Phoebe Bridgers – Lost Weekend: I’m finally sitting in front of the stereo listening to the entire record while reading the lyrics, and it’s superb. The music, the lyrics, the production, the arrangements, the sequence of the songs … She wove a beautiful thread through death and love and life and loss. Lost Weekend just leapt into the handful of top albums I’ve heard this year.
Radiohead – Kid A: I haven’t listened to Kid A since 2007, when I wrote it off as an indulgent case of the emperor’s new clothes. I tried again this week, and I feel like I heard it for the first time. It’s adventurous and the experiments absolutely succeed. My only complaint is the band seems unable to decide if they want to push into krautrock and IDM or make Radiohead songs. I wish they’d used different constraints instead of transitioning from Neu!-inspired tracks like “The National Anthem” (possibly my favorite) into more traditional Radiohead songs like “How to Disappear Completely.” For me, the inconsistent vision from start to finish is a significant flaw, but it’s a solid album and I’m glad I went back to it.
David Bowie – Blackstar: When this came out, I read all the reviews about Bowie making a crazy experimental abstract jazz record, then I listened and heard a bunch of Bowie songs. I bought this on a whim last month and I’m floored by how good it is. If I’d listened without those reviews, I think I would’ve loved it right away. Thinking about what I just said about Radiohead, this is a good balance of an artist creating thoughtful constraints while simultaneously pushing against every one of his boundaries.
The National – Boxer: The syncopation in opener “Fake Empire” immediately made me pay attention, and this album is worth paying attention to. The drums are exciting, the string and horn arrangements enhance the power, and the lyrics occasionally border on poetry. (“Cinderella through the room / I glide and swan / ‘Cause I’m the best slow dancer / In the universe” is almost worthy of F. Scott Fitzgerald.) The music is richer than Alligator but has an edge that is missing from First Two Pages of Frankenstein. I mostly missed The National the first time around, and I’m glad I’m making up for it.
Gracie Abrams – Daughter from Hell: The first time I heard of Gracie Abrams, I listened to The Secret of Us on Tidal as I was driving home from DC. The 47-minute album lasted an eternity and I was bored by the end. I finally listened to all 56 minutes of Daughter this week, also in the car, and I had a similar reaction. This seems to be a perfect example of an album that would’ve been stronger if the artist culled 10 or 15 minutes. With that said, when I listen in small doses—including a live version of the title track and side 2 of the record—the music wraps around me like a warm blanket on a cold fall night.
Nina Nastasia – The Blackened Air: I continued to listen in the background this week. More to come.
Grateful Dead – October 2, 1976 (Dave’s Picks 53): It’s not quite the slow build to “Stella Blue” that I heard a few weeks ago, but this is still a beautiful set that makes me like a lot of songs that I don’t usually like. I’m talking to you, “Candyman.”
Old friends who made it into rotation this week: Mono: You Are There
Record store finds this week: I found the new Rachel Chinouriri record, which I’m thrilled about since it took me more than two years to find her debut on vinyl. I also picked up Dijon’s How Do You Feel about Getting Married? which I missed when it was re-released on Record Store Day; Hania Rani’s soundtrack to Sentimental Value, which I didn’t even know about; and the new albums from William Basinski and HAAi.