On The Right Side of 2024

    Sorry for the delay in getting the best of compilation completed.  I would make a New Years resolution to be more punctual, but I don't think it would do any good.  My tardiness should, however, not be seen as a reflection on the music released, as there was a lot of great music released.  There's still a lot of releases that demand additional listens, but I particularly recommend Cindy Lee's "Diamond Jubilee", Mulatu Astatke's "Tension", and Clem Snide's "Oh Smokey".  I also would be remiss if I didn't mention two albums to benefit victims of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina:  Cardinals At The Window and Caverns of Gold: A Benefit for WNC Hurricane Relief.  I only discovered Caverns of Gold one three weeks ago so I haven't had much time to listen to it, but I've listened to about two thirds of Cardinals at the Window (it's 136 songs and Caverns of Gold has twice as many) and there's a lot of great live and unreleased cuts.  Both are also insanely cheap so be sure to add a tip.  :)

   As always, I only included artists who weren't on the two previous years' compilations (unless they were singing backup on another artist's song).  Also, all of the previous year end compilations are also available (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).

      Oh, and if you're wondering about the cover art.  Well, my youngest is a huge fan of capybaras, and the little one, Tupi, was born in December.  

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Disc 1

Punish	Ethel Cain
Rosemary	Donovan Woods
Butterfly	Shelby Lynne
Another Broken Heart	Wonder Women of Country
Jenny Jenkins	Viva Lone Justice
Ernest Evans	Pixies
Found a Job	The Linda Lindas
Walk Through Fire	Yannis & The Yaw
Samurai	Lupe Fiasco
Out There	Helado Negro
Hey Heron	Rosali
Love Will Tear Us Apart	Pedal Steel Noah
Rosa, Lua, Lhasa	Sítio Rosa & Jennifer Souza & Bernardo Bauer
Carte Blanche	Haux
Went for a Ride	Adia Victoria
Hey Girl	Moses Sumney
When a Man Cries	Leon Bridges
Midnight Cowboy	Charley Crockett
Long Way Home	Ray LaMontagne
Disc 2
Cowboy and the Stranger (demo)	Terry Allen
Saturday Morning	Dexter Romweber
Mighty Fine & All Mine	The Mystery Lights
Lesanu	Kamasi Washington
Mood Swings	Little Simz
She Feels	Jorja Smith
Inagei Otsehi (We Live in the Woods)	Agalisiga
Smokey	Clem Snide
Mother's Daughter	Skylar Gudasz
Rocky Raccoon (Bonus Track)	Swamp Dogg
A Bar Song (Tipsy)	Shaboozey
Broken Hearted Blue	Jenny Don't And The Spurs
Life Rides The Train	Victoria Liedtke & Jason Ringenberg
Liberty Print	Camera Obscura
Silencio	Patrick Watson feat. November Ultra
Uiara (Encantada da Água) - Vida e cura	Amaro Freitas
Mrs Ladyships and The Cleanerhouse Boys	The Smashing Times
Howdy Howdy	Gillian Welch
This Is Who I Am (From “The Day of the Jackal”)	Celeste
Disc 3
Aaron	Cassandra Jenkins + Bloomsday + Babehoven
Cinnamon Horses	Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Loser	Lydia Loveless
The Howl	Crowded House
Aquí Te Cuido	Reyna Tropical
I See You	Alice Russell
Water's Path	Nubya Garcia
Every Color In Blue	Brittany Howard
We're Still Here	Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Priss and Vinegar	The Surfrajettes
Cabin Song	Billy Strings
Time Between	Dwight Yoakam
News of the Universe	La Luz
Tension	Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra
Love You Got	Kelly Lee Owens
Tantos Planetas	St. Vincent
Oração 19 (oração pra Oxum)	Luiza Brina e Iara Rennó
THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS	Bon Iver
Fallin' Rain	The Nude Party

On the Right Side of Christmas 2024

    It's that time of the year again so I'm back with another Christmas compilation (and all of the previous Christmas compilations are available for download).  I'm not quite sure how it happened, but this one is a bit more mellow than most of the previous compilations.  I also don't think there's any cuts that would offend anyone so it's probably fine to put on at any family holiday gatherings. :)

