The Light/Mossy feat. African Children Choir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmdP2Qesxo

A track for the return, when it comes.

Peace/Chon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlvEKr04vOc

Closing track off their glorious 2019 full-length album.

Midnight Blue/Lou Gramm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIgv_uwKPvE

"The 80s, if you missed it you missed a hell of a party!" Couldn't agree more, Mr/Ms YouTube Commentor.

Down By The Seaside/Led Zeppelin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2U1BhziqzM

Just an absolute gem from their Physical Graffiti album. The beautiful guitar hook leading into the chorus, with Plant's voice soaring overhead.

Old Friends/Simon and Garfunkel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3wKSuZQ3FU

For me, their 2004 performance is the definitive version of this song. Simon's unassuming guitar intro, the first few lines of the verse, and you can already tell you're listening to two legends.

Komorebi/Berlinist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLR5dkfU-hE

The soundtrack beautifully captures the game's imaginative landscapes.

Great Albums (Wavelengths/Submarine In Space)

Year: 2018

This genre-defying album by the Delhi-based 5-piece band Submarine in Space is sure to hook you from the start. Drums, bass, guitar, keyboard and violin come together to produce a sonic experience like no other. I first heard them live at a Delhi bar and immediately became a fan.

Personal Picks: "83:83" and "Incense"
  

Seven Days In June/Freak Kitchen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tmsl7I9KDQ

Dug up this tune after 10 years! Fantastic guitars and vocal melody.

Flying Sorcery/Al Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RNtKx9bp9A

Gloriously uplifting folk-rock tune, off his 1976 Alan Parsons-produced album, Year Of The Cat.

I Think I See The Light/Cat Stevens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l9a5vIm4so

There's this awesome introspective quality to his music that lends itself to movie soundtracks.

Treasure That Canary/Andy Pratt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxzUPUDEI0I

Bold melodies, lush arrangements that meld experimentation with mainstream pop, and a lineup that includes some of the finest session musicians of that time. This album is a severely underrated masterpiece.

Say It Isn't So/Bon Jovi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYcYCNICcPU

My favorite song from the album, even though "It's My Life" got a lot more airtime. Some serious schooltime nostalgia. :)

Thought: Major Sevenths - The Chords That Defined The Sound Of The 70s?

Every decade is known for a unique sound, characterized by the stylistic choices made by many popular artists in that era. The 60s had psychedelia, the 80s synthesizers, the 90s grunge, and so on. That is, every decade except the 70s.  What's different about the 70s? Well, they did spawn several distinct movements in rock music - metal, progressive rock, and punk to name a few. The musical diversity of the 70s probably makes it hard to pin a specific sound to them. Yet,for the longest time I couldn't stop thinking about what defines 70s music. After all, most of my favorite songs are from that decade.

My theory? The 70s sound so good because they're responsible for bringing to life one of the beautiful chords in all of music - the Major 7th chord. Here's an example of the chord in use by French composer Eric Satie:

Gymnopedie No. 1/Eric Satie

I soon realized that many of my favorite songs from the 70s have this chord somewhere, whether in the verse, chorus, or a bridge or outro. In some of these songs, no instrument may even actually be playing a maj7. However, when combined with the other instruments and the vocals, the overall effect is that of a maj7 chord. I've tried to list my top ones below (there are many more that I can't recall just now).

It's Too Late/Carole King
Make It With You/Bread
I Know What I Like/Genesis
Rain Song/Led Zeppelin
How Deep Is Your Love/Bee Gees
Year Of The Cat/Al Stewart
Color My World/Chicago
We've Only Just Begun/Carpenters
Beast Of Burden/Rolling Stones
Dreams/Fleetwood Mac
Bennie And The Jets/Elton John

So that's my take on what makes the 70s sound so unique. The maj7 is just one of those sweet sounding chords that lends a melodious, laid-back feel to so many songs of that decade. No wonder that so many of the top '70s artists used it, whatever the genre.

Penny Hitch/Soft Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qJazRI9wqA

The slow groove through most of this 3-part suite. Jenkins' songwriting never ceases to amaze.
  

King Of Pain/The Police

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3l0kpl5tA4

The melody in the verse, the mood change in the chorus, the tight rhythm and keyboard track, the guitar playing the verse melody in the bridge, and the resolved outro. A lesson in perfect songwriting.

Great Albums (Lovers EP Part II/Timecop1983)

Year: 2017

If you're in the mood for some serious synthwave, this EP will hook you from start to end. Each of the seven songs strikes with deadly consistency, simultaneously lifting you up and pulling you down, like breaking up with someone while eating your favorite ice cream. I don't know what the deal is with this genre, except that I can't get enough of it. Whatever you're doing Timecop1983, it's working.

Personal Picks: "Girl" and "Falling Apart"

I Dreamt We Spoke Again/Death Cab for Cutie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aZUgUii4Sk

Gloriously produced track. If the opening song is this good, I can't wait for the rest of the album.

Ripples.../Genesis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJa9gEUa0To

Rutherford's 12-string guitar and Banks' piano effortlessly coalesce in this glorious track off their '76 album, A Trick of the Tail.

People Get Ready/Jeff Beck feat. Rod Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8IbPObd1o

Say what you want about him. Few can belt it like Stewart did back in the day.

Libra/Intervals feat. Plini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx8c3CuUxw0

Do you djent? :)