FAVORITES LISTS, AND THE SONGS I LISTENED TO MOST ON SPOTIFY - TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS!

David Pataconi (with the red hair) and friends at Kingdom Come Festival, June 21, 2025. The singer at the moment is Monica Soe, who is Pataconi's co-laborer in TheoTerran.

Yes, I had recently posted my favorite songs, fiction, and non-fiction for 2025. It is interesting to compare my list with what Spotify calls my top songs of the year. I'll share why later, but let me start with some thoughts.

I'll go ahead and mention - there were songs I was excited to hear last year, like "Atonement" by I Am The Pendragon, "Enough" by TheoTerran, "Resistance" by Divine Martyr. None of those made the Spotify list, but the reason was simple - they came out at the end of the year and competed with songs out for at least six months. A related issue - I usually have a book I didn't read till the end of the year, and I don't get to reviewing it until after I list it as a favorite! 

So I'll start by telling you what I'm going to do: I'll make December 1st the cut-off, and put December's in with the new year. I did think of that this year, but Divine Martyr didn't release "Resistance" until December 19th, and I wanted to allow them to get a song on the list before the year ended. It was a little crazy. 

But now, what about my Spotify list? Well, it depends on if you're talking about the Spotify list on my computer, which is my long-time and typical usage, or if it is the one I have on my cell phone, a recent development, which is predominately used for listening to worship songs on the list, though I do listen to contemporary songs I'm trying to decide if they make my year's end favorites list.

I chuckle when I see my Spotify's "Top songs" list, because there are many I don't remember or thought I listened to that much. (I'm speaking of the computer list, not the worship driven phone list.) For example, I look at the artists that had the most on the list (three had 4, one had 5). I could correctly guess on the four songs of one artist, but the others I could only guess two each. 

Let me start with the worship list. By the way, 91 of the songs on that list were hymns, choruses, and other worship tunes. 46 of the 58 artists on the list had one song on that list. Another 9 had a pair. Matt Redman had 3, Keith and Kristin Getty and Chris Tomlin had 4 each, and Twila Paris and 2nd Chapter of Acts both had 5. Sovereign Grace had 7, and there were 10 Maranatha music Praise choruses. Top 10 on that list?

1. "All I Have is Christ" - Sovereign Grace Music.
2. "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" - Trace Balin
3. "Truth I'm Standing On" - Worshipwired. (I recently learned Leanne Crawford also does that song.)
4. "You Never Let Go" - Matt Redman
5. "Great is the Lord Almighty" by Dennis Jernigan
6. "Behold Our God" by Sovereign Grace Music
7. "Holy" by David Pataconi
8. "Glorify Thy Name" by Maranatha Music
9. "Morning Comes When You Call" by 2nd Chapter of Acts
10. "All Creatures of our God and King" by Sovereign Grace Music.

Now, to the laptop. This list had 67 artists, 50 of which only had one song. With two songs each were Southbound, Sovereign Grace Music, End of I, Cosmic Cathedral, Autumn Eve, and Trace Balin. The seven artists with three each were XIII Minutes, Tierra Vacia, Divided Me, Devin Williams, Amy Shreve, Hello Luna, and Counter. 

The Band JAREN, Filthy Rags, and Rosalie Hovencraft had four each. The ones by JAREN weren't a surprise, but I could only name two songs I expected for Filthy Rags, Rosalie, or the artist that led the pack with five entries; David Pataconi.

For this list, I'll make it a countdown. Ready?

10. "Holy" by David Pataconi (#8 on my favorites)

9. "Hope Found Hope" by Mad At The World (#15 on my favorites)

8. "Dear Martyr" by Behold the Beloved (#2 on my favorites)

7. "All Aboard" by Rusty Shipp (not on top 20)

6. "More" by Autumn's Descent with Meredith Dunkel of Undefeated (not on top 100)

5. "Hold Your Light Up" by Jenny Colquitt (not on top 20)

4. "Stay" by XIII Minutes (#1 on my favorites).

3. "Cult Leader" by XIII Minutes (not on top 20).

2. "It Wasn't For Nothing" by The Band JAREN (#10 on my favorites list).

And the song that Spotify identified as #1? "Laodicea (Unplugged)" by Tierra Vacia (11 on my favorites).

Yes, there were surprises, but out of the top 10 on Spotify, 9 were NOT a surprise. (I'm not mentioning which one that is - this is my secret. Hint, though - it's not one that made it to the top 20. 

Hope that was interesting. I will say, though - I plan on the phone list to not be as much worship songs as last year, though I'll still be listening to worship in the morning.

MY TOP SONGS, 2023, ACCORDING TO SPOTIFY

Me with David Pataconi of TheoTerran

First Blog of 2024! Excited? And what better way than to look at what Spotify considered my Top Songs for last year!

I first discovered that Spotify formed a playlist of my Top songs based on airplay two years ago. I did notice, though, that there were some songs that I wasn't familiar with. So I had several "Ballot Stuffing" playlists, to see if I could get a "Top Songs" that reflected what I was actively listening to. 

Result? Mission Accomplished! I did have a few songs that I didn't think belonged, but not the way it was the previous years. Next year, though, I'll try to rotate through all my playlists and see what that looks like.

But I'm sure all my musician friends are holding their breath to see how they fared. I'll try to minimize the duration of the suspense. (Hey, doesn't Duration of Suspense sound like a good band name?)

