I’ve been going through my music library for the year 2000 to revisit what I would be listening to in the Belfry, and I think I’ve figured out the point where I knew the HMV days were truly over and when the Belfry days kicked into high gear. It’s actually a surprisingly stark line that jives with when I was given the quit-or-be-fired ultimatum from my terrible boss. It’s August of 2000, and by the end of the month I’d be gone.
The Dandy Warhols, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, 1 August 2000. Although I’m almost certain I bought this in my final days at HMV and listened to it around that time, I want to say this was an album I spent more time listening to in the Belfry. I wasn’t even the biggest DW fan; by this point I’d heard their earlier hit “Not if You Were the Last Junkie On Earth” for the zillionth time on WFNX and did not like it to begin with, hearing “Godless” turned the tables for me. I remember listening to this one a lot during the summer evenings and weekends while figuring out what I wanted to do with The Phoenix Effect.
Between then and the end of the month, I did pick up a handful of CDs both from the record store and from Newbury Comics — by then my weekly comic book run had started to include a quick stop there to look for things my own store might not carry (or sell cheaper).
Goldfrapp, Felt Mountain, 11 September 2000. I’d left the record store by this point and was just starting at Yankee Candle — a westerly commute instead of an easterly one, and twenty miles shorter at that — but I really didn’t want to disconnect from my weekly accumulation of music. I could just as easily buy copies of my favorite music magazines, CMJ (College Music Journal) and ICE (an industry magazine featuring news on new releases) at Newbury Comics. I think this was one of the first that I bought there after starting the new job.
VAST, Music for People, 12 September 2000. I know I bought this one the same day as the Goldfrapp album (and the Barenaked Ladies album Maroon as well). I’d been a big fan of Jon Crosby’s first album under the VAST moniker and while this one felt slightly more upbeat and less steeped in Nine Inch Nails-esque gloom, it featured some amazing tracks that got a lot of play in the Belfry.
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I actually wouldn’t start writing A Division of Souls for another year and a half, maybe early 2002 after the frustrations brought about by The Phoenix Effect and its sequel The Mihari, which I was writing at the time. The two books do have a lot of similarities to A Division of Souls, however, and it was simply a decision to stop work on both TPE and TM and completely start over from scratch. [Very similar to what I’d done recently with Theadia, actually.]
The music that inspired the project, however, started around this time when I switched day jobs. It wasn’t a clean switch of course, as I actually worked second shift for my first couple of months (3 – 11pm or thereabouts) and wouldn’t move to first shift until sometime in November. It would be around that time when my writing sessions would truly become more stable and frequent, as would my weekly trips to Newbury to pick up new music.
I said I was going to do it and I’m doing it now: I’m currently going through the albums and singles from 2000 onwards as a soundtrack to the Bridgetown Trilogy Remaster Project. I started the revisit on Monday afternoon on my day off with William Orbit’s remixed take on Barber’s Adagio for Strings, one of my all-time favorite classical pieces.
I know, this is sort of an arbitrary place to start and doesn’t really line up with the writing chronology. I’d started and finished The Phoenix Effect (the early ‘demo’ version, if you want to continue the music analogy) but hadn’t yet started writing its aborted sequel The Mihari (that would take place that summer if I’m not mistaken), but the actual day-one of A Division of Souls wouldn’t take place until late 2001 or early 2002.
So why start the relistening at January 2000? Partly because I knew my days were numbered at the record store by then. I still loved the job and wished I could stay there forever, but a) I could definitely see the downturn of the music industry happening in real time, and b) I wasn’t sure how much longer I could handle the store manager without eventually ragequitting. It was also a bit of a weird time musically; grunge had long given way to adult alternative which had given way to meathead alt-metal, and pop was having a huge resurgence with its sugary overproduced electronica.
A lot of music I listened to at the time felt a bit out of place. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to listen to, because very little of it was resonating with me at a deep level, as it once had just a few years previous. That could very well be due to personal issues and changes, and at the time I was feeling unmoored.
