#but THIS ALBUM IS FANTASTIC and probably my favorite in her discography and that's my point. lol

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

"All the colors in a race riot In the land of the free All the women are on a diet I'm hungry, are you hungry? I'm hungry, so hungry For peace and quiet"

[vanhelsingapologist]

I am submitting my formal request for folk music ~opinions~ ❤️

Folk music is another one of those genres that’s hard to pinpoint. It’s basically been merging with country and Americana for years. Further, are people asking for traditional folk? Folk metal? Indie folk? Baroque folk? But it’s all folk! Folk, folk, folk. I’ve written it so many times that it doesn’t look like a word. Anyway, I went contemporary/indie/roots folk for this. Started with more woodsy stuff, too.

• Empty Northern Hemisphere by Gregory Alan Isakov. Gregory Alan Isakov is one of those artists I adore and I think he pretty consistently nails it when it comes to folksy themes and instrumentation. His Weatherman album is pretty fantastic. He’s probably considered indie folk, if I had to put a finger on it.

• My Gal, My Guy by Darlingside. The first song I ever heard by them was called Harrison Ford, which is also pretty good, but there’s just something about this song! Also indie folk.

• Oats In The Water by Ben Howard. He has another great one called In Dreams. His earlier music sort of feels like standing in a dead forest. I can’t really explain it beyond that. His newer stuff is a bit more atmospheric, but it’s good.

• Bavarian Porcelain by Sea Wolf. His song Dear Fellow Traveller got some fandom airtime, but his whole discography is pretty good and soaked with forest imagery. My favorite album is probably White Water, White Bloom, but Cedarsmoke is very kind to me.

• Let This Remain by Alana Henderson. Henderson keeps making her way into my playlists. She sort of reminds me of Enya, sort of reminds me of something reminiscent of the Dresdon Dolls, but it’s just enough that she’s got this incredible unique sound.

• Francis by Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover. This is another one that I have to physically restrain myself from looping. Their voices blend really well, and I’d also consider it my official endorsement of both their music. Heynderickx’s No Face and Show You A Body kill me and Conover’s collaboration on the everything in winter album is worth a listen.

• Deep Green by Marika Hackman. I feel like we can call Marika Hackman folk. Her voice is haunting, her lyrics stick, and she does really neat stuff instrumentally, and she had the folk sound. Not coffeehouse music, so I had to look to see what she’s categorized as. Alternative, it was. Her new album is less folksy, but We Slept At Last definitely is.

• Darlin Corey by Amythyst Kiah. If you haven’t heard any of her work, go listen as soon as possible. She’s got this deep, beautiful sound and writes about isolation in a way that really resonates. It’s hard to find artists who make folk that sounds a hundred years old, but she nails it every single time.

• Love Me Like You Used To by Lord Huron. Lord Huron is an old favorite, and I do think their Long Lost album is my favorite, despite Strange Trails being so well-known. Nothing makes you wanna awoo the way these guys do.

• Traveling On by The Decemberists. I’m a Decemberists fan first, person second. Sometimes I go about my day and “street side smokers, holy rollers” pops into my head at random. Hopefully, you will share my plight.

• Ofelia by Kiltro. Kiltro plays a mixture of shoegaze and Chilean folk. If that doesn’t sound like the best fucking time ever get AWAY from me. Creatures of Habit bumped all year before I graduated.

• The Weight by Amigo the Devil. Darker folk. I think he’s on a playlist called Murderfolk, which just about sums it up. I might put Amigo the Devil in the same camp as AJJ in terms of sound. Slightly different in lyricism.

• Northern Wind by Liza Anne. Their new stuff isn’t folk, but their old stuff is definitely indie folk. I sometimes describe them as drinking cold water, and I think that definitely sticks with their Two album.

As always, I have no idea what I’m talking about. Hope this is good!

[mclennonlgbt]

Exactly 50 years ago - the most important album of my life was released: "Court and Spark" by Joni Mitchell.

I wondered for a long time which of Joni's albums from her so-called the golden era (i.e. a series of albums from 1971 to 1976) is my favorite. Currently, "Blue" or "Hejira" are more popular, but today I can definitely say that I choose "Court and Spark".

Everything is perfect here: melodies, lyrics, arrangements, performance, production… And of course Joni's vocal. Someone might say that these exact elements are present in all Joni's albums, or at least in all those released in the 1970s. It's true. However, the thing about "Court and Spark" is that it is also very optimistic. Yes, you can hear melancholy in many places, but the overall tone of the album is positive.

(by the way, my second favorite Mitchell's album is "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter", also more optimistic than most of her discography)

I could go on, but words cannot express how connected I am with "Court and Spark". In 2022, I probably played it 2,137 times (greetings to Polish people). And it always moves me. A fantastic mosaic of sounds. I highly recommend listening to the "Joni Mitchell Archives vol. 3" boxing, the demos and other versions of songs from "Court and Spark" are simply amazing!

[evil-jennifer-hamilton-wb]

Tagged by @thesternest for the tag game: Shuffle your on Spotify repeat playlist and then list the first ten songs and tag ten people I don't use spotify so I've shuffled the Youtube Music replay mix. 1. Cicada Days (Live at Knitting Factory) by Will Wood: I like Will Wood's more serious feeling songs, the vibe shared by this song and Against the Kitchen floor.

2. A World Alone, Lorde: I feel mildly embarassed having this song in here because how dare I let it known I listen to pop music, but I do listen to pop music and pure heroin is a fantastic album fight me.

3. Yoshis island things 04, glass beach: This is a demo for Yoshi's Island, the demo where j uses faggot. It feels so raw and it goes hard every single time.

4. Joy of Rememberance, Lena Raine: Recently playing Celeste again probably explains this. This song plays during Farewell subchapter-2, and is such a beautiful song.

5. 愛人錯過, by 告五人 (Accuse5): For those that don't know, 告五人 is one of the largest Taiwanese pop bands. 愛人錯過 is my favorite song of theirs, but 我肯定在幾百年前就說過愛你 is in general such a good album all the way through and non-Taiwanese people should check it out!

6. Extraordinary Machine, Fiona Apple: My favorite Fiona Apple song, "I'll make the most of it i'm an extraordinary machine" is a mantra for me. it helps me push through the worst of ED-recovery-caused GI distress. It's rather poetic that the Fiona Apple song Paper Bag was repeated as a mantra when I was trying to make myself worse, and now a Fiona Apple song is my mantra to get better.

