heaven knows - pinkpantheress (2023)

my top 10 albums of 2023!

tarot card design inspired by The Good Witch 🔮 watermark is my Instagram username

My favorite album releases from October 2023.

titles + spotify links below

Tomorrow's Fire by Squirrel Flower (indie rock)

Goose by Wyatt Moran (indie rock)

152 by Taking Back Sunday (emo)

Bad Dream Jaguar by Sun June (indie pop)

Water by Jamila Woods (alt r&b)

Growing at the Edges by Mutual Benefit (folk)

Real poetry is always about plants and birds and trees and the animals and milk and honey breathing in the pink but real life is behind a screen by Pacing (anti-folk)

I'm Green by Mali Velasquez (indie folk)

The Secret to Life by FIZZ (indie pop)

Crazymad, For Me by CMAT (indie pop)

Javelin by Sufjan Stevens (folk)

Lahai by Sampha (indie soul)

chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger by awakebutstillafraid (emo)

A Little Touch of Schleicher in the Night by Katie Von Schleicher (indie pop)

The OPEN-HEARTED by Arlissa (pop)

Sitting Pretty by Half Stack (indie rock)

The Surface by Beartooth (metalcore)

Lessons That We Swear to Keep by Free Throw (emo)

Abundance by Sister. (indie folk)

Hot Milk by Adeline Hotel (folk instrumental)

The Hand That Fits the Glove by Faith Healer (indie rock)

Good Luck Bad Dog by Buckets (indie rock)

Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me (Void Filler) by Short Fictions (emo)

new planet heaven by HUNNY (indie rock)

Jenny From Thebes by The Mountain Goats (folk rock)

John Cale

photos by Chantal Anderson

2023

Cutting it a little close, but here's my five favorite albums of the year. It was a hard cut to be honest, and there are definitely "better" albums released, but these are the ones that hit me the right way:

5. Blouse Club by Problem Patterns: angry feminist lesbian punk. Angry women is one of my favorite things and I will always enjoy it in musical form.

4. Between Punk and Bourgeoisie by Baxter: just really good harmonic punk rock. The melodies are super infectious and it gives just enough of that 90's punk nostalgia without being gimmicky or kitschy.

3. Till You Return by Teenage Halloween: their sophomore album full solid, queer, diy punk. I've been following this group for a while and they just keep getting better.

2. Jenny From Thebes by the Mountain Goats: I guess I'm a mountain goats fan now. I've never really been into them for whatever reason. They just never clicked with me, so this really caught me by surprise. Something with these songs just resonates with me and I just really really dig it right now.

1. Inarticulate by CHEWIE: this band has aged and matured to perfection and this album shows it. I can't say enough good things about it. Not just my favorite album of the year, but I've if my favorites of all time.

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Workingman’s Dead (2023 Mickey Hart Mix)

Ever the iconoclastic searcher of sound, Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart remixed the band’s 1970 Workingman’s Dead LP for 2023.

Overflowing with Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter standards - plus Pigpen’s “Easy Wind” - the album is a high-water mark.

Hart was wise to not futz too much, but he did reveal nuances in Garcia’s voice and instruments and Phil Lesh’s bass by opening spaces between the vocals and the music. In doing so, he de-emphasized the pedal-steel guitar and organ in “Dire Wolf” and “Black Peter,” respectively, and pushed up the banjo in “Cumberland Blues.”

Most notably, Hart restored some of Pigpen’s ad-libbed vocal asides to “Easy Wind” and found some lost, wordless harmonies in “Dire Wolf,” making for a fresh listen to an album that will never go stale.

