Here’s this year’s long list of the songs that made an impression on me. A good impression, I mean. What did you like?
- “The Alabama Moon,” Drayton Farley
- “Alibi,” Hurray for the Riff Raff
- “All Again,” Charles Wesley Godwin
- “All the Wine in California,” Logan Ledger
- “Ashufak Shay,” Dudu Tassa & Johnny Greenwood (feat. Rashid Al-Najjar)
- “B The 1,” Solarrio
- “Ba’wis,” Saltwater Hank
- “Basic Channels,” Josiah and the Bonnevilles
- “La Banda Más Chingón en Wyoming,” No-No Boy
- “Believe,” Joshua Ray Walker
- “Birds of San Francisco,” Bo Staloch
- “Blóðberg,” Sigur Rós
- “Borderland,” Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore
- “Burn,” Josiah and the Bonnevilles
- “Burnout Together,” Chris Staples
- “Carolina Rolling By,” Mipso
- “Cast Iron Skillet,” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
- “The Crowd Goes Wild,” Dylan LeBlanc
- “Cucurrucucú Paloma,” Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
- “Death Wish,” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
- “Disgust for the Poor,” Christian Kjellvander
- “Drop It How You Feel It,” New Breed Bass Band (feat. Trombone Shorty, 5th Ward Weebie, and Wild Wayne)
- “Fast Car,” Luke Combs
- “Flowers,” Miley Cyrus
- “For All Time,” Mayer Hawthorne
- “French Restaurant,” Lydia Loveless
- “Golden State,” Logan Ledger
- “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” Teddy Thompson
- “I Saw the Arkansas,” Dylan Earl
- “In Your Love,” Tyler Childers
- “Injection Basic Sound,” Matmos
- “Kicking Up a Fuss,” BC Camplight
- “King of Oklahoma,” Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
- “Last Call for the Truth,” Lucinda Williams
- “Let Down,” Andrew Belle & Sleeping at Last
- “Let Me Love You in My Own Way,” Jeb Loy Nichols & Clovis Phillips
- “The Lobster,” Bell X1
- “Lonely Love Song,” St. Paul & the Broken Bones
- “Mekong Baby,” No-No Boy
- “Moonlight,” Kali Uchis
- “Neighbor Song,” Lake Street Drive (feat. Madison Cunningham)
- “Never Ending Song,” Conan Gray
- “New York Comeback,” Lucinda Williams
- “Next Heartbreak,” Slaid Cleaves
- “Norfolk Blues,” Drayton Farley
- “Notes from the Drive Between Simat and Alcoi,” Christian Kjellvander
- “On the Run,” Robert Ellis
- “Osmane,” Damir Imamovic
- “Portions for Foxes,” Lydia Loveless & Jason Hawk Harris
- “Red Dirt Girl,” Sunny Sweeney & Jamie Lin Wilson
- “Red Station Wagon,” Jeffrey Martin
- “Rice,” Young Fathers
- “Ruined,” Adrienne Lenker
- “Runaway,” Lydia Loveless
- “The Sacred Now,” Iris Dement
- “Santa Fe,” The Panhandlers
- “Sea Star,” St. Paul & the Broken Bones
- “Sex and Money,” Lydia Loveless
- “Sinoc (Last Night),” Damir Imamovic
- “Snijeg Pade (The Snow Has Fallen),” Damir Imamovic
- “So Many Plans,” Beirut
- “Some Misty Morning,” Logan Ledger (feat. Erin Rae)
- “Summertime,” Bobbie Nelson & Amanda Shires (feat. Willie Nelson)
- “Through the Dark,” Slaid Cleaves
- “Too Old to Dream,” Kyle Brew
- “Toothache,” Lydia Loveless
- “Tough Country,” The Panhandlers
- “Turpentine,” H.C. McEntire
- “Under the Neon,” Bronco Redahan
- “Uummati Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass),” Elisapie
- “Vampire,” Olivia Rodrigo
- “Wave a Flag for Harvey Milk,” Mr. Greg & Cass McCombs
- “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid,” The Beaches
- “What Will Heaven Be Like,” The Reds, Pinks and Purples
- “When the Pills Wear Off,” Willi Carlisle
- “White Painted Trees,” Dylan Earl
- “Why Spend a Dark Night with You?,” Ghost Train Orchestra & Kronos Quartet (feat. Joan as Police Woman)
- “Wilderness Within You,” Parker Millsap (feat. Gillian Welch)
- “Wintering (Country Version),” Josiah and the Bonnevilles
- “Workin’ on a World,” Iris Dement