50 for 50; all my favorites the year I turn 50

I turn 50 in November. Weird milestone honestly. When I was 20 I thought 50 was old (like all 20-year-olds), but now that I am that age I sort of feel 20 (more than I did when I was 40) and don't see that many differences in the 30-year age gap. I am thankful of course for the life experience, wisdom, and maturity I have developed, but more than ever I know and feel age is irrelevant. (Well, except in running and sports! I was fast when I was 20 and now not so much--haha.)

All that to say I am immensely thankful to have been exposed to 50 years of music. Of course it extends beyond that, as I enjoy music that was written and recorded before my birth. But my passion for music is the greatest it has ever been. I heard Dan Haseltine once ask in an interview, "What if the Holy Spirit is music?" Whether you are a Christian or not you may find that question silly, stupid, ridiculous, or blasphemous, but it has stuck with me. I feel joy, peace, excitement, sadness, beauty--God--through music daily.

Thursday at Barnstormers Pizza, Montevallo, Alabama, June 13, 2001. Photo by me.

Over the course of the next couple months I am going to be sharing four "top-50" lists and playlists for a total of 200 different songs:

• My all-time favorite songs, #100 down to 51 (sharing today in September)
• My top 50 albums of all time (will share in October)
• My all-time favorite songs, 50 down to #1 (will share on my birthday in November)
• My top 50 Christmas songs (will share in December)

I'll be primarily sharing these playlists through Apple Music. I have experimented with different apps and websites that convert playlists from one provider to another (Sp*tify, Amazon Music, Tidal, etc.) but have yet to decide whether or not I'll do the converting or just point you the reader towards it. The downside of converting is that it is inevitable that the playlists will be incomplete as no service libraries are identical.

That moves me to my next point--these are my favorite songs that are IN Apple Music. Tons of good music is not streaming on the most popular sites (a lot of it is on Bandcamp, and as much as I love Bandcamp, the playlist ordeal is not worth it). Most of Tess Wiley's catalog is not streaming on the major sites, along with practically no Vigilantes of Love, no Hoi Polloi (NZ), and no Zwan. That is just to name a few artists who are missing from these 200 songs.

My personal playlist rules and guidelines:

• Has to be on Apple Music (argh). While a limitation, my research has shown that Apple Music's catalog, especially of non-US music, is significantly greater than the other major streaming services. For example, a lot of European music I like is on Apple Music and is not in the other services.
• Only one song per artist in the top 100 songs (however, the same artist could have a song in the top 100, be a part of the top 50 albums, and have a Christmas song in that upcoming playlist)
• I have to LOVE it. If it doesn't get me immensely excited, it's not on the list(s)
  
  

So here is playlist #1: My favorite songs of all time, numbers 100 down to number 51:

• Apple Music (playlist created here with all 50 songs)
• Sp*tify (Transferred using Soundiiz; missing one song)
• Amazon Music (Transferred using Soundiiz; missing three songs)
• Tidal (Transferred using Soundiiz; missing two songs)

100. Amy Grant- "Lead Me On" from the album Lead Me On (1988)

Amy Grant was one of my first favorite artists, along with Michael W. Smith. Prior to Amy Grant I was pretty much only listening to my parents music, or what I heard on the radio during swimming carpools. My enjoyment of MWS ended decades ago, but I have always loved Amy Grant and her new 2026 album is great. One of my earliest mixtapes (made in 1989?) was only Amy Grant and MWS songs. Reviewing the lyrics, I definitely didn't realize how intense this song is when I enjoyed it as a child:

"Man hurts man

Time and time, time again

And we drown in the wake of our power

Somebody tell me why...

Lead me on

Lead me on

To a place where the river runs"

99. The Connells- "Stone Cold Yesterday" from the album One Simple Word (1990)

Speaking of mixtapes, the first one ever made for me by a girl I liked had this song on it. I can thank Maren for introducing me to the Connells, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and deepening my love for R.E.M. (and for bonding over hatred for Dave Matthews Band when all of our peers loved them in 1995). I didn't hear a full Connells album though until college and Mike chose One Simple Word when it was his turn to play a CD during drawing class (my turn was Poor Old Lu's Sin). I became a huge Connells fan and saw them play a few times in Birmingham and Chattanooga in the late 90's.

"And I walked, and I breathed, and I tried to not let it change me.

Don't it make you wonder, man?"

98. Phoebe Bridgers - "Chinese Satellite" from the album Punisher (2020)

Picking my favorite Phoebe Bridgers song is nearly impossible, but this one stands out lyrically. Her new album just dropped and I have been listening to it non-stop, but for now no song on it surpasses this.

"You were screamin' at the Evangelicals

They were screamin' right back from what I remember"

Same, Phoebe!

Found an amazing essay on this song just now while writing this post: Chinese Satellite by Vivian Xie. I don't agree with her, but I appreciate the questions she is asking.

97. Rage Against The Machine- "Sleep Now In the Fire" from the album The Battle Of Los Angeles (1999)

I was fortunate to teach a high school graphic design class a few years ago that I designed called "The Colour and the Shapes". The class used album art examples, mostly from the 90's, to teach the fundamentals of graphic design (thanks to Foo Fighters for the name of the class, but that wasn't one of the albums). One of the class sessions was entirely about The Battle of Los Angeles, the paintings of The Phantom Street Artist, and the importance of protest music.

"So raise your fists and march around

Just don't take what you need

I'll jail and bury those committed

And smother the rest in greed"

96. Of Monsters and Men- "Fruit Bat" from the album All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade (2025)

Picking new songs to go along side older songs on a ranked list is a ridiculous process. "Fruit Bat" is stunning and this live performance of it explains much better than my words can. There is a certain category of songs that I love that are simply immersive experiences and hard to describe--it is just the way the song feels.

"I know something you don't know

Somehow in the dead of night, we're like bunny and the reptile

I need something you don't seem to need

Sweeter goodbye, I'm like a fruit bat hangin' tight"

95. Toad The Wet Sprocket -"Fly From Heaven" from the album Dulcinea (1994)

Sad story: When Toad the Wet Sprocket toured in 1997, I bought two tickets to their show in December at 328 Performance Hall in Nashville. I asked two different girls to the show, and both said no! I think one of them legitimately could not go, but I was surprised on the other. It took a ton of boldness for me to ask--one was a conversation in the Samford library and the other was a phone call; I had very little dating experience. Thankfully I didn't "like" either girl. But still. Anyway, I ended up giving the second ticket away to some dude on the street before the show. The only time I ever saw Toad, who I still like, and who is still recording good music. Back to this song; wow, the theological implications are wild. Had I known what it was saying back in the 90's I am sure I would have refused to listen to it as blasphemy. But I really appreciate the questions it poses now.

"Will it be the end

Or is he still ascending

But if he's all you say

Would he fly from heaven

To this world again"

94. The Jealous Sound- "Anxious Arms" from the album Kill Them With Kindness (2003)

I totally missed out on Knapsack as I was too busy listening to only Christian rock at that time, but I did somehow discover The Jealous Sound with their 2000 debut EP. This song actually appeared on that EP, but then was re-recorded for for the LP a couple years later. This song makes me think of driving my truck around in Zambia. I ordered the CD online and some volunteer team brought it over in a suitcase for me. This song is essentially the model framework for my favorite kind of rock song.

