#sleater-kinney song from the hot rock album

[holedyke]

Which Sleater Kinney songs do you like the most?

omg what a can of worms to open! is it gauche to give some from each album? well im gonna do it anyway 😇😇😇

self titled- the day i went away, how to play dead, be yr mama

call the doctor- anonymous, call the doctor, good things, i wanna be your joey ramone

dig me out- turn it on, heart factory, not what you want

hot rock- god is a number, get up, the size of our love, start together

all hands on the bad one- milkshake n honey, ballad of a ladyman, youth decay, was it a lie

one beat- oh!, light rail coyote, funeral song, prisstina, hollywood ending

the woods- jumpers, entertain, lets call it love, modern girl, wilderness

no cities to love- no cities to love, a new wave, bury our friends, no anthems

the center wont hold- hurry on home, can i go on, the dog/ the body, restless

path of wellness- method, down the line, favorite neighbor, tomorrows grave

little rope- untidy creature, say it like you mean it, six mistakes, dress yourself

[esther-on-fire]

favourite sleater-kinney album?

OH GOD THATS SUCH A HARD DECISION TO MAKE, truly i am feral about pretty much every Sleater-Kinney album, and its almost impossible to choose. That being said I think I can narrow it down to three. BUT FIRST, some honourable mentions:

SELF TITLED: just an all around no frills feminist punk album, whats not to love

ALL HANDS ON THE BAD ONE: has by far my favorite sleater-kinney song on it (The Swimmer). that song means so much to me and I would be remiss if i did not mention it.

NO CITIES TO LOVE: the best of Sleater-Kinney's modern output, imo

now onto the contenders:

DIG ME OUT - so this album was my gateway drug into Sleater-Kinney, and will forever hold a special place in my heart. every track is a banger, its 36 minutes of some of sleater-kinneys best work with no misses. it has catchy punk riffs (the title track and Words and Guitar) and hard hitting ballads (One More Hour and Jenny). When ppl ask for Sleater-Kinney recs this is almost always my suggestion on where to start.

THE WOODS: im gonna be honest, it took a while for me to get into this album, but once i did i was hooked. This album has some of Janet Weiss's all time best drumming on it, and is a big part of the reason i started to play drums myself. It's also Sleater-Kinney at their most creative and experimental, and for that reason I often find myself coming back to it.

THE HOT ROCK: to me, this is Sleater-Kinney's most essential album, while also being one of their most mellow and understated. It has I think what could be considered their best songwriting, with endlessly clever lyrics and catchy hooks. It's also one of their most emotional, especially with The Size Of Our Love, that song hits like a freight train every time I listen to it. Overall its just a 10/10 album, and is easily my most listened to from their discography.

all that being said, if i absolutely had no other option, if there was a gun to my head and i had to choose out of these three, i think its a near fifty fifty between Dig Me Out and The Hot Rock, with The Hot Rock barely edging out in first. barely.

[depoteka]

last week @nxposure tagged me in two different tag games and now i have some time to answer! thank you, dear!

first game: 15 questions

Are you named after anyone? no, i'm not. my parents just liked the name. but allegedly for a short while they considered naming me after a song by a band they love and i dislike. i thank god everyday that in the end they decided to name me weronika instead

When was the last time you cried? this month? or last month? i don't remember

Do you have kids? i don't but i want to in the future

What sports do you play/ have you played? only PE classes at school. would love to start doing some yoga at home tho because i don't move much other than evening walks from time to time

Do you use sarcasm? i suppose. i don't pay attention to that

What is the first thing you notice about people? hard to say, i'd say general vibe. having some sort of social anxiety and experiences with bullying makes you decide pretty fast if the other person is nice to you or if they make you uncomfortable

What's your eye color? dark green. sort of blueish

Scary movies or happy endings? happy endings. i avoid horror movies at all cost (with some exceptions)

Any talents? uh i guess crocheting! not an expert on it and cannot make my own patterns but it makes me and some other people happy

Where were you born? poland, in a shitty hospital in a different town so i don't even have my hometown on my birth certificate

What are your hobbies? as tumblr puts it "media consumption" (watching movies and listening to music) but also crocheting like i said previously

Do you have any pets? a black cat! she lives with my parents so i don't see her that often now

How tall are you? 162cm which is 5 feet 6 inches i believe. i've had to convert inches to centimeters in so many crochet patterns and i still don't remember how much an inch is

Favorite subject in school? english because it was the easiest class for me. i also liked history and geography

Dream job? translating movies but they don't give me a deadline and i can just make the most perfect translation. or i could do voiceover for nature documentaries. an impossible job is an old hollywood movie star or a rockstar in the 70s

and now the second game!! 5 songs i like. i think i will just list things i've been listening to lately

i went thru sleater-kinney's discography again after the release of their new album because well, i didn't like the new album. so i'll stick to their older ones

spotify reminded me about this song by putting it on my discover weekly playlist and i'm just looping it constantly

peter!!! i love this song, the ending especially (and also the reworked version of this from birdy soundtrack)

finally watched shaft the other day and i love this instrumental

haven't heard this song in years but now i'm listening to it a lot like it's 2008 again

[somahind]

Tag ppl you wanna know betteeer

Tagged by: @zendoe . thank you for tagging me, I followed you because I inherently trust deer furries

Last song: the last album I listened through was The Hot Rock by Sleater-Kinney, so it'd be A Quarter To Three. love that one.

Favorite Color: red red red. Earlier in the year I catalogued my favorite shades of red, and found that the average of them was #B0303A.

Currently Watching: Fionna and Cake. I'm 6 episodes in, and so far it's managing the tonal balancing act that makes seasons 5-7 of Adventure Time so good. I just wrapped up the last Patlabor OVAs with my girlfriend yesterday, so we're in between shows now. Though we have been occasionally putting on episodes of Bang Dream MyGO per a friend's "dude trust me" recommendation. It is a generic high school idol anime except it's about a female manipulator picking up the pieces of a friend group that imploded and inadvertently reigniting all of their old drama in her attempt to start a band. If the show was yuribaiting a little harder I'd be obsessed, but where it stands it's a fun social mess.

Last Movie: Patlabor 2. Really challenging movie, and not for the reasons I was expecting. Oshii's criticisms of the JSDF's scope and Japan's place in the neoliberal order are delivered quite straightforwardly, it's the atmosphere that's so melancholy and complicated. I spent most of the year going through the Patlabor TV show and OVAs and falling in love with them, and this is a movie about moving on from all of that. The bubble economy is over, the cold war has ended, SV2 has scattered to the wind, the artstyle has gotten more serious, and Noa explicitly states that she no longer wants to be the mecha otaku girl she once was. It's probably a great standalone watch, but it really got to me because of its willingness as a sequel to say goodbye for the sake of looking forward, even if only uncertainty lies ahead.

Currently Reading: …the patlabor manga. A bit dry compared to the show or movies, but I'm milking this franchise for everything it's got. The last book I read was Light From Uncommon Stars, which has an extremely well-executed main narrative about trans survivor's guilt alongside a terrible B-plot that fails to mesh thematically at all. Very uneven book, but the good stuff is real potent and I'll definitely read whatever Ryka Aoki cooks up next.

Sweet/spicy/savory: Sweet

Relationship status: Partnered and living a domestic yuri 4koma

Current Obsessions: I mean, in case you couldn't tell it's been Patlabor, but I'm finally reaching the tail end of that. I've been on a mecha kick all year, and that includes little gunpla guys gradually taking over the apartment. In a broader sense I'm becoming more at peace with being a huge weeb, and that's shifted my recent media consumption very strongly in that direction, which will probably even out over time.

Last googled: Some doxxable info about trying to schedule flu shots. Before that, "sidney powell kraken" after reading a news article and trying to remember what the fuck was going on there.

Currently working on: preparing for the end of the year! My yearly creative projects are assembling a Christmas album with my old college friends and writing 10 or so pieces for my anime side blog @floatingcatacombs, which go up in mid-December. I've also been messing around with GameMaker again, a intermittent hobby for most of my life even if I have little to show for it. Maybe this time!

