https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/user\/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y\/playlist\/6ULohyrSyahdVUFuXwcIDD<\/p>\n
\u201cDark On Us\u201d – Lucas Oswald. A Shearwater member\u2019s solo effort. Not too shabby.<\/p>\n
\u201cOffa My Hands\u201d – Jessica Lea Mayfield. Mayfield\u2019s new album, Sorry Is Gone<\/em>, is focused on an abusive relationship she recently escaped. She left the relationship with a broken shoulder following a physical encounter. Heavy stuff. And while the lyrics of this song are heavy as well, I do enjoy the little bit of whimsy she sings them with and the confident sway of the music behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBack In Your Head\u201d – Tegan and Sara, Ryan Adams. The sister duo of Tegan and Sara chose to honor the 10th anniversary of their breakthrough album, The Con<\/em>, by having some of their favorite artists join them to cover the entire disk. So of course Ryan Adams is involved. This is a fine update of the original, which was bouncy and light. Now it is loud and crunchy, fitting perfectly into what Adams has been doing over his last few albums.<\/p>\n \u201cMan On The Moon\u201d – R.E.M. It took me a long, long time to get into R.E.M. At first I was too young for them. Then too pop. Then too R&B\/hip hop. But by 1992 my tastes had drifted their way. Automatic For The People<\/em> was the first R.E.M. album I ever bought shortly after it came out. We just hit the 25th anniversary of its release, so I\u2019ve been skimming some retrospectives for it over the past few days. And I spun the disk last night. It\u2019s such a beautiful, sad, and perfect album. I could have picked any song to include here, but I\u2019ve always been amazed at how they wrote such a compelling song about Andy Kaufman.\u00a0<\/p>\n