"They're waiting for clouds and storms

And for safety

And I said, 'I will.'

I ask you, 'Please, lie still.'

Your faith means everything"

93. Haim- "Los Angeles" from the album Women in Music Pt. III (2020)

A frequent point of conversation in my home is how I hate saxophone. I don't actually hate saxophone, as it is perfect in this song. But broadly yeah most songs would be better without it. Haha. I have mixed feelings about Haim. Sometimes I love them, like this song, but other times I just feel they are trying to hard to be provocative.
"New York is cold, I tried the winter there once--nope."

92. Sleigh Bells- "Baptism By Fire" from the album Jessica Rabbit (2016)

Sleigh Bells is amazing live. For most of my 15+ year history I had never seen them, but then got to see two shows of theirs in Detroit in a two-year span and it was some of the most fun I have ever had experiencing live music. Most Sleigh Bells songs I like because of the feeling of the music, but I love the lyrics on this one: "When you love something so much

Almost nothing can't go wrong
You better take my advice while I'm calm still
When your dream is made of everything you're afraid of"

91. Stretch Arm Strong- "Second Chances" from the album Compassion Fills the Void (1998)

Had things diverged a little when I was a teen, I can see a world where I would have listened to almost entirely hardcore. The tenets of the genre--DIY, anti-establishment, and a tight-knit community--are values I have leaned more and more. Stretch Arm Strong somewhat introduced me to the hardcore genre when I saw them open for Zao and Stavesacre in Nashville in 1999; I was there for the other two bands, but Stretch showed them up. Of my two newer Furnace Fest experiences in 2021 and 2022, the hardcore community could be experienced and felt deeply--it was a powerful and formative time. And while I mostly saw sets for bands I already knew and loved (like Stretch) the newer bands I discovered were mostly of the hardcore genre.

"Fear comes today (What about tomorrow?)

Conformity (I'll never swallow)

The world today (Full of pain and sorrow)

Apathy (I'll never follow)"

90. Sarah Jaffe- "Summer Begs" from the album Suburban Nature (2010)

When I hear this song I think of summer in Rome, Georgia, where we lived at the time. It was a special season with two toddlers at home. I wasn't consuming as much new music at the time, and this album resonated with me deeply. It's simple, quiet, and beautiful.

"Somewhere someone's sleeping

Somewhere someone's weeping

Somewhere someone's listening

To the sound of a record spinning"

89. Katie Malco- "Brooklyn" from the album Failures (2020)

This song is so sad and beautiful. Seeing Katie play it at the Sanctuary in Detroit will permanently be etched in my memory. Having lived across the Atlantic from close friends for many years of my life it resonates deeply without it feels to miss someone.

"I see you fading and I live across an ocean

I talked you out of staying but I don’t know when you’ll come back

You said don’t worry you don’t need anybody

You’re living out your dreams in New York"

88. Hem- "Not California" from the album Funnel Cloud (2006)

The year Funnel Cloud was released my wife and I worked the merch table for Hem and Over the Rhine at their show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. We did that because of our connection to and love for Over the Rhine, and the show was our introduction to Hem. The shift from the third chorus to the outro is stunning and gives me chills every time:

"And I'm not strong

And you're not rich

And we're not lost

Where we don't live

And it's not true

And it's not fair

And they're not us

And it's not California here

I'm the one who wants to be with you tonight"

87. Headlights- "Put Us Back Together Right" from the album Kill Them With Kindness (2006)

Another song that represents my ideal example of an indie rock song. Headlights formed when Absinthe Blind broke up, and they share many members. While I liked Absinthe Blind, I LOVED Headlights. I saw them open for Mates of State in 2008 and at one point the whole Headlights band joined Mates of State on stage for a song.
"I've forgotten to check all of the things

That somehow now I don't seem to need"

86. The Flaming Lips- "Do You Realize??" from the album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002) 
I have always wanted to like the Flaming Lips more than I do, but I'll be honest, much of their music is too weird for even me. I highly recommend the Sam Anderson book, Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis. Mostly about the Thunder and the history of Oklahoma, but Wayne Coyne is a central character and it gave me so much more context and understanding of his band. "Do You Realize?" is the closest the Flaming Lips ever got to mainstream pop song, and it's gorgeous. But only the Flaming Lips could include the line "Do you realize everyone you know someday will die" in a love song.

85. Dakoda Motor Co.- "Ocean Seems" from the album Into The Son (1993)
Dakoda Motor Co. was my first favorite band and I feel so fortunate to find them when I did-- as I was trying to find more original and interesting rock music in the middle of CCM and Christian Metal muck. They overall sadly haven't aged well (why is there an American flag on the cover of this album?!), and I rarely listen to them more than a song or two at a time. They did put on a terrific show though when I saw them in 2018; and that was important as Davia Vallesillo returned to vocals after the tragedy of my experience seeing them with Melissa Brewer in 1995. No offense to Melissa, she did a good job, but this was pre-internet, and when you show up at a concert expecting to see and hear Davia, it was a radical let down. In the 90's "Ocean Seems" perhaps wasn't even in my top 10 Dakoda songs, but it grew on me and I now love everything about it, especially the harmonies:

"The ocean seems the deepest blue

The sky's forever between me and You

There's so much life that I can't see now

But I want to taste it all somehow"

84. The 77's- "Alone Together" from the album Drowning With Land In Sight (1994)

Another band where picking my favorite song is nearly impossible. But "Alone Together" has always stood out, as this was the first 77s album I really got into--and maybe the first one I bought. It is kind of funny to pick a piano and percussion driven song from Michael Roe, who is one of the greatest guitar players of our time. When I was young I thought it was a simple love song, but of course it is actually tragic and about the end of a relationship. The highlight is the bridge:

"What could I do, my love?

Was it all up to me, yeah?

Or was it all up to you, my love?

I always knew, my love

It was neither one"

83. Beloved- "Failure On My Lips" from the album Failure On (2003)

Five years ago this song went from a song I liked to one I loved through one of the most powerful live show moments I have ever experienced (which thankfully I got on video and there are literally a dozen great videos of the song from that same night). If you are unaware, Beloved reuniting to play Furnace Fest in 2021 (that got delayed from 2020) was one of the central reasons Furnace Fest resumed. It is sad to write about Furnace Fest now considering what it has become in 2026, but the OG Furnace Fest, and the fest in 2021 and 2022 were some of the most important experiences of my life--musically, socially, spiritually. 

"This goes far beyond our loyalties

And we feign as a shield

That's teeming with guilt and resonance

But we held our heads so high

We have not yet defeated failure"

82. The Avett Brothers- "No Hard Feelings" from the album True Sadness (2016)
It's hard to write about a song that is probably hundreds or thousands of people's favorite song of all time. Lyrically it really doesn't get any better than this. I discovered the Avett Brothers I think with Emotionalism in 2007 and then became a much bigger fan with I and Love and You in 2009. Then I sort of lost track of them for awhile before rediscovering them with 2016's True Sadness. As I have written about before, not only was that my #1 album of 2016, 2016 was also the year I understood for the first time what it even felt like to be honestly sad.