Still, I was willing to see where it all took me. Life changes and all.
Okay, so I have to remind myself that sometimes I don’t need to listen to the entire broadcast day of KEXP when I happen to have the time and access to it. It’s great background music, but by mid-afternoon I start feeling that I’ve lost the plot of what I need to get done. No offense to Larry Mizell Jr — he’s a great afternoon DJ and I pick up a lot of great tunage from him, but sometimes I really should focusing more on, say, my writing session or getting a blog entry done. And I can’t always do that when my favorite station is dropping new things that capture my attention. It’s too easy of a distraction.
This constant connection not only distracts me from my writing work, it also takes away from my ability to occasionally deep-dive into my own library sometimes. I mean, it’s not as if I’m missing out…KEXP stores their show streams for two weeks so I can always listen to that if need be. Point is, I’ve been visiting the old Songs from the Eden Cycle mixtapes and realizing there are some great tracks there from albums I haven’t played in years! I feel it’s far past time to give them another spin.
I know, I know…I’ve been talking about doing this listening habit reset for years and never quite doing so. But considering my decision to make this year about Following Through, perhaps now is that time. Even if it means I have to work out a schedule to create some kind of stability (hey, that’s what my whiteboard schedule is there for). That might not be a bad idea, considering I’ve been feeling the urge to get back to Doing All The Things. Not just the writing projects, but revisiting the 750Words site as well as returning to my drawing. I have the drive and the inclination, I just have to, y’know, do it now.
It’s been quite some time since I’ve actively listened to Radiohead, especially during my writing sessions. During the Belfry days, The Bends and OK Computer would get a lot of play, but the last time I played them a lot while writing was back in 2016 when A Moon Shaped Pool came out. [Has it really been that long since their last album?]
I think part of it is because I was working on different projects at the time. In Rainbows came out when I was writing the trunked Love Like Blood. I’d just started working on the multi-year revision work for the Bridgetown Trilogy when The King of Limbs dropped, but by that time I was obsessing over several other bands and Radiohead kind of fell by the wayside. The ever-increasing gap between albums caused a bit of a distance for me as well.
Now that I’m working on the ADoS remaster, however, I’ve been tempted to do another revisit of those albums. I’ve been a longtime fan literally since “Creep” dropped here in the US in early 1993, and I’ve picked up most of the members’ solo releases as well. Perhaps this is the perfect time!
So I’ve begun the process of revising A Division of Souls for its tenth anniversary edition later this year, and I’ve been listening to my Songs from the Eden Cycle mixtapes during these sessions, and it suddenly occurs to me:
I am sorely tempted to add that ‘Director’s Cut’ ending that I’d come up with soon after I self-published it that takes place immediately after Poe leaves Christine’s building. At the time I felt it was extraneous, but in retrospect it actually provides a stronger tie with the opening scenes of Book 2, The Persistence of Memories. [Am I thinking of ‘remastering’ that one as well as The Balance of Light? Yes I am!] I’d of course need to change it from its screenplay format to prose, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
I wasn’t planning on revisiting the mixtapes and the albums and playlists while working on it all, but now that I’m doing it, why the hell not? It’s an incredibly long list that not only includes music from the 1996-2000 HMV/Phoenix Effect era and the 2000-2005 Yankee Candle/Trilogy years, but the 1993-1995 Boston/True Faith years and the 2010-2015 Spare Oom/self-pub era as well. There’s a lot to revisit. Some of my all-time favorite albums have deep connections with the Mendaihu Universe.
I’m kind of playing this out to ensure that newer music gets a decent amount of play here as well, especially since I’m doing this as a lead-in to working on MU4 and perhaps other stories in that universe. I’ve been wanting to return to it for a few years now, and considering I’m nearly done with Theadia, I feel I’m finally ready for it.
This was definitely an interesting year for music! We had several ‘comeback’ albums from musicians who hadn’t had a studio release in over a decade — not just the Cure, but The The, The Softies and The Wolfgang Press — and we also had several excellent anniversary reissues popping up as well.
