchunk's "What a Time to Be Alive" and in a little under eight years, we've now arrived at "Everybody Dies," from their new album Songs in the Key of Yikes. Even the album title, alluding to Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, seems to be pessimistic about our current (and future) state. Somehow, no matter what Mac is singing about, it always comes out with a borderline joyous undercurrent, which is helpful, because the state of the union is on fire right now.

Moment of Conversion: Ample crunch undiminished after all these years.

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098 THE LEWIS EXPRESS | "Walk On"

Blurb: I am going to listen to an album named Doo-Ha! 100% of the time. That's just a fact. "Walk On" is a jazzy instrumental from the record perfect for use during a short intermission or while in a game show isolation booth. Recorded to 2-inch analog tape, of course, it reeks of a bygone and better era, you'll flashback to the early-to-mid 60s as it plays, a real groovy number with piano, flute, bass, congas, and some killer drums guiding all on their merry way. Put this on your personal soundtrack and everybody walking down the street will assume you're the coolest cat in town.

Moment of Conversion: It sounds like the Peanuts gang winding down in a hip jazz club.

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097 THE LOFT | "Feel Good Now"

Blurb:

I don’t want to feel good tomorrow

Want to feel good now

The musical universe continues to mystify me and one of this year's revelations is London's the Loft, a band from the earliest roster of Creation Records circa 1985 that broke up live onstage after just a couple strong singles for the now venerable label. What a crying shame that decision was, especially knowing what I know now. Fast-forward forty years and here we have their debut full-length album, Everything Changes, Everything Stays the Same, with all original members present and able. And no, this isn't some old guy overvaluing a band from his youth. I didn't know they existed back then, but I know a good record when I hear one. The included video for "Feel Good Now" shows the band decades beyond the fresh-faced version of themselves (humorously, also shown), but the music sounds as vital as ever. I'm in love with this band of aging geezers with bad teeth and I don't care who knows it.

Moment of Conversion: Punch of identification

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096 PAUL KELLY | "Rita Wrote a Letter"

Blurb: You can always count on Paul Kelly to write some great songs for each album. Last year, in fact, Fever Longing Still made our Top 50 Favorite Albums list. His latest, titled Seventy, commemorating his milestone birthday, shows he has no intention of slowing down. And why should he? The Aussie legend sounds, writes, and plays as good as ever. "Rita Wrote a Letter" is proof. It's a sequel to his 1996 song "How to Make Gravy," which was about a guy (Joe) in prison at Christmastime. Joe writes a letter to his brother asking him to take over his job making the Christmas gravy with an aside telling him to stay away from his wife, Rita. "Rita Wrote a Letter," title not a good omen, was written after many requests from fans for some closure to that story and boy did they get it. Not only does Rita tell Joe in her letter that she has taken up with his brother, but we also find out that Joe has killed himself as a result. The song is written from "six feet under," a twist that surely had some fans wishing they hadn't asked for a sequel in the first place. Maybe in a future song, he can tell us the gravy recipe.

Moment of Conversion: Playful bounce defies subject matter.

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095 EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING | "Oh No!"

Blurb: I've cited all kinds of bands from Australia over the last five years, but none of them pre-date the Eddy Current Suppression Ring for me. I still consider 2006's Primary Colours one of the best Australian rock albums of this century. Classic, Saints-esque, raw and snarling rock & roll. It's been a while since their last LP in 2019, but this year we've been partially sated with a three-song EP called Shapes and Forms. Will an album follow? No fucking idea, but they're in good form once again on all three new tracks. I picked "Oh No!" because it's so simple and stripped down, just the way I like it. Good to have you back, boys!

Moment of Conversion: Here it comes again, that funny feeling. I know just what he's talking about. It happens every time I hear a great song out of the blue.

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094 EVE ADAMS | "Couldn't Tell the Time"

Blurb: 

Sometimes all it takes for a song to standout is a solitary set of lyrics that strike a chord with me and Eve Adams' "Couldn't Tell the Time" starts with a perfect example of what I'm talking about...

Well, somethin' 'bout that daylight

I couldn't tell the time

Is it half past school bells?

Or a quarter to wedding chimes?

