"Egad Józsi, and (what about) the mask?" (A Holiday At The Sea Quarantine Playlist)

Here’s a Quarantine-inspired playlist. With a story arc of sorts. Sort of like a concept album, except it’s a mix.

Curious? Why don’t you give it a listen. I’d like to hear someone else try and describe the journey of discovery I was trying to capture here. What do you think? How would you tell this story?

Playlist:

1. “Cold Hard Times” by Lee Hazlewood

2. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

3. “We Will Become Silhouettes” by the Postal Service

4. “T.B. Sheets” by Van Morrison

5. “Sorry You’re Sick” by Ted Hawkins

6. “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M.

7. “American Heartache” by the Wood Brothers

8. “Down With Disease” by Phish

9. “Down With Desperation” by Sammy Brue

10. “Sometimes It’s Hard” by Rainer

11. “Consider the Ravens” by Dustin Kensrue

12. “Love Is Everywhere (Beware)” by Wilco

13. “Shelter From The Storm” by Bob Dylan

14. “Love Knows (No Borders” by Howe Gelb

15. “I’ll Be Your Shelter” by the Housemartins

16. “Sisters and Brothers” by the Vespers

• Browse other Holiday at the Sea playlists.

Holiday at the Sea's Favorite Music of 2019

2019 has been a great year for music. From 30-minute mind-melting jams to Tuareg guitar and all kinds in between. I LOVE year-end lists. I love seeing what other people loved, especially if I can find something I hadn’t heard before. And to a lesser extent, who doesn’t like having their tastes confirmed by people much cooler?

But I don’t necessarily like ranking everything. After all, every list is subjective. And is there really any music that is “best”? Maybe you preferred one album to others, but does that really mean it’s “better”? Excuse me while I step off of my soapbox.

And I don’t like not hearing what people recommend. So, as you already know, I made a four-volume mix of some of my favorite music of the year, which I hope you’ve already checked out. If not, feel free to do so here and here and here and here. Also, just one more time of review, I chose 50 songs this year but only 49 albums since ‘Sideways’ by Seryn was released as a single.

Now that you’ve had a chance to to hear the songs, here is the complete list in alphabetical order.

• I Was Real by 75 Dollar Bill

• Mandatory Reality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society

• Ancestral Recall by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

• U.F.O.F. by Big Thief

• Sahari by Aziza Brahim

• RE_CORDIS by Bruno Bavota

• i,i by Bon Iver

• V by The Budos Band

• African Giant by Burna Boy

• Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest by Bill Callahan

• Ghosteen by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

• All My Relations by Cochemea

• A Good Time by Davido

• Grow Towards The Light by Dire Wolves

• Sun Cycle / Elk Jam by Elkhorn

• Pianoworks by Eluvium

• Blue Values by Eamon Fogarty

• All Time Present by Chris Forsyth

• Gold Past Life by Fruit Bats

• One Of The Best Yet by Gang Starr

• One Step Behind by Garcia Peoples

• The Unseen In Between by Steve Gunn

• Back At The House by Hemlock Ernst and Kenny Segal

• The Gospel According to Water Joe Henry

• Terms of Surrender by Hiss Golden Messenger

• More Arriving by Sarathy Korwar

• Miri by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

• Sauropoda by L'Eclair

• Ilana (The Creator) by Mdou Moctar

• Stars Are The Light by Moon Duo

• Three Chords and the Truth by Van Morrison

• All Mirrors by Angel Olsen

• Desire Path by One Eleven Heavy

• Phoenix by Pedro the Lion

• Rainford by Lee “Scratch” Perry

• Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains

• Rose City Band by Rose City Band

• ‘Sideways’ by Seryn

• Out of Darkness by Some Dark Hollow

• Illegal Moves by Sunwatchers

• Amankor / The Exile by Tartit

• Amadjar by Tinariwen

• Preserves by Matt Valentine

• Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend

• Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten

• Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits by Various Artists

• Water Weird by Wet Tuna

• Ode To Joy by Wilco

• The Sisypheans by Xylouris White

• Walk Through The Fire by Yola

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

• Listen to Volume 01 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 02 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Holiday at the Sea’s Favorite Music Label of 2019

My Favorite music label of the year would have to be, without a doubt, Brooklyn’s Beyond Beyond is Beyond. Self-describes as: "“Music for Heads, by Heads,” which just about sums it up. More a vibe than a genre. A way of thinking than a particular style.

With five out of my favorite 49 albums of the year; (Dire Wolves, Garcia Peoples, L'Eclair, One Eleven Heavy, and Matt Valentine (plus, if I had expanded my list or included an “Honorable Mentions” section, this list would have expanded even more. That De Lorians is really good to mention only one more), no other single label presented as much music that I wanted to hear this year.

I can’t wait to hear what’s next.

• Visit the Beyond Beyond is Beyond website

• Visit Beyond Beyond is Beyond’s Bandcamp page for all the goodies

• Follow the label on Facebook

• Follow them on Twitter

Holiday at the Sea's Favorite 2019 Music Mix (Volume 02)

As I mentioned yesterday, we’re doing something different this year with my year-end list of my favorite music of 2019. I’ve made four different playlists so you can hear a representative song from each album I picked.

Today we dive in to Volume 02. Each mix is as close to an hour as I could get them. And as I already mentioned, there are 50 songs, but only 49 albums represented, since ‘Sideways’ by Seryn was released as a single and I’ll present the complete list at the end of the week. I hope you enjoy this second installment.

Volume 02:

Volume 02 Tracklisting:

1. ‘Shepherd’s Welcome’ by Bill Callahan from the album Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest

2. ‘Miri’ by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba from the album Miri

3. ‘Autobiography Of The Upsetter’ by Lee “Scratch” Perry from the album Rainford

4. ‘Vagabond’ by Steve Gunn from the album The Unseen In Between

5. ‘U (Man Like)’ by Bon Iver from the album i,i

6. 1 Milli by Davido from the album A Good Time

7. ‘Three Chords and the Truth’ by Van Morrison from the album Three Chords and the Truth

8. ‘Anybody’ by Burna Boy from the album African Giant

9. ‘To See Darkness’ by Elkhorn from the album Sun Cycle / Elk Jam

10. ‘Hot Potato Soup’ by One Eleven Heavy from the album Desire Path

11. ‘Out of Darkness’ by Some Dark Hollow from the album Out of Darkness

12. ‘Comeback Kid’ by Sharon Van Etten from the album Remind Me Tomorrow

13. ‘Carrier 32’ by Eluvium from the album Pianoworks

14. ‘Bloom’ by Joe Henry from the album The Gospel According to Water

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

• Listen to Volume 01 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist