Currently: one of the best

Katy Kirby, Bon Iver, and Neko Case

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There are a few records from last year that I have been revisiting to determine if they were victims of my indifference during my period of impenetrability. This is one of them! I was such a huge fan of the last Katy Kirby record that I was expecting to be really enamored with this one, but I found it to be slightly too produced for my taste—I preferred the really live sound of Cool Dry Place (2021). But this album is excellently written and performed, and she is still one of my favorite songwriters working today. I’m considering title track “Blue Raspberry” as a big blind spot for me in 2024.

I’ll never get over this song.

I was told about a video (Reddit post? Can’t be bothered to actually find out) wherein someone drunkenly formulated a map of influence in indie music which showed Bon Iver as the origin of everything. I believe this to be true, in many ways; especially in early records, there are so many elements which are very much ahead of their time. This video, which shows Justin Vernon wearing his shirt inside out, presumably just a few years out from his period of living alone in the “For Emma” cabin in Wisconsin, is beautiful and also illuminating. The stripped down versions of his songs still maintain those hard edges that indicate his subsequent interest in electronic sound. Some of the most interesting indie artists working today merge these two genres (Alex G, Grouper, Imogen Heap). When I saw Bon Iver in 2022, I cried the whole time he was onstage.

I didn’t get into Neil Young until I was an adult and he released this record, a weird one to be a favorite but mine nonetheless. “Kansas” is one of the best Neil songs ever, in my opinion.

I actually really like when artists do their own music in a cover style (Charli xcx took it a bit too far with the brat remixes but that’s alright). Some of my favorite versions of these are by Jeff Tweedy, covering Wilco or Uncle Tupelo.

I recently made a new Topsters, which I haven’t done in years, and I really struggled with whether or not to include this Bright Eyes album right at the end. It’s not one of my personal favorites, but I can see how it influenced just about everything that came after it. I often struggle with this balance of trying to be true to myself but also acknowledge the undeniable classics. I think I struck a good balance this time:

Neko Case just released a memoir. She has maybe influenced my songwriting more than anyone else, and I’m really excited to see her speak in a few weeks in San Francisco on a book tour. This song, not given a studio release until her retrospective Truckdriver Gladiator Mule (2015), is one of my favorites to study and learn from—she balances perfectly telling something true without squandering the poetic potential of songwriting as a medium.

I’ve written about this song a million times. It is one of the best.

Currently trending in my brain: learning to knit continental, reading Annie Ernaux in French and English, journal walkthroughs were people just show you all the crazy envelopes and stickers and pens they use to make elaborate journals, responding to my emails, responding to my letters, running (still), going to the public library, offleash dogs, knowing a skill well enough to do it without doubt.