Listen Guide
July 2022
FROZEN | LIL B
If you didn’t know already, Lil B is primarily responsible for the terms “swag” and “based,” which both effectively mean “cool.” Yes, “swag” was technically coined by Shakespeare and initially brought back by Jay-Z, but Lil B took swag to a new level. Based only existed to refer to a user of free base as a baser. Brandon McCartney doubtlessly isn’t on cocaine when he freestyles, but his spaced-out weirdo bars are undeniably based. Known for engendering the most rap songs in history and projects like his 855-song mixtape, B has been dropping mixtapes that last over 5 hours lately, which makes his work somewhat perplexing to consume. This time he dropped two albums called Frozen instead, which total about 5 hours. McCartney creates a hip-hop landscape that you can listen to all day. There’s also a pretty generous portion of atonal instrumental tracks. Although they are the most outlandish beats I’ve ever heard, I admittedly usually skip through them. Conveniently, B leaves them at the end of each album. If you find Frozen and The Frozen Tape too abstruse, Try his collaboration with Chance the Rapper, Free. A big part of Lil B’s style is his postmodern critique of hip-hop culture, which he partially executes by injecting a preternatural sense of positivity into his bars. Maybe it’s the laid-back positivity or the fact that Brandon was born and raised in the Bay Area of California, but despite the title, Frozen creates the perfect ambiance for summer activities.
YOUNG HOT EBONY 2 | FATHER
In terms of Father releases, I must admit that this one isn’t a high point for me. Centel Mangum’s flows aren’t weak, but I’ve already heard most of it. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t stand when artists drop a bunch of singles instead of an album. It’s even worse when their next album comprises all those singles. Out of the 12 tracks, there’s one interlude and then six tracks Mangum released as singles. So it doesn’t feel new to me. I want to stress that this record is only anticlimactic to me because I had previously played those singles so many times. I’m mostly just griping about how it was released. If you haven’t been keeping up with his releases, it’s perfect summer listening, and so is most of Father’s extremely laid-back discography.
BABY | PETROL GIRLS
Petrol Girls’ lead woman Ren Aldridge is angry, and she has reason to be. If there’s one motivation to listen to Baby, it’s for the scarily prescient track “Baby, I Had an Abortion,” which the group released as a single in February. Petrol Girls seem to draw a lot of influence from the Riot Grrrl movement, with most of the tracks featuring Ren shouting, at least tangentially, about women’s rights. It’s a little preachy at times, but it’s something we all need to hear this summer.
KING TUBBY MEETS THE UPSETTER AT THE GRASSROOTS OF DUB | LEE SCRATCH PERRY AND KING TUBBY
This is essentially the first dub album. Dub is a subgenre of Reggae, though usually it’s instrumental and consists primarily of drum and bass. In a sense, it’s a precursor to the genre of drum and bass, but 90s drum and bass music typically had a faster bpm. Some big staples of dub are heavy use of reverb and delay echo effects. Perry passed away last year in late August. This collaboration with King Tubby is the perfect mood music for a relaxing summer.
TOMBOY | PANDA BEAR
Noah Lennox came up in the scene with the psychedelic experiment group Collective, but he changed the game with his second (or third if you count his underground album) solo album, Person Pitch. Lennox used samples to create psychedelic pop songs in a way no one had before. If you listen to all his releases, you’ll notice he switches from all synth to guitar and synth every other album. Tomboy is one of his mixed medium pieces. It’s kind of like an ode to surf rock with a lot of heavily reverbed chords played on a jangly Fender. With tracks like “Surfers Hymn” and “Last Night at the Jetty,” it’s giving beach vibes. Not to mention the rest of Lennox’s discography often presents an island aesthetic, which may be a result of his influences from world music and The Beach Boys.
PSYCHIC CHASMS | NEON INDIAN
Everyone is freaking losing their mind about how the Weeknd is bringing back 80s synth sounds with a neo-retro artistic twist, but Neon Indian has been doing this since 2009. Well, at least until he effectively quit music in 2015. Psychic Chasms kicks off with “Deadbeat Summer” after a short intro. A pioneer of chillwave, Alan Palomo, will melt your brain with his washed-out lo-fi synths making it a perfect soundtrack for another summer of record-breaking heat.
Curated by Andrew Scott
Deerhunter is an experimental rock band from Atlanta fronted by Bradford Cox, who also creates music as Atlas Sound. Cox struggled with Marfan syndrome in his teens, spending a lot of time in and out of hospitals. He found the experience desexualizing and for many years identified as asexual before coming out as gay in a 2011 Rolling Stone interview. In 2019 he came out as nonbinary and started wearing wigs on stage though he’d been performing in dresses since the early days of Deerhunter. Cox has shown immense love for music through his vast representation of genres in his work. Deerhunter progressed from a punk band with their first album, pivoting from shoegaze to psychedelic pop, which peaked with Halcyon Digest, followed by an explosion of southern rock in Monomania. In 2018 they released a lo-fi instrumental cassette called Double Dream of Spring.
DORIAN ELECTRA
I forget exactly how I navigated to Dorian Electra on the internet. I think I just saw a thumbnail on Youtube and thought it looked interesting. I guess I have the algorithm to thank for showing me “Jackpot.” It’s probably my favorite song by them. I just really dug the synth tones used in that track. If you like electronic music as much as I do, you’ll love Dorian. They’re quite solidly in the genre of hyperpop and have collaborated with 100 Gecs, Charli Xcx, Alice Glass, The Garden, and Rebecca Black, to name a few. Electra identifies as queer and genderfluid, often performing in drag with a drawn-on pencil stache.
