Well, quite a few.
Okay... some.
Let's not exaggerate. After I've culled the AI covers, the weird stuff I only bookmarked out of curiosity, the tracks I've already shared but haven't gotten around to removing and a few things I don't even want to admit to myself I've been listening to, there's not that much left.
Enough, though. Let's get started.
For once, I'm going to open with the best I've got, not leave it to the end or hide it in the middle. When I heard this it gave me chills. Those actual thrillchills where hairs stand up. I just watched the video and it happened again. I know that can't last (Never does.) but the message will.
We Can Be Anything - Baby Queen
Positive nihilists are hugely under-represented in popular culture. I know. I speak as one. This could be our anthem.
I could explain in detail why everything about it is so good. I know why. Explaining music is like explaining jokes, though. Once you start, it's already too late. I'll just settle for saying it's the most uplifting, encouraging, positive combination of sound, image and meaning without ever being trite, simplistic or condescending. My two favorite couplets from the wholly excellent lyric:
"A life devoid of meaning
Is a life of total freedom"
"If it's inconsequential
Then there's infinite potential"
Words to live by.
Hard act to follow? Hold my beer, says Sabrina.
Veronica Mars - Blondshell
I just listened to it five times in a row trying to pick my favorite live version. Ended up going with the studio original. That thrill thing that wears off? Hasn't yet.
Don't you just adore an eliptical, minimalist, referential lyric like this?
It's so open, anything could crawl right in. There's the power. And I'm not
much for guitar solos but damn!
Again I want to thank
Jarrett Wolfson, not just for this one but for more to come. He's like my personal alt-rock
shopper.
Frankenstein - Elwood
Change of pace. Reminds me pretty strongly of Anchorage by Michelle Shocked, a song I used to love but obviously can't listen to any more without thinking about all that stuff she said later. Also, I had a cat named Elwood I loved that died of feline leukemia in circumstances around which I retain a small residue of guilt.
Poor Madeleine - Daffo
We seem to have wandered into the alt-folk aisle. I mean, that's an alt-folk hat if ever I saw one. Kind of like if Heidi started a band, isn't it? Anyone ever read Heidi? I haven't. She was one of the banes of my TV-watching child life. Never really forgave her.
I'm Good - Snotty Nose Rez Kids
To quote David Byrne, how did we get here? Funny story, bro...
No, it's not. Really boring story actually. I was going to do a post on
the 2023 Polaris Prize long list
but I never got around to it. Not yet. Could still happen, although since
the short list
is already out, I kinda don't see the point any more. I suppose I could do a
post on that.
The Polaris Prize, in case you didn't click the link and didn't already know, is "a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label". Since my experience of Canadian music is hella positive, I thought there'd be some good stuff on there and there is but I haven't had time to go through the whole thing.
I did check out the acts with the most interesting names and these guys clearly qualify, along with Isabella Lovestory and Witch Prophet. That's about as far as I got.
ASAP - New Jeans
Rapidly becoming something of a fixture here. Of all the KPop acts I've heard, which is a few now, although statistically insignificant I'm sure, New Jeans really stand out. I like Stray Kids but they're very indie rock. New Jeans are...
What are they? It's puzzling. There's a machine-level emptiness in this track that's echoed unnervingly in the blank stares of the close-ups. They're eerie. Described by NME as "the sound of youth but delivered in a way that bypasses the chaos whirlwind of teen life" they remind me of the band that would be playing in the nigtclub scene of a movie set on a generation starship just before the voyage starts to go tragically wrong.
If we ever get true AI original music acts they'll look and sound like this. That's a good thing, right?
I Wanna Be Software - Grimes
This, on the other hand, sounds like something from about 1982. Can't you
imagine it coming over the PA, slightly distorted, in one of those hangar-like
venues they used for the electronic music festivals back then, right before
Gary Numan came on? It's so retro it's just plain old-fashioned. Not a
negative. Just a (Pleasant.) surprise.
Knockoff - Poppy
Remember when we pretended
we weren't sure if Poppy was real?
Doesn't seem so funny now, does it?
Your Dad's Watch - 95 Bulls
Like when you bite into the lime from a margherita. Bitter. Harsh. Sharp. Cleansing. Bonus points for the specs.
Share The Present - GIFT
There are two "official" videos for this. The other begins with someone eating baked beans so screw that.
I was worried I'd left myself without a big finish but that drumbeat always carries the day.
Until next time, unless Jarrett stops going out, in which case this feature will be nothing but a blank page...
*** A Footnote for anyone who reads this far. (Congratulations and thank-you for your persistence and/or dedication, by the way.) I wrote this almost before Blaugust began and it already feels dated to me. I have a bunch of new songs lined up and most of them are better than most of these. Well, some of them. I just hope I get a chance to put the new ones up before they, too, find themselves eclipsed. ***
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