For the past few years I have followed up my Advent tunes by playing some that are relevant for the remainder of the year. Some are looking back at the year just gone, others looking ahead – rather like we do when the New Year approaches. I see no reason to deviate from that, and am playing six today, with another set to follow on Thursday, aka New Year’s Day. Most of these are returning regular favourites, but I’m starting with one that I haven’t played before – as it is brand new – and another that was last here four years ago.

If you are wishing that Christmas wasn’t over, this is the ideal song for you, as these guys are feeling your pain:

As the video showed, that was Old Crow Medicine Show with December 26, a song from their new album OCMS XMAS, which came out last month. This is a collection of thirteen tracks, the majority of which are written by the band though there are a few covers in there too – a bluegrass version of John and Yoko’s seasonal standard is worth a listen! Unusually, Ketch Secor (the fiddle player) doesn’t take lead vocal on this one but, like everything else they do, it is still a lot of fun. Maybe Ketch needed a break after his recent engagement to Molly Tuttle – who I also recommend.

I’ve played this next one twice before, back in 2020 and 2021, so I think it is time to share it again:

Fleet Foxes, with White Winter Hymnal. You may well know that one from the Pentatonix cover version which, in an act of mass criminality, has four times the number of YouTube views (112m to 28m). Like everything Pentatonix do, it is well sung and staged, but totally lacking in heart and soul. And their video was made in the open air in summer sunshine, with no empathy for the meaning of the song at all! If you listen to the lyrics you’ll hear that this is about the death of innocence in youth, with winter representing the loss, and the Fleet Foxes’ own video is much more in keeping with this theme. The song is from the band’s eponymous debut album, released in 2008, which reached #36 in the US and #3 here in the UK. This song was also a #77 UK chart entry. Mind you, having slated the Pentatonix version I feel it is my public duty to warn you to stay away from the Kim Wilde cover – I think ‘laughably poor’ would be a kind description for it.

As a piece of end of year reflection I don’t think this next one has ever been bettered:

That was, of course, Counting Crows and A Long December. Counting Crows have been a favourite band of mine since their first album, August And Everything After, back in 1993, and as I said this is the perfect looking back/looking ahead song. I think that video goes so well with the song, which is from their second album, Recovering The Satellites, released in October 1996. The album was a US #1 and made #4 here in the UK. As a single, this one peaked at #6 on the US chart and #62 in the UK. The video includes what I think is probably Courtney Cox’s best acting performance ever (even better than when she danced with Bruce Springsteen).

I played this one before, in 2020 and 2022, but as the band holds a special place in my heart I wanted to play it again, even if it is an audio-only clip (sorry):

Gonna Make It Through This Year, by Great Lake Swimmers. I’ve written about the band before in a post I’ve shared a couple of times, most recently in July 2021, here. When I shared this one on Twitter I got a ‘like’ AND a ‘retweet’ from both the band and their record company for it! This isn’t specifically a New Year song, but it is very much in keeping with the spirit of determination and hope which we attach to this time of year, so I thought it fair to include it. To my knowledge – and I have all of their albums – this has only ever appeared on a re-released version of their 2006 EP Hands In Dirty Ground, having not been on the original release. That probably explains why there isn’t a dedicated video for it, but I love the song nonetheless – and just about everything else they have done, come to that.

This next one more than makes up for the lack of video on that previous track, and is one I’ve played several times before. It is by a band of which you probably haven’t heard – unless you’ve seen them here – but one to which I feel a connection. I was part of the crowdfunding effort which became The Rescues’ 2013 album Blah Blah Love And War, from which this song comes, and band member Kyler England still follows me on Twitter (probably due to inertia more than anything else, as she hasn’t tweeted anything since July 2021!). This is one of those ‘hoping for better’ songs, and the video is hilarious:

The Rescues, with Everything’s Gonna Be Better Next Year. That is just so good! As far as I know, the band has never had any kind of chart success anywhere: I think that’s a real shame, as they write some superb songs. A mention too, for Chet Dixon, who is brilliant in that video. He is listed on the IMDb as an actor, including an appearance in Cold Mountain, a long way down the list of credits. On this evidence I think he deserves better, although he does seem to have had a couple of more major roles in recent years and has made several appearances in episodes of tv series.

I’m closing today with another regular favourite, an album track so it’s another audio-only clip, I’m afraid:

That was This Will Be My Year. I love the way this song looks back at what seem to have been bad times and attacks them with a positive attitude. Semisonic were one of those bands who never got the success I felt they deserved. Their March 1998 album Feeling Strangely Fine was a little gem, and produced three hit singles in the UK: this wasn’t one of them, sadly. In chart terms the album did better here than in the US: #16 as against #43. But given the relative sizes of the countries the sales figures are a little different: they are certified at over 350,000 here, but over 1m in the US. Not bad for a band who I once saw described in a derisive review as ‘making music for college kids.’ What’s wrong with that anyway?

That’s my lot for today. I’ll be back on Thursday with a set of tunes to mark New Year’s Day, and hope to see you again then. Enjoy your celebrations, if you indulge 😊