This started as a “Things I’m grateful for at the end of a crappy year”-esqe post, but then inspired by Marian I decided to make it all-music. It was meant to be an end-year 2020 or January 1st post, but that period was post-heavy. After yesterday we could all do with a little distraction.
Allison Young. I must have heard her through Postmodern Jukebox, the same source that introduced me to Chloe Feoranzano.
Lake Street Dive. LSD quickly became a favorite band of mine when I first encountered them in ’18 or ’19, and like most musicians coronavirus has stalled their ability to do much. They did a streaming variety hour in the first outbreak period, but in October they appeared on a rooftop continuing their Halloween tradition of doing a cover in costume.
Pogo, “Do You”. I encountered Pogo last year, I believe, via a Star Trek video, but this one is different — and has a message.
Justin Johnson, so much. I don’t have a favorite piece of his just yet, but I discovered his stylings only recently and I’m slowly listening to a variety of his work.
Cody Jinks. I’ve been aware of Jinks for the last few years now. Discovering him and a few other artists on youtube made me realize that real country isn’t dead, it’s just exiled from Nashville.
Hazel English, “I’m Fine”. I have no idea how I encountered this band, but this and a few other pieces have struck just the right chord during some of this year’s more difficult periods.
Avalon Jazz Band, “Bonjour Sourire”. AJB, along with Allison Young, is my Absolute Favorite Discovery of 2020. This song’s title means “Goodbye, Sadness”. We certainly needed that this year!
“Photosynthesis”, Frank Turner. I encountered Turner a few years back; he’s a bit like Billy Bragg as far as musical stylings go, though his politics are sharply different.
Is photosynthesize
Then you deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
That you waste wondering when you’re gonna die
“One Day More”, the Marsh family. Years from now, this will be THE song I remember 2020 by.
“I Promise You”, Mohsen Yeganeh. A song about heartbreak and moving on, whose message I understand not through the words but through the music.
Reading Freely 
Those were really great finds. We enjoyed them, esp. the family on lockdown. : D
Yes! I shared them back in April with some other ‘corona culture’ covers..back when we were thinking it was a month-long sad spell, and not the beginning of the Longest Year Ever…
#7 copy & paste error? Either way, JP Sears is a funny guy, I’ve been enjoying his skits this year especially. 😀
I’m working right now but I can’t wait to give these a listen later today!
Count me confused — typo? I didn’t number the list because WP and I have differences of opinion about spacing. If they were numbered, Avalon Jazz Band would be in that spot. Spears isn’t a name I recognize, but I’m always happy to find a comedian to explore!
Whoa… something very weird is happening with my Firefox browser… when I look at that slot, it shows me a completely different video. But it shows the right video in Chrome.
Technical difficulties I guess…
Re: JP, his brand of humor is a bit… politically incorrect, so fair warning. I wouldn’t call myself a “fan” exactly, but I keep coming back to his channel for laughs. 😆
2020 was a hard year for Firefox | Mozilla, I’ve read. They hemorrhaged staff. 😦 Could be that it counted the video as played-already, and it decided to start playing videos recommended to you…which would be based on your activity. (If it happened to me, I would have seen synthwave mixes or Callmekevin’s latest, I assume! XD)
I don’t mind non-PC stuff at all, so long as it doesn’t go into the realm of conspiracy theories. Will explore a bit tonight!
Some of it veers into that territory, but he makes me laugh even when I disagree. 🙂
I can see that…I run into it a little bit when I’m trawling for memes on reddit.