Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Kool Keith and Kutmasta Kurt “Your Mom Is My Wife”

Kool Keith was on such a hot streak in the late ‘90s that he was somehow willing to throw a song as excellent and immediately appealing as “Your Mom Is My Wife” in a vault for 20 years. I have no idea why this track was scrapped back then – maybe Keith had second thoughts about releasing a song in which he condescendingly treats the then-current generation of rappers like his literal sons and demands homage and respect. (Hip-hop itself is the mother, obviously.) But regardless of his motives at the time, the song has aged very well. So well, in fact, that I didn’t realize it wasn’t a brand new tune the first few times I heard it, and only discovered its origin upon Googling it in advance of writing about it. The lyrics are even funnier now that Keith is old enough to be the actual father of many contemporary rappers, though it is pretty amusing to think that this old man routine was coming from a dude who was about 33 at the time it was recorded.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

The 1975 “Love Me”

One of the negative effects of having made the 1980s survey set is that my tolerance for people saying that some recent music sounds like “the ‘80s” when it does not is very low. This is typically just a lazy way of saying “this sounds like upbeat pop music” or “this has a keyboard on it,” and is almost always something that is written and produced in a very contemporary way. The 1975’s “Love Me” is the rare song from the recent past that genuinely sounds like “the ‘80s” on a structural level – the music could easily pass for mid-‘80s INXS, and there’s a lot of Scritti Politti and Nile Rodgers in it too. But beyond that, Matthew Healy looks and sounds like the second coming of Michael Hutchence, and is the first major rock star in ages to really lean into being overtly sexual and self-objectifying. Healy’s performance in the video for “Love Me” is magnetic and highly entertaining – he’s overflowing with personality, and clearly gets off on preening around in this very cheeky way. There’s a bit of young Robert Smith in his hair and makeup, and a touch of Mick Jagger in his “I’m having a laugh, come party with me” vibe. What’s particularly wonderful about “Love Me” and The 1975 is that as much as it’s all connecting to excellent elements of older music that’s been more or less lost for a few generations, it all still sounds very of this moment. Their aesthetics and concerns are fresh, it’s just the template that’s familiar.

Buy it from Amazon.

Japanese Breakfast “Everybody Wants to Love You”

Everything in “Everybody Wants to Love You” sounds a bit hazy and sparkly at the same time, like camera footage that’s been treated to seem heightened and idealized in post-production. It’s the perfect sound for a song about a crush, and really pulls the listener into this overwhelming optimism and bliss. The lyrics build on that feeling perfectly by focusing on details and little fantasies. There’s a lot of lust in this song, but even more romanticism, and that thing of feeling so excited by possibilities that you can’t stop yourself from constructing perfect moments of sex and love in advance of anything actually happening.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

J. Cole “Ville Mentality”

J. Cole’s massive popularity is a fascinating outlier. He’s not much of a celebrity, he doesn’t make a lot of guest appearances, he has no crossover hits, his style is low-key and very off-trend. He’s essentially very successful counter-programming, a current rapper whose music sounds always sounds like it’s from somewhere between 1997 and 2002 – i.e., what would amount to Classic Hip-Hop for people who would presently be in their late 20s to mid 30s. If you just want the Old Kanye, Cole is for you. If you miss conscious rap but feel like Kendrick is too pretentious, Cole is for you. If you can’t connect with Drake or Future, Cole is for you. If you barely even know YG and Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert, Cole is your dude. But then, Cole is for anyone who likes rap because Cole makes Default Rap music.

This sounds like I’m damning J. Cole with faint praise, but I think he’s a good rapper and a better producer. Cole’s productions tend to be subtle in their details and melancholy in tone, he’s almost entirely uninterested in bangers or anything you could conceivably dance to. He sticks to this very Nas-like lane, and it suits his voice – never convincingly aggressive or sexy, but highly introspective. “Ville Mentality” is a great example of how he and his collaborators – in this case, Elite and Ron Gilmore – frame Cole’s words with music that feels elegant and cinematic. The track signals Seriousness and Importance but backs away from outright pomposity or heavy-handed sentimentality. It comes out sounding quite tasteful, and emotional on its own terms.

Buy it from Amazon.

