2024 Album-A-Day: Week 20

Feel free to recommend more albums, and click here for the playlist.

May 13th: Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg

This was my first excursion into french pop in the 70s, and this album definitely caught my attention. I like the crunchy baritone guitar sounds and the tight grooves and the orchestral flourishes, most evident on "Melody" and "En Melody" (the song titles are somewhat redundant on this album). As I don't speak French, I had to look up translations of the lyrics, and... um... I hope this tale of pedophilic gothic horror was just a hypothetical. I mean, Jesus Kickflipping Christ. Still, the music's good.

May 14th: The Positions, Go Farther in Lightness, and Angel in Realtime by Gang of Youths

This was probably a bad idea, but yes, I listened to all three Gang of Youths albums in one day, and I can now safely say that I love this band. It's anthemic power pop for the most part, with lyrics that toe the line between inspirational and really depressing, with different albums introducing new things. The Positions is a fairly straightforward power pop album, with great songs like "Diving Bell," "Vital Signs" and "Radioface," Go Farther in Lightness brings in strings, (including an interlude that confusingly interpolates "Sweet Child o' Mine") with the highlight being "Achilles Come Down," which is a masterwork in and of itself, and Angel in Realtime introduces samples of aboriginal Australian musicians, which gives it an added rhythmic layer. Many of these songs have now landed on my playlists.

May 15th: Chet Baker Sings by Chet Baker

Most of the jazz I listen to is instrumental, so this was an interesting change of pace. Chet Baker's voice has a unique timbre to it, which, combined with that classic 50's jazz sound, creates the perfect tone for these songs, most of which relate to heartache, and Baker's trumpet skills are equally ear-catching. My favorite song has to be "I've Never Been in Love Before."

May 16th: Dopethrone by Electric Wizard

This is one of those albums that you need to be on very specific drugs to really enjoy. Electric Wizard's drawn out riffing and incomprehensible lyrics would probably be great fun if I were hitting a bong, but as I've yet to do anything harder than NyQuil, it just kinda sounds like they wrote a 4 minute song and just kept playing it over and over and let it drone out. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying I'm not in the right headspace to enjoy it. My favorite song was "Funeralopolis"

May 17th: Maggot Brain by Funkadelic

Finally doing something I should have done long ago: get into Parliament-Funkadelic. The opening title track is ten minutes of guitar soloing and I need it injected into my femoral artery. The rest of the album is fun, upbeat funk music, with my favorite of those being "Super Stupid" and "Can You Get To That," which I immediately realized is the sample in "Rill Rill" by Sleigh Bells. After listening to this, I added Parliament to the list.

May 18th: All Things Must Pass by George Harrison

After meaning to get around to this one for some time, I've finally listened to George Harrison's post-Beatles epic. George Harrison was always underrated during his time in the Fab Four, and on this album he finally gets to show that he's just as much of a genius as John and Paul. (There's more Beatles solo stuff on this list later.) "My Sweet Lord" and the title track and "What is Life" are my favorites here, and the rest of the album is consistently warm and inviting, with George continuing to be an absolute guitar legend. It's a little longer than it needs to be (I like the Apple Jam side, but I'm not sure why it needs to be on this album) but it's a classic beside that.

May 19th: Causers of This by Toro y Moi

Hazy synths, lax bass grooves, chopped up samples, and vocals drowned in reverb, it can only mean one thing: c h i l l w a v e. This was my first time with a full album of chillwave, and I'm glad I checked this out because it's certainly great music to vibe out to. Chaz's voice is hypnotic, and the tracks have these amazing walls of sound that would be great when cruising down Sepulveda Boulevard with the t-top down. It somewhat reminds me of the Avalanches in some places. The only issue i have with it is that the sidechaining of the kick drum is a little harsh on some songs. That's a minor complaint, and this album is really solid.