I saw an Instagram video of St. Vincent singing harmonies on “Danny’s Song” and was instantly transported to my childhood. I’m pretty sure everyone with parents my mom’s age knows this song somewhere deep in their brains. I have no other thoughts or notes on this song, just that it’s wholesome and feels like a warm summer day.
I’m a Phoebe Bridgers superfan, and when I saw this tweet I knew it was over for me.
She often talks about how “Kyoto”, the hit Grammy-nominated single of her sophomore album Punisher (2020), started as a slower folk song and was transformed by her production team into the rock banger that it is today. Phoebe got to have it both ways in the end, and I’m not sure she’s done yet.
I’m not sure if this stance makes me a Miley Cyrus apologist, but I think it’s brilliant that she’s finally discovered rock music. She should have been covering “Zombie” this whole time; her voice is made for something with a harder edge than the pop ballads she was putting out before. “Angels Like You” has stadium rock drums but also acoustic guitar and string flourishes. This record finally feels unforced, easy. She’s hit her stride, and I’m happy for her.
Deja Vu (1970) by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is the album I most associate with my pandemic summer odyssey: a twelve hour drive from Berkeley to Phoenix. “Carry On” feels like speeding down a desert freeway, dirt on my right, dirt on my left. This album has a rugged, dusty aesthetic, replete with the layered harmonies this band is known for. It doesn’t take itself too seriously (“Almost Cut My Hair”) but provides that heartstring-pulling crooning (“Helpless”) that I want from Neil Young especially. When the heat wave hit Berkeley recently, I was immediately drawn back to this album.
Big Thief’s Two Hands (2019) did a number on me when it first came out. “Not” was among my favorite songs of 2019. I love the distorted, angular outro, which comes across as raw rather than posturing. This lack of airs is an ethos in their work; when I saw Big Thief perform live, the crowd yelled for “Paul” and the band refused to play it. A few days later, Adrianne Lenker took to Twitter to explain that they choose the set for their shows as a band before they come onstage, and only play the songs that they feel are right for the evening.
It’s my habit to wait after concerts, once the crowd has dispersed, and beg the stage hands to give me a setlist as they’re hauling gear and cleaning up. Usually, if you’re nice to them, they’ll oblige. My Big Thief at the Fox setlist, which is scrawled in a sharp script, is up on my wall like a piece of art. I’m really looking forward to going to concerts again sometime soon and expanding my collection.