february 2023 music chat
Leave a commenttop 3 albums
these are the 3 albums that got the most play, as dictated by my last.fm stats
(barring any anomalies)
marci | marci
i found this album at the tail-end of january, with Entertainment being one of my top 5 tracks from last month. The album ended up taking over my life for the better part of February, racking up 207 total scrobbles at the time of me writing this. Ain’t that just the way.
Marci is the solo debut of Marta Cikojevic, the keyboardist in TOPS, which is a group that got a lot of play between me and the my partner last year. (give Dayglow Bimbo a listen, perfect track for the summer). Marci takes the light synth influences from TOPS and delivers unto us 33 minutes of synth-pop greatness. A rare no-skips album for me, but I’ll talk some more about my favorite track below!
forget your future | neggy gemmy
perhaps the complete opposite end of the synth spectrum, Forget Your Future is an ominous dark ambient album with a sound that feels fitting for some of the more surreal levels of Ecco The Dolphin. (please understand that this is some of the highest praise i can give)
there is a sort of other-worldliness to each track, transporting me to the ice fields of Enceladus to experience a winter unlike anything that Earth could possibly conjure. it’s absolutely incredible that this came out in 2013; if i had listened to it then i would have absolutely hated it but now — with a decade past, and a multiple iterations of self gone by — this album is able to slot perfectly into my mind and hook into all the right neural pathways.
you will never know why | sweet trip
YWNKW is a great album, and a messy one to talk about, but i wanted to talk about it since i gave it a lot of playtime this month. i’ll keep it short: i was doing some research as i was making this post and i learned that last year roby burgos sexually assaulted his bandmate Valerie Cooper which rightly led to the dissolution of the band. it’s awful, and i hope that she is able to heal.
“jade aren’t you going to talk about—” ok listen. yes the soundtrack from Obsidian is technically the 3rd album listed on the grid but only because i listened to one song off of it 92 times. it’s no big deal. yes it was Monster. moving on.
fav five
these are 5 hand-picked tracks that really stood out to me this month, regardless of total play count
give in | neggy gemmy
i love when a song sounds like it came off the soundtrack of an early 2000s video game, and this one fits the pattern. it makes me think of the mystic ruins area in sonic adventure, or something that would play at the save points of metroid prime. it’s a fairly simple track overall, but with headphones on you can really appreciate the deep resonance of each sound, and the way in which they’re layered on top of each other. it’s definitely on my “writing about wizards” playlist
secrets (your fire) | magdalena bay
club banger ! i assume. i don’t go to the club but i imagine this one has gotta be getting some playtime. it has all the right elements:
- strong synth line,
- ethereal female vox,
- a guy occasionally coming in to say random words in a low voice.
i could very easily see myself drinking club-mate in a cramped warehouse with this playing, if anyone wants to set that up. and if anyone has a club-mate connect let me know about that too.
i wish you roses | kali uchis
big kali uchis fan. i know she’s not from california but every song she puts out reminds me of living in california, idk why. something about the vibe!
i love songs like this and honey baby which show off her singing, she brings so much emotion to the track!
i love the production on this, it sounds really … i don’t know, classic? i could see it in a Bond movie … actually wait, someone get britain on the phone i have an idea to pitch
bb i would die | marci
the other day i walked to my friend’s apartment with this song on repeat. it had snowed the night prior, but was 45 degrees and sunny as i walked, and i thought to myself “spring is here!” it was as if the sun itself had erupted in chorus for an audience of one.
i really love marci’s voice, and this track exhibits the best of her vocal range, accompanied by lots of warm layered harmonies.
obviously it also earns points for meeting two very important criteria
- key change!!
- it’s the final album on a track and has a definitive end rather than a fade-out
algae after all | omni gardens
undeniably falls into the “gnome music” category (if you’ve seen that meme u know what i mean lol)
billed as “music for watching plants grow”, this offering from moon glyph records was received by me with open arms. akin to mort garson’s plantasia, but with a few more modern twists.
listening to this track, i can imagine myself floating upon the surface of the sea, soaking in the warmth as i rock back and forth upon the gentle waves, which break upon some distant shore.