YVES TUMOR
Sean Bowie’s first two albums are ambient electronica with occasional light vocals. They dropped their first vocal album, Safe in the Hands of Love, in 2018, followed by Heaven to a Tortured Mind in 2020. Safe continues they’re electronic exploration into plunderphonics, but in 2019 Bowie hired some recording musicians to help with Heaven, showing a return to tradition with more psychedelic, glam, and experimental rock-sounding tracks. In 2021, they dropped an EP called The Asymptotical World, which continues this sonic investigation.
PERFUME GENIUS
Michael Hadreas dropped out of high school after receiving death threats for being openly gay. After working as a doorman in Williamsburg for some years, he eventually moved back home to Seattle, where he started producing music under a moniker inspired by the film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Hadreas’ breakthrough album was No Shape. Up until that time, his albums were mostly stripped-back ensembles of vocals and keys. No Shape introduces a vast array of synth sounds, followed by his more traditional though still lush-sounding Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, which has a somewhat David Bowie, or at least 70s, vibe.
XIU XIU
Jamie Stewart started Xiu Xiu in 2002. Stewart has created some of the most sincere and difficult to listen to music. His style ranges from cacophonous percussion and blaring synths like in “Don Diasco” to a raw, intimate, almost whispering delivery like in “Fabulous Muscles.” Stewart’s vocals are often quivering, like Connor Oberst and many other emo singers, but his instrumentation doesn’t match this style. Stewart will often employ a poetic delivery like on the tracks “Support Our Troops, OH!” and “Mary Turner Mary Turner.” Steward makes it clear he wants to challenge his listeners by forcing them out of their comfort zone, often throwing in off-beat interludes if the music gets too predictable.
MYKKI BLANCO
Mykki Blanco started as a Youtube persona that eventually culminated in a music career in 2012, but not before she published a book of poetry called From the Silence of Duchamp to the Noise of Boys. Her influences range from Lil Kim, GG Allin, Rihanna, and Marilyn Manson, to Anaïs Nin, Jean Cocteau, the riot grrrl movement, and queercore. The most notable thing about Blanco’s music is her distinct voice and lyrical content. She’s been HIV-positive since 2011. She received some backlash for not coming out earlier, which resulted in her temporarily deactivating her Twitter. You might recognize Blanco from her collaborations with Blood Orange, Teyana Taylor, and Kanye West.
Curated by Andrew Scott
May 2022
IT’S ALMOST DRY | PUSHA T
It’s been a minute since we got a full-length Pusha T album. 2018 feels like a different period of time after roughly three years of covid, but DAYTONA remains an excellent display of Pusha’s prowess as a rapper. It was also the year of his beef with Drake, which eventually culminated in Pusha outing Drake as a father with his diss track, “The Story of Adidon.” Almost Dry’s tracks are tag team produced by Kanye West and Pharell Williams. It’s hard to top “Infrared,” but I actually preferred Pharell’s beats over West’s on this album. Also, the Nigo track that appears on the album mentioned in last month’s list is featured here.
AETHIOPES | BILLY WOODS
This was the first Billy Woods album I’d heard. On my initial listen, I thought it reminded me most of Earl Sweatshirt, and it turned out he appeared on Earl’s last album. After learning that Woods has been around for much longer than Earl, I decided to delve into his work with Armand Hammer. Before meeting his bandmate, Elucid, Woods’ style was much more old-school influenced. While Elucid had a clear effect on Woods’ development as an artist, this album was definitely influenced at least somewhat by Earl. Aethiopes’ eclectic beats and recitation-like raps blend to form a heady sound. It’s not something for the club.
MR MIXONDO | DJ TRAVELLA
DJ Travella’s Mr Mixondo decidedly is for the club. Well, sort of. I found Travella through composer and music educator Max Alper’s Instagram @la_meme_young. Alper posted a video of Travella djing what looked like a third-world rave outdoors in Africa. His command of the crowd was astounding. They were going completely bonkers. The actual song he was playing does not appear on the album. It sounded almost like he was cycling through effects and beat changes, but in a way, you’d expect to hear from experimental groups like Black Dice. Travella shows stunning resolve, creating beats on ancient Windows laptops and cell phones. The result is an experimental sound birthed out of legitimate necessity. It sounds most similar to footwork music from the States. It’s also reminiscent of nightcore with his use of high-pitched sped-up samples.
I NEVER LIKED YOU | FUTURE
One time I described Future to someone as a machine because of his consistent, prolific production of music content. Future doesn’t always make the most memorable albums. There’s not a ton of variety in the sound between them, but that’s not necessarily bad. In a sense, he’s dependable. The only album I’ve heard from him that I couldn’t stand was HNDRXX, which is interesting because, Future, released earlier that year, was his album that stood out the most in a good way. I Never Liked You continues Future’s story as a toxic rich guy fueled in his debaucherous endeavors by his checkered past. He’s not pushing any envelopes at this point, but his tendency to not stand out too much creates the perfect party ambiance.
. . . ON REFLECTION | WILLIAM BASINSKI & JANEK SCHAEFER
Avante-Garde composer William Basinski broke through with his Disintegration Loops series, which comprises magnetic tape loops that deteriorate as they play. For these recordings, Basinski drew inspiration from Steve Reich and Brian Eno after noting how recordings he made would deteriorate as he transferred them to digital format. He finished the composition on the day of the September 11th attacks, dedicating it to the victims using pictures and video taken of the attacks from his apartment as promotional material. . . . On Reflection is a collaboration with Janek Schaefer. The album combines ambient piano playing with field recordings. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Music for Airports. Though there is one synth-based track, it mostly sounds like one of them formed a piano into a wind chime. It was a bit surreal listening to it for the first time with my window open and not being unable to tell which ambient sounds were coming from the album and which ones were from outside.
MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS | KENDRICK LAMAR
Do I need to tell you there’s a new Kendrick Lamar album? Well, I’m going to anyway, just in case. Kendrick hasn’t released an album in five years unless you count his Black Panther album, with music from and inspired by the Marvel film. Critics have almost universally lauded Kendrick since he dropped Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, but Damn. really had an effect on people, and you can tell by the way the album art was stylized that he intended to be distinct. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is his highly anticipated follow-up to that, and it’s a double album. Kendrick writes what’s known as conscious hip hop, which means his focus is on lyrical content centered around social issues, despite narrowly eschewing politics. Beat-wise, it’s not much to be desired, but “We Cry Together” is written in an experimental format that mimics a domestic dispute. My favorite track was “Silent Hill,” which was a nice balance between lyrical content and melodic style.
Curated by Andrew Scott
April 2022
I KNOW NIGO | NIGO
Tomoaki Nagao is a Japanese fashion designer and record producer known for founding the streetwear brand A Bathing Ape (Bape). Nigo started his hip-hip career making beats for the Teriyaki Boyz. His first solo release dropped in 2000. I Know Nigo is his second solo release and first to feature primarily American rappers. I Know Nigo has big names spitting some quality verses. The album features multiple appearances from ASAP Rocky, Tyler, The Creator, Pusha T, Pharrell, and more. There’s even a track with the original Teriyaki Boyz. I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy this as much as I did because, unlike other producer-centered albums like those by Metro Boomin or Calvin Harris, I’d never heard his work before. But the rappers really brought the energy to this, and the beats didn’t slouch either.
MELT MY EYEZ SEE YOUR FUTURE | DENZEL CURRY
I was always a little unimpressed by Denzel, though his albums have received critical acclaim. For example, I expected to really like his last album, Unlocked, because it was a collaborative effort with producer Kenny Beats, but I found it too derivative. I have some memory of one of them claiming inspiration from MF DOOM for it. I thought they were emulating him too much. Melt My Eyes See Your Future has the potential to be the best hip-hop album of the year. To me, this is by far his best work. The beats are so clean; his flow is effortless. It really reminds me of Nas or 2Pac but in a good way. He makes several references to Pac too. Melt My Eyes feels a lot more modern than Unlocked did.
CRASH | CHARLI XCX
Charli’s been on a roll since 2019. Charli’s main inspo for this was 80s music, referring to it as her Janet (Jackson) album in its nascent stages. There are also parts that remind me of Taylor Dayne and a pretty big nod to New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle.” Crash features vocal appearances from Caroline Polachek and Rina Sawayama and production from Daniel Lopatin, who also produced the last Weeknd album, regularly performing as Oneohtrix Point Never.
CREST | BLADEE & ECCO2K
Bladee and Ecco2K come from a group of Swedish rappers called The Drain Gang, affiliated with Yung Lean, often referring to themselves as Sadboys. Their style has been categorized as cloud rap or emo rap with ethereal vocals and dreamy beats. In early Lean tracks, you can hear him running out of breath. Bladee similarly raps in a barely-there style. I’ve never been a huge fan of Bladee, and I lost interest in Yung Lean after his first two releases as his style, from the beginning, was borrowing pretty heavily from cloud rap pioneer Lil B. This collaboration between Bladee & Ecco2k is so interesting, though, because they’re not even rapping on it. It’s basically an electropop album. Crest gives carousel vibes blissfully flowing from one track to the next. It sounds new and original. British electronic music producer Iglooghost creates the most similar style I’m aware of.
DIASPORA PROBLEMS | SOUL GLO
I thought that aside from the bands I occasionally revisited from my youth, I would never be inspired by a hardcore band again. That was before I listened to Diaspora Problems. I saw the video for “Jump!! (Or Get Jumped!!!)((by the future))” and was not particularly impressed. Something about the album drew me in, though. I think a lot of it has to do with Soul Glo’s attitude, starting with their band name, which references a fictional hair product from Eddie Murphy’s comedy Coming to America. Hardcore music has to have a certain level of goofiness to balance out the otherwise harrowing tones and shrieks. It‘s something you notice from bands like The Locust. Soul Glo do not take themselves too seriously; that makes Diaspora Problems a supremely fun listen. I have no idea what he’s saying.
IN/OUT/IN | SONIC YOUTH
Though the band officially broke up in 2011, Sonic Youth quietly released several compilations over the years. In/Out/In is one of those compilations of what sounds like unmastered tracks left on the cutting room floor between 200 and 2010. I like to think of this as an instrumental album, despite one jam out of the five having vocals. It accentuates what I like about Sonic Youth, which is their instrumentals. They’ve never really had groundbreaking lyrics. Growing up, I was blown away by their innovative guitar techniques. Now that I don’t really play anymore, it’s nice to hear some of their more ambient guitar work. I’m actually craving more of this. As I usually spend hours listening to ambient electronica, these microtonal, meditative, organic string sounds offer a welcome change of pace.
Curated by Andrew Scott
MARCH 2022
SKETCHES | DUCKTAILS
This Matt Mondanile album came only a couple of months after the last one, Impressions. Mondanile tends to release everything he makes as an album instead of classifying certain tracks as b-sides. Sometimes he releases everything as a big compilation, like Hard Rock Cafe Chernobyl. The songs on Sketches are like the spiritual b-sides to Impressions. Most of the album is instrumental, but the dreamy, nostalgic production is nothing worth turning off, and the vocal tracks really carry the album. It sounds a little like being trapped in the elevator of a derelict mall. This album isn’t new, but I wrote this a while ago and kept pushing it back.
