“.. your hat is tilted.”

that was the first thing click had said when he had seen you, and that was all that left his mouth, at first. taken aback, you flipped around to face the disembodied voice and almost fired back a quip — almost, until you realized there was not a hint of animosity in the way he looked at you; no, only a genuine desire to help.

he blinked at you, once, twice, eyes flitting from your hat to your face and back again. you took note of his hands, blurry and gray; the way they inched towards his camera for a split second before dropping back down, as if his fingers had a mind of their own and wished to capture even such a mundane moment as this. (this was something you’d come to know as time went on, and with it you would realize it was not as mundane as you thought.)

you dipped your head. your fingers flitted to the brim and adjusted it — once, twice, to the side and a bit forward, back a quarter of an inch. he nodded, then chased off the gesture like it was a critter with a quick “that’s good.”

you turned to face him. his hands finally came to rest on his camera, and he raised it to one eye and closed the other. he did not ask you to smile. you did regardless.

So @sleaterkenny tagged me in this top albums of 2019. Idk if they knew what they were getting themselves into with giving this to a music major who can’t shut up but I love this. The thing is I don’t really listen to new music so like I’m just going to talk about what I’ve been listening to and try to throw in currentish stuff. Also it’s not in any particular order. Also if you like my opinions and music choice listen to my radio show at wmxm.org every Tuesday from 5-7.

Wild flag by willd flag

- this is one of those “super group” with Mary Timothy from helium and Janet Weiss and Carrie brownstein from sleater Kinney. They only ever put out this one album but like I still really want more from them. Currently I’ve been loving future crimes. It has such a longing to it at the same time it’s incredibly strong. It’s like raw unhinged Carrie and I love it. Romance is also really fun. I like how his album tackles these big things then has songs like romance and boom that are just like fun and flirty.

Prom queen by beach bunny

- so it’s a local Chicago band and I’m becoming obsessed. It’s a female fronted band and I really think they are about to like break out. They have the thing some riot grrrl bands do which is cutesy but still kick ass. The titular song prom queen is probably my favorite. It talks about beauty standards but it’s still a bop. It also like alludes to an eating disorder so trigger warning but for me personally it reminds me that I’m not totally alone yf. Also that makes the song sound super depressing but it’s a break up bop I promise.

Le Tigre by le Tigre

- so god bless Kathleen. Kathleen is also from bikini kill and she’s like such an icon. Every song goes hard. Hot topic is super great it’s just like funky background with Kathleen belting important women over it. My favorite is deceptacon. It’s just fun and bratty. They use their instruments in such a interesting way. It’s so clear that everyone is just having fun. Every song goes so hard.Potty mouth by bratmobile- okay so like iconic it’s part of the birth of riot grrrl I love it. Okay so their cover of cherry bomb. Like I think I went off about this already but I love how girlie it is yet it still commands so much attention it’s kick ass. They take that song that was used to exploit the sexuality of a underage girl and it fucks with the patriarchy. All the songs are so fun. They call out relationships call out men and demand to be heard about everything they want to talk about. I love the way each song feels like they are directly bitching at you

Emerald valley

- this is by filthy friends which is one of those “super groups”. It has corin tucker if sleater Kinney and peter buck from REM. It’s all about climate change and you can tell that everyone is passionate about what they are talking about. Corin Tucker as always tears apart the room with her vocals it’s like a battle cry. Also if you get the vinyl it’s green and I’m a bitch for colored vinyl. Bonus you should listen to despirta which is by them and it’s a fuck Trump ballad.

So this is kinda a cop out but I’m living my best life..

Diomands by Elton john

- so it’s all re-released Elton music but it’s has a super good mix of his stuff. Admitally after watching rocket man I got back into Elton john and it’s like a rennasance. Bennie and the jets is a banger and tiny dancer always pulls at my heart strings. It’s hard to pick an Elton song to be my favorite but I’ve been listening to goodbye yellow brick road a lot and I’m preforming it at my piano recital coming up so I’ll say it’s my favorite

So this definetly isn’t in anyway new but I’ve been loving the age of backwards by the spells

- so this came out in 1999 around right after sleater Kinneys the hot rock. Its a duo with Mary Timothy of helium and Carrie brownstein (of sleater Kinney). It’s a short experimental ep and I love it. So I had to listen to it a couple of times before I could say if it was good or not but I decided i liked it. Carrie sings a lot and I love her voice and the chemistry between Carrie and Mary’s guitars is insane. It’s a lot of entangled riffs and weird affects. My favorite song off of it is can’t explain which is a cover they did of that song by the kinks.

The Woods by sleater kinney

- I know Im suppose to talk about the center wont hold but like truthfully i cant write a whole essay right now and i dont want to get too conversational. what ill say is if you dont like the album youre wrong and dont ever mention janet weiss to me again because im conflicted. Anyway...Carrie brownstien is the best guitarist of our genoration and im being 100% serious when i say this if you dont agree with me youre sexist and homophobic. The woods i feel like is where i can point to and be like are you shitting me listen to these solos. I feel like carrie had always had killer solos but something about this album (and going forward but especially this album) makes it feel even more powerful. Carries guitar is like a fucking weapon and you can feel it cutting you open. Of course corins vocals fill the entire room and attacks anything in it’s path. The fox i think showcases the power of her voice better then any of their discography. As always sleater kinney tackles so many issues and this album goes for everything. The song that really stands out though is jumpers. I remember listening to it the first few times and just being like this shreds but once i really listened to the lyrics i fell apart. I think part if it has to do with the fact i can relate to it but i also feel like its one of the only songs that talks about suicide that doesn’t romanticize it and also doesn’t pity it. Jumpers is like this unstoppable force of nature that is apologetically what it is and is the first song that really captures the epidemic truthfully. I know i havent given a favorite for each album but ill say modern girl is my favorite. It’s really hard to decide and tbh i dont know if its my favorite but i love how antagonizing it is and i guess i liked it enough to get it tattooed on my body.

This is kinda my rap portion of the post

Cherry bomb by Tyler the creator

- so this isn’t one of his most acclaimed albums but I love it. It has the perfect mix between the pure and soft and the fuck shit up angry. I think my favorite is 2seater. The entire thing is so sweet and I love the part where everything changes and he starts singing “I love it when your hair blows” part. I also really like perfect/Fucking young but whenever I listen to it I’m like am I a bad person for liking this? Anyway the entire thing goes hard but is still soft.

American boyfriend by Kevin abstract

- this album is like a hard look at what it’s like to be a black gay man in America. Miserble America completely breaks your heart while at the same time making troy nostalgic for a life that isn’t yours. The whole album addresses really important topic and is revolutionary because it’s an out black man in rap which is huge.

if you read this whole thing thats fucking wild. sorry i can’t fucking spell but this is how i feel about things. i hella loved writing this @crvidae i guess im tagging you but im pretty sure you’ll never end up doing it...