Ursula's Books and Music Corner for 2023, part 4
This is a continuation of the topic Ursula's Books and Music Corner for 2023, part 3.
Talk75 Books Challenge for 2023
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1ursula
All right, let's do this!
Drawing done on location in Mannheim, Germany
Hello there, my name is Ursula. I'm 51 years old, and I've been married to my husband, Morgan, for 12 years. We are both Americans, but those of you who have followed along through the years know that we've done a lot of moving both domestically and internationally in my time here in the 75ers. We are currently living in western Germany with our 3 cats Archie, Cleo (adopted in California) and Rollo (adopted off the street in Istanbul).
I'm a reader of "literary fiction" and some non-fiction. Occasionally some genre things find their way in (I'm not a snob about it, I just tend to choose other things).
I have been listening to a lot of music for the last few years and in 2023 I intend to post more regularly about it. It's okay if no one is into the same things, I'm doing it mostly for me, just like my thoughts on my books. :) (If you're interested in my favorite books and albums of 2022, you can visit my first thread of the year.)
Drawing done on location in Mannheim, Germany
Hello there, my name is Ursula. I'm 51 years old, and I've been married to my husband, Morgan, for 12 years. We are both Americans, but those of you who have followed along through the years know that we've done a lot of moving both domestically and internationally in my time here in the 75ers. We are currently living in western Germany with our 3 cats Archie, Cleo (adopted in California) and Rollo (adopted off the street in Istanbul).
I'm a reader of "literary fiction" and some non-fiction. Occasionally some genre things find their way in (I'm not a snob about it, I just tend to choose other things).
I have been listening to a lot of music for the last few years and in 2023 I intend to post more regularly about it. It's okay if no one is into the same things, I'm doing it mostly for me, just like my thoughts on my books. :) (If you're interested in my favorite books and albums of 2022, you can visit my first thread of the year.)
3ursula
|||:. Januar .:|||:. January .:|||:. Ocak .:|||
Pines by Blake Crouch ☆☆☆☆
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan ☆☆☆☆
New Animal by Ella Baxter ☆☆☆☆1/2
At the Edge of the Woods by Masatsugu Ono ☆☆1/2
The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius, translation by Robert Graves ☆☆☆☆
The White Mosque by Sofia Samatar ☆☆☆1/2
|||:. Februar .:|||:. February .:|||:. Şubat .:|||
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner ☆☆☆☆
Kaçırılan Çocuk by Robert Louis Stevenson ☆☆☆1/2
The Italian by Shukri Mabkhout ☆☆1/2
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia ☆☆1/2
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet ☆☆☆
The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler ☆☆☆1/2
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca ☆☆☆
|||:. März .:|||:. March .:|||:. Mart .:|||
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield ☆☆☆☆
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen ☆☆1/2
Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo ☆☆☆
Wayward by Blake Crouch ☆☆☆1/2
Ducks by Kate Beaton ☆☆☆☆1/2
Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman ☆☆☆1/2
|||:. April .:|||:. April .:|||:. Nisan .:|||
Walking Practice by Dolki Min ☆☆☆
An Unlasting Home by Mai Al-Nakib ☆☆☆
Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal ☆☆☆1/2
Spare by Prince Harry ☆☆☆☆1/2
|||:. Mai .:|||:. May .:|||:. Mayıs .:|||
Death Is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa ☆☆☆1/2
The Teller of Secrets by Bisi Adjapon ☆☆☆
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey ☆☆☆1/2
Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka ☆☆☆
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy ☆☆☆1/2
|||:. Juni .:|||:. June .:|||:. Haziran .:|||
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib ☆☆☆
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li ☆☆☆☆
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji ☆☆☆1/2
Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris - unrateable for me
Murder Book by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell ☆☆☆
I Sing the Body Electric by Ray Bradbury ☆☆☆
Universal Harvester by John Darnielle ☆☆☆☆
Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi ☆☆☆1/2
Pines by Blake Crouch ☆☆☆☆
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan ☆☆☆☆
New Animal by Ella Baxter ☆☆☆☆1/2