7. Motions, glass beach: New glass beach album plastic death! Came out in Jan and i've been listening to it since. I'm a massive glass beach fan, and I love the prog rock elements in Motions and other plastic death songs.

8. Tongues and Teeth, The Crane Wives: this song is such a banger, and a favorite of mine of their discography. It's been nice that my mother's gotten into The Crane Wives, so I can share that interest with her.

9. Candlelight (feat. OHHYUK), by 落日飛車 (Sunset Rollercoaster): Sunset Rollercoaster is a Taiwanese indie band, and this song has great vibes. I play it when I'm walking alone in the city at night, with warm orange/yellow light from the streetlamps dimly lighting the road, and the air fresh with the Petrichor of recent rainfall. Makes one feel so alive.

10. 超度我, by 福禄寿 (FulushouFloruitShow): I learned about this band & song from a Rain World PMV, and it's such a beautiful song. It's also been a steppingstone for me getting into Chinese indie music. @greatwyrmgold @chaoticrushu @ty-bayonet-betteridge @wertpq @stims-4-breakfast @therandominternetperson @kiiamn @tuulikki @bluwuming @lumsel

[fantastickkay]

Album Review of the Week: Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (2010; reissued 2012)

In 2010, Katy Perry entered the new decade ready to prove to the world that she was here to stay with the absolute opposite of a sophomore slump. Teenage Dream was a cultural reset, becoming one of the few albums in history to spawn multiple chart-topping hits.

The album's title track, opener, and one of those smash hits - Teenage Dream - almost sounds boring more than 10 years on but that is only because it set the standard for pop hits to come. It is one of those pop songs that sound simple but in that simplicity it becomes easy for more people to relate and enjoy, the recipe for a huge hit! I really enjoy the background electric guitars. They provide a really great base for all of the instrumentals going on and propels the track forward through its melodies in a satisfying way. It is also very easy for almost anyone to sing along with!

Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) allows Katy to bring out her quirky side with silly concepts and lyrics. This track has a scratchy synth all throughout the chorus that is really fun to listen closely in order to keep track of its travels. This is a great party song, very bouncy and fun to move along to!

California Gurls is my favorite song on the album! I remember when this came out, I had it loaded onto my blue iPod Nano and listened to it when walking into school every day that spring. I love how it is energetic without being in your face. The beats are there but there is still a summer chill about it. I don't listen to Snoop Dogg's discography, but I love when he is featured with my pop girlies! His voice pairs with a pop beat very well. This song always makes me think of the purple Polly Pocket Jeep that I had back in 2000. A fantastic lead single!

Out of all the smash singles, Firework is probably the most iconic. Name a better opening line than "do you ever feel like a plastic bag?" This one reminds me of driving to college when I freshly bought it off of iTunes. That's the thing about this album, it was so significant that I remember where I was when I first heard each single! Every pop superstar needs that signature anthem and Katy definitely found it in this song - it is so much fun to sing along to and even if the lyrics are extremely cheesy, it will still pump you up!

After a jam packed start, we get some non-single tracks. Peacock is quite the curious choice to follow Firework, but here we are! For some reason, this one always makes me think of Chat Roulette - I never used it enough to get any saucy surprises but you hear stories. I am not a huge fan of the lyrics, but it has fantastic energy regardless! If the tables turned and a man released a similar song, it would not go over so well and I don't think this would even fly for a woman to release today.

Circle the Drain is my favorite non-single track. It is such a departure from the sound we have had so far - much more dark. Not a subject you hear too much in mainstream pop music, which is always something that interests me. It is also well written, quite poetic yet blunt at the same time.

The One That Got Away is sonically and lyrically the sequel to Teenage Dream. It has that (now) standard pop melody again. I really enjoy this song, even though it is on the sadder side, it has a great sound and singability.

E.T. has some crazy lyrics, but I love the hard hitting beats and addictive melody! Her vocals have been amazing this entire album but they are especially fantastic here. Her vocal delivery (and effects) are absolutely perfect for this tune! Even though I am nowhere near a Kanye West fan, I do prefer the remix version featuring a rap from him. It does well to mix up the vibe.

Who Am I Living For? is the most forgettable song on the album for me. A lot of oversinging happening for my taste and not a lot of texture otherwise so it is quite boring to listen to in my opinion.

Pearl is another one that doesn't stick with me. It took me an embarrassing amount of years to actually listen to this album in full so maybe that is the problem with these later deep cuts! This one is much better than the last track but still quite boring.

Hummingbird Heartbeat wakes me up with an energetic, assertive intro (I suppose "You make me feel like I am losing my virginity" squares up to Firework when it comes to odd opening lines!). We get back to some natural instruments in this one which is really quite nice after many electronic tracks beforehand. Now, I am back to wanting to run around the room so all is right with the world.

Not Like the Movies closes out the standard tracklist with a snoozefest ballad.

I believe Teenage Dream is one of the last great eras in pop music. Nowadays, we are lucky to get more than one single leading up to the album then one single on album release date and the artist dips and all promo falls off a cliff. I miss when eras would have a slow burn for a couple of years! 2 years after its release, we get Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection with 7 more tracks - 3 of which are completely brand new! Extending this explosive era, giving it a proper send off and cementing Katy Perry as pop royalty.

Part of Me is another classic hit, I absolutely loved this track when it came out and jammed to it all the time! It is a great, energetic, empowering, perfectly pop song!

Wide Awake was considered a farewell to this era. "Falling from cloud nine" illustrates the bittersweet sentiment as well as many other lyrics. I think this was a great send off, it keeps true to the album's overall production while reaching out into the dark for what may come in the future.

Dressin' Up takes that darker production and twists it into something mysterious and intriguing with its slower intro which then blasts into massive beats for the chorus. This song definitely has the feel of a cold, foggy dance floor with thin strobes shooting in all directions.

While there are some skips, there is no denying that Teenage Dream is one of the most important pop albums of our time. This album alone scored five number one hits!!! That is a truly amazing achievement and she was the first woman to do so.

