#so i just picked the first 5 from the sleepy piano playlist on spotify

[lightninginabottle0613]

tagged by @yanak324, @harrenhollaback, & @coffeexwhiskey 💛

1. Zodiac Sign: gemini ☀️, cancer 🌙, virgo ⬆️

2. Last thing I googled: “where is hummus in the grocery store”

3. Song stuck in my head: cruel summer by taylor swift has been stuck in my head since i first heard it & i feel as though i’ve been cursed tbh 

this is me, at almost all times

4. Favourite musicians: i really couldn’t possibly pick a favorite, but for the past few days i’ve been listening to my october 2018 playlist just for some ~throwbacks~ & it’s got LANY, troye sivan, tove styrke, dagny, MUNA. that’s like generally my vibe, i guess.

also little mix are so important to me, more so as humans than just as musicians.

5. Do you get asks: i do not! but i’m always open to them! 

6. Amount of 💤: bold of you to assume i sleep, let alone sleep the same amount every day!

7. Lucky number: i don’t have one of these, where do i get one 

8. What are you wearing: an enormous grey high school hoodie, black running shorts that i’m not sure why i bothered putting on bc this hoodie is like a dress, & black-and-white striped mid-calf socks.

9. Dream Trip: hawaii or ireland

10. Instruments you play: none 😩 i took piano and guitar lessons as a kid, and quitting both is one of my biggest regrets. 

11. Languages you speak: fully fluent in english, moderately conversational in spanish

12. Favourite song: i have two, and they could not be more opposite lmao. (1) over the rainbow, because it reminds me of my grandfather & (2) crazy in love, no explanation necessary 

13. Random fact: being asked for a random/fun/interesting fact makes me anxious, because suddenly everything about me & everything i know is incredibly boring!

14. Cats or dogs: i really vibe with cats, i’m not sure why. maybe it’s like my general sleepiness and indifference lol. 

my own cat is my true soulmate. i’m like rosa from brooklyn nine-nine when she’s like, ‘if anything happened to this dog, i would kill everyone in this room and then myself.’ but with my cat.

15. Aesthetic: for my home, very minimalistic - i hate having stuff, just for the sake of having stuff. for my clothes - no idea how i would classify it. i wear a lot of dark colors, i love a big hoodie/sweater & leggings & combat boots vibe, love a french tuck. this is the third time i’ve used the word ‘vibe’ in this tag, so you tell me!

16. 🎶 playlist on shuffle: i’ll do the top songs of 2018 playlist on spotify

1. what i need - hayley kiyoko (feat. kehlani)

2. goodnight n go - ariana grande 

3. give yourself a try - the 1975

4. seventeen - troye sivan

5. i wanna know - NOTD (feat. bea miller)

6. getting over you - lauv

7. should i - phoebe ryan

8. i lied - tove styrke

9. let’s stay in bed all day - prides

10. friends - why don’t we

i think i saw this tag at least ten times during my morning tumblr scroll, so i feel like everyone’s done it! i’m gonna do that cop-out and say if you see this and want to participate, feel free!

#get to know me #tag

[stevenvenn]

Steven's Nifty 50 of 2017 - #30 - #21

Here are my favourite albums 30 - 21 (of 50). These are in no particular order just how I saw them relating to each other. Doing a true countdown would be too nerve-wracking. You can listen to my favourite cuts from each of the albums on Spotify and watch them on YouTube (links below). You can also read my thoughts on the albums below the links broken into 5 posts counting down by 10s. Enjoy and feel free to comment.

Spotify playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/user/stevenvenn/playlist/7qSpcgdwXuoLtIStRQeRto?si=Je3qbALHQUCqgEkiBMsCtg

YouTube playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqUMf7mP_mnMOmDl94VCPIJPFliPf62a5

NOTES

21. Timber Timbre – Sincerely, Future Pollution (Arts & Crafts)

Over the course of 4 albums Timber Timbre has been the canvas for Taylor Kirk to experiment with gloomy, southern gothic folk, blues and indie rock that feel as much Flannery O’Connor as a rocking sermon delivered by Nick Cave. That spirit is still there in tracks like “Sewer Blues” with its mix of ghostly meets John Carpenter. But here on the newest effort from the Toronto band, they’ve shown that they can also gradually transform into a funky but spooky 70s band a la Alan Parsons Project and even have nods to the brilliance of crooner Bryan Ferry (especially on the opening track “Velvet Gloves and Spit”) without it seeming out of place or character. This is the dark side of the lounge where the scary characters are drinking mai tais. There’s also a kinship with Canadian legend Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man” era in these songs with Kirk’s speak-song style and the song’s 80s synthy sheen. There’s a scary ghost in the machine here and he needs to get out.

22. Cigarettes After Sex – s/t (Partisan Records)

Lethargic, hazy, placid, languid, dreamy. All good descriptors of the debut from Brooklyn’s Cigarettes After Sex which was almost a decade in the delivery (fittingly for the pace of this band). The debut is a collection of songs performed at one slow and steady pace but they do it incredibly well and really know their sound and more importantly its mood. The sleepy and seductive voice of Greg Gonzales compliments the slowly strummed reverby guitar and “barely there” percussion that is akin to other hypnotic Nyquil-paced bands like Mazzy Star (if they were fronted by Rhye's Mike Milosh instead of Hope Sandoval) or the gentle grace of Mojave 3. There’s a distinct wistful romanticism with a touch of melancholy to Gonzales’ songs framed by the band’s gauzy dream pop arrangements that make the album seem more like collection of chapters about the dangers and challenges of love and loss in the same intimate book.