While my listening habits pretty much remained the same, I was super excited by the news that my favorite station, KEXP, would start broadcasting here in the Bay Area! We’ve desperately needed a good alternative rock station for years (I’m sorry, Live 105, but you are not cutting it even despite recently rising from the ashes), and they’ve always had a super strong fanbase here. So far they’ve been quite successful!
Musically I found myself leaning towards electronic and shoegaze once again, but that’s not to say I was firmly entrenched; the local label Slumberland has been consistently putting out some brilliant jangle pop and lo-fi gems and I’ve become a loyal fan. Still, a lot of non-KEXP listening was focused primarily on moods and vibes this year, mainly for a need of soundtrack music while working on Theadia, my first space opera.
So! Without further ado, here’s my official end-of-year playlist/mixtape for your listening enjoyment!
This one’s a long playlist/mixtape collection of 129 songs so I’ll spare you the list here. So instead, on with my favorite releases of the year! This time I’m merely listing them in alphabetical order as I tended to enjoy all of these equally, with the bolded title being my top favorite of the year. As I’ve mentioned quite often, these were albums that got a lot of play here in Spare Oom, whether on days off or during writing sessions.
ALBUMS Bastille, “&” (Ampersand) Bibio, Phantom Brickworks (LP II) Coldplay, Moon Music Elbow, AUDIO VERTIGO Four Tet, Three GIFT, Illuminator Hooverphonic, Fake Is the New Dope Kelly Lee Owens, Dreamstate La Luz, News of the Universe Linkin Park, From Zero Ride, Interplay The Cure, Songs of a Lost World The Fauns, How Lost The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Unwishing Well The Softies, The Bed I Made The The, Ensoulment Torres, What an enormous room Underworld, Strawberry Hotel Various Artists, Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense Various Artists, Red Hot Org Presents TRAИƧA
SINGLES Bad Bad Hats, “My Heart Your Heart” Corridor, “Jump Cut” deary, “Selene” DIIV, “Brown Paper Bag” Elbow, “Things I’ve Been Telling Myself for Years” English Teacher, “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab” GIFT, “Later” Girl and Girl, “Hello” Kamasi Washington, “Prologue” Kelly Lee Owens, “Love You Got” La Luz, “Strange World” Orcas, “Under the Milky Way” Orville Peck & Beck, “Death Valley High” Ride, “I Came to See the Wreck” RÜFÜS DU SOL, “Music Is Better” The Cure, “And Nothing Is Forever” The Fauns, “Doot Doot” The National, “Heaven” Torres, “Collect”
REISSUES American Football, American Football 25th Anniversary Edition Cocteau Twins & Harold Budd, The Moon and the Melodies Cranes, Collected Works Vol 1 Garbage, Bleed Like Me Deluxe Edition George Harrison, Living in the Material World 50th Anniversary His Name Is Alive, How Ghosts Affect Relationships 1990-1993 Hugo Largo, Huge, Large and Electric: Hugo Largo 1984-1991 Ivy, Long Distance 25th Anniversary Edition John Lennon, Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection and Mind Games: Meditation Mixes Kristin Hersh, Hips and Makers 30th Anniversary Edition New Order, Brotherhood (Definitive) REM, We Are Hope Despite the Times Seal, Seal (1994) Deluxe Edition The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Still Barking (1967-1972) The Dream Academy, Religion, Revolution and Railways: The Complete Recordings The Police, Synchronicity Super Deluxe Edition
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So what do we have coming in 2025? Good question. So far I know we have new albums coming from Franz Ferdinand, Ringo Starr, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Doves (!!), Manic Street Preachers and Mogwai. Stay tuned!
Hope everyone has a great 2025! See you in the next year!
Granted, the last couple of months of the year usually go by in a blur, especially since I work in retail. Between the day job and writing and everything else, I tend to lose track of time and forget minor details and things like that. But thankfully the year did end on a positive note, with a wonderful handful of new records!