At the Edge of the Woods by Masatsugu Ono ☆☆1/2
The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius, translation by Robert Graves ☆☆☆☆
The White Mosque by Sofia Samatar ☆☆☆1/2
|||:. Februar .:|||:. February .:|||:. Şubat .:|||
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner ☆☆☆☆
Kaçırılan Çocuk by Robert Louis Stevenson ☆☆☆1/2
The Italian by Shukri Mabkhout ☆☆1/2
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia ☆☆1/2
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet ☆☆☆
The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler ☆☆☆1/2
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca ☆☆☆
|||:. März .:|||:. March .:|||:. Mart .:|||
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield ☆☆☆☆
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen ☆☆1/2
Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo ☆☆☆
Wayward by Blake Crouch ☆☆☆1/2
Ducks by Kate Beaton ☆☆☆☆1/2
Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman ☆☆☆1/2
|||:. April .:|||:. April .:|||:. Nisan .:|||
Walking Practice by Dolki Min ☆☆☆
An Unlasting Home by Mai Al-Nakib ☆☆☆
Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal ☆☆☆1/2
Spare by Prince Harry ☆☆☆☆1/2
|||:. Mai .:|||:. May .:|||:. Mayıs .:|||
Death Is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa ☆☆☆1/2
The Teller of Secrets by Bisi Adjapon ☆☆☆
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey ☆☆☆1/2
Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka ☆☆☆
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy ☆☆☆1/2
|||:. Juni .:|||:. June .:|||:. Haziran .:|||
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib ☆☆☆
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li ☆☆☆☆
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji ☆☆☆1/2
Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris - unrateable for me
Murder Book by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell ☆☆☆
I Sing the Body Electric by Ray Bradbury ☆☆☆
Universal Harvester by John Darnielle ☆☆☆☆
Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi ☆☆☆1/2
4ursula
|||:. Juli .:|||:. July .:|||:. Temmuz .:|||
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai ☆☆☆☆
Kitty Language by Lili Chin ☆☆☆ 1/2
How To Be a Rule-Breaking Letterer by Huyen Dinh ☆☆ 1/2
Things We Found When the Water Went Down by Tegan Nia Swanson ☆☆☆
Glow by Ned Beauman ☆☆☆
Where Are Your Boys Tonight? by Chris Payne ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa ☆☆☆
|||:. August .:|||:. August .:|||:. Ağustos .:|||
The Golden Bowl by Henry James ☆☆☆☆
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
No One Will Come Back for Us by Premee Mohamed ☆☆☆
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson ☆☆☆☆☆
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa ☆☆☆☆
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami ☆☆ 1/2
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson ☆☆☆ 1/2
|||:. September .:|||:. September .:|||:. Eylül .:|||
Devil House by John Darnielle ☆☆☆☆
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka ☆☆
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
|||:. Oktober .:|||:. October .:|||:. Ekim .:|||
Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
Total: 59
--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--
Hall of Shame (Abandoned)
John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai ☆☆☆☆
Kitty Language by Lili Chin ☆☆☆ 1/2
How To Be a Rule-Breaking Letterer by Huyen Dinh ☆☆ 1/2
Things We Found When the Water Went Down by Tegan Nia Swanson ☆☆☆
Glow by Ned Beauman ☆☆☆
Where Are Your Boys Tonight? by Chris Payne ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa ☆☆☆
|||:. August .:|||:. August .:|||:. Ağustos .:|||
The Golden Bowl by Henry James ☆☆☆☆
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
No One Will Come Back for Us by Premee Mohamed ☆☆☆
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson ☆☆☆☆☆
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa ☆☆☆☆
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami ☆☆ 1/2
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson ☆☆☆ 1/2
|||:. September .:|||:. September .:|||:. Eylül .:|||
Devil House by John Darnielle ☆☆☆☆
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka ☆☆
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
|||:. Oktober .:|||:. October .:|||:. Ekim .:|||
Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
Total: 59
--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--^--
Hall of Shame (Abandoned)
John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin
5ursula
Weekly 5x5
