Saturday, March 4, 2023

Monthly Mix: February 2023

 



(1) Wednesday - “Bath County”


We are now more than sixty days into 2023 and, for my money, Wednesday have released the two best songs of the year. “Bath County” is so good it’s infuriating. They build to a perfect chorus (“Every daughter of God …”) within the first minute and then they never go back to it. Any other band would repeat that hook six more times, but Wednesday has too many other ideas they need to cram into three minutes and ten seconds, and they all work. I cannot stress this enough: May 29. Upstairs at Paradiso. Ten euros.


(2) Indigo De Souza - “Younger & Dumber”


The other absolute knockout song from this month (with a great video to match). De Souza’s new album Any Shape You Take comes out April 28. This is the last track, and it feels like a last track. It feels like you’ve gone somewhere with her. From a pure songwriting perspective, this is a pretty straightforward country ballad. It starts there, and it ends there. But in between … wow. If I had to argue for a non-Wednesday song as a too-early Song of the Year candidate, it’s this one.  


(3) boygenius - “Not Strong Enough”


Wrote those first two blurbs before I heard “Not Strong Enough,” and I’m not going to go back and revise them so, hey, let’s get repetitive, here’s another Song of the Year candidate. It is exactly what I asked for last month: a boygenius song that doesn’t seem like it could/should just be a solo song for one of its members. Phoebe leads it off, Julien gets the best line (“Drag racing through the canyon / Singing ‘Boys Don't Cry’”), Lucy brings it home (leading on a final chorus that is still very much a collaborative effort). I didn’t think there was any way they could live up to the astronomical expectations for this record, but … maybe they will?


(4) Jessie Ware - “Pearls”


It’s so good. It really is. I just hate that it starts with the “la la la” bit. I don’t mind when that comes back later. I just don’t want to start with it. Also, a British woman whispering “excuse me” belongs to Wet Leg now. They own that. So it’s 95% perfect. That’s still pretty good.


(5) Caroline Polachek - “Smoke”


I only went to one concert in the month of February, which is disappointing, but what can you do? That one show, though, was anything but disappointing. Let me be the millionth person to tell you that Polachek is a star, and an electric performer. “Smoke” is the last song in her encore, and it lives up to that placement.


(6) Dim Wizard - “Ride The Vibe”


Supergroups! This is the guy from Bad Moves, the guy from The Sidekicks, Jeff Rosenstock, and Sarah Tudzin singing a song about Kevin Morby. I’m sure it’s a logistical nightmare to put together a collaboration like this, which is too bad, because I would like about twenty more of them.


(7) 100 Gecs - “Hollywood Baby”


By far the dumbest song on this list, and yet it leaves me with a huge grin on my face every time I hear it. I can say with 100% certainty that (a) The Singles Jukebox would have reviewed this, (b) I would have given it a [9], (c) the next highest score would have been a [4] at best, and (d) multiple very smart people would have given it a [0]. I don’t care. It’s great.


(8) Meet Me @ The Altar - “Kool”


The last time I fell in love with a Meet Me @ The Altar song, I pitched the idea of selling t-shirts that said “FEFE DOBSON DIED FOR YOUR SINS.” Sadly never got around to that. And, now that I think about it, Fefe’s more of a John the Baptist figure in this analogy, isn’t she? Anyway, this new one is a lot of fun. 


(9) Snow Ellet - “Whiskey and Soda Pop”


Parents, if you don’t teach your kids about The All-American Rejects, who will? (Sarah Tudzin, that’s who.)


(10) Militarie Gun - “Do It Faster”


It’s so cool to see these Covid-isolation bedroom-recording projects turn into real live bands. Militarie Gun is the project of Ian Shelton, who has been in other bands forever, so it's not like he just discovered some hidden talent while locked in his house, but this is a different thing. This didn’t exist before. And now it does. Nice.


(11) Bully - “Lose You” (feat. Soccer Mommy)


Just a perfect collaboration because it gives Bully a little bit of a pop sheen and Soccer Mommy a little bit of an aggressive edge, which they both benefit from. I’d like to restate my above request for more supergroups - these two could do an album together.


