May ended up a bit on the quiet side creatively as per my Dreamwidth account I’d been given a lot of midshift/Front End managing shifts which, while doable, can be extremely exhausting. [The phrase ‘herding cats’ is often used to describe said shift.] Musically it started out kind of quiet but by the end of it, I was hit broadside by quite a lot of great sounds, some of which have ended up on my year-end favorite list!

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Kamasi Washington, Fearless Movement, released 3 May. This jazz saxophonist has been around for quite some time, but it was this year’s album that caught my attention when KEXP played the wild epic track “Prologue” as a teaser single. Highly recommended.

Ibibio Sound Machine, Pull the Rope, released 3 May. Another favorite band of KEXP, the title track got a lot of play that month both on the station and in Spare Oom! It’s a super fun album to listen to.

Arab Strap, I’m totally fine with it 👍 don’t give a fuck anymore 👍, released 10 May. This Scottish indie band still revels in slower paced rock and mumbled (and heavily-accented) lyrics, but this record feels surprisingly upbeat! [And yes, the thumbs up emojis are indeed part of the title.]

Lunchbox, Pop and Circumstance, released 10 May. Yet another local jangle pop band off the local Slumberland label that has become a favorite of mine! I actually connected with this one via the label’s social media feed this time, because they’re fast becoming an “I’ll try anything they release” label for me.

Dog Party, Dangerous, released 17 May. Not quite local (they’re out of Sacramento) but I’m glad to see these two sisters are still rocking out after all these years with their catchy brand of indie that hints at 50s pop and 80s garage punk. I highly recommend checking them out!

Various Artists, Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute Album to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, released 17 May. This is a fascinating tribute record focused on the brilliant movie of the same name, following the filmed concert’s set list with fascinating covers from Miley Cyrus (a twitchy “Psycho Killer”), The National (an extremely lovely “Heaven”), Paramore (a super funky “Burning Down the House”) and more. One of my favorites of the year!

Crumbs, You’re Just Jealous, released 17 May. This jangle pop is not on Slumberland (they’re on Skep Wax) but they fit right in with the rest of the bands I’ve been obsessing over in that genre.

Mixtape/Playlist, Re:Defined 2402, created 23 May. This was about the time I decided I was going to rename all of this year’s playlists under the Re:Defined banner, and I’m glad I did. I listened to this one when we went on our mini-vacation up in Mendocino later that year.

Lenny Kravitz, Blue Electric Light, released 24 May. Yes, he’s still around and still rocking out! This album definitely feels like he’s decided to return to his blues-funk roots that shone so brightly on his Let Love Rule album but choosing not to aim for radio-friendly hits this time out. It’s a much darker and moodier album and I found it surprisingly enjoyable.

Girl and Girl, Call a Doctor, released 24 May. “Hello” is one of those earworm songs that KEXP could not stop playing for weeks, and it’s hard not to smile at its clever use of The Sound of Music at the song’s final moments.

DIIV, Frog in Boiling Water, released 24 May. This band continues to play their own swampy brand of heady shoegaze that feels more like Dinosaur Jr than dreampop, and there’s nothing wrong with that. This one got a fair amount of play during my writing sessions.

La Luz, News of the Universe, released 24 May. This one is in my list of top favorite albums of the year, and “Strange World” is definitely in my top ten favorite songs of the year. This band describes themselves as ‘surf noir’ so they kind of come off as otherworldly like Air with a bit of heady surf twang. I highly recommend this record!

+/- (Plus Minus), Further Afield, released 31 May. I’d been a fan of this band since their first album, and I was quite pleased to find out they’d reconvened and recorded their first album in ten years! They still sound fresh and exciting and even a bit relaxing, and I’m glad they’re back.

Crowded House, Gravity Stairs, released 31 May. Neil Finn returns with another great album that sounds, perhaps not surprisingly, like the Beatles. So much so that its cover is a nod to Revolver! This one kind of reminded me of Finn’s years in Split Enz, specifically their album deep cuts that never got airplay.

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Coming up, more great releases from June!