Exile on Main St. - The Rolling Stones [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Ever Loving - Dogbreth [power pop] (self pick) +
Discovery - Daft Punk [electronic] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Crispy Crunchy Nothing - Packs [indie rock] (new releases)
ANTI - Rihanna [pop] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
The Slider - T. Rex [glam rock] (1001 Albums list)
Growing in Strange Places - Thank You, I’m Sorry [indie] (new releases)
Never Before Seen, Never Again Found [emo] (self pick, vinyl) ♡
Metallica - Metallica [metal] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Heavy Rocks (2002) - Boris [metal] (Morgan’s pick, vinyl)
Bad - Michael Jackson [pop] (200 Best Albums of the 80s list)
Marchita - Silvana Estrada [singer-songwriter] (2022 lists)
Deceit - This Heat [experimental rock] (200 Best Albums of the 80s list) +
moving forward - absinthe father [indie] (self pick) +
Eagles - Eagles [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me (Void Filler) - short fictions [indie rock] (new releases) +
Boys of Faith - Zach Bryan [country] (new releases) +
Drink the River - Gabe Lee [country] (new releases) +
Damn the Torpedoes - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers [rock] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) ♡
Nozhet El Nofous - Nancy Mounir [experimental/Egyptian] (2022 lists)
Mole - Poolblood [alternative] (new releases)
All Directions - The Temptations [r&b] (1001 Albums list)
Master of Reality - Black Sabbath [metal] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Giant Steps - John Coltrane [jazz] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Untrue - Burial [electronic] (TrebleZine 100 all-time favorite albums list)
----------------------------
******Notes on this week:
+ = added to my library
♡ = already in my library
Exile on Main St. - The Rolling Stones [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Ever Loving - Dogbreth [power pop] (self pick) +
Discovery - Daft Punk [electronic] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Crispy Crunchy Nothing - Packs [indie rock] (new releases)
ANTI - Rihanna [pop] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
The Slider - T. Rex [glam rock] (1001 Albums list)
Growing in Strange Places - Thank You, I’m Sorry [indie] (new releases)
Never Before Seen, Never Again Found [emo] (self pick, vinyl) ♡
Metallica - Metallica [metal] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Heavy Rocks (2002) - Boris [metal] (Morgan’s pick, vinyl)
Bad - Michael Jackson [pop] (200 Best Albums of the 80s list)
Marchita - Silvana Estrada [singer-songwriter] (2022 lists)
Deceit - This Heat [experimental rock] (200 Best Albums of the 80s list) +
moving forward - absinthe father [indie] (self pick) +
Eagles - Eagles [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me (Void Filler) - short fictions [indie rock] (new releases) +
Boys of Faith - Zach Bryan [country] (new releases) +
Drink the River - Gabe Lee [country] (new releases) +
Damn the Torpedoes - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers [rock] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) ♡
Nozhet El Nofous - Nancy Mounir [experimental/Egyptian] (2022 lists)
Mole - Poolblood [alternative] (new releases)
All Directions - The Temptations [r&b] (1001 Albums list)
Master of Reality - Black Sabbath [metal] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Giant Steps - John Coltrane [jazz] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Untrue - Burial [electronic] (TrebleZine 100 all-time favorite albums list)
----------------------------
******Notes on this week:
- Below the chart:
The World Is a Ghetto - War (1001 Albums list)
Close to the Edge - Yes (1001 Albums list)
Skipped for recency:
Something/Anything? - Todd Rundgren (1001 Albums list)
Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Ace of Spades - Motörhead (200 Best Albums of the 80s list) - The T. Rex was fun; the War was good. My favorite Daft Punk album has always been Homework, but of course Discovery is probably the more accessible album. I liked the John Coltrane, like with all jazz I feel like I’ll have to listen to it more to have any sort of handle on it. I love Tom Petty, I love Damn the Torpedoes. This Heat was really weird, but in a really interesting and fun way.
- Exile on Main St. is not my favorite Stones album, though I’m not sure what would be anyway. Ditto for ANTI and Rihanna. Another really great album from Black Sabbath this week. Morgan’s long-awaited Boris record arrived and we listened to that.