Ab-Soul “Threatening Nature”

Ab-Soul’s lyrics are about as densely crafted as they come, but his cadence and flow is loose and conversational, full of asides that deviate from meter without derailing the rhythm. “Threatening Nature” is too carefully written to feel improvised, but he does sound exceptionally casual as he picks at Christian theology, draws inspiration from Aleister Crowley’s philosophy of Thelema, and contrasts the oppression of black people with institutional sexism dating back to the dawn of time. It’s difficult to sum up exactly what he’s saying here – the point is that it’s all complicated and fucked up – but it’s fascinating to get inside this guy’s head and follow his connections. I’m particularly happy with how explicitly feminist this song gets, but I do wish it didn’t come immediately after he drops some homophobic language. It doesn’t wreck the song for me, but it does undermine its message, and fails to make the obvious connection that homophobia is rooted in misogyny.

Buy it from iTunes.

Here’s the 2016 survey, featuring 222 songs from across several genres from the past year. Unlike the 1980s survey mixes, this is not really about giving a historically accurate picture of the year in music – while I think this is representative of 2016, it’s a lot more personal and subjective. This is the most hip-hop/R&B-centric survey I’ve ever made, and there’s also a lot of pretty obscure stuff that I’ve found through my indispensable Bandcamp feed. I hope you find a lot of new things to like in this survey, and come away feeling that despite the fact that music media is increasingly focused on a handful of celebrity artists at the expense of anything else, this has actually been a pretty solid year for music.

Here is a version of this mix as a Spotify playlist for your convenience. It is a bit less listenable without my edits, and is missing 22 songs which aren’t available on streaming services.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

Car Seat Headrest “1937 State Park” / Danny Brown “Dance in the Water” / Beyoncé “Hold Up” / Xenia Rubinos “Lonely Lover” / A Tribe Called Quest “Dis Generation” / Kendrick Lamar “Untitled 06 (06.30.2014)” / Chance the Rapper featuring Lil Wayne and 2 Chains “No Problem” / Sleigh Bells “Rule Number One” / Mac Miller featuring Anderson Paak “Dang!” / Ari Lennox “Night Drive” / Case/Lang/Veirs “Honey and Smoke” / Okkervil River “Mary On A Wave” / Radiohead “Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief” / Bat for Lashes “Never Forgive the Angels” / Margaret Glaspy “You and I” / The Scary Jokes “Catabolic Seed” / Noname “Diddy Bop” / 30/70 “Local Knowledge” / Jamila Woods “Breadcrumbs” / Joey Purp featuring Chance the Rapper “Girls @“ / Maxwell “III” / Leapling “Alabaster Snow” / Lucy Dacus “Direct Address” / Speedy Ortiz “Emma O” / Rihanna “Love On the Brain”

DOWNLOAD DISC 2

Anderson Paak “The Bird” / No Panty “Singin’ My Song” / The Avalanches “Harmony” / Andrew Bird “Truth Lies Low” / Bibio “Town & Country” / Cass McCombs “Opposite House” / Zayn “It’s You” / Corinne Bailey Rae “Been to the Moon” / Angelic Milk “Rebel Black” / Lou E “What Do You Do It For?” / Lil Yachty “Good Day” / Big Baby D.R.A.M. “Cash Machine” / Twice “Cheer Up” / Thao and the Get Down Stay Down “Fool Forever” / Miya Folick “Pet Body” / Mannequin Pussy “Romantic” / Kvelertak “1985” / Jay Som “I Think You’re Alright” / Frankie Cosmos “I’m 20” / The Range “Superimpose” / Negative Gemini “Don’t Worry ‘Bout the Fuck I’m Doing” / Sales “Ivy” / Lady Gaga “A-YO” / Beck “Wow” / The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk “Starboy” / A$AP Ferg featuring Skrillex and Crystal Caines “Hungry Ham” / J. Cole “False Prophets (Be Like This)” / Lance Skiiwalker “Lovers Lane”