"Under the curving sky

I'm finally learning why

It matters for me and you

To say it and mean it too

For life and its loveliness

And all of its ugliness

Good as it's been to me

I have no enemies"

81. Over The Rhine- "Latter Days" from the album Good Dog, Bad Dog (1996)

As I am writing about these songs (18 down, 82 to go) a clear theme is the live experience of the music. There are certain songs that I am not sure I would appreciate (or at least nearly as much) if I had not experienced them at a show. Whether it be after decades (see Beloved above), or after repeated live experiences (Brandtson comes to mind in the next playlist), or in the case of Over the Rhine, it was the first listen.

I had only heard one Over the Rhine song before 1997, which was "I'm Happy With Myself" and not at all an indicator for what Over the Rhine would be, or was, in 1997. When I went to Cornerstone for the first time in 1997, one of the shows at the top of my list was Adam Again. At the time they still had folding chairs and seats in one of the Encore tents, so I got there early to grab a good seat and just planned to stay put throughout the night. Well, Over the Rhine was opening for Adam Again and nothing could prepare me. Over the Rhine played mostly songs off Good Dog Bad Dog, and not only that, they would play another longer set later in the fest. Over the Rhine definitely my Cornerstone '97 experience, and this is the song that takes me back, especially because I was so utterly unprepared for it:

"What a beautiful piece of heartache

This has all turned out to be

Lord knows we've learned the hard way

All about healthy apathy

I use these words pretty loosely

There's so much more to life than words"

80. Letters To Cleo- "Here & Now" from the album Aurora Gory Alice (1994)

While I listened to primarily Christian underground music in high school, I did listen to mainstream alternative radio, most specifically Nashville's Thunder 94. This song makes me think about driving on the backroads in Franklin and Brentwood, TN, without a care in the world. It got my hyped and still does:

"And it might be

The comfort of a knowledge of a rise above the sky

But could never parallel the challenge of an acquisition in the

Here and now, here and now"

79. Adam Again- "River On Fire" from the album Dig (1992)
Not many songs in my top 100 about actual, historical events, but this is sort of one of them. A sad, tragic, beautiful song about the end of a marriage. Also heard this song at Cornerstone 1997, and wildly, just found a video of it.

"And I could be happy, and you could be miserable

I'll grab a metaphor

Out of the air

The Cuyahoga River on fire"

78. Arcade Fire- "City With No Children" from the album The Suburbs (2010)

One of my favorite ways to experience music, if not at a show, is at home with the record on the turntable and the lyrics and liner notes in hand. That is harder and harder to do, but somehow my wife and I, when we had two kids under the age of 2 found time one evening the week The Suburbs was released to listen to it in full holding the record album art and lyrics. I love these lines and they were actually once my email signature:

"You never trust a millionaire

Quoting the Sermon on the Mount

I used to think I was not like them

But I’m beginning to have my doubts, my doubts about it"

77. Brown Feather Sparrow "A Box Of Spring" from the album Wide Awakens Everything (2003)

Honestly, I like this song because it starts quiet and gets heavy. And it is the only Brown Feather Sparrow that is heavy, ha. I LOVE all Brown Feather Sparrow, and Lydia van Maurik-Wever is one of the best songwriters ever with a gorgeous voice that no one knows. I guess perhaps she is decently well-known in her home country of the Netherlands, but I find it so sad that she never gained a larger audience.
"Come and sing your crazy songs

Let me sing along

Lift me high above your pose

Swing me ‘round the world"

76. Built To Spill- "The Plan" from the album Keep It Like A Secret (1999)
The first 10 seconds of this song are killer; how many songs can be summed up in their first 10 seconds? So much energy and what a build. Doug Martsch has such rich guitar tones and I am still so sad I have never seen Built to Spill live.

"The plan keeps coming up again

And the plan means nothing stays the same

But the plan won't accomplish anything

If it's not implemented"

75. Camera Obscura- "Swans" from the album My Maudlin Career (2009)

When my kids were little and we lived in Rome, Georgia (USA), we visited the Coosa Valley Fair and I made a video of the experience and put it to music--this is the song I used. With that said, my entire family associates this song with that experience. Even just now while writing this my wife overheard my speakers and said, "Are you watching old videos?" I can't help but think this song sounds like being at a fair; and I am sure that is why I picked it at the time.

"Maybe you should travel with me

Is this the best idea

Because you've never seen a Redwood

And you've never touched a deer"

74. Cat Power- "Where Is My Love" from the album The Greatest (2006)

Simple and direct song, simply romantic. My wife and I have loved it equally and have listened throughout our marriage. And then finally a couple months ago we saw Cat Power play live and perform this song:

"Where is my love?

Where is my love?

Safe and warm

So close to me

In my arms finally"

73. Evanescence- "My Immortal" from the album Origin (2000)
It is WILD that this song ended up in the 2003 Daredevil film, the year that Evanescence became, briefly, the most popular band in the world. I don't say that lightly, as I traveled in a dozen countries in 2003 and posters for Fallen were EVERYWHERE. It is a powerful song about death, so it fit the scene in the film. But what's important to state here is that this song was released in the year 2000, not three years later.

My quick diatribe: As someone who became an Evanescence fan in 1998, it is silly and irritating that there is so much modern wiki language calling 2000's Origin merely a “demo.” When it was released in 2000, Origin was Evanescence’s true debut album; a finished, full-length record radically different and better than the rough EPs that came before it. More importantly, it captured the magic of Amy Lee and Ben Moody working together as equal creative partners. Their contrasting musical instincts complemented each other in a way that made early Evanescence extraordinary, and IMO the band ever fully recaptured that chemistry after Moody left. It is also ridiculous that Moody has also been rewritten out of the band's history as simply a "former guitar player", when Evanescence was Moody + Lee.

"When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have all of me"

72. Explosions In The Sky- "Your Hand In Mine" from the album The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place (2003)

This is the only instrumental song in my top 100. I do listen to a lot of post-rock, most notably Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, but I am a sucker for lyrics and vocals. As I listen to this song in the background I am reflecting on how little classical or orchestral music I listen to. While I find it impressive and essential, there is little to no emotional connection. Interesting how we are all wired differently; and somehow my brain responds to guitars, bass, and drums. I find that especially interesting as rock music didn't really enter my life until I was a teen. Probably more so than most music, post-rock is SO MUCH BETTER LIVE. I saw Explosions in the Sky in 2007, and Mogwai last year, and both are some of the most memorable and intense shows I have ever attended. Since I can't quote lyrics for this one, I'll just say the climax of this song when the guitar riff kicks in at the 6-minute mark, gives me all the feels.