- I listened to Zach Bryan's EP Boys of Faith, which he released right after his self-titled album and one of the songs just got me in a stranglehold and has just now maybe started to let up. Maybe. Morgan listened to the EP and tried to guess which song it was - he was torn between two but guessed correctly (it was "Deep Satin", you can listen to the audio here on YouTube if you're curious.
+ = added to my library
♡ = already in my library
6ursula
The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
Doing these out of order because this is the easier one to talk about. These are mostly longer-form short stories and I really enjoyed them. I don't always (often? ever?) fully enjoy a short story collection, but this one really worked for me. Such a variety of female characters in a variety of relationship situations. One of my favorite stories was the last one, My Mother's Dream. In it, there is this description of the husband and father:
The sort who never let people alone, who whipped them up to laugh. At his own expense occasionally, but usually at other people's. Jill recalls when she looks at him how he drank but never seemed drunk and how he occupied himself getting other drunk people to confess to him their fears, prevarications, virginity, or two-timing, which he would then turn into jokes or humiliating nicknames that his victims pretended to enjoy. For he had legions of followers and friends, who maybe latched on to him out of fear - or maybe just because, as was always said of him, he livened things up. Wherever he was was the center of the room, and the air around him crackled with risk and merriment.
8ursula
The sketchwalk in Mannheim was fun! I am pretty sure I was the only real non-German speaker there. I was able to follow most things all right though. There were 4 options for walks - one kept very much to the center of the city, one went along the Rhine, one hit a couple of the typical sites (church, etc) and then went to a park, and the one I chose was sort of the "ugly Mannheim" one. It went to the more run-down, industrial area of the city and then ended in the Marktplatz. The sketch at the top was the first one of the day, at the canal between the Rhine and the Neckar.
10curioussquared
Happy new thread, Ursula! Love the sketch up top :)
11Caroline_McElwee
>1 ursula: I always enjoy your lovely sketches Ursula.
12PaulCranswick
Happy new thread, Ursula.
15ursula
>9 Kristelh:, >10 curioussquared:, >11 Caroline_McElwee:, >12 PaulCranswick:, >13 figsfromthistle:, >14 drneutron: Thanks all for the new thread wishes and for the nice compliments on the drawing. I really love urban sketching but I've mostly done it on my own over the years. It seems like this Mannheim group meets regularly and it's close enough that hopefully I can continue to meet up with them monthly-ish.
16FAMeulstee
Happy new thread, Ursula!
18Kristelh
>8 ursula:, You sure made ugly look very appealing!
19norabelle414
>1 ursula: Beautiful drawing, Ursula!
20ursula
>16 FAMeulstee: Thanks!
>17 katiekrug: Thanks! We had a couple of drops of rain that interacted with the marker in a few places but that's part of drawing outside. :) Especially here, where rain is always a possibility.
>18 Kristelh: Thanks, I felt like it was the more interesting option of the sketchwalks. I had been intending to follow a different one but that was the route that spoke to me in the moment. I'll try to remember to post my second drawing from the day too, it was another unlikely location. :)
>19 norabelle414: Thanks!
>17 katiekrug: Thanks! We had a couple of drops of rain that interacted with the marker in a few places but that's part of drawing outside. :) Especially here, where rain is always a possibility.
>18 Kristelh: Thanks, I felt like it was the more interesting option of the sketchwalks. I had been intending to follow a different one but that was the route that spoke to me in the moment. I'll try to remember to post my second drawing from the day too, it was another unlikely location. :)
>19 norabelle414: Thanks!
21ursula
Up there in >7 ursula: I was intending to leave a space to put in comments about my second book that I'd finished, but it seems pointless to bury it up there now so I'm just going to do it here.
Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis
First line: Amber Kivinen - drug dealer, lapsed evangelical Christian, my girlfriend of fourteen years - is going to Mars.
Basically that, yeah. Kevin is narrating that part of the story, and Amber has joined a reality tv show competition to be one of the first pair of people sent to Mars. She will not be coming back if she wins. It's a shock to Kevin's system to realize that 1. she would just join this competition without telling him, 2. she could actually win, and 3. she might even want to win.
