Bill’s Rockpile 2021008
Although we did not have the “return
to normal” we all had hoped for, it still was a pretty good year on the music
front. Bands returned to clubs --- albeit with some caveats --- and artists
emerged with records that many recorded while quarantined or otherwise holed
up. That made for a tough task to winnow the list down. The Rockpile used to
conform to the capacity of a CD (about 20 songs) but since we expanded with the
cloud and streaming, I’ve been able to expand the list. Such was the case this
year. I have saved over 40 songs as potential favorites and was only able to
winnow down to 34 this year. These are the songs that I listened to repeatedly throughout
the year and would put on playlists. In many cases the albums they were on were
so good it was tough to pick a favorite track.
I’ve also expanded the ways to
consume the Rockpile here. For the first year, all my favorites were also on
Spotify, so I’ve included a link to the Spotify stream in addition to the
Mixcloud steam I have done the past few years. Note: on the Spotify stream I
had to substitute a Reds, Pinks & Purples alternate song (“The Record
Player and the Damage Done”) since Glen Donaldson for some reason made the song
I downloaded Private on Bandcamp and removed elsewhere. You can hear it on the
Mixcloud stream. And, with each song, I’ve also included a streamable link to
that song on Bandcamp. Please consider buying and downloading songs that you
like to support the artists. As with last year, Bandcamp Friday when the site
forgoes its share of the song royalties, made for good opportunities to grab
stuff and crowdsource targets.
I hope we can get back to a more
relaxed posture on shows next year. There are many scheduled, and festivals
that would address the pent up demand…but we will have to see how things go.
Nothing crystallized the state of things this year than seeing Wayne Coyne at
Flaming Lips show sing inside his bubble without a mask, and then step outside
for songs and sing through one. Would be great if next year he doesn’t need to
do that, and we all can feel safe at indoor shows.
Cheers,
Bill
