The Stuff That I Have Been Listening To This Week
Let me warn you ahead of time, you will not have heard most of these artists (or if you have, kudos).
I generally hate most of what passes for “popular” music these days, so I dig.
I believe in music written and sung by musicians for the purpose of being able to actually play it (sometimes even live).
Mauno: Tuning
Mauno are a really good (and thoughtful) band from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. The album is full of unexpected twists, sounds found and placed in interesting places, cool ideas, and even some loveliness.
You could waste a rainy day in much worse ways, I can safely tell you that.
Here is an interesting interview with the vocalist Kevin Everett.
Never Young: Singles Tape 2 — SoftBank
This is one of my go-to albums right now, it is awesome in all the noisiest ways. Melodic despite being absurd, angry, and sometimes surreal.
Never Young, from San Francisco, liken their sound to “Sonic Youth, At The Drive In, and My Bloody Valentine” having a threesome and that is strangely apt and oddly enough a really good thing.
Here are more words about Never Young.
St. Vincent: Masseduction
Not sure I love all of this album, but I really love some of this album. In addition, I truly admire St. Vincent’s ambition. If she is following a Bowie arc, this would be her “Let’s Dance” (but maybe more ironic).
I find the specificity of some of her commentary aurally and visually about marketing to be disorienting in the same way the movie “True Stories” was. She is literally hyper-segmenting her messaging just like if she were marketing a Facebook or Google ad, but the messages are still personal. It is the kind of seamless, slick, advertising we see every day only laid bare with earnestness.
I will be checking it out many more times over the next months.
Finally, one of my oldest friends Joe. aka Horse to Water, has a new album that was just released. He really poured his heart and soul into it. Very excited for him and you should absolutely give it a listen:
Alright, that’s enough of that. But if you need more music, here is this week’s playlist (it is called “Cruel Motorbike Soap”). Explore, Enjoy, and Share Music!
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