[saintlaurentproblems]

I finished Ariana's discography half an hour ago and my takeaways are:

Yours Truly is an insane debut album and it would be a 10/10 if it weren't for 'Piano', 'Better Left Unsaid' and 'Popular Song'

My Everything is so all over the place. I know it's the album that took her career to the next level but it's so obvious the label took over at some points. I would love to one day listen to the My Everything Ariana actually wanted to make

I understand why Dangerous Woman is a lot of people's favorite because it's a solid pop album but it definitely overstays its welcome. It would've benefited from a little trim - 'Bad Decisions', 'Knew Better / Forever Boy' (I wish she would've stuck to the extended version of 'Knew Better' and scrapped 'Forever Boy') and 'Everyday' are not needed at all

Sweetener is fantastic and my personal favorite. Even when it fails - 'the light is coming' I'm looking at you - I have to give it a pass because at least it's something different and new. This album just makes me feel so happy every time I hear it and 'get well soon' remains one of my favorite ariana songs

I'm probably in the minority but I don't think thank u, next has aged that well sonically? It's still one of my favorites but it's more because of the vulnerability that she showcases. Tracks like 'imagine', 'needy' and 'ghostin' will break my heart every time. Also 'in my head'.

I know I said earlier that Sweetener is my favorite but it's actually interchangable with Positions. Like Dangerous Woman I feel like it needed a little trim before release because there's like three tracks I don't love love but Ariana sounds so heavenly on them that I don't really care. 'pov', 'off the table' and 'safety net' are masterpieces btw

I agree with almost everything you said. Even the songs I don’t “love” like Better Left Unsaid for example I love the pre-chorus of that song. Like there are little elements of each song that I love but I do think if she didn’t have a solid vision then she should’ve just scrapped it. Forever Boy is such a skip. I Don’t Care is a cute song but it felt so random on that album.

My ranking (+ top 3 songs)

Sweetener - NTLTC, Goodnight n go, & R.E.M

Positions - Safety Net, POV, & Motive

TUN - Needy, Ghostin, & Imagine

Dangerous Woman - Into You, Dangerous Woman, & Greedy

Your’s Truly - Honeymoon Ave, You’ll Never Know, & Tattooed Heart

My Everything - Be My Baby, One Last Time, & Love Me Harder

[listieshadows]

Listie babbles about her CD haul (2024/01/14)

Yesterday I walked into my local Sunrise Records with the intention of purchasing The Beatles' Yellow Submarine Songtrack to complete my collection of Beatles albums featured on a picture I've had of their discography that's been hanging on my wall for years. However, unfortunately, it wasn't there, and in a fit of "Well, since I'm here," I impulse purchased a bunch of other albums. And since I wanna talk about music more, hey, I'm gonna take a sec to talk about them! I hope nobody who sees this on their timeline minds the self-indulgence.

Green Day – Warning (2000)

One of my top five favorite Green Day albums. Probably even top three. I really liked this brief folk punk turn for the band, and tunes like "Misery", "Macy's Day Parade", "Waiting", "Church On Sunday", "Minority"... Aw, it's just great stuff.

I've been meaning to get more Green Day stuff, anyway. For years the only albums of theirs I've had are American Idiot and Revolution Radio, and I'd like to have an unbroken line of their discography from Kerplunk to 21st Century Breakdown. After that, with stuff like the "Trilogy" and Father Of All... Eh, I'll pass. And we'll see about their new album when that comes out. For now, I'll say that I did also consider picking up Dookie while I was there, but all they had was the anniversary box, and I didn't wanna add an additional $92 onto my purchase. But speaking of anniversary editions being my only option...

Elton John – Honky Châtaeu (50th Anniversary Edition) (2023)

This is currently my second favorite Elton John album, behind Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I mean, come on, side one is a killer. Aside from having "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man", it's got "Mellow" and "Susie (Dramas)"... Come on! Of course side two is great as well—"Amy", "Hercules", all that—but "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" has just never done it for me, honestly? Plus, sometimes I forget what "Slave" sounds like, so there's that, too.

Now, if I could've avoided it, I wouldn't have paid $32 to own the two disc anniversary edition. But that was the only version they had there, an', y'know, that just sucks a little sometimes, right? Like, you just want the darn album and not all of the extra demos and live recordings they're charging you more for, but that's your only option unless you wanna go trawling around Discogs or eBay for a more standard edition. And if I didn't love physically browsing so much...! Although that's probably what I'm gonna hafta put up with anyway if I wanna get Yellow Submarine Songtrack, so...

Iron Maiden – Powerslave (1984) and No Prayer For The Dying (1990)

I'm pairing these two together for a specific reason, and I'll get to that in a second, but first lemme get my opinions out of the way. Powerslave might be my favorite Iron Maiden album—at the very least it's in solid competition with The Number Of The Beast. I find there's hardly a moment wasted on it, and of course the big hits are all fantastic: "Aces High", "2 Minutes To Midnight", "Powerslave" and the incredible "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner". In terms of Maiden's "epic songs," I like "Empire Of The Clouds" better, but "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" still holds a very high second place.

No Prayer, meanwhile, is an album I only first heard last year, and I can sort of tell why people don't like it so much. After the innovations of Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son, it's a big step back; and even for fans who preferred the earlier sound to the synths, the songs just aren't as tight as Killers or Number or any of them. Fear Of The Dark later on was an improvement, but only so much because of its bloated track list. Still, I've listened to the From Fear To Eternity compilation enough times that I have a spot for "Tailgunner" and "Holy Smoke", plus I think "Mother Russia" is kind of neat as well.

But why did I get both of them? You might not be wondering that up until I tell you that I've already owned a copy of Powerslave for years. In fact, it was the second or third Iron Maiden album I'd ever bought. So what's, uh, the deal, then? To put it in short, there was a box set released in 1998 called Eddie's Head which had their first twelve live and studio albums, from their eponymous debut all the way up to Live At Donington. At some point they were all released individually, and those were the copies I was collecting. After all, their spines formed a picture of Eddie. I had to have a full collection!

But I had one stipulation in mind: I knew that No Prayer was considered the worst Dickinson album, so I wanted to get that one last. That meant if I wanted to finish my collection, I had to find a copy of Live At Donington. Though no matter how many times I looked at HMV or Sunrise, I could never find it. It was only years later when I finally checked Discogs and saw how much a copy was going for these days that I realized, "Oh, they're not selling this at chain stores anymore." And in fact, they're not selling any album from this release anymore. They've all been replaced by the 2015 remaster, so I couldn't even get an Eddie's Head version of No Prayer even if I wanted to.

