Welcome back! We are approaching the end of October, which means I have fresh batch of favorite listens. Without further ado, here are my best listens of October, 2022!

You + I, Madison McFerrin (2019)

This 2019 Extended Play (EP) from Madison McFerrin inspired me to create a whole playlist, deep discourse in a conversation pit. It's a very chill record, full of distant synths and honeyed vocals from Madison. Try and No Room are highlights for me. These songs are lyrically strong as well, which I didn't notice until about 3 weeks after my first listen. I find I'm often drawn to songs based on instrumentation, and they become favorites if they also have interesting lyrics.

Parallelograms, Linda Perhacs (1970)

I came across this one just in time for Halloween. In the late 60s, Linda Perhacs was a dental hygienist who happened to have a record executive come in to her office. During appointment small talk, the executive asked what she did in her free time. Linda answered, a songwriter! After the executive asked to see some of lyrics / tracks, he was impressed enough to procure her a record contract. Boy, the barriers to entry in the music industry were so much lower back then. What followed was Parallelograms, a legendary (but perhaps obscure) psychadelic folk record that I LOVE! It reminds me of a slightly more witchy Buckingham Nicks, which is one of my favorite records of all time. Linda's harmonies are some of the prettiest I've ever heard, and she creates them by layering her own vocals. Standout tracks for me are Chimacum Rain, Dolphin, the title track Parallelograms, and Hey, Who Really Cares.

Drowsy, Banes World (2016)

Sound of Rain, Solange (2019)

I haven't listened all the way through this song's larger album, When I Get Home, but Spotify blessed me by recommending this song for my aforementioned deep discourse in a conversation pit playlist.

Sunset, Caroline Polachek (2022) *

Animal Kingdom, Cavetown (2019)

Gemini Rights, Steve Lacy (2022)

abysskiss, Adrianne Lenker (2018)

Ivory, Omar Apollo (2022)