{"id":10167,"date":"2024-02-03T12:32:24","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T17:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=10167"},"modified":"2024-02-03T12:32:25","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T17:32:25","slug":"music-update-january-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/03\/music-update-january-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Music update, January 2024."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>PSA: The top 100 prospects ranking runs on Monday for subscribers to The Athletic, followed by the ten guys who just missed on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>January ended up a big month for new music, especially for new albums \u2013 it seems like a lot of artists\/labels held stuff back from mid-November until after the New Year. Not included were some new tracks from \u201890s faves like the Jesus &amp; Mary Chain, Buffalo Tom, and Black Grape. As always, if you can\u2019t see the widget below, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/3cg6vC4a762aECrSZo6ceE?si=22606f8725ca4110\">access the playlist here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Klaw&amp;apos;s January 2024 music update\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/3cg6vC4a762aECrSZo6ceE?si=462d4f012e8d4621&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Liam Gallagher &amp; John Squire \u2013 Just Another Rainbow. <\/strong>I can\u2019t believe these two British rock icons (of Oasis and Stone Roses, respectively) have gotten together to put out an album, or that either of them sounds this good at their respective ages. The second single, \u201cMars to Liverpool,\u201d was a bit of a letdown, though, and I\u2019m hoping the record isn\u2019t a bunch of mopers. Also props to Liam for knowing the order of colors in the visible spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sprints \u2013 Heavy.<\/strong> This Irish punk act\u2019s debut LP <em>Letter to Self<\/em> is going to end up on my top albums of the year, with this, \u201cAdore Adore Adore,\u201d \u201cUp and Comer,\u201d and \u201cLiterary Mind\u201d all standouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Courting \u2013 We Look Good Together (Big Words). <\/strong>And Courting\u2019s latest album, <em>New Last Name<\/em>, is also going to end up on my top albums of the year, leading with the poppy banger \u201cThrow\u201d followed by this track, with \u201cFlex\u201d and \u201cThe Wedding\u201d also highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Folly Group \u2013 Pressure Pad. <\/strong>Will Folly Group\u2019s <em>Down There! <\/em>also make my top albums of the year list? We\u2019ll have to wait on that one, but I\u2019m a new fan of their experimental art-rock sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bob Vylan \u2013 Hunger Games. <\/strong>\u201cWhat will you win yourself tonight\/spin the wheel for a chance at a hot meal.\u201d The righteous anger here harkens back to the earliest days of punk, when working-class angst found its outlet in loud, short bursts of guitars and shouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Softcult \u2013 Heaven. <\/strong>I wasn\u2019t familiar with Softcult until they popped up on my Spotify Release Radar playlist, which \u2026 well, sometimes the algorithm works, as they remind me a ton of early Lush (shoegaze era, not \u201cLadykillers\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Lemon Twigs \u2013 My Golden Years. <\/strong>I didn\u2019t love the Lemon Twigs\u2019 2023 album <em>Everything Harmony<\/em>, although it made a slew of best-of lists for last year. This track has a way better melody than anything on that LP, with that same \u201860s power-pop sound that has some Beach Boys influence in the harmonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Talk Show \u2013 Red\/White. <\/strong>Talk Show have been on my playlists for a few years now, so I was surprised to hear that their upcoming LP, <em>Effigy<\/em>, due out on the 16<sup>th<\/sup>, is actually their debut. This last advance single has clearer vocals than in some of their other tracks, but still has that m\u00e9lange of punk, goth, and industrial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Waxahatchee &amp; MJ Lenderman \u2013 Right Back To It. <\/strong>I\u2019m here for just about anything Waxhatchee does, and it says something that I have a track by Lenderman, whose work as a solo artist and with the band Wednesday does nothing for me, on my playlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ride \u2013 Peace Sign. <\/strong>Ride were part of the original shoegaze movement, so it amuses me that they\u2019ve moved into a much different space, more psychedelic dream-pop than the minor-key noise of shoegaze. I like both iterations, for what it\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shabazz Palaces feat. Stas THEE Boss &amp; Irene Barber \u2013 Angela. <\/strong>Shabazz Palaces is Ishmael Butler, formerly known as Butterfly while he was in the seminal jazz-rap trio Digable Planets. His output under the new moniker, which used to be a duo until Tendai Maraire departed the group, is more experimental, with funk, jazz, and electronic elements, although hip-hop still finds its way into many of their tracks. This song comes off their upcoming album <em>Exotic Birds of Prey<\/em>, due out March 29<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jamie xx \u2013 It\u2019s So