I'll tag my oldest mutuals who I've never talked to: @magicians-rad @bl0ndle . and also some pals who have recently joined the site @dudettastone and @bluemouseblackpad . Obviously feel free to ignore if you don't want to do it

[greensparty]

Concert Review: Sleater-Kinney

Sun. March 17, 2024 @ The Paradise (Boston, MA)

Paradise marquee

The last time I saw Sleater-Kinney live was in Summer 2002 was when they headlined the Siren Music Festival in Coney Island in 2002 and they blew me away. The indie rockers burst out of the mid-90s riot grrrl movement in Olympia, WA and their brand of feminism amassed quite a following on college radio. They have been on my radar since 1997’s Dig Me Out (got my copy on vinyl). After the band took an indefinite hiatus in 2006, they reunited in 2014. It’s ironic that the masses now know Carrie Brownstein for Portlandia (as well as scene-stealing performances in Carol, Transparent and best of all as Larry's assistant on Curb Your Enthusiasm) and didn’t even know her as the singer/guitarist for Sleater-Kinney. Singer/guitarist Corin Tucker has also had multiple side projects outside of S-K including Eddie Vedder's soundtrack to Into the Wild (S-K opened for Pearl Jam in the 00s) and she's also a part of the supergroup Filthy Friends. But things changed for the band after drummer Janet Weiss left in 2019 after recording the album The Center Won't Hold. I dug that album and I even named “The Future is Here” my #1 Song of 2019. Their first post-Janet Weiss album was Path of Wellness, which I named my #6 Album of 2021. There are purists who feel it’s not the same band without Weiss. I very much disagree as Brownstein and Tucker are still musical forces to be reckoned with. After the release in January of the Little Rope, the band is currently on tour and stopped in Boston on St. Patrick's Day.

Sleater-Kinney onstage at the Paradise

I am by no means an expert on S-K, i.e. someone who has traveled to the Pacific Northwest to see the band. But I do own a great deal of their albums and have immense respect for them. I say this because there were a number of songs I didn't know as well as others, but that's cool - you learn from the live experience. The show was heavy on the new album Little Rope. They did 9 of the 10 album tracks in their set, highlights being "Say It Like You Mean It" and "Untidy Creatures". They only did two songs off of Dig Me Out, notably the title track for the final encore. I would've loved to have heard more off that album (my personal favorite), but beggars can't be choosers. It was great to hear some songs off of No Cities to Love and The Center Won't Hold played along with songs from The Hot Rock and The Woods. I was kind of surprised they didn't do any songs off of Path of Wellness, especially since that was their last album.

Brownstein and Tucker front stage!

In my album review of Little Rope I noted that "with Path of Wellness, as much as I liked the album - it is a band trying to figure out how to go from being a three-headed monster to a two-headed monster. But with this one, Brownstein and Tucker are clearly past that transition and diving back into the indie rock sound they perfected over the course of the last 30 years." That is also true of their live tours. Both Brownstein and Tucker are clearly the stars putting their supreme voices on full display, but credit needs to be given to their backing band: drummer Angie Boylan (big shoes to fill, but she rocked!), keyboardist Toko Yasuda, and multi-instrumentalist Teeny Lieberson. This lineup was outstanding! Seeing the band in The Paradise was special too (this was the most packed I've ever seen The Paradise and that's saying something) and on St. Patrick's Day no less. Now let's hope I don't end up waiting another 22 years to see them again!

For info on Sleater-Kinney

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Joey Ramone who Died: April 15, 2001 in Manhattan, New York

Jeffrey Ross Hyman, known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American musician, singer, composer, and lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice, and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.

Jeffrey Ross Hyman was born on May 19, 1951, in Queens, New York City, New York to a Jewish family. His parents were Charlotte (née Mandell) and Noel Hyman. He was born with a parasitic twin growing out of his back, which was incompletely formed and surgically removed. The family resided in Forest Hills, Queens, where Hyman and his future Ramones bandmates attended Forest Hills High School. He grew up with his brother Mickey Leigh. Though happy, Hyman was something of an outcast, diagnosed at 18 with obsessive–compulsive disorder alongside being diagnosed with schizophrenia. His mother, Charlotte Lesher, divorced her first husband, Noel Hyman. She married a second time but was widowed by a car accident while she was on vacation.

Hyman was a fan of the Beatles, the Who, David Bowie, and the Stooges among other bands, particularly oldies and the Phil Spector-produced "girl groups". His idol was Pete Townshend of the Who, with whom he shared a birthday. Hyman took up the drums at 13, and played them throughout his teen years before picking up an acoustic guitar at age 17.

In 1974, Jeffrey Hyman co-founded the punk rock band the Ramones with friends John Cummings and Douglas Colvin. Colvin was already using the pseudonym "Dee Dee Ramone" and the others also adopted stage names using "Ramone" as their surname: Cummings became Johnny Ramone and Hyman became Joey Ramone. The name "Ramone" stems from Paul McCartney: he briefly used the stage name "Paul Ramon" during 1960/1961, when the Beatles, still an unknown five-piece band called the Silver Beetles, did a tour of Scotland and all took up pseudonyms; and again on the 1969 Steve Miller album Brave New World, where he played the drums on one song using that name.

Joey initially served as the group's drummer while Dee Dee Ramone was the original vocalist. However, when Dee Dee's vocal cords proved unable to sustain the demands of consistent live performances, Ramones manager Thomas Erdelyi suggested Joey switch to vocals. Mickey Leigh: "I was shocked when the band came out. Joey was the lead singer and I couldn't believe how good he was. Because he'd been sitting in my house with my acoustic guitar, writing these songs like 'I Don't Care', fucking up my guitar, and suddenly he's this guy on stage who you can't take your eyes off of." After a series of unsuccessful auditions in search of a new drummer, Erdelyi took over on drums, assuming the name Tommy Ramone.

The Ramones were a major influence on the punk rock movement in the United States, though they achieved only minor commercial success. Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold in Joey's lifetime was the compilation album Ramones Mania. Recognition of the band's importance built over the years, and they are now regularly represented in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone lists of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time and 25 Greatest Live Albums of All Time, VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, and Mojo's 100 Greatest Albums. In 2002, the Ramones were voted the second greatest rock and roll band ever in Spin, behind the Beatles.

In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played their final show and then disbanded.

Ramone's signature cracks, hiccups, snarls, crooning, and youthful voice made him one of punk rock's most recognizable voices. Allmusic.com wrote that "Joey Ramone's signature bleat was the voice of punk rock in America." As his vocals matured and deepened through his career, so did the Ramones' songwriting, leaving a notable difference from his initial melodic and callow style—two notable tracks serving as examples are "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" and "Mama's Boy". Dee Dee Ramone was quoted as saying "All the other singers in New York were copying David Johansen (New York Dolls), who was copying Mick Jagger... But Joey was unique, totally unique."

In 1985, Ramone joined Steven Van Zandt's music industry activist group Artists United Against Apartheid, which campaigned against the Sun City resort in South Africa. Ramone and 49 other recording artists – including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, Lou Reed and Run DMC — collaborated on the song "Sun City", in which they pledged they would never perform at the resort.

In 1994, Ramone appeared on the Helen Love album Love and Glitter, Hot Days and Music, singing the track "Punk Boy". Helen Love returned the favor, singing on Ramone's song "Mr. Punchy".

In October 1996, Ramone headlined the "Rock the Reservation" alternative rock festival in Tuba City, Arizona. 'Joey Ramone & the Resistance' debuted Ramone's interpretation of Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World' live, as well as Ramone's choice of Ramones classics and some of his other favorite songs; The Dave Clark Five's "Any Way You Want It", The Who's "The Kids are Alright" and The Stooges' "No Fun."

Ramone co-wrote and recorded the song "Meatball Sandwich" with Youth Gone Mad. For a short time before his death, he took the role of manager and producer for the punk rock band the Independents.

His last recording as a vocalist was backup vocals on the CD One Nation Under by the Dine Navajo rock group Blackfire. He appeared on two tracks, "What Do You See" and "Lying to Myself". The 2002 CD won "Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year" at the 2002 Native American Music Awards.

Ramone produced the Ronnie Spector album She Talks to Rainbows in 1999. It was critically acclaimed but was not very commercially successful. The title track was previously on the Ramones' final studio album, ¡Adios Amigos!.

Joey Ramone died at the age of 49 following a seven-year battle with lymphoma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on April 15, 2001, a month before he would have turned 50. He was reportedly listening to the song "In a Little While" by U2 when he died. In an interview in 2014 for Radio 538, U2 lead singer Bono confirmed that Joey Ramone's family told him that Ramone listened to the song before he died, which Andy Shernoff (The Dictators) also confirmed.

His solo album Don't Worry About Me was released posthumously in 2002, and features the single "What a Wonderful World", a cover of the Louis Armstrong standard. MTV News claimed: "With his trademark rose-colored shades, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, ripped jeans and alternately snarling and crooning vocals, Joey was the iconic godfather of punk."

On November 30, 2003, a block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. It is the block where Hyman once lived with bandmate Dee Dee Ramone and is near the former site of the music club CBGB, where the Ramones began their career. Hyman's birthday is celebrated annually by rock 'n' roll nightclubs, hosted in New York City by his brother and, until 2007, his mother, Charlotte. Joey Ramone is interred at Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

The Ramones were named as inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2002.

Several songs have been written in tribute to Joey Ramone. Tommy, CJ and Marky Ramone and Daniel Rey came together in 2002 to record Jed Davis' Joey Ramone tribute album, The Bowery Electric. Other tributes include "Hello Joe" by Blondie from the album The Curse of Blondie, "Drunken Angel" by Lucinda Williams, "You Can't Kill Joey Ramone" by Sloppy Seconds, Joey by Raimundos, "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" by Sleater-Kinney, "Red and White Stripes" by Moler and "Joey" by the Corin Tucker Band, "I Heard Ramona Sing" by Frank Black, Amy Rigby's "Dancin' With Joey Ramone" and "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)" by U2.

