WIBLT: Start Your Summer Off Right
What I've Been Listening To, 6/9/21
Happy 6/9
You’re doing yourself a disservice if you haven’t followed the “What I’ve Been Listening To” playlist yet! It’s always updated with the eight standout tracks from all my “What I’ve Been Listening To” posts in 2021.
reCAPTCHA - 2012 Bid Adieu
8 tracks, 21 minutes
Released: May 28th, 2021
From: New York/D.C./Baltimore
Genres: R&B, Alternative
Recommended For Fans Of: Matt Martians, Thundercat, Phony Ppl
Like many artists, 2012 Bid Adieu had big plans for 2020 that got thwarted by quarantine. The eight member collective was eager to follow up their 2019 debut project WE DIED IN 2012: THIS IS HELL, but instead had to isolate and refocus. As a group that typically thrives bouncing ideas off each other in the same room, they intentionally made the decision to not put any work into their second album until that was safely possible. Instead we have reCAPTCHA, a four sided EP with a different vocalist for each “side,” giving the feeling of a cohesive playlist that as a whole still reflects the groups neo-dada philosophy. The name was birthed through wondering if the world did end in 2012 (as the Mayans predicted) and our modern internet age is a digital purgatory of our own design. “The common denominator in 2012 was that we all are millennials, and if there’s anything our generation likes to do, it’s turn our own existential crises into jokes,” said Jordan Clark, a founding 2012 Bid Adieu member, to Tapped Brooklyn. You can read their full philosophical statement on the matter via their website.
Standout Track: Sanity
More Like Me - Lipstick Jodi
10 tracks, 32 minutes
Released: June 4th, 2021
From: Grand Rapids, MI
Genres: Synth Pop, Indie Rock, Alternative
Recommended For Fans Of: Now, Now, Tegan and Sara, Luna Shadows
More Like Me is the sophomore album from Lipstick Jodi, a three piece group from Michigan lead by guitarist and lead singer/songwriter Karli Morehouse. Growing up, Morehouse was one of the few openly queer kids at their Midwestern high school, and they told Audiofemme it made them accustomed to standing out. But standing out and feeling seen are two different feelings entirely. “I felt alone in a very crowded room for a long time, and all I ever wanted was someone to say, I see you,” Morehouse wrote on the band’s Facebook page for the album’s release. Now with the release of More Like Me, Lipstick Jodi has created an album full of hits tailor made for kids like Morehouse, and any fans of pop music to enjoy. “If anything I hope that you all can take my words and feel some sort of validation,” Morehouse said. From front to back this project hits you with absolutely infectious hooks that are all backed by powerful electro pop production. There’s standouts from Going Insane to Take Me Seriously, but I recommend you just start from the beginning (do/SAY) and go from there.
Standout Track: do/SAY
Moonlit Train - Tiawa
14 tracks, 45 minutes
Released: June 4th, 2021
From: Brighton, UK
Genres: R&B, Soul, Lo-fi
Recommended For Fans Of: UMI, Jorja Smith, Mereba
Moonlit Train is an R&B album at heart, though it also pulls on 90’s hip-hop, soul, latin-folk, and Tiawa’s Portuguese heritage. She explained that the album opens with a Portuguese poem translating to “don't be sad now, I'm going to play a song for you.” The beauty of the Portuguese language is interwoven and celebrated throughout this project that sees Tiawa’s vocals melt into Jack-Chi’s subdued yet soulful production. The opening track’s title ‘Saudade’ describes a Portuguese feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia, and the track ‘Sonhos Cor De Rosa’ translates to ‘dreams of pink roses’ or ‘sweet dreams’, which Tiawa’s grandma used to tell her before bed. “Each song on the album is part of an emotional journey. I hope it helps to heal people in serious situations and makes them feel better afterwards,” she said. This is Tiawa’s debut album, released on the Brighton independent label Tru Thoughts.
Standout Track: Mountains of Metal
En Route - MFnMelo & squeakPIVOT
8 tracks, 17 minutes
Released: June 4th, 2021
From: Chicago, IL
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Childish Major, Sylvan LaCue, Femdot
En Route sees PIVOT Gang members MFnMelo and squeakPIVOT team up on a collaborative EP. MFnMelo has been at the forefront of PIVOT Gang since the start, and has multiple solo projects under his belt as well (including his excellent 2019 album Everybody Eats). squeakPIVOT has always had more of a focus on DJ’ing and mixes along with producing (between being the DJ for Jean Deaux and Elton Aura, I think squeak was getting tired of seeing me set up his DJ rig for D.C. gigs back when I did live sound). This project highlights the excellent working dynamic the two have. Talking about their friendship to These Days magazine, squeakPIVOT noted that MFnMelo became like an older brother to him while his actual older brother (PIVOT Gang member Frsh Waters, featured on this project) had to spend some years in jail. For Melo, working on this project with squeak helped reignite his excitement for music. “When we get something done or when we got something on the way, he'll be excited for it. It's just another day for me and I got to learn how to keep that excitement,” MFnMelo said. After listening to the EP, it’s easy to see where the excitement came from.
