Theo Katzman - My 1-Bedroom

Another great song from the Heartbreak Hits album by Theo Katzman. If it's not already obvious, I have a soft spot for songs about struggle. Not that I ever had to struggle in any real sense, but to understand and see from another's perspective is such an important skill to have and to keep honed. It's good to be reminded there are other people in the world each working through life in their own way. Can really help keep a person grounded.

"My 1-Bedroom" by Theo Katzman from his 2017 album Heartbreak Hits

Still Corners - Black Lagoon

Was just hanging out at Starbuckeroo or something and thought "The Trip" was playing in the store through my headphones ... it was a Still Corners song but it was actually something from their latest album. I guess that's their sound. It's ok ... just wanted to post mostly because of the quaint encounter.

"Black Lagoon" by Still Corners from their 2018 album Slow Air

Petal - Tightrope

Nice, new Petal ... back in June. I need to find a way to follow artists a bit more closely.

I'm just on the second song of the album but it definitely has the vibe of what made "Heaven" so appealing for me. Steady rock with a strong yet calm vocalist. But she's also more than capable in acoustic sets with the piano. Two out of the three songs on her Comfort EP was just her and a piano, done very well of course. 

There are a couple of songs with music videos from this album but I'm liking this one the most for now.

"Tightrope" by Petal from her 2018 album Magic Gone

Sharon Van Etten - Comeback Kid

Well, part of the reason why I posted "Your Love Is Killing Me" was that it just didn't feel right to post the most recent Sharon Van Etten song without clearing the backlog first. This is really different direction for her music ... I think her other stuff has generally been more acoustic with lighter rock elements. Now we have synths and distortion ... works really well though (I'm a sucker for this style anyway). Can't wait for the new album.

"Comeback Kid" by Sharon Van Etten from her upcoming 2019 album Remind Me Tomorrow

Sharon Van Etten - Your Love Is Killing Me

It's already been 3 years since this came out. I guess it has ... there is a bit of a void between now and back then when I listened to this more intently. A lot has happened, a lot has changed. I wonder what the next three years have in store. Maybe this fictional character will have found a way out of the labyrinth of longing that can be oh-so-easy to fall into and oh-so difficult to escape. Being a person is complicated. Maybe that's part of the fun. I really like the combination of the vivid imagery with the steady snare triplet in the chorus ... it's very purposeful and focused.

 "Your Love Is Killing Me" by Sharon Van Etten from her 2014 album Are We There

Devon Welsh - Summer's End

I saw Devon Welsh (previously of Majical Cloudz) perform by himself as the opener for Hundred Waters about a year ago. It was a really intimate experience. He just walked over in front of the stage where the audience had been milling around, waiting for the show to start, and asked us all to gather around in a semi-circle. From there he just started singing mostly acapella, though sometimes with some basic accompaniment from his loop station. Must take a lot of courage to be able to do that, to be so physically close and opening up to a total group of strangers. Some people I've expressed this to have said that it's not a big deal because it's his job ... but ... I'd rather continue being the hopeless romantic about this sort of thing.

"Summer's End" by Devon Welsh from his 2018 album Dream Songs

MURS - Melancholy

"Melancholy" by MURS was really unique to me. I hadn't ever heard someone rap on depression in such a personal way before. I feel like the world could be that much better of a place if we just took the time to hear more stories about the shared human struggle and gave a damn about the person next to us (as well as the person on the other side of the world). It's a bit of a tall order on any given day though. A bunch of other great songs on this album by the way, worth the listen.

"Melancholy" by MURS from his 2018 album A Strange Journey Into The Unimaginable

People Under The Stairs - The L.A. Song

I've been listening to "The L.A. Song" consistently for well over a decade now. I first heard it playing Counter-Strike 1.5 or something on some custom map server (mostly de_rats, my jammm). It was AMX mod or something and it let you play whatever sound files that were available on the server. Through some truly expert investigation skills, I found the that the 3-second sample of the guitar riff at the beginning was "lasong.wav" or something like that ... and the rest is history I guess.

"The L.A. Song" by People Under The Stairs from their 2002 album O.S.T.

Band Of Horses - In A Drawer

Probably my favourite song from the Why Are You Ok album but I remember it best because of the video. It's endearing for aspiring mole people but uh... I guess it still doesn't make stalking alright. Since this music video's been out, a couple of longstanding members of the band (Tyler Ramsey, lead guitar, and Bill Reynolds, bassist) have left. Wish you guys all the best.

