RPS

After the Emmys this year, I was having a discussion about Taylor Swift with my students before class. I did not particularly care about her. Seemed fine enough. But this one student was going on and on about how fantastic she was and how I was missing out. I had passively listened to Taylor Swift, but I had never really given her a shot. I listened to each Taylor Swift album, front to back. It took me about a week. I do this often - I think for artists with a large discography it can be fun to really find out what the peaks and valleys of an artist was. So I sat there for a week and tried to become a swiftie. Sometimes in pop culture, you miss things and watch from the outside. I was that way with Harry Potter. I never read the books. An ex was obsessed and took me to one of the movies in 2007, but I was 21 and stoned and it never impacted me. However, my daughter became interested in it years ago. So I read a few of the books and watched the movies. For years people told me that Harry Potter was not just for children. It was mature. It was deep. I listened for years. And when I sat down and consumed Harry Potter, the only thing I could wonder is how could an adult call this deep or mature? It was clearly aimed at 11 year old kids. That's not denigrating it. Doctor Seuss has few wordplay and interesting world building but I'm not going to sit down and read a book for a 5 year old in my own behalf. Nostalgia and brands are an interesting thing. We huff the fumes of days passed to keep chugging along. I do it in the days after going to a concert. I relisten to the bands discography remembering - she sung this song SO much better 2 days ago live. Getting through the days just thinking about how much better it was yesterday. But it's the feeling; it's not the quality. You forget about the poor vocal mix at the live show. You forget about the brutal wait of waiting to get into the concert. When I listened to Taylor Swift while discography, all I thought was this is music made for preteen and teenagers. There is nothing wrong with that. I love Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, etc. Some of Taylor Swift's albums were okay. A few were very good. Overall, she was an okay pop star who seemed able to cultivate her brand with average and uninteresting pop songs. She is this generations mega star, but it's kind of tragic because there is not a whole lot interesting about her. The only thing pulling people to Taylor Swift is Taylor Swift. She really has nothing interesting to say about the world. She's lived an abnormal life that is in no way similiar to any of the lives of her listener. Many other song writers could in one song provide more interesting perspectives than Taylor Swift exhibits in an entire album or a discography. Her new album is pretty bad. I could not imagine an adult listening to this album and thinking - wow interesting stuff. It felt like someone singing bad poetry from their Tumblr page.

Going to go broke with Troye Sivan coming around in September...

Mileage may vary based upon your love of past Vampire Weekend. It definitely feels like they deliberately revisit past ideas, sounds, vibes to remix and shuffle them around. But it's loose in a way that is very un-VW. I'll check out Bob Vylan and Landry. It definitely did give me that 90s vibe where you'd listen to some English music as a Canadian and realize a whole lot of context is missing. But with Yard Act, I don't think your enjoyment of the music is dependant on context, but probably makes it a lot better. The music is also great - British post-punk but make it poppier.

Also seeing the Beths in August.

Okay huge dump alert The Julia Holter album is A+. Album of the year for me so far. Endlessly curious, surprisingly and arresting. To categorize the album would be difficult - it falls somewhere between pop, jazz, and electronic music, but the best parts of each. It commands the body to move like a great electronic music, it is free flowing and unexpected like jazz, and it is pleasing on the years. But it experiments and iterates. It feels purposefully constructed to sound familiar but in a way that takes that familiarity and pushes it. The Yard Act album was entertaining. It feels like the type of album Damon Albarn could record in 2024 if he wanted to sound fresh. Beyonce was okay. Too long. I imagine if I had the time I could shed it down to a tight 7-8 stellar tracks. Instead it's lost in the shuffle. Kacey Musgraves Deeper Well is really extraordinary. I think most people want Kacey Musgraves to go full velvet Elvis again. I understand why. But I love Kacey in her singer song writer phase. I think the entire theme of the album is normal. How do you feel normal in the wake of a destructive force like divorce? I find it interesting. The best track on the album is Anime Eyes. The moment the tracks breaks into pure euphoria takes you back to Golden Hour. Vampire Weekends Only God Was Above Us has been living in my head ever since I heard Capricorn. To be reductive, it is simultaneously the most Vampire Weekend sounding album, but it feels so anti Vampire Weekend. They take the familiar sounds of a Vampire Weekend album but subvert your expectations. What if everything was free flowing, slightly odd, not pop. In many ways I think Vampire Weekend has borrowed the idea of a drop from electronic music - giving you this big rush to an explosive moment. Only God Was Above Us has no explosive moments. At times it feels like a jam session between the band. Ariana's album was a good solid album. Better than her last album, which was bad. Four Tets album Three was a great chill out album. Kim Gordon's album The Collective is extremely my shit but lord knows my family won't let me play this one in the car.