(12) Hannah Jagadu - “What You Did”


Caught my attention a bit with 2021’s What Is Going On? EP, but “What You Did” is a huge step up in every way - it’s bigger, louder, it demands your attention. Excited to see what’s next.


(13) The So So Glos - “Everywhere Is War” (feat. Conor Oberst)


Not at all what I was expecting as a comeback single from The So So Glos, who you remember (you totally remember them, just humor me) as a garage rock band in the Titus Andronicus vein (“Son Of An American” made my 100 Songs for 2013 list a decade ago). Oberst’s involvement makes sense, as this sounds like a Digital Ash outtake with Deseparecidos lyrics over it, and those are two of my favorite Oberst incarnations, so yeah, I’m in.


(14) Carlie Hanson - “LSE to LAX”


I will never be objective about Carlie Hanson. Is this song good? I have no idea. Did I ever think I would see the La Crosse, Wisconsin, airport code in a song title on Spotify’s New Music Friday? NO I DID NOT. Finally, a pop star who probably has opinions about Rudy’s Drive In.


(15) Little Simz - “Heart On Fire”


The album version is good, but it’s become her go-to performance piece, and the (surprisingly very different) arrangements she put together for the BAFTAs and Colbert are both worth your time.


(16) Parannoul - “Polaris”


Here’s one final plea from me for you to check out the whole of After The Magic, still my favorite album of 2023.


(17) The Hold Steady - “Sixers”


Likely the last new THS single before I see them in London next weekend, I reserve the right to revisit my initial “good not great” reaction after I see them perform it live.


(18) LIES - “Resurrection”


Side project of the Kinsella brothers, who are (individually or collectively) the artists behind at least four critically acclaimed projects (American Football, Owen, Cap’n Jazz, and Joan of Arc) that I know nothing about. I think it’s funny to imagine me running into one of them someday and having nothing to say but, “oh yeah, you’re the guy from LIES.”


(19) Worriers - “Prepared to Forget”


Slowly coming around on the idea of a more laid-back Worriers, these new songs are good.


(20) Manchester Orchestra - “Capital Karma”


Their new album The Valley of Vision “doubles as an album and virtual reality film” and the director says that “experiencing the film in its intended 180-degree, 3D VR format feels like downloading a dream into your head” and … no. No thank you. That all sounds terrible. I don’t want your weird metaverse album. I just want good songs and, thankfully, this is a good song.


(21) Susanne Sundfør - “Alyosha”


Norwegian grandeur to see us through the end of the winter.


(22) Sløtface - “Nose”


Brassy Norwegian punk for basically the same purpose.


(23) Tyla - “Been Thinking”


Politely putting this one in a drawer labeled “Just Wait Until You Hear It At BOPS.”


(24) Sidney Gish - “Filming School”


The whole world is waiting for a new Rihanna album (feels unlikely). The cool kids are waiting for a new Frank Ocean album (I guess it’s possible). Middle-aged indie rock nerds are waiting for a new Wrens album (never gonna happen). And a small, vocal band of terminally online music obsessives are waiting for a new Sidney Gish album. And I get it. 2017’s No Dogs Allowed is such a fun, quirky record. She’s a charming live performer. And, honestly, what else is she doing? “Filming School” is a one-off for the Sub Pop Singles series, so it’s unclear if it is a sign of more to come, but I know I’d be into that.


(25) Janelle Monáe - “Float”


Two data points make a trend so, between this and Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance, 2023’s next big thing is putting absolutely no effort into something and yet somehow still coming off like the coolest person in the world. It’s not easy, but if you can do it, the upside is huge.