So I just gave up! I picked up the 2015 remaster of No Prayer so I could finally have an unbroken studio run from their debut to The X Factor, and I got Powerslave alongside so it wouldn't look stupid sitting all by itself. Will I ever get the rest of them? I mean, if that's the only option for the Iron Maiden albums I'm still missing, sure, I guess. I like their spines, too, so I'm getting that out of this whole ordeal at least.

(And in looking up a picture of the Eddie's Head spines to link to, it seems like I was also missing A Real Live Dead One as well? So... Oops! Guess that's two albums I would've had to get!)

Prince – Come (1994)

The first time I heard this album, it was because of a podcast I'm making my way through: Jukebox Zeroes. The whole concept of the podcast is that it sees the two hosts plus guests reacting to and reviewing what's considered the worst albums from famous artists, like Metallica's St. Anger or Madonna's American Life, for example. Come was the album they'd selected to cover Prince, though by the end of the episode they admitted that they should've picked, like, Rave Un2 The Year 2000, 'cuz Come really isn't Prince's worst, or even a bad album. Frankly, it's rather something that Prince considered this "lesser material" that he threw at Warner Bros. just to get out of his contract with them.

I think they largely singled "Dark" as their favorite song on the album, but for me, it's "Letitgo". I absolutely love that synth melody that Prince sings along to for the chorus. The pre-chorus is really fun, too, I think. For, like, a month or two afterwards it was in my frequent rotation, usually played alongside Angela Aki's cover of "Still Fighting It" for some reason.

Ultimately, I prefer the album he put more attention into and wanted to have released at the same time, The Gold Experience (which I've had for months longer), but I don't think Come should be skipped. I mean, at the end of the day, it's still a Prince album. It's rare he makes bad music, and Come doesn't fall into that. Well, maybe "Solo", but your mileage will vary, of course.

And as a little divergence, can I just say that, before I got Come, it was really funny that I had the Love Symbol album and The Gold Experience sitting right next to each other on my shelf? Jus', one where Prince used the symbol as an album title, and then one where he used it as his name. It's great.

[anyways-wonderwall]

Album of the Week #68

Planet Her

(2021)

by Doja Cat

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

TL;DR: Probably an objectively good album, I’m just tired. Tired of hearing these singles that were drilled into my head, tired on the stupid one-liners, tired of the trap snare. While she has a fantastic singing voice and seems to be having fun, I’m too damn tired to have the enthusiasm rub off on me. 

(You know, I'll give her this, that is a badass album cover 10/10)

Every week i somehow get busier. When will it end

Overall Thoughts

As her albums become more refined, focused, and professional, her intent of writing about sex and womanhood becomes clearer. I think that Robert Christgau’s description of writing sex songs instead of love songs fits even more with this album. Every duet is about sex, every rap mentions it, even “Kiss Me More” which sounds like a lighthearted love song is incredibly graphic once you listen to the lyrics. I’m not saying this is a bad thing at all, it’s just fascinating to hear a whole album that has pop woven through it not mention love (I wonder what boomer Robert Christgau has to say about that). 

“Woman” starts the album off with a sensual tone and is I think the most creative and distinct song on the album. The rest kind of blend together and I think how overplayed some of them were on the radio ruined a few of them for me. I don’t think many of the songs offered anything unique or especially good, with a mix of predictable slow songs and rap songs that offer your standard sound board of effects and beats. The only real variation you’ll get is in a sometimes really good chorus or baseline, as she also offers about the same flow in every song. I think most of the album (especially “Naked” and “Need to Know”) fall into the category of “songs I’d dance to at a club and enjoy at the time but never think about again.” You need songs like that in your life, but that also means that I don’t have much of a desire to listen to this album in full again. 

In listening to her whole discography I’ve found that the one thing that Doja Cat lacks is being a good writer. Okay that sounds really harsh but I think her messages and themes are great, her ideas are solid and complex, she’s just really bad at writing well crafted, smart, and good lyrics. Often they’re stupid enough to border on funny which was fine in her early days but as she wants to be taken more and more seriously it just doesn’t really work. Often lines don’t rhyme or barely rhyme, the word play is stupid (“square like Madison”??? That’s dumb as hell), and when thing do flow and rhyme it feels like gibberish. I hope she gets better soon because if you’re gonna start billing yourself as a rapper (like she is in her newest album) you at least have to be able to write. Sure you can say the lines, but are they worth saying?

Part of me wonders if I’m especially harsh on this album because pretty much every song that was a single when this came out was so overplayed that it makes me genuinely angry to here. “Get Into It (Yuh)” is one of my least favorite songs of all time tbh, and if I have to hear that weird bird owl sound effect one more time I’m going to throw my headphones into the road. “You Right” is probably a good song objectively but I just find myself wanting to turn it off because its so boring to me, and the only song (other than “Woman”) that I find myself coming back to is “Kiss Me More.” 

You know, to end this review on a good note let’s talk about that song for a bit. It’s honestly perfect. I’ve had it stuck in my head for the past week but not in a dreadful way, in a “nodding my head and humming while doing the dishes” kind of way. The baseline is perfect, all the guitar parts are wonderfully catchy, SZA is fantastic in it, and its the perfect length. I’m glad the album ended with that song because I was at least left with a good taste in my mouth. 

Next week's review: Scarlet (2023) by Doja Cat

[rabbitechoes]

this month was a very busy month for music. a lot of big artists started dropping in time for the summer. fortunately, there was a lot of good stuff to come out of it. there won’t be any Swans or King Gizzard on this list because i’m still working through their discographies, but i heard the albums they dropped were amazing. i’ll probably get to them by the end of the year. 

like last month’s, these songs are not ranked. i have listed my favorite track of the month though. maybe i’ll figure out a better order in the future, but they are in a random order for now.

also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter

“Dedicated to Tar Feather “ (feat. Anjimile) - McKinley Dixon

◇ featured on Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? - McKinley Dixon ◇ genre: jazz rap

McKinley Dixon’s 2021 album For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her was one of my absolute favorites of that year. His jazz rap sound was so refined and his lyrics had so much weight to them. His new album, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? is an improvement on his already great sound. This track in particular is one of my favorites. The lush intro leading into that nice jazz rap sound is so nice. Dixon’s writing is still sharp as ever and you just kinda hang on to every word. Great track on a fantastic album.