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deary, Aurelia EP, released 1 November. One of my favorite newer shoegaze finds with that wonderful guitar wash sound I love so much. I played this one a lot during my writing projects!
Ivy, Long Distance [25th Anniversary Edition], released 1 November. This is probably my favorite Ivy record and one that got a lot of play during the Belfry years. I highly recommend giving this one a listen!
The Cure, Songs of a Lost World, released 1 November. Their first studio album since 2008’s 4:13 Dream, this is well worth the wait, and both critics and fans alike have put this on their list of top albums of the year. The more I listen to this, the more I feel it’s one of their best albums to date.
Linkin Park, From Zero, released 15 November. It’s great to see this band not only returning but essentially picking up where they left off. Emily Armstrong is a great choice to heal the loss of Chester Bennington…while she’s got the same scream-vocal style he had, she gives it her own style and spin.
George Harrison, Living in the Material World 50th Anniversary Edition, released 15 November. This is my second favorite George solo record (after All Things Must Pass of course), and it’s got some of his best work on it. While the album itself leans heavily on the spirituality, it’s not overly cloying. It’s well worth checking out.
New Order, Brotherhood (Definitive), released 22 November. This reissue was also worth the wait as well, as their ‘Definitive’ series provides fresh remasters and intriguing bonus tracks and rarities. This was probably my favorite album of theirs after Substance and got a lot of Walkman play back in the day, so it’s great to hear these songs fresh once more.
U2, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Re-Assemble Edition), released 22 November. Another reissue, this one a twentieth anniversary remaster of their 2004 album plus several more tracks recorded during its sessions but mostly unreleased. It’s a fascinating listen as many of the extras feel much looser and more experimental than what showed up on the original.
Kim Deal, Nobody Loves You More, released 22 November. It’s surprising to know that this is actually Deal’s first solo album, after working so many years with Pixies and The Breeders. It kind of reminds me of The Breeders’ Pod actually, with several of its songs played loosely as if it was more of a demo record than a complete project. Yet that’s the kind of work she’s always done best.
Bibio, Phantom Brickworks (LP II), released 22 November. I first found out about this musician through the first Phantom Brickworks back in 2017, and this sequel is just as fascinating. His work leans towards slow and ambient — the perfect score for my writing sessions, of course — and this one in particular reminds me of one of my favorite ambient records, Global Communication’s 76:14.
Various Artists, Red Hot Org Presents TRANSA, released 22 November. Red Hot has always put out fascinating compilations, and this one is a heartfelt celebration of the trans community. It features forty-six tracks of all kinds of styles, including Moses Sumney’s groovy cover of Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, a surprisingly calm cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” featuring none other than Wendy & Lisa themselves, a ghostly cover of Sinéad O’Connor’s “Feel So Different” by Sharon Van Etten and Ezra Furman… and the biggest surprise, an absolutely lovely track by Sade herself written for her trans son. It’s a fascinating listen and highly recommended.
Mixtape/Playlist, Re:Defined 2405, created 1 December. This particular mix showcases several songs that stopped me in my tracks in the latter half of this year — songs that literally made me stop writing or surfing the internet to focus on what I was hearing. That’s been sadly very rare these days, but I’m glad there’s still a lot out there that will do that for me.
Garbage, copy/paste, vol 1 (Abridged), released 6 December. A shortened version of a Record Store Day special release, this showcases the band’s penchant for the occasional cover song, many of which usually end up on single b-sides. I was familiar with half of these, but their take on The Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way” was a great find.
Saint Etienne, The Night, released 13 December. Glad to see this band returning after a couple of years (songwriter/keyboardist Bob Stanley has been doing a lot of music biography writing as of late, and I highly recommend them). It’s a bit quieter than their usual output, but it’s a great listen.
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….and that’s it for the year! I did leave out quite a few records, mainly due to space, but I’m glad to say that a lot of it stayed with me over the months while I focused on my writing!