DOWNLOAD DISC 3

DJ Shadow featuring Run the Jewels “Nobody Speak” / Childish Gambino “Have Some Love” / Frank Ocean “Pink + White” / NxWorries “What More Can I Say” / Yung Bae “As Sweet As My Baby” / De La Soul featuring Estelle and Pete Rock “Memory of… (Us)” / Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam “Rough Going (I Won’t Let Up)” / Thee Oh Sees “The Axis” / Hinds “Fat Calmed Kiddos” / Whitney “No Matter Where We Go” / Slow Club “Give Me Some Peace” / White Lung “Demented” / Melkbelly “Elk Mountain” / No Joy “XO (Adam’s Getting Married)” / Underworld “Motorhome” / Animal Collective “Vertical” / Cavern of Anti-Matter “Melody In High Feedback Tones” / Luísa Maita “Fio da Memória” / Flume featuring Vince Staples and Kucka “Smoke and Retribution” / Bullion “Never Is the Change” / Justin Timberlake “Can’t Stop the Feeling” / DNCE “Cake by the Ocean” / The 1975 “Love Me” / Twenty One Pilots “Heathens” / Lake Street Dive “I Don’t Care About You” / Bruno Mars “Perm” / BJ the Chicago Kid featuring Kendrick Lamar “The New Cupid”

DOWNLOAD DISC 4

Kanye West featuring Chance the Rapper “Ultralight Beam” / Pusha T “HGTV Freestyle” / Run the Jewels “Talk to Me” / Saba featuring Noname “Church/Liquor Store” / Solange “Cranes in the Sky” / Field Music “The Noisy Days Are Over” / A Giant Dog “Sex & Drugs” / Angel Olsen “Shut Up Kiss Me” / Mitski “Once More to See You” / Ariana Grande “Moonlight” / Esperanza Spalding “Unconditional Love” / Snoh Aalegra “In Your River” / James Blake “Radio Silence” / Anohni “Execution” / Jessy Lanza “It Means I Love You” / EXO “Monster” / Max Wonders “Utopia” / Gaby Moreno “Pale Bright Lights” / Quilt “Hissing My Plea” / Kip McGrath “Clock Hands” / Pinegrove “Old Friends” / Amy O “Canteen” / Katie Dey “Fear O’ the Light” / Drugdealer “Suddenly” / of Montreal “It’s Different for Girls” / Kevin Abstract “Empty” / Massive Attack featuring Tricky and 3D “Take It There” / Tim Hecker “Castrati Stack”

DOWNLOAD DISC 5

David Bowie “Blackstar” / Vince Staples featuring Kilo Kish “Loco” / Young Thug “Future Swag” / Lil Uzi Vert “Canadian Goose” / Anchorsong “Oriental Suite” / Nicolas Jaar “No” / Motion Graphics “Lense” / Skepta “Lyrics” / YG featuring Nipsey Hussle “FDT” / Fudge “Young Vet” / Kate Tempest “Ketamine for Breakfast” / Tricky “Diving Away” / Blood Orange “Best to You” / Weyes Blood “Do You Need My Love” / Little Scream “Dark Dance” / Kaytranada featuring AlunaGeorge and Goldlink “Together” / Mome “Super Hot Days” / DJ Paypal “No One Else” / Kiiara “Gold” / BTS “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” / DJ Snake featuring Justin Bieber “Let Me Love You” / The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey “Closer” / 21 Savage & Metro Boomin “No Heart” / Future featuring The Weeknd “Low Life” / Relaen “Twines”

DOWNLOAD DISC 6

Wilco “Normal American Kids” / Miranda Lambert “Highway Vagabond” / Maren Morris “Drunk Girls Don’t Cry” / Basia Bulat “Long Goodbye” / Against Me! “12:03” / Fascinations Grand Chorus “Welcome” / Magic Potion “Cheddar Lane” / AJJ “American Garbage” / Ratboys “Not Again” / Pip Blom “Truth” / Sunflower Bean “Come On” / Ty Segall “Emotional Mugger/Leopard Priestess” / The Orielles “Jobin” / Wire “Internal Exile” / PJ Harvey “The Community of Hope” / Purling Hiss “Fever” / Japanese Breakfast “Everybody Wants to Love You” / Salami Rose Joe Louis “I Miss You So” / Desiigner featuring Kanye West “Timmy Turner (Remix)” / A$AP Mob featuring A$AP Rocky and Skepta “Put That On My Set” / Ka “That Cold and Lonely” / BADBADNOTGOOD “Speaking Gently” / Bas featuring Cozz “Dopamine” / Kamaiyah “How Does It Feel?” / Drake “One Dance” / Sampa the Great “2 4” / Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane “Black Beatles” / Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Rings of Saturn” / Andy Stott “Butterflies” / Jenny Hval “Conceptual Romance” / Leonard Cohen “If I Didn’t Have Your Love” / Alexis Taylor “Crying in the Chapel”