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Monthly Mix: January 2023

 

(1) Wednesday - “Chosen To Deserve”


The near-unanimous critic’s choice as indie rock’s Next Big Thing for 2023, and lead single “Chosen To Deserve” more than justifies the hype. Karly Hartzman’s vocal delivery will invite Big Thief comparisons, but for me the whole project clicked when I read that “Chosen To Deserve” is the product of a writing exercise where Hartzman challenged herself to write her own version of the Drive-By Truckers classic “Let There Be Rock.” It’s that infusion of both DBT’s southern rock muscle and storyteller’s perspective that differentiates Wednesday from Big Thief and bands of that ilk (not that they necessarily need to do that, it’s just that, well, we already have a Big Thief). New album Rat Saw God is out April 7.


(Important: If you have ever thought to yourself, “I bet it would be fun to go to a concert with Aaron” … May 29. Upstairs at Paradiso. It’s €10. Just buy the ticket now.)


(2) Fireworks - “I Want To Start A Religion With You”


I don’t know how I feel about the fact that “Recovering Evangelical” is basically an indie rock sub-genre now. I guess mostly it makes me feel less alone, and that’s a good thing, but it’s bittersweet to find out that so many other people feel that same darkness. Lyrically, Higher Lonely Power might not cut quite as deep as parts of Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter, but it’s close (the lyrics to “Megachurch” could peel paint off the walls). Musically, it’s just a great rock record. My favorite album of 2023 so far.


(3) The Hold Steady - “Sideways Skull”


Craig Finn and co. celebrated their 20th anniversary earlier this month (their first official show was January 22, 2003, in Brooklyn), and the first single from their upcoming new album The Price of Progress (out March 31) almost sounds like something that could have been on their debut album. There’s still time for you to get tickets to come see them in London with me in March.


(4) Zach Bryan - “Oklahoma City” (Live at Red Rocks)


I’m late to the party on this one, but making up for lost time. Bryan’s 2022 album American Heartbreak came highly recommended by reputable music-knowers ranging from my buddy Elliot to Uproxx and Indiecast’s Steven Hyden, but I never listened to it, mostly because the name “Zach Bryan” sounds like an AI tried to create the most boring country artist of all time. I was only hurting myself with that dismissiveness, though, because it turns out that Bryan makes intricate, engrossing alt-country/Americana in the Jason Isbell vein, and it’s great. On Christmas Day 2022 he released the perfectly-titled live album All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster and, come on, like there’s any way I’m not going to listen to a record with that name. For me it was a nice introduction to Bryan’s music, particularly “Oklahoma City,” a deceptively simple song (the verse and the chorus use the same chord progression, which feels like it should never work, but it does) that has been kicking around in various forms since 2020 but finally found a home as the lead single from American Heartbreak.


(5) boygenius - “True Blue” / “Emily I’m Sorry” / “$20”


My question to those of you who care is, “what do you want from boygenius?” Because these three new songs are all great, but they are very much (in order) a Lucy song, a Phoebe song, and a Julien song. There’s really no reason why these couldn’t have been on Home Video, Punisher, and Little Oblivions. They can keep doing that, and I will absolutely listen to every song, but I would love it if boygenius someday grew to be more than the sum of its parts. If we’re comparing them to other supergroups, my dream would be that they end up like New Pornographers, where there were absolutely Carl songs, Dan songs, and Neko songs, but there was no question that they were first and foremost New Pornographers songs, like they would not have fit on a Neko solo record, or a Destroyer record. I don’t know if the women of boygenius want to do that, but I think it would be incredible if they did.


(6) Parannoul - “We Shine At Night”


I don’t know if it’s within my rhetorical abilities to convince you to listen to a sprawling, genre-less Korean-language album made by a still-anonymous unknown artist, but … maybe Ian Cohen can? Honesty, After the Magic is just indescribably fascinating. (Maybe not always good, but always fascinating.) You’ll know within three minutes if it’s for you or not, just give it a shot.


(7) Blondshell - “Joiner”


Ah, those magic words, “I was listening to a lot of Britpop when I wrote this song.” Brings the list of London Calling acts I’m excited to see all the way up to … one. Hopefully more announcements to come on that front.


