ten good songs
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ten good songs 2/25

ten good songs 2/25

Barry Keoghan as John Lennon

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good morning, team. this week was eventful, which is why i’m here to soothe your soul with ten glorious songs. we kick off this week’s playlist with some chillstep retrodub (idk), dovetail into some jazz/hip-hop fusion, a few tracks of some hardcore rock and roll, and stick the landing with a couple of slow burns that I can only describe as “perfection.” i do want to call out Mall Girl, which is almost certainly my new favorite band. one EP and two albums of nothing but bangers. please deep dive into these singularly excellent Oslo rockers when you get the chance. and now some headlines…

headliners

SAM MENDES TO DIRECT FOUR BEATLES FILMS (NYT)

American Beauty, James Bond, 1917….. Ringo Starr?? Okay, so a British filmmaker known for remarkably ambitious action films is now focusing his attention on FOUR Beatles films, each focusing on a different band member of the world’s most famous rock band. my immediate hope is that these films are trippy and surreal and not just another four biopics that will put me to sleep. nobody wants another Yesterday. all i want is a three-hour LOTR-style medieval action epic featuring Barry Keoghan as John Lennon. is that too much to ask??

PUNK BAND MAKES AI VERSION OF COLDPLAY VIDEO (LOUDWIRE)

this week IDLES ruffled some feathers by recreating the music video for Coldplay’s “Yellow” with the help of AI gasp! this created… drama. on one hand, i get the backlash. many consider AI to be the death of artistry, and what is less punk than that? on the other hand, i’ve seen a lot of DIY artists without a lot of resources put their own spin on AI to generate unique visuals for album art and social posts. the point is that context matters. i highly doubt this is the last time we’ll have this debate.

TAYLOR LISTENED TO ME

i just want to take a moment to point out that this is the first week in a very long time where we haven’t seen any major headlines about the world’s most popular Taylor. the Grammy’s were obviously a sign that she needed to lay low for a while, and her PR team took the hint. so let’s pour some whiskey and celebrate the Taylor off season! woohoo!

best new albums

rated on a scale of “👍really good” to “👍👍👍 really really really good”

💿 The Anchorite by Geotic (experimental)
👍👍 really really good - give this album of lush soundscapes a listen and it will reward you
⭐ Standout Tracks: “The Heart is Placed Beside Us” “The Monastic Quiet” “The Lime of Stars:”

💿Daniel by Real Estate (chill rock)
👍 really good - here i was thinking Real Estate was past their prime but they found a way to stay fresh with this one while maintaining their original DNA
⭐ Standout Tracks: “Airdrop” “Somebody New” “Flowers”

💿 Loss of Life by MGMT (wave)
👍 really good - okay so this album didn’t floor me but i feel like it cements my theory that MGMT is tracing the footsteps of the Flaming Lips and i’m here for that
⭐ Standout Tracks: “Mother Nature” “Nothing Changes”