In September 2010, the Associated Press reported that "Joey Ramone Place," a sign at the corner of Bowery and East Second Street, was New York City's most stolen sign. Later, the sign was moved to 20 ft (6.1 m) above ground level. Drummer Marky Ramone thought Joey would appreciate that his sign would be the most stolen, adding "Now you have to be an NBA player to see it."

After several years in development, Ramone's second posthumous album was released on May 22, 2012. Titled ...Ya Know?, it was preceded on Record Store Day by a 7" single re-release of "Blitzkrieg Bop"/"Havana Affair"

[yeats-infection]

what are your favourite 90s bands? i only ever listen to britpop and im trying to open up my horizons lol

i’m happy to help with this question! i have linked a record by each band that i think is the best place to start. i’m presuming i don’t need to recommend blur to you. 

throwing muses (monumentally underrated songwriters. i wish i was this close with my stepsister) 

pavement (it’s the total stoned absurdity juxtaposed with the excruciating heartwrenching sincerity for me... see: “newark wilder” with “my my my my my my my, i love your tinted eyes so bad” right into “unfair,” a screamy punk song about california water rights) 

the breeders (kim deal is a genius and the breeders are better than the pixies. yes i will die on this hill and i invite anyone to fight me on it) 

r.e.m. (not strictly a ‘90s band but linked is my favorite of their records from the ‘90s. i’ve literally been a fan of this album since i was four years old lol. some of my first musical memories are of my parents being excited to hear the new songs on the radio) 

built to spill (i’ve talked before about how idaho is magical but i do think they’re probably the best band from there. the song “stop the show” gave me an idea for a pivotal piece of a story that i may write someday) 

elliott smith (figure 8 is my favorite of his albums... he’s one of the only artists i can think of who got heavier as he got older... by now if he were still alive he would probably be doing full harsh noise... rest in peace buddy. anyway, “in the lost and found” is a “your every OTP” kind of song)  

SLINT (just be ready to be confused and mildly scared) 

sleater-kinney (truly one of the all time most important rock bands) 

p.j. harvey (”polly harvey is the only rock star that makes me know i’m shit. i’m nothing next to the purity she experiences” - courtney love) 

helium (what more could you want beyond gorgeous mary timony playing medieval drones on guitars and intoning sexy nonsense with a bunch of fellow hot bostonians) 

please let me know your thoughts and i can recommend more! 

[reckonslepoisson]

Dig Me Out (1997) The Hot Rock (1999), Sleater-Kinney

Dig Me Out was Sleater-Kinney’s first record with Janet Weiss and also their first properly standout work. Not only was this informed punk, touching on sexism and sexuality, but it was catchy too. So many tracks on Dig Me Out revel in addictive guitar licks and pop-informed chord progressions, kept distinctive by Tucker’s warbling, dominant vocals.

The Hot Rock continued that indienisation, the guitar licks steadily more delicate and pursuing a sound far-removed from the punk which came before. But Brownstein and Tucker’s vocals remained adamant despite the rest of the music’s otherwise relaxation (there’s even a violin/viola on a few tracks), commanding honest lyrics. The Hot Rock remains Sleater-Kinney’s darkest album in terms of content and sombreness but it marked a change in the richness of their production. It crucially demonstrated a capacity for genuine instrumental tenderness that the band had seemed slightly too riot grrrl to show previously.

Both Dig Me Out and The Hot Rock cemented Sleater-Kinney as crucial actors in the history of American rock, not just indie. Both were confidently progressive and, no matter how intently you looked, offered rich depth. They are both, quite rightly, firmly in the canon of indie rock’s finest works.

Pick: ‘Dance Song ‘97’, ‘Get Up’

[dustedmagazine]

Jennifer Kelly 2020: I’m done expecting next year to be better

Not to belabor the point, which has been covered everywhere, but 2020 sucked. My last live concert was on March 7th. It was 75 Dollar Bill in a beautiful reconfigured industrial space on the Amherst College campus, and I already had questions about whether I should be there or not. The show was worth it, absolutely riveting, and no one I know got sick from it, but a couple of weeks later, Amherst College shut down and then, basically, the world.

When I think about 2020, I think about bands that don’t fully make sense unless you see them live, and how, this year, no one got to see them live. I think about musicians who were barely making it before, now cut off from concert revenues and, in a lot of cases, day jobs at restaurants, coffee shops and bars. I think about six-digit medical bills from multi-week COVID-19 treatments, and how my insurance will only cut that to low five figures. I think about the constant spew of bile and nonsense, the willful destruction of American institutions and the persistent sense that we will never recover from any of this, and I look for refuge.

Most of the time in music. Because the music kept coming even when everything else shut down. Even the artists who were holding back for better conditions ended up releasing EVERY ALBUM ON EARTH starting about September 18th. There was always music, good music, interesting music, beautiful music, and while that doesn’t compensate for a terrible year, it was something.

Here are 10 albums I loved best from 2020, with links to reviews or other articles I’ve written about them.

1. Gunn-Truscinski — Soundkeeper (Three Lobed)

Soundkeeper by Gunn-Truscinski Duo

A gorgeous exploration of mood and tone, this double CD set includes two extended live cuts and ten more recorded just down the road in Easthampton, Massachusetts. (And I thought nothing ever happened up here.) “Pyramid Merchandise” punches the hardest, John Truscinski balancing rock solid beat keeping with abstracted sculptures of percussive experiment, while Gunn finds the sweetness and the growl in his blues-touched guitar sound. But “Ocean City” is pure lovely respite, with big rounded notes dropping slowly and with grace through wavering transparencies of sustained tone. Long, searching, “Soundkeeper” will rekindle your longing for live improvised music, while the closer “For Eddie Hazel” vibrates with supercharged intensity, the notes and the steady rhythm too bright and beautiful to look at straight on.

2. Six Organs of Admittance — Companion Rises (Drag City)

Companion Rises by Six Organs of Admittance

Chasny imbues the down-home with wonder and the inexplicable with natural grace in this album inspired by stargazing. The album’s name references the way Sirius appears close to Orion, and the rollicking “The Scout Is Here,” commemorates the appearance of the Oumuamua asteroid, but this is no squiggle-y space opera. The music is mainly made of clean, all-natural picking, blues bends, and rambling jangle, though ruptured, periodically, by rushing, whooshing, amplified electronic sounds. Warm, simple clarity is tipped with awe in finger-picked “Black Tea,” while mists and mysteries predominate in evanescent “Worn Down to the Light,” but the joy comes in the balance between the ordinary and the unknowable shimmering like stars in a black sky.

3. Gil Scott-Heron and Makaya McCraven — We’re New Again (XL Recordings)

When the estate of Gil Scott-Heron asked Chicago composer, percussionist and hip hop chopper Makaya McCraven to reimagine the artist’s last, most personal album, McCraven jumped at the chance to tackle its themes of black struggle, black family and perseverance. McCraven surrounded Scott-Heron’s words with shimmering, post-jazz arrangements that incorporated some of his father’s recordings (his dad is jazz drummer Stephen McCraven) in an ongoing tribute to the blood relatives who shape and equip young black men for a challenging world. The music is wonderful, very different from the original, spare, blues-based arrangements, but they open out the master’s words in an illuminating way. I like, especially, the hustling, shuffling movement of “New York Is Killing Me,” which summons the city’s energy as clearly as the feel of heat rising out of a subway grate in August.

4. Obnox — Savage Raygun (Ever/Never)

Savage Raygun by Obnox

Obnox’s psychedelic mayhem roars like a California wildfire, setting a torch to rock, soul, hip hop, jazz and punk with fuzz-crusted abandon. Icons like Hawkwind flare out and curl into white-hot ash, while even Neil Young’s lick from “Southern Man,” is consumed in the all-encompassing heat of Lamont Thomas’ onslaught (“Young Neezy”). A double album, Savage Raygun covers a lot of ground, but in such a kinetic rush that it seems like one entity that stretched from end to end.

5. Anjimile — Giver Taker (Father/Daughter)

Giver Taker by Anjimile

Anjimile sounds beautifully comfortable with their new vocal range in this second full-length, which follows a gender transition. Pitched low and warm, their voice effortlessly navigates subtle melodies, integrating complex, African-leaning rhythms into songs about love, identify, family friction and the possibility of redemption through embracing one’s authentic self.