71. Fleming & John- "I'm Not Afraid" from the album Delusions of Grandeur (1995)

First of all, there are actually three recordings of this song, all happening within the first year of it's release. The original recording had an opening guitar riff that someone felt was too similar to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and can be found on the "Can You Dig It? III" comp. Then the second version ended up on the R.E.X. Records original release of the album in 1995. And then the third and final version, that you'll find on this playlist, was modified a little most notably with chimes/bells in the feedback around the 2:00 mark for the 1996 major-label release.

Secondly, this was one of the earliest songs I loved that originated in the Christian underground (and I literally saw F&J play in a basement in 1995) to mainstream rock radio (X stations) in 1996 (and I later saw F&J at a huge outdoor festival in 1997). In early 1995 I wrote out all the lyrics of the song from memory on a chalkboard in a youth room in my church:
"I'm afraid of growing old

I'm afraid of staying young and running out of fun

I'm afraid of photographs of mom and dad when they were young"

70. Freelance Whales- "Hannah" from the album Weathervanes (2010)

I discovered TODAY that this song references a film: "Hannah Takes The Stairs", starring Greta Gerwig (2007). But my initial comments here are before watching it as I am a little shocked at the reference. There is nothing complicated about this song necessarily; I just feel it perfectly represents an era of indie rock that I love. The vocals, the mandolin, the banjo, the layers. It's simple in a way, but it makes me feel things that are impossible to put into words.

"And if you're partial to the night sky

If you're vaguely attracted to rooftops

Hannah takes the stairs 'cause she can't tell

That it's a winding spiral case

Is she right side up, or upside down?"

69. The Juliana Theory- "Into The Dark" from the album Emotion Is Dead (2000)

For 35 years I have been on a dead-end mission to share "my" music with friends in the hope that they will like it. I say "dead-end", as most of the time, people's response is generally indifference. But that's not totally true, as there are rare occurrences of others getting it, and truly enjoying the tunes I am sharing. Emotion is Dead was one of those exceptions. It hit at the right time of the intersection of mainstream radio rock and Christian underground rock, and the songs were just so poppy and catchy. My friends on my college track team enjoyed this album so much one of my memories of listening to it was on a CD player on the pool deck while we were aqua jogging.

"In your eyes, I see a darkness that torments you

And in your head where it dwells

I'd give you my hand if you'd reach out and grab it

Let's walk away from this hell"

In your eyes, I see a darkness that torments you

And in your head where it dwells

I'd give you my hand if you'd reach out and grab it

Let's walk away from this hell

68. K's Choice- "Always Everywhere" from the album Almost Happy (2000)

I love the way this song builds for the first three minutes and the guitars that kick in at the 3-minute mark are absolutely exhilarating. Then the song gets really quiet again at the end and completely beautiful. 

"So much has changed and been rearranged

And I see that I've lost

What made me so sure that I could endure

How hard it is to lose and lose and lose and live again

And never understand

You are always everywhere

You are always everywhere

You're always there"

67. L.S.U.- "Blame" from the album Grace Shaker (1994)

A wild amount of Mike Knott songs to choose from, and I went with one that is beautiful and encouraging (rather than provocative, ha!). The intersection of the piano, acoustic guitar, and cello is so beautiful as he sings:

"So if your mind hurts form this sound

and you can't see beyond this wall

forget that heavy load right now

I'll be the one who'll take the fall"

66. Pearl Jam- "Nothingman" from the album Vitalogy (1994)

Placing popular, mainstream songs among my all-time favs, which are mostly indie tracks, was by far the biggest challenge of creating this list. I love this song, but where does it rank? No clue. But today it's here. It took me way to long to truly discover Pearl Jam with full album listens. Whenever I listened to rock radio in the 90's I enjoyed just about every Pearl Jam song I heard, but I don't believe I heard a Pearl Jam album all the way through until the late 90s. All that to say, I have no idea where or where I first heard "Nothingman" but it kind of stops me in my tracks every time I listen:

"Once divided, nothing left to subtract

Some words when spoken can't be taken back

Walks on his own with thoughts he can't help thinkin'

Future's above, but in the past he's slow and sinkin'"

65. Lovedrug-"Down Towards The Healing" from the album Pretend You're Alive (2004)

One of my most-read essays is about this band: Why do I like a band’s decade-old album better than their new one? OR Why is a raw, 16-year-old EP better than a slick, refined LP released last month from the same musician? OR Why do I like Kerith Ravine more than Lovedrug? I still have those questions about Lovedrug and lots of music. ;)

I've always wondered and not understood what this song is about. I so appreciate Michael Shepard's descriptive language and use of visual metaphors though, and it makes his music vivid and powerful. This song is actually a reminder that it is not important to know what a song is about--the mystery makes it more beautiful.
"If I run

I'll just become like all the faking lights

So let the thunders take me under and break my legs tonight

Hallelujah, I'm not breathing"

64. Thursday- "Paris In Flames" from the album Full Collapse (2001)

I jammed this album at full volume when it was first released, driving up and down Columbiana Road in Birmingham, Alabama in my 1995 Mazda 626; and often, when listening to it, it takes me back to that time and place. I was fortunate enough to see Thursday play twice the summer of 2001; the first time at Barnstormers Pizza in Montevallo on June 13, and then again only a few months later at The Nick in Birmingham on September 2. Knowing how big they would eventually get, it was wild to see them in hole-in-the-wall type places; photos I took here.

"We all sing the songs of separation

And we watch our lives bleed out through our hands

That's how it was on the first day

When we saw Paris in flames"

63. Pinback- "Victorious D"from the album Some Offcell Voices (2017)
I feel like I am using the word "love" too much. Am I? Probably, sorry. But I am writing about my favorite songs and I love them! With that out of the way, I love songs that mention angels. I didn't pick "Angels" by Amy Grant, but I could have. But this is the second song in the last three (Lovedrug) that mentions angels. Despite that, I have no idea what this song is about; Pinback is simply bad-ass.

Angels suffering

Angels fall from light

Angels sickening

Angels suffer
(OK, so I searched "Victorious D" meaning, and apparently it is about Darth Vader! Oh my. I can't unsee it now. Thankfully I like Star Wars, but if you don't, I probably just ruined the song for you.)

62. Sleeping at Last- "Umbrellas" from the album Keep No Score (2006)
I skipped writing about this song when I first got to it a couple days ago because it makes me emotional and at the time I wasn't ready to feel those things. When this album was released it was the bridge between Sleeping at Last's rock band past and what would become Ryan's solo career with orchestral instrumentation. I did not yet have children in 2006, and thus did not connect to it too deeply. But then in 2010 I used this song to accompany a video I made of my cross country team. By that point two of my children had been born, and I had a deep connection with most of the kids on my team.
"You were meant for amazing things"

61. This Beautiful Mess- "All the Leaves Fly for Us" from the EP Second Mountain Songs (2021)

Most of my music journalism over the years has simply been writing about music. But then occasionally I do interviews, and one of the most important and enjoyable ones I have ever done was with Arjen and Lydia from This Beautiful Mess in 2020. During that interview Arjen flipped it over, and asked ME what I thought this song meant. You can read my response at the time in that link about this line:

"We need new memories instead of near-certainties..."

