Grace Cummings – Ramona: I read a review that compared Cummings to Nina Simone and Nico, so I held high hopes going into Ramona. Cummings sounds like she’s overly concerned with showing what an unusual and fascinating singer she is. I only made it through three songs. The National – Alligator: I realized a few things about Alligator this week…. Read more »
Charli XCX – Brat: Bob and I were discussing if history will view Brat as a timeless classic or a moment in time. That motivated me to listen again, and I finally heard the album’s duality, the parallel of being a party girl and a woman who is trying to unpack her own psychological issues. While a lot of people… Read more »
Dire Straits – Making Movies: One of the fun things about listening to old records for the first time is making connections that don’t exist, like hearing how “Romeo and Juliet” could be the origin story of the couple in Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” The songs on side A are long but they constantly evolve, with instrumentalists who advance the… Read more »
Madonna – Confessions II: At its best—on tracks like “I Feel so Free” and “Love Without Words” along with the overall arrangements and production—Confessions II focuses on the sacred spirit that lives on the dancefloor. At its worst, this is the same surface-level provocation that Madonna’s been churning out for her whole career. She had a chance to deeply explore… Read more »
Madonna – Confessions II: I remember the moment in 1998 on the NJ Turnpike when I took Ray of Light out of my CD player and had to refrain from throwing it out the window. She broke my casual fandom with one incredibly half-assed attempt at spiritual insight. Over nearly 30 years, I’ve occasionally noticed her flaccid attempts at provocation,… Read more »
DJ Plead – Please: DJ Plead created a late-night vibe that feels more like a soundtrack than a club record. A lot of writers seem to focus on his Lebanese heritage, but his Middle Eastern roots are a subtle whisper behind his foundation in Western electronic dance music. While each song portrays a complete thought, I wish he’d expanded more… Read more »
SML – Spontaneous Music Live: I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a “jazz” group that better captures the nuanced movement of electronic DJ music. Josh Johnson’s sax lines evolve with such subtlety that I’d get lost in the mood and not even realize he was playing something completely different than he was 5 minutes before. I prefer Anna Butterss’ acoustic… Read more »
Olivia Rodrigo – You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl so in Love: Rodrigo and Dan Nigro created a perfect summertime album, the kind you can imagine a generation of kids recklessly dancing to as they celebrate a day out and then mourning to as they process the tragedies of their day. I’m excited to dig deeper. goat (jp) /… Read more »
Nina Nastasia – Dogs: One of my favorite things about music is the way you sometimes find and fall in love with an artist who’s been around for ages. That’s this week with Nina Nastasia. Dogs is incredible. Her voice and music has echoes of so many other artists yet it combines to hit me like nothing else. Bela Bartok… Read more »
Death Cab for Cutie – I Built You a Tower: When Narrow Stairs came out eight years ago, I recognized its intellectual strength but never felt its heart the way I did with Transatlanticism and, to a lesser degree, Plans. On first listen, I Built You a Tower is good, but I hear too much head and not enough heart…. Read more »