DOWNLOAD DISC 7

The Game “The Juice” / John Legend featuring Chance the Rapper “Penthouse Floor” / Ab-Soul featuring Da$h “Huey Knew” / The Kills “Whirling Eye” / Wolf Parade “Floating World” / Half Waif “Nest” / Isaiah Rashad “Brenda” / Schoolboy Q featuring Lance Skiiiwalker “Kno Ya Wrong” / DJ Khaled featuring Drake “For Free” / Twista featuring Jeremih “Next to You” / Britney Spears “Private Show” / Teen “All About Us” / Margo Price “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)” / Nada Surf “Rushing” / Modern Baseball “Everyday” / Field Mouse “The Mirror” / Sheer Mag “Can’t Stop Fighting” / G.L.O.S.S. “Trans Day of Revenge” / Twist “Can’t Wait” / Monomyth “Re: Lease Life (Place 2 Go)” / The Frightnrs “Nothing More to Say” / The Rolling Stones “Everybody Knows About My Good Thing” / Julia Jacklin “Leadlight” / Eleanor Friedberger “Because I Asked You” / Michael Kiwanuka “The Final Frame” / Divine Council featuring Andre 3000 and $ilk Money “Decemba (Remix)” / PARTYNEXTDOOR “Not Nice”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

Sia “Cheap Thrills” / Colleen Green “U Coulda Been An A” / Crying “There Was A Door” / Guided by Voices “Kid On A Ladder” / Paul Simon “Wristband” / The Lonely Island featuring Adam Levine “I’m So Humble” / Aminé “Caroline” / DJ Quik & Problem featuring The Game and Candace Boyd “Rosecrans” / Little Shalimar featuring Bun B, Killer Mike, and Cuz Lightyear “Savage Habits” / Uffe “As Long As It Lasts” / 79.5 “ooo” / OddCouple featuring Joey Purp “Visions” / Kool Keith featuring MF Doom “Super Hero” / Heavy Heart “Teenage Witch” / Electric Six “Lee Did This To Me” / Duck “Lip On The Floor” / Really Big Pinecone “Everybody Needs Friends” / Nap Eyes “Mixer” / Norah Jones “Day Breaks” / Kevin Morby “I Have Been to the Mountain” / Conor Oberst “Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out” / Lady Wray “Smilin’” / Tennis “Ladies Don’t Play Guitar” / Tinashe “Company” / Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall “Juju On That Beat (TZ Anthem)” / Wild Beasts “Alpha Female” / Justice “Fire” / Dr. Something “Companion” / Bon Iver “21 M◊◊N WATER” / Burial “Young Death”

Childish Gambino “Have Some Love”

Somewhere along the way I missed the part where Donald Glover set aside rap in favor of psychedelic funk in the vein of Sly and the Family Stone and Parliament/Funkadelic, so hearing the songs on Awaken, My Love! was a genuinely surprising experience for me. Glover went all in on this transformation; there’s almost no overlap in aesthetics between this album and anything else he’s done as Childish Gambino. As it turns out, the hard funk vibe suits him, and allows him to express ideas about love and life that may have seemed trite in hip-hop, but feel vital and profound in this genre. (“Have a word for your brother / have some time for one another / really love one another,” in the case of this song.) Given that Glover is best known as an actor, it shouldn’t be surprising that he has the talent to be a genre chameleon. This shift sets a precedent for him to move in any direction he wants in the future, and if he commits himself as fully to whatever that may be, it’ll probably end up being as convincing and strong as the best cuts on Awaken.

Buy it from Amazon.

Monomyth “Re: Lease Life (Place 2 Go)”

“Re: Lease Life” is a modern twist on up-tempo Velvet Underground songs like “What Goes On” and “Rock & Roll” – the tone is the very similar, but the stakes of the lyrics are totally different, with Monomyth leaning into the “write what you know” axiom by just singing about being a broke indie rocker in Canada. The music has a nice slackness to it without getting sloppy, and as banal as the subject matter can be, they capture a feeling caught in some awkward space between laziness and restlessness very well. I’m particularly fond of the shift into the refrain – “the first snow of the year / and I notice that you’re not here” – where everything suddenly gets a bit more tight and crisp for a few melancholy moments before shrugging back into the groove.

Buy it from Amazon.

