HOT HALF DOZEN 12.28.21

This week’s hottest songs and and two bests for the year.

Cathy Grier live

This week’s hottest songs and and two bests for the year.

152 submissions this week

La Muchacha Alegre, single by Renee Goust featuring Nany Sanchez The perfect combo! Goust and Sanchez bring us an accordion-driven Mexican dance number that lives up to it name – The Merry Girl.  You will twirl  and laugh and sing with these two merry girls.  Available on all platforms.

Can’t Sleep, single/video by Calistar.  This is sooo much fun. It is one of my top picks for 2021. Callistar takes an experience we all have and try to cure,  and turns it into fun, humor and a hooky, surprisingly intelligent  song that appeals  to the kid  in everyone. Tale  this one home and put it on every time your are sleepless anywhere. On all platforms, and please, please, watch the YouTube video.

The Grieving Project: A Light into the Darkness, album by Aoede. Another best choice  for the year, The Grieving Project is a spoken word and music audiobook  that takes the listener through the 14 stages of grief from Denial to Thrive. It is accompanied by a digital book of lyrics, and videos . With over 800,000 Americans dead of Covid and millions grieving, Aoede has produced a roadmap to heal the heart that our nation needs . Available on Amazon or at alightinthedarkness.info/the-grieving-project/

I’m All Burn , album by Cathy Grier and the Troublemakers. On the heels of  her  gut-grabbing holiday single “The You Are Not Here Blues”,  Grier has released a sprawling 16-song blues album that ranges from  “Cathy’s Bike Song” to “Ode to Billy Joe”, all deep and dirty blues that you will put on repeat.  Available at https://cathygrier.com/blog.

Rise, album by Lukaijah. Melodic rap with positive poetic lyrics surrounded by synth choruses, booming beats,  and heart rendering piano and violin swoops and swirls.  He calls for courage, integrity and strength in building a better world. Stream/download on Spotify/Soundcloud. facebook.com/lukaijahmusic  

My Sweet Lord, video of  George Harrison song, directed by Lance Bangs . No words needed –  this 51 year- old song is as powerful as ever. Bangs’ new celebrity video is a perfect update of the song’s context, even as the music stays the same. Featuring Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer, it moves along with the pop-ins by Mark Hamill, Rosann Arquette, Ringo Star, June Stoddard and many others.  YouTube https://bit.ly/3JoZcj0

BONUS Somebody to Somebody, single  by Ada Leann, First Place Winner of in the Teen category of the Unsigned only music competition 2021.  https://unsignedonly.com/winnersPatrick O’Heffernan