[recency bias | 2023.06.25]

This is my ‘‘going-to-the-office’’ part of the year. I oscillate between new tracks and the perpetual repeating of Youtube Music’s recommendations. It’s a balance between the productivity of the rote and the amusement of the new. As always, the music I engage with reflects my mood to some degree and, being moody, this selection is also that.

Starting with the musically exceptional Lovely Sewer by Yves Tumor off of Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds). This song is a eerie ethereal duet. On the first few listens I was taken aback by the start of the verse at 0:34. There’s something strange about this vocal: it plays between the electronic shrieks and blips in the background and contrasts harshly with the nasally accented version of this verse at 1:57. I don’t think I’ve heard anything that sounds like this song and I love it for that. Listen to the whole album.

Next up, Halsey’s self remix for the Diablo IV marketing: Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem) (feat. SUGA). The first change from the original is the addition of a much more aggressive, though not really abrasive, backing track with ominous movie-esque bass drones, low thumping, and metallic clangs ¹. The second change, totally a minor one, is that it’s now a duet. I think that this is a more dynamic version of the track and superior to the original. And, since Halsey is in rotation, I’ve listened to the live version of Hopeless Fountain Kingdom a few times.

A few weeks ago I saw The Beaches in concert and their performance was captivating. Blame Brett, My People, and Everything is boring have hung around in my rotation. So what do I like about them? The music is indie pop at its finest: this is music that is fun. It’s energetic, shouty, and light. I think the lyrics carry the show. Written for the twenty somethings², these three tracks are, respectively: a surprisingly self-aware break up song, self discovery with the denizens of the internet, and capital-a apathy. Fight (or prompt) the ennui with some fun indie pop!

Yellowcard released some new music and it sounds like Yellowcard. MGK ³ has the hilariously titled mainstream sellout which has a song or two I like because I’m clearly a sucker for every duet that I listen to these days. Muna made a song in 2017 that makes me melancholic. COBRAH and Tessa Violet released music that I can’t listen to at work.