Today’s Random Album of the Day is Cats in the Cold from Mage Tears. This is Bedroom Pop / Indie Folk. Very low key music.
I first heard this via one of my Music Leagues. I liked it so I bought their music. I enjoyed it still but it’s definitely not for everyone. Super low key. I just like this lo-fi existence when I’m in the mood. It is melodic music and very chill for an appropriate day of rest.
Rating: 8.5
Favorite Track(s): “Cats in the old” is mellow but melodic. “Now the Rain Comes” was #35 on my top 50 rain songs list. After that the songs do kind of blur together and I stopped noticing distinct songs. But the album does exude a certain consistent atmosphere.
Today’s Random Album of the Day is System from Prewn. They are considered Indie Rock, Slacker Rock, and/or Indie Folk. I think the Indie Rock label is most appropriate though the others do fit too.
One of the things with this album is how well it flows from the first to last song. Prewn has a very consistent sound throughout their music. This album always lifts my mood. It just somehow gets into my depths.
Which I find interesting. Abstractly I wouldn’t normally be into the overly modified vocals but they sound great here. The different instrumentations are great as well. It just overall works for me.
Rating: 9.8
Favorite Track(s): “Easy” is such a good intro song. Pulls me right in. “Commotion” just makes me want to cry. I don’t know it just pulls at me emotionally. “System” is their top rated song on Rate Your Music and it deserves it. It’s almost Anthemic. Every song gets me. “Don’t be Scared” closes it out and makes me feel feels.
Today’s Random Album of the Day is The Glow Part 2 from The Microphones. The Microphones are classified as Indie Folk, Psychedelic Folk, and Slacker Rock. Most notably this is a project of Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie).
I’m not sure what sets apart The Microphones from his other work. I guess I’m not sure why bit’s a side project and not another Mount Eerie album. But I digress.
I love this album. I love most everything Phil Elverum does. It probably is a niche taste but he has a solid following so not super niche. Every time I’ve been to a show it has been sold out I think.
Whatever the case this is spectacular music to me. It’s a great mix of a sort of folk sound with an Indie Rock thing that becomes what it is. The amplification over the acoustics is just great. The percussion on this is really well done. It is timed well.
Rating: 9.8
Favorite Track(s): “I Want Wind To Blow” starts with that heavy bass over soft vocals and acoustic guitar I love. “The Glow Part 2” brings some excellent epicness. “My Roots Are Strong And Deep” is some good music. I’m honestly picking these as I hear them with my attention wandering in and out. The whole album is spectacular.
Today’s Random Album of the Day is a compilation called Some Women featuring 54 songs performed by 39 artists. It is 2.5 hours long. So putting this album together was quite the undertaking!
The premise is interesting. All of the songs are composed based on a column written by a journalist for Portsmouth, NH’s The Wire newspaper. The columns are collected into a book here. That is all I know about it but for some reason why is it that compilations are often structured wrong so that they don’t flag as compilations or they don’t list the artists correctly. I had to copy the artist information into the artist tags for all 54 songs.
It’s hard to pick a favorite song. With 54 songs I’d need to listen multiple times and I don’t have time for that today. So I’ll just say this album is really quite good. Lots of good songs. Really impressive how they turned the columns into songs – and good songs. It’s almost entirely Folk (maybe Indie Folk) for what it’s worth. But good Folk. Good Indie Folk. With a scattering of non-folk. In fact some of the best songs are the non-folk stuff.
The sound quality is excellent. I think it’s impressive to get 54 songs together with good sound quality into a compilation project like this. I can’t imagine the logistics of it all. Just having to communicate with 39 different artists is a lot of work. But compiling their work, stitching it together, etc.. is all a major project.
Of course with 54 songs, you’re bound to have a couple of dud songs. And you do. But very few considering how many songs there are and how many different artists.
Rating: 9.8. High for concept well done!
Favorite Track(s): Maybe Luella. So many good ones though.
Today’s Random Album of the Day is I’ve never been in love before baby, pretend I’m sick from Zebu Fur, aka Frankie Cosmos. Frankie Cosmos is great! So this should be good. Frankie Cosmos is basically bedroom recordings of Slacker Rock or Indie Folk.
Like most Frankie Cosmos records this is very stripped down. Short songs with good melodies and emotive lyrics. Not polished at all but raw. Still the recording quality is okay mostly with occasional blips.
