February is Music Writer Exercise Month #MWE • Page 68

Southern Accents is pretty bizarre, as far as Petty albums go, but there are some amazing songs on there.

 

have you heard Hospice? that’s kind of thee one for them.

 

southern accents is top 3 petty imo

 

Lucinda Williams - Happy Woman Blues

It seems insane to me that this came out in 1980. You could not convince me of that based on the way it sounds.

This was an interesting one. I wasn't sure what to expect here; Car Wheels On A Gravel Road took a few listens before I really loved it. There was something about her voice on that album that didn't click with me right away, but she is much more accessible on this earlier album.

I don't know if I've heard a lot of these songs at some point or if they've been covered by artists I've listened to, or if the melodies have been ripped off over the years, or all of the above, but several of these songs are instantly recognizable to me, especially "I Lost It," "Maria," and "Rolling Along." I'm sure I've heard those songs at some point and I love them. I didn't get into country music until about 2016, don't listen to the radio, and have only ever heard one other album from Williams, so I can't imagine where I heard them, but they sound so familiar to me. "One Night Stand" is another stand out track, but I really love all of the songs on here, except maybe the opener which doesn't grab me the way the rest of them do.

Really enjoyed a lot of this. Just a beautiful, classic, country sounding album. Will definitely come back to it.

 

Lil Ugly Mane - Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern
Yooo this is so good! Outsider pop, way different than any of the other things Mane has done. I love this.

 

Hospice is the only Antlers record I could get into, but when I'm in a very specific mood (thankfully not that often), that one really works for me. Probably only listen to it once a year or something though.

 

Still catching up from the weekend, I listened to To Be Kind by Swans from 2014. I didn’t realise this was two hours long, with a 33 minute track before picking it though.

This is a loud album! It feels almost like a live record, or a gig where it’s punishingly loud, particularly here where repetition plays an important part of the sound. It’s an ugly album, and a pretty relentless one.

I’m not sure how often I’ll be back to it because of the length, but it was a pretty engaging and interesting listen.

 

@George I know you have a soft-spot for late-career albums so I think that Alberta Hunter record could be very much your jam.

 

Tried to untangle my thoughts about Jack Johnson, an artist I think I (and everyone else) maybe underrate.

 

I had very little exposure to Jack Johnson until I met my wife, who is enough of a fan of his first few albums to put on a JJ playlist every so often on weekend mornings. I was surprised how much I enjoyed pretty much every song that came on, but in much the same way you're describing. Pleasant to listen to, but without a lot of depth. I've toyed with the idea of doing a deeper dive into his catalog on my own to see if there is something there for me to really sink my teeth into. I think your comments here have swayed me toward giving it a shot!

 

i think his early records are good but overrated for a time even though they seem kind of forgotten now and the recent records are just okay but underrated

 

I don't know that name at all, but always like to hear late-career records! Will mark her down to check it out.

 

Apparently had quite a successful career from the 1920s-1950s and then her mother died and she decided to give it all up to become a nurse, and did that for like 20+ years until they made her retire.

So she went back to singing. Haha

 

I'd recommend his latest, for sure. He made it with Blake Mills, who is probably my favorite producer working right now, and the two of them really cooked up something special together.

 

Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising from 2019. This is super Mitski-esque, all I could hear throughout it was how much it reminded me of Mitski. There are plenty of other influences here, bits of Joni Mitchell, bits of 70s soft rock, bits of ambient sounds but all I could think about was Mitski. Probably a bit of an unfair comparison, but for a first listen, I couldn't think of anything else.

This was pleasant though, and I think she's got an excellent voice - songs float in and out, and occasionally slip into background music, but plenty of drama to them when they work for me.

 

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity from 2016.

This band have the most impenetrably vast discography, I’m sure if I asked 10 people what their favourite King Gizzard album was, I’d get 11 different albums.

They released 5 albums in 2022, including a double album, and 3 separate albums in October. I do wonder with ludicrously prolific bands like this whether there is some quality control sacrifice, and whether they’d be an infinitely better band if they released a lot less. I’m sure fans would disagree though!

Anyway, this album seemed like a fun way to start, 9 songs that all run into one another and the last songs plays straight through to the first one. It does feel like one big song, but that’s kind of fun. Musically, this is very 70s prog, great guitar tones and energy to it, and there’s a little bit of scuzzy early metal tones here, which works well.

No idea where to go next from here, but they seem like the sort of band that I could dip in anywhere and probably have a fun time!

 

I heard that album and liked it a lot. They almost immediately lost me with Flying Microtonal Banana and a release schedule that's impossible to keep up with.

 

OK, all caught up again!

 

say it ain't so

 

Yesterday:

Mariah Carey - Butterfly

You can’t deny the talent or power in her voice, but I was kinda surprised to find that this is pretty universally recognized as her best album.

The second half is stronger than the first and her voice is beautiful throughout ("Close My Eyes" and "Whenever You Call" are both gorgeous), but I prefer Daydream quite a bit more than this.

Today:

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

Did not realize how long this album was. “Village Ghetto Land” is cool. I had no idea that “Gangsta’s Paradise” used a sample from this album. It’s very strange to hear the original version after so long with Coolio’s.

“Isn’t She Lovely” is obviously THE song on here, but I could do without the baby noises, etc. and it’s probably a couple minutes too long. The whole back half of disc 2 is pretty great ("Saturn" and "Ebony Eyes" are the highlights).

Overall, not something I’ll come back to much, though. Sorry to say that outside of a few tracks, it didn’t grab me enough to keep my attention for nearly two hours.

 

I don't really get the love for Butterfly either. IMO, Daydream has way better singles and The Emancipation of Mimi is a way better top-to-bottom album.

 

Lyle Lovett - Pontiac
Wow, I really love this. Hearing Jackson Browne in some of his vocals. Gonna have to dig in to the rest of his stuff.

EDIT:
Although as I typed that I got to "She's No Lady" and "M-O-N-E-Y" which I don't like as much.

 

Joshua Judges Ruth is his masterpiece, IMO. Highly recommend that one.