2020 week 7 | miss anthropocene by grimes

This week, we’re tackling the queen of weird and wonderful pop’s new album, Grimes’ Miss Anthropocene. I’ve been a “grimes gal” for many many years, and she really never ceases to disappoint me. Now she’s pregnant with Elon Musk’s baby (a union we all followed to the depths of hell) and releasing even more thrilling and heart-achingly wonderful tunes. I’m here for it and I’m always going to be here for it when it’s from earth angel Claire Boucher <3

Pitchfork review

2020 week 6 | seeing other people by foxygen

This week we continue on with friend recs, but now heading in a less nostalgic direction as I take on my first specifically all-male album, Foxygen’s 2019 album, Seeing Other People (I’ve just really been feeling the ladies in 2020!~). While many loved it and I have enjoyed my first few listen-throughs, others…well, did not receive it so well. That’s neither here nor there (we all have known for the better part of a decade, if not longer, that Pitchfork is absolutely not the end-all-be-all). But it’s fun and funky and kind of the perfect vibe for a week of work bike rides where the weather will actually be consistently nice!

xx

2020 week 5 | ten years and other recent eps by aly & aj

So, we’re playing to the nostalgia-factor this week with another friend suggestion (thx Ellen!) of Aly & AJ, specifically their more recent work. I’m giving their album Ten Years a good listen, as well as some miscellaneous EPs, like Sanctuary. I’m stoked! It’s poppy, is electronic, it’s fun, it’s a no-brainer for a week where I feel like I have no brain #coldseasonneverends. And “Take Me” is a certified bop.

2020 week 4 | wild wild woman AND bad habit EPs by your smith

This week I’m starting down the long list of suggestions I got from reaching out to my Instagram circle for music recs! Since two different people named Your Smith, I had to get on the train! (thanks Corinne and Caitlin <3). She just has singles and EPs out so far on Spotify, so I’m jumping back and forth between Bad Habit (2018) and Wild Wild Woman (2019). So far, I’m loving it, her voice, her vibe, Debbie!! Carry on Caroline Smith aka Your Smith, I shall follow.

http://yoursmithforever.com/

2020 week 3 | titanic rising by weyes blood

This week I’m plucking another one from some best of 2019 lists, one I’ve absolutely never heard of but absolutely dig, Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood. It’s haunting, it’s intriguing, it’s ABBA, it’s mesmerizing, it’s relatable, it’s theatrical, it’s a grand, sentimental ode to living and loving in the shadow of doom.

Already very wrapped up in “Movies” and feeling VERY seen by “Something to Believe” (the first line is “Drank a lot of coffee today” and soon after she sings “got a case of the empties” so…I mean…). Plus, this is the second week in a row where our artist is barely visible, consumed in a sea (here, literally) of the surrounding situation. Gorgeous and enveloped (this album and me, respectively).

xx

2020 week 2 | remind me tomorrow by sharon van etten

This week, this second week in 2020, when we all start to find out if our resolutions are forming new and healthy habits, or if we forever destined to repeat our past mistakes, I’m taking some time with a more recent album from a name I know I’ve heard over and over but whom I’ve never really given a fair shake. Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten

2020 week 1 | the score by the fugees

I took a week to reflect and revisit all my faves from 2019, but now we’re back baby! And kicking it off with a 90s Grammy award-winning classic from the absurdly talented and tumultuous Fugees, The Score. I knew a few of these songs very well already, “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “Ready or Not” (recently featured in a Peloton commercial in a possible attempt to make up for their previous misgivings? Thank god for Ryan Reynolds. Anyways…)

But I was surprised by how familiar the rest of it sounded to someone who definitely didn’t listen to it upon its initial release (I was four at the time), and whose primary point of reference for Lauryn Hill is the 1993 cult-classic Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (ignore the whopping 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, this movie is amazing). See her in this gorg scene but especially this pivotal finale number.

Anyways, I had a great time with this album and am excited to get deeper into their history and subsequent careers this year. Read more about the group and this album here.

week 52 | 2019 WRAP-UP

well, it looks like we made it…look how far we’ve come my babies! 52 weeks, 52-ish albums, and infinity to go! this has been one of the most gratifying and successful resolutions i’ve ever made and i’m so excited to keep on with it. here are my top 10-ish albums that i listened to this year (with a handful of honorable mentions i couldn’t manage to fully cut) and what a crew they’ve been and continue to be! stay tuned for even more music/non-reviews, my joy in learning a ton, and adventures in me finding my many musical blindspots. here goes!

1) sucker punch by sigrid

2) a bath full of ecstasy by hot chip

3) golden hour by kacey musgraves

4) whack world by tierra whack

5) carrie & lowell by sufjan stevens

6) norman fucking rockwell by lana del rey

7) 5 by sault

8) father of the bride by vampire weekend

9) amala (deluxe edition) by doja cat

10) better oblivion community center by better oblivion community center

honorable mentions:

-lush by snail mail

-lookout low by twin peaks

-neon bible by a giant dog

-pony by orville peck

week 51 | blackwater holylight by blackwater holylight

This week (and for transition into the new year) I’m listening to this wild new (to me) Oregon-based group, Blackwater Holylight. Specifically, this one was brought on by this dope-ass witchy video that Mitch showed me. They’re playing a show here in March and I’m getting stoked for their rock&roll weird coolness.

week 50 | 5 by sault

This one comes courtesy of an old pal from University, who had this song in her story, and I just couldn’t help myself. Come to find it was on several 2019 Albums of the Year lists, including some NPR staffers. Basically, obsessed, I can’t get enough, I’m digging it too hard.

week 49 | all mirrors by angel olsen

I have somehow really missed the boat on Angel Olsen. I know I’ve heard the name for a few years, but I had no idea this could have possibly been her fifth album, let alone what appears to be many peoples’ favorite so far! She seems very cool and I’m stoked on this one *~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~*

week 48 | pony by orville peck

Hey y’all, this week we’re jumping on a bandwagon I didn’t think I’d jump on. We’ve all seen this wild-looking masked dude Orville Peck popping up around the zeitgeist this year, and never in my wildest dreams did I think seeing him on It’s Alive with Brad would color-me-intrigued enough to go for it. And yet, here we are.