Standout Track: LL Cool J
Tell a friend to tell a friend
Ciudad de los dos lunas - Cabiria
11 tracks, 45 minutes
Released: May 28th, 2021
From: Barcelona, Spain
Genres: Electronic, Synth Pop, Italo Disco
Recommended For Fans Of: Jessie Ware, Róisín Murphy, Carly Rae Jepsen
Ciudad de los dos lunas or “City of the Two Moons” (I know enough Spanish to translate that on my own, but was not confident enough to type it without checking Google Translate first) combines 80s synth pop and disco into this beautiful 11 track album. Complete with gated drums, vocoder, and saxophone solos, Cabiria pulled out all the stops while writing and producing this entire project. Described as “halfway between Italian-disco, Anglo-Saxon dreampop, Spanish melodic song, Japanese city pop, and a Tim and Eric chapter,” by her talent agency El Volcán Música (Google Translate was less helpful with this one), you can sum it up by saying Cabiria is one of a kind. This is her second album, marking her first release since 2017.
Standout Track: Si pudieran hablar
6:15 AM - Adult Oriented Pop
9 tracks, 42 minutes
Released: June 2nd, 2021
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Genres: Indie Pop, Alternative, Psychedelic
Recommended For Fans Of: Mac Demarco, Homeshake, The Carpenters
The adult contemporary rebrand we’ve all been waiting for! Described as “a fabulously woozy affair,” 6:15 AM is the sophomore album from Adult Oriented Pop, following up their 2019 self-titled debut. The Stockholm duo is made up of Mattias Gustavsson (also a member of other groups such as Dungen, The Hanged Man, & Vårt Solsystem), and Martin Fogelström. Together they make dreamy seventies inspired pop tunes soaked with shimmering synths and groovy bass lines. Perfect for your early (6:15am?) morning routine, a warm summer day, and anything in between.
Standout Track: Once In A Lifetime
Keesh Mountain - Wombo
4 tracks, 9 minutes
Released: May 28th, 2021
From: Louisville, KY
Genres: Post-Punk, Avant Pop, Indie Rock
Recommended For Fans Of: The Pixies, Mamalarky, Palberta
Keesh Mountain comes fresh off the heels of Wombo’s 2020 debut album Blossomlooksdownuponus. Their often bass driven, but hard to pin down style of post-punk/avant-garde makes their sound unique, and offers you something different from song to song. In fact, they described to Still Listening Magazine how the four songs are also varying thematically, not just sonically. “Ida Mae is about Sydney’s cat, Dreamsickle is about the secrecy and loneliness of dreams, Situations is about avoidance and Just like Time's lyrics are made up of little autobiographical moments mostly from my childhood,” the group said.
Standout Track: Situations
Escapism - ombachi
8 tracks, 28 minutes
Released: April 15th, 2021
From: Oklahoma City, OK
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Kota The Friend, Redveil, Kirk Knight
Escapism is the first solo effort from ombachi, a member of the Oklahoma rap group O2Worldwide. He’s been a standout member of that group (he produced 11 of the 16 songs on their album BACK ON TRACK from this past February), but this project allows him to fully step into the spotlight. All tracks on Escapism were written and produced by ombachi. Listening to this gave me a cozy, familiar feeling as it reminded me of (relatively) undiscovered projects I would find on blogs back in high school and obsess over. He just has the confidence in his voice of an artist that knows they’re onto something, even if he has to wait for the rest of the world to realize it.
Standout Track: Weekend
A Song
Hood Blues (Feat. Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, & Conway The Machine) - DMX
Even with all the output Griselda gives us year in and year out, their best song of 2021 might end up being this one off the posthumous DMX album. They compliment the beat and DMX perfectly.
A Video
Show Up - Samia
I enjoyed Samia’s album The Baby from last year, but if this is single is any indication, she’s coming back even stronger with her upcoming EP. Also appreciate how this video uses lighting and green screen to do a lot with just a simple empty room shoot.
that’s all for now