The nine hundred and fifty-second song: Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
Being married to a big fan of Sufjan Stevens, I've heard and loved a lot of his music as well, including a great live show. Chicago is one of those great pieces, going between large, swelling choruses and small vocals with some accompaniment. It's just lovely to listen to and it works so well to just set that mood. It's a little bit of perfection in what it does.
The nine hundred and fifty-third song: Todo cambia - Mercedes Sosa
It would be hard to beat Sufjan Stevens, but taken on its own Mercedes Sosa gies a lovely performance, a Spanish chanson with some traditional instruments and sticking to what we knew. It's sensitive, sweet and simple, and works as one of those works that's not tied to its time as many other songs are, with a sensitivity that comes through strongly.
The nine hundred and fifty-fourth song: I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys
And here we go with a real shift in sounds. We covered a lot of the rock of this era last year, but there's a specific sound to the Arctic Monkeys' sound that comes through - a clear accent, a real garage feel to the sound, something quite unpretentious and simple in lyrics and sound, in a way that lets the message stand out while having a real dance rock vibe still. It's nothing as complicated as it could be, but that's what makes it work.
The nine hundred and fifty-fifth song: Hard to Beat - Hard-Fi
I do think Hard-Fi's music connects more with me - a more polished, electronic sound that brings its structure in more. While Hard to Beat isn't the track of theirs that I remember the most, it works really well and makes for a rock song that sets its message and moves along.
The nine hundred and fifty-sixth song: Fix You - Coldplay
While Coldplay is now one of the biggest bands of the current era, and we hadn't had a song from their first two albums, you can see why this is the track we're covering. There's something sad in this, something reassuring, a sound of grief and comfort that carries its emotion to you in a way that's rare, an example of how deep music can touch you. It's an absolutely worthwhile track.
The nine hundred and fifty-seventh song: Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above - CSS
This is a surprising synth pop album, with a lot of synthesizer sounds with similarly mechanical-sounding vocals that create a big dance track. It's a bit odd, but it works.
The nine hundred and fifty-eighth song: Best of You - Foo Fighters
The loud aggression of this anthem creates a feeling of encouragement as well - drawing out the best. It's a strong set of vocals and a strong sound and message, where it all blends together to do that well, and the statement it makes still stands strong.
The nine hundred and fifty-ninth song: Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros
Not really dispelling Iceland's musical reputation, there's a fairy tale feeling to this track, an ethereal sound with quiet lyrics and a slow progression. The builds are slow and deliberate, never meaning to unleash but instead to soar. It's a perfect little story that got compiled well.
The nine hundred and sixtieth song: Hope There’s Someone - Anohni & The Johnsons
Hope There's Someone is a simple, sensitive song, a lament of loneliness that pierces you and hits that hard. Anohni's emotional vocals carry the song, the piano welling up occasionally but not doing as much to set the mood, and the whole sound reverberates and hits you deep.
The nine hundred and sixty-first song: Welcome to Jamrock - Damian Marley
We're ending on a fair reggae album. Damian Marley's song doesn't stray into very new territory, but it's produced and set up well enough that it works as a track even if I'm not overly fond of it.