(8) Miley Cyrus - “Flowers”


It’s nice to live in a world where we don’t really have to care what’s popular. For the most part, we get to listen to whatever we want, whenever we want. (For example, Drake’s “Jimmy Cooks” was the #1 song in America at one point last year, and I’m confident I’ve never heard it.) Still, it’s nice when the biggest song in the world (#1 in 20+ countries, breaking every streaming record) is actually really good.


(9) Little Simz - “Gorilla”


Sounds like it was recorded live, organic in the best way possible. NO THANK YOU came out on the same day as 100 Songs for 2022 so yes, I will absolutely find a way to shoehorn at least one of these songs into 100 Songs for 2023.

(10) Arlo Parks - “Weightless”


I really like this song. I have no idea why her September show at Paradiso is €32. Like, that seems excessive, right? But we really don’t have that many shows on the calendar yet … 


Let’s come back to that one.


(11) Zach Bryan - “Dawns” (feat. Maggie Rogers)


Right, we’re still not done with Zach Bryan. His first new song of 2023 is a duet with Maggie Rogers and I have to say, if I were a self-made singer-songwriter who suddenly found himself moderately famous, that’s pretty much what I would do. “Dawns” is a balancing act in that it’s a breakup song but also a song about the death of Bryan’s mother, both melding into a meditation on heartbreak and loss.


(12) White Reaper - “Pink Slip”


I go back and forth on whether listening to music this aggressively summery in the dead of winter is helpful for my mental health or not. Does it brighten your day to blast yourself with Backyard BBQ Rock like this, or does it just make it feel like summer is even further away? Anyway, depending on your answer, White Reaper’s new album Asking For A Ride may or may not be for you.


(13) Snow Ellet - “Elevator”


There are parts of “Elevator” where the vocals tip over from “heavily Blink-182 influenced” to “okay, seriously, is he doing a bit?” but when you can write hooks like this and you have Sarah Tudzin producing, I’m still buying.


(14) Worriers - “Pollen In The Air”


As a band, Worriers has always been Lauren Denitzio’s singular vision, but on the upcoming Warm Blanket (out April 7) they have decided to treat it as even more of a solo project. If “Pollen In The Air” is any indication, early results are promising.


(15) Fenne Lily - “Lights Light Up”


In contrast to Arlo Parks, €16 for Fenne Lily at Bitterzoet in April is the kind of impulse purchase I can get behind …


(16) DMA’s - “Fading Like A Picture”


Kind of a non-sequitur, but did you know that they’re still doing MTV Unplugged? DMA’s did one in 2018! Twenty One Pilots did one last year! (As far as I knew, the last MTV Unplugged was Dashboard Confessional in 2002.)


(17) The Tubs - “Wretched Lie”


All four members of The Tubs were in the now-defunct (but wonderfully named) Joanna Gruesome. This is a different band, for some reason. I love this interview where they talk about how they’re all in like ten different bands and they sometimes open for themselves and … it just sounds like it would be really fun to be friends with these people.


(18) Fruit Bats - “Rushin’ River Valley”


Turns out Fruit Bats is just one guy, a Chicago singer-songwriter named Eric Johnson. What has he been up to since he wrote an absolutely perfect song (“When U Love Somebody”) twenty years ago? I have no idea! But here’s a new song, and it’s good.


(19) Caroline Polachek - “Blood And Butter”


In 2018, Paper Magazine dared to ask the provocative question “Is Imogen Heap the Most Influential Artist of the Century?” The answer was ‘yes’ then and it’s an even more emphatic ‘YES’ now. Pitchfork published a longform feature titled “The Eternal Influence of Imogen Heap” last year, and “Blood And Butter” serves as one more data point for that argument. Caroline Polachek is one of the most innovative artists currently working in pop music, and here she’s pretty much doing a B+ Heap impression.


(20) P!nk - “TRUSTFALL”


Hey, let’s keep talking about obvious influences. Do you ever stop and think about the fact that, for most of your life, you lived in a world where Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” did not exist? It seems impossible, but it’s true. Anyway, you now live in a world where there are two of them. We have a backup in case something happens to the original. (Seriously, it’s uncanny: the drum break in “Dancing On My Own” hits at 3:07, in “TRUSTFALL” it hits at 3:12.)


