Brant's January 2013 Playlist

Happy New Year!!!!  Okay, I'm a bit early - but the first week in January is going to be crazy busy so I wanted to go ahead and get this playlist published.  This month we have TWO Prince songs, some interesting interpretations of classic songs, and other goodies.  To listen on Spotify, click HERE.  Enjoy!

1.  Celebration (Mika) - The year always starts off with a party, and I'm still partying to Mika's latest release.

2.  Candy (Robbie Williams) - He's a huge star worldwide, but has never had much success in the U.S.  I'm not sure this bouncy pop song will change that, but I'm still digging it.

3.  At Home (Crystal Fighters) - FOLKTRONICA.  That's how the band describes their music.  They use a mix of traditional instruments (ever heard of a txalaparta?) along with synthesizers!  Kinda reminds me of "Life in a Northern Town" by The Dream Academy.

4.  Ready or Not (Bridgit Mendler) - The latest Disney kid makes her bid for music stardom.

5.  If I Was Your Girlfriend (TLC) - Gary was listening to this the other day and I forgot how much I liked their version of the Prince album cut.

6.  Love Will Tear Us Apart (June Tabor with Oysterband) - Every now and then I hear a song and I'm like "Oooh, I like this.  Wait, I've heard this before!  Who sang this originally???".  This is one of those songs.  A tender acoustic reworking of the Joy Division tune.

7.  One Way (Tomorrows Bad Seeds) - Fun rock/reggae tune from a California band.

8.  The High Road (Joss Stone) - ANOTHER GREAT REMAKE!  Joss takes the Broken Bells' chill ballad and redoes it R&B style.

9.  Lucky Now (Ryan Adams) - Heard this in the new "This Is 40" movie.  Just found out on Wikipedia he's from my home state (North Carolina) and married to Mandy Moore!

10.  The Secret Life of Us (Joey Negro and the Sunburst Band) - Wow.  This REALLY sounds like 1970's Chic ("I Want Your Love", "Good Times").  Love it!!!

11.  Same Love (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert) - Holden turned me on to this!  Hip Hop and Gay Rights don't usually go hand-in-hand, but maybe they should!

12.  Hall of Fame (The Script feat. will.I.am) - Power ballad from Irish band and Black Eyed Pea guy.

13.  Put the Gun Down (ZZ Ward) - Sassy grrrrrl pop

14.  Rock and Roll Love Affair (Prince) - His Royal Badness is back, and sounding pretty good!

15.  Sun (Two Door Cinema Club) - More Irish rock!  Maybe I should've saved some of these for March's playlist...

16.  Hometown (Andy Burrows) - Wistful folk song

17.  Hold Us Together (Matt Maher) - Technically this is filed under Christian music, but it sounds like the Devil's classic rock!

18.  Cut It Out (Kitten) - 17 year old lead singer Chloe Chaidez has definitely been listening to her parents' Siouxsie and the Banshees albums!  This is a band I'll be keeping my eye on, fo' shizzle!

19.  Top of the Pops 2012 (AudioManiac) - I always like to start the year off by finding a great mashup of the music from the previous year.  This is my selection for 2012.  Click HERE to get the free download from Soundcloud.

Hope everyone had a great 2012 and has an even better 2013!  See you in the New Year!!!