I'm going to include a link to the list at the end, but I'll go through statistics. I figured out that there were 62 different artists on the list. 20 of those appeared more than once. Pardon me, therefore, if I don't list the 42 single entry artists (you can find them on the list mentioned above).

Nine had a pair of entries. One of those was Sovereign Grace Music, which made me smile - one entry was the studio version of "Behold Our God," while the other was the live rendition. Joining them were, in alphabetic order: Margaret Becker, Forsaken Hero, I Am The Pendragon, Rich Mullins, Rusty Shipp, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Soundless Whisper, and Yanni.

How about those who had three entries? I'm glad you asked! These six, again in alphabetic order, feature Franz Berwald (classical composer), Jodie Essex, Felix Mendelssohn, Reclaim The Day, TheoTerran, and Zahna. 

Math time. The number of songs in these three levels, adding 42, 18, and 18, equaling 78, with 22 remaining, Likewise, the artists in each level - 42, 9, and 6 - comes to 57, which when subtracted from 62 leaves 5. So who are those top 5 artists based on entries? Drum roll please. 

In  second place, we have a four way tie between Battled, Divine Martyr, Raviner, and True Revival, with four songs each. And on the top with six songs - Eyes Aflame!

But let me change angles. I mentioned the link will have the list of the 100 in order, but I'll be nice and give you the top 10 songs, recorded by 8 different artists. Ready?

Number 10 - "Remnant"  by Ignescent

Number  9 - "Frontline" by Idle Cure (an old timer on a fairly modern list).

Number 8 - "Sentenced To Life" by Reclaim The Day.

Number 7 - "Not The End" by Eyes Aflame.

Number 6 - "You Chose Me" by Toni LaShaun.

Number 4 - "Underneath" by Zahna.

I hear you all! You're asking about #5. I have a reason. You remember I mentioned there are 8 different artists doing the top ten, and I've listed 6. Are any of the 6 in the remaining 4 slots? Nope. Have the final two artists split those four? Nope. Divine Martyr has filled up three of the top five slots with "Mystique" (#5), "Truth" (#3), and "Fear" (#2).

So who is #1? Come on, you should have it figured out! What band is represented by the gentleman next to me in the picture at the top of this blog? The number one song belongs to "Battle Cry" by TheoTerran!

As promised, below is the full list. Are any of your favorites on it? 

Jeff's Top Songs 2023, per Spotify

 

ALBUM REVIEW - "ONWARD" BY KAYLA CAREESE

 I go through phases of listening to songs on Spotify's "Discover Weekly." I believe that is how I discovered "The Martyr Song" by Kayla Careese (not to be confused with Erick Nelson's classic "Martyr Song"). From there, I started listening to other songs of Kayla, and finally took the time to sit down and listen to her complete album "Onward."

Kayla's music is primarily piano based and easy listening, and very good. There was not a bad song on the 12 song project, with my favorites being the title track, "Faith," "Only A Moment," "My Heart," "Seek God Seek Life," the concluding "Christ Our Anchor" and, as mentioned above, "The Martyr Song."

This album came out in 2017, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

 

ALBUM REVIEWS - CHAMPIONS, HERE & NOW, AND OUT OF THE BLUE BY TRACE BALIN

Trace Balin, photo courtesy of Discogs

 

I remember hearing Trace Balin on the radio in the late '80's, most notably "We Need Each Other" - a trio with Marty McCall (Fireworks, First Call) and Bob Carlisle (Allies, singer of "Butterfly Kisses"). However, I was blown away by her song "Never Let It Be Said," written by producer Jonathan David Brown, which is my all-time second favorite song (only to Steve Taylor's "I Just Wanna Know." 

For that reason, her second project "Here & Now" was added to my collection. I also had the honor of hearing her at a GMA Extravaganza Event and heard her do a four song set, including "We Need Each Other," with Marty and Bob joining her. However, I never broke down and got "Champions" or "Out Of The Blue." For the record, I'm not aware of any other projects. 

Three days before writing this, I turned off the shuffle feature and put on "Out Of The Blue." The next day, I finally listened to "Champions." And after listening, I asked myself, "Why did I wait so long?!"

So I'll review all three of her albums in one setting. 

Her first project was "Champions." I had forgotten the song "Only For You," let alone that Trace was the one who recorded it. I always loved that song. There are other great songs on this like "All I Wanna Do," "We Are An Army," "Rock' These Rafters," "Walk In The Spirit," "I Don't Deserve Your Love," and of course the title track and "We Need Each Other." 

As I mentioned earlier, "Here And Now" is the only album I've heard more than half a week ago. The title song is a great opening track, and has several songs I absolutely love on it: "If I Don't Have Love," "Eye Of the Hurricane," "When The Well Runs Dry," "Well Done," "Just Between You And Me," and her rendition of the classic hymn "All Hail The Power." And I dare not forget the haunting concluding number "Why Me?" and of course the above mentioned "Never Let It Be Said."

Last but not least is "Out Of The Blue." Three of the four songs I heard her do at the above mentioned concert were from this project. All her songs are great musically, but I found the words of this project to be challenging in a positive sense, right off with the opening track "Stranger." It contains another song I forgot about (and again that she did it): "Answer To Prayer." Other good songs include the title track, "Changes," "My Heart Is Set On You," "This Is Where," "Meet You In The Garden," "The Love We Know," "Walk It Out," and the final song "You Were My Last Hope."

If you never heard her, I recommend you check Trace Balin's albums out. You can find her projects on Discogs and on Spotify. You'll see why she's one of my favorite singers.