Happy Chinese New Year, folks!

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1) Joni Mitchell – Joni Mitchell at Newport (live album)

I’d say I cry about once a year. I get choked up often, watching YouTube videos of kind deeds, or thinking about the ending to Everything Everywhere All At Once on occasion, but I only manage a sob on an annual basis. I got it in early this year. It was a good one, brought on by this recent Joni Mitchell live album, which, last month, won a Grammy for ‘Best Folk Album.’ Deservedly so. So, what was it about this record that brought me to tears? Mostly, it was the amount of love for Joni Mitchell that positively radiates from every second of this recording. You can absolutely feel it. From the crowd, and from those sharing the stage with her. Every time she leans forward in her chair to sing the audience collectively catches their breath, not wanting to miss a second, not wanting to exhale at the wrong time, as if doing so might break the magic of the moment. And this album is magic. It is celebratory and joyous, each song here a showering of warmth and respect for Joni Mitchell, for her legacy, for her body of work, and for her spirit as a songwriter and as an individual who has had health problems in recent years. That she sounds this strong, this whole here, is miraculous, and I found myself transported to Newport alongside the live audience. And maybe this live album also got to me because there seemed something of my late grandmother in Joni Mitchell’s voice, huskier than it had been when she was younger, but still full of life all the same. I think of Joni Mitchell at Newport as a gift, and I find it hard to believe that anyone could listen to this Joni Jam and not feel some kind of way, even if not a Joni Fan. Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. [Apple Music]

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2) Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore (album)

Only right to begin with the thing I listened to most this month. I first discovered Future Islands after hearing their song ‘Light House’ in the French body-horror / family drama Titane (excellent movie) a few years back. The record that song appears on, Singles, has now been replaced by PWATA as my favourite from the band. Consistent as always, but with better production that really brings vibrancy to the outfit’s warm synth-pop, Future Islands’ seventh album is their best in years. As ever, the vocals of frontman Samuel T. Herring are wonderfully unique and compelling, while the lyrical content here is also more poignant and affecting than ever. I’ve been bouncing around the city to ‘The Thief,’ and quietly mellowing to ‘The Corner of my Eye’ all month. Great record.

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3) Hemlock Ernest & Height Keech – The Fall Collection (album)

Speaking of Future Islands frontman Samuel Herring did you know he has a hip-hop side project? I didn’t, at least, until a few weeks ago. Hemlock Ernst is a Herring alias, and the music he releases under the moniker is quite the departure from his work with the band he fronts. Stumbling across The Fall Collection was definitely a surprise, Herring rapping over industrial beats with a tight flow not immediately recognisable as belonging to the same artist who croons on People Who Aren’t There Anymore. When it does click, it hardly matters, Herring’s penmanship as Hemlock Ernst is tight and poised, the beats he uses industrial and gritty. Worth a listen, rewarding curiosity.

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4) Kings of Leon – Mustang (song)

You’d have to go back a few years to find the last time I cared about a Kings of Leon song / album, but this recent single certainly has me curious about the upcoming Can We Please Have Fun. ‘Mustang’ is a catchy and dynamic slice of Americana-infused rock, Caleb Followill wailing away over punchy instrumentals (“Are you a mustang or a kitty? / A mustang or a kitty?”). Love the bass on this song too, very tight. Definitely a strong return from the Followill brothers.

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5) Quadeca – Scrapyard (mixtape)

I’ve been listening to Quadeca (alias of internet rapper / producer / songwriter Ben Lasky) for a while now, but only really started paying close attention when he began to drop his Scrapyard singles over the past few months. The track he did with Brakence (‘A La Carte’), was on repeat towards the end of 2023, and features here amongst fifteen tracks advertised as unfinished songs, loose material, and adventures in new styles. These songs do not unfinished and loose though, and each finds a place in the tracklist here, Lasky showcasing his talent across a hybrid of genres. From vulnerable Xiu Xiu-esque experiments (‘U Tried That Thing Where Ur Human’) to braggadocios hip-hop (‘Guess Who?’), Quadeca is on fine form here, offering up some of his most engaging material to date. Nobody working in this lane is doing it as well as Lasky right now, and I’m stoked to see what he does next.

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6) The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy (album)

I get it – The Last Dinner Party are a very good band. Justin Hawkins told me, Fantano told me, everyone in the British indie publishing industry told me. Some of them mentioned that Prelude to Ecstasy does not sound like a debut full-length, and it doesn’t. Grandiose, cinematic, and gloriously theatrical, the songs of The Last Dinner Party are full of craft and synergy, the five-piece dancing across the entirety of their first LP. I find myself returning to ‘Nothing Matters’ most often, but every song on here is gold. Believe the hype. [Apple Music]

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7) Bilmuri – Better Hell (single)

It’s only February, but you needn’t look further for the catchiest chorus of the year. ‘Better Hell’ is the most re-playable song I’ve heard in 2024 so far, and, at only two and a half minutes long, it speeds by. Not as heavy as some of the older work, and instead substituting those more abrasive moments for melody, Bilmuri is onto a winner with this blend of country, metal, and pop. I’ve listened to this song at least fifty times since it dropped, and it still has me grinning like an idiot every time. Yet to tire of it. The video is dope, also.

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8) Dayseeker – Spotless Mind (song)

I did my annual rewatch of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind this month, and it remains my favourite film of all time (to the surprise of absolutely nobody). Afterwards, I was scouring the IMDb trivia, to see if there’d been any changes since the last time – I have a chunk of it memorised. This time around I saw mention of this Dayseeker song, inspired by, and using lines from, the movie. I was never big into Dayseeker, outside of a few songs, but wanted to give this a listen for the references, and was pleasantly surprised. Sort of what you’d expect from the post-hardcore genre the band associates themselves with, clean vocals over heavy instrumentals, some screams here and there, but the way in which the band weave in the influence works really well for me, although there’s certainly a gulf in character between Jim Carey’s Joel and vocalist Rory Rodriguez. A little dramatic, but also worth a listen for fans of the movie.

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9) Knocked Loose – Blinding Faith (single)

It’s a new Knocked Loose single, so, of course I’m listening to it. It’s tough to write about the music of Knocked Loose, as ‘heavy’ never really cuts it. Better just to experience it for yourself. Very excited for this new record, due in May.

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10) The Chisel – What A Fucking Nightmare (album)

Great to see this London-based punk group come through with a solid sophomore record this month. It’s slightly bloated at sixteen tracks, with not quite enough variety to separate some songs on here, but amidst those songs there are some stellar throwbacks to a bygone era. Tracks like ‘Bloodsucker’ and ‘No Gimmicks’ are powerhouses, and it’s impossible not to appreciate the brash swagger of ‘Fuck ‘Em.’ Been a while since I’ve enjoyed a punk record as much as I enjoy this one.

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