When I am Revealing My Heart: A Clem Snide/Eef Barzelay Compilation

     I bought Clem Snide’s Ghost of Fashion when it was released in 2001.  I think I gave it a couple of cursory listens, and then ignored it for about 15 years.  When I listened to it again, several of the songs really resonated, and it made me a lot more receptive to the truly sublime Forever Just Beyond, maybe my favorite album from 2020.  But it was only in 2025 that I truly went down the rabbit hole.  In particular, the lead singer and main songwriter of Clem Snide, Eef Barzelay, has an enormous repertoire of covers available on Bandcamp. So even though there are thirty songs here, there’s a lot more Clem/Eef to enjoy.  In addition to Forever Just Beyond, I particularly recommend Fan Chosen Covers 5, We Leave Only Ashes, and You Were a Diamond.  And if Clem/Eef grows on you like they grew on me, Eef does play house concerts. 

Download

           Volume 1

I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire

All Green

The Ballad Of Ice Cube Boy And Snowflake Girl

Denise

Song For Bob Crane

Me No

Love The Unknown

Let's Explode

The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. One

Those Spanish Ladies of the Night

Now The Moment's Gone

Escape Artist Blues

Avalanche

Flake

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

         Volume 2

From The Morning

Sea Legs

Sam Spirals

Jews for Jesus Blues

Teenage Existentialist

The Open Road

Free

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

Lost On The River

Don't Bring No Ladder

Free

Grace

My Drug Buddy

Saturday Sun

Find Love

On the Right Side of 2025

Even though I'm at an age where the years are supposed to get (i.e. seem) shorter, I swear 2025
felt like a decade.  Sigh....... But at least there was a lot of good music.  I'm not sure if artists were just making great downbeat music or I gravitated more (than usual) to downbeat music.  Maybe it's both.

In particular, I would recommend the 2025 releases by Folk Bitch Trio, the Sinners soundtrack, Antibalas, De La Soul, Neko Case, Ken Pomeroy, Sessa, and Tobacco City. 

Once again, I only included artists that were not on the 2023 or 2024 best of volumes.  Also, all of the previous year-end compilations are available (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).

Wishing everyone a much less gruesome 2026!

Download

Disc 1
Morning on K Road	Steve Gunn
Wake	SYML
Bright Yellow Sun	West Texas Exiles
Leads Me Home	The War And Treaty
Last Hard Bible	Sunny Sweeney
The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)	Car Seat Headrest
Sweet Danger	Obongjayar
Dearest Darling	Thee Headcoats
Summer Of Love	Throwing Muses
Nowhere Now	Eve Adams
Praga	Tim Bernardes
Fallen Leaves	Mekons
Afterlife	Sharon Van Etten
Lo Life	Antibalas
Into Nothing	Lera Lynn
That There's a Strategy	Shrunken Elvis
Town Lights Fade	Chris Eckman
Into My Arms	Lykke Li
Disc 2
Cathode Ray	Folk Bitch Trio
Estou Pensando Em Você (feat. Johanna)	Nyron Higor
Nearsight [SID]	Miguel
Cabin In The Sky	De La Soul
The Third Door	Vanishing Twin
Bienvenue à la maison	Amadou & Mariam
Wang Dang Doodle	Cedric Burnside, Shardé Thomas, & Tierinii Jackson
NOIRE	Sudan Archives
Winchester Mansion of Sound	Neko Case
Better Deal Blues	Daniel Donato
Workin' Man Blues	Willie Nelson
Hush	Jessie Baylin
Lifetime	Erika de Casier
Flannel Cowboy	Ken Pomeroy
Coronation Street	CMAT
God Knows	Tunde Adebimpe
Heart of Gold	Fiona Apple
Love Me Like You Used To Do	Margo Price
Disc 3
Everybody Hurts	Lucius
Snow Camping	Laura Veirs and the Choir Who Couldn't Say
Survival Mode	Lilliana Villines
El Techno	Geckøs
My Get Back	Holly Golightly
Glencoe	Paul Burch
Dead Or Gone To Dallas	Steve Earle & Reckless Kelly
Time Ain't Nothin'	GARRETT T. CAPPS
I Don't Care	Kelly Willis
Let Me Dream	Julianna Riolino
Dodói	Sessa
Here Comes The Sun	anaiis
Pale, Through the Window	Ruston Kelly
Big Deal	Lucy Dacus
Don't Miss Your Bus Lorraine	The Delines
Colorado	Tobacco City
Bullfighter	Joleen Brown
The Mouth	Anna von Hausswolff