CAPRISONGS | FKA TWIGS
Caprisongs is a really great follow-up to Fka Twigs’ last album. I found Magdalene to be much more ambitious or epic. Caprisongs is more grounded in reality with tracks like “tears in the club,” lots of features from rappers, and interludes of conversations from the studio. The conversations scatter what is otherwise a pretty straightforward pop album, and a good one at that. They allow the songs to breathe while also providing an urban setting, whereas Magdalene strived for a more otherworldly vibe. Despite being a decidedly pop effort, Caprisongs wouldn’t be a Twigs album if it didn’t retain a significant amount of the avant-garde.
SICK | EARL SWEATSHIRT
I found Sick to be a better effort than Feet of Clay, Earl Sweatshirt’s last release, but it’s harder to say if Sick tops Some Rap Songs. To me, Sick is Earl’s most MF DOOM influence work, whom he has cited as an influence. It’s also Earl’s first release since DOOM’s death in October of 2020. Interestingly, Earl has never been classified as a mumble rapper being that he’s employed a style of rapping that literally incorporates mumbling in parts. His style, however, gives off an impression of pensive introversion you don’t see with most mumble rappers. This is something he started in 2015, though, which really shows on his underground release Solace. He has more of a literary style. You could say he inherits this from his father, a Johannesburg poet, but that might be unfair to the artist himself, but his father has likely had some influence on him, being that Earl sampled him in Some Rap Songs.
PREY//IV | ALICE GLASS
Alice Glass’s sound has evolved a lot since she left Crystal Castles. She’s taken her voice to a more industrial electropop sound, though the witch-house hip-hop style drums pervade much of the record. The breakup seems to have awakened a drive in her that wasn’t present before. It’s nice to hear vocal style accentuated and pushed forward with tracks that feel more cohesive. Crystal Castles sounds insubstantial in comparison. I’d been anticipating a full-length solo album since she dropped her first solo EP in 2017, which I found shocking and refreshingly different from her work with Crystal Castles. Her abusive relationship with previous band member Ethan Kath has inspired a lot of her lyrics since the breakup. Prey, and her last EP, were produced by Jupiter Keyes from HEALTH, whom Crystal Castles remixed on their first album.
GLITCH PRINCESS | YEULE
This album is an experimental sonic exploration that really carves out its own space. Yeule has been compared to Sophie, Grimes, Enya, and Björk. She really has developed her own voice in this release. She’s not hyperpoppy like Sophie; she’s more focused than Grimes, edgier than Enya; she’s less orchestral than Björk. It’s really jarring to hear instrumentation that is so experimental with melodies that are so catchy they almost sound familiar. The album is broken in half nicely by an acoustic track that employs a cadence technique that one might hear in a Midwest emo song where the words sound like they’re tripping over each other. The album ends with a five-hour-long ambient track.
DRAGON NEW WARM MOUNTAIN I BELIEVE IN YOU | BIG THIEF
Indie folk is usually a genre I write off as being played out. Something stands out about this release, though. Usually, when you hear about bands forming in music conservatories, you expect a sound heavily influenced by jazz and funk, like Vulfpeck, Deerhoof, Louis Cole, and Black Midi. I guess music programs have progressed to a point beyond instructing technical skill of an instrument, or Big Thief are downplaying their skills. New Warm Mountain recontextualizes a lot of deeply southern sounds into something that feels more modern. It becomes clear by the fourth track. The harmonies are so soothing, but it’s paired with this primitive instrumentation. There’s this grit to Big Thief that makes them sound so anachronistic, but based on what I know about pop music history, the foundations of country music actually involved a lot more yodeling. It’s kind of like when a contemporary film reimagines a period piece with new technology that accentuates the bleakness of that time. A few tracks break character and stray into more of a dream-pop or goth-rock sound. I suppose a lot of their appeal has to do with how distinct Adrianne Lenker’s voice is.
Curated by Andrew Scott
FEBRUARY 2022
LOVELESS | MY BLOODY VALENTINE
Valentine’s Day can be a bit of a polarizing holiday for people. Nonetheless, it occurs this month, and it would be sacrilege not to mention a band with the holiday in their name. While their first album, Isn’t Anything, seems more explicitly related to the celebration of love with songs like “Cupid Come,” “Feed Me with Your Kiss,” “Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside),” (I wonder what that’s about) and “I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It),” (same question) it’s interesting that Loveless shows up more on forums and lists as the best album to make out to. I guess it comes down to its vibe, which is more ethereal and downtempo than their first punkier sonic expedition making it more conducive to feeling someone up.
BLONDE | FRANK OCEAN
Nothing can get you in the mood for loving like some R&B and soul. For some reason, and I think James Brown had a big part to play, those genres became strongly associated with sex. Frank Ocean’s avant-garde approach is stripped-down, minimalistic, and spotlights his sultry, soulful vocal presentation. Those who are familiar with the intimate murmurs of Elliott Smith, who might have made it on this list if he wasn’t so depressing, thus being better for breakups, will recognize his influence on Ocean which becomes painstakingly clear on the track “Seigfried.”
WISH | THE CURE
The Cure is a band for lovers. While I’m personally guilty of making out pretty excessively to their self-titled album in high school, I went with Wish. I also didn’t choose Disintegration despite the single “Love Song” being on that one because it gets kind of gloomy. Of course, a lot of their earlier work is more danceable, post-punk. Wish is an amazing album in that it can be extremely cerebrally passionate, but also features more upbeat tracks like the single “Friday I’m In Love,” a jangle-pop anthem that famously was sped and pitched up by accident and intentionally left that way on the final press of the record. It’s something you listen to with someone you really love. The Cure strike a perfect balance of the different styles they cycled through over the years, managing to sound clear despite the abundance of guitar effects and synthesizers, unlike MBV’s murky, washed-out approach.
