February is Music Writer Exercise Month #MWE • Page 74

Day 1
Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana

Need to check more Speedy Ortiz albums after this one. Damn this was good.

 

I will start on Monday

 

Sounds dope

 

Yeah I'm not someone who's always looking for fusion or prog or instrumental, but this is definitely one in the genre I'm likely to grab first when I'm in the mood

 

Day 1.5
Tony Toni Toné - Sons of Soul (1993)

Loved this. This feels a bit similar to Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite and seems like one of the skeleton keys to the entire neo-soul genre.

 

I know they started as new jack swing. Was there any of that left in the sound by that point or had they moved on?

 

1. Japandroids - Fate & Alcohol
2. Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
3. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
4. German Error Message - German Error Message
5. Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
6. Waylon Jennings - ‘Ol Waylon
7. Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
8. IU - Love Poem
9. 2Pac - All Eyez On Me
10. Zulu - A New Tomorrow
11. Ornette Coleman - The Empty Foxhole
12. Lou Reed - Street Hassle
13. Social Distortion - Social Distortion
14. Patti LaBelle - Winner in You
15. He is Legend - I Am Hollywood
16. Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South
17. NSYNC - No Strings Attached
18. Talking Heads - 77
19. !!! - Thr!!!er
20. Redman - Muddy Waters
21. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
22. Merle Haggard - Back To the Barrooms
23. Emi Yagi - Diary of a Void
24. Aaliyah - One In A Million
25. Fontaines DC - Romance
26. Usher - Confessions
27. Yo La Tengo - Painful
28. Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

let's see how much i get through this year lol

 

recommendation if anyone doesn’t have a complete list for any reason. few albums i’d recommend to literally anyone more than this.

 

I went into my now retired #TheList spreadsheet and just picked one from every letter + a number + a symbol

 

absolutely hear that in the sound. it's a great blend of neo-soul, motown, new jack swing, and hip-hop. feels like an album that bridged the generations.

 

Hell yeah Coheed. I do think that’s still their second best.

Street Hassle is a really interesting one. I assume you’ve heard a fair amount of Lou before that one?

 

I've heard almost 0 Lou Reed haha.

 

Oh man that’s an interesting first listen. Very curious to see what you think! Not necessarily the first that would have come to mind for me

 

I've heard Transformer before. I had a couple Lou Reed recs written down so i chose a random one lol

 

Day 2
Nu Genea - Bar Mediterraneo (2022)

This Italian duo worked with Fela Kuti’s drummer Tony Allen. Great stuff. Think I’d rec this to fans of Gorillaz, Khruangbin, and stuff like that.

 

Day 3
Mineral - The Power of Failing (1997)

I was not super impressed by this one, but I can appreciate how it was influential to a ton of later emo shit.

 

Day 3.5
Brand Nubian - Foundation (1998)

 

Man, you sure listed the right artists to get my attention. Haha

 

It rules and easily fits alongside those artists. You’ll love it if you dig them.

 

XTC - Black Sea
I really love how they are able to pull super catchy melodies out of seemingly nowhere

 

Day 4
African Head Charge - Songs of Praise (1990)

Unreal album of psychedelic reggae that samples ritual music from all around the world, immediately placing it among the best of the genre. You’re not going to hear anything resembling Three Little Birds on this thing, just pure cosmic ascension.

@Long Century @Wharf Rat you guys may enjoy!

 

David Murray Octet - Ming
I am still a jazz neophyte but this is not really my style. It isn't bad, but it's been a long day of teaching and song 1-2 are giving me a headache. 3, the title track, is more my speed