Since you’re seeing this a day late, you might have gathered the fact that I was busier than normal this week. After Memorial Day left me only four days to take on a new project at work, I barely got around to writing about music, which always feels pretty bad.
Still, I’m thankful for a job that allows me all the time in the world to listen to new music. I’m going to mention the best stuff now. Spoiler alert: The Avalanches appear.
What happened this week? What didn’t happen?
No more rock gods died. We’ve got that going for us. Aside from continuing my Prince binge and getting cereal lessons from Kendrick Lamar, I replayed one of the greatest video games of all time. I luxuriated in some deep house tunes. Oh, and Beyoncé dropped one of the biggest surprises I’ve ever heard from a pop star.
Things are looking pretty good from here.
Prince created dozens of songs that will never leave my head, but this one stands out especially strong this week. To my ears, it’s the ultimate track off the second Prince & The Revolution album, Around The World In A Day.
So this will be remembered as the week that Prince died. The sudden and unexpected departure of one of the last rock stars on earth was a blow that we no one wanted in 2016, not after losing so many larger than life, all time favorite artists already. I haven’t seen people come together so much in commiseration or celebration since David Bowie died. The music world lost a bright shining star, and I personally lost another icon I’d held close over the years.
At least I can say that this week also brought some incredible new music. Here’s what we’ve got.
This week, the sun finally cracked through and warmed Michigan a little. I finally rode my bike to work again after months of winter blues. I also helped send off winter by finally watching The Revenant.
I also listened to a lot of great new music. Let’s see what happened:
This week’s real world brought a deadly terrorist attack in Belgium, while the music world brought the premature death of a hip-hop hero. It was downers all around, and I struggled personally with some dark moments too. At least in my own case, I try to meditate, focus, and seek the healing power of art. This is how I keep perspective.
It’s also how I end up sharing music. Here we go:
I woke up to some really interesting news. Kendrick Lamar dropped an official collection of many of the songs he’s been debuting on Colbert, Fallon, and other one-time appearances over the last year. I’m just posting to share the new with any friends and readers who haven’t heard yet.
The whole brief album is streaming right here:
Optimistic Underground 