The actual answer is that it used to be a Tumblr trend, then it recently got revived/co-opted by Billie Eilish/Ariana Grande/Olivia Rodrigo/Taylor Swift who all mine a similar type of internet nostalgia. You could get cynical and say that indie bands are just aping pop aesthetics because poptimism is big now, but I think it makes sense for a band that opens for The Microphones to favor all lowercase, the mellowest of capitalization styles
Yes, actually--I noticed I was having the same issue. My advice for de-content-ifying your music:
1. Keep a personal list of albums to check out. I find this is the only way to remember albums that won't get traction in algorithms/hype cycles.
2. For small bands (i.e., ones that might get a passing news article, if that, but not make the end-of-year-lists) prioritize totally arbitrary personal connections. Like, if a band is local (or local-ish) to you or you saw them as an opener or maybe you had a fun vacation in the city they're from or something. There is way too much music, so it helps to have some personal investment, even if it's a small one.
3. Just embrace music-as-content in small doses. I'm going to listen to every new War On Drugs album, even though I've never really enjoyed any of the past ones; I guess I just like being reminded how different other people's brains can be from mine?
Blue Oyster Cult are secretly the best classic rock band. You can hear their sound in everything from Queens of The Stone Age to The Mountain Goats. Their hits, while amazing, are also kinda unrepresentative (literally none of the Big 3 feature their normal lead vocalist). They run the gamut from early 70s collabs with pre-fame Patti Smith to some of the most cheese-tastic 80s rock ever committed to vinyl, and it’s all (mostly) good. My personally pick for a deep-ish cut is the live version of “Veteran of the Psychic Wars,” which boasts the rare distinction of having very a show-offy guitar solo that is still fun to listen to as actual music.
I can’t explain why, but this cash-in music video from a washed-up 80s rock icon who only exists inside an alternate-history 90s internet video game brought me more joy than any other holiday song this year. Merry Christmas (Eve)!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ftEz-m0kEWA
I just remembered that Charli XCX made a (pretty great!) quarantine album about 50 years ago, and the fact that "quarantine albums" just get called "albums" now makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time
I'm like 10 years late, but I'm posting this for posterity so I can find it on Google, lol.
For anyone who's made it down this far: Just saying, I had Japanese Breakfast as my AOTY 2017 and Stereogum's official list had Lorde. Make of that what you will!
1. For Those I Love -- For Those I Love
2. Hand Habits -- Fun House
3. Lucy Dacus -- Home Video
4. Andy Shauf -- Wilds
5. Home is Where -- I Became Birds
6. Japanese Breakfast -- Jubilee
7. Mach Hommy -- Pray For Haiti
8. Audiobooks -- Astrotough
9. Chubby and the Gang -- The Mutt's Nuts
10. Origami Angel -- Gami Gang
Hey, remember when Sleater-Kinney released an album this year?
(For the record, I love them and think The Center Won't Hold was underrated, though I'm kind of shocked how little Path of Wellness did for me, or apparently for anyone else.)
Definitely a recency bias on some of these songs, but here's my list now:
1 "Thumbs"--Lucy Dacus
2 "Assisted Harikiri"--Home Is Where
3 "You Stayed / To Live"--For Those I Love
4 "Mars"--Pink Shift
5 "Will You Haunt Me?"--Ziemba
6 "Walking at a Downtown Pace"--Parquet Courts
7 "Judy (Wilds)"--Andy Shauf
8 "Be Sweet"--Japanese Breakfast
9 "I Lost You"--Marissa Paternoster
10 "Red String Map"--Nervous Dater
This video series really drives home the point that no one knows what to make of 2021, except the guy from the Hives, who is just out there living his best life
Pink Shift for me!!!
Also, not complaining that Home Is Where made the main album list with I Became Birds, but for me that feels like an EP and would easily be my #2.
I really wanted to like the previous couple Earl releases, but man it feels good to hear him rapping over something that doesn't sound like it's being played out of a 2012 MacBook Pro in the other room. That said, I really should give Feet of Clay another shot.
Yeah, I was listening to the album and kind of enjoying it, but then immediately after, Spotify queued up “Avant Gardner,” and holy shit, what a difference. The ratio of “sit and think” to “just sit” used to be so much better.
I'd go to bat for {i]The Who Sell Out{/i}. It's not their hardest-rocking album, but it's absolutely bonkers: basically the missing link between The Kinks and Ween. The beauty of The Who has always been that the same band that wrote "My Generation" and "Baba O'Riley" also wrote "Heinz Baked Beans."
Not a big Swiftie, but “Trouble” definitely makes me nostalgic for that brief period in the early 2010s when every pop artist was trying to shoehorn dubstep bass into their songs. I feel like a lot of songs from that era ended up accidentally more avant-garde than intended, lol. “Trouble” also inspired some great YouTube videos, including this classic: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-MqHTjorymw
I mean, I probably won’t listen to this, but that is a very cool album cover!
Also, Only Murders In The Building is pleasant, but I feel like Gomez is by far the weak link, lol. Her “1930s dame” accent gives me serious community theater vibes.
For Those I Love is my AOTYSF. Kinda like The Streets meets the mellow parts of Yeezus.
Home Is Where, Pinkshift, and Nervous Dater are all melodic punky stuff that really did it for me.
Mach-Hommy is one of the few new rappers I’ve heard this year who really RAPS, and I really enjoyed his most recent release.
Yeah, I’d put it up there with What We Do in the Shadows as one of the few recent comedies I actually laugh at. It is a sweet show, but it’s also a lot weirder and pricklier than you’d expect based on The Discourse
IDK, I could also buy the argument that streaming has changed the way people listen. It's much easier to legitimately get the top 9 songs in a week if people just have to press play (as opposed to actually buying songs, as it would've been in the vinyl era up through the mp3 era). The fact that radio is no longer such a big deal could also lead to more homogeny. Would be curious to see an analysis on this.
Yeah, dumb as the jokes are, IMO, this whole bit kinda rules. Feels like there are clearly one or two staff writers who have an ongoing bet to see what's the craziest thing they can get away with playing on NBC.
lol, but that's a totally different situation, right? Allegations came later, it's a core part of the song, and the album came out 8 years ago, not last week. Not trying to cancel Drake over what's basically an administrative error, just saying it feels like a massive own goal to keep paying money to R. Kelly('s publisher) for such an inessential sample.
Comments