2024 Album-a-day: Week One

At some undefined point last year, I started a checklist in my Notes app of albums that I had been meaning to listen to. At the beginning of this year, I decided that I would listen to one of these albums a day, and just now decided that I will document my listening week by week. I don't have a full year's worth of albums in the list, and reserve the right to add more as I see fit. But enough preamble, here's the list

January 1st: Repeater by Fugazi.

I really enjoyed this album. I love punk rock, especially the kind that can balance aggression with great hooks. I've had the phrase "1, 2, 3, REPEATER!" Running through my head all week. I love the anti-consumerist lyrics of "Merchandise" and the riff from "Blueprint." I'd always heard about Fugazi as important innovators in the field of punk, and I wholly understand why they have that reputation now.

January 2nd: Antidotes by Foals

I was aware of Foals and knew a few songs by them, but I hadn't sat in for a full album until this one. I liked this album, but I don't think I loved it. Songs like "Cassius" and "Electric Bloom" are enjoyable, and I like the vocal harmonies, but after a while I started comparing them to Everything Everything, and for some reason I don't immediately connect to Foals the way I did with Everything Everything. Despite this, it's a good album, possibly even very good.

January 3rd: Ramones by Ramones

Yeah, for some reason I'd never listened to the Ramones self titled album in full. Of course, I already knew some of the songs before I listened, if only because "Blitzkreig Bop" is so ubiquitous that I'd be surprised if anyone didn't know that song. When listening, the first thing that grabbed me was, "Oh no, the bass is panned hard left and the guitar is panned hard right!" which mildly irritated me at first the way it did on the 2009 Beatles mixes, but once I got past that I was able to appreciate how groundbreaking it must have sounded at the time. The Ramones didn't invent punk rock, but they were one of the first household names in the genre, at least in the U.S. It's catchy, aggressive, and doesn't give a shit. Exactly what I love in punk.

January 4th: Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell

Last year, I went on a bit of a Joni Mitchell kick, listening to her first four albums, and decided I'd continue that with Court and Spark. I know there's one between Blue and this one, but the importance of this album is talked up enough that I prioritized it. On this album, Joni's singing voice and songwriting chops are as sharp as ever. The main difference is the instrumentation, exchanging the stark folk arrangements of Ladies of the Canyon and Blue for a full band setup playing jazz-inspired songs such as "Free Man in Paris" and "Car on a Hill" and it's a great addition to the Joni's style. The title track is a beautiful opener with powerful lyrics, "Help Me" and "Down to You" show what Joni can do with this new style, and "Raised on Robbery" is a fun pastiche of 1950's rock and roll. There is, unfortunately, one song on this album I don't care for, and that's "Twisted." It's a cover of an old vocalese number, and it's far too jokey for a Joni Mitchell album. It also has Cheech and Chong on it, which is confusing. Despite that last song, I really enjoyed this album.

January 5th: Untrue by Burial

My exposure to original-flavor UK dubstep is limited to the classic YouTube documentary "All My Homies Hate Skrillex," and I'd heard this album talked up by people who are far more knowledgeable about electronic music than myself, so I checked it out. I don't really know how to judge this album because this isn't a style of music I'm very experienced with, but I do think it's good. My problem is that the songs all sounded very similar to me, and all followed an almost identical structure and tone, and just kind of blended together for me. It's possible I just need to listen to this album a few more times to really get it, or maybe it's just not a style I really connect with. I can recognize its impact, but I can't say it emotionally resonates with me at this exact point. This might change in the future.

January 6th: Tapestry by Carole King

I knew about half of these songs already, as Carole King is famous as both a pop hitmaker and a behind-the-scenes songwriter, and this album was very enjoyable for me. Perennial classics such as "It's Too Late" and "I Feel The Earth Move" and "You've Got A Friend" (which became a big hit for James Taylor, who is also featured on this album) not only hold up to the test of time, but also work perfectly in the context of the album, which not every famous single does. The title track took on something of a new meaning to me, as the first time I heard it was a cover of it in a middle school talent show, one in which I was also performing, so I got to hear that stripped-back piano rendition about 80 million times by the time the show came around, but the album version proved to hold up to such overexposure. King's reworking of the hit song she co-wrote "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" takes on a new context when you consider that she had long since left the man that she wrote that song with. Overall, I find Tapestry to be a symbol of the reason that we're all still so obsessed with the 70s.

January 7th: There's a Riot Goin' On by Sly and the Family Stone

I'd heard Sly and the Family Stone's most popular hits before, but for some reason I wasn't very familiar with the singles from this album before listening. I was so glad to remedy this. Each member of the band is so talented at their instrument, and they all have such great chemistry with each other and the album is a blast front to back. "Family Affair" and "Time" and "Spaced Cowboy" are all peak funk music, and the closing track, "Thank You For Talking to Me Africa," which is a reworking of "Thank you fallettin me be mice elf again," is almost surreal in how perfect of a closer it is. I will never stop kicking myself for not listening to this sooner.