#2: Listen, the snow is falling

I haven’t yet decided when I’m publishing this newsletter, but Saturday seems right at least for now—and if the power goes out next week because of winter weather, this may be my last chance at sending this.

Here’s what I’ve been enjoying this week, most of it from the year so far. (Spotify / Apple Music)

“Police Scanner,” Chanel Beads

All week, I couldn’t get these chant-y/flow-y vocals out of my head. A little in the vein of Tirzah, CEO, or maybe even Gastr del Sol.

“Shallow Channel,” Network Decay

It’s a happy groove—at least at first—but as each instrument layers in, it becomes something very different, a crisp orchestration of diverging, almost contradictory emotions.

“Discount,” Agent blå

A little suspicious of this one at first—keywords like “post-punk” and “shoegaze” feel like a targeted phishing scheme that knows way too much about me—but I was quickly won over by those soaring backing vocals.

“Intersections,” Pyur

Pounding, beatless techno is maybe a way to describe this darting, airy track. It hits all over the place, and in a good way, with so much randomness that my brain was incapable of wandering. I don’t know if there’s any such thing as good “work music,” but this is bad work music.

“Thought There Would Be More,” Alto Aria

So beautiful, these plaintive vocals above a blistering, spare rhythm. This fits neatly in one of my absolute favorite music categories of “This Mortal Coil, but now.”

“It’s So Good,” Jamie xx

Maybe what you’d get if you asked AI to make a Jamie xx song, but that doesn't make it any less fun or exactly what it says on the tin.

“The Queen,” the Infinites

Deceptively simple pop, not unlike if Lilys (too underrated) were playing at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. The dizzying guitar lines, swelling and soaring throughout the track, are a wonder.

“Shake It Down,” C Turtle

A happily deranged, anything-goes song I completely dig. And as everyone’s current ’90s obsessions mostly center on shoegaze, it’s refreshing to hear something in the Pixies-Breeders-Calvin Johnson style of broken, freakout pop.

“Compassion,” Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey

A sweeping new jazz-adjacent piece from the Vijay Iyer Trio—whose 2021 album Uneasy is a favorite of mine. This is the title track from their new album, out next month.

“Boost,” Astrid Sonne

Really enjoying the organic, beat-driven Mo’ Wax stylings here. Interested to hear how this fits into the forthcoming album.

“Silver Thread Golden Needle,” A. G. Cook

A catchy, joyful odyssey—it’s 10 minutes but feels like three—from the PC Music founder. Two-thirds in the bass hits, and sets in motion a whole series of changes in an already ever-changing song.

“Running Thoughts,” Sea Dramas

A breezy bit of ’60s-tinged guitar pop, somewhere in the dreamy territory of vintage Clientele—which, granted, is also overdone territory—but this track is so unfussy and uncomplicated and strikes a relaxed vibe I’m going to need as a deep freeze looms in the forecast.