Baker's Dozen: Metz, Virtual Self, and the World's Most Stressed Out Gardener

Baker's Dozen is a weekly thing where I share a playlist as well as whatever I am thinking or not thinking about the music in it. It's for paid subscribers only, smash the subscribe button below if you want it.

Touché Amoré, "Exit Row"

Really like the latest Touché Amoré album, a band that I've been aware of and occasionally really liked but need to dive deeper on in general (thank you to my more all-knowing friends in the personal recommendations helping me in that direction). This song sounds made for a pit, been realizing that the only crowd interactions I potentially want at this point are in a mosh pit.

Mula, "En el Aire"

Good shit, very futuristic and bright. Heard this after scrounging around in the honorable mentions of Pitchfork's Best Latinx Songs of 2020 list, some good shit in there too.

тпсб, "Pacifier Habits"

You might notice that the Baker's Dozens are hopping around in time more lately, in making these I'm taking the opportunity to revisit tons of records from the last five years with fresh ears while also trying to keep up with newer music in some sort of orderly fashion. Anyway this sounds like Aphex Twin a little, I love it.

Virtual Self, "Ghost Voices"

My cosmic colleague Colin Joyce once coined the term "Radio 1 Music" in conversation to describe a certain strain of electronic and dance music, and it radically reshaped the way I think about my own listening habits, which is, admittedly, a lot of BBC Radio 1 music. Hey, here's a song that used to be played on BBC Radio 1 a lot! I generally love Porter Robinson in all guises although I'm behind on checking out the new one, I'll get to it and enjoy it. Porter's people, if you're reading this: Let's pick up the newsletter interview convo again!

Thirdface, "Chosen"

This record is thrilling and can also be a lot, was hard to isolate a track that stood out but I did because that's what I do here.

Vampire Weekend, "Bambina"

Perfect song, certainly a fact that won't surprise you if you heard it already. Funny how on the best song on Vampire Weekend's longest album is one of its shortest, but when are they not full of contradictions.

Su'Lan, "B.T.H.N"

Something really appealing to me about this song is all the chirpy vocal sample stuff running right under it, like these bursts of noise that add some crunchy texture to something that's already very aggressive. I dig.

Metz, "A Boat to Drown In"

One time I sat on a transport bus at a festival a few rows away from the guys in Metz, who seemed to be talking about Rob Ford (who was alive back then and in the news a lot for obvious Rob Ford-esque reasons). They're Canadian of course so it makes sense. Just like Cloud Nothings I think Metz are secretly getting more rock solid with every record, this seven-minute-plus ripper that closes out the latest LP is awesome.

Billie Eilish, "I Didn't Change My Number"

The new Billie Eilish album both feels like what she's done before and some new territory, some may say it's boring but it sounds pretty nice on good speakers. The intrusive bass near the end of this song is very Portishead-y to me.

Cadence Weapon, "Destination" [ft. Deradoorian]

I haven't listened to the latest Cadence Weapon album, but I always find a few tracks from every album made by Certified Really Nice Guy Rollie Pemberton that I really like. Kind of a Janet Jackson flavor to this one, even though that borders on sacrilege.

BØRNS, "Supernatural"

BØRNS makes awful-sounding music to me and I'm not even sure I 100% like this one itself, was more just fascinated that it sounded like an outlier amidst the pap that fills the rest of the album it's on. Kind of a Jungle thing there, remember those guys? A little Tame Impala too but not too much really.

Special Explosion, "Fire"

This record as a whole might skew a little too much for me in terms of close-mic'd, sweeping emo rock...but I do like a few songs from it, this one reminds me of something that would've been on the Antlers' Hospice.

Chad VanGaalen, "Where Is It All Going?"

Hey, where is it all going? Good question! The new Chad VanGaalen album is called The World's Most Stressed Out Gardener which is a very good album title. He also once called an album Diaper Island, maybe you don't like that title but I do too (and the music doesn't "stink," haha). To paraphrase Ashanti, VanGaalen isn't always there when you call, but he's always on time, and every record from him feels like a gift you forgot you needed.