DUMMY | PORTISHEAD
Dummy was another popular one on forums and lists. Portishead is probably the quintessential Trip-Hop band, a genre that originated in the 90s combining funk, dub, soul, jazz, and R&B, usually with hip-hop style beats and instrumentation in a psychedelic fashion. Beth Gibbons’ extremely seductive voice matches effortlessly to the ominous sounds produced by the rest of the band, creating a unique neo-noir sound unlike anything before it and unlikely to be replicated. Not to say that it’s dated, but it doubtlessly sounds distinctly from the 90s. I suppose that’s a result of hip-hop moving on collectively from relying heavily on jazz samples, which of course, only add to the sensual tone in Portishead’s case.
DEVOTION | BEACH HOUSE
Another popular choice that came up often in my research was Beach House’s Devotion. Devotion is more of an indie take on dream pop. Despite only consisting of two people, the band manages to produce a full and rich sound using keyboards, drum machines, and reverb. Like Portishead, Beach House combines sensual vocals with dark synth tones. But Beach House has more of a mystical sound. The beats aren’t as accented, making it notably more ambient and airy.
LOVE DELUXE | SADE
It’s hard to narrow down the best albums about love as all of them seem to be. It’s also hard to narrow down Sade albums. I went with Love Deluxe because it has most of my favorite songs, though the one everyone knows, “Smooth Operator,” is on her previous record. The Best of Sade has a pretty good mix of both, but the best-of albums don’t feel incredibly romantic to me. Honestly, though, it feels like Sade was purposefully making music for passionate lovemaking. In case you somehow haven’t heard “Smooth Operator,” yeah, Sade is smooth jazz, but don’t call it lounge music. Wikipedia also labels it sophisti-pop and quiet storm, a subgenre of R&B, if that helps. I was surprised to find Love Deluxe also categorized as trip-hop, as it generally lacks the hip-hop angle, but I think a lot of the other aspects are present.
DIRTY MIND | PRINCE
Is there a more sexual artist than Prince? I certainly can’t think of one. Like many other artists mentioned here, there are numerous options in Prince’s catalog that make for great Valentine’s Day music. Prince was the hardest to narrow down. Obviously, Purple Rain is his biggest album. I also read that his self-titled or Dirty Mind could be his “sexiest” album. I think his self-titled is a little lacking in cohesion. And Dirty Mind, though truly genre-defying, is a little too upbeat for romance, probably better for the car ride to the date or dancing. I’m going to say Sign O’ the Times is his most romantic work. Esquire rates it second behind Purple Rain on a comprehensive list of his albums. Purple Rain has quite a bit of tension, though, and seems to be describing a relationship with a lot of conflict. Every track on Sign O’ the Times, save for a few songs, suggests hopeless devotion to another soul. “Adore” really punctuates that sentiment.
ENDLESS HONEYMOON | NATASHA LEGGERO AND MOSHE KASHER
Endless Honeymoon is a call-in show with married couple Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher. The hosts comedically help their listeners navigate their love lives. The show is exclusive to the Apple podcast app where it holds 4.8 stars from 3.5k reviews.
LOVE LETTERS | MEREDITH GOLDSTEIN
Love Letters is a podcast hosted by Meredith Goldstein, who, for nine years leading up to the launch of the podcast, wrote an advice column by the same name for The Boston Globe and continues to do so. The podcast features stories from guest speakers on a broad range of subjects related to love and sexual relationships. Goldstein investigates subjects brought up by listeners in search of advice by interviewing experts as well as offering her own personal input.
SAVAGE LOVE | DAN SAVAGE
Dan Savage is an author, journalist, and activist. Like Meredith Goldstein, he writes a sex and relationship advice column that has a companion podcast; however, his has been around for much longer. Aside from relationship advice, Savage also explores political topics and sex and relationship-related news. A longer version of the podcast is available on the show’s website. Savage generally takes a position of support and acceptance of all kinks and offers his listeners advice on safely exploring their sexual identities.
Curated by Andrew Scott
JANUARY 2022
KICK II-IIIII | ARCA
Kick ii is the highly anticipated follow-up to Kick i. What was not anticipated was for Arca, a non-binary Venezuelan avant-guard experimental musician, to drop Kick iii-iiiii along with it. Arca gained notoriety after making significant contributions to albums by Kanye West and Björk. The Kick series further explores Arca’s whimsical style. These are far from conventional pop songs, though they sound pop-inspired. It’s a bit like if someone put a pop song in a blender or shook one up in a bottle. Her earlier work was equally chaotic but lacked vocals tying the tracks together, so they sounded less like cohesive songs and more like sonic experiments. Kick ii also features a lengthy appearance from Sia.
DAWN FM | WEEKND
Abel is making serious genre choices with this one. Dawn FM is now his second album produced by vaporwave pioneer Daniel Lopatin. With features like Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, Quincy Jones, Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, one of the Safdie brothers, and, yes, Jim Carrey, you’d think Dawn FM would be pretty bullet-proof. So far, I can’t find a problem with it. It’s a little harder to digest than his last album packed with infectious hooks. It actually bears a striking resemblance to Lopatin’s most recent album, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, in that they draw heavily from AM/FM radio aesthetics. Whether it comes from Abel or Lopatin is unclear, not that it really matters. What listeners get is either a more artistic pop album or a poppier experimental album, depending on how it’s viewed.