Amber and Kevin grow weed in their house in Vancouver; she's got the plant know-how and he's ... got the time to sit around and sell to people? I'm not sure what he brings to the endeavor, or to the relationship, often. They met and started dating in high school, and they have stayed together in spite of having very different personalities. Amber was an aspiring Olympic gymnast who hurt her shoulder, ending her chances. Since then she seems to have been adrift. Kevin, on the other hand, seems to prefer being adrift. He lost his mother and seems to be cultivating, besides cannabis plants, some serious agoraphobia.
Sometimes I read a book and wonder if I read the same book the author wrote, if you know what I mean. Am I missing the point? Am I finding points that the author didn't intend at all? Recently when I talked about Devil House I said that the book was not the book I thought it was as I was reading it. In that case, I know that's what John Darnielle intended. Here, I'm not sure what book Deborah Willis was writing. If it was supposed to be a comedic sendup of reality tv, that didn't work for me at all. If it was supposed to be a scathing indictment of billionaires and how little their principles and ideals actually mean to them, I guess it hit the mark but it's an easy one. What I got out of it was a lot deeper than it feels like the book intended to go, though - thoughts about what it means when your purpose in life has been imposed upon you by others, maybe so deeply that you're not sure it's not your own will anymore. Thoughts about wanting to back out of something, and how to know when the voice in your gut is trying to keep you out of trouble versus just speaking out of fear. Thoughts about living, and dying, and what they both mean in how you carry on through your days.
Honestly, I had a really great conversation with Morgan about all of these things after I finished the book - I'm just not sure any of that was what it was supposed to inspire. It might have just been intended to tell you reality tv is fake, Elon, Bezos and all the other billionaires suck, and you can't just spend forever stoned on your couch.
Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis
First line: Amber Kivinen - drug dealer, lapsed evangelical Christian, my girlfriend of fourteen years - is going to Mars.
Basically that, yeah. Kevin is narrating that part of the story, and Amber has joined a reality tv show competition to be one of the first pair of people sent to Mars. She will not be coming back if she wins. It's a shock to Kevin's system to realize that 1. she would just join this competition without telling him, 2. she could actually win, and 3. she might even want to win.
Amber and Kevin grow weed in their house in Vancouver; she's got the plant know-how and he's ... got the time to sit around and sell to people? I'm not sure what he brings to the endeavor, or to the relationship, often. They met and started dating in high school, and they have stayed together in spite of having very different personalities. Amber was an aspiring Olympic gymnast who hurt her shoulder, ending her chances. Since then she seems to have been adrift. Kevin, on the other hand, seems to prefer being adrift. He lost his mother and seems to be cultivating, besides cannabis plants, some serious agoraphobia.
Sometimes I read a book and wonder if I read the same book the author wrote, if you know what I mean. Am I missing the point? Am I finding points that the author didn't intend at all? Recently when I talked about Devil House I said that the book was not the book I thought it was as I was reading it. In that case, I know that's what John Darnielle intended. Here, I'm not sure what book Deborah Willis was writing. If it was supposed to be a comedic sendup of reality tv, that didn't work for me at all. If it was supposed to be a scathing indictment of billionaires and how little their principles and ideals actually mean to them, I guess it hit the mark but it's an easy one. What I got out of it was a lot deeper than it feels like the book intended to go, though - thoughts about what it means when your purpose in life has been imposed upon you by others, maybe so deeply that you're not sure it's not your own will anymore. Thoughts about wanting to back out of something, and how to know when the voice in your gut is trying to keep you out of trouble versus just speaking out of fear. Thoughts about living, and dying, and what they both mean in how you carry on through your days.
Honestly, I had a really great conversation with Morgan about all of these things after I finished the book - I'm just not sure any of that was what it was supposed to inspire. It might have just been intended to tell you reality tv is fake, Elon, Bezos and all the other billionaires suck, and you can't just spend forever stoned on your couch.
