albums from january & february (2023)
albums i've loved during the first two months of this tumultuous year
hello all!!
what a two months these two have been! for me, they’ve been filled with epiphany, disappointment, unanswered texts, longing, solitaire, anger, reading, stagnation, growth, missed bereals, cigarettes, and most recently, immense terror. though they haven’t been the greatest for me, i hope they’re going well for you <3
i thought i’d come on here and share some albums that i’ve enjoyed recently! inspired by a friend’s tweet, i’m trying to practice curating things thoughtfully and over time (thank you anthony!), and also dive deeper into the discographies of artists i love. (playlist at the end!)
here goes:
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Big Thief
2022
this album is the soundtrack that i’m writing this post to. last year and this year have brought me such a great love for indie folk music like this. this album reminds me of rides home from soccer practice in my dad’s 2003 yellow acura (which is unfortunately no longer with us), npr on the radio, chevy chase mansions whistling past warm windows, my dad driving - me half asleep, hoping we’d stop along the way for mcdonalds. so much nostalgia. i miss those times.
3 great songs: Simulation Swarm, Heavy Bend, 12,000 Lines
Glow
Alice Phoebe Lou
2021
THIS ALBUM IS SO SO SO GOOD. YOU SIMPLY MUST LISTEN TO IT.
this album has followed me onto planes, home and back again, to hopeful hookups, in peet’s coffee while flirt with my favorite barista, on my couch while i pet and sing to my sweet sweet roscoe (my dog). she’s coming out with a new album this year and i’m so so excited.
4 great songs (couldn’t pick 3): Only When I, Glow, Lonely Crowd, Lover // Over the Moon
Grade Pending
Whatever, Dad
2015
this reminds me of my sophomore year of high school. so much angst and stupidity and frivolity. i could see myself listening to it at 2:37 a.m. as i fought off urges to pack my bags and move to france (still unsure how my unlicensed, broke ass would’ve managed that) but also listening to it while i watched my friends mess up tik tok dances while blocking the stairwell during lunch.
3 great songs: Kitchenbastards, Waffles, Stalemate_Spud
Couldn’t Wait to Tell You
Liv.e
2020
what i love so much about this album so much is that i cannot define it. it reminds me of the music me and my sister would try to make and record on my camcorder i got for christmas in 2011, while i played the keyboard and she sang. i love my sister so so much. and this album scratches the brain of my inner child. liv.e is revolutionary, truly.
3 great songs: What’s the Real, Lessons from My Mistakes… but I Lost Your Number, You the One Fish in the Sea
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
Caroline Polachek
2023
i do not think caroline polachek is this generation’s kate bush, but this album is really good. like really good. i’ve been playing it for all my friends during our pregames, which i don’t think they’ve loved (i guess it isn’t really drinking music). also i am obsessed with the album’s cover. 2023 is caroline polachek’s for the taking.
3 great songs: Welcome To My Island (obvi), Pretty In Possible, Fly To You (feat. Grimes and Dido)
Weightless (Ambient Transmission Vol. 2)
Macaroni Union
2012
been feeling a lot of anxiety these past two months and this album has been helping with that! even though i think this album is supposed to be background music (?) it’s actually really musical. if you listen, i encourage you to pause and pay attention to its intricacies and delicate engineering. this album has such a great energy and i’ve listened to the whole thing several times just because i like it so much.
3 great songs: Weightless Part 1, Weightless Part 4, Weightless Part 2
How Sad, How Lovely
Connie Converse
2009 (but really recorded throughout the 1940s and 50s)
the epitome of folk music!! the album sounds like it’s recorded in one take which makes me feel like i’m back in cub scouts, sitting around the campfire while someone’s mom is singing. connie started making music in 1940s and 50s but eventually quit after little success. and one day she left her friends and brother several goodbye notes, got into her volkswagen, drove away, and was never heard from again.
connie, wherever you are, dead or alive, i love your music, so so much.
3 great songs: Talkin’ Like You (Two Tall Mountains), Johnny’s Brother, Trouble
Parallelograms
Linda Perhacs
1970
god. this album is one of my favorites of all time. i’d describe it as disney princess psychedelic folk. i’ve caught myself singing “Hey, Who Really Cares” to myself far too many times this month. also linda is such a wonderful woman. she was a dental hygienist who released this album in 1970. but when it “failed to make an impression” she went back to her job and disappeared. but after the album gained popularity in the early 2000s, she came back and has been releasing new music and performing since 2012 (at 70!!). she’s 79 years old now and her instagram is great (@lindaperhacs). so happy she’s finally got her chance. please fall in love with her like i have.
this album also was the soundtrack to my christmas vacation in portugal, which sucked. but the one good moment i had on that trip was when i was in azenhas do mar, looking over a cliff, wind blowing through my clothes, both jealous and in awe of nature’s beauty, listening to this album in entirety. here’s a picture:
3 great songs: the whole fucking thing (but Delicious, Dolphin, Parallelograms, Call of the River, and Morning Colors are especially great. oh and Chicamun Rain. and also Sandy Toes. actually they’re all great i can’t choose)
music has been so great for me this month. in march, i’m so excited to turn 19, continue to grow, to write and read, be warmer, get my wisdom teeth removed, see my brother and sister, and enjoy the gift that is this single chance at consciousness.
here’s a playlist of these songs if you’d like to take a gander:
and if you’re waiting for a text back from me, it’s coming!!! if you’re not waiting for a text back but you’d like a text from me anyway, text me! i’ll do my best to respond soon.
folk is the future.
more from me soon,
kyson <33333