It has almost become common knowledge that if you’re a music fan these days, there’s just a lot of fucking music out there to keep track of. So even for someone like me, who tries to keep a handle on every notable new album coming out, you can’t always spend that much time listening to every little thing that comes out. Furthermore, you can’t always get around to writing about every little thing that comes out.

Since we’re at about the halfway point of 2019, I’ll be offering some shortened reviews of albums that I listened to during the first half of this year, but still haven’t written about. Some of them will be albums I gave a few listens and gave up on, while some will be ones I got pretty into for a while. I’ll be breaking up this mid-year catch-up into two parts, while the first half will mostly comprise of music releases from late winter and into early Spring. Continue reading →

Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride

I wasn’t expecting it, but my first listen to the new Vampire Weekend album was an emotional one, though it’s hard for me to pin down exactly what that emotion was. I suppose the closest thing I can compare it to is the feeling of seeing an old friend getting married. Of having this punch to the gut reminder that yes, we’re all getting older, but isn’t that kind of beautiful and mysterious in a way?

I know it’s always a bit strange to have this deep of a bond with a mere band, but blame it on Vampire Weekend’s trajectory lining up almost perfectly with my early adulthood. That first album came out when I was in college, while the band was still making sense of their recent college years. And here we are with the band firmly in their thirties, while I also made that leap a few months ago. In retrospect, the first three albums clearly formed a sort of trilogy about the restlessness that comes with young adulthood, while this new album has the same acuteness and adventurousness applied to a new chapter in the band’s life. Continue reading →

Lizzo – Cuz I Love You

What is one supposed to make of a force of nature like Lizzo? It’s hard to think of anything other than pure enjoyment, and perhaps Lizzo is well aware of this. Which would explain her recent (sort of) beef with Pitchfork for giving this album a somewhat mixed review. Because come on, what’s not to like?

That said, “likeable” pop stars aren’t typically the kind of singers I go out of my way to listen to (the number of Beyonce and Taylor Swift albums I’ve listened to is not high). But Lizzo seems like something else entirely, considering nothing about her feels particularly calculated (exhibit #1 being her impressive flute skills). However, I would say it’s reasonable to argue that Cuz I Love You might be a little too slick for its own good, but there are just so many bangers here that its hard to complain. Continue reading →

Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising

In retrospect, it makes sense that after one listen, I (undeservedly) wrote off Weyes Blood’s last album, 2016’s Front Row Seat To Earth. For one, it came out around the time I had finally embraced streaming music as an integral part of my music-listening habits. So I might have felt a bit overwhelmed by being able to easily listen to every single album that got decent reviews. Also, it was an easy album to lump in with other artists like Father John Misty or Whitney – who seem to be channeling the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter scene of the early ’70s. Continue reading →

Billie Eilish – WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Last weekend, 17-year-old goth-pop star Billie Eilish played a historic set at Coachella. At least that was the headline I read on Yahoo News, which is where I assume everyone gets their information. I became aware of Billie Eilish last February when I saw her video for “when the party’s over” on MTV Live. Yes, you can still watch music videos on TV if you stay up past 1 AM and browse through 900 channels. The video is a melancholy ballad backed by faint piano where Billie wearing all white in a white room drinks a glass of black goo which then streams out of her eyes. Kids love black goo, it’s like the new Tide Pod. The video is creepy yet beautiful which is the best way to describe Billie Eilish’s music.

Continue reading →