home blog directory

september 2024 songs of the month

this is the first time i'm doing one of these but i'm hoping for this to be a regular feature here! i don't have much more to say, so here are some of my favourite tunes that i've been listening to this month, in no particular order!

songs!

1. maggot brain by funkadelic

   which is the title track of the 1971 album! they played this on the radio in full the other week and hooly shit. it is like, The guitar solo its ten minutes long and it just. it sure is i don't really know how else to describe it. the bulk of the song (ie not the introduction) starts with gentle guitar arpeggios, theres some fun percussiony stuff and then the electric guitar arrives and it sure does arrive! the melody and the playing thereof is so expressive it feels lyrical in itself; the guitar speaks the feelings better than i think any lyrics really could. i think everyone should listen to maggot brain at least once in their whole life honestly. a 10 minute epic guitar solo to be the first track on an album where the rest of the songs do not have that sort of sound is very much a bold choice, but i think it's really effective and that this song is beautiful

2. the way we were / try to remember by gladys knight & the pips

   this is another one they played on the radio i think? (big up six music) and its just lovely, i love how sort of grand it is, it's got a sense of theatre about it in a very good way. and the lyrics:

   can it be that it was all so simple then? or has time rewritten every line? and if we had the chance to do it all again, tell me, would we? could we?

   like fuck man it gets me. screaming and crying whats too painful to remember we simply choose to forget!!! so its the laughter we will remember!!!! its incredible its a masterpiece

3. new york, i love you, but you're bringing me down by lcd soundsystem

   i found this one through the english teacher cover from their session live from bbc maida vale, and ohmygod it hits it really hits. the way it gradually builds until the breaking point, you can argue thats just what songs do but i love it all the same. the emotion throughout is just so raw and real, like, that love/hate relationship with a place?? fuck man!

   and oh! maybe mother told you true, and there'll always be somebody there for you, and you'll never be alone. but maybe she's wrong, and maybe i'm right and just maybe she's wrong

   you've gotta understand, that and then the super loud guitarness?? this has been gnawing at my brain since i first heard it

4. beachcomber blues by the narcissist cookbook

   i've listened to a LOT of tnc this year but this month has been the first time i've listened to beachcomber blues isolated (not within HYMN), and i've had it stuck in my head a lot, the guitar line is nice and catchy while the lyrics still fuck me up as any good narcissist cookbook song should! speaking of, i want to give an honourable mention to conditional love which is on the same single, but we do not need to delve into my emotions surrounding that one on the silly music blog! it's real good though. anyway, i want to just say the fact that verse 1 of beachcomber blues says but i ain't going home till i find something worthy of you/washed up on the shore from somewhere out among the blue and verse 2 then says but i ain't going home till i find something perfect for you/worthy isn't good enough, only the best will do its one of those simple things that just. gets to me

5. something's burried under gary indiana

   is one of the results of the jam mechanics podcast, which is done by bug hunter and the narcissist cookbook, so yes this is technically the secomd consecutive tnc song on here but it's so good!!!!

6. sleep patterns by merchant ships

   because i am gradually progressing into midwest emo hell. i really like how different and quiet it is from the rest of the album, the contrast is super effective.

albums & EPs

1. SCREAM LIKE A DOG by ewy

   is their latest EP and it's real fun!! if i remember correctly, they described it as "taking the 'folk' out of folk punk", which is the style they've had moreso in the past. i really like the bridge in the middle of RIGHTS TO MY WRONGS i like the loudness. i think my favourite track is probably MERLOT cause the crescendo rocks

2. Endlessness by nala sinephro

   is a nice relaxing jazz album, i heard it yet again on the radio :p its got ten tracks, continuum one through ten for all of them which is neat. i don't have loads to say about it as i'm not enough of a jazz conesieur, but i like it a lot !! its a good album to do some late night painting to, if you're wondering

3. this could be texas by english teacher

   admittedly this is a one i've been listening to obsessively for a while now BUT they won the mercury prize!!! english teacher won the mercury prize with this album and it makes me so happy, it's such a good album and they're such a good band and even though no one i spoke to about it actually knew what the mercury prize was, it makes me so happy for them, it's a really good album. there's such variety between the tracks without them feeling disconnected from eachother and and the fucking time signatures, i swear there's a bit where there's about 3 different ones in one small section, or it sounds like that at least. this is a good thing to me

4. for a while by eightiesheadachetape!

   this is a random one that i don't actually remember how i found, but i've had it on a lot the past week or so and i've been really enjoying it! it's very much electronic, and i'm not familiar enough with electronic music to even attempt to talk about it eloquently. but what i can say is that the variety in dynamics is great, the different instruments are fun and just generally yeah its fun tunes! my favourite track is probably the final track, what we did in the desert, but i also rather enjoy what? huh? excuse me? hello??? its an album that makes me want to learn more about electronic music so i can talk about stuff like this, so thats pretty cool i think