6. Osees — Protean Threat (Castleface)

Protean Threat by Oh Sees

John Dwyer has fronted bands called The O.Cs., The Ohsees, Thee Ohsees and now just Osees, evolving from a one-man bedroom pop outfit to a gleefully slopping garage pop project to a droning, krautrocking motoric monster along the way. This newest iteration takes a little of this, a little of that, from the repertoire, putting Dwyer’s best Bo Diddley-esque stomper in years (“If I Had My Way”) next to a wiggy psychedelic freak bomb called “Toadstool” which is adjacent to the dub-scented, narcotic head trip called “Gong of Catastrophe.” The mix works because Dwyer and his band commit to all of it, sequentially and within tracks. It’s the best Osees in years, all the good things in one package.

7. Sam Amidon — S-T (Nonesuch)

As always, Amidon starts with traditional, mostly folk and blues material and, as always, he transforms it into something more adventurous, spiritual and faintly otherworldly. With Shahzad Ismaily and Antibalas’ Chris Vatalaro to back him up, he breaks down the unyielding contours of pre-modern banjo tunes and porch blues, finding steady drones and complex afro-beat syncopations in their steady melodies. You can hear “Cuckoo Bird” a million times in a million different voices and never hear it as luminous and open-ended as here.

8. James Elkington — Ever Roving Eye (Paradise of Bachelors)

James Elkington is always pressed for time, maybe because he works regularly for so many other people’s bands (Richard Thompson, Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy) and collaborates with others (Steve Gunn). And yet his second solo album brims with balm and solace; he finds time in the interstices between warm, jazz-scented, Pentangle-esque verses and intricate flurries of picked and strummed and electric guitar. Even “Nowhere Time,” which exhorts “It is time for you to move,” has an ease and calm to it, while “Moon Tempering” is as still and lovely as winter starlight. Ever-Roving Eye is an album that assures us we’ll get it all done somehow, but just stop for a minute and listen.

9. Jehnny Beth — To Love Is To Live (Arts & Crafts)

This riveting solo debut from the Savages frontperson is both quieter and more intense than her full-band compositions, juxtaposing incendiary spoken word with the hedonistic thump of the dance floor. Guests are varied—Joe Talbot of IDLES at one pole, the actor Cillian Murphy at the other—but the music never drifts from Jehnny Beth’s singular viewpoint. Compare her to PJ Harvey or Beth Gibbons or Bobby Gillespie as you will (I did), but this is her 100%, and there’s nothing else like it.

10. Cable Ties — Far Enough (Merge)

Far Enough by Cable Ties

Australia churns out quality punk bands like the Hershey factory makes kisses, and Cable Ties, formed in Melbourne by four young rebels, ranks as one of the best to surface here in America this year. “Tell Them Where to Go” is the money track here, all rust-crusted bass crunch and ragged estrogenated vocal energy. But let’s not put them in the “girl band” ghetto. As I said in my review, “The easy thing would be to compare McKechnie’s vibrato-zinging vocals with those of Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker or her verbal agility to Courtney Barnett, but the blunt force and agile violence of the music, brings to mind post-punk bands like the Wipers, Protomartyr and Eddy Current.”

Honorable mention

I also really enjoyed these albums in 2020.

Lewsberg — In this House (12XU)

Damien Jurado — What’s New Tomboy (Mamabird)

Bill Callahan — Gold Record (Drag City)

Mike Polizze — Long Lost Solace Find (Paradise of Bachelors)

Destroyer — Have We Met (Merge)

Decoy w/ Joe McPhee — AC/DC (otoROKU)

Thurston Moore — By the Fire (Daydream Library)

Tobin Sprout — Empty Horse (Fire)

FACS — Void Moments (Trouble in Mind)

Elkhorn — The Storm Sessions (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond)  

Howling Hex — Knuckleball Express (Fat Possum)

Wendy Eisenberg — Auto (BaDaBing)

Xetas — The Cypher (12XU)

Califone — Echo Mine (Jealous Butcher)

Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers — Vodou Alé (Bongo Joe)

Shopping — All or Nothing (Fat Cat)

Bonny Light Horseman — S-T (37d03d)

Tashi Dorji — Stateless (Drag City)

The Slugs — Don’t Touch Me I’m Too Slimy (2214099 Records DK)

Dr. Pete Larson and his Cytotoxic Nyatiti Band — S-T (Dagonetti)

[stephenmalkmusofficial]

Top 10 Albums of 2019

Good morning everyone! I can’t believe it’s a whole new fuckin’ decade. 2019 was a great year for music, while a lot of my old favorites put out some lackluster releases (*cough cough* Sleater-Kinney, Weezer), newer and younger bands that I also love really stepped up to the plate and put out what ended up being my favorite records this year, we’ll get to that soon though. First let’s start with some

Honorable Mentions: Avey Tare - Cows on Hourglass Pond Angel Olsen - All Mirrors Jeff Rosenstock - Thanks, Sorry! Big Thief - U.F.O.F. Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center Chris Farren - Born Hot

10. Big Thief - Two Hands

Big Thief have consistently blown me away this decade in making really vibrant, urgent, and important music. Their sophomore effort, Capacity, is probably one of my favorite albums of the past ten years. The unique way that the guitars, bass, drums and vocals all blend with each other make the folk rock they develop seem so spellbinding. After the ethereal UFOF from May of this year, Big Thief came crashing back down to earth with Two Hands, and I love the way the band makes themselves feel so close and intimate, playing together in a mostly live setting (while UFOF involved a lot of effects and overdubs). There’s a range of musical emotions at play here from pounding out one of their longest and most aggressive songs “Not”, which might be my favorite song of the year, to quickly follow up that track with a quiet, haunting ballad “Wolf”. What an effective back-to-back. Big Thief proved this year that they’re a damn important band, and I’m glad I’m listening.

9. Black Midi - Schlagenheim

At first, I wasn’t exactly sure what black midi was, or what they were doing. I saw lots of people on Twitter either hyping them up, or making fun of the hype by making absurd jokes about them. It seems however, the band is in on the joke, wearing huge cowboy hats on stage, meshing two or three different graphic design styles together for their promo materials, and then when I saw them in November, the singer kept quoting a line or two from “Stronger” by Kanye West, eventually throwing it into their closer “bmbmbm”. I finally tapped into their sound by checking out their live video for their song “Ducter” and Pitchfork Festival, and was instantly captivated by how different yet familiar their sound was. It was clear that as musicians, they were super tight and together, while at the same time going on crazy tangents. Each time I revisited this album I found something refreshing and new that I think a lot of other post-punk/whatever bands are too afraid to do. I’m excited to see how these guys grow and evolve since they’re so young, but I’m glad I got to be in on the ground floor.

8. Stella Donnelly - Beware of the Dogs

I’m not sure what exactly led me to check this album out, but after I listened to it I realized my friend Anne had put two songs from it in a playlist she made me earlier in the year (thanks Anne if you read this). Right when the first song came on, I was instantly entranced by Stella’s sweet, upbeat voice combined with a twee-adjacent instrumentals and lyrics about womanhood, feminism and shitty men that undercut everything else. This record is really vital, and is catchy and sugary-sweet enough that it kept me coming back for more, each time appreciating Stella’s message more and more. 

7. Strange Ranger - Remembering the Rockets

Strange Ranger had been, for me at least, a band that I was the only one not getting. I checked out their first two records earlier this year, they’re sprawling, epic and dreamy, but nothing about them really made me want to revisit them. Then I decided to check out this record, and it seems that they distilled everything they had been going for and made it more accessible. This record at times feels like it’s taken directly from a hazy alt-rock band’s studio from 1998. Somewhere between Smashing Pumpkins, blur and The Rentals. It’s sweet and dreamy while also getting a little noisy and weird at times. I’m glad something finally clicked for me with this band, now I gotta go get the rest to click.

6. Deerhunter - Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?

Full disclosure, Deerhunter have become one of the most important bands in my life this past year, which is probably why this record is here (not a lot of people liked it and I can understand why), but this album definitely was a grower. After delving into their past few releases from this decade (Monomania, Fading Frontier) this album seemed like the next logical step. It’s clear cut and probably the least dreamy Deerhunter have ever sounded, but it’s not without reason. Bradford’s musings on the highlight “What Happens to People?” is a lament about modern life, and trying to search for a point, and the production brings everything clear and upfront so the band and the listener can ponder these things together. Definitely rewarded multiple listens.

5. Laura Stevenson - The Big Freeze

Laura has easily become one of my favorite solo artists over the past year or so. At first, in the context of being pals with one of my all-time favorite punk artists, Jeff Rosenstock, it was hard for me to wrap my head around someone’s music who was so soft, sensitive and reserved as Laura’s was. However when I booked her to play at a small cafe across the street from my school last December (shout out to the Parlor), it was incredible to see her in her own element. Here, she played at least 4 or 5 songs that are on The Big Freeze, which stands as a monument to Laura’s songwriting, she recorded this album in her childhood home, which only adds to the intimacy that she’s creating here. Listen to Laura Stevenson.