EP SUITE | TIERRA WHACK
Tierra Whack is back with three EPs titled Rap?, Pop?, and R&B? I‘ve been waiting for a long-play album from Whack since 2018. Her last release was only 15 minutes long, with 15 one-minute songs. She also released it as a visual album on YouTube. That album, Whack World, really leaves you craving more Whack. I‘m a little disappointed we’re only getting nine more songs this time, but I‘ll take what I can get. Whack presents an original take on hip-hop with a distinct sense of humor. Pop? even features a stripped-down track with just fingerpicking, bass, and singing. It‘s effectively an indie-folk song, which from a rapper is pretty unexpected. And the song holds its own, unlike Young Thug‘s professed country album, which was basically him doing the same thing he always does over different instrumentation. Oh, and the R&B? one really goes, offering three solid slappers.
FAITH IN PERSONA | DEATH’S DYNAMIC SHROUD
This vaporwave duo‘s been quietly dropping albums for about six years now. Not a lot is known about them. For the most part, they present as ambient electronic music, but there are vocals of some sort, though it’s unclear if they’re samples or sung. A lot of the time, it’s hard to distinguish specific words. I can‘t say how Faith In Persona compares to their other work because this is my introduction to them. They seem to be contributing something new to the zeitgeist, though, or at least they’re trying to. If you‘re inspired by innovative music, Death‘s Dynamic Shroud is without a doubt here to do that.
NOISEMBRYO | MERZBOW
Masami Akita is a prolific Japanese noise musician who goes by the alias Merzbow. Akita has produced countless releases over the course of his career, dropping over 27 works just this year. The most recent available on streaming services is Noisembryo / Noise Matrix which is actually a compilation album. According to his discography page on Wikipedia, Akita released an album named Noisembryo in 1994. You can‘t hear it on streaming services, at least not in the US. It‘s easy to say all Merzbow records sound the same at first. They’re aggressive sound collages that assault your ears; some just have more compelling sounds than others, which, I guess, boils down to personal preference. If you like the feedback at the beginning and end of most Nirvana songs, you’ll love Merzbow. Merzbow sounds a little like if you miked John Coltraine, jerry-rigged the volume to be loud enough to break glass, and then shot him into space.
ANTIDAWN | BURIAL
Burial just dropped his EP Antidawn. William Emmanuel Bevan is often credited with popularizing Dub-Step. Despite what many people have come to believe, Dub-Step is not about wobble bass. It’s more about syncopated beat patterns that often give tracks an off-kilter feel like it‘s about to trip over itself. Burial’s style combines this beat pattern with ghostly vocal samples to a haunting effect; however, that prominent rhythm is missing from Antidawn, straying from his earlier work. There are parts where samples of crackles from microphone static or fire or drops of water create a sort of implied rhythm, making the EP a nice collection of ethereal sounds.
Curated by Andrew Scott
DECEMBER 2021
THE BEACH BOYS CHRISTMAS ALBUM
I never fully determined how sincere The Beach Boys were about their goofy harmonies. It hauntingly comes together well on tracks like “I Just Wasn‘t Made for These Times,” where these guileless jovial voices that could only be taken seriously in a time before the American sexual revolution really took hold are expressing a sort of existential depression. To hear them carol about childhood fantasies like Santa Clause sounds much more at home but creates an absurd positivity. Describing Santa’s Sleigh as a “candy-apple red” hotrod, as if he’s some kind of American bad boy, the Boys deliver a very distinctly American-sounding Christmas experience so sincere you question its faith.
SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS | SUFJAN STEVENS
Maybe you’re really passionate about Christmas. Sufjan Stevens has got you covered. Stevens’ Songs for Christmas is a serene folk music ode to the season. Stevens lends his ghostly voice to some of the classics and also writes some original tunes for the five-volume collection. It’s perfect for watching the snowfall with a cup of cocoa and someone you really love or doing the same alone, meditating on the past year.
FUNKY CHRISTMAS | JAMES BROWN
This album is perfect for getting you in the mood for a holiday party, shopping, or decorating. Turn it on first thing in the morning to find James Brown’s energy is as present on this album as it is on any of his other releases. Who wants a boring Christmas with those same tired chorus chants? Brown’s bluesy Christmas carols remind you that you’re still alive and kicking this year.
EVERYDAY IS CHRISTMAS | SIA
The season wouldn’t be complete without a contemporary pop ode to it. Throughout the years countless artists have contributed to this tradition, but few hit the nail as squarely as Sia. The album captures many of the sentiments on this list. Sia presents 13 completely original Christmas carols for all the coming seasons. Rarely does one see this amount of artistic effort channeled into a Christmas album and Sia pulls it off.
CHRISTMAS WITH WEEZER
Just in case you’re an anarchist who also loves Christmas, there’s Christmas with Weezer. Weezer is known for breaking pop punk’s characteristically naughty aesthetic by recontextualizing it as nerdy: really reaching an apex with their recent cover album that applied the Weezer formula unexpectedly to several established hits. Christmas with Weezer is just one step in that direction, exploring the valley between cool and geeky.
AN OSCAR PETERSON CHRISTMAS
Many jazz greats offer their take on Christmas, but few put forth much more than a song or two. Oscar Peterson devotes a whole album to jazzifying your favorite Christmas carols. There’s something about this album that makes it universally appreciable. The absence of vocals ensures nothing is jammed down anyone’s throat. The lengthy musical interludes that scramble the timeless riffs of classic carols almost let you forget it’s a Christmas album making your holiday season feel a little more intellectual.
