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!

March has become an interesting month for me, as it signals not just the anniversary of the COVID pandemic in 2020 but also the month I quit the Former Day Job…and also the month I started the Current Day Job two years later! Hard to believe I’ve been at the store for almost three years now, having gone from register jockey to interim front end manager to assistant bookkeeper and more. It’s a physically exhausting job sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else right now.

As expected, there was an avalanche of great releases in March, and that meant I suddenly had quite the playlist to listen to. Let’s check some out!

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Kaiser Chiefs, Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album, released 1 March. This seemed like the year for unexpected and unannounced album releases, and this one popped up without being on my radar at all. It does what it says on the tin — it’s not mindblowing like Employment or epic like The Future Is Medieval but just as fun — and the KCs have pretty much settled down in their niche of quirky British alternapop. An easy and fun listen.

Liam Gallagher & John Squire, Liam Gallagher & John Squire, released 1 March. The Oasis singer and the Stone Roses guitarist doing an album together? Admittedly the stakes were ridiculously high on this one because of that, and while it’s not the best of each band, nonetheless it’s a fun Britpop romp worth checking out.

Paula Cole, Lo, released 1 March. Yes, she’s been putting out consistently excellent music since we were pummeled by “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” way back in the day, and each album has been a corker. This one’s a bit on the dark side and kind of reminds me of Cowboy Junkies in a way, leaning a bit more on the alternative folk side.

Yard Act, Where’s My Utopia?, released 1 March. This oddball band continues to entertain, amuse and confuse, sometimes within the course of a single song. You’re never quite sure where they’re headed, but the ride is certainly worth paying attention to.

The BV’s, taking pictures of taking pictures, released 8 March. I’d heard “Breakdown” on KEXP and was instantly transported to those songs you’d hear on progressive and college radio in the 80s; not quite post-punk and not quite bedroom pop but somewhere in between. Something like early Go-Betweens, I think.

crushed, extra life, released 15 March. One of many shoegaze albums that came out this year that got a lot of repeat play, this one’s more of a mini-album but it still manages to move and inspire me in my writing. Hoping to hear more from this band!

Four Tet, Three, released 15 March. This band has been around for quite some time but it’s only recently that I’ve gotten into their alternative-jazz-electronic fusion style. This album got a hell of a lot of play during my writing sessions for a few months, and it still gets a few repeat plays now and again. One of my favorite albums of the year!

Hooverphonic, Fake Is the New Dope, released 21 March. This too was an album that popped up without warning for me, and I’m usually on top of things when it comes to my favorite bands! They’re certainly showing their age a bit and leaning more towards European lounge pop than ever, but then again that’s always been their best style. Worth checking out.

Elbow, AUDIO VERTIGO, released 22 March. After the somewhat disjointed Flying Dream 1 in 2021 (which had been written remotely and recorded ‘spaciously’ during the height of the COVID pandemic), this album is a return to their quirky form of slightly off-kilter British songwriting. This time out the songs are shorter, tighter and noisier. I love that it starts off with “Things I’ve Been Telling Myself for Years”, in which Guy Garvey projects what he thinks his bandmates thought of him during their time spent away during the pandemic. [Also, I love that its bass line is sung, not played!]

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Glasgow Eyes, released 22 March. The Reid brothers continue to play their unique brand of noise-rock that’s sometimes infused in blues, rockabilly and even a bit of bright pop. This album would fit perfectly between Automatic and Reverence.

The Church, Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars, released 29 March. This long-running and much beloved band is essentially just singer Steve Kilbey and whoever’s around these days — and the band name fits considering his solo work is more on the contemplative and lighter side. This album continues on his latest wave of heading deep into experimental territory. While 2023’s The Hypnogogue felt proggy yet still radio friendly, this one ventures much deeper into prog territory with its nonstop waves of dreamlike melodies. Weird yet fascinating.

Ride, Interplay, released 29 March. This excellent Britpop/shoegaze band’s second wave hasn’t let up since 2017’s comeback Weather Diaries, and this new one is absolutely amazing. Their strength has always been in their phenomenal deep cuts (like, say, Going Blank Again‘s “Chrome Waves”), and powerful songs like “I Came to See the Wreck” showcase just how locked in their sound is. Another year-end favorite and highly recommended.

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More to come with April releases!