The lyrics capture a phenomenon in the American Southwest, where the horizon meets the sky in a way that makes you wonder if the day is beginning or ending.

Moment of Conversion: Aforementioned opening lyrics.

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093 BIG FREEDIA ft. BILLY PORTER | "Holy Shuffle"

Blurb: If you walk into a church, even if you're fresh from a meeting of your Satanic cult, and "Holy Shuffle" is rocking the house, you won't be going anywhere. You're going to stay for the duration. That's how joyous this track is. Same goes for the entire record. Hallelujah!

Moment of Conversion: Watch the video and you'll see why.

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092 THE LUMINEERS | "Automatic"

Blurb: I am neither an adamant Lumineers supporter or detractor. I can see why their songs resonate with the masses, but they remain a song-by-song concern for me. Yes, the masses are often asses, but not everything that catches fire needs to be doused with a firehose of critical snobbery. That said, a quick spin of the band's new record, Automatic, didn't do much for me, but this title-track did. There's nothing substantial about it, in fact the lyrics are nominal at best, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It really struck a nerve with me and I'm not sure why. That's a good quality in a song.

Moment of Conversion: Vulnerable as shit.

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SIDE B

091 M ROSS PERKINS | "Crying in My Sleep"

Blurb: Three years ago we became strangely drawn to the 60's-influenced songs of M Ross Perkins, even putting one of his songs, "Mr. Marble Eyes (Marbles for His Eyes)," on our Top 50 songs of 2022 list. Our love of that record has only increased over time and I am delighted to report that he was back at it again this year. As with the last one, What's the Matter, M Ross? is full of classic pop filtered through Perkins' peculiar lens. It sounds familiar, yes, but it's still left of center. It's not surprising that he grew up a few doors down from Robert Pollard in Dayton, Ohio, for his music has a similar affection for rock history without outright mimicking it. "Crying in My Sleep" is an accessible but fresh slice of jangly folk-pop that'll make you ache for those days when the Byrds populated the airwaves.

Moment of Conversion: Harmony.

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090 LOADED HONEY | "Don't Speak"

Blurb: Not a No Doubt cover. Loaded Honey is the side project of Jungle's J Lloyd and Lydia Kitto. Here, the two make a sexy pair with a bit of a retro night club vibe, but near the end of the night, when people are trying to hook up. Driven by island percussion and some tasteful strings (think Motown) this goes down smooth and crisp and Lydia's embodies the material.

Moment of Conversion: Drum rolls throughout set the mood. You can feel the lights dimming more and more as the song plays.

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089 TWEN | "Godlike"

Blurb: Nashville's rock music scene is underrated and Twen is another example of why. Their latest album Fate Euphoric may sound like a typical rock title from the early-70s, and the band may appear like they got their stage clothing from a rock and roll mail order catalog, but I assure you they're the real thing, living and playing what they feel, which is a modern take on that shimmering, reverby 60s garage-rock I so love. File under: Future Prospects.

Moment of Conversion: Dream-state vibe

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088 DARKSIDE | "S.N.C."

Blurb: S.N.C. = Still No Center. With a world full of complex issues to contemplate, it's not a bad idea to power down your mind for a while to protect it from permanent harm. It's one thing when the center won't hold, it's entirely another when there's no center to begin with. So, to paraphrase Seinfeld, what we get then is an album about nothing. Actually, that's the album's actual title, Nothing. Even if a full self-lobotomy is off the table, Darkside's latest single, "S.N.C." encapsulates the very same theme, accented by a funky clavinet workout around the two-minute mark ala Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” If this is what it sounds like in your head when you purge all your worries and stress, then sign me up for a treatment.  

Moment of Conversion: The clavinet, whenever and wherever it appears, is always the moment of conversion. It should be a law.

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087 MOTORBIKE | "Currency"

Blurb: “Currency” accounts for under three minutes of a record with a 29-minute run time, so you have the time to spare. Nobody revs, spins the tires, and peels away quite like this Cincy band that seem to be getting better and better over time. Trust me, you've felt this way. Acknowledging it and singing about it are the perfect ways to shake it out of your system.

Moment of Conversion: All my currency has been used up!

