2024 Album-A-Day: Week 47

Allan, please add an Agent 47 joke.

Allan, please click this link to find my playlist of one song from each of the albums discussed in this series.

Allan, please tell anyone who found this series late that I probably won't take requests after the fact. I mean, maybe if you send me an ask, I'll write about it. It'll be a separate playlist and under a different tag. Shit, if I start doing that consistently and people read it, I could start a Patreon.

November 18th: the first glass beach album by Glass beach

I had no idea what to expect from this album, but it certainly wasn't theatrical emo clearly influenced by chiptune and Queen. It's also REALLY GOOD. It's got that anxiety and search for relief that Pup or my beloved Jeff Rosenstock have, with an added eclecticism reminiscent of My Chemical Romance or the good Panic! at the Disco albums. In addition, you have these brief instrumental interludes that act as a reprieve from the high energy rockers. It's rare to see an album over an hour long this well paced. My favorite track has to be the eponymous "glass beach."

November 19th: Artificial Selection by Dance Gavin Dance

From what I can tell, this band is somewhat polarizing. Some love this band's screamy vocals and melodic guitar shredding, while others are put off by that combination. I, for one, apparently like them. I knew very little of their music before this, and this was a fun time. DGD remind me of Fall of Troy, which I listened to a few weeks ago, and At the Drive-In to some extent, in that the lyrics are kind of hard to follow and the titles don't appear in the songs most of the time. The technical riffs are very sweet on the ear, which contrasts the harsh vocals. "Suspended in This Disaster" is what I added to the playlist, though it was hard to choose a favorite.

November 20th: James Blake by James Blake

Returning to the James Blake well for this one, this time eight years earlier in his career. This album is more experimental than Assume Form, with clear influences from Bon Iver and still traces of his dubstep days (and I'm talking about original flavor UK dubstep, not Skrillex). Blake still has that majestic blue-eyed soul voice on him, and he manipulates clips of his vocals and pairs them with piano riffs and otherworldly bass. It's atmospheric, yearning, and eclectic, and "Limit To Your Love" is my favorite track.

November 21st: Armchair Apocrypha by Andrew Bird

I'd heard of Andrew Bird, but really didn't know any of his stuff, or that he was once a member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. This album sounds nothing like Squirrel Nut Zippers, instead being, a dark sort of indie rock reminiscent of the National with baroque touches that bring Sufjan Stevens to mind. From the opener "Fiery Crash," I knew that I was going to enjoy this one a lot. Bird plays a number of instruments and he's great at all of them, and even if I don't really know what these songs are about, I'm excitedt o get it more on future listens. I can see myself getting really into Andrew Bird, and "Dark Matter" was my favorite.

November 22nd: Painted Shut by Hop-Along

It's possible that I've heard a number of Hop-Along songs in the past, because they definitely fit in with the mold of stuff that got played on my local college station where I used to live. This is reminiscent of all three members of Boygenius, as well as Courtney Barnett and also some amount of Wilco. Anyway, I love all of these songs. It's punchy but not too aggressive, and Frances Quinlan has a voice for the ages. I love "The Knock," "Well-Dressed," and my favorite, "Waitress."

November 23rd: Odessey and Oracle (sic) by the Zombies

It's the time of the season for Zombies. This floral psychedelia was clearly influenced by Sgt. Peppers, Pet Sounds, and probably even Days of Future Passed to some extent. It's got lush harmonies, baroque pop instrumentation, some psychedelic riffs, and classic pop lyrics. You've got the romantic dreaming of "This Will Be Our Year," "Care of Cell 44" singing to a girl in prison, and their most famous song, "Time of the Season." I had a lot of fun with this album, even if some of the songs get a bit repetitive. My favorite was "This Will Be Our Year."

November 24th: 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. Cole

I've known a few J. Cole songs in the past, but this was my first time with a full project of his. My first thought when listening is that I do not know what to make of Cole's general presence and personality on the mic. The beats are well constructed, like on "Apparently" and "'03 Adolescence," but J. Cole's lyrics alternate from conscious bars such as "Love Yours" and "A Tale of 2 Citiez" to typical hip-hop posturing such as "G.O.M.D" to the needlessly revealing storytelling of "Wet Dreamz" and they don't entirely fit together to me. I'm pretty sure I'm alone in this take, as he's beloved in the hip-hop community. Still, I had fun with a lot of these songs, including "January 28th," "Fire Squad," and my favorite, "No Role Modelz."

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