Snagged tickets to Sum 41 and PUP next January.

My son is into pop punk music. I find his tastes very interesting. He liked some of Dookie but I think the themes went over his head. He said Blink 182 was funny but he didn't really like it. The second I turned on the Black Parade by MCR he was hooked. I think he likes the theatrics and intensity. His three favorite bands are PUP, Jeff Rosenstock and MCR. I think this is a win.

What a great show. My son has been to large concerts and festivals but never a smaller venue. He lost his mind at how close he was. We found a place near the back and he sat on a ledge. Jeff Rosenstock is a beast. My husband came with us and he has only seen a handful of concerts. He loved it. I decided at the start of the year I would go to more shows. So far I've got Vampire Weekend and Kacey Musgraves lined up. Sum 41 and PUP (my son's favorite band) are coming around next January so another ticket there.

I'm taking my son to see Jeff Rosenstock next Friday. Fingers crossed it's a great show.

One more hand.....

You are right. It doesn't feel like going through the motions. It feels like all of the side projects they did when they were on hiatus. Acceptable, but nothing special. I always enjoy a handful of albums, but it feels less and less like core Sleater Kinney. I know St. Vincent produced The Center Won't Hold, but I have felt that since they've been far more interested in the art pop direction of St. Vincent versus the rock of Sleater Kinney past. I'm a huge St. Vincent fan, but that was by far the worst Sleater Kinney album. It was also the first without Janet, so maybe that was it. But it's felt ever since that album the production, lyrics and melodies have been incredibly weak.

I'm so behind on giving my thoughts on the new music I liked the new Sleater Kinney but I didn't have on my bingo card that they would become kind of boring post reunion. There is always salvageable stuff on their albums but after Janet left it feels like it is not special. Definitely feels like a band going through the motions to just get stuff out to schedule the next tour. The MGMT album was pleasant. Felt like there most interesting since Congratulations. Probably will revisit. The Brittany Howard album is A+. Its hard to describe. She's completely deviated away from the Alabama Shakes rock sound, but there are still traces. It's this blissful soup of rock, pop, r&b and jazz. The new IDLES album sucked. Just an uninteresting slog. The Friko album Where We've Been, where we go from here is really interesting. It feels like a grab bag of rock genres from over the last few decades. It feels like an album recorded by a different band each track. The Hurray for the Riff Raff album was fine. I enjoyed it. Phasor by Helado Negro was a wonderful affair. Electronic music that feels like rock music. It's a great Sunday morning album. Those Vampire Weekend songs are incredibly promising. I need it now. They'll sound lovely live. Ducks Ltd was a nice jangle pop rock moment. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Felt like REM from the 80s with modern production.

I was coming to talk about Balatro too. This is the Balatro thread now. It's a genius concept for a game. I have been hooked on Slay the Spire recently (trying to get A20 on the Defect) but I needed a break. This definitely broke my addiction for Slay. Just I am addicted to Balatro now. It's great but I feel like all card deck rogue likes, the mechanics are not well explained.

The kids were gone this weekend and I threw on the Watchmen on a whim. We binged the whole series. Holy shit is it good.

I'm thinking of getting a new game from my Steam Deck. I enjoyed Halls of Torment and Roboquest a lot. Not only playing rogue likes but typically they itch that place in my head.