Baker's Dozen: E-40, Cate Le Bon, and Aging Without Missing a Beat
Baker's Dozen is a regular thing I do for paid subscribers where I share a playlist of music I've been listening to, along with some thoughts around that music. All proceeds generated continue to go to the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Bob Mould, "Baby Needs a Cookie"
The last two Bob Mould records have had plenty of bangers, like he turned the "melody" dial all the way up and pretty much let it rip. He's also been responsible for some truly embarrassing #Resistance stuff (this video, some cringe-y Trump-referencing stuff on Blue Hearts), but he's a legend, I'm not gonna hold it against him. Some David Comes to Life vibes from the chunky riffs on this.
E-40, "My Everything" [ft. Anthony Hamilton and K-Ci]
We've now gone three years without an E-40 solo album, his longest gap between releases in thirty years. Is E-40 ok?!?! (Settle down, he released a collab LP with Mount Westmore this year.) There's a lot of "The Song About [fill in the blank]" on Practice Makes Paper, and I'm not saying that in a bad way. I mean, could you imagine saying something bad about E-40? This is obviously the "The Song About My Wife" song, featuring two cancelled-in-my-mind artists (Anthony Hamilton for being anti-abortion in the late 2000s, K-Ci for exposing himself to a crowd in the early 2000s). If you want some joy without having to get through the entire album (which is pretty good, all said), you should check out this song where he lists things you might not have known previously. It's called "Bet You Didn't Know That," of course.
Nérija, "Partner Girlfriend Lover"
Very much enjoy the Nérija album from 2019, which features jazz-head fav Nubya Garcia on saxophone. I know I've said it before, but this is the kind of jazz I enjoy, the super-outré stuff I can't always get with. But I'm always trying!
Cate Le Bon, "Remembering Me"
It's 2022 and I'm still enjoying Cate Le Bon a la carté (a le Bon? sorry), constantly remaining at "almost" with her albums and enjoying the idea of what she does more than the music itself. But there's always one or two songs that she turns out per album where I'm like, "Damn, this hits the spot," and here's the one from her latest that does that.
PinkPantheress, "Passion (Sam Gellaitry Remix)"
Another PinkPantheress remix, as I mentioned last week expect a few more of these coming up. Love that owl-like hoot that runs through this one, kind of elevates it from typical remix fare to something more memorable imo.
156/Silence, "Upset / Unfed"
Pure and uncut metalcore from these Pittsburgh boys, love their energy. They've got a new one coming out this year, exciting stuff to watch out for.
Oso Oso, "priority change"
Beautiful song from what might be my favorite album of 2019. The physicality of Jade Lilitri's lyrics on the chorus always gets me, it's music with passion at its core. As the weather gets hotter, this remains a perfect summer not-quite-a-bummer of an album.
Jay Som, "Growing Pain"
Jay Som, what a talent. The recent Ben Gibbard-curated compilation of Yoko Ono tribute covers is, sadly, full of duds, but she really turned in something radiant and quietly beautiful here. Was relistening to Anak Ko this week and it's also held up better than the not-quite-wild reception of the album at the time suggested...expect another song from that album to pop up on here soon.
Personal Space, "Utopia!"
I like these guys even though some of their songs balance on a knife's edge of being boring...at their best, they sound like a Kinsella-ified version of Pinback, which is a straight-down-the-middle pitch for me when executed properly.
Animal Collective, "Cherokee"
The best song on my current #2 album of the year, right below Caprisongs (although I expect Soul Glo to give both a run for their money in the months to come). I've said more than enough about this band and this album at this point, so just go read the interview I did with Deakin and Geologist.
CIVIC, "Sunday Best"
Apologies if I'm repeating myself at this point, but amidst the overwhelming glut of post-punk records we've spent the last two years suffocating under, there'll be a few very good singles/one-offs compilations to make in the years to come. This could appear on one of those, or maybe it's just a decent song on an OK album, which could also describe so many situations "like this."
Alice Glass, "THE HUNTED"
I worked with Alice on her bio for this record, bias aside I think the highlights (like this) are toothsome and enjoyable. She's survived a lot and I think that should not go unrecognized, especially as her solo output is very much directly doing the work of excavating her own trauma in a very public way.
Friendly Fires, "Sleeptalking"
Banger song from himbo kings, what else is there to say. Hope they don't take so long on their next album!