60. Laura Stevenson- "Moving Cars" from the album Laura Stevenson (2021)
I always feel like I discovered Laura Stevenson so late. The first album of hers I heard was The Big Freeze in 2019, a decade-plus into her career. Then her self-titled album dropped a couple years later and became one of my top albums of 2021. My kids commented on how the cover of the record looked nearly identical to our living room at the time with the hardwood floors, rug, blue couch, piano, and IKEA Kallax record shelves.

Despite my love for rock music, sometimes it is just a voice and acoustic guitar that has the most impact. This song, like so many of hers, is devastatingly sad. But also hopeful:

"Patience thins out like a sleeve

And prisms clang in chandeliers in houses built on top of hills

And I'm too proud to lift my hand and set it down

Down on top of yours as we are staring out"

59. Taylor Swift-"Illicit Affairs" from the album Folklore (2020)
This song for me represents the ideal sound of a Taylor Swift song. When I became a Taylor Swift fan, I always hoped she would go more of the folk route, so an indie folk album--Folklore--was literally a dream come true. I thankfully can't relate to the subject of the song in any way, but this is my favorite segment of Taylor singing, ever:

"You taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else

And you know damn well

For you, I would ruin myself

A million little times"

58. Spoon- "Can I Sit Next to You" from the album Hot Thoughts (2017)

In 2017 my kids were ages 9, 7, and 5 and for Spring Break that year we drove from our home in Germany to Paris. Besides seeing the city, we also took them to Disneyland. When I hear this song I can picture myself, my wife, and my three little ones rocking out and singing to this song in our minivan:

"Can I sit next to you?

Can you sit next to me?

I walk to Memphis alone

'Cause you'd do it for me"

57. Starflyer 59- "Softness, Goodness" from the EP The Last Laurel (2004)

The version of this song you'll hear on the playlist, out of necessity, is from the full-length Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice (2005), but the original version is so much better. The song is mysterious and gloomy, but the original version leans much more into that vibe, and the final version that wound up on the album is too clean and bright. Honestly, if you aren't obsessed with Starflyer you probably won't notice, but it is worth mentioning.

"Death is the middle

Softness, goodness keep in mind

Just to have a watchful eye"

56. Stars-"Changes"from the album The Five Ghosts (2010)
I love the contradiction--both avoiding and embracing change--as the central theme. I relate to that deeply; change is uncomfortable but necessary for growth and experience. The Five Ghosts is the sole Stars album I enjoy in full; while I like songs throughout their long history as a band, in general their albums don't resonate with me.

"Changes, I've never been good with change

I hate it when it all stays the same

Caught between the cold and the wave

My heart beats up again"

55. mewithoutYou- "O, Porcupine" from the album Brother, Sister (2006)

Every single mewithoutYou song has more lyrical depth than the average full album from any other artist. The lyrics are so dense and profound and I'll spend the rest of my life uncovering new details and understandings. 

While I do love the lyrics and meaning found in "O, Porcupine", honestly my passion for this song is mostly about the fact that it is a perfectly constructed post-hardcore song. And because Jeremy Enigk sings on the bridge! I have now been a mewithoutYou fan for 20 years, but it could have been 25. I saw them at Cornerstone 2001 but didn't like the show. My tastes were not as broad, and I am sure I was a little close-minded stylistically. It did take Jeremy Enigk's participation on Brother, Sister for me to listen to their albums in full and then follow them closely ever since.

"O' porcupine perched low in the tree

Your eyes to mine "you'd be well inclined not to mess with me"

And at the garden's edge beneath a speechless sky

As his friends slept, Jesus wept

And it's no wonder why

You wanna be set free? You wanna set me free?

Well that can only come from a union with the One who never dies"

54. Sufjan Stevens- "Chicago" from the album Illinoise (2005)

When I returned from Zambia in summer of 2004 my buddy John introduced me to Sufjan, and probably lent me Seven Swans. He and his wife Erin also lent my wife and I her Mazda Miata for a few months when we didn't own a car. The day we returned the car to them, I handed John an unmarked burned CD--"Illinoise". This was the age of finding mp3s online before albums dropped. This song and album are another family favorite. When my son recently moved to college in Chicago this was one of the last albums we listened to during that roadtrip.

"I fell in love again

All things go, all things go

Drove to Chicago

All things know, all things know"

53. Waxahatchee- "8 Ball" from the album Out in the Storm (2017)
My favorite Waxahatchee album is my number one album of 2017, Out in the Storm. To me this is the song that signifies the shift in her career, both musically and lyrically. It is the Americana song in the midst of a bunch of rockers, which is where things were headed. Katie Crutchfield is open about how she gave up alcohol and got sober after this album, and her career exploded after that with 2020's Saint Cloud. In Crutchfield's most recent Substack she shared about how she gave birth to her first child this year and that she is now going through a big creative streak--which has me super-excited about the next album.

"When I fall

I will not be ashamed at all

You'll see a failure

You wanna brand my losing streak

You wanna be the 8 ball"

52. U2- "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" from the album The Joshua Tree (1987)

Spring 1997 was my first collegiate track season. One Saturday we had a meet at Auburn University, I ran in an early event, probably the 5K, and then was done for the day. I decided to look up my friend Jenny, and stopped by her dorm. This began a trend of me dropping by her various apartments in Auburn over the years, and often our conversation was about music (and later we attended a Kevin Clay show together in a coffee shop in Franklin, TN).

The same day I ran on Auburn's track and visited Jenny, I also walked to downtown and went to a record store. At the time I bought exclusively CDs, but I saw a copy of The Joshua Tree on vinyl, and picked it up--my first ever vinyl purchase (I think Jenny and I had been talking about U2 beforehand?). I didn't have any way to listen to my new LP, but I did have a cassette copy of a U2 Live in Chicago show that I would listen to often in my car. I later found out that cassette was dubbed from a more formal bootleg, "Rock's Hottest Ticket, Live in Chicago, April 29, 1987". Because of that live show, I still find it unusual when I listen to the studio version of this song without the screaming fans:

"I have climbed highest mountain

I have run through the fields

Only to be with you

Only to be with you

I have run, I have crawled

I have scaled these city walls

These city walls

Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm lookin' for"

51. Patty Griffin- "Rain" from the album 1000 Kisses (2002)
When Jessie and I were first living at Darlington, a friend who lived in the same house as us, Nicole, introduced us to Patty Griffin. Not only that, she actually gave us two Patty Griffin CDs, including this one (I assume that Nicole had ripped the CDs to iTunes and had them on her iPod, and was an early example of people who purged their physical music collection).

Patty Griffin is one of the best songwriters of our generation; her songs are so vivid. She is best known for songs she wrote for others, like The (Dixie) Chicks. But her solo work is the best, and despite not relating to the heartbreak subject of this song, I find it stunning:

"Strange how hard it rains now

Rows and rows of big dark clouds

But I'm holding on underneath this shroud

Rain"

----------------------

Whew. 50 songs down. My top 50 songs of all time coming in November...

