October '22 Roundup
Halfway through November, here's what you might have missed in October
I started another tour before I could finish writing this up. I considered bailing on the post since I didn’t have time to put my usual effort into it, but I had to feature these projects for y’all. Even if I couldn’t write as much as I normally do, they still deserve some spotlight! So please excuse the briefness on these blurbs.
Heart Lessons - Melan
7 tracks, 21 minutes
Released: October 1st, 2022
From: Washington, DC
Genres: Soul, R&B, lo-fi, Alternative, Hip-Hop
Recommended For Fans Of: Lauryn Hill, Raveena, Thanya Iyer
Melan’s debut A Cool Girl Dream dropped last September, and just over a year later she follows it up with Heart Lessons, a project filled with songs on healing, self-growth, and making the right choice for yourself even when it’s difficult. Over lo-fi R&B beats, Melan’s lyrics offer a sense of peace. Like calm in the midst of a storm, or a deep breath to focus your mind at the start of a meditation. Something I especially admire about Melan’s output is the care and details they put into each release, including both her self curated release party/show at Eaton in DC and the digital storybook that accompanies the song lankai with pictures, writing prompts, meditations, info on healing tools, and more.
Standout Track: Karma
The Golden Ass - Fauness
10 tracks, 34 minutes
Released: October 28th, 2022
From: London, UK
Genres: Pop, Electronic, Experimental, Singer/Songwriter
Recommended For Fans Of: Eartheater, Katy Kirby
The Golden Ass seems to exist in a realm of its own. Often too risk-taking to feel like pop, too electronic to be called folk, too sparse to be considered hyperpop, and too sugary sweet to be full-on experimental. The project takes influence from dream-pop as well, and feels similar to the way David Lynch is inspired by dreams in his films, especially with the mythical story at the end of the first track, setting the scene for the whole album. Fauness calls her enchanting sound ‘fairypop,’ which is fitting for an album that feels like something you’ve never seen before. Check out her interview with Ava Manson of V Magazine for more on the title’s Latin folk inspiration.
Standout Track: Peaches
Average Stardawg - Nat Home
4 tracks, 16 minutes
Released: October 14th, 2022
From: London, UK
Genres: House, Dance, Electronic
Recommended For Fans Of: Slaters, George Riley, yuné pinku
Nat Home cruises through different styles of house music with his debut EP Average Stardawg. I was initially drawn to this project from the cover art (by River Cousin!), and was pleased to find the music captivating in its own right, and at times matching the feeling of the artwork. With bpm’s to soundtrack your night out or your night in, any DJs following the blog with definitely want this secured in their seratos.
Standout Track: Witching Hour (Feat. Ms Ray)
Please
On The Way Home - Yang
5 tracks, 15 minutes
Released: September 21st, 2022
From: Atlanta, GA
Genres: R&B, Soul
Recommended For Fans Of: Melan, Flwr Chyld, Zilo
Atlanta R&B singer Yang dropped their first EP since 2018 at the end of September (but I listened in October so it qualified for this post). On The Way Home feels like a celebration of self that allows her vocals to shine over cozy and smooth R&B beats.
Standout Track: First (You Know Why)
Air Guitar - Sobs
9 tracks, 31 minutes
Released: October 26th, 2022
From: Singapore
Genres: Alternative, Indie, Bedroom Pop
Recommended For Fans Of: Kero Kero Bonito, Weezer, Superorganism
Sobs has garnered a following internationally that’s bound to cross over to the States in a matter of time, bolstered with the release of their new album Air Guitar. The band from Singapore takes a kaleidoscope of influence from pop rock of the 90s and 2000s to influence their style. As if their debut album originals weren’t enough in itself, they close things out with a killer cover of Cool by Gwen Stefani.
Standout Track: Friday Night
Other Things Worth Hearing
Before the news of his passing, I had a note in here ready to go about how Quavo & Takeoff sounded more inspired on their new project, Only Built For Infinity Links, than they had on any Migos output since Culture II. Rest In Peace Takeoff, so young and proving he still had so much to offer musically.
If you’re looking for a rap project that had me excited like my first time listening to JID or Saba, listen to ALMETHA’S SON by SwaVay. He’s been bubbling for years with a handful of projects under his belt, a spot on the Into The Spider-Verse soundtrack, and a feature on James Blake’s last album, but this project feels like an arrival.
Isabella Lovestory dropped a very energetic debut project with Amor Hardcore.
Joyce Wrice dropped a fantastic new EP with Motive, and Roscoe’s Wetcast brought to my attention that the first time I actually saw Wrice was in Clapping For The Wrong Reasons???
Samia got my attention with her 2020 album The Baby, but she really showed me something with this pretty but haunting single, Kill Her Freak Out.
Chicago’s Jackie Hayes continues to impress with her new album Over & Over.
Good Reads
Been seeing an increasing amount of coverage this year on why the Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger is a debacle for fans trying to see their favorite bands at a fair price. If you’ve been looking for a more specific reason that concert tickets have been getting harder and harder to afford besides, you know *gestures around wildly* everything, check these out:
Blink-182 Tickets Are So Expensive Because Ticketmaster Is a Disastrous Monopoly and Now Everyone Pays Ticket Broker Prices - By Jason Koebler for VICE.
How Ticketmaster gets away with it - From the ‘Popular Information’ Substack by Judd Legum
For any Lea Michele’s on my page, John Oliver has a good video from March that goes through all of this as well.
Midnights by Taylor Swift
I live on west coast time so I call it 9pm.
Movie Watch
Decision to Leave was fantastic. Like if Memories of Murder met Phantom Thread. It’s only the second one I’ve seen from Park Chan-wook, but he’s quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. The way he transitions scenes and works with the camera is just so refreshing and inspiring, I would watch him direct traffic. There was about a one week period where Amsterdam was the worst movie I’d seen all year (almost impressive how you can make such a boring movie with that cast), but then I saw Halloween Ends. Definitely that one. I expected bad going in and what I got was still worse. Smile was fine. Just about what you’d expect it to be, nothing more or less.
Alumni Watch
Pinkshift (featured 4/14/21) released their high powered debut album Love Me Forever. Feel like they’re showing growth from their already great debut EP.
Will Cherry (featured 11/09/20) released his new album ULTRAVIOLET and he sounds as locked in as ever with this one. Hold Me Down and the Sango collab Ice were two standouts. Bet on Cherry!
Flwr Chyld (featured 9/15/20) followed up Flow with Luv N Chaos, a groovy project stuffed with interesting collaborations (including the previously DBA featured artists Nathan Bajar, Flozigg, & Demae!). Check out the track Conversations With Saturn.
Petite League (featured 2/03/21) dropped their latest album with Thrill Seekers.
Ayra Starr (featured 2/17/21) has been blowing up since I wrote on her debut self titled EP, and just released the deluxe of her follow up project, 19 & Dangerous.
Lucid Express (featured 7/21/22) delivered their newest project Floret, half new tracks, and half remixes of those tracks.
Doubt I’ll get a November roundup out, but end of year content will be coming at ~the end of the year~. Stay tuned!