Listening Diary 29

The last Listening Diary... ever???

Good morning! I hope you had a pleasant weekend. Here are ten tunes that I recently enjoyed listening to. The first five, one a day for the working week, are free for all to hear and consider. The next five however are exclusively for my paying subscribers. For the full suite of tunes and other fun bonuses, subscribe now at $5 a month!

HEADS UP: This is the last Listening Diary of the year, as I’ll be taking a break from my usual publication schedule in December to prepare for the new year. In fact, this is the last time you’ll receive a Listening Diary in this form. As I’ve alluded to before, I’m making some changes to my format in 2024 that I think will work better for me and for you. Enjoy these tunes, and I’ll see you in the new year!

“Gravity” by Tinashe (BB/ANG3L, 2023)

You know, its real amusing in retrospect that Tinashe and Brooklyn Nets power forward Ben Simmons were briefly an item because, despite persistent evidence that I should, I just can’t quit either of them. But even if my belief in Simmons’ mix of defense and playmaking has been shaken by yet another injury plagued season, my faith in Tinashe as a real deal pop star has finally been rewarded. Her latest record features her best production BY FAR. Just listen to this track’s Burial-style drums and that lush backing pad. This style is night and day compared to the radio-calibrated-to-death stuff that she got stuck on back when she had major label buzz last decade.

“take over the world” by jaimie branch (Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((World War)), 2023)

Listening to posthumous releases I always have to fend off a morbid retrospective sense of FOMO. “Why didn’t I appreciate this artist more when they lived?” etc. This is a silly feeling. The whole point of recording music (other than “profit” but come on, let’s dream a little bigger etc) is to give people a chance to appreciate the art long after the artist has left us. It’s an even sillier feeling when the art in question is so clearly “keeping the party going” the way this track is. Killer drum part, always cool to hear how people translate the Dembow rhythm to live drums. I also love how the strings grind against the rest of the track. In both cases branch using acoustic instruments to do stuff that feels idiomatic to electronic music without straining the arrangement.

“Live Again” by The Chemical Brothers (For That Beautiful Feeling, 2023)

I’m going to keep hollering about the Big Beat Revival until it legit happens. Whether or not my particular form of dance music nostalgia ever comes to pass, it warms my heart to hear The Chemical Brothers still doing their thing all these years later. I love all the different type of bass sounds they use, from squelchy distorted wobbles to sturdy subs, that kind of sonic variation goes a long way to making a track like this feel like a real “song” and not just a segment of a DJ set. The star are the vocal chops though, which sound almost out of time until the beat reveals their real placement in the groove. These two are old pros at this stuff and it shows.

“The King” by Anjimile (The King, 2023)

I checked this record out on the strength of its cover alone and wasn’t the least bit let down. “The King” is like Philip Glass’s “Pruit Igoe” as a pop song, building out of a minute straight of wordless a cappella into a swirling cascade of arpeggios. Anjimile’s attention to texture is outstanding, I love how much white noise there is buzzing softly behind the wall of human voices. Fans of that Sufjan-esque blend of high art scale and folk singer intimacy will find a lot to enjoy here, as will fans of Björk’s Medulla. Basically if you’re a cooler than average high schooler this might be your favorite record of the year.

“Magnolia” by Baroness (Stone, 2023)

The kings of Brewer Metal return, this time with a home-brewed (i.e. home recorded) record. I’ve been through the new Baroness album cycle enough times to know that even at its best their recorded material will always fall flat compared to the righteous life-affirming power of their live show, but every album still has its undeniable bright spots. In this case, it’s the rad as hell guitar leads in the lengthy middle section of this tune. Also, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the consistently excellent drumming and bass playing on every Baroness record. This band would be nowhere near as interesting without their exceptional rhythm section.

“Refrain” by Gridlink (Coronet Juniper, 2023)

The brevity of grindcore magnifies every decision a band makes in the short window allotted for each track. Sometimes that leads to choices that feel like practical jokes, like Gridlink cutting the slow intro to this track after two seconds. Other choices feel like puzzles to be solved. What to make of the shifting time signatures that make up the bulk of the song’s middle section, or the abrupt shift to a new tempo where the band hammer out staccato doubles before a just as abrupt ending. It’s these perplexing and thought provoking moves, in addition to the band’s outrageous speed and surprising tunefulness, that make Gridlink so rewarding for repeat listens.

“Heaven” by Mitski (The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We, 2023)

Here’s one of those cases where catching up on new releases dovetails neatly with Drumming Upstream research. The truth of the matter is that Mitski has always been an adult contemporary singer who briefly moonlighted as an indie rocker. As such this track is something of a full circle moment, a return to the piano balladry that she cut her teeth on before screaming into guitar pickups at Silent Barn. Frankly, on some level I think embracing the shmaltz suits Mitski’s writing better. I mean, get a load of that finale where the melody transcends it’s ground-bound arrangement into pure orchestral lushness. Regardless of the genre the appeal is the same: that voice, holy shit.

“Flesh as Armour” by Tomb Mold (The Enduring Spirit, 2023)

This is a major technical level-up from the cavernous new-old school death metal stuff that I associated Tomb Mold with. Have they simply traded in one form of death metal nostalgia (Obituary, Deicide, Morbid Angel) for another (Cynic, Atheist, late period Death)? Sure, but now they’re referencing the stuff that I’m into, so I can’t really fault them for it. In the process Tomb Mold have mastered the death metal art of turning another band’s transitional material into the essential substance of their songwriting. Committing this hard to riffs that should not be provides Tomb Mold with a kind of anti-catchy catchiness, though all of the bewildering elements are just a set up for the straight forward neck-punishment in the last minute. And can we just take a moment to praise any metal drummer who remembers that they can CLOSE their hi-hat every now and then?

“The Starveling” by Great Falls (Objects Without Pain, 2023)

I highlighted a track from the Funny What Survives EP earlier this year, but it turns out that it was just the tip of the iceberg. And let me tell you, the rest of that iceberg is straight up not having a good time. Objects Without Pain? Bro, are you sure? Sounds like you’re in a lot of pain to me! Great Falls tune their instruments so low on this that it practically sounds like the strings are melting right off as they play them. Eventually the whole thing falls apart, leaving their singer to shout directly at the fourth wall right at the song’s most vulnerable moment. Hard to do noise rock better than this imo.

“Rags to Riches” by Makeup and Vanity Set (FM, 2023)

You don’t hear alternating measures of 4/4 and 5/4 in dance music too often, so for that alone M&VS gets a nod of approval from me. The tune quickly moves on a more conventional groove, but that wonky intro sure does grab your attention. I suppose this is technically research for a long-ways-off entry of Drumming Upstream, but even without that context I’d still enjoy this tune for its pleasant if unremarkable use of FM synthesis.

Thanks for reading! You can find the full list of 2023 Listening Diary tunes in the playlist below!