Some housekeeping: this segment is going paid next week! Subscribe here. You don’t want to miss out on this unhinged brain dump, right? Right?
If you need to be convinced even further, I’ll channel my mother and tell you that you can support my work for the price of a cup of coffee every month (five dollars; I live in the Bay Area). That math is bananas! Do you ever read this newsletter and find a new song that you like and think, I’d love to buy this girl a cup of coffee? Well, now you can! In all seriousness, I hope that this newsletter brings some value to your life and I would greatly appreciate if you helped me continue to write it.
The new Arcade Fire album is not that good—there, I said it. I’m interested in dedicating an issue of this newsletter to the Father John Misty-fication of alternative music; this album is quite heavy-handed, even for Arcade Fire. Solar Power (2021) is another shining example, bless Lorde’s sweet climate-change-aware heart. My worst opinion is perhaps that I don’t believe music should be overtly political (or funny, but that’s another point entirely). If you have something to say, at least make it listenable; I don’t want to be preached at. All songs should be love songs! Please do not come after me for this statement, as I will refuse to defend or explain it.
But this song, the closer off the new (very short also… something perhaps worth unpacking but not by me) album, is unimaginably good. It almost makes the rest of the record even harder to hear; they’ve clearly still got it, but they’re choosing to withhold it from us. I’ve read many positive reviews of this album, and I reserve the right to change my mind, but for now, I’m holding onto “WE” for dear life and screwing up my eyes to the rest.
This Sharon Van Etten album is perfect! I was so glad that it came out on the same day as the Arcade Fire record; it fixed my sour mood after feeling deeply let down by WE (2022). She released it all at once, shunning the modern album cycle format that asks artists to distill their album to a few singles, citing the long forgotten experience of buying a record on its release day and hearing it in its entirety. I respect this endeavor, even though I don’t think it’s going to catch on. The album art is questionable, but the tracks deliver.
Andrew McMahon was the first famous person I ever met, I think. Naturally, I became obsessed with him. I think Everything in Transit (2005) is perfect front to back, but also recognize that my enjoyment of this record transcends taste entirely. “The Mixed Tape” goes so dumb it makes me want to thrash around on the floor. Conceptually so tight, so smart. I will die on this hill.
Confession: I was a “Spud Infinity” hater. What’s that stupid “boing” noise? It sounds like someone recorded one of those metal squiggly door stops:
Live, the sound is still annoying but also endearing, like square dancing clubs (also not going to defend this one, I am so full of hot takes today!) or when someone snores like a cherub. When Adrianne Lenker leaned back and wailed out the chorus of this song, I kind of felt like I was having a mass religious experience with the other members of the pit. Apparently, they were not playing a doorstop, but rather a Jew’s harp, which is decidedly less whimsical and more offensive. You learn something new everyday.
Yet another cancellable opinion from my corner of the music Internet: “This Love” is one of the best Taylor Swift songs. In fact, 1989 (2014) is my favorite Taylor Swift album. It came out at a time in my life when I was very into pop music and she does not miss (“Welcome to New York” is a near miss, but I still know all the words, so I’ll give her a pass). I’m so excited for this new reinterpretation of this era of her catalogue.
For some reason while I was studying this week, I needed to hear Alex G like I needed air, or to not be studying anymore:
This album is really good, and I’d never heard it all the way through before. You’ll be seeing a lot more of it on my playlists. On another note, I recently saw We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2022) a movie whose only redeeming quality in my eyes was the original soundtrack by Alex G. I’ll be playing it frequently, despite my distaste for the movie itself.
I’m a bit too young to remember Mariah Carey’s time in the sun, but as a soprano, I know she’s the queen. At one point in my life, I could do the whistle tone solo in “Emotions” and I don’t think I’ll ever be that proud of something ever again. This song is based on a Tom Tom club sample—culturally literate superstar, I see you.
Dua Lipa is the hottest person on earth. Exhibit Z, because literally every second of her existence proves my point:
She’s the biggest pop star in the world, and I know she has a whole team behind her to make her everything that she is. That being said, it’s also clear that she works hard and is incredibly, prodigiously talented. Huge respect for her and her ability to look that good in a rhinestone catsuit.
Speaking of fashion, Olivia Rodrigo has been killing it lately (the irony of me, literally wearing my pajamas right now, pretending to be any sort of definitive voice on Olivia Rodrigo’s looks is not lost on me). This chainmail dress? So good! This custom Versace gown? Absolutely gorgeous! I’m not a fan of her tour aesthetic—this tweet said it better than I ever could—but she’s still turning looks offstage. Plus, it’s a rite of passage for a young celebrity to look a little cringe sometimes.
So true, bestie! Jokes aside, great rapper that deserves your attention.
No thoughts, just this song over and over and over.
Currently trending in my brain: the smiling-melting emoji, the phrase “as such,” letting baristas and bartenders choose your drinks for you, unapologetic stoke, parents, sugar snap peas, paying attention to drum tones, the reply function of messages that lets you hold multiple conversations at the same time, long phone calls, having multiple best friends, luxuriously slow grocery shopping, leaning into obsessions, these Kevin Lucbert drawings, do not disturb mode, wearing sunglasses and earplugs and generally trying to preserve my body for old age.
You’re absolutely right about Arcade Fire. As a once passionate advocate, I am again disappointed by their Rock Star-itis, and absence of substantial songwriting
I'm loving that under 20's like Gayle and Olivia are following Lorde (now 25) and Taylor Swift's (30 something) footsteps with some great songs.