I’n not sure what makes this raw lo-fi music work for me but I suppose it’s a combination of the rawness and the melodies that sneak into their songs.
Rating: 9.0
Favorite Track(s): “The Infinity Days”, “fingernails”, “Walking tune 18”, “you used to be cool”, “I’ve never been in love before baby, pretend I’m sick”. Like a hardcore record, no time to do much but write down a list…
Today’s Random Album of the Day is Clear Skies Over Black River from Liam the Younger, aka Liam Betson. This is melancholic singer-songwriter stuff. Rate Your Music lists it as Slacker Rock. It lists so many different things as Slacker Rock it seems. I think of it as Indie Folk.
This is heartfelt material. It’s quite good and appealing. A lot of the lyrics evoke powerful imagery or melancholic thoughts. The music is minimalist acoustic guitar mostly. It complements the emotive lyrics well. I like it. I’m an emo girl…
I like the album enough I played it twice!
Rating: 9.6
Favorite Track(s): “Leaving Black River” is sweet and sour and good. “Country Wide” evokes such imagery. I like that. “By The Pines” is also evocative. Love the perspective sung about in “Walking”. I won’t comment on every song, overall the album is very evocative. Even the closer “Clear Skies” hits my mood aptly. This album just works well for me.
Today’s Random Album of the Day is An Introduction to Elliott Smith featuring, well, Elliott Smith. I haven’t listened enough to Elliott Smith so here is an opportunity. Elliott Smith’s music is aptly described as melancholic. But it’s melodic and delightful too. I guess it’s Indie Folk or Indie Folk Rock.Whatever it is it is well regarded and for good reason.
I do enjoy his music. I think I tend to lose focus on it quickly. It’s not grab your attention music. It’s more I’m having a shitty day and let’s listen to some sad music that helps me somehow feel better music. And it works. It’s all unsurprisingly excellent. Definitely music I could get more into with more listens.
Rating: 9.5
Favorite Track(s): “Ballad of Big Nothing” is a good opener. Anthemic feeling. “Waltz #2” is just a good song. “Pictures of Me” is good unsurprisingly. By “Between the Bars” I’m good and depressed but in a good way. I really like “Last Call”. “Twilight” is gorgeous. “Angel In The Snow” is a song I think I knew before. But I like it. “Happiness” has a nice upward tilt to it.
Today’s Random Album of the Day is ✦✧ from 100%. Yes that’s a symbol heavy title. And as you’d expect this music has an experimental edge at times. Otherwise it’s singer-songwriter indie folk.
I like this EP. I might explore more of their music. It is edgy without losing melody. But as much as I get the edginess of the album artwork – that could be better.
Rating: 8.9
Favorite Track(s): “Birds Bear no message” was melodic. “What do you” was emotive. I wish the sound was better on “Sled” but I think I like it based on what I could hear.
Keep or Trash: Keep. Definitely fits in the niche that is my taste in music.
Today’s Random Album of the Day is Crushing from Julia Jacklin. I adore this album so much.
Julia Jacklin is Indie Pop, Indie Folk, and Indie Rock wrapped into one. She has very good lyrics and great melodies. This is fantastic music.
Rating: 9.8
Favorite Track(s): “Body” is so cogent, so fitting lyrically and so good musically. On “Head Alone” I love the lyric “I don’t want to be touched all the time, I raised my body up to be mine.” This song is soooo good. Honestly the whole album is so good. So I won’t list every song but could…
The Random Album of the Day is On The Goddam Radio from Squinch Owl. This is really good indie folk if not straight up folk.
I really like Squinch Owl even if the recording quality on this isn’t super. The singer’s voice is awesome. This is recorded on a radio show which might explain the sound quality to some degree.
I suppose the songs blur together some but in a good way. Like it’s so consistent. Anyhow this is enjoyable music if you’re into this kind of folk music. The album also has a good flow to it. And the lyrics are really good.
For what its worth, their Homeware Bound album has a more normal recording.
Rating: 9.5
Favorite Track(s): “Think No Worse of Me” breaks out and you immediately notice her voice. “What We’re Going To Be For the Rest Of Our Lives” feels very anthemic. “We Will Do Great Things” is really great and well let’s hope we do! “Going Home”‘s stops and starts are great.