4. Mannequin Pussy - Patience

Mannequin Pussy have become one of my favorite bands over the past couple years. Their 2016 record Romantic was one I came to late but found hard to put down once I started listening, often listening to it twice in a row. Here, Patience builds on everything that made Romantic great and brings it to the next level. Drunk II stands as a testament to a new era of epic breakup songs (see also, Night Shift by Lucy Dacus). The personal highlight for me was “Fear/+/Desire”, and of course seeing them live in their hometown of Philly was incredible. Such an important band!!

3. Tyler, the Creator - IGOR

I’m pretty sure that Tyler’s 2017 Scum Fuck Flower Boy was a tribute to a relationship, and IGOR is the breakup. With Pinkerton being my favorite album ever, I have an affinity for breakup albums. IGOR flows so well and the message and idea is super cohesive, so of course I listened to it all the way through a bunch. I really liked the production and beats he used here too, they were grimy and lo-fi which made the whole effort feel that much more raw. Tyler has really grown into his own into a mature artist who uses the album form to tell a really compelling story, I really loved this record.

2. DUMP HIM - Dykes to Watch Out For

Watching DUMP HIM grow into the vital and fierce punk band we all deserve has been a pleasure to watch, and it all comes together so clearly on DTWOF. The production brings all the ripping guitar solos, excellent drum fills and amazing bass work to the front, as well as Jac and Mattie’s laments on trauma, community and being queer in today’s world. This is a really great and important record, go listen to it!

1. Prince Daddy & The Hyena - Cosmic Thrill Seekers

Prince Daddy have become one of my favorite bands to follow in the past 4 or so years. Their first two records were addicting, but this record feels transcendent, most certainly worth the almost 3 year wait. This record feels like what Weezer’s abandoned Songs From the Black Hole would’ve ended up like, but even better and touching upon vital themes of mental illness, love and friendship. This album is nothing short of epic, and I love it so much. Here’s to a better 2020!

[luvneedsnosyt]

My Favorite Albums of August 2019

Here’s my monthly list of albums released in August I was feeling.

My Previous monthly lists from 2019: January, February, March, April, May, June, July

You can find my list from June of my favorite albums halfway through 2019 here

The Best:

Astrid S - Trust Issues Genre: Pop

Proof: Doing To Me / Someone New

AUGUST 08 - Happy Endings with an Astrisk Genre: R&B / Neo-Soul

Proof: Simple Pleasures (Feat. GoldLink) / Blood on My Hands (Feat, Smino)

Baby Rose - To Myself Genre: R&B / Soul

Proof: Borderline / Regrets

Bas - Spilled Milk 1 EP Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: Fried Rice (Feat. J.I.D.) / Nirvana (Feat. Falcons & B. Lewis)

Black Milk - DiVE Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: If U Say (Feat. BJ The Chicago Kid) / TYME

Blaq Tuxedo - Blaq Tuxedo Genre: R&B / Neo-Soul

Proof: 1am Watermelon / Jet Speed

Bon Iver - i,i Genre: Indie Pop / Experimental Folk

Proof: Hey, Ma / U (Man Like)

Boy Scouts - Free Company Genre: Indie Rock / Alternative

Proof: All Right / Cut It

BROCKHAMPTON - GINGER Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: NO HALO / DEARLY DEPARTED

Channel Tres - Black Moses Genre: House / R&B

Proof: Sexy Black Timberlake / Raw Power // Bonus: Sexy Black Timberlake (SG Lewis Remix)

Clairo - Immunity Genre: Indie Pop

Proof: Sofia / Feel Something // Bonus: SG Lewis & Clairo - Throwaway / Mura Masa & Clairo - I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again

Dabin - Wild Youth (The Remixes) Genre: Electronic / Future Bass / Dance

Proof: Part Time Lover (Crystal Skies Remix) Feat. Claire Ridgely / Alive (Trivecta Remix) Feat. RUNN

Electric Youth - Memory Emotion Genre: Synth-Pop / R&B / Electronic

Proof: The Life / thirteen

Friendly Fires - Inflorescent Genre: Synth-Pop / R&B / House

Proof: Heaven Let Me In / Sleeptalking

G Flip - About Us Genre: R&B / Pop

Proof: I Am Not Afraid / About You

half●alive - Now, Not Yet Genre: Synth-Pop / Indie Pop

Proof: steel feel. / arrow

HVDES - Stand Alone Complex EP Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: Akuma / Human

ILLENIUM - ASCEND Genre: Electronic / Future Bass / Dance

Proof: Good Things Fall Apart (Feat. Jon Bellion) / Gorgeous (w/ Blanke Feat. Bipolar Sunshine) // Bonus: Crashing (Rock Mafia Remix) Feat. Bahari / Pray (Sam Lamar Remix) Feat. Kameron Alexander / Good Things Fall Apart (Tiësto’s Big Room Remix) Feat. Jon Bellion

Jay Som - Anak Ko Genre: Indie Rock / Alternative

Proof: Superbike / Peace Out

Jidenna - 85 to Africa Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: 85 to Africa / Babouche (Feat. GoldLink)

Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell! Genre: Pop

Proof: Venice Bitch / Fuck it I love you & The greatest

Little Brother - May the Lord Watch Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: Everything / Black Magic (Make It Better)

Mabel - High Expectations Genre: R&B / Neo-Soul 

Proof: Don’t Call Me Up / Mad Love

Mac Ayers - Juicebox Genre: R&B / Neo-Soul / Funk

Proof: Shadows / Better

Marika Hackman - Any Human Friend Genre: Pop

Proof: the one / come undone

Missy Elliott - ICONOLOGY EP Genre: R&B / Hip Hop

Proof: Cool Off / Why I Still Love You

MURS, 9th Wonder & The Soul Collective - The Iliad is Dead and the Odyssey is Over Genre: Indie Hip Hop

Proof: Give Me a Reason / SIN

Olivia Nelson - Back to You EP Genre: R&B

Proof: Summertime / No Answer

Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee Genre: R&B / Soul

Proof: Something Keeps Calling Me (Feat. Rob Bacon) / My Walk

Rapsody - Eve Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: Nina / Aaliyah

SAINt JHN - Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs Genre: Hip Hop / R&B

Proof: Trap (Feat. Lil Baby) / Call Me After You Hear This

Shura - forevher Genre: Synth Pop / R&B

Proof: religion (u can lay your hands on me) / BKLYNLNDN // Bonus: BKLYLNDN (i-vu London Dub)

SiR - Chasing Summer Genre: R&B / Soul

Proof: You Can’t Save Me / Mood (Feat. Zacari)

Taylor Swift - Lover Genre: Pop

Proof: Lover / Afterglow

William Black - Pages Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: Dying Day (Feat. Prettyheartbreak) / Back Together (Feat. RUNN)

!!! - Wallop Genre: Synth-Pop / Dance

Proof: Serbia Dreams / $50 Million

Bonus:

A few albums I missed and a compilation album of one off singles by one of today’s biggest artist.

Curren$y & LNDN DRGS - Umbrella Symphony EP Genre: Hip Hop Released May 2019

Proof: Ghetto Gospel / Payback

Drake - Care Package [Compilation] Genre: Hip Hop / R&B Released September 2019

Proof: How Bout Now / Girls Love Beyoncé (Feat. James Fauntleroy)

Olivia Nelson - For You EP Genre: R&B Released August 2018

Proof: Hideaway / Smother Me

Tyla Yaweh - Heart Full of Rage Genre: Hip Hop / R&B Released February 2019

Proof: High Right Now / They Ain’t You

Others:

Abby Jasmine - Abbnormal EP, AJ Mitchell - Slow Dance EP, The Alchemist - Yacht Rock 2, Algee Smith - atl, A$AP Ferg - Floor Seats, Bazzi - Soul Searching, Bishop Nehru & Brady Watt - The Real Book, Vol. 1 EP, Black Belt Eagle Scout - At The Party With My Brown Friends, bLAck pARty - Endless Summer, Blank Mass - Animated Violence Mild, Blu & Damu The Fudgemunk - Ground & Water EP, Bun B - Bun B Day EP, Cousin Stizz - Trying to Find My Next Thrill, Chase & Status - RTRN: THE ORIGINALS EP, Christian French - bright side of the moon EP, Common - Let Love, Cross Record - Cross Record, Curren$y - Hot August Nights EP , Dame D.O.L.L.A. - Big D.O.L.L.A., Deb Never - House on Wheels EP, Dillon Nathaniel - Obsessions EP, Emmavie - Honeymoon, Emmavie - Stop the Tape EP, FLETCHER - you ruined new york city for me EP, Four Tet - Anna Painting EP, G&D - Black Love & War, G-Eazy - B-Sides EP, GRAFIX - Refuge EP, GRiZ - Bangers[2].zip EP, Headie One - Music x Road [Mixtape], Hope Tala - Sensitive Soul EP, Hoodie Allen - Whatever USA, HTRK - Venus in Leo, i_o - House of God EP, Isabella - 12 Angels, JackLNDN - Thoughts, Jezzy - TM104: The Legend of the Snowman, Joell Ortiz - Monday, Joseph Ray - Room 1.5 / Chem - Ex EP, Justine Skye - Bare With Me EP, Kayzo - Unleashed, Kevin George - My Darlings a Demon, Kingdom - EXTERRA, Vol. 1 EP, LICK - Dark Vibe Order, Little Boots - Jump EP, Lillie Mae - Other Girls, LV - Xcited, Lyfe Jennings - 777, Lynda Dawn - At First Light EP, Madeaux - Club Demons EP, MarMar Oso - Oso Different, Moksi - The Return of House Music, Nao Yoshioka - Undeniable, Navvy - The Breakup EP, Nick Catchdubs - Ufo, Obie Trice - The Fifth, Pete Yorn - Caretakers, PJ Morton - PAUL, P-LO - SHINE, Powers Pleasant - Life Is Beautiful EP, Quality Control - Control The Streets Volume 2, Ra Ra Riot - Superbloom, The Regrettes - How Do You Love?, Rick Ross - Port of Miami 2, SATICA - Dear April, Ily EP, The Score - Stay EP, Sheer Mag - A Distant Call, Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won’t Hold, Slum Village - The Source, Snoh Aalgra - Ugh, those feels again, Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Thank Me, Social House - Everything Changed… EP, Somos - Prison On A Hill, Tess Henley - Better EP, Tora - Can’t Buy the Mood, Trae tha Truth - Exhale, Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops, Valentino Khan - House Party EP, Various Artists - 13 Reasons Why (Season 3) [Music Inspired by the Netflix Series], Velvet Negroni - NEON BROWN, Whitney - Forever Turned Around, YACHT - Chain Tipping, Zo! - FourFront, 93PUNX - 93PUNX

[fuckyoutoocoolschmoo1]

So @sleaterkenny tagged me in this top albums of 2019. Idk if they knew what they were getting themselves into with giving this to a music major who can’t shut up but I love this. The thing is I don’t really listen to new music so like I’m just going to talk about what I’ve been listening to and try to throw in currentish stuff. Also it’s not in any particular order. Also if you like my opinions and music choice listen to my radio show at wmxm.org every Tuesday from 5-7.

Wild flag by willd flag

- this is one of those “super group” with Mary Timothy from helium and Janet Weiss and Carrie brownstein from sleater Kinney. They only ever put out this one album but like I still really want more from them. Currently I’ve been loving future crimes. It has such a longing to it at the same time it’s incredibly strong. It’s like raw unhinged Carrie and I love it. Romance is also really fun. I like how his album tackles these big things then has songs like romance and boom that are just like fun and flirty.

Prom queen by beach bunny

- so it’s a local Chicago band and I’m becoming obsessed. It’s a female fronted band and I really think they are about to like break out. They have the thing some riot grrrl bands do which is cutesy but still kick ass. The titular song prom queen is probably my favorite. It talks about beauty standards but it’s still a bop. It also like alludes to an eating disorder so trigger warning but for me personally it reminds me that I’m not totally alone yf. Also that makes the song sound super depressing but it’s a break up bop I promise.

Le Tigre by le Tigre

- so god bless Kathleen. Kathleen is also from bikini kill and she’s like such an icon. Every song goes hard. Hot topic is super great it’s just like funky background with Kathleen belting important women over it. My favorite is deceptacon. It’s just fun and bratty. They use their instruments in such a interesting way. It’s so clear that everyone is just having fun. Every song goes so hard.Potty mouth by bratmobile- okay so like iconic it’s part of the birth of riot grrrl I love it. Okay so their cover of cherry bomb. Like I think I went off about this already but I love how girlie it is yet it still commands so much attention it’s kick ass. They take that song that was used to exploit the sexuality of a underage girl and it fucks with the patriarchy. All the songs are so fun. They call out relationships call out men and demand to be heard about everything they want to talk about. I love the way each song feels like they are directly bitching at you

Emerald valley

- this is by filthy friends which is one of those “super groups”. It has corin tucker if sleater Kinney and peter buck from REM. It’s all about climate change and you can tell that everyone is passionate about what they are talking about. Corin Tucker as always tears apart the room with her vocals it’s like a battle cry. Also if you get the vinyl it’s green and I’m a bitch for colored vinyl. Bonus you should listen to despirta which is by them and it’s a fuck Trump ballad.

So this is kinda a cop out but I’m living my best life..

Diomands by Elton john

- so it’s all re-released Elton music but it’s has a super good mix of his stuff. Admitally after watching rocket man I got back into Elton john and it’s like a rennasance. Bennie and the jets is a banger and tiny dancer always pulls at my heart strings. It’s hard to pick an Elton song to be my favorite but I’ve been listening to goodbye yellow brick road a lot and I’m preforming it at my piano recital coming up so I’ll say it’s my favorite

So this definetly isn’t in anyway new but I’ve been loving the age of backwards by the spells

- so this came out in 1999 around right after sleater Kinneys the hot rock. Its a duo with Mary Timothy of helium and Carrie brownstein (of sleater Kinney). It’s a short experimental ep and I love it. So I had to listen to it a couple of times before I could say if it was good or not but I decided i liked it. Carrie sings a lot and I love her voice and the chemistry between Carrie and Mary’s guitars is insane. It’s a lot of entangled riffs and weird affects. My favorite song off of it is can’t explain which is a cover they did of that song by the kinks.

The Woods by sleater kinney

- I know Im suppose to talk about the center wont hold but like truthfully i cant write a whole essay right now and i dont want to get too conversational. what ill say is if you dont like the album youre wrong and dont ever mention janet weiss to me again because im conflicted. Anyway...Carrie brownstien is the best guitarist of our genoration and im being 100% serious when i say this if you dont agree with me youre sexist and homophobic. The woods i feel like is where i can point to and be like are you shitting me listen to these solos. I feel like carrie had always had killer solos but something about this album (and going forward but especially this album) makes it feel even more powerful. Carries guitar is like a fucking weapon and you can feel it cutting you open. Of course corins vocals fill the entire room and attacks anything in it’s path. The fox i think showcases the power of her voice better then any of their discography. As always sleater kinney tackles so many issues and this album goes for everything. The song that really stands out though is jumpers. I remember listening to it the first few times and just being like this shreds but once i really listened to the lyrics i fell apart. I think part if it has to do with the fact i can relate to it but i also feel like its one of the only songs that talks about suicide that doesn’t romanticize it and also doesn’t pity it. Jumpers is like this unstoppable force of nature that is apologetically what it is and is the first song that really captures the epidemic truthfully. I know i havent given a favorite for each album but ill say modern girl is my favorite. It’s really hard to decide and tbh i dont know if its my favorite but i love how antagonizing it is and i guess i liked it enough to get it tattooed on my body.

This is kinda my rap portion of the post

Cherry bomb by Tyler the creator

- so this isn’t one of his most acclaimed albums but I love it. It has the perfect mix between the pure and soft and the fuck shit up angry. I think my favorite is 2seater. The entire thing is so sweet and I love the part where everything changes and he starts singing “I love it when your hair blows” part. I also really like perfect/Fucking young but whenever I listen to it I’m like am I a bad person for liking this? Anyway the entire thing goes hard but is still soft.

American boyfriend by Kevin abstract

- this album is like a hard look at what it’s like to be a black gay man in America. Miserble America completely breaks your heart while at the same time making troy nostalgic for a life that isn’t yours. The whole album addresses really important topic and is revolutionary because it’s an out black man in rap which is huge.

if you read this whole thing thats fucking wild. sorry i can’t fucking spell but this is how i feel about things. i hella loved writing this @crvidae i guess im tagging you but im pretty sure you’ll never end up doing it...

[newmusicmonthly]

2019

Hello,

Missed me?

No longer a monthly mailer – just another end of year round up.

On reflection, perhaps I’ve played it a bit safe this year, but I didn’t feel there was as much great music out there as in previous years.

Yes, I too use Google, so I have listened to all the end of year Best Of lists online, and so those artists not included just didn’t resonate with me this year.

I maintain ‘bad guy’ off Billie Eilish’s record sounds like a Super Mario bonus level (probably in a spooky dungeon)… which I suppose isn’t a bad thing. And I love Lana, but I just didn’t think the latest record was all that. And the same was true of Angel Olsen, Nick Cave, Kanye, Hot Chip… but don’t get me started on Bon Iver: avant-garde “Kum ba yah” at best (sorry Rob).

But then that’s part of the joy of music, variety and differing opinions… so please share yours! What have I overlooked? What should be revisited? Where in the depths of streaming services is that killer track from 2019?

For now, here is my list of songs, somewhat crowbarred into the monthly format (as mentioned, this email was once called New Music Monthly Mailer with five tracks a month, and surely we need some level of constancy and accountability this year).

Enjoy, or not – but please do share your own choice picks.

Merry Christmas.