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086 ANALOG MUTANTS | "Can You Feel It"

Blurb: I couldn't get enough of old school rapper Phill Most Chill this year and, lucky for me, he also released a side project with DJ Snafu and some kid who goes only by Grasshopper (I wasn't consulted), under the name Analog Mutants. Unsurprisingly, it slaps. "Can You Feel It" is a fun little joint to tide us over until his next entry on this favorites list. Rest assured, it's coming.

Moment of Conversion: The way he says Can You Feel It, Baby? in the mini-chorus.

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085 HAND HABITS | "Wheel of Change"

Blurb: Meg Duffy, aka Hand Habits (with accompaniment), has released another lovely record with Blue Reminder, an album that retains the atmosphere that made albums like 2019's Placeholder so appealingly intimate, but also fleshes out some songs like "Way it Goes" and "Wheel of Change" without losing any of the original magic that made her uniquely personal songs stand out in the first place. The record was inspired by poet Maggie Nelson's book of poetry, Bluets, which begins with this intriguing verse: Suppose I were to begin by saying that I have fallen in love with a color. If anyone could put music to such an idea, and Joni Mitchell wasn't available, Meg Duffy would've been on my shortlist. Here, she does so brilliantly.

Moment of Conversion: Realizing I may have fallen in love with my own favorite color: orange.

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084 RON GALLO | "Checkmate"

Blurb: "Checkmate" is a gorgeous love song, something I wasn't quite prepared to hear from the same songwriter that gave us songs like "Why Do You Have Kids?" and "Young Lady, You're Scaring Me," but that doesn't mean he hasn't written an amazing song. He's called it, with tongue in cheek, "the greatest song about love ever written." We all know that's not true, but maybe it is for him.

Moment of Conversion: His realization that the king is weak in the game of chess, and life, and that the queen has most of the power.

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083 LILLY HIATT | "Hidden Day"

Blurb: You know you may be getting old when you start buying records by the children of your favorite artists. This time it's Lilly Hiatt who ably carries on the songwriting prowess of her proud father John—a lot to live up to, to say the least. Actually, this is my second record from Lilly, but Forever is even better than her debut, 2020's Walking Proof, which is saying something. "Hidden Day" opens the album with some gas, packing the punch of a rock band ripping it up at a dive bar in East Nashville. I like that she's taxing her amplifiers a bit this outing, it suits her well.

Moment of Conversion: The idea that there's a "hidden day" somewhere between Thursday and Friday, much like Platform 9 3/4 in Harry Potter. As long as we get that day off, I'm good with it, if not maybe we can move it between Saturday and Sunday instead. Just a suggestion.

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082 JAMES MCMURTRY | "Sons of the Second Sons"

Blurb: Nobody sings with quite the same authority about our American ideals, or the lack of them, as James McMurtry. Here, he points out some key forgotten facts about who built America and why, which he suddenly finds has gone sour. Never forget where we came from, people.

Moment of Conversion: History lesson.

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081 THE STATES | "Carol"

Blurb: Melbourne strikes again! This time, the deceptively-named the States are to blame. They may be regretting that name right now. I have a compilation, bought decades ago, titled Girls in the Garage, which compiled a bunch of 60's girl groups playing some lo-fi rock and roll singles long presumed lost to the garbage heap. Well, this might've been one of those singles if released back then, but thankfully this is the 2025 version, complete with upgraded production and playing, not to mention a primo vocal from Scarlett Maloney, a name with some serious moxie. You just know a Scarlett Maloney is gonna bring it.

Moment of Conversion: The moral of the story: "Don't break Carol's heart!"

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080 THE MINUS 5 | "Words & Birds"

Blurb: Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, one-time touring member of R.E.M) and a rotating all-star cast (too many notables to mention, but usually including Peter Buck) are The Minus 5 and have been releasing records for 30+ years now whenever the mood strikes and everyone is healthy. For my money, this year's Oar On, Penelope! is the best album from the band I've heard to date. It certainly rocks most convincingly and the songs are invariably great from album opener "Words & Birds" to the final track. Production from Ed Stasium really puts these songs in your face and that's where they deserve to stay. An unexpected surprise.

Moment of Conversion: Subtle reference to the Trashmen classic, "Surfin' Bird."