Album review: Idle Threat - "You'll Forget The Sun"

As a five-year fan of Idle Threat, I’ve spent years loving their 2021 debut, Blurred Visions; which is one of the best albums Tooth & Nail Records has released this decade. It is organic, honest, post-hardcore—it feels open, creatively spontaneous, and possesses a dynamic range that allows the music to breathe. When I saw Idle Threat play at Furnace Fest a few years ago, I bumped into lead singer Zeke McKinney walking to the Shed and told him how much I loved their set and how it reminded me of the 90’s Tooth & Nail bands playing at Cornerstone Festival. Idle Threat is an energetic and sincere band amidst a sea of digitally-enhanced cookie-cutter post-hardcore.

It is because of my deep love for the authentic sound of Idle Threat’s live show and Blurred Visions that I find You'll Forget the Sun – released today, April 8, 2026 – so difficult to listen to. While early buzz and reviews are calling this second album  "growth," to my ears, it feels like a record that has traded its soul for a digital, radio-ready sheen.

The most immediate and jarring change in You'll Forget the Sun is the slick production, which one can hear in the first minute of the album. Where Blurred Visions feels visceral and grounded (with fantastic, spacious production from Brett Romnes), this new effort is heavily compressed and digitally polished. The drums, which are the organic heart of the debut, now sound sterile and overly processed. The change is so drastic—moving from a beautiful, room-sound resonance, to compressed, flat, and digital—that I assumed it was a new drummer (as far as I know it is Justin Jones drumming on both LPs). It’s a move that likely targets Spotify playlist placement, but it strips away the human element that made their early work so special. 

The vocal performance on this record also feels uncharacteristically flatlined. On the debut, I was intrigued by Zeke McKinney's range and the authentic blend of his clean vocals and dirty vocals from guitarist Ernie Fabian. Here, that nuance is gone, replaced by a forced delivery where it seems like Zeke was simply told by producer Stephen Keech to "yell more". It feels like an attempt to sound like everyone else in the scene (or, at least sound like Haste the Day) rather than leaning into what made them unique.  

You'll Forget the Sun is crowded with guest vocalists; it’s honestly ridiculous. While I am sure these collaborations will bring visibility for new potential fans, it feels like tactical, label-driven moves for playlisting and algorithms rather than artistic choices. Idle Threat already has two vocalists, displaying a wide range of singing and screaming styles, so the last thing they needed was a bunch of guests taking over their parts. Having four major guests on a ten-track album dilutes the band’s identity, making the record feel like a compilation.

Despite the generic approach of the first half of the album, there are pockets where the true Idle Threat remains. "Meet Me There" is, for me, the album's triumph—a track that recaptures the melodic beauty and atmospheric depth the band excels at (except for the metallic, flat drum tone that almost ruins the song). Along with "Sequoia" and the title track, these songs prove that the band’s creative spark is still there; it’s just currently buried under layers of unnecessary gloss.  

You'll Forget the Sun is an album sadly built for the current streaming era—loud, compressed, and guest-heavy. In achieving a certain scene "perfection," it has lost the organic heart and authentic spontaneity that made Blurred Visions great. If you’re looking for the band that defined their own path, you'll catch glimpses in the second half of the album. But it is mostly a Spotify-ready formula that has unfortunately taken center stage. One can only hope that Idle Threat themselves made these choices and weren’t forced into them by a bunch of suits in a conference room. 

Idle Threat at Furnace Fest; photo by me

Best of 2025

I decided to do something new with my blog this year--write it by hand. At some point over the summer, both as a way to hold on to substantive things, and as a way to protest AI, I began writing out personal album "reviews". Once I started, I decided I would write out one page in my journal for any album I thought might make my top 10. Ultimately I wrote out 13 album reviews with simple sketches over the covers and then yesterday cut the pages from the journal and sorted them on a table.

Midway through the year I knew it was an epic one for new music. Upon review, nine of my previous AOTY winners released new music this year, which is wild:
Thrice #1 of 2007
Wolf Alice #1 of 2015
Waxahatchee #1 of 2017 (this year as Snocaps)
Neko Case #1 of 2018
Great Grandpa #1 of 2019
Taylor Swift #1 of 2020, but didn't even make my top 25 this year
The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die #1 of 2021
The Beths #1 of 2022
Stay Inside #2024 (LPs in back-to-back years!)

Shout out to Liz Pelly for the idea to hold up a list against a Christmas Tree. Also shout out to Liz Pelly for writing one of the most important books of the year.

Top 25 Albums of 2025:

1.The Beths- Straight Line Was a Lie Buy/listen on Bandcamp

2. Great Grandpa- Patience, Moonbeam Buy/listen on Bandcamp

3. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die- Dreams of Being Dust Buy/listen on Bandcamp

4. Of Monsters and Men- All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade Watch "Fruit Bat" (my #1 song of the year)

5. This Beautiful Mess- The Soft Powers Buy/listen on Bandcamp

6. Thrice- Horizons / West Buy/listen on Bandcamp

7. Momma- Welcome to My Blue Sky Buy/listen on Bandcamp

8. Stay Inside- Lunger Buy/listen on Bandcamp

9. Snocaps- Snocaps Buy/listen on Bandcamp

10. Laura Stevenson- Late Great Buy/listen on Bandcamp

11. Wolf Alice- The Clearing Buy/listen on Bandcamp

12. Mogwai- The Bad Fire Buy/listen on Bandcamp

13. Rocket- R is for Rocket Buy/listen on Bandcamp\

14. Cusp- What I Want Doesn't Want Me Back Buy/listen on Bandcamp

15. Hayley Williams- Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party Buy/listen on her website

16. Charlie Houston- Big After I Die Buy/listen on Bandcamp

17. Sleigh Bells- Bunky Becky Birthday Boy Buy/listen on Bandcamp

18. Lucy Dacus- Forever Is A Feeling Buy/listen on Bandcamp

19. Beach Bunny- Tunnel Vision Buy/listen on Bandcamp

20. Neko Case- Neon Grey Midnight Green Buy/listen on Bandcamp

21. Samia- Bloodless Buy/listen on Bandcamp

22. Slow Mass- Low on Foot Buy/listen on Bandcamp

23. I'm With Her- Wild and Clear and Blue Buy/listen on Bandcamp

24. My Morning Jacket- is Buy/listen on Bandcamp

25. Pretty Bitter- Pleaser Buy/listen on Bandcamp

Top 5 EPs of 2025:

1. Fake Pollocks- Livestock Buy/listen on Bandcamp

2. Riot Course- Before You Can Say Knife Buy/listen on Bandcamp

3. Parts Work- Parts Work (feat. Frances Quinlan) Listen on YouTube

4. Water From Your Eyes- It's a Beautiful Place Buy/listen on Bandcamp

5. Blue Deputy- Reeling Buy/listen on Bandcamp

Top 20 EPs of all-time

I recently joined the Roster Music Club, and they are currently having an "EP Wars" vote and discussion. This prompted me to look back through all my year-end best-of lists and compile my favorite EPs all into one list. 