“Green Light” - Squid

◇ featured on O Monolith - Squid ◇ genres: experimental rock, art-punk

O Monolith was one of my most highly anticipated albums of the year. Thankfully, it lived up to the hype for me. The singles still hit hard in the context of the album, but the album track “Green Light” is one of the strongest on the project. The frenetic vocal performances and the equally wild instrumentation make for an exciting listen. The chorus is subdued which subverts your expectations in the best way possible. 

“The Hillbillies” - Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar

◇ genres: jersey drill, west coast hip hop

I’m cheating just a little bit by including this song. It released at the end of last month, but it didn’t end up on streaming services until the beginning of this month. For that reason, I will count it. Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar team up again on this track and they are just having so much fun. There really isn’t much to say about the track beyond that. It’s just a fun listen. Most of the collabs between these two have the kind of playful energy that just clicks with me. 

‧₊˚✧ BEST SONG OF THE MONTH ✧˚₊‧ “Bending Hectic” - The Smile

◇ genres: post-rock, art rock

Yeah this isn’t much of a surprise. I really enjoyed The Smile’s record from last year. It was such a refreshing and fun listen especially in the context of the Radiohead discography. A Moon Shaped Pool was an emotionally heavy album with pain lurking around each song. This side project sounds like Thom and Jonny having fun making music again. Exploring new ideas with the excellent drummer Tom Skinner. "Bending Hectic” is an 8-minute, post-rock track that has you hooked the entire time. Thom’s vocals pair so nicely with the winding instrumentation. This is probably my favorite song of the month. If this track means we’re getting another album from The Smile, I am extremely excited.

“But Not Kiss” - Faye Webster

◇ genre: indie rock

Faye Webster adds new layers to her sound on this new single. The same sensitive songwriting is present here as it is in most of her work, but it puts a dreamy twist on it. I think this shift works very well. The song sort of tricks you at the beginning into thinking this is just another ballad Webster has become known for, but it quickly subverts those expectations through a sudden burst of noise. The drums, piano, and the hazy backing guitar kick this song into another gear. Really enjoyed this track and I hope we get a whole album with ideas like this.

“You Wish” - Flyana Boss

◇ featured on Make It a Double - Flyana Boss ◇ genre: hip hop

This song blew up on TikTok this past month and it has been stuck in my head constantly for a bit now. The verse that blew up is an obvious highlight and such an earworm, but the rest of the song is just as fun. There really isn’t much else to say about it. This is a fun little track and I really hope they go on to do more exciting things in the future.

“Spirit 2.0″ - Sampha

◇ genres: alternative r&b, neo-soul

Admittedly, I’m not super familiar with Sampha’s solo work (I’ve been meaning to listen to Process for a while now). I have heard him through a bunch of features though. He always adds to any song he features on and his voice is very recognizable. This is his first single in 6 years and I was really blown away by it. “Spirit 2.0″ is a beautiful song. The first two verses have this incredible melody to them which he does so much justice to with his vocals. The choruses and the third verse pump up the energy a bit without losing the song’s mellow vibe. Just a really great track. I need to go back and listen to his first album especially if this single is teasing a follow-up.

“Rest” - Foo Fighters

◇ featured on But Here We Are - Foo Fighters ◇ genre: alternative rock

I never expected a Foo Fighters record to make me emotional, but this new album was full of heartbreaking moments. The passing of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins weighs heavy on the band obviously, but they’ve channeled that grief into making their strongest record in years. There’s plenty of great moments, but “Rest” is one of the biggest highlights. The beginning of the song features a sweet, sincere vocal performance from Dave Grohl before bursting into a full-on noise rock track towards the middle. This is an emotional and almost triumphant closer to the album. Foo Fighters have already cemented their place in the modern rock scene, but I’m glad they’re still pushing along. I can’t lie and say I’m their biggest fan, but I think the music scene is better with them in it.

“Slide” - Feeble Little Horse

◇ featured on Girl With Fish - Feeble Little Horse ◇ genres: twee pop, noise pop

Girl With Fish was one of the most pleasant surprises of the month and quickly became one of my favorites of the year. The album is a great blend of sweet little tracks with an occasional noisy edge to them. This track encapsulates that perfectly. It opens with a gentle acoustic guitar driven verse with some electronic touches before shifting to a loud chorus. The songwriting on this track is also great. I have a feeling this album could rank pretty high on my year-end list.

“You don’t even know who I am” - underscores

◇ featured on Wallsocket - underscores (not yet released) ◇ genre: slowcore

Another great new single from underscores. “You don’t even know who I am” features a shift from the noise pop of their previous single in favor of a more slowcore direction. The instrumentation is sparse and their vocals are backed by an oddly haunting Dance Dance Revolution announcer sample. The lyrics dive into parasocial relationships which is an increasingly relevant topic. These new singles seem to be leading up to a concept album of sorts which is very interesting. 

“Mercury” - Youth Lagoon

◇ featured on Heaven Is a Junkyard - Youth Lagoon ◇ genre: indie pop

Heaven Is a Junkyard was also one of my favorite albums that dropped this month. I hadn’t heard anything from Youth Lagoon previously, but after hearing this I’ll probably dive into their catalogue soon. “Mercury” is a dreamy indie pop track with very nice layered production. The way the strings accompany the chorus is so gorgeous. Highly recommend this track and this whole album.

“Queen Jane Approximately” - Bob Dylan

◇ featured on Shadow Kingdom - Bob Dylan ◇ genre: singer-songwriter

The soundtrack from Bob Dylan’s 2021 concert film of the same name was released this month and while I haven’t listened (or watched) the entire performance, this version of “Queen Jane Approximately” has been on repeat for me. The original is one of my favorite Dylan tracks, but this version is very nice as well. This version is much gentler than the original. It feels as if Dylan is reminiscing as the song goes on, it is really beautiful. 