As the year winds to a close, I’ve realized that I’m getting a bit closer to the levels of music immersion I’d been missing for a while. After several years of what I tend to describe as ‘surface listening’ — liking a lot of new stuff but not really letting it resonate all that deeply, thus not establishing that wonderful feeling of letting the music speak to you — I’ve started to relearn how to listen and feel that resonance again. Repeated listens to certain albums. Slowing down on the constant influx of new music every Friday. Allowing myself to connect with the sounds that truly excite me. And most of all, making the time to return to earlier music so it doesn’t flit off into the ether to be forgotten.
It’s all really kind of complicated, my relationship with music. Perhaps I should think about this a bit more and do a blog series about it.
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor, ‘No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead’, released 4 October. This influential post-rock band continues to excite its fans with its unique sounds: sometimes adventurous, sometimes droning, sometimes quiet, sometimes ear-splitting.
The Smile, Cutouts, released 4 October. Thom Yorke’s side project surprised us with a second all-new album, this one just as odd and imaginative as January’s Wall of Eyes.
Coldplay, Moon Music, released 4 October. This band continues to follow its path of alternating between glossy pop albums and meandering experimental ones, and this one feels like a bit of each. It’s definitely got the quieter tones similar to 2019’s Everyday Life but also the poppier moments of 2021’s Music of the Spheres. This got a lot of repeat play here!
Public Service Broadcasting, The Last Flight, released 4 October. This is actually NOT the first concept album about Amelia Earhart this year (Laurie Anderson surprised us with her first album in fourteen years with August’s Amelia). PSB’s continuing fascination with flight works well here, focusing on its early history.
John Lennon, Mind Games – Meditation Mixes, released 9 October. John’s son Sean curated this two-hour ambient experiment as part of the multi-format remaster/reissue of John’s 1973 album, and it works surprisingly well. It takes the title song we all know and turns it into ten tracks that feel very much like a Global Communication project. It’s extremely relaxing, not to mention a perfect writing session soundtrack!
RÜFÜS DU SOL, Inhale / Exhale, released 11 October. This Australian alternative dance trio sounds very similar to the alt-electro scene that gave us bands like Bob Moses. It’s a record that could easily fit in at a dance club yet also work perfectly on indie radio like KEXP. This is exactly the kind of music I love listening to while working on big projects like Theadia and MU4.
Gut Health, Stiletto, released 11 October. Fast and twitchy, this band definitely wears its 70s post-punk/No-Wave influences on its sleeve, and they’ve put out a super fun and exciting debut album well worth checking out.
Kelly Lee Owens, Dreamstate, released 18 October. Speaking of dance beats, this Welsh singer and former bassist for The History of Apple Pie (one of my favorite finds of 2013!) stays out in the periphery of her genre by doing similar work to Rufus Du Sol and Bob Moses — beat-heavy yet extremely melodic and full of emotion and creativity. One of my favorite albums of the year.
Japandroids, Fate & Alcohol, released 18 October. Their first new studio album in seven years, it is also, alas, their final album as they chose to break up after its release. Still, it’s a hell of a great way to go, going out on a high note and dropping yet another super fun noise fest of a record.
Phantogram, Memory of a Day, released 18 October. This band continues to fascinate with its electronic-alternative hybrid sound. This one sounds similar to their earlier work, yet that’s not a bad thing.
L’Arc~en~Ciel, “You Gotta Run” single, released 19 October. Their first new single in three years, it was recorded as the opening theme for the Beyblade X anime series but works just as well as a standalone single, featuring their signature heavy rock sound.
Bastille, “&” (Ampersand), released 25 October. This was a bit of a strange album, considering they’re more well-known for more radio-friendly tracks like their biggest hit, “Pompeii”. [For instance, the opener “Intros & Narrators” shifts recording speed within the first minute, causing the listener to wonder if their copy is defective.] It’s a quiet and contemplative record and definitely not chart-friendly, and yet I think it’s one of their best yet. Highly recommended.
The Clockworks, “Blah Blah Blah” single, released 25 October. This band continues to be one of my top favorites of the last five years, and they haven’t let me down yet. Like other rock bands like IDLES, they evoke that classic post-punk feeling of discomfort and agitation yet reel you in with incredible songwriting.