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079 LUKE BELL | "Hand to Hold"

Blurb: 28 tracks in 90 minutes, so picking one Luke Bell track from The King is Back (our #13

record of 2025) is near impossible, mainly because he shifts styles and subject matter so often. There's something so endearing about this classic country tear-in-your-beer special, so order it up and belly up to the bar for a few minutes.

Moment of Conversion: Saloon piano.

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MIXTAPE #3: PICKLED PRIEST'S FAVORITE SONGS 078-053

SIDE A

078 TY SEGALL | "Shoplifter"

Blurb: Ty Segall is too prolific and not necessarily a discerning curator, but he put out a consistently good album this year in Possession. That said, no matter what he releases, there are always a few gems in the bunch (a la Robert Pollard) and "Shoplifter" is one such fave. It comes complete with saxophones, violins, and a melodic 180 near the end of the track. It's the tale of a dirt poor kleptomaniac and by the end you might even be tempted to look the other way for a minute to help her out.

Moment of Conversion: She's a shoplifter, her eyes, they flicker / She's gonna clean them out

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077 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT | "Family"

Blurb: It's been over thirty years since Arrested Development made a huge splash with their debut record, 3 Years, 5 Months, & 2 Days in the Life of... Yep, 1992, to be exact. Remember "Tennessee"? "People Everyday"? Or my personal favorite, "Mr. Wendal"? If that's all you know of their music, it might be time to check back in with them again. Speech, the group's leader and main songwriter, has always been a strong lyricist, and while not as playful as he used to be, he's definitely profound. The group has been releasing records at a good clip lately, three in the last five years, and they're damn good. The latest, Adult Contemporary Hip Hop (that's what it is, I guess), is no different. The laid-back "Family" is a great example of what makes the band special. It's a family affair and as long as they're making music, they're happy.

Moment of Conversion: Feel-good family picnic vibe.

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076 WET LEG | "CPR"

Blurb: A little crunch, a little droll humor, just the way I like it. "CPR" is the first song on the hotly anticipated Moisturizer, and it sets the tone for the moonstruck album, which is loaded with love songs to such a degree that I tuned out half way through (right after "Mangetout"). But at least I have this song that captures the drama of young love with all the innocence and emotional weight that entails. Rhian Teasdale is as her best when she plays with her vocal delivery, here mixing in a little blasé teenager with a little Scooby Doo creepiness before she segues into the song's all or nothing chorus. There's not enough of the Wet Leg I fell in love with on their new record, so I'm hoping for a breakup album next. It's well known that when you put too much pressure on love, like they do here, it tends to crack under the weight.

Moment of Conversion: Vocal inflections.

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075 JAY SOM | "Float"

Blurb: Indie-pop lovers celebrated the return of the clever and innovative songwriting of Jay Som this year, who was last heard from six years ago on her superb LP, Anak Ko, in 2019. Her new record is also excellent, if not quite as amazing, but songs like the dreamy "Float" soared on a mantra we can all learn from.

Moment of Conversion: Float, don't fight fadeout.

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074 VAN MORRISON | "Remembering Now"

Blurb: Later-period Van Morrison records have a very professional sheen to them, which is not necessarily a compliment. Very listenable yes, but not next-level in most cases. Remembering Now is still professional, but the material is uniformly excellent throughout, which makes this record sound special. I still wish he'd rough up his recordings a bit more, perhaps strip things down, add more texture, be more spontaneous. It can be done and that's proven by the title track, buried near the end of the record. Here we find Van reflecting back on his origin story in Belfast and it's a powerful moment of self-realization. If you've ever gone back to your roots after being gone a long time, you may identify with Van's jolt of understanding as he walks the streets where he was a young man. "This is who I am, this is who I am..." he repeats, almost overcome by the feeling of being back. It's positively moving.

Moment of Conversion: Halting cadence of Van's vocal.