22ursula
Weekly 5x5
De La Soul Is Dead - de La Soul [hip hop] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Critical Beatdown - Ultramagnetic MC’s [hip hop] (200 Best Albums of the 80s list)
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
Ray of Light - Madonna [pop] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Fly - The Chicks [country] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
A Light for Attracting Attention - The Smile [indie] (2022 lists)
Plans - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
The Definitive Collection - Patsy Cline [country] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
You’re the One - Rhiannon Giddens [americana] (new releases) +
Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers - The National [indie] (Morgan’s pick/90s list)
Aladdin Sane - David Bowie [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
Something about Airplanes - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
i don’t know who needs to hear this … - Tomberlin [indie folk] (2022 lists)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco [alternative] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Warm Chris - Aldous Harding [indie folk] (2022 lists)
Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper [hard rock] (1001 Albums list)
The Photo Album - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography)
We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
Auto Locator - Del Paxton [emo] (new releases) +
Ugly Season - Perfume Genius [art pop] (2022 lists)
Javelin - Sufjan Stevens [singer-songwriter] (new releases) +
Catch a Fire - Bob Marley & the Wailers [reggae] (1001 Albums list)
God’s Country - Chat Pile [rock/sludge metal] (2022 lists)
----------------------------
******Notes on this week:
+ = added to my library
♡ = already in my library
De La Soul Is Dead - de La Soul [hip hop] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Critical Beatdown - Ultramagnetic MC’s [hip hop] (200 Best Albums of the 80s list)
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
Ray of Light - Madonna [pop] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Fly - The Chicks [country] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
A Light for Attracting Attention - The Smile [indie] (2022 lists)
Plans - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
The Definitive Collection - Patsy Cline [country] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
You’re the One - Rhiannon Giddens [americana] (new releases) +
Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers - The National [indie] (Morgan’s pick/90s list)
Aladdin Sane - David Bowie [rock] (1001 Albums list)
Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
Something about Airplanes - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
i don’t know who needs to hear this … - Tomberlin [indie folk] (2022 lists)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco [alternative] (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list) +
Warm Chris - Aldous Harding [indie folk] (2022 lists)
Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper [hard rock] (1001 Albums list)
The Photo Album - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography)
We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes - Death Cab for Cutie [indie] (discography) ♡
Auto Locator - Del Paxton [emo] (new releases) +
Ugly Season - Perfume Genius [art pop] (2022 lists)
Javelin - Sufjan Stevens [singer-songwriter] (new releases) +
Catch a Fire - Bob Marley & the Wailers [reggae] (1001 Albums list)
God’s Country - Chat Pile [rock/sludge metal] (2022 lists)
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******Notes on this week:
- Below the chart:
Future Days - Can (1001 Albums list)
Made in Japan - Deep Purple (1001 Albums list)
Faust IV - Faust (1001 Albums list)
Ride the Lightning - Metallica (200 Best Albums of the 80s list) ♡
The Redshift Blues - Dispirited Spirits (new releases) +
Skipped for recency:
Here’s Little Richard - Little Richard (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs - Derek and the Dominos (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Imagine - John Lennon (Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums list)
Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü (200 Best Albums of the 80s list) - First off, I’m doing a Death Cab for Cutie discography run because with the 20th anniversary of Transatlanticism, I keep seeing rankings of their albums popping up and I didn’t feel like I could even decide how I felt about them without a re-listen (and a new listen to at least one of the ones still left to go). Aside from that, I finally got around to the Rhiannon Giddens, which was fun, and the new Sufjan Stevens, which was not. It was good, but not fun - it’s steeped in loss. He came out on release day, saying that the album was dedicated to his partner, who had died in April. Heavy enough on its own, but recently he also said he has been battling Guillain-Barre and has had to relearn to walk.
- Normally I would expect that the worst thing I put in my ear holes this week would be The Smile, seeing as how it’s a Thom Yorke (Radiohead) project. But honestly the Perfume Genius album was probably the worst thing this week.
- Not a ton to say about everything else - the live Deep Purple album was all right, as that sort of thing goes for me, Ride the Lightning is my favorite Metallica album so that was good, and for the rest, there were some good songs here and there but no back-to-front great albums for me.
+ = added to my library
♡ = already in my library
