Another very fresh album. Vampire Weekend released their fourth studio album last Friday, Father of the Bride. Over the last several months, they have been dropping singles here and there and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed them. I honestly don’t think my inner high-school-nostalgia-heart will ever think they can do wrong. Ezra is forever a damn delight.
There’s a lot of hate out there for these guys (or, rather, for the people who say they like them), but oh well! Let’s dive on in.
I’ve been on a real leading-ladies of music kick lately, so I wanted to switch it up the next few weeks before my big DIVA DEEP-DIVE I will be doing in a couple of weeks when I am driving across the country.
This was recommended to my by my husband, and it’s definitely an artist I haven’t spent much time with before. But so far I dig it! It’s slower and very mid-aughts. Les go.
This week, I am on my shit and doing an album that literally just came out last Friday. Cuz I Love You is rapper-singer-flautist Lizzo’s third album, and first album on a major label. I’ve loved Lizzo for a few years now (her Insta is my favorite thing, should be required following).
Singles “Juice” and “Tempo” have been out for several months and are already go-to pump-up/feeling-myself jams for any occasion. But I’m excited to deep dive into the rest and have a powerful week of Lizzo love and energy. * <3 ~ * <3 * ~ <3 *
This week, I’m taking a sharp turn from 90s girl grunge to a modern revelation where the “charmingly simple” meets the “lightly psychedelic” country of Kacey Musgraves. Hers is a name that I had disregarded as just another country singer until last fall when a friend I regard as very hip and cool came to stay with me and to my surprise said she is his current favorite artist. And then Stereogum named this the best album of 2018. And then Pitchfork named it the second best album of 2018. And then this past weekend she flipped everyone off at Coachella and I finally had to cave and listen because I’d been denying the universe too long.
I love this album. I’m late to the party and I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I love it. She’s rad and made me cry and I’m obsessed.
That is all.
I’ve dabbled with Sleater-Kinney’s back-catalog here and there, but have never taken the leap. First and foremost, I fucking love Carrie Brownstein. She is my indie queen and even though I read her book, I have more history on the band than knowledge of their music.
Second, we are moving back to Portland in about a month and to get me back in that Pacific Northwest grungy, punky headspace, I’m listening to the band’s third album from 1997, Dig Me Out.
I’m stoked and anyways, yass….here I go.
It’s wedding week, so I’m going to be a little bit lazy here.
We are walking down the aisle to “You and Me” by Penny and the Quarters, so I have been listening to their tiny but powerful collection of recordings. There are three on Spotify, and the link here leads to a YouTube video compiling several.
Love this song, love this group, it’s as simple as that!
I have landed on Blood Orange for week 11 via last week’s episode of the podcast Punch Up The Jam. I’ve loved Demi since Gilmore Guys and he is wildly funny and grossly talented. I only learned of Miel through this podcast but she is also wildly talented and grossly funny. Go read about the podcast, I’m not here to explain everything to you all!
At the end of each episode Demi, Miel, and their guest suggest and “unpunchable jam,” essentially a perfect song they love. This week, their guest, Edgar Momplaisir’s unpunchable jam was “Holy Will” by Blood Orange. So I was like, oh I know Blood Orange but let’s deep dive this shit.
I went through each of the four albums’ ratings on Pitchfork and picked Cupid Deluxe because it had the second highest score (8.5) and I have seen this album cover before I like being comfy cozy in that familiarity.
So, here we go ppl.
xx
This girl is so cool. I am only just learning about her but she is literally so dope and cool and the song “Sucker Punch” and the video that goes along with it — so rad. I’m getting this cool sugary pop song vibe a la Robyn’s “Show Me Love” era. I dig it. And the song “Basic” is hilarious and lovely.
Get into it.
x
This week I’m listening to Highway Hypnosis by Sneaks. I came to her music this week when my fiance turned on the speakers in our house, walked halfway up the stairs, pushed play on the song “Look Like That” and robot danced down the stairs and around the room. This went on for most of the song as I sat awestruck on the couch.
But it was really cool music! So I am deep-diving into her most recent album (and she will probably make another appearance on this list sometime this year).
Here. We. Go.
Mitch and I are seeing Kurt Vile and the Violators with The Sadies tomorrow night at the Slowdown in Omaha, so I figured I’ll be riding that high the rest of the week anyway! I have listened to this album once or twice, but certainly not an artist that I mind revisiting again and again.
TBD xx
I’m stoked about this week’s pick! Other than general radio interactions and the occasional trip to the Max, most of my Cardi B experience has been via Instagram and Twitter, never really too much of a deep dive into her music.
I’m into it. Let’s get this grandma trapped in the body of a millennial into the 2019 zeitgeist!
