Fountains of Wayne - Fountains of Wayne. The apparent mastermind of this band passed away a few weeks back, from COVID-19, and the Rolling Stone memorial was surprising to me. I had only known these dudes as the "Stacy's Mom" band, had no clue that they had been a well-regarded rock band before that one hit wonder shot them into the public mind. Adam Schlesinger, the guy who passed away, wrote many of their songs, but was the bassist and backup vocalist, and also was responsible for the songs in the movie That Thing You Do. Which is odd, but kind of cool. Anyway, the tunes are pretty normal 90's alt rock stuff - kind of Cake or Lemonheads or Ben Folds. And Cake comes to mind as well because some of the lyrics are odd and funny - "Leave the Biker" singing about how he wishes the girl would leave the biker who has crumbs in his beard from the seafood special. This was their debut album, in 1996, and I like it quite a bit. "Sink to the Bottom" ends up with the most streams at just over 4 million streams.
Like Cake meeting Weezer for a jam session., and then the guitar solo had them invite the guy from Teenage Fanclub over to shoegaze for them for 30 seconds. Either way, I dig it - good straight-on rock and roller track. This is a good album - makes me wish that I had discovered them back in college, I think I would have gotten a kick out of these tunes back then.
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia. What is happening to me? I threw this album into my queue with the full expectation of a hate stream - I've tried her music out before and have never cared for it - but I read a good review of this disc and I thought I'd give it a shot. And when the second song came on - "Don't Start Now"- I found myself bopping around to it. Same with the third track - "Cool" - and the 80's heavy synth track "Physical," which sounds like it belongs on a Vice City radio station, perfect for hauling ass around the city in a stolen sports car. Makes me think of that new Weeknd track, that also sounds like it was stolen straight from Olivia Newton John's composer. Except that other song annoys me, and these are making me want to dance. Just as a by-the-way note, she has three songs with more than a billion streams, and "Don't Start Now" is about 50 million shy of that mark. Which is always wild to me.
Sounds very much like Robyn - one of her self-empowerment jams meant to decimate the club dance floor. "Love Again" inexplicably uses the weird little horn noise thing from White Town's "Your Woman," which is so very odd. Why did she use that noise? The pure disco queen power of "Break My Heart" also gets me ready to groove. I'm actually annoyed at liking this album, but the ears love what they love, right? Maybe I can use it to seem cool to my daughters who probably like it.
Sarah Jarosz - World on the Ground. Jarosz is from the Austin area (Wimberley, to be exact) and has been making great Americana music since she was a teen. She has a great voice, looks a little like Aubrey Plaza, and kills a handful of stringed instruments - from guitar to mandolin. I love her - one of my key Pandora stations that I listen to a lot, and play when we have guests over at the house (when we used to do that), is based on her, with some other items added in later to give some more variety. But she was the foundational artist. This is more of the same, lovely harmonies and strong playing in Americana/folk music. My work has blocked Spotify from our work computers, so now I can't look at Spotify in a normal way to figure out play counts, but I think "Johnny" is the stream leader and the single. 550k streams.
Wonderfully pensive, and sad. Poor Johnny. Just go for it, buddy! I also like "Maggie," with its sad lyrics about the protagonist trying to escape across a desert in a Blue Ford Escape. Solid album.
Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo. The opening track isn't a big time track - it sounds like a guitar lick from an old Funkadelic song, looped around to allow Freddie to freestyle all over it. I think Gibbs has one of the best rap cadences around right now - he can speed up and slow down and fit himself right into the beat like a bouncing slice of silly putty. Maybe its just these beats, which are almost all laid back and smooth as hell, that fit Gibbs so well, but it just feels like both sides created their half of the wheel for each other to fit together perfectly. I loved their collaboration last year - Bandanna - and am likewise on board with them here. Like, the beat of "Something to Rap About" feels like you are in a lounge in the 70's, sipping on a smooth cocktail, your lady on your arm, smiling at the other folks coming in the door and tipping your drink their way. "Baby Shit" feels like I'm floating in a modernist pool on a space station after having too many drinks. "Skinny Suge" is like they took a noodling session from a Dead song, added a killer beat, and then gave it heroin. I thought "Scottie Beam" was going to be the top track, but it's actually "Something to Rap About" (probably because it features Tyler the Creator). Just over 5 million streams. But that one doesn't have an official video, so I'm going "Scottie Beam" instead. 3.1 million streams.
Damn. That video was unexpectedly explicit as shit right there at the start. I mean, I knew from the lyrics he was pissed at cops, but hey-o. I'm not in love with Rick Ross. On the one hand, I like the insult of "you need a dictionary to write your raps," but on the other hand, what does Spider-Man have to do with a pinnacle? He can go hang out on the top of a building? So can a pigeon? Anyhoo, if you are in the mood for music that sounds exceedingly chill, but the lyrics are actually pretty damn hard, then go right here.
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