[comradesummers]

🎶✨when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool)🎶✨

thanks isabel! my taste in music is both obscure and deeply lame (if moms like it, i probably do too) but i appreciate the opportunity to embarrass myself by talking about it anyway:

Hy‐Brasil by Allison Russell (or really pretty much any song off of Outside Child, which is a truly fantastic and heartbreaking album)

Godbrother by Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird (not their klezmer-iest song, it's pretty much just folk, but it epitomizes why I love klezmer so much as a modern genre of music that is both deeply jewish and also detached from and in this case directly critical of zionism. plus it's just really pretty.)

Raise Hell / The Stranger at My Door / Broken Horses / Caroline / I Belong to You / That Year / Mama Werewolf / Josephine / the rest of her discography because I could go on by Brandi Carlile (if i didn't cheat like this every song on this list could've been by brandi, i'm not proud of this but it is what it is)

Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End by the Beatles (this one isn't cheating because it's a medley. also i did warn you that i like mom music so yeah. my hottest of hot takes is that the beatles are good actually.)

Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee) by Joan Baez (this one's a cover but joan's version is clearly superior in every way. also it's less that i like listening to this one and more that i'm compelled to listen to it every time i'm furious about the state of the world. so i listen to it a lot.)

[whoarethegirls]

Nova twins!!! And misfits :)

nova twins loves of my lifffeeee

favorite song: not my day, antagonist, bassline bitch, hit girl

least favorite song: honestly don’t have one, the one i skip most often is probably play fair but it’s still a good song

favorite album: for 3 more hours they still only have one, so excited for the album tomorrow!!!! who are the girls is probably gonna still be my favorite for a while cause i’ve listened to it for longer but i really think supernova’s gonna be fantastic from the singles.

least favorite album: same deal

song that got me into them: iirc, bassline bitch was the first one i heard and in love instantly, it was also the first full song i learned on bass!!

seen live? would sell my kidney to, hopefully they’re coming to the us again soon

Rate: 10/10, i love them so much and they really inspire me

misfits

despite them influencing many bands i love, i still haven’t taken enough time to really listen through their discography, i heard vampire girl as a one-off a little while ago and liked it

first song youtube took me to: dig up her bones

first impression: title reminded me of a line in norse truth by against me!, i love when bands start their songs with horror sound bites, and i instantly understood why people like them so much

did i like it? yeah! i’m definitely gonna listen to the rest of the album and probably go in order after that

Rate: 8.5-9/10, i’ll probably like them better the more i hear from them

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#82-81)

#82: Mahmood -- Soldi (Italy 2019)

"Te la prenderai per un bugiardo Ti sembrava amore ma era altro"

"You will be upset by a liar It looked like love to you, it was something else"

Mahmood's story arc in Eurovision was interesting. He participated in Sanremo's Newcomers competition in 2016, along with the X-Factor before winning Sanremo in 2019 with this song--as the winner of Giovani beforehand! Then there was a minor saga in which his participation in Eurovision wasn't made clear until a few days later (had he turned it down, then RAI would have to choose amongst the rest for their representative). And because of Mahmood's half-Egyptian heritage, several far-right politicians railed against Soldi for "not being Italian enough", leading to further discussions about what it means to be Italian today.

In that cultural context, Soldi is definitely a crossroads between different kinds of music, but still combines hip-hop, trap, and some ethnic flourishes in a complete package. The lyrics tell the story of Mahmood's father who abandoned the family, and how he only comes for the money (clap clap). They are simultaneously quite harsh towards the subject (as seen in the line I chose), but still vulnerable in that his mother is abandoned in the process and he is without a dad. It's autobiographical, deep, and definitely captures the Italian tradition of writing thoughtful stories in songs. Plus the Arabic-language lines used in the bridge was a nice touch in how it shows miscommunication between the two parties.

I listened to this often pre-contest, and it still holds up well. While the staging seemed a bit messy at times, Mahmood still performs this with all the anger inside of him coming out on stage. It also got the crowd clapping, of course, and made Soldi came within 26 points of winning the contest. While I do respect Arcade and am glad for its commercial success, Soldi winning would have opened Eurovision towards more hip-hop and trap (despite me not listening to those genres very often), and therefore come closer to the Real Music World.

Plus, Mahmood's non-Eurovision discography is fantastic, and deserves a listen.

Personal ranking: 2nd/41 Actual ranking: 2nd/26 GF in Tel Aviv

#81: Cleopatra -- Olou Tou Kosmos i Elpida (Greece 1992)

“Στο ταξίδι ας γίνει πυξίδα Του τραγουδιού μου ο σκοπός”

“Let my song’s melody Be the compass to the journey”

I've seen one comparison on Cleopatra's performance to the famous artist Haris Alexiou in the early 1990s, specifically in her albums Di efton and ei! I listened to the former as of writing, and really liked it for its serene ethno-influenced music. Though it made me think that Cleopatra was a bootleg when they could've gotten Alexiou instead. But after the debacle which was ESC 1991 (more on that soon), the ERT might be more hesitant about sending something that would make waves.

Despite that, Olou Tou Kosmos i Elpida is simultaneously atmospheric and thoughtful in music and lyrical content. The mix of ethnic instruments and drums helps this one stand out amidst the mediocre 1992 field; even the dragon on the stage spewing out smoke signaled what greatness would behold the stage in Malmo. With such a great accompaniment behind her (the clarinet solo was playbacked), Cleopatra muses on the modern world and what it has to bring for her and her family.

This also has some political edging on here--in 1991, (North) Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia without bloodshed, and used the Verginal Sun on their flag. This pissed off the Greek government because they saw Macedonian heritage as their own, which led to North Macedonia getting called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a squabble which would last until 2019. In response, Cleopatra ended up a replica of it on her dress. I have kind of mixed feelings about it, as I don't like denying sovereignty, but it adds a nice touch to probably my favorite Eurovision costume ever.

Cleopatra's high placing would be the last time Greece makes the top five until 2001 (#136), and it's a shame it isn't known better in either Greece or the fandom. It's a delightful gem that would lead to more ethno-influenced offerings during the 1990s.

Personal ranking: 2nd/23 Actual ranking: 5th/23 in Malmo

[professional-dog-hugger]

Playlist Shuffle Tag

Thank you @kalcat for tagging me! 

Rules: you can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to! put your favorite playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people. no skipping! 

Aight it's been a couple weeks since you tagged me, so sorry for the wait! I'm gonna used my All Time Faves playlist and am gonna ramble a bit about each song so let's fuckin gooooooo! 