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073 CAR SEAT HEADREST | "CCF (I'm Gonna Stay With You)"

Blurb: Somewhere buried within Will Toledo's 65-minute rock opera, The Scholars, is a record of the year candidate. Ending with a 10, then 11, and finally a full 18-minute track, he simply wore me out, challenged my attention span, and lessened my desire to figure out his complex plot line. While those songs are still good in their own right, I mostly enjoyed side one of the four-sided vinyl epic, including this first track that immediately had me thinking a high ranking was imminent. I'm not sure I've got the time and desire, but maybe when they make this into a movie, I'll finally understand what the fuck's going on.

Moment of Conversion: Slow build.

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072 ORVILLE PECK | "Dreaded Sundown"

Blurb: I really loved the mysterious Western drama that made Pony from 2019 such a haunting, one horse town affair. He's gone on to impress in other ways since, but it's great to hear him revisit that hot, deserted terrain again on his new EP, Appaloosa. "Dreaded Sundown" is begging for a film to be built around it. This song could play during the big showdown at high noon.

Moment of Conversion: Orville hits the high plains.

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071 JUANA MOLINA | "Siestas Ahi"

Blurb: In no way is Juana Molina a single-track artist, but I'm listing this cut as a representation of her ability to construct addictive natural grooves from live instruments and electronic meddling. Don't just listen to the trailer on this one, get the whole record. Immerse and repeat.

Moment of Conversion: Intoxicating groove.

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070 CMAT | "Tree Six Foive"

Blurb: If Adele actually sang songs that fit her offstage personality—witty, blunt, brassy, but still fragile (all enhanced by a pint or tree)—she might sound a bit like Dublin's Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (CMAT for short). Diluting the genuine drama of her songs with a little humor and playfulness, the underlying heartbreak of "Tree Six Foive" is converted into a rollicking ode to leaving an insincere man in your rearview and salvaging every moment of what's left. He's only taking one day out of 365. The rest is hers for the taking. For leap years, change title to "Tree Six Six."

Moment of Conversion: Spelling/pronunciation of song title. As a Chicagoan, I can relate.

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069 TYLER CHILDERS | "Oneida"

Blurb: 

The morning sun, when it's in your face, really shows your age

But that don't worry me none, in my eyes you're everything

—"Maggie May," Rod Stewart

The age-old tale of age-old women attracting younger men continues on Tyler Childers' "Oneida," from album Snipe Hunter. A song worthy of its esteemed predecessors.

Moment of Conversion: She is referencing movies I'm too young to know

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068 AESOP ROCK | "Ice Sold Here"

Blurb: 

My hat raccoon, my coat goose

I ain't never defrost my frozen food

Aesop Rock lyrics are always cold as ice. His bars are tight as a well-packed snowball and on his new album, Black Hole Superette, the chill is everywhere. No subject is off limits and I particularly love his sense of humor, which is all over "Ice Sold Here," a song that espouses his innate coolness in numerous ways, including boasts such as I can make any polar bear wear a hat and I can make two penguins share a cab.

Moment of Conversion: Yukon Cornelius shout-out late in the track (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer reference).

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067 AMANDA SHIRES | "Maybe I"

Blurb: "Maybe I" deals with D-I-V-O-R-C-E, Tammy Wynette-style. All of it: the questioning, the wondering, the second-guessing, the anger, the tears. It's hard to hear, but still stunningly beautiful, too. If you've ever been there, you'll know.

Moment of Conversion: You know a song that's the truth from a mile away.

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066 BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY | "Boise, Idaho"

Blurb: "Boise, Idaho" is a killer country song that starts with a great opening line, I suppose I'm lucky that I didn't have to hear her cry / Nothing breaks you down like the sound of your girl's goodbye. From there, he hems and haws on the meaning of life, his own frailties, and a burning desire to right past wrongs. It sounds like a textbook country song, but somehow it still ain't.

Moment of Conversion: That he feels he has to explain why he can't go back to Boise, Idaho.

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SIDE B

065 LAEL NEALE | "Down on the Freeway"

Blurb: The repetitive groove provides an "Autobahn" feel, kind of like Suicide if they hailed from L.A., and Lael's hypnotic vocal track lays over the top of the whole minimalist affair with a trance-like efficiency. She's made a hazy, dreamlike record that gets in your bloodstream and doesn't leave until it runs its course. Supreme driving music, this.

Moment of Conversion: Motorik!