What a strange and interesting and operatic voice, and country but not but also weird and cool. Anyways, digging it. It’s been very rainy so my bus rides have been a cool and surreal mix of Orville’s enigmatic drama and the darkly funny and just darkly dark musings of Oyinkan Braithwaite in My Sister, the Serial Killer.

week 47 | amala (deluxe) by doja cat

This week I’m listening to Amala (Deluxe Version) by rapper/singer-songwriter Doja Cat. What a delight. She recently released a new album, Hot Pink, and while I thought long and hard about going with the freshest, I saw that “Tia Tamara” AND “Mooo!” are on the Deluxe Version of her 2018 album Amala so I had to go for that instead (two songs and two videos that are just a really weird and wonderful treat). She’s back on my radar because Mitch is obsessed with her recent release “Juicy” (another song/video that’s just a real fun time).

Kk, I’m not a cat, I don’t say meow, let’s goooo.

week 46 | clean by soccer mommy

This week’s pick courtesy of the Venn diagram between Spotify suggestions and longtime Pitchfork-based intentions to get on the Soccer Mommy train. My hunger for a return to some girl-rock roots (it’s been 4 weeks since Chastity Belt, I needed my fix!) is being sufficiently satiated <3

week 45 | hearts by america

I may have gone a little off the rails with this one, but bear with me…

Part 1: Mitch was on overnight shifts all week last week, I was a lonely gal watching A LOT of movies.

Part 2: I was in a real Timothée Chalamet sort of mood (when am I not?) and when I saw he was in something called Miss Stevens which was actually available on Netflix, how could I not? Plus, I love Lily Rabe from AHS. Win-win.

Part 3: This movie relies heavily on the song “Sister Golden Hair” (I think it plays during three different parts) and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get me in my lonely nostalgic state last week.

So there you have it. This album is fine, some songs hold up, many do not. But sometimes you need some dad rock to get you through a week.

week 44 | dookie by green day

Taking a different turn this week as I’ve been feeling v nostalgic and angsty. It was a tough choice (so much 90s/00s emo punk energy, so little time) but I decided to deep-dive an oldie in Green Day’s 1994 album, Dookie. I know some of these songs well and others not at all, so it felt like a good compromise (I was 2 when this came out, so what was I supposed to do? Somehow be the coolest kid in daycare despite parents who loved Steely Dan, Celine Dion, and BNL? Come on, get real). Not that Pitchfork is the end-all-be-all of music judgement, but they gave it an 8.7 (although, I guess it’s easy to say you love a long-beloved album when your review is 20 years late). Also, hot take - Billie Joe Armstrong has a fucking beautiful voice.

Oh well, whatevs, who cares, let’s go, who’s even reading this, happy November, no one!

week 43 | grand by matt & kim

Oooh, la la y’all! This week is an exciting one, it’s gonna be a real doozy. This Friday, I’m hitting up the Crystal Ballroom in PDX with my sis-in-law to see Matt & Kim on their Grand 10-Year Anniversary tour so, obvi, I’ll be cranking Grand for the next 5 days. I know bits of this album but I don’t know that I remember all of it, so I’m stoked <3 also, on a little deep-dive into their website, I found this AMAZE-ADORABLE video.

UPDATE: holy fuck. Matt & Kim was a goddamn party and I loved every second of it (and so pleasantly surprised by how polite and non-invasive the crowd collective was). They also covered Lizzo so, you know, hell yeah.

week 42 | chastity belt by chastity belt

This week, we’re back on that grungy indie rock girl music (we can never get too far from it here) listening to Chastity Belt’s self-titled fourth album Chastity Belt. I love these gals (though, they’ve gotten pretty sleepy recently - esp live). But obvi still into it and loving it (you can always go home). And hey, Pitchfork liked it too, so.

week 41 | hoku by hoku

I mean, what can I say about this one? It’s some pure, sugar-coated nostalgia for myself this week. Everyone knows “Perfect Day” (I assume we’ve all seen Legally Blonde here, yes? Well, if not, the music vidoe is basically the whole movie). Some people (should) know “Another Dumb Blonde” (another true classic whose music video is intercut with clips from the movie with which it was released in tandem, Snow Day). But I find it very important to remind everyone of “How Do I Feel” aka The Burrito Song (the alt-title alone is enough for me to buy back in).

Hoku is the perfect encapsulation of aughts pop, and I won’t hear any other opinions (at least not this week).

week 40 | neon bible by a giant dog (and arcade fire!)

Every year, Merge Records releases another album in their subscription series, wherein a band is given a budget and the time to cover an entire album of their choosing. This year, A Giant Dog covered Arcade Fire’s highly praised 2007 album, Neon Bible. It’s very similar, and they’re equipped to embody most of these songs with their own style, but it’s not perfect. That said, it’s fun and weird and cool and why not?! I’m switching off this week between the original and the cover and it’s been a rock and roll party blast so far. Les go.