I feel like I’m going to start doing a weekly post about the albums I’m listening to. That way, even if I don’t end up writing something lengthy about a given album, I’m still spreading the good word.

So here goes.

Dip In The Pool – Retinae

I checked out Dip In The Pool because of something written on the release page for CFCF’s best of 2015 album, The Colours Of Life. This Japanese pop band had flown under the radar for a few decades, at least in my part of the world, which is a shame. Giving them a chance turned out to be the best decision I’d made in a long time, because this song is simply one of the catchiest things I’ve ever heard. Listen for yourself.

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CFCF – On Vacation

I’ve begun writing a longer piece on this short little brilliant album, so I’ll keep it brief. This just might be CFCF‘s most interesting release yet, just over a half hour of what I described to a friend, upon first listen, as a “user-friendly take on what Oneohtrix Point Never has been doing, recontextualizing a whole different set of ‘cheesy’ sounds from the 80s and 90s.” Also, there’s that Dip In The Pool connection.

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Joanna Newsom – Divers

I don’t even have words to describe this yet, mostly because Joanna Newsom is one of the most verbose artists I love. While I often gravitate toward music that takes “lyrical” in a more metaphorical way, her work is a major exception. She’s a virtuoso at hyper-literate folk music, spilling a novel’s worth of emotional narrative in 5 minute songs. Her albums have always felt like thick, leather-bound books ripped from somewhere just outside of time, and this one, so far, feels like a more focused distillation of the jazzy perfection she reached on 2010’s Have One On Me.

Here’s the song Sapokanikan, seen here last August. The video is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

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and..

Yep, definitely still listening to the new Kanye West album, The Life Of Pablo.

The album is honestly pretty uneven. But its peaks are incredible, an unfuckwithable meeting of production, style, bravado, and sheer unhinged id. It’s Kanye at his loosest, most personal, and it feels weird and ecstatic in a dozen different ways.

I’ll probably just make an edit with the 9 or so songs that really burn, but for now even the messy, unfinished edges hold a dangerous charm.

I’d put one of my new favorite tracks here, probably FML or Feedback, but this album is being scrubbed from youtube with a quickness. All I know is that none of my friends have Tidal and we’ve all heard the album, so if you haven’t listened, it’s out there.

Instead, here’s that early version of 30 Hours again, the song sampling Arthur Russell.