Best Songs of 2013 – #24
Ron Sexsmith’s most impressive quality is his knack for writing melodies that sound instantly familiar.
Every once in awhile I freak myself out with the thought that we really shouldn’t ever hear any new songs, because haven’t all the available combinations of notes (the ones that sound good, anyway) been taken by now?
But then I remember having the same thought 25 years ago, and all of the great music that’s been written since argues against that theory.
Best Songs of 2013 – #25
It might seem a little early to start counting down the best songs of a year that still has a month to go, but looking at the upcoming release schedule, I’m pretty confident that I’ve heard pretty much everything I need to hear in 2013.
If, over the next four weeks, I happen upon a great song — either new or new to me — that deserved to be on this list, I’ll write about it the first week of 2014. Hard to believe, but that’s right around the corner.
Michael Penn is a less prolific, more Beatles-influenced version of Ron Sexsmith, whom I wrote about last week.
Like Sexsmith, Penn is as consistent as the sunrise — quality-wise — when it comes to delivering his brand of polished power pop.
But unlike Sexsmith, who reliably releases albums every couple of years or more, Penn is prone to long hiatuses.
I’m not certain, but this might be the first time a Random Weekend selection has been an instrumental track.
I guess that isn’t too much of a surprise because I don’t own a whole lot of instrumentals. A few classical CDs and a half dozen or so movie soundtracks, plus the odd instrumental track on albums that otherwise feature vocals.
But still, given some of the odd patterns that have emerged over the Random Weekend years, you’d expect them to come up at least once in awhile.
The last new album I plan to buy in 2013 is also one of the best. Guess who’s back… back again?
Yes, Eminem has returned with his first studio album since 2010’s Recovery and he is revisiting the record that exploded him into the cultural and political conversation at the turn of the millennium.
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 has a lot in common with its predecessor — so much so that it sometimes seems like it too was released in the year 2000. How else can you explain another Backstreet Boys reference?
