Andrew Winslow

One of the decade’s best for sure, despite getting numbing for a 50-min. sugar rush.

Only here it’s a perfectly calibrated swan song that takes all their formal songwriting know-how, experimental yet refined production, reverence to many influences (here ELO & disco), & superdense hook structures, & give them some (relative) purpose & personality.

Travellers In Space & Time. Apples In Stereo A Maybe the similarly nasal singers made this connection, but much like Superchunk, these guys were promising for years & finally hit their perfectly balanced artistic/melodic breakthrough in the 2010s.

Not as disorienting or difficult as its reputation, which both sells it as heartfelt music & reduces it to a limited-influence offshoot of its decade. Still, at times, the style had me confounded while not put off, & I’ll remember that.

Schlagenheim. Black Midi A The delicate yet dynamic dancey math-prog grooves of Battles w/the unkempt, atmospheric strummy garage/shoegaze vamps of Deerhunter, w/the technical fetish & unusual vox of both.

More milestones to come soon!

Jazz Classics Vol. 1. Sidney Bechet B I am SO TIRED of listening to jazz. This is just another jazz album. As of now, aside from eventually updating with classical recordings, movie soundtracks & musicals, plus anything else I find, it exhausts my entire list of pre-1950s LPs.

@danghentschel This 👏 is 👏 leadership

Made a deal with my team today. If my startup isn’t profitable by Q4— I hang myself.

Portrait In Jazz. Bill Evans Trio B+ Sprightly, exploratory yet listenable classical-tinged jazz noodling on standards from a great piano sideman’s own combo.

@supple_neck I almost see the inverse, where younger generations have been hugely boosting its prestige and profile after decades of languishing!

It’s truly unfortunate that the American attitude toward Soccer has been heavily diminished due to a couple of generations of fat drunk dads and uncles sitting on couches calling the sport “gay” because Europeans were good at it.

Extrapolation. John McLaughlin A- Guitar-based fusion is always preferable to me than horn jazz bc of the melodic & tonal range it has, & this illustrates the example. Some great fleshed-out themes here, & a bit of trebly/moody meandering. Still, a solid combination of the two.

Speak No Evil. Wayne Shorter A- A classy & listenable jazz set w/a legendary, tasteful combo. I think they tend to stick more to themes & melodies of sorts you’re your average jazz band. Very nice

Unspoiled by any false-ringing self-conscious tentative try-hard modern marketing tendencies or overdoing the aesthetic in pretentious/indulgent ways. The second half even gets better.

Prelude To Ecstasy. Last Dinner Party A A masterful, tasteful revamp of Siouxsie & the Banshees & Fiona Apple, w/an evocation of the 4AD production style.

@Steven_Hyden I just found out this year as a lifelong resident that the nearby Heald Square Monument is the source of the cover for Fugazi's Argument LP!

I am the first 48-year-old man to take this photo.

Less than the sum of its parts, goes from charming to annoying after its one mode wears out.

...w/the inscrutable drawling art-indie vamping sloppiness of Destroyer. Maybe some blue-collar/emo lyrics in there that I couldn’t care less about. Singer is in a Beck-lower Thom Yorke register that really grates after awhile.

Getting Killed. Geese A- Pleasantly inauspicious & individualistic, though it derives from a couple main influences. Quirky polyrhythmic midtempo jam band grooves w/world music textures & unhurried builds (like a more blissed-out tropical Radiohead)...

Experimental horrorcore (rap w/ominous industrial beats & hyperviolent lyrics) that really puts effort into the music, despite how limited it can get thematically. I also like the unusual meters & delivery.

Visons of Bodies Being Burned. Clipping A Goes from being a stunning breakthrough for the genre to running out of tricks & getting a bit tedious/hokey at points.