Natalie Prass - The Fire

It has been a bit of time since Natalie Prass's last album, around 6 years. Glad she made a follow-up ... she has a very distinctive voice. I listened to an hour long podcast featuring her during one of those daily interminable car commutes (jk it's manageable atm). Did you know that she has known the producer on this and the previous album since high school and that they still live a short distance from each other? Cool, alright. The podcast was pretty much a Q&A session between her and the producer highlighting her musical influences, her struggles and successes, her quirks, etc. It was a pleasant listen and I somehow appreciate her more now. Ok, here's "The Fire", which coincidentally just had a music video released last week. Lucky us.

"The Fire" by Natalie Prass from her 2018 album  

DIANA - Moment Of Silence

Ok, I have a soft spot for Toronto artists, guilty as charged. I was really elated to have found DIANA had made another album in 2016. I was a giant fan of "Strange Attraction" from their previous album. "Moment Of Silence" is really able to convey a palpable feeling of tension and anticipation through a hazy weave of subtle retro instrumentals. Also, saxophones are always a welcome addition for me, baha.

"Moment Of Silence" by DIANA from their 2016 album Familiar Touch.

Because I'm such a fanboy, here's a live version too. There's a bit of audience partcipation captured in this version.

Mitski - Nobody

Mitski released another album a month ago or so and this one seems to have garnered a lot more attention than her previous releases. This album still features her meandering vocal style with an improved production quality (at least compared to Bury Me At Makeout Creek, this could be comparable to Puberty 2). I think one of the reasons that Mitski is able me to draw repeatedly into her music is the sense of longing she expresses in a lot of her lyrics and expression. The music video is very fun watch too.

"Nobody" by Mitski from her 2018 album Be The Cowboy

Theo Katzman - Plain Jane Heroin

Another 6 month hiatus, yikes. Um, some stuff's happened since then. Left the continent for the first time in at least 10 years. Got engaged. Um, actually, I guess that's it. Been listening to some tunes since then. Finally have a little time to myself today so I've decided to wander around downtown for a bit and settle into a comfortable coffeeshop and post some of these from the backlog. I think it is fitting for the first post to be a song that I heard from another coffeeshop. "Plain Jane Heroin" features beautiful vocal styles of Theo Katzman (of Vulfpeck) accentuated by thoughtful lyrics asl well as good instrumentals and topped off with a cathartic crescendo.

"Plain Jane Heroin" by Theo Katzman from his 2017 album Heartbreak Hits