Wow, thanks for reading this darn thing! Personally, I don't like reading lists, and I've gotten sick of seeing year-end lists. Like many things in life, they overwhelm me. But I do love writing them. There's an odd sense of glory I get from finishing them, like cleaning my room when I've put off for … Continue reading The Final Snack Break Of 2020
"So it turned out that power was the quality of knowing what you liked. An odd thing for power to be."Eve Babitz I read a lot of Babitz, my first time reading her work, during the beginning of the pandemic and became enthralled with the chaos and desire and the no fucks given. The one … Continue reading An Odd Thing For Power To Be
Welcome to Snack Break—a list of tracks and notable musicians that I've been putting on repeat. This week includes Tkay Maidza, Girlpuppy, Pillow Queens and more. Take a pause from your day and indulge in these finds below. Manu Grace - "Over The Stone" The new track from South African multi-instrumentalist and singer Manu Grace … Continue reading Snack Break
This is the first installment of Snack Break—a list of tracks and notable musicians that I've been putting on repeat. This week includes Gillian Frances, Hovvdy, Palberta and more. Take a pause from your day and indulge in these finds below. Gillian Frances - "Loose" Gillian Frances is an Anacortes, WA-based multi-instrumentalist that has released … Continue reading Snack Break
Duval Timothy's sophomore album Help builds builds life and summons ghosts with the absence of words. Most of its 18 tracks are solely instrumental. The ones that do use words are warped and chopped. He gathers vocal fragments, stretched like taffy or copy&pasted over each other until they become an opaque blur, and through their … Continue reading Review: Duval Timothy’s ‘Help’
A few weeks ago I was interviewing (love a plug!) pop singer-songwriter Tei Shi about her recent EP Die 4 Ur Love. It's a spiral of delusion and whirling excitement amongst sashaying melodies. During our conversation I asked if she had any specific inspirations—Die 4 Ur Love showcases a vivid, sometimes violent, sometimes whimsical kind … Continue reading LAMB: Gwen Stefani’s Time Bomb
There's something extremely cathartic about songs that crystalize into the momentum of my anxiety. I feel this particular giddiness with "The Difference," the collaboration with Australian producer Flume and magical being Chaz Bear aka Toro Y Moi. It opens with iridescent synths that sound like harp-adjacent chords shattering into icicles of cubic zirconium. There's a … Continue reading Run It Out
There aren't many songs that make me want to melt into the floor. But "Baby Powder" by 22-year-old chanteuse Jenevieve makes me want to believe I could dive into the puddle of sunlight shimmering in my living room. The delayed countdown akin to Pharrell revs us up for some earnest, pearly keyboard plucks and a … Continue reading Jenevieve’s “Baby Powder” Is Bittersweet
When Arlo Parks declared herself part of the "Super Sad Generation" last year, it wasn't hyperbolic or simplistic. And now, As the Class of 2020 virtually graduates and thousands are hit with chemical weapons and rubber bullets, the title track from her debut EP resonates harder, even feels prophetic. The 19-year-old Londoner has seen many … Continue reading Revolutionary Sympathy: Arlo Parks
Lately, I've found it difficult to listen to music. There are phases where music is comforting or exciting or, honestly, overwhelming during this pandemic. But a stressful move from my latest apartment, caught between the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd left me feeling exhausted by music altogether. I pivoted to the … Continue reading Lost & Found: Bukka White
I recently finished reading the fascinating book Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts by Grafton Tanner. For one, I don't know anything about vaporwave aside from the vibrant neon laser visuals that accompany some album covers. Not only did I learn about the micro-genre's tendency to sample muzak and other mundane sounds in … Continue reading Hungry For Ghosts
Recently, I visited a friend's backyard. Sometimes the breezes in Queens are chilly or too gusty, but this day the air was refreshing. I laid my head back on the twisted iron chair and the sun glazed over me. It only took a minute before I traveled back to countless vacations my family took to … Continue reading Morgan Powers – “Bugs In A Jar”
There was already a bit of mystery around producer Chris Dexter Greenspan aka oOoOO, a pioneer of witch house with initial releases on the late Tri Angle Records, and collaborator Islamiq Grrrls, the Bosnian-Muslim singer/producer who has in the past only gone by the name Asia. Together, they released Faminine Mystique, an instrumentally warped, spacious … Continue reading Drab City – “Troubled Girl”
Dallas-born musician Liv.e, recognized for collaborations with Earl Sweatshirt and Pink Siifu, has been putting out cloudy, funky recordings for the past few years. Her creations have grown in complexity and movement, but her soulful and extensive vocals are the anchor in her ever-evolving landscapes. One in particular—that plays with the power and seduction in … Continue reading Liv.e – “SirLadyMakemFall”
These days I'm rediscovering many things in my room, going through old boxes of concert tickets and birthday cards. Oddly, this time has become great for us nostalgia keepers—a few steps below hoarding, eager for time to pass to relive a bygone moment with a hint of rose-coloring. I've even started to investigate my small … Continue reading Lost & Found: The Unknowns
Empty Stomach 