23. Aldous Harding – Party (4AD)

At turns quiet, singing with a voice that is hushed and at other instances operatic and coldly chilling as Nico, New Zealand’s Aldous Harding’s second album is an incredible triumph. She describes her work as “gothic folk” and that’s a good way to describe the feeling of her album. There’s a witchy darkness underneath all the pastoral piano and finger-picked guitar. The real star of course is Harding’s voice that has incredible ranges that soar throughout the fabric of the album, at times whispery and at other times mercurial. The arrangements especially, albeit minimal even downright spartan, are truly magical as well and a great complement to the low-key vibe of Harding’s songwriting.

24. Julie Byrne – Not Even Happiness (Ba Da Bing Records)

At the outset of her excellent folk album, Julie Byrne entices the listener with the opener “Follow My Voice” and follow her we do. This gentle and dreamy work is built on the sleepy and melancholic voice of Byrne first and foremost, and her delicately picked acoustic guitar. Byrne is a songwriter exposing her true nature and emotions in a very naked and poignant manner. There is a playfulness as well to her guitar work that reminds me of John Fahey’s better moments at times. Solitude seems to be the goal here that Byrne is reaching for. We get that lovely feeling that one can have at a sunrise when the colours and sounds seem made solely for us in an intimate and independent way.

25. Nev Cottee – Broken Flowers (Wonderfulsound)

Northern England seems to be the place for incredible crooners with deep and sonorous voices that have seen a wee bit o’ life. There’s the timeless Sheffield singer-songwriter Richard Hawley who comes to mind. Add to this the gravel-voiced beauty of Manchester’s Nev Cottee who on album #3 possesses that well-worn patina that made a lot of Lee Hazelwood’s albums so great in his heyday. Broken Flowers (a title taken from the Jarmusch movie perhaps) is a good title for an album of country and psychedelic-tinged songs that would be suitable for a man who is a little past his prime. He’s coming to terms with life as it is, with mistakes and regrets all adding to the present character. Life is not easy but it can be managed and present itself as a lovely melancholic portrait if you are willing to accept and move forward without a lot of unreasonable expectation.

26. The Weather Station – s/t (Paradise of Bachelors)

The solo project of Toronto folk singer-songwriter Tara Lindemann, Weather Station has always been a pure and precise exploration of the folk traditions started by Joni Mitchell (who vocally Lindemann most resembles) and Rickie-Lee Jones. One acoustic guitar and one amazing voice is the true heart of any Weather Station song that is expanded out with the touches of electric guitar, mandolin, rock drumming, and chamber strings. Above all the beautiful prairie rock arrangements is Lindemann’s voice that just cuts through with its nostalgic documentation of bygone moments. Like looking through an album of old photos, forever locked in time.

27. Aimee Mann – Mental Illness (Superego)

Possibly Mann’s most accomplished release thus far, Mental Illness isn’t so much about one person coming to grips with her own emotional challenges as much as telling the story of broken people who have to contend with everyday efforts to keep their heads above water. Mann is not apologetic in some instances about how mental illness can confound those around the sufferer as well. There’s a sense of drama and the cinematic but on a small and intimate scale that once again demonstrates why she was an excellent choice to cover Nilsson on the soundtrack for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia film. There’s a real sense of craft and skill in Mann’s compositions and songwriting that few can match, and she always reminds me of short story writer Raymond Carver in her songs.

28. Julien Baker – Turn Out the Lights (Matador)

The sophomore release of Tennessee’s Julien Baker is a lot more layered, piano-driven and orchestral affair this time around, much bigger than her debut Broken Ankle both in the music and in her singing range. She can go from simple whispers along with picked electric guitar to ferocious climaxes of voice on many of these songs. Each song on the album is a document of coming to grips with living with mental illness and having your faith tested. Julien Baker has always been a sensitive and raw singer but here you not only hear the sadness in her voice but can feel it in your bones as it builds on songs like “Appointments.” But there’s never a feeling of glorifying the darkness and wallowing in it just an acceptance that it will always be there and trying to come to exist alongside it.

29. Daughter – Music From Before The Storm (Glassnote)

London trio Daughter have always created darkly emotional and cinematic music so it’s no surprise that in 2017 they were asked to provide the soundtrack for an episodic adventure video game called Before the Storm which is part of the Life Is Strange series. It’s an adventure where the player assumes control of sixteen-year-old Chloe Price who, along with schoolmate Rachel Amber, get up to some teenage mayhem including ditching school, arson, and underage drinking. So angst, invincibility, tenderness, and anger are some of the emotions that are mirrored by Daughter’s incredible score. The album is not just a collection of musical cues but an integrated part of the game.

30. Slowdive – s/t (Dead Oceans)

What can I say when one of my favourite bands from the shoegazer era finally decide to reform after a 20 year hiatus and record a reunion album that is by far one of their best efforts ever? There’s been some incredible growth in musical ability and songwriting for Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell who formed Mojave 3 following the dissolving of the original Slowdive. Halstead would also go on to record some beautiful folk-styled solo albums. Meanwhile drummer Simon Scott collaborated with Fennesz and also became a skillful ambient musician in his own right. With the regrouping there is a definitive new found strength to Slowdive from all of these various pursuits that are informing their new material. The sound is still dream-poppy but there’s a distinct confidence, maturity, and sophistication now that was missing somewhat on their earlier records.

#nifty50of2017 #stevenvenn #bestof2017 #music