R x  

NEW MUSIC 2019

JANUARY

Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen Just go and watch her performance from Glastonbury: https://youtu.be/BM6jn891seU Seriously, from 2:45, just fucking brilliant.

J.S. Ondara - Saying Goodbye Lovely acoustic number and a great voice that evokes Tracy Chapman. 

Basekou Kouyate, Ngoni ba - Kanto kelena (feat. Habib Koite) Malian ngoni master returns to acoustic roots.

Delicate Steve - Selfie of a Man Synthy silly catchy instrumental pop-rock.

Steve Gunn - Vagabond Guitar troubadour telling stories of solitude with unostentatious guitar tones.

FEBRUARY

Mara Balls - Ikävä ikävää Driving Finnish Doom-lite.

Julie Jacklin - Body A narrative masterclass, sombre and brooding, but also simmering and pulsating.

Strand of Oaks - Weird Ways Big widescreen rock, which builds into a gorgeous swirl of sound, with Timothy on fine yet reflective form, backed by the band of My Morning Jacket.

Crows - Hang Me High Long awaited debut from Idles approved band, loud fuzz Mary Chain / Dom Keller vibes.

Kel Assouf - Fransa Desert blues, with all the best Tuareg styling, but added beefy production.

MARCH

Nick Waterhouse - Man Leaves Town Mr Waterhouse and band well in the pocket.

Dave - Streatham Heavy beats and piano lines soundtrack story of growing up in SW16. 

Karen O, Danger Mouse - Turn The Light Danger Mouse brings the gentle disco grooves underneath Karen’s swooning vocals.

Small Feet - The Lake Down tempo reverb and echoes float throughout this woozy directionless jam. 

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Tombes Oubliées BJM do what BJM do best... in French. 

APRIL

The Comet Is Coming - Summon The Fire How can you not move to this?!

W.H. Lung - Empty Room Great new band (c.f. mailer 2017!), and as I already included ‘Inspiration!’ this is my second favourite cut from a top album.

Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation - Feel The Sun Another great artist (championed back in 2016 I think you’ll find), spectral psych grooves.

Weyes Blood - Mirror Forever Great opening line, there’s a coldness but also strangely comforting.

Foxygen - News Now a lot people had fallen off the Foxygen wagon recently, including me, but this is catchy melody filled vibes, with a completely unexpected stonking T-Rex style groove that kicks in around the 3:30 minute mark

MAY

Lizzo – Juice Speaking of good vibes… I mean, again, just go watch the Glastonbury set: https://youtu.be/R9CTs1NsZRI.

Tyler, The Creator - EARFQUAKE Production values: A*, chances of not leaving… C-

The 100 Knights Orchestra - Soul Fugue Celebrating Daptone Records 100th RPM single, this special features every horn player the label has ever worked with, and it is glorious.

Death and Vanilla - A Flaw In The Iris Devendra Banhart vibes to begin, fazing in Mazzy Star style reverb and guitars.

Desert Sands - Are You There The best psychedelic space rock released… ever! 

JUNE

Rose City Band - Fog of Love Warm tones and laid back ambles, which has producer Ripley Johnson’s stamp all over it.

Madonnatron - Goodnight Little Empire Disco ditty extraordinaire.

The Black Keys - Lo/Hi Have you heard of ZZ Top? You have?

The Amazons - Doubt It Future rock heroes get dark.

Fat White Family, Parrot and Cocker Too - Feet - Parrot and Cocker Too Remix Gone for the remix version of this great track: what isn’t improved by added shakers and throbbing techno?

JULY

Michael Kiwanuka, Tom Misch - Money (with Tom Misch) The first of two Kiwanuka tracks in this list, but this was a standalone single, and has all the bubbly bass groove it was impossible not to include.

Drake, Rick Ross - Money In The Grave (Drake ft. Rock Ross) Speaking of money… bounce!

DOPE LEMON - Salt & Pepper Weird keys give way to J.J. Cale style guitar noodles, whilst Angus heaps on the druggy references adding to the meandering stoned atmosphere.

The Quiet Temple, Moon Duo - The Last Opium Den On Earth (Moon Duo Remix) Speaking of druggy… 12 minutes of acid psych jazz in the last opium den on earth.

Nev Cottee - Hello Stranger Cinematic and pastoral, but also searing

AUGUST

Palace - Running Wild Top class indie pop nugget with great simple guitar solo to end.

Kandodo 3 - Everything Green's Gone This definitely isn’t for everyone: think Nine Inch Nails soundtracks at their most impenetrable, if you can make it two thirds of the way through this 13 minute wig out, there are some great slide guitars.

Clairo – Bags Breakout bedroom pop with one of the hookiest melodies all year.

Mini Mansions - Works Every Time Behind the beat smooth grooves.

Death Hawks - Whisper Squelchy over produced 80s style pop bananas,

SEPTEMBER

Native Harrow - Can't Go On Like This Inevitable Laurel Canyon / Joni Mitchell comparisons on this retro analogue sound ballad.

Ty Segall - The Arms Ty does a rare acoustic number, and even throws in a rather tasteful mandolin line.

Pixx - Funsize Synth bleeps and beats disguise a Radiohead-esque creeping guitar line.

Sleater-Kinney - The Future Is Here Love the motorik dirge vibes here, underpin lovely vocal lines and melodies which remind us: the future is here, and we can’t go back.

Marika Hackman - i'm not where you are Great pop hooks and guitar lines.

OCTOBER

Dylan LeBlanc - Renegade I’m a big fan of LeBlanc and his retro stylings, and this track is super lilting 80s driving rock.

TOOL - Pneuma I struggled to get TOOL for a while, but this record and this track in particular is fucking phenomenal.

Lightning Dust - Devoted To Amber Webber and Joshua Wells’ solo project (previously of Black Mountain), conjure spectral dreamscapes.

Sturgill Simpson - Remember To Breathe Sturgill goes electronic rawk – and Tomoyasu Hotei wants his production back.

Michael Kiwanuka - Hero Here he is again, with the standout track from a truly brilliant album.

NOVEMBER

Kelsey Waldon - White Noise, White Lines Kentucky country groove rock.

WIVES - Waving Past Nirvana Churning fuzz rock underpins laconic loose vocals, cool.

Pumarosa - I See You Tense synth verses give way to soaring superb choruses.

Jaako Eine Kalevi - Dissolution Finnish synth pop architect doing a very good Matthew Dear impersonation. 

Warmduscher - Midnight Dipper “The offspring of a match made in hell between Fat White Family and Paranoid London” – full-on sleazy glam.

DECEMBER

Pond - Don't Look at the Sun (Or You'll Go Blind) – Live My favourite track the band perform live, now finally available on streaming.

Staff Benda Bilili - Jamais de la vie The famous Congolese street band return with tight uplifting grooves.

Khruangbin, Leon Bridges - Texas Sun Sit back, open a cold one, and enjoy (when summer comes back around).

Jimmy "Duck" Holmes - Catfish Blues Mississippi delta blues from the 72 year old Holmes, produced by Dan Auerbach.

Mikal Cronin - Show Me Long-time Ty Segall collaborator serves up some Tom Petty-esque soft rock.

[musicallyrich]

Crate Digger’s Corner: 2017 Albums: The Final Chapter

Crate Digger’s Corner…by DJ Musically Rich

Here is the last part to my 2017 list. For those that missed the earlier parts (and haven’t taken a look at it yet), I’m giving a quick list of albums that I heard from 2017. I may do a listening to some of the ones that I know I like, but want to revisit, and use that as an opportunity to review some of those more deeply (If there are any you see that you would particularly like to see a review of, leave a note). This is the list of reissues, live material and compilations that I heard from 2017.

Artist- Album (general genre)- and brief description

Dennis Coffey- Hot Coffey In The D (jazz-funk/R&B)- One of the guitarists for The Funk Brothers (the house band for the Motown label) releases  a set from Detroit in 1968. He covers jazz, pop, funk and gospel all wrapped in the sound of his guitar/organ/drums trio. A fantastic set, and the other set from this night has since been released CD.

Sleater-Kinney- Live In Paris (rock/punk)- This is a strong concert from Paris for the Sleater-Kinney crew from 2015 in support of their album “No Cities To Love”.

Gentle Giant- Three Piece Suit (progressive rock)- This is a collection of songs, remixed by Steven Wilson for both stereo and 5.1 sound, from the first three albums by Gentle Giant. It was limited to these 9 songs plus one demo because they were the only multi-tracks that hadn’t been lost from those albums. The Blu-ray has the 5.1 and, I believe, expanded stereo versions of the album and the instrumental tracks from the album. The Blu-ray also has the first three full albums in their original album mixes. The CD includes the new album, remixed for stereo by Steven Wilson, and a bonus track. That is the Steven Wilson 7” edit of Nothing At All. This is a fantastic deal for people looking for not only some high quality audio of Gentle Giant, but also interested in obtaining their first three albums for a very reasonable price.