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064 MCLUSKY | "People Person"

Blurb:  “People Person” fully delivers the hysterics we relish from Andy Falkous, although confirming he’s not a “People Person” is like telling somebody that Donald Trump has an ego. Is that so? We had no idea.

Moment of Conversion: When I realized I was listening to my new personal anthem.

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063 TOBACCO CITY | "Mr. WIne"

Blurb: If there's one thing in this world I most despise it's those stupid signs they sell at Home Goods and Hobby Lobby that say things like, "It's wine o'clock," "Love the wine you're with," or even "I'm outdoorsy—I like to drink wine on the patio." If you purchased that last one, you should be locked up for life in a maximum security prison without the possibility of merlot. See, even I can fall into wine's cheesy cult of bad puns. As it turns out, so can Chicago-based insurgent country band Tobacco City, who should be a Bloodshot Records artist, but arrived about a decade late to the party. Not their fault, of course, but their blend of 60's cosmic country, 70's Gram 'n' Emmylou, and 90's Gina & Danny Black would've fit right in on the revered Chicago label. "Mr. Wine," from their excellent new record, Horses, has just the right amount of steel guitar twang to lend this booze-as-friend tale the credibility it needs. While I've never thought of wine as having a specific gender—gender fluid seems more apropos—I'm not gonna wine about it when the song is this good.

Moment of Conversion: False ending.

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062 NEKO CASE | "Winchester Mansion of Sound"

Blurb: Winchester Mansion was a giant house owned and built (and rebuilt and remodeled and so on) by Sara Winchester, the wife of rifle manufacturing magnate, William Winchester. It's renowned for its size and peculiar design details (look it up). The song "Winchester Mansion of Sound" was written for Neko's friend Dex Romweber, a musician most notable for being in cult favorite band Flat Duo Jets. The parallels between the house and Romweber are obvious. He contained multitudes, both traditional and unpredictable, just like the mansion, which counted walled-over exterior windows and a 44-step staircase with just a ten-foot rise among its oddities. In other words, he was a musical enigma. Who better to pen a tribute to such an artist than Neko Case, she being of similar orientation.

Moment of Conversion: 

If you think I'm talking about romance

You're not listening

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061 NATALIE BERGMAN | "Gunslinger"

Blurb: One more Chicago artist for you. Actually, not quite Chicago, instead the tony suburb of Barrington, a place more known for corporate executives than musicians. She's not a new artist, having started her career with a decade-long stint in the band Wild Belle (formed with her brother). She's been a solo artist for several years now and it appears her time to really break out may be upon us. My Home Is Not In This World is one of those records that should appeal to everyone. It's accessible, beautifully arranged and sung blue-eyed soul with some Motown rhythms and 60s girl-pop accents that add just the right amount of sugar to the recipe. "Gunslinger" jumped out at me because it has a simmering Stax-lite intro and a low-key groove throughout. Natalie finds the pocket and stays there, which she does throughout the record, making this a modern classic with a vintage patina. A tricky balance to be sure, but she pulls it off brilliantly.

Moment of Conversion: Laid-back soul groove.

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060 RHETT MILLER | "People Are Lifted"

Blurb: The Old 97's are beloved because the songs hold up. The songs hold up because they were mostly written by Rhett Miller, a top-tier songwriter with a knack for delivering one perfect turn of phrase after another. It makes sense then, that when taken out of the band setting, that the songs would still be great and on A Lifetime of Riding By Night, he's in top form once again, if not better than ever. He's 55 now and his latest songs benefit from that added experience. He seems wiser, quieter, content, comfortable, and settled. He's a family man now and obviously it agrees with him. Opening song "All For You" sets the tone: Took a while to find my way / Years and years and years and years / Thinkin' only of myself / But then I disappeared. It's a very adult moment when you realize your own happiness is secondary to others. Which leads me to "People Are Lifted," a song that nailed me to the wall when I first heard it. I immediately dropped everything and played it again. I don't want to know exactly what it's about, but it tells of Rhett witnessing people being taken from this earth suddenly. The easy interpretation is that death takes us all eventually, some unexpectedly. But it can also be interpreted religiously, as in a divine light from heaven or some other spiritual being. Or, if you're a conspiracy theorist, UFOs could be plucking specific people off the Earth to serve some unknown agenda. I doubt that's the case, but maybe now and then, I'll take it that way just for fun.

