Year-end lists are dropping, but don’t rest on your laurels! There’s still cool new music to hear! Keep listening, friends! Next week I’ll try and dig up records and singles I missed, and then maybe (maybe!) we’ll talk best of the year. But the year isn’t over, and neither should be your appetite for cool new shit.
As penance for sending this a day late, here’s an XL portion of Good Links for yall:
Every day is like (Herb) Sunday – Sam Valenti dropped extremely good quotables about the value of fandom, committing to shipping work, and the real growth from repetition in his 100th Herb Sunday
Spoiler, does NOT find his religion – Loved this profile of Michael Stipe trying to find creative focus for his first-ever solo record, specifically him not understanding Jack Antonoff or Matty Healy’s slang when hanging out at Electric Lady
Queens, but not Queen – Artist Denise Kupferschmidt put together a new excellent soft rock station called Ridgewood Radio that’s all clutch pre-dinner kitchen jams
What’s “Weird” is their streaming rates – Weird Al takes shots at Spotify in a message recorded for…Spotify
Broken Tamagotchi about to get BNM – This dying Vanessa Carlton Hit Clips honestly sounds amazing. It really heats up in the back half as the track turns to digital sludge. In a good way!
Yes, he eventually starts writing in Aramaic – This is a very weird, very long piece on the Taylor Swift media economy. Extra timely now that she’s TIME’s Person of the Year
I got friends in Bass Pro Shops – Steven Hyden goes fishin’ for the new Garth Brooks record, only available at (yes) Bass Pro Shops
On to the best of the week – you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!
Bolis Pupul – Completely Half
Bolis Pupul was 1/2 of the best show I saw in 2023, providing an incredibly physical, heavy backdrop for the killer charisma of Charlotte Adigery at Elsewhere this spring. I’m really excited to check his upcoming solo record, especially since the first track "Completely Half" showcases his talent at finding rubbery, unusual pockets that wiggle their way into delightful hooks.
Empress Of – Femenine
A winter banger from Empress Of and producer/friend of the newsletter Nick Sylvester. Lorely Rodriguez sounds extra in her bag on the track’s lithe groove, and Sylvester’s signature bass pocket is always a delightful thing to hear no matter who’s singing – but the pairing adds up to a lot more than the sum of its parts.
Voyeur – Daffodils
I had the pleasure of playing with Voyeur at their first show, and I distinctly remember being wowed by “Daffodils” during their short, heavy set. The track skews less post-grunge than their other songs, but still uses the loud-quiet-loud of Black Francis for a particularly charming song. “Daffodils” cruises so effortlessly you don’t even notice that you haven’t hit a chorus until almost two minutes in when it lands amidst a wave of blissed-out fuzz.
Father John Misty – Musical Ladders
I really enjoyed perusing Moping In Style, the Adam Green tribute album – it’s like an encyclopedia of huge indie bands from peak 00’s SPIN magazine. Jenny Lewis, the Lemonheads, Ben Kweller, Lou Barlow, the Cribs – the names keep coming! I particularly liked FJM’s take on “Musical Ladders,” mostly because it’s great hearing his voice again this year after last year’s lackluster Chloe and the Next 20th Century.
Cash Cobain – ASSON3000
Did you listen to Andre 3000’s flute record and think “damn I need this flipped into a drill beat ASAP?” Well, Cash Cobain has your back – he rides over a sample of “I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” with Vontee the Singer, assisted a tasteful smattering of 808s. The flip keeps the original’s chill in place, but uses it as a platform for a sex jam. Shout out to whoever animated the twerking robot for the YouTube track art.
throwback
Luther Vandross – The Mistletoe Jam
My dad loved smooth R&B, blasting it constantly when I was a kid – and Christmas was no different. I love playing this song, my favorite Christmas song, for friends, waiting for them to realize that this is, yes, a holiday song about getting laid. “Glad you got big feet, they’re so good for dancing / glad you got big legs, they’re so good when we’re romancing.” Happy Holidays!