2024 Album-A-Day: Week 28

Remember when I said I'd stop doing multiple albums a day because I wouldn't be able to make it to the end of the year? That won't be a problem anymore. The list is SOOOO much longer.

July 8th: Person Pitch by Panda Bear

I know some Animal Collective albums, so I checked out this much-lauded solo album by my favorite member, Panda Bear. This album begs to be listened to on the beach in mid-July, which I wasn't able to do, but I still really liked it. It's got these warm vocals from Noah and an eclectic set of samples that all tie together into this Phil Spector-y wall of sound, and songs are long but not oppressively so, instead using that time to stew in their own atmosphere. My favorite track was "Bros."

July 9th: Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues

After listening to this album, I am now going to immediately bring it up in any discussion of the history of concept albums. The Moody Blues, apparently a more R&B/early rock focused band before this, decided to use the symphony orchestra that they were contractually obligated to work with for a different purpose than intended (the label asked for them to do orchestral versions of rock and roll songs), and made an album themed around a day in the life of the average working Brit. The string section and the Moodies have great interplay, and the songs themselves range from good punchy rock to epic swooning ballads, with "The Night" housing their best known song, "Nights in White Satin" (each song has a different name than the track it is on, because each track contains that song as well as orchestral intros and outros). I'm pretty sure I've heard that song before, so I added "Lunch Break: Peak Hour" to the playlist.

July 10th: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus

I like jazz, but I will admit that my knowledge of Mingus isn't that deep, so I dove into this one. I love John Coltrane and Miles Davis, and this is similar, but with a more hectic and tense energy to it, which might come from the fact that Mingus was, by many accounts, terrifying and a perfectionist. Mingus' upright bass chops are apparent, and the whole album flows as one cohesive piece, and if you're in the mood for crazed jazz, this is good crazed jazz. My favorite track was "Track C - Group Dancers."

July 11th: Long Distance by Ivy

I love Fountains of Wayne and some other works of Adam Schlesinger, but I'd never listened to Ivy before, so here's Ivy. This album has a downtempo sound reminiscent of Air or previously featured band Zero 7, so a lot of electric piano, slowed down drumbeats, and Dominique Durand being effortlessly cool and mysterious and French. The hooks, such as on "Undertow" and "Lucy Doesn't Love You," stick in the mind really easily, and the delivery makes it all work. I'm definitely going to listen to more of this band. My favorite track was "Midnight Sun."

July 12th: MGMT and Little Dark Age by MGMT

Revisiting MGMT, this time with the albums following Congratulations. The self titled is good, but I understand why it's considered the worst of their albums. It's far from bad, but it doesn't have the same impact as Congratulations, because that album was a reaction to their unexpected pop success with psych-rock. This album is also psych-rock, but it doesn't feel like this sound excites them anymore. Still, it's pretty enjoyable. My favorite track was "Astro-Mancy." Little Dark Age feels like an active attempt at doing something new. It's more pop-friendly, but still distinct from the first album, and this time with an added twist of macabre. The title track is as much of a jam as it ever was, "When You Die" is... confusing, but fun, the run from "One Thing Left to Try" to "Hand it Over" is a really solid ending stretch, and my favorite track is "James."

July 13th: Fantastic Damage by El-P

I love Run the Jewels, so here's a solo album from El-P. When I listened to this, I had two prevailing thoughts. 1: "This is pretty cool." 2: "I really wish Killer Mike was here." El-P is undeniably good at rapping, and his beats are engaging, but I don't think his presence alone is enough for a whole album for me. There's good songs like "Squeegee Man Shooting" and "Delorean" but the full listen isn't as rewarding. My favorite track is "Deep Space 9mm." Also, I must note, "Stepfather Factory" is among the sadder songs I've ever heard.

July 14th: McCartney, McCartney II, and McCartney III by Paul McCartney

My third day dedicated to Paul in this project, this time with all three of the albums recorded wholly on his own. The first album, recorded after the breakup of the Beatles, definitely sounds like the result of a 4 track recorder and a lot of free time, with most of the songs being fragments strung together, and a lot of them instrumental. The exceptions, however, are very heartfelt, such as "Every Night" and "Maybe I'm Amazed," which would later become a hit when a live version with Wings was released as a single. It's enjoyable, but I feel like Ram does that "screwing around" thing somewhat better. My favorite was "Every Night." McCartney II was more enjoyable for me, because the songs are more structured and coherent. There's a variety in the instrumentation as well, with warm tones on "Summer Day Song" and cold synths on "Temporary Secretary" (a song that I already knew, and that one took me a while to get, but I get it now.) It's also got a song called "Waterfalls" which has a similar hook to the TLC song of the same name, and apparently they are entirely unrelated. My favorite was "On the Way." McCartney III, recorded decades after either of these, is an album where Paul has nothing left to prove, but refuses to rest on his laurels. He's still playing all the instruments, but it's genuinely hard to tell, and I'm sure this kills live. My favorite song is "Pretty Boys."

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