Most of us like to believe that the 1st of January is a special, if not a magical, date. New year, new start. We can leave all the bad things behind. All bills and dues got paid and long list of resolutions to which we definitely gonna “stick to this year for sure” is ready. By the stroke of the clock at midnight of 31st of December everything’s going to change. And only for better, of course. Most of us wanted to let 2016 go, as it had won The Worst Year in Recent History Award by the popular vote, even before it ended.

Sadly, the truth is that very little changes overnight. We change the date, but some things don’t operate on that kind of schedule. Some things tend to drag into next year as they drag from month into the following month, or week or week etc. I tend to write the wrong date for few first days into January. It’s not easy to cut ties with the past. But it’s not necessary a bad thing. We can take time to look back, reflect and learn a thing or two from our past mistakes and remember all great things that had happened. Good moments stick around too.

This month’s playlist mirrors this transition period with the mix with late December releases (tracks from Ryan Adams, Burial, The XX, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), some fresh tracks (Brian Eno, Elbow, Jens Lekman) as well as anything that surfaced during the past 12 months, but somehow has been criminally omitted from previous our selections. For music journalist and bloggers, and music enthusiasts in general, the music year usually ends with the best of the year lists that flood the music websites, blogs and Facebook feeds starting end of November. This always gives me a great opportunity to discover more amazing music that somehow slipped under my radar.

Perhaps the most poignant and bitter reminder of the loss many talented musicians and legends last year is the title track from No Plan by David Bowie. No Plan, the first posthumous release of Bowie’s previously unreleased material, is an EP containing the last songs recorded before artist’s much regretted departure last January. We also lost Prince, Leonard Cohen and most recently, George Michael to name few.

Moving on is a process that needs time. Now that the closets and the drawers have been cleaned out, we are ready to move forward and take on anything that 2017 is about to throw at us.  I wish you all a year of full exciting sounds, music discoveries and beautiful moments to go with them! 

by Piotrek from NoSnobsAllowed