What I've Been Listening To (2019 Edition)

The fourth installment of my annual series where I blog about songs I've been listening to a lot in recent times. This also signals that Tony has been sent a package.

Unlike last time I'm not adding any cards to the songs for added commentary. This posts is long enough as it is.

Now, Now - SGL

Spoiler alert, this is my favorite song out of any of the songs I'll talk about today.
Now, Now is an indie band based out of Minnesota. This song is off of their 2018 album Saved which was their first album since 2012 and also their first without longtime guitarist Jess Abbott. "Cacie" Dalager's voice shines on pretty much all of the tracks on this album, but I enjoy her performance here most of all. The production work being as tight as it is and the awesome groove helps too. I love it. Stop reading right now, listen to it.

Lit - My Own Worst Enemy

The pop punk scene in the brought us a bunch of fun bands and songs like New Found Glory, Sum 41 and Bowling For Soup. Lit was grouped in with all of those bands but as time went on they'd go on to enjoy less and less commercial success. Here in 2019, I'm not sure they're known for more than this song. Kind of a shame because they did have some nice pop punk gems in their discography. If nothing else this particular song here just transports me back to 2002 (I know this came out in 1999 but I associate it more with the 2000's). That riff at the beginning isn't just any ordinary riff, it's a riff that screams "WHAT YOU ARE LISTENING TO IS A RELIC FROM A BYGONE TIME PERIOD". Boy do I love it so.

Drowning The Light - The Spear of Longinus

My favorite Red Sox collector, The Red Sox Fan In Nebraska, runs another blog called METALLATTORNEY. On that blog he takes the time to review all the various metal albums he's listened to. Unfortunately I don't get around to listening to all of the things he reviews, but the ones I do get to tend to be solid. Like Drowning The Light there, an Australian black metal band/one person who has released dozens of albums over the years. It's funny, in his review of the album Drowned MA advised newcomers to the band to try other albums first to get used to the unique way their songs are produced. Meanwhile I just dove right in because MA's "(i)t is ultra lo-fi black metal" line piqued my interest. And I wasn't really disappointed. I can see what he means by the production work being tough to get into (the comments section for their videos tend to be of people either complaining about it or other people making fun of people for complaining about it), but I just took it as part of what the band intended. Truth be told I'm not sure if there is an easy entry point for this band (maybe this?). In the end all I can say is that I dig what I'm hearing, and the fact that the vocals are minimal is a point in its favor, even if they do sound like "bleurghs" or "rarghs".

Gypsy and the Cat - Sorry

A lot of the indie pop I used to listen to back in the early 2010's sounded like this song. Vocals that were akin to whispering, acoustic instrumentation (sort of) and a style that would kinda break through the mainstream from time to time as the decade progressed further. Gypsy and the Cat were a pair of Australian DJs who were pretty successful (as far as indie artists go) in the early 2010's over in Europe. Unfortunately they didn't make much noise in America and the few chances they got (like an opportunity to perform at Coachella) fell through. Still, they released three albums Gilgamesh, The Late Blue and Virtual Islands. Following Virtual Islands' release in 2016 the two broke up the band and went on to different projects.

I Set My Friends On Fire -  Life Hertz

I was first introduced to I Set My Friends On Fire through the song they did with Smosh titled "SEX ED ROCKS". I'm not the biggest fan of screaming, but I liked the hook on that song, it's catchy. So I looked up their discography and kind of ignored them after I found that they did a screamo cover of Soulja Boy. But then I heard Astral Rejection. This is their second album. An altered version at that as the record label wanted it to sound more upbeat and poppy. After having heard the original and this version, I like both the same. Both have their charms. Personally I liked Life Hertz there the most out of any of the songs on both releases. The energy flowing through this right from the beat and harmony draws me in, plus there's a right/appropriate amount of screaming thrown in. Not too much, not too little. Just right. Unfortunately after they release their third album the group seems to be on a hiatus of sorts as its members (both current and former) have moved onto other projects.