Moment of Conversion: Concept.

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059 JADE BIRD | "Who Wants"

Blurb: In "Who Wants" Jade finds something new to say about the dissolution of love, opting to sit in the dark in lieu of turning the lights on and facing the day. A viable way to avoid confrontation, but by the sound of her voice, she still can't escape it.

Moment of Conversion: That we all know the answer to the question before she asks it.

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058 HEARTWORMS | "Mad Catch"

Blurb: Heartworms, the vehicle for queen of darkness JoJo Orme, return in 2025 with their first full-length LP, Glutton for Punishment, which builds and expands on the promise of their superb debut EP, A Comforting Notion from 2023 (our #8 EP that year). With a voice that attracts with the irresistible pull of a sultry dominatrix, she's carved a niche for herself within the dungeon walls of your banal existence. Of course, this is just what you want and need whether you realize it or not. Don't expect total goth doom, however, for some of these songs hit with an alluring dark-pop edge, like "Mad Catch" which requires you to "Draw your mental illustration of the world's inspirational hell" and she actually makes that idea sound kind of appealing.

Moment of Conversion: Where's the magic in that?  

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057 CASS MCCOMBS | "Priestess"

Blurb: If you think I'm not going to put a song titled "Priestess" on one of my year-end mixtapes, you got that wrong. McCombs is a Californian through and through, so his record is a laid-back singer-songwriter affair with some sun-baked texture and a calming folkie aroma. And did I take notice of a light simmering groove at times? Yes, I did. He's a crafty lyricist, too, here making references to Ella Fitzgerald, John Prine, and the devil himself along the way. Perhaps a priestess was needed to conjure them all up with some magic spell.

Moment of Conversion: The Pickled Priestess? Apply within.

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056 LAURA STEVENSON | "#1"

Blurb: Some songwriters have such an intrinsic flow to their lyrics the melody almost seems to write itself. There are other songwriters, when their lyrics are read on the page without the guidance of an unfolding song, whose words don't quite add up logically, mathematically, or melodically. These are the times when I wonder how a singer could possibly bring them to life. This is true for the lyrics of Long Islander Laura Stevenson on her superb new record, Late Great. But put them together she does, in her own way with her own fractured phrasing, and the sum total is pleasingly unconventional, while still accessible. "#1", appropriately the first song on the record, demonstrates how to say the usual love song things in a wholly original way.

Moment of Conversion: When her vocal soars at the 1:58 mark.

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055 PEARL CHARLES | "Middle of the Night"

Blurb: L.A. songwriter Pearl Charles has a knack for mixing classic 1970s AM radio pop with a bit of a roller disco vibe, a mood that was so appealing to me I put one of her songs ("Only For Tonight") on my Best of 2021 songs list with the comment that she should could write material for the reformed ABBA. Well, she's back with a record, Desert Queen, that's got some Americana dust coating the tracks this time. "Middle of the Night," in particular, hits my sweet spot and takes me back to a more innocent time when all you had to worry about was not wiping out in front of your friends.

Moment of Conversion: Lilt in the chorus.

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054 GALACTIC WITH IRMA THOMAS | "How Glad I Am"

Blurb: A love song to life. Irma's natural spirit positively radiates throughout her new album with New Orleans mainstays, Galactic, but particularly so here, where she counts her many blessings and wants to live every moment she has left to the fullest. May you still feel this way when you're into your 80s.

Moment of Conversion: Joy.

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053 MARIBOU STATE | "Blackoak"

Blurb: English electronic duo Maribou State (not a university in Canada) have created a safe harbor with "Blackoak," one that protects and binds all on the dancefloor with its pulsating hook, insistent chill groove, and its Moby-esque mantra which is repeated throughout. Its message of unconditional support surely will sound all-enveloping when the summer festival circuit hits, but even now in the dead of winter its uplift capacity acts like a warm blanket for those suffering with seasonal depression. You are not alone.

Moment of Conversion: I'd do that for you...I'd do that for you...

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That's the first two tapes. Link to songs 052-001.

Cheers,

The Priest