P!nk’s first comeback single (“Never Gonna Not Dance Again”) was co-written by actual Swedes, but apparently Max Martin just wants to make songs that sound like they were written for possible Trolls sequels. In contrast, “TRUSTFALL” was co-written with Fred Again and one of the guys from Snow Patrol, but luckily they found a way to harness some fake-Swedish excellence.


(21) DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ - “Brave”


First of all, absolutely perfect name. Perfect. No notes. Back in the Singles Jukebox days, there was a commenter who kept insisting that we needed to review a DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ song, and I thought it was some kind of running joke. Well, turns out it’s a real (but still anonymous) person who even has a production credit on the new 1975 album.  


(22) M83 - “Oceans Niagara”


In a similar vein to how MGMT kinda fell apart after “Kids” blew up, it’s pretty clear that Anthony Gonzalez is still trying to process the world-conquering success of “Midnight City.” He’s been making music for more than twenty years, has already reinvented himself several times (2008’s Saturdays = Youth represents my personal favorite iteration), and “Oceans Niagara” sounds like he’s actively trying to figure out what comes next. I’m confident that he will.


(23) The New Pornographers - “Really Really Light”


Okay, let’s close this out with three legacy acts, each of whom is moving in a (pun unavoidable, sorry) lighter direction. First up, Vancouver’s finest! I think I’ve said this before, but for me the problem with every new TNP song is that it just makes me want to go listen to old TNP songs. It may grow on me but, for now, “Really Really Light” is a fantastic verse let down by a somewhat (for them) forgettable chorus. New album Continue As A Guest is out March 31.


(24) The National - “Tropic Morning News”


You already know how you feel about The National. “Tropic Morning News” is a slightly more upbeat take on their classic sound, and I kinda like it. Their new album First Two Pages Of Frankenstein (out April 28) features Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, and Sufjan Stevens, so get ready for them to be absolutely inescapable this year. (Respectfully, I’m not sure if I could be talked into seeing them at Ziggo Dome in September, but hey, you’re welcome to try. I mean, Bartees Strange is opening …)


(25) Belle and Sebastian - “I Don’t Know What You See In Me”


This is … I don’t know what this is. Ilana compared it to both fun. and Owl City, and I don’t think either of those were meant as compliments. It just feels … disposable, I guess? A bit cloying? Then again, B&S are responsible for some of the most important music in my life, and frontman Stuart Murdoch is going through some pretty serious health problems at the moment, so if this is the kind of music they want to make right now, who am I to tell them they can’t?

Monday, January 16, 2023

2022: Guest List Week Year In Review



Every year is a blank page, and in this, the eleventh year of the Guest List Week project, we found more ways to fill that page than ever before. The open-ended prompt “Just Write Something About Music” has never led to better or more interesting results.


We brought back eighteen list-making veterans and introduced four new friends. We had lists ranging in length from five songs to a hundred and seventeen. The oldest song included dates back to 1961 (and it was written in 1952!) We had Ethiopian jazz from the 1960s and Nigerian funk from the 1970s. We organized our favorites based on the concert venues of Amsterdam, the months of 2022, and the future concerts of 2023. We made up awards and handed them out to deserving recipients. We mostly ranked songs, though some of us ranked albums and others ranked playlists. We made lists by ourselves and with our friends. We dreamed of a post-Drake world, and we made it a reality.

Given this level of variety and creativity, I’m not sure if it still makes sense to attempt an aggregated Song of the Year and Artist of the Year, but tradition is tradition, so let’s get into it.


SONG OF THE YEAR


Would you rather be liked by everyone or loved by a few? Should universal but muted appreciation be seen as an artistic triumph? Is consistency underappreciated? These are the somewhat surprising questions we have to answer in crowning 2022’s Song of the Year. 