"In A Drawer" by Band Of Horses from their 2017 album Why Are You OK

Pia Fraus - Mute The Birds (Ulrich Schnauss version)

Pia Fraus and Ulrich Schnauss, two names that I haven't come across in a while. I wanted to add "Springsister" onto my Spotify playlist but they seemed to have everything except the After Summer album. Zannen da. Oh well, found the Fraus-Schnauss collab, which is actually also on the After Summer album but Spotify had the EP for that available. Nice shoegaze tones with synth accents, a nice blend of characteristics from both artists.

"Mute The Birds (Ulrich Schnauss version)" by Pia Fraus from their 2018 album After Summer

Hellogoodbye - S'Only Natural

I really got into Hellogoodbye's "Here (In Your Arms)" song way back and really liked the Wet Hot American Summer vibe from the music video. And look, they still make music and they released an album just a couple of weeks ago! Cool beans ... cool song ... and cool mv (i like the colours). I like the light disco touch.

"S'Only Natural" by Hellogoodbye from their 2018 album S'Only Natural

Vulfpeck - Back Pocket

Wow, is this ... what "fun" is? If the music video weren't enough to cheer you up. The live version definitely. Woww.

"Back Pocket" by Vulfpeck from their 2015 album Thrill Of The Arts


Live version at 55:52 (the sax!!!)

Vulfpeck - It Gets Funkier IV

Well, since I got into Theo Katzman in such a big way, I should probably like totally check out Vulfpeck right? Nice. (Will post a song with actual vocals later)

"It Gets Funkier IV" by Vulfpeck from their 2018 album Hill Climber

Weaves - Walkaway

I don't know if it's just because I had sequestered myself within shoegaze and dream pop for a long time but there's a lot of nice rock out there right now, particularly with female vocalists. Thanks, music. Oh, also, Toronto woo.

"Walkaway" by Weaves from their 2017 album Wide Open

Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites

I played the violin for a good chunk of time in the past. Nowadays, it's mostly left untouched. One of the reasons is the lack of connection between that instrument and the stuff I generally listen to nowadays. Maybe if I listened to Kishi Bashi earlier, I would find some inspiration to play more? Well, that's probably a stretch.

As an aside, I only started listening to Kishi Bashi after watching some unboxing video where some guy bought a mystery box full of returned Amazon items and found a vinyl record of 151a. Cool story.

"Bright Whites" by Kishi Bashi from his 2012 album 151a

Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence

It's too bad Asobi Seksu no longer make music. They had a really great sound. I got into them pretty late though... probably around 2011 but their extensive backlog that I eventually caught up with played a formative role in transitioning my music preferences towards the shoegaze/dream pop genre. So... thanks for that guys. Hope you guys are doing well.

Here's a pleasant interview with two of the more prominent members of Asobi Seksu too. It was recently uploaded but given they parted ways 5 years ago, it's likely just a re-up.

Also, in my desperate search for current music from the former members of Asobi Seksu, I came across this Q&A session between Asobi Seksu's Yuki Chikudate and Slowdive/Mojave 3's Neil Halstead!!

"Perfectly Crystal" by Asobi Seksu from their 2011 album Fluorescence

Sheer Mag - Fan The Flames

Oh, I've never posted that Sheer Mag song. Well, here's another Chad song. There've been quite a few ... though sometimes we come across the same artists independently. Really dig the song and the sentiment ... but I don't really fan flames or break chains all too much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"Fan The Flames" by Sheer Mag from their 2017 album Compilation LP

Thunderpussy - Torpedo Love

I guess I'm glad to still be subscribed to KEXP. I hadn't watched their stuff for a while but I guess I was sufficiently intrigued by the band name (I recently became the primary caregiver of a cat).

Ok, let's go through the checklist: female vocals, reverb, sense of catharsis ... works for me!!x

"Torpedo Love" by Thunderpussy from their eponymous 2018 album Thunderpussy

Beach House - Dive

Oh, no idea Beach House had released another album back in May. I've been following their releases half-heartedly since Bloom, which I immensely liked. "Sparks" from Depression Cherry was a pretty good song but the rest of the album didn't really stand out. Thank Your Lucky Stars just kind of fell off of my radar ... I probably still haven't given it it a thorough listen.

Overall, I find 7 to be a good listen. You can hear their distinctive style of synths connecting the songs throughout the album but they've also found newer complementary elements (well, I mean maybe they're not new in general, I haven't exactly been doggedly following their music). It's probably the shift towards shoegazey elements (the buzzing introspective guitar of Alex and relatively laid back vocals by Victoria).

I've been mostly listening to the same things over the past few months so this is a nice breath of air for me.

"Dive" by Beach House from their 2018 album 7