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Aw I was on such a good streak of posting everyday. As they say, "Oops!"

Album: TURN OFF THE LIGHT by Kim Petras (2019)

How I found this album: I heard “Boo! Bitch” somewhere and added it to my rave album (hearing one song in an album seems to be a popular motivator in my choosing what new albums I try).

Album facts: Petras released a TURN OFF THE LIGHT, VOL. 1 in 2018; this one compiles Vol. 1 songs and the songs recorded for Vol. 2. There was allegedly supposed to be a Vol. 3 released, but she tweeted in September of this year that it wasn't going to come out in 2022.

Thoughts: This is like a combination generic Halloween spooky music CD and rave album. Some songs go really hard, but some of the songs sound like if someone hosted a suburban Halloween party for children but wanted a rave soundtrack (I guess kinda like how Grimes made a rave album out of Miss Anthropocene). And then also sometimes sounds like the Target commercial song of rave culture, if that makes sense. Influenced by Billie Eilish’s “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” There’s nice low bass beats throughout and she throws some German lyrics in there too. I would honestly love to see her live at some festival. Overall a great album to put on in the background of your blacklight club Halloween party.

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Album: Before The World Was Big by Girlpool (2015)

How I found this album: Truthfully, I don’t remember. I heard the title song, “Before the World Was Big” at some point in college.

Album facts: This is their debut album; I couldn’t find much on it but maybe I’ll do a deep dive into obscure early-years interviews and report back. Allegedly and coincidentally, Girlpool have been compared to The Shaggs, who I just wrote about in a previous post. It turns out my timing was great (or terrible, depending on how you look at it), because Girlpool just announced their breakup earlier this year, in August.

Thoughts: This album is a very good representation of adolescent sadness. Lying on the floor of your bedroom as a 15-year-old, sitting in your car in a grocery store parking lot, walking through your college town alone late at night in the cold. The lyrics follow this narrative and make for a nice accompaniment to coming of age moments, but the more somber events like realizing that change is the only constant. The shrillness of their voices is very raw and jarring on top of the soft guitar they play, and this is intensified when most of the songs feature both their voices singing in tandem. It feels like a little album, both because it’s pretty short and the songs are pretty simple musically, but it’s filled with such powerful emotion that it feels very dense. An album to return to when you’re “going through it”.

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Album: BOY by RAC (2020)

How I found this album: I decided to look back at my most played song on Spotify last year, Passion by RAC and Louis the Child, which is on this album (I first heard it playing over the loudspeakers at Target some night - I was obsessed). For some reason I never thought to branch out from the song into the whole album.

Album facts: André Allen Anjos, also known as RAC, says the album is about growing up and the feelings that accompany that. In lieu of plagiarizing what's already been said, I'll send you to the album's Bandcamp page for a more in-depth background of Anjos.

Thoughts: I think listening to this album as, well, an album, was a mistake. Maybe I should've thought about the fact that 4/5 of their top songs on Spotify are remixes of other groups' songs (I'm also just now learning that RAC stands for Remix Artist Collective). Almost every song on this album features a different artist, so despite having RAC as a connecting link, it doesn't feel super cohesive. And maybe it's not supposed to. Regardless, it’s very agreeable and laid back pop. Individually, the songs are great to put on in the background of your chill kickback.

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Album: Philosophy of the World by The Shaggs (1969)

How I found this album: I think my friend Sean shared one of the songs with me years ago, and I’m sure he mentioned the story behind the album too.

Album facts: Essentially a guy makes his three daughters form a band because his mother had read his palm and said they would become famous, and her other premonitions had came true, so he wanted this to be true too. He pulled them out of high school and made them practice all day every day for years, eventually bringing them to record an album at Fleetwood Studio. The dad ordered 1000 albums to be pressed, but only 100 had been delivered, with the other 900 missing and the producer was nowhere to be found. Highly recommend this New Yorker article for their whole story.

It is #5 on Kurt Cobain’s top 50 albums list.

Thoughts: Listening to this album felt like sitting through a talent show or children’s choir show in that I was just politely listening to objectively bad music. It’s somewhere between pity and secondhand embarrassment. The sound seems like it’s from an old home video or tape rather than something that was recorded in an actual studio. There’s also an undertone of something off, really making their voices fall flat and making any of the songs feel very artificial. (I wish I could listen to the album again without knowing the story behind it and see if I still thought the same thing). Despite all this, I have to give props on how surprisingly cohesive it is. Regardless of the style, it’s pretty consistent throughout each of the songs. Would I listen to the album again? No, I would not.