The rules are the same as last year: We judge this based solely on the number of lists on which a song appears. Since not everyone ranks their lists, and others rank only a part of their list, it would skew the importance of ranked lists if we tried to account for where on specific lists these songs appeared. So, one point per list. Simple. (Honorable Mentions count.) Also, we’re grouping all versions of a song together: this includes remixes, edits, alternate versions, and live versions.


Add it all up and your Song of the Year is Jessie Ware’s “Free Yourself,” included in six of our twenty-two Guest Lists. “Free Yourself” is not the best song of 2022. I don’t think there is one person in the world who would argue that it is. I don’t think Jessie Ware would argue that it is. If “Free Yourself” had been included on What’s Your Pleasure? it would not be among the five best songs on that record. (And maybe not among the top ten.)


And yet, I get why everyone likes it. I like it. It made my list. But, when we look back on 2022 ten, twenty, fifty years into the future, we will not be talking about “Free Yourself.” Some of the songs we probably will be talking about (“American Teenager,” “BREAK MY SOUL,” “Anti-Hero,” etc.) show up in the list soon after but, for now, they are all looking up at Jessie Ware.


Here’s a list of every song that appeared on three or more lists.


#

ARTIST

TITLE

6

Jessie Ware

"Free Yourself"

5

Carly Rae Jepsen

"Talking To Yourself"

5

Ethel Cain

"American Teenager"

5

The 1975

"Part Of The Band"

4

BANKS

"Holding Back"

4

Beyonce

"BREAK MY SOUL"

4

Chappell Roan

"My Kink Is Karma"

4

Rina Sawayama

"This Hell"

4

Spoon

"Wild"

4

Taylor Swift

"Anti-Hero"

4

The Beths

"Expert In A Dying Field"

4

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

"Spitting Off The Edge Of The World"

3

Arlo Parks

"Softly"

3

First Aid Kit

"Out Of My Head"

3

Florence + The Machine

"Free"

3

Good Looks

"Almost Automatic"

3

Maggie Rogers

"Anywhere With You"

3

Maggie Rogers

"Want Want"

3

Maren Morris

"Circles Around This Town"

3

Martha

"Baby, Does Your Heart Sink?"

3

Mimi Webb

"Ghost Of You"

3

MUNA

"Home By Now"

3

MUNA

"What I Want"

3

Nilufer Yanya

"Midnight Sun"

3

PUP

"Totally Fine"

3

Tove Lo

"No One Dies From Love"

3

White Reaper

"Pages"


See here for a longlist of every song that appeared on two or more lists.


ARTIST OF THE YEAR


Artist of the Year tends to be a better representation of the year that was. We might disagree on our favorite songs, but, as in years past, certain artists were simply undeniable.


Again, same rules as last year: We’re ranking artists based on Total List Mentions. If you had three songs by a particular artist on your list, they get three points for that. Simple. We’re including all mentions, including features.


As it was last year, our Artist of the Year is a tie, this time between the two women who will one day rule over warring nation-states in our imminent post-apocalyptic wasteland: Beyonce and Taylor Swift. You should probably start thinking about pledging your allegiances now. 


Even beyond those two institutions, our top artists list just looks like 2022. From the coronation of MUNA through the triumphant return of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, this is a fair summary of our probably-not-as-bad-as-last-year year. 


Here is a list of every artist with five or more points.


#

ARTIST

12

Beyonce

12

Taylor Swift

10

The 1975

10

Carly Rae Jepsen

10

MUNA

8

Maggie Rogers

8

Rina Sawayama

8

Tove Lo

7

Ethel Cain

6

BANKS

6

Charil XCX

6

Jessie Ware

6

Wet Leg

5

Alvvays

5

Angel Olsen

5

The Beths

5

Big Thief

5

RAYE

5

First Aid Kit

5

Maren Morris

5

Martha

5

Plains

5

PUP

5

Spoon

5

Yeah Yeah Yeahs


See here for a longlist of every artist with three or more points.


And, with that, I’m happy to put 2022 to bed. Your first great song of 2023 is “I Want To Start A Religion With You” by Fireworks, and your first massive hit appears to be “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus. We’re off to a good start!