Grade card: Grateful Dead - Workingman’s Dead (2023 Mickey Hart Mix) - B+

7/7/23

Nonstop needle drop: the balmy, mirage-hazed trek of Ora Cogan's "Cowgirl" from her 2023 record, Formless. Earthen and yet extraterrestrial. If Wednesday's Rat Saw God happens where backroads swallow headlights, Formless takes place in its daylit counterpart, in a sun-blinded field shimmering with a golden mystique, underpinned by a sense of foreboding you can't quite shake. A horror film that happens in broad day, a'la Midsommar. Outlaw guitar shimmers against the restless warble of Cogan's voice, a hallucinatory combo that feels like squinting into a late afternoon glare, beams unforgiving and shivering with gnats as Cogan sings, "I saw the wasteland moving towards me." For fans of Mitski's The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, Mazzy Star's Among My Swan, and Aldous Harding's Party.

Favorite 2023 Albums Tag

I was tagged by @marlsborohaven to show my favorite albums from last year. Thank you for the tag. I don't think this is what was intended, but it nevertheless seems to be within the spirit of the parameters provided, so here are most of the albums released in 2023 that I liked:

Aweful - S/T, C.O.F.F.I.N. - Australia Stops, GEL - Only Constant, The MEFFS - Broken Britain II, Sonic Youth - Live Brooklyn N.Y., Home Front - Games of Power, Natural Causes I-V, Plague Pits - The Light, Tunic - Wrong Dream, and False Maria - S/T plus their other 2023 releases: Not At All/Not Really, Pirate Tape & Jesus Crashed.

@justmakesuresheeatsthemouse and @illustratedtourniquet are tagged so that you can see how purdy your physical media and artwork looks on my table.

Anyone who sees this post, in whatever context you did so, is hereby tagged by reference and implication, the same as if your URL was fully listed as tagged herein. Tag for any listing of albums you liked last year.

Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy

(Neo-Psychedelia, Art Pop, Neo-Soul)

Short and euphoric bursts of neo-psych combined with African spirituals and the communal power of gospel, Heavy Heavy is both Young Father’s densest album to date and their most agile. These explosive pop songs bring a life to their music like never before.