1. Sleepover - Hayley Kiyoko

 Not much to say other than it's the ultimate WLW yearning song and a real chill jam. 

2.  Oh No! - MARINA

Oh HELL YEAH! It’s the best bop from 2010, babey! This song slaps and y’all know it, even if the lyrics are pretty sad if you think about them too much. 

3. Refrain Boy - ALL OFF

This is the ED for the first season of Mob Psycho 100 and it is an absolute JAM! I always feel compelled so sing along to it despite not knowing a lick of Japanese. Very danceable and has a fun energy.

4. Isn’t It Love? - Estelle

Probably the most underrated song from the Steven Universe movie imo. Super sweet and pretty, and Garnet sounds beautiful as always. I just wish it was longer than a minute and a half.

5. Explode - Patrick Stump

I NEED y’all to go listen to Soul Punk. If you love Fall Out Boy you’ll love Patrick’s solo stuff. This song especially has great energy and lets Patrick really flex that soul voice of his. Love the line “If I’m never your hero I can never let you down”.

6.  You’re at the Party - Lemon Demon

Listen to the entire Spirit Phone album PLEASE. Actually, go ahead and listen to Neil’s whole discography while you’re at it. This song in particular is super spooky and cool. I think it’s about a party in the afterlife? Whatever it’s about, it’s a banger.

7. Radiant Warmth - Miki Ratsula

This song makes me wanna be in love so bad. It’s the sweetest, softest, most sapphic song I can imagine. Perfect song to imagine serenading your future wife with.

8. Mother - VOICES FROM MARS

The final song from Carole & Tuesday, this is a gorgeous seven minute collaboration of every vocalist on the show. All the music from Carole & Tuesday is fantastic and super underrated, as is the show itself. It has a couple of problematic elements and tropes, but is overall a beautiful show that I definitely recommend.   

9. I.D. - Go! Child feat. Chichi

GO LISTEN TO GO! CHILD RIGHT NOW IMMEDIENTLY!!! It’s Penny Snapcube and Ryan Chongoshow’s band and they have two amazing albums that I couldn’t recommend more. Penny has such a lovely and unique voice and it goes great with Chichi’s in this duet about conflicting identities.

10. I DON’T TRUST U ANYMORE - Left at London

The percussion for this song is just Nat Puff slapping her thighs and shaking a bottle of estrogen pills. If that doesn’t make you love it, I don’t know what will. Great song to scream at transphobic politicians.

I’m tagging @e-din @whiteduck6 @notascreepyasyouthink @squagel @reigen-arataka @jabberwockyjenna @jordonw @briefpandaenthusiast @thank-you-dear and @memoloni and anyone else who wants to do it!

[ts1989fanatic]

A senior swiftie story:

I’m not one to really talk about myself, this is especially true because I’m not your typical senior swiftie.

I turn 61 this year and I’m one of those rare swifties a guy, there’s just not that many of us out there (well those at least willing to admit to being Taylor Swift fans).

I am very lucky in a couple of respects, I see a lot of posts on here saying my friends don’t understand my Taylor Swift obsession well I don’t have to worry about that.

I married my best friend 37 years ago and she introduced me to Taylor Swift’s music. I was never a country music fan until Kat (my better half) got me to listen to Love Story.

Since returning to Canada in 1992 (Kat’s Canadian) I’m English, we have only attended two concerts Shania Twain’s Up tour in 2002 and 1989 in 2015.

Prior to that we had seen Queen, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Tina Turner in concert the only one that comes close to 1989 and even that was a distant second was Up. We really wanted to see the Reputation tour but it did not come to Vancouver this time around, and we simply could not afford to travel to any show that was remotely close.

We are both sad that we will miss the Reputation tour because it looks even better than 1989 and I did not think was possible.

These are my top three all time favorite songs from Taylor’s entire discography.

#1 Wildest Dreams

#2 CIWYW

#3 Love Story

So I lucked out and married a swiftie, so not only do I get to share my life with her, but we also share the same passion for Taylor’s music.

I also got lucky just over two months after starting my Tumblr blog, when @taylorswift started following my blog. To be honest I never even noticed her in my notes a mutual had to point it out to me (I nearly died dead)four years later and I still have to go and check just to make sure It is not a dream.

Tumblr was not my first SM adventure when 1989 came out, I tried out Twitter first because it was a platform that I was at least familiar with. That did not last very long as I simply could not stand the drama, it’s not that Tumblr is drama free but in comparison to Twitter it may as well be.

1989 means a lot to my wife and I for reasons that are hard to explain, not only is it fantastic music. It’s one of those rare albums that come along from time to time that does not have a bad track on it at all, and every song on the album could be a single in it’s own right.

Where it gets difficult to put into words requires a lot of explaining. I joined the British military in 1980 and was posted to Germany. Soon after getting to Germany my unit asked for a volunteer to go to Canada on a six month deployment.

Well I was all over that opportunities to travel was part of my reason for enlisting in the first place. So anyway I get myself squared away and off to Canada I fly.

A little trick I learned growing up (I was an army brat for my first nine years on earth) when you get to a new posting there are three people you make nice with the paymaster the quartermaster and the head cook.

So I did this, and boy did I get lucky the head cook in this case was a civilian Leo a great guy, and within weeks of getting to know him I received an invite to dinner with his family and friends.

One of those friends was the wonderful lady pictured above, do any of you guys believe in love at first sight (I never did until that night) I grew up in a house with a drunken abusive father and this made me very cynical about love.

So here was this twice divorced woman with three children who was a little older than I was (don’t ask I won’t tell) with a girl of 5 two boys 9 and 11 and she was and still is wonderful.

Let’s just say the lyric it hit you like a shotgun shot to the heart, have a special meaning when I look back on it now.

Well anyway it turned out that love at first sight was mutual, yeah I know hard to believe but it was true go figure.

We had an amazing but far too short six months together before I had to head back to Germany late November of 1980.

Now all you youngsters on here won’t know this but the early 80’s was way before SM even email was nonexistent back then. The only way to stay in touch was international phone calls ( very expensive back then) or by writing letters.

I had volunteered to go back to Canada as soon as I returned to Germany, my unit always sent one person every six months unfortunately for me someone else had already been chosen.

