‘Tis the season for New Year’s playlists, and we can’t help but notice that a lot of the choices we’ve seen elsewhere are either shopworn (you really want to hear that U2 song again?) or a little lame (sorry Dan Fogelberg, but no). We can at least promise that every song on this list is great, including a couple local choices.

Paul Weller “Brand New Start”: This is my personal favorite, the one I’ve played...