GOOD FOOD CHRISTMAS PODCAST | BBC
If you’re out of food ideas for your holiday party, look no further. Tom Kerridge, a Michelin-starred chef, guides you through 152 and counting recipes. Kerridge also hosts the regular Good Food Podcast, produced by Good Food Magazine. If that’s not enough, check out the Good Food App.
PLAYLISTS
There are so many holiday albums it’s hard to pick one that’s better than the others. Check out these playlists and experience the best songs from all of them.
SPOTIFY
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5DihPyFEWTyKUloujCzrCu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5OP7itTh52BMfZS1DJrdlv
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX5D4gDh3HAsM
APPLE
https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/christmas-crooners/pl.4fddda73d87b418287ab7c04b7b42f75
https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/classical-christmas/pl.6b498dbf3aed441dac75bd335e1d3dd5
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/a-very-indie-christmas/pl.9ab436e555014c4d93c1192fab241a4b
Curated by Andrew Scott
NOVEMBER 2021
FRIENDS THAT BREAK YOUR HEART | JAMES BLAKE
James Blake is back with his fifth studio album, Friends That Break Your Heart. Blake’s new album features appearances by SZA, Joji, and JID, and production by Metro Boomin and Nico Muhly, a classical composer who’s worked with Bonnie Prince Billy, Grizzly Bear, Sufjan Stevens, and Joanna Newsom. Pitchfork called Friends that Break Your Heart “Blake’s most traditional album,” giving it a slightly above average score of 6.6. Blake won better reviews from NME and The Guardian, earning five and four stars, respectively.
A BEGINNER’S MIND | SUFJAN STEVENS & ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE
Stevens and De Augustine secluded themselves in an upstate New York cabin to produce this album. Every day they watched movies, and as a result, each track was inspired by a film. Anthony Fantano said A Beginner’s Mind was “a return to the ornate and whimsical folk music that put Stevens on the map in the first place.” Stevens has also released a five-disc instrumental compilation this year inspired by the death of his father.
SONGWRIGHTS APOTHECARY LAB | ESPERANZA SPALDING
Esperanza Spalding’s new album dropped on the 24th of September. While not known for pushing any envelopes, Spalding continues to release high-quality, contemporary jazz that perfectly exudes a chill coffee shop vibe. Pitchfork said Songwrights Apothecary Lab was “ a strangely romantic, sometimes didactic effort to mold the often private experience of listening and feeling the healing power of music.”
SOMETIMES I MIGHT BE INTROVERT | LITTLE SIMZ
British-Nigerian rapper Little Simz released her fourth full-length album early this September called Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. The title is a backronym of her nickname, “Simbi.” Simz told NME that despite declaring herself to be introverted in the title of her album, the album is a very personal expression; however, she did say that opening up was difficult for her. With lines like “Is you a sperm donor or a dad to me?” it’s easy to see what she’s talking about, but the album remains relatable for Black women on her tracks like “Women.”
LP! | JPEGMAFIA
It’s been two years since Peggy blessed us with a full-length album. Following the trend of his last two eps, EP! and EP2!, Barrington has named this new release LP! LP! has a different tracklist depending on the medium you listen to it on due to sample clearance issues. For streaming services, the album has only 18 tracks, and several of them are from EP! If you listen on Soundcloud, Youtube, or you buy it on Bandcamp, you’ll get 20 tracks of all-new songs, except the first track, “TRUST!” which was released as a single previously.
SHADE | GROUPER
The same day that LP! dropped, Grouper released her 12th studio album, Shade. Liz Harris is a psychedelic folk and lo-fi ambient musician from Oregon. She developed a cult following with her breakthrough album Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill in 2008. Harris continues developing her transcendental style on Shade with her barely murmured vocals and ghostly instrumentals. Shade alters between stripped-down folk songs and washed-out dream-pop tracks. The album feels extremely vulnerable; on one track, she leaves in her saying, “Don’t worry, I’m not recording” at the end of the recording. On another track, she has to start a verse several times before moving on.
THE PROBLEM WITH JON STEWART | JON STEWART
Jon Stewart returns to the front of the camera after over five years of behind-the-scenes work on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. His new show, The Problem with Jon Stewart, is available exclusively on Apple TV. The show’s content spills over onto its companion podcast of the same name. On the podcast, guests join Jon for nuanced discussions that didn’t make the show. So far, critics are generally enjoying Stewart’s new show, though Rolling Stone said it was “stuck in the past.” While the Washington Post said sentiments like that are because Stewart became so big with The Daily Show he spawned many imitators, like Desus and Mero and John Oliver, it’s now more difficult to define himself. The podcast is currently rated 4.4 stars on the Apple podcast app, so fans seem to be pleased.
ANTHEMS | HANA WALKER-BROWN
Hana Walker-Brown started Anthems to talk about women’s issues and, in general, to give a voice to underrepresented people in the UK. The New Yorker said Anthems offered “a purposeful corrective to the predominantly white, predominantly male podcasting sphere.” Each episode features a guest speaker who recites original manifestos, speeches, stories, poems, or rallying cries. Last season Anthems focused on LGBQ+ voices. For its third season, Anthems will feature exclusively Black voices. You can listen to Anthems on Spotify, Apple’s Podcast App, or whatever you use to listen to podcasts.
PLAYLISTS
Check out these Thanksgiving-themed playlists for your turkey-day festivities!
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/thanksgiving-r-b-throwback-playlist/pl.u-V9D7moNC65EapB
https://music.apple.com/no/playlist/thanksgiving-dinner/pl.158d86f1b8f5425191cdb44a235a2e8b
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4aAilxuQQUqYvyxQDDFGQ1
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6MP9MZoE9JIzCHizhyWRar
Curated by Andrew Scott
OCTOBER 2021
SPOTIFY HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST
Spotify has collated the perfect Halloween playlist. The playlist kicks off with Sonic Youth’s spookily discordant “Halloween” off their second album, Bad Moon Rising. This list continues to feature classics from Bowie, Outkast, and The Cranberries, as well as spooky deep cuts from bands like Rob Zombie and Metallica.
