Writer's Brain March Round Up
This the first of a monthly round up series I'm doing. Here I'm including some of my recent articles, music recommendations, shoutouts, and smaller musings. These will always be free!
Writer’s Writing:
These are all the articles I published last month:
Squirrel Flower on why dynamics matter: “I don’t like guitar music that’s just loud the whole time” - Guitar.com
Those who follow me on social media have seen me gush about Ella quite a bit. I found her music just before the pandemic, and her subtle power was essential in getting me through that dark time. I pitched at least four other stories on her before I finally sat with her at Larimer Lounge in Denver for my Guitar.com debut.
It was the best possible scenario for the piece. Not only did I get to speak to her in person minutes before she performed (which is always my favorite thing ever). Not only was her set fucking phenomenal and my first live gig of 2024, but speaking to her after so many rejections reaffirmed my belief that I will 100% always get the chance to speak to every artist I really love (which is an offshoot of reaffirming the belief that I can do anything I set my mind to).
Chromeo On Their New Album 'Adult Contemporary,' Taking Risks And 30 Years Of Friendship - Grammy
Chromeo has always been one of those “safe” acts for me. That doesn’t mean they play it safe. They are forever redefining funk music in the modern era. “Safe,” in this case, means they sit in that happy medium of affection. There’s no burning passion, but there are fond memories and significant respect.
I don’t lose my shit over new Chromeo the way I do over new St. Vincent (hint hint at the topic of an upcoming newsletter), but I am always down for some of P-Thugg’s vocoder and Dave-1’s shiny guitar.
Since I first heard “Momma’s Boy” over a decade ago, they’ve been an act I throw on when I happen to scroll by one of their albums in my saved feed on Spotify. Or if they’re playing at a festival I always make time to dance to a few of their upbeat jams. Now that I’ve interviewed them I have every intention of flexing some guestlist for when they come through Denver later this year.
How Ghost Funk Orchestra weave NASA’s Apollo missions into their music - MusicTech
I loved how this piece happened. I discovered Ghost Funk Orchestra back in 2020 through my impeccable method of music discovery, and I was ecstatic about their modern take on jazz. The perfect balance of pop structure, instrumental prowess, and a badass horn section.
Then a few weeks ago their publicist opened her pitch on their new album, To The Moon, with:
“Excuse the random email.”
I immediately replied back, “This email was not random at all. I’m a fan of the band and I would love to interview them!”
Sometimes things just work out like that and I love it.
Writer’s Picks
These are some recent albums/artists I’ve discovered that I’m thrilled to share. You can keep track of the new music I’m loving by following my 2024 Albums playlist on Spotify:
Jonny From Space - Back Then I Didn’t But Now I Do
I had never heard of Jonny From Space before, but I saw my friends INVT post about him, and his album came out on Incienso, which automatically means it’s gonna be first-rate leftfield electronica.
Brittany Howard - What Now
I’ve been a fan of Brittany’s since the Alabama Shakes dropped their first album. Everything she’s done since then is phenomenal, and this album is a peak. She’s equal parts Ella Fitzgerald and Chris Cornell on this record.
plantoid - Terrapath
Absolutely amazing pysch rock. Plus, my friend Cody Pepper told me they had been a band for ten years before signing this record deal. I’m sure the wait was frustrating for them, but on the listener side, you can hear how their chemistry as musicians is mature and seasoned.
Tapir! - The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain
A wonderful alt-indie narrative album. I am so intrigued by this band. They came up from London’s underground playing at venues I frequented while I was there like The George Tavern and the Shacklewell Arms. Their whole deal is they wear these funky red helmets. I don’t know the whole story of that, but their music is intuitive and enthralling. It has acts and moods and a story arc that ends with an uplifting conclusion. It makes me wonder what is going on under the helmets. Plus I want to see them live so I can see how they sing while they’re wearing them.
Writer’s Friends
I know tons of people doing tons of cool stuff.
Maude Vôs - The Women of the Underground on Dublab
My dear friend Maude Vôs returned to the celebrated LA indie radio station, Dublab, with a new mix of entirely female, non-binary, and gender-fluid artists. Listen to it and see the full tracklist at the link.
Maude has always been a champion of equality in music and beyond. Other than their own impressive career as a producer, sound artist, educator, and DJ, they’ve grown their label, Delusional Records, alongside Marie Nyx, into a DJ-Mag North America Award-nominated force for uplifting LGBTQIA+, BIPOC & API artists.
Pilo & John Bryars - Devotion (Moby Remix)
My dear friend Pilo, who was already a legend, was just remixed by a bona fide legend, Moby. Pilo’s real name is Cam, and Cam is such an incredible producer. This original track comes from his 2023 EP on Boysnoize Records, X. Be sure to give that a listen as well:
No, Daniel Ek, the music industry isn’t like professional football - Sam Willings
My dear friend Sam Willings, Commissioning Editor at MusicTech, wrote a wonderful editorial about how Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s views on the music industry are inherently backward.
The hed of the article references a quote from Ek in a video he posted to his socials.
“The best analogy that I would have is that the music industry… is like professional sports,” he explains. “If you take football, it’s played by hundreds of millions of people around the world. But there’s a very, very small number of people that can live off of playing soccer full time. FIFA tells us that there’s about 100,000 people that can make it in football or soccer. [And there are also] hundreds of millions of people that are trying to make it in the music industry.”
I saw Sam post his dismay about the quote on Instagram, and then the next day there was a feature up about it. I asked him and he wrote it in a total stream-of-consciousness state. Which I love.
If you need any insight into why Ek’s quote is fucked, read the piece.
Kat Says: “Music Journalism Is Dead, Long Live Music Journalism.”
Closing on this one because my dear friend Kat Bein just shook music journalism to its core with her latest essay.
For weeks all the news around my dream career field has been ostensibly dismal, but Kat just injected a lethal dose of hope into my veins. She is a beacon, not just for music journalists, but for anyone who feels stuck or unsure of the future.
I feel equally inspired and rattled by her writing, and after reading this I’m about to start writing my next newsletter, which is my take on what it means to be a music journalist in this day and age.
Read this piece, subscribe to her newsletter, and pay her for her work. She might not mind writing for free (which she discusses in the piece), but that doesn’t mean her work isn’t worth $5 a month.