So back to writing letters we did a lot of that, but we also used to include messages on on cassette tape (another thing you youngsters are probably not familiar with) on those tapes we would include our favorite songs of the time.

Mine were from the European music charts (England’s Top of the pops mostly) Kat’s were North American hits. We kept that up for a few months, then I got lucky again the guy my unit was sending to Canada went out drinking the night before his early morning flight was due to depart and got drunk and missed his flight (I had nothing to do with that’s my story I’m sticking to it).

So I got a call from my Sargent major asking how soon I could be ready to leave, you better believe I was packed and ready in less than 4 hours.

Being that I am such an ahole I did not even tell Kat I was coming, I called her from the bus station when I got to town and asked her to come pick me up. You ever see someone so happy to see you but wanting to strangle you at the same time (I did that night).

I realize this is a rather long and long winded explanation of why 1989 is so important to both of us, it goes back to the music on those tapes.

1989 has that same sound and vibe of that very same music that we used to send to each other way back when. Listening to to 1989 brings memories flooding back to those early days in our relationship.

We got married in May of 1982 and moved to London in the UK for ten years all throughout the 80’s music was very important to us both and still is to this day.

So @taylorswift has always and will probably always (at least for a long time to come) write Taymazing music, but for my wife and I writing anything better than 1989 is probably an impossibility.

[neanngis]

So I guess I’m doing my top 10 albums of the decade. I’m not doing them in any particular order, but these are the ones that stuck out to me the most and I’ll be posting my thoughts as well as my top 3 tracks. I will not be including EPs even though there are plenty I’ve loved that came out since 2010. Rate it, like it, share it, whatever you wanna do.

1. New Levels New Devils by Polyphia (2018)

This is the album I think of every time some old school famous rocker complains about nobody doing guitar music or anyone being interested in guitar music. Tim and Scott play some of the most interesting sounding riffs over the most fun tracks I’ve heard when it comes to straight guitar music. I used to be very into shredders(like Yngwie, Steve Vai, Statch etc) but fell out because it was all kind of eh. Polyphia brings a fresh take with their style and really makes it unique, and a good chunk of the tracks have other great modern guitarists making guest appearances.

Top 3 tracks: Nasty, Yas, Rich Kids

2. Efflorescence by covet (2018)

I’ve been following covet since around the time they released Ares as a single and have not been disappointed yet. Another instrumental band playing more chill math rock than Polyphia. Yvette Young’s playing can move from beautifully haunting to janky and cool in a matter of measures while Forrest’s excellent drumming and Dave’s steady basslines fill what space her guitar doesn’t.

Top 3 tracks: Shibuya, howl, falkor

3. Colors by Beck (2017)

Beck has always been one of my favorite musicians as he never let genre barriers limit him in his art. With Colors, there was a heavy pop influence, but he didn’t just stick to one aspect of it. Definitely one of the most fun albums I’ve heard in a while.

Top 3 tracks: Dreams, I’m So Free, No Distraction

4. The Black Market by Rise Against (2014)

I wasn’t super fond of Endgame so I was a bit apprehensive about The Black Market, but damn did Rise Against deliver for me. Rise Against was the first political punk band I truly enjoyed and the band on this list I’ve seen the most live. My only gripe is that they don’t play enough songs off this album at their shows because every song on here is great.

Top 3 tracks: Methadone, A Beautiful Indifference, The Black Market

5. French Ghetto by Strawberry Girls (2013)

Another album great for guitarists. Although they’ve put out plenty since this album(most of which was out before I discovered them) this album has my favorite feel of all of them. The band does an awesome job jumping from quick to slow and loud to quiet without taking away anything from the song and this album has some of my favorite riffs. It also has acoustic versions of my top tracks and a cover of Swimming Pools by Kendrick Lamar

Top 3 tracks: Do Peace, French Ghetto, Agua Verde

6. Love in the Time of Email by Antarctigo Vespucci (2018)

Ever since I found Fake Problems I’ve been wanting more and more from Chris Farren, and AV does not disappoint. They have a few EPs out but their first album was everything I could ask for from him and Jeff Rosenstock. I had this album on repeat for a while after it came out and enjoyed every single minute of this sort of optimistic sad boy music about anxiety and regret with sprinkles of fun guitar solos, synth bits and even some chants.

Top 3 tracks: Another Good Thing, Kimmy, Not Yours

7. Real Ghosts Caught on Tape by Fake Problems (2010)

When I decided to make this list, the first thing I checked was the year this album came out and I was ecstatic to find it just made it in. I heard Songs for Teenagers on a Spotify Discover Weekly list and fell in love immediately. This album has everything I love about Chris Farren’s writing, themes such as anxiety, drug use, growing up, and growing apart are all covered. There’s happier sounding songs and more chill ones but every song on here is great and I’m not exaggerating when I say it is one of my favorite albums of all time.

Top 3 tracks: Songs for Teenagers, Done With Fun, Grand Finale

8. The Pagan Manifesto by Elvenking (2014)

I found Elvenking’s cover of Heaven is a Place on Earth on a Pandora station for Alestorm and had no idea what I was getting into. I soon purchased Two Tragedy Poets and sort of tumbled into the rest of their discography from there. In The Pagan Manifesto they dive headfirst lyrically back into their pagan roots and produce a fantastic folk power metal album that really seemed to have their fans in mind.

Top 3 tracks: Pagan Revolution, Black Roses for the Wicked One, Moonbeam Stone Circle

9. THE by tricot (2013)

I forget how I even found tricot(probably stumbled upon them looking for more math rock) but they are one of my favorite finds. A Japanese math rock band with some awesome janky riffs, quick fills, and great harmonies, THE is really my favorite album of theirs but all of their work is great. I’m just happy I got the chance to see them at Super Chon Bros.

Top 3 tracks: POOL, artsick, 99.974°C

10. Planet by Tech N9ne

The past 2-3 years I’ve been trying to get more into rap, and I have to say Tech is probably my favorite as of now, so I’d be remiss to not put Planet on the list since his music is what’s gotten me most into the genre. Planet is my favorite he’s put out this decade, showing his usual fast verses and bringing in other artists who I’ve also been looking into since and ends on a fantastic choice for an album closer.

Top 3 tracks: Bad Juju, We Won’t Go Quietly, Don’t Nobody Want None