Katarina Witt (German!) and Yulia Lipnitskaya have both skated to Schindler's List. There are lots of real things to be offended about, yet somehow we can't help manufacturing more.
That would be amazing, her debut was good and 'Sometimes' was a jam and should have gotten a proper release. But if we can't have that or 'Hide', I'll gladly take a project with Kaytranada.
Lee Ann Womack is my favourite country musician, but I found this album to be the weakest of her last four, just a little short on ideas. Still deserving of a spot in the top 10, though.
I'd have included these:
Sunny Sweeney - Trophy
Midland - On the Rocks
Whitney Rose - Rule 62
Sam Outlaw - Tenderheart
Faye Webster - s/t (this got almost no attention this year but it's sooooo good)
That Independent review is absolutely spot on for me. I just tried Utopia again, got halfway through the title track and had to bail. There's lots of music out there that isn't for me but whose appeal I understand, but to me Utopia and Vulnicura are so lacking in melody that I can't see their appeal AT ALL. So I put on Usher's Hard II Love instead. It really is pretty great. Different strokes, I guess.
I saw a decidedly out-of-shape Montreal stripper do his thing to "Congratulations" and it was hypnotic and awesome and that experience has now snowballed into me not being able to get enough Post Malone. Turns out hazy, spacey rap by a guy with no real point-of-view or personality is exactly what I want! "Yours Truly, Austin Post" is another real highlight.
On a crisp fall day in 1997, 16-year-old me went to HMV in Halifax and with his part-time library job money bought Dots and Loops, Portishead s/t, and Pizzicato Five's Happy End of the World. It was the most formative day in my musical life. This year I picked up the Dots and Loops vinyl reissue, and the album still sounds every bit as good as it did then.
I've been blasting Days of Abandon in the car all summer, it's super underrated. Beautiful You is their best song imo. Excited for this one, the advance singles have been good!
"...I could tell that he was disappointed in my level of access and what that said about me and how I’ve progressed so far in my career."
I almost spit out my coffee. I like a lot of the writing on this site, and this was one of the most enjoyable pieces I've read here.
I Want You is by far my favourite Marvin Gaye album, and it exists because of Leon Ware. He was still doing good stuff, too, check out his recent single with Quadron. RIP to a soul legend, indeed.
What's My Name?
And thank you for warning us to check the "other" inbox...I once won the Blur box and didn't know to check that and ended up with no Blur box.
For years, Bruno Mars was the most frustrating pop star, so obviously talented yet churning out such dreck. And now, finally, that's all gloriously changed. MY BODY IS READY.
Speaking of CRJ b-sides, if you're a fan, you should check out 'When I'm Alone' by k-pop group f(x). It's one of the tunes that was left off Emotion, and it's great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMWRCfwdCDY
I love the 1975's first album, but based on these new singles, this one's got sophomore slump written all over it. It's like they're struggling just to fill the space before the weak chorus.
Comments