Geese – Getting Killed: Every few years, an album reminds me that rock is still alive and kicking ass. Getting Killed is one of those albums. I listened to it a lot this week, and I listened loud, and I had fun. Geese isn’t doing anything particularly new or unusual, they’re just putting the pieces together in a way that I haven’t quite heard before.
Rachel Chinouriri – Little House: I’m happy to see Chinouriri’s visibility increase in the states, but she’s still not getting the recognition she deserves. The five-song version of this EP highlights so many of her strengths, especially the way she couples deeply observational lyrics with high-energy indie pop and hints at Kate Bush without sounding anything like her.
Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl: Taylor Swift is one of my favorite artists. While I haven’t immediately liked all of her albums, I’ve never disliked one right out of the gate. At least not until now. I want to spend more time finding what I like about The Life of a Showgirl before I quantify the things I don’t like, but right now, that feels like a high mountain to climb.
Jacqueline du Pré – Schumann Cello Concerto in A Minor: I put this on as I was winding down and trying to slow the chattering of my mind monkeys. I only managed to focus on a few bars at a time, but I heard things in this piece that I’ve never heard before. In one run, du Pré (or, more accurately, Schumann) smoothly transitions from minor to major midway through, and its fluid beauty stands in stark contrast to the manipulative key changes that pop writers and producers use to amp up a song’s emotional intensity.
Laufey – A Matter of Time: I love hearing Laufey fully commit to her original material. Don’t get me wrong, her version of “Misty” (the only standard on Bewitched) is solid, but I’m glad she didn’t rely on other people’s songs as a safety net this time. Her originals are so much more compelling than her covers, and they are where her unique magic shines the brightest.
Amelie Lens – Global Underground 44 Antwerp: A friend of mine was complaining about how predictable big festival sets are, and when I listened to Lens’ recent set from Tomorrowland, I heard exactly what he meant. I decided to finally give a proper listen to her GU release from a few years back to see if it suffers from the same constraints. It doesn’t. This is a fantastic set that takes time to stretch out and evolve instead of pandering to people who paid a lot of money to be bombarded with big beats and bigger choruses. This mix reminds me of the best sets I heard when I was part of the live scene, and it makes me grateful that I experienced those shows when I did.
Grateful Dead – Dick’s Picks Vol. Eight (Harpur College, Binghamton NY, 5/2/70): Two things are almost guaranteed to help me shake dark moods like the one I had on Sunday: house music and the Dead. I threw on the first electric set from this show and was reminded that sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Record store finds this week: In my unsuccessful efforts to find the Geese record, I stumbled on cheap copies of Aretha’s I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and the Stones’ Beggars Banquet.