First an album I already own/know:
Earth Man Blues (2021) by Guided By Voices
Another more recent GBV album where Doug Gillard plays the guitar and another good one (maybe a bit more proggy with Trust Them Now as the best track and the album goes from the 35th to the 34th rank.
And an album from my wishlist:
Waves (2021) by NewDad
One of their first and an EP and still had to find their way a bit. It enters at the 65th rank.
First an album I already own/know:
24 Songs (2022) by The Wedding Present
They had something like this before but in 2022 they released every month an EP with a proper A and B side. In 2023 these tracks were compiled in an album 24 songs together with 3 extra tracks and in a different order. Which makes me think: can those release be viewed as a proper album and shouldn't that then be the 2023 compilation album called 24 songs which actually has 27 songs. I decided to leave it at that and to focus on the quality of the album itself which is just great. The diversity of the songs is mind blowing and the album never bores despite its length. The Wedding Present is really a favorite band of mine and I still regret I didn't see them live a few years ago (the show was cancelled because of illness of one of the members and they aren't planned to perform in Belgium shortly. The album goes from the 6th to the 3rd rank: it's just that good and it's that much filled with highlights.
And an album from my wishlist:
Nie Wieder Krieg (2022) by Tocotronic
Another album of this German band I really like. They don't invent anything new but they do give a very good German twist to good old rock music.
With an album I already own/know:
New York City (2023) by The Men
Where the Men went back to their punk roots and doing a fabulous job in doing that with a mixture between The Stooges and The Strokes (of course from their Is This It period). Every track is a home run and it all sounds fantastic and exhilarating. I just love this album and it remains firmly at the second place of the year and is one of my favorite albums of this decade.
And I don't have any albums of this year on my wishlist any more.
In fact only as an aside as a last entry for this round:
I have seen a free concert of The Sheila Divine on a city festival and had some mixed feelings about that.
To start I listened back to their 2024 album:
I Am The Darkness. We Are The Light (2024) by The Sheila Divine
And realised again that this album is really bad: it has nothing of the old Sheila Divine I know from the nineties and it's not they lost it completely because I do think their new 2026 album is fairly good.
But again to the concert: In Belgium this band always plays some kind of a home match because they're really loved here. On this particular concert, Aaron Perrino seemed to be a bit uninterested and his great voice was not really mixed to the front which was a pity but overall the concert was good with especially their nineties hits as the highlight and the public loved it anyway.
Time to start another round where from every year I listen to an album I already own/know and an album from my wishlist and I'm starting with 1965 for round 20:
And only with an album I already own/know:
Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965) by Otis Redding
I'm not a really big fan of soul music but this is Otis Redding, one of the best voices in music. And this is clear from this album in which he both sounds very soulful and very raw. And there are some really fine songs here like his take on Respect, I've Been Loving You Too Long, My Girl and a great cover of Satisfaction. The album moves up from the 16th to the 9th rank of the year.
Time to start another round where from every year I listen to an album I already own/know and an album from my wishlist and I'm starting with 1965 for round 20:
And only with an album I already own/know:
Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965) by Otis Redding
I'm not a really big fan of soul music but this is Otis Redding, one of the best voices in music. And this is clear from this album in which he both sounds very soulful and very raw. And there are some really fine songs here like his take on Respect, I've Been Loving You Too Long, My Girl and a great cover of Satisfaction. The album moves up from the 16th to the 9th rank of the year.
A great 1st pick for round 20 dihansse. I was hoping to offer a recommendation of an obscure 1965 album that you might appreciate but came up short on that one.
I do have this on my wishlist which I've heard is rather good
Also for 1966 I only have an album I already own/know and nothing currently on my wishlist:
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme (1966) by Simon & Garfunkel
There's some songs that just make you happy and Homeward Bound is one of those (maybe also because of its many changes in rhythm but mainly because of those gorgeous matching voices of Simon and Garfunkel) and one of my all-time favorite tracks. And Scarborough Fair is of course also fantastic and with hidden gems like For Emily, Whenever You May Find Her you can't go wrong with this album and the few misses like Patterns or The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine don't take away the pure pleasure of listening to it. And this album moves up from the 13th to the 4th rank.
And also only an album I already own/know for 1967:
Forever Changes (1967) by Love
This album is generally viewed as a classic but I don't really see it that way. It's certainly a good album not because of the folky atmosphere but because there is some kind of early Floydian atmosphere in a lot of the songs here which makes it at lease interesting. Not a great album but a good one and it moves up from the 20th to the 12th rank of the year.
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dihansse