Margaret Glaspy “Somebody to Anybody”

“Somebody to Anybody” starts off as an expression of deep humility, with Margaret Glaspy singing about being at peace with the idea of being an insignificant part of a much bigger world. But as the song progresses, it becomes clear that this isn’t just about humility. It’s about not wanting to deal with the pressures and responsibilities of being important to someone else. The meaning of the song’s chorus – “I don’t want to be somebody to anybody / I’m good at no one” – subtly shifts as it caps different verses, and Glaspy’s voice takes on different tones of resignation and melancholy. Her pride gradually fades away, and is slowly replaced by a lonely sort of shame. Not a shame in feeling insignificant, but a shame about turning away from potential happiness and fulfillment out of fear and not wanting to leave a comfort zone.

Buy it from Amazon.

Say When

This two-hour mix is adapted from a much longer personal playlist of night music. I have no particular definition for “night music” aside from that all of it sounds much better at night, and in some cases, sounds as though it should only ever be heard at night. Some of it is melancholy, some of it is sexy, all of it has a certain ambience to it. I hope you enjoy it. If you like this, you may also enjoy my Studio One Holiday Mix from last year, which is still available.

FYI, there is no Spotify playlist for this because – shocker! – some key tracks are not available on that service.

Bruno Mars “Perm”

Bruno Mars fakes it so real he is beyond fake. His commitment to throwing himself into what is basically an elaborate impression of James Brown is so complete that it somehow goes beyond pastiche – this is just who Bruno Mars is now, and it all comes naturally. Mars emulates Michael Jackson on other songs, and it’s never as convincing as his Brown routine, partly because Jackson’s aesthetic is a peculiar mix of superhuman technical prowess and hyper-specific tics, and Brown’s is more about blunt force and attitude. Mars can pull that off, and updates it just enough to keep it from being a museum replica of ‘70s funk. It helps that he’s a good flirt. “Perm” is basically a three-and-a-half minute flirt that’s aggressive without being disrespectful, and is mostly just an invitation to dance. Part of why this works is Mars understanding that this is supposed to be a bit silly, and so when he tells you to “activate your sexy,” it comes off as funny and cool rather than dorky and delusional.

Buy it from Amazon.

Kaytranada featuring AlunaGeorge and Goldlink “Together”

The hooks in “Together” are strong enough that they don’t actually require a particularly interesting arrangement – you could just highlight the melody with a serviceable beat, and you’d have something solid and fun. Kaytranada didn’t settle, and I’m very grateful for that. His beats are extremely well designed, delivering an irresistible and immediate rhythm with accents that are surprising but not distracting. The rest of the arrangement is just as intricate yet understated, with every keyboard chord, click, and clap merging into a perfectly formed groove to frame AlunaGeorge’s vocal. The craft is just amazing, and with all due respect to AlunaGeorge, I’d love to hear what this guy could do with an A-list pop star like Beyoncé or Rihanna.

Buy it from Amazon.

Michael Kiwanuka “The Final Frame”

I love the way Michael Kiwanuka’s lead guitar contrasts with the sentimental string arrangement and gentle piano chords in this song – it’s a much less restrained performance, and one that seems as though it could fall apart at any moment. There’s an odd tension to it, and the particular shade of distortion on it feels a bit tinny and pinched. This part could’ve been much more slick and graceful, but Kiwanuka deliberately evokes an awkward, strained emotion. His vocal part expresses grief for a broken relationship, and his voice is melancholy but very smooth. He’s suggesting a feeling that doesn’t really come out until the final third with the solo, which is cathartic, but only up to a point. The song ends with some feeling of release, but it doesn’t feel quite resolved. As it goes silent, you’re left with the impression that this guy is going to be stewing in this misery for quite a while to come.

Buy it from Amazon.

Oddcouple featuring Joey Purp “Visions”

“Visions” is built around a sweeping, melancholy string section hook that sounds like it’s been yanked from the score of some 1950s melodrama. It sounds like small scale misery blown out to monumental proportions, and Joey Purp’s verses follow that lead with lyrics drawing a line from everyday tragedy to its roots in systemic racism: “It’s the places we live in that they refuse to go, so when we speak about struggles they can refuse to know.” It’s a fairly bleak track, but it’s very elegant in its sadness. There’s always something remarkable and inspiring when artists flip grimness into grace.

Buy it from Amazon.