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Album: MUNA by MUNA (2022)

How I found this album: I told my friends that I was listening to a new (to me) album everyday and asked if they had any recommendations. One recommended this album. (thanks Alicia!)

Album facts: I thought this was good so I’m just pulling this directly from Wikipedia: “Guitarist Josette Maskin said of the album, "What ultimately keeps us together is knowing that someone's going to hear each one of these songs and use it to make a change they need in their life. That people are going to feel a kind of catharsis, even if it's a catharsis that I might never have known myself, because I'm fucked up.””

Thoughts: I’ve heard Silk Chiffon a number of times (one of the only MUNA songs I know) and I’ve kind of grown used to it so the album started out flat for me, but that’s a me problem. And then it leads into the rest of the album and feels like a punch to the face but in an energizing, adrenaline-fueled way. I can’t stop thinking about how I would love to see them perform Runner’s High live. All the songs on this album have the same feeling of power in them, even throughout the variation in style. I want to describe some of the songs as “bangers”, but that feels too shallow. The album feels very full. It’s one of few (only?) albums that really makes me want to dance. 

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Album: Race by Alex G (2010)

How I found this album: Alex G first showed up on my Spotify Discover Weekly™ years ago, and it was definitely Mary or Sarah, which are some of his songs - not people. Either way, both songs gave me this same feeling of nostalgia, like seeing the world the way you saw it as a child. For some reason I’ve associated the idea of nostalgia with the flashback scene from Toy Story 2? (for reference) I dunno, something about the lighting of the sun on the trees and falling leaves.

Anyway, I listened to his other stuff and it was a ride. I’ve never actually listened to Race all the way through so here we go.

Album facts: This is his first studio album, recorded when he was only 16. It was recently remastered, in 2020. If you Google the album, it says that 100% of Google users liked this album. Good job Alex!

Thoughts: Immediately felt the nostalgic feeling. Still trying to figure out how to describe the feeling of nostalgia, and the best word I’ve got so far is “bittersweet”. Here it feels like loneliness, but in a comforting way? It starts off almost as folksy, but he definitely jumps around genres so probably could describe it as catchall “indie”. Some of the songs sound pretty simple, but in the best way possible - it makes them feel familiar. Kinda cool to think of him recording these at 16 wherever he was at the time and be able to convey these feelings. Another thing I really like about his music in general is his voice and how he uses it. It’s unique and he’s got some weird vocals throughout the songs (when I saw him in concert this included him barking over some really intense guitar and drums). It just makes any of the songs more interesting to listen to. Honestly, this album could be a good introduction to Alex G.

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I don’t want to call this a review because I’m not a music critic (not sure what the credentials are for that anyway), so I guess this could classify as an observation? Anyway, first post starting off strong writing about a Grimes album.

Album: Halfaxa by Grimes (2010)

How I found this album: I somehow got super into Grimes in 2020, at the beginning of COVID. I heard Oblivion and it was game over for me. So while I’ve listened through her other albums, I’ve never listened all the way through Halfaxa. I remember trying to start it and stopping a few songs in because it just sounded unappealing, and so I stuck to the comfort of her other albums (see Geidi Primes; Miss Anthropocene).

Album facts: According to Wikipedia, “Halfaxa has been described as a goth-pop, witch house, dark wave, and glo-fi release.” In an interview with Pitchfork, Grimes describes it as “lo-fi ethereal hardcore”. The album name is inspired by her vacation to Halifax, Nova Scotia; she said the name would be cooler if it sounded more like a girl’s name, i.e. Halfaxa. Her friend’s cat, Voignamir, is on a few of the songs.

Thoughts: After giving a chance to the entire album, I found out that it DOES gets better. I thought about how to best describe the style in this one, and I settled on “odd”. The sound is unique, and I’m still not sure if I mean that in a good or bad way. Grimes finds interesting ways to play with her voice and with sounds to create something that sounds like glitch art. Some parts (noises) were actually so offensive to my ears that it was hard to do anything else but wait for them to pass. Points for getting my full attention though. However, at some point towards the end of the album, while Googling how to buy a domain name and build a website (surprise! I settled on Tumblr), I noticed that I hadn’t been jerked back under control by any unpleasant sound effects and these later songs actually put me into a nice flow instead. It becomes a steady stream of stimulation, but not enough to overstimulate. So, despite a haphazard start, eventually it evens out to a smoother ride (maybe I just got used to it).