TURN OFF THE LIGHT | KIM PETRAS
There aren’t a lot of pop albums that are as explicitly spooky as Kim Petras’ Turn Off the Lights. Even Thriller had eight other tracks that had nothing to do with horror unless you count “Beat It.” Petras goes so far as to feature Cassandra Peterson, the actress who portrayed Elvira. Released in 2019, Turn Off the Lights is a trap-inspired electro-dance-pop album that will electrify your Halloween party much more than the “Monster Mash.”
MONOLITHS & DIMENSIONS | SUNN O)))
What could be spookier than Doom metal? Any Sunn O))) record would do the trick for a haunted house, but Monoliths & Dimensions was their big breakthrough. Attila Csihar's Hungarian accent just adds to the mood, with his low guttural chants that sound like an ancient demon awakening. The band also performs in black cloaks and has appeared covered in fake blood and scary masks. If this is the Halloween vibe you’re going for, you can also check out Sleep, another iconic doom metal band.
ALL HALLOWS EP | AFI
All Hallows is an EP you’ve definitely seen if you ever walked into a Hot Topic in the aughts. AFI draws a lot of influence from horror punk bands from the 80s, specifically the Misfits, whose song they cover on this ep. You’ll also recognize the last two tracks if you ever played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. While AFI’s early work is awfully similar to the Misfits, you can also check out bands like the Cramps if you’re looking for something in the same vein.
TOO DARK PARK | SKINNY PUPPY
Skinny Puppy’s albums are harsh soundscapes of synthesizers and samples from horror films. Too Dark Park is their most popular release. Even the title is spooky. The band often performs in disturbing and elaborate costumes. Nivek Ogre’s vocals sound like they’re coming from a Peter-Jackson-style orc. It’s hard to say what distinguishes Too Dark Park from Skinny Puppy’s other albums because they’re all so chaotic. It seems to come together particularly well on this album. If you like this sound, you might want to check out Throbbing Gristle. Throbbing Gristle is artier and less gimmicky, making them less specific to Halloween though assuredly disturbing. For example, members of TG have performed at MoMA PS1. D.o.A: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle gave me a panic attack when I first listened to it.
DOWNWARD SPIRAL | NINE INCH NAILS
Another industrial band, Nine Inch Nails, certainly nails the feel of Spooktober, though many people regard this album as the spookiest. That might be because “The Becoming” features a sample of people screaming in agony warped into the rhythm. Some parts of this album sound like being lost in some dungeon from Quake, which is unsurprising because Nine Inch Nails’ only permanent member, Trent Reznor, composed the soundtrack for the game two years later.
GHOST ENTANGLEMENT | LUSSURIA
Lussuria is another great choice for haunted houses, especially if you want the haunted house to be less guitar-driven. Ghost Entanglement is not only aptly titled but also features 40 minutes of overtly disquieting sounds, including slightly slowed and barely audible whispers. Not much can be made out, though the words “scared to death” are clear at one point. Lussuria uses discordant ambient synth tones to agitate the listener into a state of ecstatic anxiety.
YEAR OF THE SNITCH | DEATH GRIPS
Death Grips’ sound can easily be described as unearthly, and they’re likely to scare your parents too. Just looking at the album cover for Year of the Snitch should give you an impression of what you’re getting yourself into when you put it on. MC Ride’s lyrics are often gruesome and graphic. Despite this, he’s less likely to offend someone at your party than something like, say, Tyler the Creator’s Goblin unless, of course, they’re offended by the harsh and dissonant uptempo music.
Curated by Andrew Scott
SEPTEMBER 2021
September brings not just Virgo season but for many it is a time for back to school, and with a new school year comes fresh lists of reading material. From learning about Chess, Addiction recovery, moving forward in a career, family history, or discovering a new comic book or video game. We assembled our September collection in the hopes of finding a good book, podcast or movie to curl up with as the fall season begins.
Please let us know your favorites and your own favorite way to welcome Autumn with your favorite books, TV shows, movies, or podcasts. We’d love to hear from you!
Virgo Season
National Drug & Alcohol Addiction Recovery Month
American Chess Day – Sep 1
Labor Day – Sep 6
Grandparents’ Day – Sep 12
National Video Game Day – Sep 12
National Comic Book Day – Sep 25
Ask a Stupid Question Day/National Neighbor Day –Sep 28
Curated by: Media Smart Citizens Content Creator Martha Reckers.
AUGUST 2021
To continue the celebration of summer, we present our August collection of curated ‘reads’ ‘watches’ and ‘listens’. With August being Leo season is a time for generosity, to be generous to others and as always to be generous with ourselves by keeping an eye out for our own physical and mental health.
August is National Immunization Awareness Month, it is also the month playing host to Grief Awareness Day (August 30). Thus inspiring our selection of self-care podcasts, and hopefully plenty of books and movies throughout the month to escape into. Whether that's escaping onto a mountaintop for National Climb a Mountain Day, spending time with friends and family, listening to your favorite song, or to cheer on your favorite athlete in the Olympics.
Please let us know your favorites and your favorite way to celebrate the final month of Summer with your favorite books, TV shows, movies, or podcasts. We’d love to hear from you!
Listen
Self-Care
Podcasts for Younger Listeners
National Radio Day - Aug 20
Curated by: Media Smart Citizens Content Creator Martha Reckers.