Lady Wray “Smilin'”

It’s interesting how a decade and a half of R&B revivalism has resulted in music rooted in ‘60s and ‘70s aesthetics no longer sounding retro, per se. Time has looped around so someone could hear Lady Wray’s record and hear Adele, Solange, or Amy Winehouse rather than Motown or Stax, and be totally justified in that. Lady Wray doesn’t sing like someone stuck in the past. The production feels more retro than the song itself, and Wray’s vocal performance has a toughness that’s a lot more Mary J. Blige than Aretha Franklin. You can hear it in the guarded optimism in her voice – “Smilin’” puts a positive spin on troubles, but she sounds like she’s prepared to be heartbroken and disappointed.

Buy it from Amazon.

Thee Oh Sees “At the End, On the Stairs”

A live show by Thee Oh Sees tends to veer back and forth between the band’s two primary modes – frantic bursts of garage punk, and hypnotic Krautrock grooves. It’s all driving rhythm, all the time. This stuff slays live, and John Dwyer knows exactly how to keep people dancing and moshing through his band’s entire set. But on record, Dwyer’s psychedelic palette is much more expansive. “At the End, On the Stairs” absorbs elements from bossanova and jangly folk rock, and places its emphasis on Dwyer’s vocal melody and the soft, feminine qualities of his voice. The sound suits him well, and is something I’d love to hear him expand on in the future. I mean, this is a lovely tune and all, but I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that I kinda wish at some point in this track he switched gears, shouted “woooooo!” and everything got louder and faster. The song doesn’t require that sort of payoff, but I’d like to hear him do a thing like that.

Buy it from Amazon.

A Tribe Called Quest “Dis Generation”

“Dis Generation” is as much about passing the torch to a new generation of rappers – Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, J. Cole, and Earl Sweatshirt are specifically named as heirs – as it is a celebration of the Tribe guys and Busta Rhymes still making excellent music together into their mid-40s. Like pretty much everything on the new Tribe record, it’s a joy to hear these guys again, especially when it’s so obvious that everything on the record was done with a sense of creative urgency and genuine enthusiasm. There’s a casual confidence to this music – any and all worry that they’re out of step with trends has long since evaporated, and every rapper on the track leans into the tics, rhythms and quirks that made them distinct in the first place. They trade off lines, not verses, so they sound especially present, and there’s moments when Busta or Q-Tip sound impatient and excited to get another turn at the mic. They just sound thrilled to be doing this with each other while they still can.

Buy it from Amazon.

Duck “Lip on the Floor”

Duck are essentially a synthpop duo, but their music is essentially a digital simulation of grunge circa ’91. It’s interesting to hear this sort of L7/Mudhoney vibe transposed to keyboards and drum machines – it’s just as loud and murky, but the sound is more tinny and the drum machine imposes a tighter grid on a style that’s either much more dense and wild or a little bit slack. That rolling, distorted bass line sounds amazing though, and the vocals add a playful, British femininity that nudges the overall aesthetic a bit closer to, say, Sleeper or Elastica.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra “Sleeping Beauty”

“Sleeping Beauty” isn’t quite like any other piece of music I’ve ever encountered. It sounds like moonlight, and feels like floating outside of yourself. It moves at a very languid pace over the course of 12 minutes between sections led by Sun Ra’s electric piano that feel weightless and serene and other parts focused on the horn section that suggest a sort of spacey grandeur that has somehow manifested itself on earth. The recording sounds as though it was largely improvised in the middle of the night, and I love how some parts can feel a bit tentative while others, like a lot of the vocal parts led by June Tyson, are like moments of genuine inspiration. This is an extraordinarily calm piece of music, and even in the context of Sun Ra’s larger discography of music aiming for transcendental cosmic experiences, it stands out as a window to some better, more beautiful world. Its existence feels like a miracle to me.

Buy it from Amazon.

Really Big Pinecone “Everybody Needs Friends”

Really Big Pinecone’s music is somehow both restless and chill at the same time. The guitar parts have a mellow tone, but the melodies wind around in strange knots and change direction at odd intervals. It’s kinda like if Real Estate tried to channel the chaos of a Captain Beefheart record, and then balanced that with a lot of inexplicably tight vocal harmonies. “Everybody Needs Friends” is actually one of the least eccentric cuts on their new EP, and though it’s not quite as novel as a few of the other songs, the slightly more relaxed structure gives the singers a bit more space to sing. The tone is fascinating, and I think this music will resonate with anyone who’s ever been a bit uptight even when they’re stoned or drunk.

Buy it from Amazon.