Last week, while listening to a podcast (I now forget which one because 85% of my time is spent listening to podcasts and a lot of them have the same people on them and my brain doesn’t know how to remember everything, ok?), I found out that Natalie Merchant (who I adore) is in 10,000 Maniacs.
I don’t know how I didn’t know this. It seems so incredibly obvious now. Every time I heard a 10,000 Maniacs song, I wouldn’t know it was them but I took noticed and looked it up and was like, “Hey, cool, maybe I would like 10,000 Maniacs.” And then I would carry on with my life and forget that this had ever happened.
Well, now I’m doing myself a goddamn favor and listening to what (5 min of internet research told me) is their best album, In My Tribe from 1987. They have a shit ton of albums, so I anticipate this isn’t the last time we see them in this series.
Here. We. Go.
PS so far, there is a song on this album called “My Sister Rose,” about her sister Rose’s wedding and it is fucking fantastic. Really kitschy and odd and I love it.
This week’s album is brought to you by Griffin McElroy and his wonderful thing from last week’s episode of Wonderful…it’s The Polyphonic Spree’s debut album The Beginning Stages of…
I like it! It’s nice. I will be honest though, I have not made it all the way through the last song on the album, “A Long Day,” which clocks in at a whopping 36:30 :O
Anyways, it’s nice and good and cool and chill. Two thumbs up so far.
It is the final week of January and the album of the week this week is the brand spanking new self-titled record from Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers’ new project, Better Oblivion Community Center! I don’t love love the name (it’s growing on me I guess) but this album is rad. Their voices together are mesmerizing and I’m obsessed.
Party on ~ Dylan Thomas is the first single and it’s good, but I think my jam this week is “Chesapeake” xx
This week, I decided to throw back again with the debut self-titled album from The Velvet Underground with Nico in 1967. Long story short, I was listening to a Daily Mix this weekend and The Walkmen came up which reminded me of Lou Reed’s voice and now here we are.
I’ve heard this album in passing before, but let’s get into the whole damn thing. And while Nico’s voice is otherworldly, I won’t gloss over the fact that she is a problematic fave.
Anyway, here we go…jam of the week is “Heroin” xx
This week, I decided to use Stereogum’s "Best Albums of 2018” list to pick a new album. Eventually I will get into their #1 pick, Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour, but I decided this week to go with their #2 pick, Lush by Snail Mail. This choice was a little bit arbitrary but something about it felt like a better transition after spending a week with Bjork.
Anyway, it’s cool and chill and rad and I’m into it and…
The bop of the week is…”Golden Dream” !"
This week, I listened to an old ep of Dax Shepards’s podcast, “Armchair Expert,” in which he interviews Kathryn Hahn (a vastly underrated American TREASURE).
They talk about a lot of stuff (the episode is just shy of 3 hours) but the two quickly bond over a love for Fugazi, Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Björk, specifically the song “Birthday” (which I soon learned was not just from Bjork but from her previous band, The Sugarcubes - who knew Björk was in a band for like 7 years before she went solo? [probably a lot of people #blindspots]). Unfortunately (or fortunately), pretty much the first and only thing I think of when I think of Björk is Kristen Wiig playing her on Weekend Update in 2009 (and I still know all the words to the song she sings, which is permanent information in my brain).
So, to kick off album-a-week-a-palooza (I’ll come up with a better name maybe hopefully), I am listening to the 1988 album, Life’s Too Good by Icelandic alternative rock band, The Sugarcubes.
Upon first listen, it’s cool. It’s whimsical and weird and wild, and…
The bop of the week is…“Birthday” !
(which Dax claimed was his favorite song of all time). New music! Björk! Weird crazed crunchy avant-rock!
One of my goals for 2019 is to reassess and traverse some of my musical blindspots.
Each week, I am going to find, listen to, and log one new-to-me album. I will probably also expand that listening further into the artist as well, but mainly I hope to deep dive into specific albums.
For many reasons, I will not be reviewing any of the albums I listen to. Primarily because I’m not here to pretend I’m an expert on any of this. I may offer some small insight into my initial response, but I want to explore how I came across the album, what made me choose it, and take a break from listening to my mostly Alanis/Britney-based Daily Mix 1 on repeat forever and ever…
Unlike resolutions from previous years, I want to set an attainable goal. As much as I would love to read a book-a-week, I know how that goes for me. I just won’t do it. I can’t write a blog post every day (nice try 2016 me). However, I know I will be walking my dog or tidying my house or writing emails many times throughout the week, and I can listen to a new album a couple of times while doing those things. 2019 is the year BEING REALISTIC WITH MYSELF.
So, here goes, 2019. Will this, like so many other blogging goals, die a swift yet painful death? Only time will tell…