With that said, it got me thinking about what I value in an EP. There are many different kinds of EPs, and while I almost always prefer a 10+ song, 40+ minute LP, EPs do serve their place. From my own perspective, there are four categories of EPs:

1. Category 1: Studio session, all new songs (at least 3 songs and up to 7?), none of which appear on any full-length albums. (Or if any songs do show up on an LP, they are a different recording and/or arrangement.)
2. Category 2: Collection of assorted b-sides, demos, live tracks, etc.
3. Category 3: Expanded single, highlighting one or two tracks off an LP (same recording), with added bonus tracks (a maxi-single really, as many EPs are probably not really EPs, but in reality maxi-singles).
4. Category 4: Songs leftover from an LP recording session, released months or years later as a new release.

For my personal top-20, I felt it important to focus on category 1: songs from an intentional writing and recording session in which the artist set out to record an EP, and not an LP. So the full list as seen below are from category 1.

For category 2, an example would be Starflyer 59's She's The Queen EP. It contains some "new" songs that were not included on Silver, but also alternate versions of songs from that album, along with a remix. Starflyer 59 is the king of EPs, with about a dozen of them. However, all of them except one are from categories 2, 3, and 4. The only Starflyer 59 release that qualifies as a category 1 EP is Miami. It's great, but doesn't make my top 20.

Most Starflyer 59 EPs are from category 3. Another band that has released a bunch of category 3 EPs is Eisley. Eisley released solely EPs their first few years as a band (a couple under their original name Moss Eisley), and most of those songs wound up on their debut album. The only Eisley EP that qualifies as category 1 is Deep Space.

Starflyer 59 and Eisley are two of my all-time fav bands, both with tons of EPs, but none made my top 20. So call them "honorable mention".

As far as category 4, an example would be Thrice's Deeper Wells. All four songs were recorded during the sessions for Palms, yet released the following year. While it is a great EP, honestly Thrice should have used those song on Palms, which is one of their weakest albums.

Top 20 EPs of all-time:

1. Thrice- Water (The Alchemy Index, 2007)
Much of the time I will call The Alchemy Index my favorite Thrice album; however, it isn't an album. It is four 6-song EPs, and Water is the best one. Not only that, Water is near the top of Thrice's entire body of work. It is so unique and so different from their usual sound. They have continued to include similar tracks on most of their albums, but never six songs in a row in the electronic style. Additionally, Water is a blue 10" record and a part of the elaborate The Alchemy Index 4 x 10" book.

2. The Gloria Record- A Lull in Traffic (2000)
As Chris Simpson and Jeremy Gomez shifted their creative pursuits to The Gloria Record after Mineral, their first two releases were EPs. I found the first a little redundant, but this second EP absolutely blew my mind. The title track and The Arctic Cat remain two of the best songs Simpson has ever written. Remastered and reissued on vinyl for it's 20th anniversary in 2020.

3. Poor Old Lu- Straight Six (1995)
(Unrelated to the band or music, this is only one of 3 EPs in my top-20 that are not on Bandcamp. Better statistic than I expected. Not surprisingly, all three are former Tooth & Nail bands, as that label remains adverse to the Bandamp platform. This EP was not on Tooth & Nail however).

Following two LPs, Lu hit the studio to self-produce some songs that were intentionally different than their previous recordings. The result was something experimental, creative, profound, and what many Lu fans call their favorite release from the band. Straight Six is being reissued on vinyl this year and it will include two new songs, both covers recorded this year ("Straight Eight"?). Not only that, Lu is playing two shows this year, their first in over 20 years, and I am traveling to Seattle in September to see them at the Showbox!

4. Brandtson- Trying to Figure Each Other Out (2000)
At the time of it's release, this EP was so important. Important to me, as I resonated with the lyrics so much and it was the soundtrack of a rough break-up. Important to the band, as it was the first release Brandtson put out that reflected the fun and energy of their live shows. At the time this EP was released I was fortunate enough to see Brandtson play 3-4 times a year for a few straight years. While Fallen Star Collection is outstanding, it is full of songs that are longer and at a slower tempo than what you would experience at a Brandtson show.

5. Middle Kids- New Songs For Old Problems (2019)
2019 was strangely the year of the EP. For most of the previous decade, there were not as many EPs being released, and then bizarrely that year it was full of strong EPs. So much so that New Songs for Old Problems is actually my favorite release of 2019--I prefer it to all the LPs released that year. I actually put my top-5 EPs of 2019 above my top-20 LPs in my annual year-end list. I saw Middle Kids play last summer, and despite loving every second of the show, they did not play my top song from any of their releases! I am not sure I have ever attended a show like that, where the band omitted my personal favs from all their albums from their setlist. In the case of this EP, that would be "Real Thing", and speaking of that song, check out this live acoustic version of the song.

6. Sixpence None the Richer - Rosemary Hill (2024)
I gushed about this EP so much last year when it was released, as it marked the return of the band, and is among their best work. I had the privilege to interview all the band members last year, and was able to ask Matt Slocum and Leigh Nash directly about why an EP at this stage. They shared that it was a complicated decision, and they didn't want it perceived as a cop-out (not doing a full length). Ultimately they shared these songs marked a certain time period and thematically worked well together, so they released the six songs as an EP.

7. Pedro the Lion- Whole (1997)
If Brandtson's EP is "important", this one is life-changing. Life-changing for me, as it was my introduction to David Bazan, who I have seen in concert nearly 20 times and have bought almost everything he has ever released. Additionally, I find him one of the most honest and transparent people I have ever "known", and he has had a radical impact on culture at large. Besides listening to his music, I also go out of my way to listen to all podcast interviews I can with him, and there are dozens out there. Life-changing for Bazan, as it marked a shift for him to a frontman and songwriter and into a career he has continued for decades. I bought the CD version of Whole from a Christian bookstore only because of the artwork and that it was on Tooth & Nail; I had no idea what the music would sound like.

8. Pinback- Offcell (2003)
I discovered Pinback in a weird way as my brother loaded up an MP3 CD for me full of stuff and mailed it to me in Zambia. I don't know specifically if Offcell was included, but 2003 was the first year I heard Pinback. These 5 songs could be the best stretch of 5 in the band's deep catalog. In 2017 this EP was packaged with 1999's Some Voices EP into a 9-song vinyl record called Some Offcell Voices, and if you were to only buy one Pinback record, this might be the one!

9. This Beautiful Mess- Second Mountain Songs (2021)
2021 marked the return of This Beautiful Mess after a hiatus that spanned over a decade. I was fortunate enough to interview the band that year and you can read it here. And then this year they released a new LP The Soft Powers.

10. Mates of State- You're Going to Make It (2015)
At this time this EP was released, I remember an interview with Jason and Kori in which they mentioned they were shifting to EPs and away from full-length albums. While I was not enthused by that decision, I was excited for more Mates music, one way or the other. Welp, this ended up being the last Mates of State new music for nearly a decade before they dropped a new single in 2024. Thankfully they are touring again right now (I saw them last summer) and an LP is supposedly on the way.

