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Song of the Day #2,026: ‘New Slaves’ – Kanye West

yeezus_kanyeMy 2013 recaps are lasting weeks into 2014. Next I’m going to take my annual tour through the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, as comprehensive a consensus as you’ll find of how the “professionals” saw the last year in music.

I like that the Pazz & Jop poll comes out toward the end of January. So many “year-end” lists show up in mid-December, either missing out on late year releases (Beyoncé, anyone?) or not allowing ample time for everything to sink it. Whether or not you agree with the results, you can’t argue that the critics polled didn’t have time to consider their votes.

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Song of the Day #2,024: ‘The Way We Make a Broken Heart’ – John Hiatt

john_hiattOn very rare occasions, the Random iTunes Fairy serves up a song from my collection that I have never heard.

Those songs tend to come from my wife’s albums, or records I’ve collected over the years for free or in bargain sales and never got around to hearing.

Today’s track, from John Hiatt’s <em<Anthology collection, is an example of the former. My wife likes a John Hiatt song or two and bought this compilation at some point through the years. I doubt she’s heard it any more often than I have.

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Song of the Day #2,023: ‘Wake Me Up’ – Elvis Costello & The Roots

wise_up_ghost_costello_rootsGuest blogger Dana concludes… (and thanks for taking the reins for the past two weeks!)

Dana’s Best Songs of 2013
Elvis Costello & The Roots – ‘Wake Me Up’

 
Well, I guess I am nothing if not predictable in placing Mr. Costello number one on my “best of” list, though there have certainly been years in the recent path where his output might not have merited such high praise.

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Song of the Day #2,022: ‘Tennis Court’ – Lorde

lorde_pure_heroinGuest blogger Dana continues…

Dana’s Best Songs of 2013
Lorde – ‘Tennis Court’

 
Truth be told, I would probably put ‘Royals’ in this spot, but, since you have already featured that one on your blog, I am going instead here with another major favorite.

I came to ‘Royals,’ like most people (other than you:-)), through radio play. But I came to discover ‘Tennis Court’ through my daughter’s obsession with Lorde and her purchase of the album (Thank you iCloud!).

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