recent music favorites (or, what i listened to a lot in ’22)

lots of folks this time of year like to do a year in review, looking back on things they accomplished, experienced, or… whatever. this is my take on one of those lists, but with a focus on the music that helped see me through this crazy year.

below is a list of artists i love and couldn’t get enough of this year, as well as an album and song recommendation from them (where applicable). keep in mind that the recommended album may not contain the recommended song.

please feel free to leave your own suggestions for favorite artists/songs – sharing music is one of my love languages.

happy listening. :)

artist	album	song
julien baker	little oblivions	appointments
lucy dacus	historian	thumbs
the mountain goats	all hail west texas	this year
wolf parade	apologies to the queen mary	i’ll believe anything
john prine	john prine	when i get to heaven
mike birbiglia	my girlfriend’s boyfriend
john moreland	high on tulsa heat	cleveland county blues
jason isbell and the 400 unit	the nashville sound	cover me up (isbell solo)
orville peck	bronco	let me drown
tomberlin	i don’t know who needs to hear this…	born again runner
nikki lane	highway queen	jackpot
p!nk	the truth about love	try
ani difranco	dilate	untouchable face
sigur ros	takk…	eikki mukk
joy oladokun	in defense of my own happiness	sunday
sleeping at last	enneagram	i’m gonna be (500 miles)
alanis morissette	jagged little pill	head over feet
jim gaffigan	king baby
fleetwood mac	rumours	the chain
frightened rabbit	the midnight organ fight	the modern leper
maggie rogers	heard it in a past life	want want
jack white	lazaretto	what’s the trick?
the magnetic fields	69 love songs	nothing matters when we’re dancing
punch brothers	the phosphorescent blues	julep
taylor swift	midnights	…ready for it?
drive-by truckers	the unraveling	hell no, i ain’t happy
the chicks	gaslighter	sin wagon
over the rhine	drunkard’s prayer	latter days
the white stripes	icky thump	we’re going to be friends
josh ritter	hello starling	getting ready to get down
the wombats	proudly present…a guide to love, loss & desperation	if you ever leave, i’m coming with you
the national	boxer	lucky you
blitzen trapper	wild mountain nation	love the way you walk away
grateful dead	american beauty	we bid you goodnight
lord huron	strange trails	the night we met
pedro the lion	it’s hard to find a friend	teenage sequencer

a thought on friendship

lately i’ve been thinking a lot about friendships and what makes some more meaningful to me than others (i’m someone who has a lot of acquaintences and few really close friends).

i recently stumbled upon this quote that i think sums up my close friendships really well:

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
― Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

most of my closest friends know that i am most comfortable in the relationship when i am silent or say few words.

there’s beauty and connection in the silence.

i’m rooting hard for you, friend,
-j

a thought on friendship

i cannot be everything to a friend. the best i can be is fully myself, which is what my friend most needs me to be and what drew us together in the first place.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

if i’m being honest [and let’s be honest, i’m learning to be more honest now than i ever have before], i’m a bit sad today.

i’m slowly coming to the realization that family who also happen to be close friends will be leaving the greater seattle area next spring after spending the last few years here. on top of that, i went out for dinner with another close friend last night only to find out that he and his family are flirting with the idea of moving early next year, too.

if there’s one thing about me that i know, it’s that change has never, ever been easy for me, and when it comes to having to say those seemingly inevitable “goodbyes”, i get all emotional.

i know it’s not all about me, but damn, change is hard.

glad you’re on this journey with me, friend.

traveling mercies,
-j