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Merry Christmas From The Family	Robert Earl Keen
Christmas Spirit	Julia Lee and Her Boyfriends
Mr. Santa Claus	Nathaniel Mayer
Santa Plays the Trombone	Poppa John Gordy & the Dixielanders
Doña Santos	Héctor Lavoe & Willie Colón & Yomo Toro
Red Lights (Merry Christmas)	Dreams So Real
Santa Claus Is Back In Town	Tav Falco
Little Jesus Boy	The Violinaires
Santa's On His Way	Kitty Wells
Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)	Loose Cattle
If You See Rudolph	Gretchen Wilson
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas	Hem
Blue Christmas	Alela Diane
Good Morning Blues (I Wanna See Santa Claus)	Count Basie
Sha La da La La (Christmas Time)	The Sha La Das
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)	John Lennon
Daddy, Come Home for Christmas	James & Lucky Peterson
Santa Claus, Do You Ever Get The Blues?	Roomful Of Blues
Beboppers' Christmas	Cordell Jackson
Christmas Greetings	Lord Kitchener
All I Want for Christmas	Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns
BLUE CHRISTMAS	Nicole Atkins
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen	Mary Hopkin
Auld Lang Syne	Urban Surf Kings

 

Beat the Retreat: Songs By Richard Thompson

           As the older readers of this blog probably remember, the 90s produced a whole lot of tribute albums resulting in a bit of snarky backlash by the end of the 90s.  And to be sure, there were a lot of middling ones, though most of them could boast at least a couple of solid or unconventional cuts.   One of the very best tribute albums from that period, Beat the Retreat: Songs By Richard Thompson, is out of print.  I've included several of the cuts on other compilations I've put together, but there's a lot of other gems as well.  Enjoy!

P.s.  If you also want to hear Richard Thompson  sing his own songs, I put together a two disc compilation. 

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Shoot Out The Lights	X
Wall Of Death	R.E.M.
When The Spell Is Broken	Bonnie Raitt
Turning Of The Tide	Bob Mould
For Shame Of Doing Wrong	Syd Straw & Evan Dando
Down Where The Drunkards Roll	Los Lobos
Beat The Retreat	June Tabor
Genesis Hall	June Tabor
I Misunderstood	Dinosaur Jr
The Madness Of Love	Graham Parker
Just The Motion	David Byrne
Valerie	BeauSoleil
A Heart Needs A Home	Shawn Colvin & Loudon Wainwright III
Dimming Of The Day	The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama
Farewell, Farewell	Martin Carthy & Maddy Prior
The Great Valerio	Martin Carthy & Maddy Prior

Dig Those Cats!

      With all the kerfluffle in American politics about "childless cat ladies" back in August, I decided that I should put together a compilation of songs about cats.  I know it's kind of cliched and I am also well aware that several of the songs here are about "cats" as cool folks, rather than feline creatures.  But as I warily began putting the collection together, I started to appreciate it a compelling unifying theme.  Hope the "dog persons" like it, too. :)

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Mean Eyed Cat	Johnny Cash
Kansas City Kitty	Ambrose Haley and his Ozark Ramblers
Leave My Kitten Alone	The Sonics
I Call My Baby Pussycat	Parliament
Cat On A Hot Foam Board	New Dimensions
Put Your Cat Clothes On	Carl Perkins
Something For Cat	Henry Mancini
The Lovecats	Tanya Donelly, Dylan In The Movies
Cats And Dogs	The Head And The Heart
Phenominal Cat	The Kinks
Alley Cat Ska	Tommy McCook & His Ska-Talites
Stray Cat Strut	Stray Cats
Cats and Dogs	Toni Price
Wildcat	The Hot Club Of Cowtown
Cool For Cats	Squeeze
Wild Cat Blues	Chris Barber's Jazz Band
Nashville Cats	Flatt & Scruggs
Tom Cattin'	Buck Owens
The Big Cats Of Shambala	Matthew Sweet
Facts About Cats	Timbuk 3
Farmyard Cat	Prefab Sprout
What's New Pussycat?	Tom Jones