☆☆☆☆

Young Fathers’ music has always been steeped in the power of connection, but never quite like Heavy Heavy. The trio’s multiracial makeup and embrace of both African musical tradition and their own futuristic blend of soul, hip-hop, glossy electronica and bombastic pop has made them one of the United Kingdom’s most compelling groups, willing to be a bit abrasive in order for their ideas to come across as vibrant as possible (see their sophomore release White Men Are Black Men Too or cuts from Cocoa Sugar like Turn or Picking You as examples), but Heavy Heavy rejects that angst in favor of an album that embraces spontaneity and joy, expanding on those elements of spirituals and gospel for a potent 30-minute album of absolute energy and emotional release. In places, Heavy Heavy is pointed in its politics, but it’s always in service of the communal heart of the album, about how people come together to celebrate one another and transcend that pain, thickly laid on the ears but delicate in its goals. The album is overwhelming with momentum, Young Fathers offering simple affirmations in their lyrics that grow into magnificent, transformative moments of pure feeling be it joyous or sad or furious, Heavy Heavy built to “...expel all {they} needed to expel.” By turning away from the slow-burn songcraft and linear R&B of their previous projects and towards short bursts of energy that convey so much in the span of just three minutes, Heavy Heavy makes its half hour of music some of the most transcendent of the year. Unburdened by the tension Cocoa Sugar used to make its statements on diasporic life and political discord within the U.K., Heavy Heavy manages its bigger ideas without having to be as direct in their delivery. Album single and opener Rice touches upon the exploitation of African land and resources (“We are mining / I am golden / You're not finding what we're holding”) without losing sight of the power solidarity with others holds, the explosive chanting of “These hands can heal” halfway through trading struggle for ecstatic resistance, and later highlights I Saw and Sink or Swim contrasting their own social commentary - Brexit for the former and drug dependence for the latter - with bombastic choruses and euphoric mantras. It’s often about the atmosphere of the songs more than anything else, but it works for Heavy Heavy because of how alive everything Young Fathers’ is doing is: the way Drum so vividly conjures the experience of sharing space with others through its playful songwriting and Kayus Bankole’s beautiful verse in Yoruba, or how Ululation hands vocal duties over to close friend Tapiwa Mambo for a heavenly embrace of everything a voice can do, with lush pianos and noisy synth pads sitting under her sturdy Shona singing of gratitude and hope. They don’t need to say much because the music connects with you in ways that language can’t do on its own, Tell Somebody’s gentle ambient pop swelling into a gargantuan finish where the band’s simple ask for honesty lands with desperation and heartache while the hefty groove and soft piano leads in Holy Moly embody the spontaneity and tension in its writing, Heavy Heavy as much about what Young Fathers are saying as it is how important the compositions are in making their intentions clear. Without the power and rich colors behind their writing, these songs wouldn’t be able to immerse you so deeply. The constant intensity of Heavy Heavy does lead the album to be a bit inconclusive, never quite finding stability by the time Be Your Lady comes to close things out, but more often than not the maddening pace of Heavy Heavy prevents it from coming undone. A few select tracks, Geronimo and Shoot Me Down try opening up the music to create a tender midsection, but they’re unable to resolve because of it, coming to life and fading away without grabbing your attention quite as swiftly as the rest of the songs, but the compromise between the ebb and flow of the songs is something Young Fathers generally balance quite well, Tell Somebody able to act as a comedown between the buoyant Drum and dreamy centerpiece Geronimo while the trilogy of Ululation, Sink or Swim and Holy Moly work together to give the final half of the album one more peak before it comes to a close. Young Fathers have never been afraid to experiment with their form, and Heavy Heavy reaps mighty rewards from their willingness to let the music guide itself, letting Rice wander about its handclap rhythms and plucky electronics before rushing into one final chorus that ensures the album kicks off on a delightful note. Though its restlessness can occasionally be a disadvantage, so much of Heavy Heavy’s power comes from always letting their creativity guide them without trying to direct it in only one direction. Heavy Heavy is about feeling, and not once is there a moment where the light of Young Fathers’ music is dimmed. Every song is glowing and expertly crafted, designed to move along with and sweep you into the band’s world of dizzying emotion. Without one specific goal in mind, Heavy Heavy touches on all sorts of ideas while cradling them in the ideals of communal warmth and connection letting you dance to the band’s volcanic pop and feel whatever it makes you feel - excitement, nervousness, sadness - anything goes here, and it makes Heavy Heavy one of the easiest to love albums in recent memory.  It ends quickly, but that means their offer to be fearless in expressing your deepest desires is always open. There’s always the opportunity to come to Heavy Heavy and let all your energy out in one fell swoop, Young Fathers achieving the universal understanding of one another their music has always strived for in one tightly-packed, always delightful listen. The transcendence of Young Fathers has never been so powerful and liberating.

Once again, another year is over. So here's a list of albums I thought were REAL GOOD that came out this year.

If you haven't listened to Frankie and the Witch Fingers I think Data Doom is the album to listen to. Long time coming releases from Daikaiju, The Hives, and The Bomboras! Who knew they had it in them? I also got a surprise from a new to my ears artist, Goodge.

Check 'em out! As always I like recommendations, so please send any 2023 releases you thought were REAL GOOD my way. Just a link or picture is cool. You don't need to buy me nothin'.

1. Data Doom - Frankie and the Witch Fingers

2. Echoes Of Yesterday - Goodge

3. Phase 3 - Daikaiju

4. The Satanic Surf Sounds of - El Captain & the Reluctant Sadists

5. Neo Future - Aexion

6. Vibrations In Color - Nu Vintage

7. SONGS FROM BEYOND! - The Bomboras

8. PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

9. Say I Won't - Bass Drum of Death

10. Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons - The Hives

Now Playing : JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown - Scaring the Hoes

2023's albums I like

Here are the albums I've been liking in this year:

Darkwave: Hallows - A Quieter Life Shad Shadows - Assault Saigon Blue Rain - Oko Mareux - Lovers from the Past - Iggy Pop - Every Loser Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn into You Luke Vibert - Machine Funk Kelela - Raven Mitski - The Land is Inhospitable and So are we Spiritbox - The Fear of Fear Gunship - Unicorn Mega Drive - 200XAD

-

Ambient: Alva Noto - HYbr:ID II Field Lines Cartographer - Phases of This and Other Moons Hinako Omori - stillness, softness... Polypores - Multizonal Mindscramble Ital Tek - Timeproof Augustus Muller/Boy Harsher - Cellulosed Bodies Midnight Smoke - Retronoir / Empty Floors EP Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan - The Nation's Most Central Location Carbon Based Lifeforms - Seeker

Honorable mentions: Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars HEALTH - RAT WARS Korine - Tear Nuovo Testamento - Love Lines Veil of Light - Sundancing Pearly Drops - A Little Disaster Battle Tapes - Texture Rebecca Black - Let Her Burn Tkay Maidza - Sweet Justice Sun June - Bad Dream Jaguar Jonn Serrie - Elysian Lightships Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews, But Does Not Consume… Yves Malone - Kill the Copy in your Head Biosphere - Inland Delta Bibio - Sunbursting EP Eartheater - Powders Fragrance - Dust & Disorders Dominic Fike - Sunburn Olivia Rodrigo - Guts Sleep Token - Take Me back to Eden Danger (not the French one) - Blade EP Alison Goldfrapp - The Love Invention In Flames - Foregone Clark - Sus Dog Oval - Romantiq Saya Gray - QWERTY EP Sophie Ellis-Bextor - HANA Speakers Corner Quartet - Further Out Than The Edge The Ongoing Concept - Again Ellie Goulding - Higher than Heaven Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation A Certain Ratio - 1982 Glen Hansard - All That was East is West of Me Now Fireworks - Higher Lonely Power Cicada - Seeking the Sources of Streams James Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities Andrea - Due in Color Enslaved - Heimdal Skrillex - Quest for Fire Orbital - Optical Delusion Kimbra - A Reckoning GLT Nurnberg - Ahida Mary Lattimore - Goodbye, Hotel Arkada Julie Byrne With Laugh Cry Laugh EP Peter Gabriel - i/o Not Waving - The Place I've been Missing Ben Howard - Is It? Slowdive - Everything is Alive Stimming - Elderberry Spangle call Lilli line - Ampersand Ruby Haunt - Between Heavens Anberlin - Convinced Amir Obe - after. Soft Vein - Pressed in Glass Ghost - Phantomine Kaelan Mikla - Undir Koldum Nordurljosum Strange Ranger - Pure Music Disclosure - Alchemy Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time Art School Girlfriend - Soft Landing Crosses - Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. David Eugene Edwards - Hyacinth

I RADIATE LIKE A STAR

Impurities | ARLO PARKS

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Album Review: Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (Deluxe Edition)

Between 1981 and ’83, the Violent Femmes morphed from a rough-hewn Milwaukee bar band to national - yet still quirky - recording act with an unlikely hit single in “Blister in the Sun.”

The remarkable evolution of the folk-punk trio - guitarist/singer Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie and drummer Victor DeLorenzo - is documented on the 40th-anniversary Deluxe Edition of Violent Femmes, which features the original 1983 album, demos from the sessions that produced it and live recordings from ’81 (Sept. 12 and Dec. 8) and Jan 26, 1983, in their Wisconsin hometown and New York City, respectively.

These tracks are revelatory, as the band morphs from awkward adolescents trying to find themselves into self-assured musicians comfortable with their twitchy selves in just 16 months.

So by the time Violent Femmes entered the studio to make Violent Femmes, even their demos - including album and non-album cuts - were fully formed. As such, “Please Do Not Go,” “Girl Trouble,” “Waiting for the Bus” and others demonstrate how little studio trickery went into creating the Femmes’ skittish soundtrack.

Grade card: Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (Deluxe Edition) - B+

1/18/24