Prince And The Revolution- Purple Rain (R&B)-  The iconic ‘80s album gets the full Deluxe Edition treatment. The original album containing hits ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, ‘Take Me With U’, ‘When Doves Cry’, ‘I Would Die 4 U’ and ‘Purple Rain’ amongst other great songs is presented in the 2015 Paisley Park remaster. The second disc is full of unreleased songs and an alternate version of ‘Computer Blue’ and ‘Electric Intercourse’. The third disc has all the single edits and B-sides from the album. The final disc is a DVD of the live show at the Carrier Dome on the Syracuse campus from 3/30/1985. This is an excellent edition for people who know the original album inside and out.

Jerry Garcia And Merle Saunders- Garcia Live, Volume 9: 8/11/1974, Keystone Berkley (rock/jamband)- Another excellent release in the Garcia Live series which has this group playing, mostly, a mixture of R&B and rock classics.

Gary Clark, Jr.- Live/North America 2016 (blues rock)- Gary Clark, Jr. releases this live album following his second major label album. Despite the short time span since his last live album, which followed his first major label album, there are only two songs repeated between the two albums. If you want to see if you enjoy Gary Clark, Jr. live albums (or live in concert) is the way to find out.

King Crimson- Live In Chicago (progressive rock)- King Crimson played Chicago on 7/28/2017 (this is the show after I saw them in Minneapolis a night or two before) and they had the tape rolling. As was the case with the show that I saw, they put on a great show. Fripp’s crew used everything in their bag to play songs from all eras of Crimson and put it together for this three-headed drummer Crimson band. If you’re a fan and are curious to what they are sounding like these days, this (or any of their recent live releases) is a good place to start.

King Crimson- The Elements 2017 Tour Box (progressive rock)- Each year before they start their world tour, they release a 2CD mix of King Crimson material that spans all eras of the band and can include anything Fripp has in his vault. That includes live material, unreleased studio material, etc. Some of it has been previously released (typically some of the live cuts) but he makes sure that everything has the   flow of a wonderful album or concert. Everything always is of excellent sound quality and you would not know that these songs weren’t necessarily prepared for release before this.

Grateful Dead- Get Shown The Light, May 5-9: New Haven, CT > Boston, MA > Ithaca, NY > Buffalo, NY (rock/jamband)- This is the run of shows many consider to be their best all-time, and many consider the Ithaca, NY (Cornell) to be their best show ever. Another candidate for that is often the Buffalo show. What I can say is that this is definitely a highly entertaining quartet of shows!

Here are the last albums I heard from 2017, and this isn’t necessarily a ranking, just in the order that I was writing them down. I hope you enjoy and happy hunting!

To see photos of other albums in my collection follow my IG: djmusicallyrich

[thevividgreenmoss]

1, 13, 27, 30

1. Song that always makes you happy

Ex Hex - How You Got That Girl, The Unlovables - Doot da Doot, Todd Rundgren - Wolfman Jack 

13. A song from your childhood

Stevie Wonder - I just called to say I love you

27. Favourite summertime song

Summer Babeeee but also a lot of Pavement stuff Gold Soundz, Grounded, Kennel District, Shady Lane, Starlings of the Slipstream etc Frank Ocean especially Lost, Solo, Ivy, White Ferrari, Hop Along’s entire discography, same with GBV and Sheer Mag and Angel Olsen and Galaxie 500, Mitski particularly the first five or so tracks on Makeout Creek, Born to Die + Paradise EP, Archers of Loaf - Web in Front, Scenic Pastures, Vampier Weekend - Hannah Hunt & Everlasting Arms, Sleater-Kinney (especially the hot rock especially get up & the size of our love), Dinosaur Jr, YLT, beach boys, the ex hex album I mentioned above, Lauryn Hill + the fugees, The War on Drugs, Chance the Rapper, Joanna Newsom, idk summer’s my fave so this could go on forever let’s close by saying no song you actually decide to play compares to hearing ringtone rap from the mid-late 00s randomly playing in a grocery store or st

30. A cover that is better than the original

These are both blasphemous probably but Electrelane’s I’m on Fire cover & The Weeknd’s Dirty Diana cover OH and Prince doing that one Foo Fighters song at as part of his medley at the super bowl idk what it’s called don’t really care about Dave Grohl generally but jesus christ when he picks up the mic stand and shrieks write before going into the solo

[gratuitousmediocremusictakes]

Sleater-Kinney

You might know Carrie Brownstein, the lead guitarist and co-vocalist of Sleater-Kinney, from her role as one half of the duo behind Portlandia. But while that show can be precisely carbon-dated to the Obama administration, the music of Sleater-Kinney is vital and intense at any time.

Sleater-Kinney’s sound is shaped by Brownstein’s searing, aggressive guitar, her vocal tag team with tornado-lunged singer Corin Tucker, and the booming, energetic drums of Janet Weiss. The band got its start in the riot grrrl scene, but swiftly became titans of indie rock in general; when they reunited after ten years in 2015, the reaction was slightly more enthusiastic than evangelicals during the Rapture.

Call the Doctor: Their second album after a minor self-titled debut, Call the Doctor is a furious punk statement that put Sleater-Kinney on the map. The interplay between Brownstein’s yippy, nasal vocals and Tucker’s full-throated howls got its start here, and coupled with Brownstein’s relentless guitar it feels like a tsunami rushing forward. Highlights include “Call the Doctor”, “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone”, and the heartsick “Good Things”.

Dig Me Out: What Call the Doctor started, Dig Me Out perfected. The vocal tag team, the guitar heroics, the world-conquering confidence; all of that’s here, too, but better. This is the first record to feature the drumming talents of Janet Weiss, and it turns out she was the final piece of the puzzle. Sleater-Kinney had arrived, and they were unstoppable. Highlights include the intense “Dig Me Out”, “One More Hour” (inspired by Tucker and Brownstein’s own romantic breakup), “The Drama You’ve Been Craving”, and “Buy Her Candy”.

The Hot Rock: Sleater-Kinney becomes more introspective here, softening their hard edges and sliding more easily into the world of alt-rock. The fiery guitar work of previous albums becomes a sensitive, intuitive interplay between Brownstein and Tucker’s guitars, chiming and intertwining around each other. That’s not to say that they can’t, y’know, rock the fuck out-there’s never any doubt with this band involved. But songs like the blissful, cosmic “Get Up” could only come from a group that possesses a near-psychic synergy-and they clearly have that. Highlights include “Get Up”, the ode to friendship “Start Together”, and the tearjerking “The Size Of Our Love”.

All Hands on the Bad One: As though to prove that they’re still the same old Sleater-Kinney, they made an album full of hooky, effervescent rock-at times reminiscent of pop-punk in its tone and catchiness. Songs like “You’re No Rock n’ Roll Fun” and “Milkshake n’ Honey” show off the group’s catchiness and humor, while songs like “Youth Decay” and “No. 1 Must-Have” show they can still bare their teeth. Highlights include “You’re No Rock n’ Roll Fun”, “Youth Decay”, and “Was It A Lie?”.

One Beat: Released in the wake of 9/11, One Beat avoids the pitfalls of self-importance and self-pity that other records released after that tragedy fell into. This is largely due to how completely In The Zone Sleater-Kinney was at this point-the chemistry between Brownstein, Tucker and Weiss was so potent that it elevated otherwise lecturing tracks like “Combat Rock” to expressions of righteous anger, and elevated already fantastic songs like “Far Away” to moments of crushing catharsis. But, crucially, they didn’t forget how to have fun-songs like “Oh!” and “Step Aside” are an absolute blast, and they remind you exactly what you’re fighting for. Highlights include “One Beat”, “Far Away”, “Oh!”, and “Step Aside”.

The Woods: This is their best album, and it’s the first Sleater-Kinney album I listened to. I wouldn’t recommend others start here, though-it’s not totally representative of the band’s general style. Rather than punk, the group seems mostly in the vein of classic-rock inspired indie-massive riffs, thundering drums, everything turned up loud. Still, as I said, this is their best album, featuring their best songs-a minute in, and I knew that this band was going to be a part of my life going forward. Highlights include the behemoth beast fable of “The Fox”, the catchy “What’s Mine Is Yours” (featuring a gnarly, noisy breakdown), the empathetic “Jumpers”, and the breathlessly exciting “Rollercoaster”.

No Cities To Love: While it’s not their best album (not even in their top 5), it’s worth admiring that it’s still really, really good. Barely missing a beat, they tear through these songs with punk energy-and they’re especially great live. Highlights include “Surface Envy”, “A New Wave”, and “Hey Darling”.

Top 10:

1. The Fox

2. Get Up

3. Step Aside

4. You’re No Rock n’ Roll Fun

5. Jumpers

6. What’s Mine Is Yours

7. Dig Me Out

8. Far Away

9. Oh!

10. Buy Her Candy