11. Splendora (Tess Wiley)- Bootleg Pre-release version (1995)
Of all the EPs in my top 20, this is the one I might be cheating calling category 1. At this time of its' release, all 5 songs were being released for the first time, and 4 from the same recording session. And it would end up being years before any of the songs would be released again, all with new arrangements. This EP is so unique, I am going to go into a little more detail about it. 

To begin, as Tess Wiley started her solo career, she attempted to use a band name for her music. She first picked Splendora before learning of another band with the same name, and she quickly pivoted to Phantasmic as her second moniker. The year after this EP was released independently it was repackaged as half of the Fluffy vs. Phantasmic album on Flying Tart Records in 1996. Tess would only use the Phantasmic on more more release, a full-length covers album in 1998. She then recorded under her own name for the rest of her prolific career, and a new album will probably be released later this year!

Next, I actually approached Tess' directly about putting her music on Bandcamp, as so much of her older stuff is OOP and hard to find. I worked with her to get her 90's recordings up there, so check it out! With this EP in mind, I designed the artwork--the cover art you see on Bandcamp is actually a photo I took on my hardwood floor of my home of the CD inserts for the two different versions I explained above. Then I recommended the new title "Bootleg Post-release Splendora vs. Phantasmic EP" to honor both the original band names and to designate that we were putting this on Bandcamp 20+ years later.

Now, on to the songs:

1. "Skinny Little Line" This is the original version, recorded for this EP with Jeremy Gomez on bass and brother Gabriel Wiley on drums--Mineral's rhythm section. The song was rerecorded in radical different form and included on Tess' 2001 debut full-length Rainy Day Assembly.
2. "Out of My Head" Same, see above. The song was rerecorded in radical different form and included on Tess' 2001 debut full-length Rainy Day Assembly.
3. "Rainy Day Assembly" This track was a leftover from the Sixpence None the Richer This Beautiful Mess sessions. Tess wrote it, Matt Slocum played guitar, Dale Baker played drums, JJ Plasencio played bass, and Leigh Nash was going to sing lead on it. But ultimately Sixpence didn't use the song and Chris Colbert helped Tess retrieve the tape from the recording studio and then Tess recorded her vocals on top of the track that had been incomplete. The song was rerecorded in radical different form and included on Tess' 2001 debut full-length Rainy Day Assembly.
4. "Happy Now?" Same as tracks 1 & 2 , see above. The song was rerecorded in radical different form and included on Tess' 2004 debut album Not Quite Me.
5. "Eyes Without a Face" Billy Idol cover otherwise unreleased.

12. The Lassie Foundation- California (1996)
The debut from Wayne Everett and Eric Campuzano, with help from Andy Prickett, after the original breakup of The Prayer Chain. Noiser and rawer than anything the band would put out in the future, and while their songwriting only got stronger, this EP marked the time period so well. Reissued a few years ago and released on vinyl for the first time.

13. Stavesacre- Against the Silence (2009)
Stavesacre released two fantastic EPs, this one and Bull Takes Fighter, and according to a recent interview with Jeff Bellew, they are set to be reissued on a combined vinyl release "soon". Against the Silence is/was awesome as it marked the return of Bellew to the band after he had been away for a decade. I have always found him so essential to the band's creative process that everything they recorded without him was to me of a lesser quality.

14. Kerith Ravine- The Drafting Sessions (1999)
I am guessing this is probably the least known of all the EPs in this list, and it was fairly "lost" to everyone until a remaster and first-time digital release in 2024. I have loved it since a friend handed me the CD in 1999. While broadly remasters/remixes often don't sound much different, this was a huge, important improvement as the original recording, with great songs, sounded awful. This is the debut group of songs from Michael Shepard, who went on to front Lovedrug for a couple decades. I wrote a Kerith Ravine vs. Lovedrug essay in 2015 that still gets a ton of reads, as a theme of it is why we prefer music we hear at certain time periods more than others even if it is not technically as "good."

15. Caracara- Better (2019)
From a physical standpoint, this is the only EP in my list that is a 7" record, and a beautiful one at that. The title track may be the band's best song.

16. Manchester Orchestra- The Valley Of Vision (2023)
If you have ever seen Manchester Orchestra live, the sound of this EP is the exact opposite of their live show. This is the quieter side of Manchester Orchestra but with six of their best songs, and was released with a 26-minute film.

17. Stay Inside- Blight (2022)
Stay Inside, despite still being a "new" band to most people, to me has three "eras" of music, and this EP marked the end of the second era. Era 1 was a couple of cassettes in which Bartees Strange was in the band as a songwriter and co-lead singer. Era 2 began with the "Offseason" single, which based upon comments I have heard from the band I believe to be the first song they recorded after Bartees left the band (they played this song when I saw them last month). Era 2 marked them signing to No Sleep Records, releasing their debut album Viewing in 2020, and then this Blight EP. Era 3 is underway, with more refined songwriting and settling into their groove with 2024's Ferried Away (my AOTY last year) and the upcoming 2025 album Lunger coming in October.

 

 (Free download on Bandcamp)

18. Blank Books- EP1 (2017)
When I put together this list, I assumed Rose Blossom Punch's So Sorry To Disappoint You would make the top 20. However, I realized I greatly prefer this other Aaron Sprinkle fronted-project, with Jesse Sprinkle on drums. It came at the perfect time, as I had recently written my top-25 Aaron Sprinkle songs blog post in which I lamented his shift away from guitar and into electronics and programming. Blank Books was a fantastic return to guitar-based rock'n'roll. Here's hoping there is an EP2 at some point!

19. boygenius- boygenius (2018)
I don't think anyone could have ever predicted how much boygenius would explode into worldwide fame 5 years later. Unlike their debut album, in which Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker co-write many of the songs, this EP is more straightforward with each musician contributing two of their own tracks.

20. Sleigh Bells- Kid Krushev (2017)
I have been trying to track this down on vinyl forever; anyone want to sell me a copy for a reasonable price? It was put out as a fairly limited RSD exclusive when it was released, and used copies go for $50 or more on Discogs. While most Sleigh Bells is fun, high-energy, up-tempo, and danceable rock music, Kid Krushev is an outlier at is fairly dark thematically and more down-tempo; a unique part of their discography.

Honorable mention: Velour 100
I am not picking a specific EP here as the band released two (or three, depending on how you look at it). The band was originally called simply Velour and released an independent cassette called The Rainwater E.P. in 1995. One song from that cassette wound up on a Tooth & Nail Artcore comp after they signed to the label, another was re-recorded for their debut album Fall Sounds in 1996, and then the rest of the songs were reworked and re-arranged for the Songs from the Rainwater E.P. CD in 1997. All those recordings featured original vocalist Amon Krist, but then multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Trey Many used five other vocalists for the rest of the band's lifespan. The final vocalist was Rosie Thomas (prior to her solo career), who performed with the band and sings on the For An Open Sky EP, which was sadly Velour 100's final release. On the topic of Rosie singing with Velour 100, earlier this week I came across (again) the unbelievable Velour 100 Cornerstone 2000 performance on YouTube. The sound quality is surprisingly good, features David Bazan on keys, and when they play my fav song by the band "Dolphin Grey" (co-written by Tess Wiley), it gives me goosebumps.