DECO*27 - 妄想感傷代償連盟 (Feat. 初音ミク)

DECO*27 is the musical project of a Japanese musician who goes by the stage-name "Deco Niina". A lot of his songs have featured vocals from other artists, and this particular track features vocaloid icon Hatsune Miku. Hatsune Miku is a completely fictional CGI anime girl with long teal hair who despite being virtual, makes music and hosts live concerts that attracts thousands of fans.

As weird as it might be to go to a concert for a fictional character, I've sort of accepted that every artist is a fictional character of sorts. This is an act, much like when Sting performs. It might be a reflection of somebody real, but it's a performance nonetheless.

Gucci Mane - I Get The Bag (Feat. Migos)

This track is a banger. Mainly because of the beat courtesy of Metro Boomin and Southside.

Supertramp - Goodbye Stranger

A while ago I pulled the plug on my '79 Topps set build. Originally I had a whole post planned where I bid adieu to it and had the idea of using this song (which was released in 1979) to accompany it. That post got scrapped, but this song has been in my head since that falsetto chorus is an ear worm that will never ever leave your skull.
Sidenote, apparently Supertramp got together and are active again.

of Montreal - Paranoiac Intervals/Body Dysmorphia

My way of discovering previously unknown acts (to me) has slowly shifted to whatever MetalAttorney writes about, and podcasts. In this case I was introduced to this gem by of Montreal, an indie pop band from the U.S., through Minnesota Public Radio's very own Song of the Day program. Spoilers there will be others from that program joining this track shortly.
In the meantime all I can say is that I adore this track. It's so poppy and the chorus is solid, if not direct lol. Personally I'm more of a fan of the first track rather than the second song it transitions into, but the transition is done so well that it's tough to tell that this is two songs and not one long song with a key change in the middle.

Soccer Mommy - Cool

I initially discovered Soccer Mommy through her interview with the legendary Nardwuar, but I didn't really get around to hearing her actual music until I heard this on the aforementioned Song of the Day program. Soccer Mommy is actually just the main girl in the video, Sophie Allison. A Swizz girl based out of Nashville who makes indie pop like this track here. Don't know what else to add here honestly, it's good and I like it.

Denzel Curry - ZUU

Denzel Curry hails from Florida and everything you could ever want to know about his personal life is presented in his interview with the legendary Nardwuar. Seriously, watch that, it's 12 straight minutes of Denzel Curry being shocked by Nardwuar knowing so much about his life.
Anyway, this is the intro track to his newest album ZUU and I quite like it. It's short, sweet and to the point.

Twin Shadow - Slow

George Lewis Jr., aka Twin Shadow, presents us with this very nice track that I latched onto immediately. Obviously many of you will point to this sounding like Joy Division. But in my case it sounds like another band that sounds like Joy Division, She Wants Revenge. A band I devoted a whole post to last year. Something about this new wave-ish sound just appeals to me a lot.

Eladio Carrion, Khea, Cazzu & Ecko - Mi Cubana (Remix)

This song is entirely in Spanish and is a trap song. Interestingly enough at least three of these people are from Argentina. Though it's easy to lump this in with the Bad Bunnys and Ozunas of the world, it's important to remember that they're not all the same (in terms of background or even in terms of the accents they use when speaking Spanish). As for the song it features the female fire-spitter herself, Cazzu so I like it this in spite of me not understanding much about what they're trying to say about a Cuban lady. Although something tells me it's for the best that I don't know what they're singing/rapping about.

Joywave - True Grit

Closing off this post with the song I want all of you to listen to the most (next to the Now, Now track). This is True Grit by Joywave, off of their Koda Vista album. Even tough Joywave sounds like they're a Cali band, they're actually from Rochester, New York. Hell yeah, New York represent!
I've gotten really into a lot of their stuff in recent times. Maybe one day I'll do a match the song-type post to one of their albums.

And that was my latest edition of "What I've Been Listening To". Thanks for sticking around for all these years.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).