Good. <\/strong>Yes, yes it is. Jamie xx \u2013 of the xx, of course \u2013 had two all-timers from his first true solo effort, \u201cLoud Places\u201d and \u201cSeeSaw,\u201d but this is the first thing he\u2019s released since that 2015 record that\u2019s captured that same ebullient feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Etta Marcus \u2013 Girls That Play. <\/strong>Marcus\u2019s second album, <em>The Death of Summer &amp; Other Promises<\/em>, came out on January 24<sup>th<\/sup>. Her alt-pop style reminds me of Ingrid Michaelson, but less cloying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yard Act \u2013 We Make Hits. <\/strong>I loved Yard Act\u2019s debut album, and they\u2019ve clearly evolved their sound to incorporate some new elements without losing the sardonic, witty lyrics and offbeat rhythms that made <em>The Overload<\/em> so good. <em>Where\u2019s My Utopia? <\/em>comes out March 1<sup>st<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sheer Mag \u2013 Moonstruck. <\/strong>Sheer Mag\u2019s third album, <em>Playing Favorites<\/em>, comes out March 1<sup>st<\/sup>, and this track might be the poppiest thing the Philly garage-rockers have ever put out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Libertines \u2013 Shiver. <\/strong>The likely lads are sounding older, wiser, and \u2026 sober? Carl Bar\u00e2t\u2019s vocals will always give their music a rougher edge, but the Libertines may actually have grown up a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Khruangbin \u2013 A Love International. <\/strong>A peak-form instrumental track from the Texas Thai-jazz trio ahead of their new album <em>\u00c0 la Sala<\/em>, due out April 5<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bill Ryder-Jones \u2013 If Tomorrow Starts Without Me.<\/strong> The best track on Ryder-Jones\u2019s acclaimed new album, <em>Iechyd Da <\/em>(a Welsh toast meaning \u201cgood health\u201d), this is also one of the only ones that doesn\u2019t move at the pace of a funeral dirge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>swim school \u2013 Give Me a Reason Why. <\/strong>More shoegazey goodness from this Glaswegian trio ahead of a headlining tour in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sunny Day Real Estate \u2013 Novum Vetus. <\/strong>I don\u2019t know if it needed to be seven minutes, but hey, any SDRE track is good by me. It\u2019s their first new release in ten years, although the song itself originated in the sessions for the 1997 album <em>How It Feels to Be Something On<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Real Estate \u2013 Haunted World. <\/strong>I had to put these two back to back, didn\u2019t I? Otherwise I might have lined this up with the Lemon Twigs, as it\u2019s got a similar vibe, an acoustic track that reminded a lot of the Shins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>GEMZ \u2013 Younger. <\/strong>GEMZ is Jen Wood and Ted Chen, and if you\u2019re close to my age, you might remember Jen Wood\u2019s short-lived band Tattle Tale from the early 1990s, or maybe you know her from her contributions to The Postal Service. This is her newest endeavor, but her vocals are the draw no matter the style of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TORRES \u2013 Happy Man\u2019s Shoes. <\/strong><em>What an Enormous Room<\/em>, TORRES\u2019s sixth album, came out on January 26<sup>th<\/sup>, and the tracks I\u2019ve heard seem weirder than their previous output, but in a good way. I saw one review compare the LP to Goldfrapp, which I can definitely hear on this track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Masta Ace &amp; Marco Polo feat. Coast Contra \u2013 Certified. <\/strong>Yes, that is Masta Ace of the Juice Crew, which also featured Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap, and for a man of 57 who\u2019s fighting MS he sounds damn good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Judas Priest \u2013 Crown of Horns.<\/strong> These Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees will release their nineteenth LP, <em>Invincible Shield<\/em>, in March, featuring this oddly upbeat track (which still has some great soloing). Glenn Tipton is credited as appearing on the album, although he\u2019s now 76 and has been dealing with Parkinson\u2019s for over a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tom McGovern &amp; Cory Wong \u2013 Everything Smells Like Salmon.<\/strong> I\u2019m not much for joke songs, either because they\u2019re not funny or because the joke wears thin after one listen, but this one has some staying power. It\u2019s pretty funny, the lyrics are very clever, and Wong\u2019s guitar work is always worth a spin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PSA: The top 100 prospects ranking runs on Monday for subscribers to The Athletic, followed by the ten guys who just missed on Tuesday. January ended up a big month for new music, especially for new albums \u2013 it seems like a lot of artists\/labels held stuff back from mid-November until after the New Year. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1374,359,609,852,919],"class_list":["post-10167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2024-in-music","tag-alternative","tag-hip-hop","tag-music","tag-shoegaze","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10168,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167\/revisions\/10168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}