311, Full Bloom, released 25 October. I’ve been a fan of this band since my post-college days, and it’s great to see that they’re still going strong and still funky as hell. It’s a super fun album to listen to.
Ben Folds, Sleigher, released 25 October. You never quite know what Folds will be up to next, and yet every surprising release tends to evoke a ‘well, it doesn’t surprise me that he did something this odd’. And this time out he’s released a lovely and fun holiday album of both standards and originals.
Underworld, Strawberry Hotel, released 25 October. I was pleasantly surprised by how great this album is, as I’ve always been a fan of the band and yet never sat through a full record of theirs without needing to take a break from all the heavy beats and mumbly lyrics. There’s something about this album that just struck me as full of heart and emotion and stayed with me for weeks. I highly recommend it.
Pixies, The Night the Zombies Came, released 25 October. I’ll admit this one feels more like a Frank Black solo album than a Pixies album, and I think it’s that they’ve finally started to move away from their old angular punk sound that had given them so much success in the past. I’d say it does remind me a bit of 1990’s Bossanova, which focused more on surfy melodies than the noisefest of their other early works.
Mixtape/Playlist, Songs from the Eden Cycle Vol 10, created 28 October. Wow, I’m already on ten volumes here? Granted, I only restarted the series in 2018 so it’s even more impressive that I got six done in six years during the years I haven’t been working consistently on the next Mendaihu Universe book! Heh.
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We’ll wrap this up on Thursday the 26th with November and December’s tunage in order to fit in my best-of lists on the 31st! See you soon!
August was the month I decided I was going to take it easy and relax a bit. I’d finally finished and released Queen Ophelia’s War in June, and it was far past time for a break. Sure, I’d still focus on my writing work and whatnot, but more to the point I felt it was a good time to just enjoy the end of summer, which would end with our first away-from-home vacation in quite some time. The daily diary looks rather empty for the month, which was on purpose. Come September I’d start fresh and see how far I would get.
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Jack White, No Name, released 2 August. He just keeps getting better with each album somehow, and this was a surprise release! He’s well entrenched in his signature punk-blues hybrid and it serves him quite well here.
X, Smoke & Fiction, released 2 August. Speaking of punk, this storied LA band has chosen to bow out and dissolve gracefully with this final record that sounds both like their grittier early records and their folk-inspired latter albums.
Orville Peck, Stampede, released 2 August. The masked singer comes back with a super fun album of duets featuring Beck, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Nathaniel Rateliff and more; it’s a mix of covers and originals done in his signature wild and Elvis-twangy style.
파란노을 (Parannoul), Sky Hundred, released 3 August. This South Korean band still wears its My Bloody Valentine influences on its sleeves, blending dreamlike melodies and walls of distortion into something otherworldly. This band is always good for writing sessions!
Quivers, Oyster Cuts, released 9 August. My favorite indie band from down under comes through with an album that expands from their janglepop sound into something a bit more rough and tumble. It’s a bit like early Black Keys but at a much slower speed.
beabadoobee, This Is How Tomorrow Moves, released 9 August. Her new album somehow finds its influences in late 90s indie rock, and that’s not a bad thing.
GIFT, Illuminator, released 23 August. I’m happy to say that this here is my top album of 2024, because it fits so completely in my wheelhouse! KEXP’s morning DJ John Richards gave this one a huge push all autumn (it’s on his own top ten of the year list), and once I got it downloaded I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s a wonderful blend of crisp shoegaze, catchy indie rock, soft vocals and tight melodies that resonate perfectly for me. Every single song on this album is a banger, and it’s already claimed its spot as one of my most played albums during writing sessions this year. I highly recommend it!
The Softies, The Bed I Made, released 23 August. This long-running duo returns from an extremely long hiatus with an absolutely wonderful album of quiet twee melodies that lean more towards The Sundays than Belle & Sebastian, all with just voices and guitar. It’s an incredibly relaxing album and well worth a listen.
