I’m Matt, a first-year PhD student in Computer Science at Cornell University. I’ve wanted to try writing for a couple of years now, and I decided it was finally time to get going. Bear with me and keep those expectations low! A large part of my hesitance to start writing (and more so, publishing) is derived from insecurity, but I’m working to push past that and just press publish.
This article is the first in a monthly series where I talk about my favorite albums (and potentially singles) that I encountered throughout the month. So, without further ado, here are my favorite listens of September 2022! Entries marked with a * were released this month.
Tidal, Fiona Apple (1994)
Fiona Apple has been on my radar for a while. My mom listened to her in the 90s, my best friend loved her 2020 album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, and I frequently see her mentioned with other favorites of mine like Kate Bush and Big Thief. But, for some reason, I could never get into her music. In retrospect, I think it’s because I’m not the largest fan of some of her more famous singles like Shadowboxer, Paper Bag, and Criminal. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to listen to Tidal during this month’s album crawl. Here, Fiona synthesizes amazing lyrics with smooth, honey-like jazz. My favorites are Smooth Like Honey, The First Taste, and Carrion.
Ovule, Bjork (2022) *
Bjork incoming! I really got into her this year, much to the dismay of everyone who ever had to listen to my music in the car. I love that each new album is a complete left turn, and her latest endeavor, Fossora (out tomorrow!) is no exception. She describes this effort as her ‘mushroom’ album (what does that mean?). However, I’ve enjoyed the singles from this album immensely, even though they’re a bit jarring at first listen. The one exception to this slow-burn trend is Ovule, which I loved from the get-go. It reminds me of History of Touches from her album Vulnicura, composed after her breakup with long-time partner Matthew Barney. Utilizing brass and distorted vocal clips, Bjork creates an ethereal song about her philosophy surrounding love.
Titanic Rising, Weyes Blood (2019)
I’m not super skilled at identifying the genre of most music; that said, I’m not sure what genre Weyes Blood is. To me, she sounds like Cher backed by an Indie band. Spotify seems to agree, Angel Olsen, Adrienne Lenker, and Ethel Cain (all firmly in the ‘Indie’ scene) are suggested as similar artists. All that aside, I really enjoyed this album! Her voice is very soulful, and several standouts (Movies, Andromeda) create very atmospheric, moody experiences during listening. You wouldn’t dance to any of these songs, but they serve me well when I’m listening to music during research.
Deep Cuts, The Knife (2003)
Now, these songs, you would dance to. The Knife is a really interesting band to me, just in general. A group comprised of two brothers, they pitch-shift their vocals to resemble more feminine-sounding voices, to really cool effect. The result sounds like the Cocteau Twins singing (slightly more articulately) over early 2000s club music. Some highlights for me are Heartbeats, This is Now, and Pass This On. The Knife’s 2006 effort, Silent Shout, is of a similar vein (although less “tropical” sounding sonically?), and I’d recommend checking that out too!
Revealer, Madison Cunningham (2022) *
This album is GOOD. I’m a huge fan of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, and Madison Cunningham is neat in that her guitar riffs are on par with the output of Lindsey Buckingham, and her voice is just as enchanting as Stevie’s. Some standout tracks for me here are All I’ve Ever Known (the opener), Sunshine on the Counter, Anywhere, and Life According to Raechael. Sonically, the songs on Revealer are just eccentric enough for me to really pick them apart and listen to what’s going on with the melodies. Once again, really bad with genres, but I’d say this album is folk-rock?
Sling, Clairo (2021)
Clairo is another artist that I’ve been aware of for a couple years now, but infamous Twitter memes and passionate stannage from friends (and an ex) held me back. Well, that was a mistake. Although, I’m glad I’m just finding it now, because Sling has such an autumnal vibe! Some standouts are Bambi, Amoeba, Zinnias, and Management.
Surrender, Maggie Rogers (2022)
Maggie Rogers interests me. She recently earned a Master’s in Religion and Public Life from Harvard Divinity School, which, I mean, what ammunition for writing lyrics! Another case of avoiding due to stannage, I didn’t listen to her much until this month. I haven’t listened to Surrender as thoroughly as some other works on this list, so I might revisit later once I’ve internalized the lyrics a bit more. That said, this album is here because I enjoyed the instrumentation immensely. Some highlights are That’s Where I Am, Anywhere With You, Honey, and Symphony. Overdrive is a fun song too, but much more of a rock track than the rest of the album.
Hold the Girl, Rina Sawayama (2022) *
I greatly enjoy Rina Sawayama. Her debut track, Sleeping in Waking, is one of my favorite songs I’ve encountered this year. So, I was pretty disappointed when I didn’t find myself liking the singles from this album very much (at all, actually). I put off listening to the full album for a while, but I’m glad I finally did because the album itself is great! For this one, I’m going to pull a list of genres from the internet, because I simply could never tease them all out from the music; Pitchfork is giving me “pop-punk and power ballads, trance and stadium rock” 1. This is one of those albums that is lyrically coherent, but sonically discombobulated. So, don’t expect to like the whole thing – for example, Hold the Girl and Catch Me in the Air (two of the singles) are tracks I definitely do not like, whereas Frankenstein, Your Age, Send My Love to John, and Minor Feelings were all standouts for me.