ThisSmallPlanet.com: ThisSmallPlanet.com Cool New Music Winter Playlist: 2024 End of Year Wrap-Up (October, November & December releases)

UPDATED: December 22, 2024

Cool New Singles (with links to YouTube videos)

Bonnie "Prince" Billy. "London May" (feat Brit Taylor). Highly anticipated cool new album out in January.

Waxahatchee. "Abandoned" (feat MJ Lenderman)(Lucinda Williams cover). Apple Music Nashville Sessions,

Conor Oberst & Craig Wedren. "Justice To A Scream". The artists behind Bright Eyes & Shudder To Think unite for a cool new song from the soundtrack of a documentary about a trans artist called Alok.

PJ Harvey. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division cover feat Tim Phillips)(Apple TV's "Big Sister" Season 2 soundtrack)

Bob Dylan. "Don't Fence Me In" (Cole Porter & Robert Fletcher cover) from the soundtrack for Reagan, a new film starring Dennis Quaid about the troubled former president.

Kim Gordon. "Bangin' On The Freeway" & "ECRP". Bonus tracks from her 2024 release The Collective.

Ben Kweller. "Optimystic". New album in May feat Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman.

Julien Baker & Torres. "Sugar In The Tank" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Rev. Gary Davis: "Samson & Deliah", "Baby Let Me Follow You Down", "Cocaine"

Cool New Albums

St. Vincent. Todos Nacen Gritando. Spanish version of her 2024 release All Born Screaming. "A" for effort, "A" for execution.

The Cure. Songs Of A Lost World.

Tinariwen. Idrache (Traces Of The Past).

Talib Kweli & J. Rawls. The Confidence Of Knowing.

Kendrick Lamar. GNX.

Tyler, The Creator. Chromakopia.

Dwight Yoakam. Brighter Days.

Kim Deal. Nobody Loves You More.

Father John Misty. Mahashmashana.

The Coward Brothers (Elvis Costello & T Bone Burnett).The Coward Brothers. Elvis Costello & T Bone Burnett collection.

Joan Armatrading. How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean.

Seckou Keita. Homeland - Chapter 1. Master kora player Seckou Keita from Senegal offers an interesting album of spoken word pieces with kora backing, or perhaps the voices are backing the kora. Either way.

The Last Poets and Tony Allen feat Egypt 80. Africanism.

Cool Archival Releases

George Harrison. Living In The Material World (50th anniversary 2 CD). A joy to listen to.

Talking Heads. Talking Heads:77 (Super Deluxe Edition 3 CD). Never sounded better.

Stevie Wonder.The Wonder Of Stevie (Audible). Always works.

The Beatles. Beatles '64. To accompany the new Martin Scorsese-produced documentary.

Buckingham Nicks. Buckingham Nicks (1973). Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, at the time a couple and partners in a duo, released this album which so impressed Mick Fleetwood that he invited them to join Fleetwood Mac and the rest is pop history. Hadn't really heard this album before, but inspired by Andrew Bird's 2024 re-interpretation of the album, I decided to give botha listen. Bird, along with his collaborator Madison Cunningham, brings new life to the old album, inspiring looking back while at the same time looking forward.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore & The Flatlanders. All American Music. A 1972 classic also featuring Joe Ely and Butch Hancock.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Four Way Harmonies. Early demos and outtakes.

Highly Anticipated New Releases

Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The Purple Bird. [Drag City]. January 31, 2025.

Various Artists. Kneecap Original Soundtrack. [Heavenly]. February 28, 2025. Not sure why it's taking so long to release after the film came out, but the soundtrack collects many of Kneecap's formative, seminal singles that were not included on their debut album. A great showcase for the talents of the bilingual Irish/English rappers from West Belfast. The movie is a must-see for anyone interested in Irish and The North. It's a blast. Three cheers for Michael Fassbender (and Gerry Adams) for their roles in the fil-lum.

Bob Mould. Here We Go Crazy. [BMG]. March 7, 2025.

The Waterboys. Life, Death and Dennis Hopper [Sun] April 4, 2025. Tribute to Dennis Hopper feat Fiona Apple, Steve Earle, and Bruce Springsteen.

Ben Kweller. Cover the Mirrors. [The Noise Company]. May 30, 2025. Feat Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (AKA Superbad's McLovin).

MUSICAL NOTES:

Our sky lost a bright light this year, Barbara Dane (1927 - 2024), who sang folk and jazz with Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, and The Chambers Brothers... Her presence was a blessing for many years... And her memory is already a blessing going forward...