music became a task aka RIP my airpods
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music became a task aka RIP my airpods
new york architects, the national, the reds pinks and purples, NLE choppa and NOIA
Last week I moved, and promptly lost my headphones amidst the boxes – when listening to music goes from wallpaper activity to something you have to make time for, new music suddenly becomes another item on the to-do list, as opposed to a flowing current across your day. If I only get a handful of opportunities to listen to music during the week, why not treat myself to the records I know and love?
Either way, that’s the honest-to-goodness reason for the delay this week. But the new music is extra good to make up for it. And no Good Links this week. Everything you’ve been reading is great, I’m sure!
Anyways, here are the best songs of the week. As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.
The Reds, Pinks, and Purples – Mistakes (Too Many To Name)
I loved all three(!) of the Reds, Pinks, and Purples 2022 albums, thanks to Glenn Donaldson’s incredible skill at marrying monologues of self-doubt with chiming, layered bedroom pop. “Mistakes (Too Many To Name)” is from their first (but certainly not last) record of 2023 The Town That Cursed Your Name, but the album has so few skips, and only two tracks that break the three minute mark, so I found myself queueing it over and over.
The National – Eucalyptus
This is the first single from the upcoming National record that’s made me feel the way past great National singles have made me feel. Matt Berninger said in a press statement that “‘Eucalyptus’ is about a couple splitting up their possessions after a breakup—like, ‘What are we going to do with the spring water we get delivered, what’s going to happen to all these plants?’” The song is filled with slightly ridiculous proper nouns (“What about the Afghan Whigs?”) but the building instrumental melancholy makes it work.
New York Architects – Who? You!
Sometimes the tape hiss is just as important as any instrument in the arrangement. New York Architect’s “demo” release of “Who? You!” is perfect 1981 post-punk, balancing its nervous strut with playful chanting from singer/sometimes member Mei Lenahan. Everything here feels like it all fell together almost by accident, which makes its hooky charm even more effective. By the time the cowbell hits at the end, the song wraps – urgent but goofy, charming but deadly.
NLE Choppa feat. Lil Wayne – AIN’T GOTTA ANSWER
NLE Choppa not only taps Lil Wayne for “AIN’T GOTTA ANSWER” but pulls in Wayne’s peak Tha Carter energy in his own verses on his latest single. Interpolating “Black and Yellow” in the instrumental, everything on the track feels built for maximum time on your radio speakers for the spring into summer. It helps that Wayne’s verse seals the deal both in his excellent verse and on-point ad libs. If this is what I hear in every Uber this summer…I won’t be mad.
NOIA - reveal yourself
I’m still in any glossy, autotuned, vaporwave-y pop, as long as it’s as billowing, confident and enraptured as NOIA’s new single “reveal yourself.” The song pulls together crystalline shards of sampled vocals and synthetic harp into three minutes of feeling like you’re falling in love.
thrrrooowwwbbbba a a a. a aaaa ck
Tina Turner - Don’t Turn Around
Finding out a friend’s “don’t get me started” rant is always a treat – what’s the thing they’ll go off on at a bar or dinner, almost to the point of ruining the vibe? When I found out my coworker will go to bat for the original Tina Turner version of “Don’t Turn Around” famously covered by Ace of Base, I was elated. I got a mini-sized rant about how much the original 80’s power ballad version is heavier and cooler, and even if I think the Ace of Base Euro-reggae bounce elevates it further, his argument for the sheer size of the Diane Warren-penned hook won me over. DON’T GET ME STARTED.