Pulp – More: During my first listen, I read along with the lyrics and wondered why More was getting such glowing reviews. My second listen was more consistent with how I fell in love with Different Class and This Is Hardcore: Loud, in the car, and singing along with the handful of words I knew. Not surprisingly, the glowing reviews made a lot more sense on my second listen.
Gracie Abrams – The Secret of Us Live from Radio City Music Hall: I feared her voice live would not carry the flaws and emotions and vulnerability of her in-studio voice. It does. This was thrilling to hear.
Djrum – Under Tangled Silence | Meaning’s Edge: Djrum has been lurking on my to-play list since a guy at the Nils Frahm show last month recommended him. I tried Meaning’s Edge and was surprised by my annoyance at the manic breakbeats, especially given how well they reflected my rush hour drive into DC. After seeing Under Tangled Silence on the Guardian’s best records of 2025 (so far) list, I listened on the way home with much better results. All I can say right now is that both records warrant more time, preferably with headphones.
Khruangbin – Mordechai: I’m very late to the Khruangbin party. I can’t quite decide if this is music that comes from outcasts smoking pot on the hood of their car in the desert night or cool kids doing coke in the bathrooms of clubs in the big city. By my second listen, I’m strongly leading toward the former, but where I land on that question will determine how much more time I spend with their records.
PinkPantheress – Fancy That: This really should be the summer soundtrack of 2025.
Maribou State – Hallucinating Love: With apologies to PinkPantheress, this is my summer 2025 record.
Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet | Addison Rae – Addison: A conversation with Bob led to me revisit Carpenter’s 2024 smash so I could compare it to Addison. Admittedly, Carpenter isn’t the right benchmark—Lana Del Rey or Olivia Rodrigo are more apt comparisons—but it allowed me to confidently answer Bob’s question: Does Addison succeed as a pop album because of Rae or despite her? Producers Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjard clearly know how to mask Addison’s tiny and bland voice with studio trickery. I can almost hear them telling Rae she’s a superstar while whispering to each other how they’ll fix it in the mix.
The Temptations – Puzzle People: The highs on this record are unbelievably high. Then there are the covers of “Hey Jude” and “Little Green Apples.” I first heard the good songs from this set on a CD comp called Psychedelic Soul and now I wish they’d re-release that on vinyl.
Loscil – Lake Fire: Unlike my earlier comparison to Tim Hecker, I hear movement and energy that I associate with Pan-American or Labradford. I hope to keep this in my rotation, but it’s tough with so much good music in this realm and so little time to play it.
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti: Perhaps more than any other Zeppelin record, Physical Graffiti is the harbinger of the many roads that Robert Plant would travel, from The Honeydrippers to the multiple reinventions of his solo career to his collaboration with Allison Krauss. I feel sad that my teenage self didn’t get to experience this record, but I’m also grateful that I get to hear it for the first time now.
Mitski – Puberty 2: I listened to this twice this week, and it’s so deeply ingrained in my brain that I had to stop myself from listening to it nonstop. Her explorations of depression and yearning in your 20s is truly stunning.
Aya – Hexed!: I tend to give Hyperdub records multiple chances, but this is so consumed with clichéd experimental angst that I don’t know if I can overcome my initial annoyance.
Grateful Dead – 3/23/95 (Charlotte, NC): I’m shocked by how good this is. Bruce Hornsby is the fire that pulls everyone together. The way Bruce and Jerry Garcia interact on “Space” is like the very best of avant-garde jazz, while the second-set jams on “Corrina” and “Matilda” are filled with joy. This is certainly not Barton Hall 1977, but like that show, “joy” is the word that dominates my thoughts when I listen to this concert.