Chime School, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel, released 23 August. Yet another super-local band (on Slumberland, natch), this one taking its inspiration from early janglepop, evoking bands like The Three O’Clock and The Mighty Lemon Drops. It’s a fun record that captured the attention of several adoring music critics.
Cocteau Twins & Harold Budd, The Moon and the Melodies 2024 Remaster, released 23 August. You’d think this album would have been given a remaster along with the rest of the Twins’ discography back in the early aughts, but this one was curiously left out until now. This album is one of my top favorites in their catalogue and it’s always gotten significant play during writing sessions. The new remaster gives the already spacious songs even more room to breathe and wander, making the songs sound even more dreamlike.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Wild God, released 30 August. Cave’s new album reminds me a lot of his early 00s albums like Nocturama and Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. There’s more life and energy to this record than his previous non-soundtrack releases (which kind of makes sense, considering his last few were linked to deeply traumatic personal events). While it’s not the drunken death-blues revelry of his early work, it’s more a celebration of life and survival.
This is a two-fer as while there were some great records that dropped around this time, there weren’t too many that utterly captured my attention. There were also several reissues that I’ve skipped here (aside from one I mention below).
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Goat Girl, Below the Waste, released 7 June. This indie band kind of reminds me of Caroline Polachek’s former band Chairlift, with its quirky blotchy sound that goes in interesting directions. “Ride Around” got a decent amount of play in Spare Oom at the time.
Angélica Garcia, Gemelo, released 7 June. “Gemini” is yet another earworm for me, having heard it constantly on KEXP during the summer, and the rest of the album is just as catchy and weird. Definitely worth checking out.
The Decemberists, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, released 14 June. It’s been quite a few years since their last album, and it seems they’ve returned to their original indie sound that’s equal parts folk tale, sea shanty and irresistible pop. “Burial Ground” was a favorite early in the year as a teaser single, and the rest of the album is just as great.
Seal, Seal (1994) Deluxe Edition, released 14 June. This is my favorite of Seal’s albums, and it’s also his most popular one, having several charting hits on it like “Kiss from a Rose” and “Don’t Cry”. I played this a hell of a lot back in that sucktastic year of 1995, but it sounds even better and clearer than ever on this expanded reissue.
Been Stellar, Scream from New York, NY, released 21 June. I still have issues with band names that are essentially bad puns of famous people’s names (see Com Truise, Ringo Deathstarr, Joy Orbison and so on — I just find it lazy) but on the other hand, several of them are sometimes quite good, like this one.
Remi Wolf, Big Ideas, released 12 July. I found myself listening to this one quite a bit over the summer, partly as “Alone in Miami” got significant play on KEXP, but also that it’s a fantastic if slightly leftfield album that goes in interesting directions.
Travis, LA Times, released 12 July. Good to see these Glaswegians are still going strong, still writing excellent and quirky alternapop, and this album is right up there with 12 Memories with its upbeat rock and catchy melodies.
Robin Guthrie, Atlas EP, released 19 July. Well, of course I’m going to be listening to anything new from one of my favorite guitarists! Heh.
Orcas, How to Color a Thousand Mistakes, released 19 July. After hinting a the lovely cover of that Church classic “Under the Milky Way” earlier in the year, this band dropped a wonderful and relaxing album of quiet beauty. This is definitely something I’d have listened to back in the 80s as well.
Mixtape/Playlist, Re:Defined 2403, created 25 July. This is probably my favorite of this year’s Re:Defined mixes. By this time I’d basically created an empty folder and pasted in any songs that captured my attention around that time, and the end result is a very interesting mix that goes all over the place yet flows really well.
Wand, Vertigo, released 26 July. This band reminds me a lot of Shearwater, actually. As I like to say, you can hear the math on this one. Artfully crafted and highly inventive, it’s an excellent listen and one of my favorites during writing sessions.
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Stay tuned for August, which features a few of my year-end favorites!
Walk In Silence 