November 29, 2020
Listening selections for the week of November 29, 2020, best enjoyed with a pour over cup of Rising Star Coffee Roasters’ Nightfall Winter Blend, for pungent notes of spice and a hint of fudge.
Highlights include:
Sufjan Stevens’ most personal and affecting work since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell
Dance punk perfected from Does It Offend You, Yeah?’s lone masterpiece
Mind-blowing electro glam from one-album wonders Late of the Pier
British boy band excellence from The Vamp’s latest Cherry Blossom
Some of the most essential post-punk ever recorded
A masterpiece of dub from Flying Viper’s new LP Cuttings
Pop perfection from one of the genre’s most gifted talents
Regressive, but infectious indie bubble gum from The Temper Trap’s Johnny Aherne
An early MF Doom sighting on 3rd Bass’ Prince Paul-produced “The Gas Face”
Gnarly jazz influenced post-punk from Manchester’s Maruja
The delicate beauty of the Velvet Underground
Nico’s finest moment, sporting a warm, bubbly guitar tone to die for
Eerie freeform grooves from UK natives Waldo’s Gift
A compelling collaboration between UK producer Contours and an accomplished cohort of Kenyan musicians
Ill vibes from Ezra Collective, heavyweight producer Windle and grime legend JME
Effervescent neo-soul from Thea Gustafsson, aka Becky & The Birds
A slept-on bop from A Tribe Called Quest’s The Love Movement
Lucious soul-jazz from bassist-composer-producer Dougie Stu
Sauntering Brit pop from The Stone Roses’ self-titled masterpiece
Earnest Americana rock from Big Thief’s guitarist
A still fresh fusion of vaudeville and punk from one of the 21st century’s best family bands
A sultry highlight from Canadian pop chameleon Allie X’s Cape God
The opening cut off of David Bowie’s last great glam record
Bass heavy nu-rave from Klaxon’s adrenaline-fueled debut
A rousing anthem from North Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender
Soulful, atmospheric R&B from musical prodigy King Princess
Bombastic moody pop from wunderkind Sacha Rudy
As good as ‘80s pop gets, even if, deep down, we all know it’s a rip off of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”
The closing cut from one of 2020’s best albums: SAULT’s Untitled (Black Is)