i listened to music this month. did you??
“what’s going on” - marvin gaye
i am a certified music listener. that being said, what am i, a certified music listener, going to say about marvin gaye “what’s going on” besides it’s so cool and it’s a mood-setter?? it has an aura similar to “loveless,” for me, where i feel like i kinda can’t say anything besides praise, y’know? years and years ago, leo first extolled the virtues of listening to albums as albums, as complete art pieces, and not just plucking the songs out and listening to them on their own. which isn’t to say we never just throw songs on—we do—but it’s far more illuminating to see art in context. i remember when i listened to this, it just felt like one long piece, like it was carrying me somewhere.
“raise the roof” - alison krauss and robert plant
besides leo, one of my MVPs is my friend megan. she makes playlists, i listen, i find shit that i like. “quattro (world drifts in)” was at the top of one, and i loved it. i knew alison krauss from the “o brother, where art thou?” soundtrack, which is a superlative album, and i liked her voice, but i’d never listened to robert plant because i don’t listen to dad rock, except for creedence, because duh. so, i decided to listen to the whole album.
it’s very traditional abbie shit. it’s not immediately apparent if you only know my taste from what’s been written in the abbiestack so far, but i love folksy singer-songwritery shit; i listened to a lot of johnny cash at an impressionable age. this album scratches that itch. i love “trouble with my lover” and “you led me to the wrong.” “can’t let go” is such a hoot. the end is so strong, “high and lonesome” (my notes just say I LOVE CLAPPING) and “going where the lonely go” and “somebody was watching over me” in succession… yahoo!!!
“the kick inside” - kate bush
i’m a bit of a bush head. maybe more accurate to say i’m a “hounds of love” head, given i haven’t really immersed myself in her discography enough to authentically claim being a bush head, but whatever. anyway, i like kate bush, but i don’t… love this. crazy!!! i feel blasphemous, especially as leo reads over my shoulder and reads this album title and says “that’s a good one.” i have almost no notes for this, like the album just happened to me, as opposed to me actively listening to it. it’s fine. it’s fine! i see where she’s going (i mean, it’s 2024, hindsight) and i can figure out how she gets there from here, given this was her debut album. i loved “strange phenomena” and i really loved “them heavy people.”
back in 2018, leo studied abroad. he was gone for thanksgiving. i was hanging out with his mother jeanette the night before while she was prepping the turkey and shit, and she was talking about kate bush “wuthering heights.” i don’t remember how we arrived at that, but we did. she was talking about how much she liked it, and how she’d heard it on XPN recently, and so we played it, and we danced. and then we played it again and again. it’s a very precious memory to me.
for me, at least right now, it just feels like no song on the album hits the high of “wuthering heights.” i mean, time changes things, and feelings are malleable, so maybe one day i’ll turn on “the kick inside” and it’ll all just slot into place. but for right now, it’s just okay.
“all hail west texas” - the mountain goats
if you’ve been reading the abbiestack, then i’m sure you’re slowly coming to understand “abbie shit.” abbiecore, if you will. as time goes by, you will similarly become acquainted with leocore. this album?? super leocore. textbook leo. he loves men with guitars, often with whiny voices, singing about how sad they are, or how they miss their friends, or how there were girls that stomped on their hearts. midwest emo shit. this is a leocore album. and, like, i like my fair share of whining—i can’t help but be fond of the smiths, even now—but it’s not usually my thing. i love such music because it makes him happy, and because it makes me nostalgic, because he’s been listening to this shit since i’ve known him. this album isn’t bad, it just doesn’t grab me the same way. my biggest standout was “blues in dallas,” if only because nothing else on the record sounds exactly like it, because of the beeps and boops. the lyrics are the highlight, obviously, considering john darnielle is an author, now. and… (squinting at his wikipedia page) and a pisces, of course, typical leo and his fellow piscean sadboys.
“let love in” - nick cave and the bad seeds
so if you were lucky enough to stumble upon a roadhouse lit with red neon lights filled with vampires, this is what would be playing on the jukebox. historically, i really like tom waits, and based solely on what i’ve osmosed from, like, life, i always regarded nick cave as tom waits if he were goth. and i was right!!! as far as my perspective is concerned, at least. this album is spooky-evil, like if you had a bag full of bats. like if you walked into a room and it was full of sheet ghosts. like if there was full moon. like if there was a cowboy that was also a vampire. the mood? impeccable.
“do you love me”?? what a way to open it. i’m psychosexually obsessed with the piano bit that runs ‘til about :55. can i get her number? “loverman”?? an evil vampire song. i’m me, so i love the bit where it really explodes, and bits of the piano motif from “do you love me” trickle in. “red right hand”?? the song that made me listen to this, as i’ve historically been a scream (1996) kid. as i wrote in my notes, perfect for any time you want to feel evil and fucked up. it kinda gives highwayman to me. and when i say that, i mean like a literal highwayman. “i let love in”?? piano goes crazyyy. “ain’t gonna rain anymore”?? evil as fuck.
actual picture of me when i listen to “let love in.”
“the boatman’s call” - nick cave and the bad seeds
this shit is straight-up somber! melancholic, even!!! i listened to this for the first time and i was like yeah, okay, i get it, you’re moody, whatever. and then i kept listening to it and i was like, okay, i love you, i get it. honestly, this album is like a proto-the national, to me. low, droning voice, songs that all song similarly sad, themes of depression. but i liked this so much more than the national album i’d listened to. “into my arms” is such a tender way to open it. nick cave’s voice has that edge to it, so no matter what comes out, it’s always a little serrated, even if it’s sweet. the first song on the album that i truly love is “there is a kingdom.” i love the sound of his voice here, the choruses. it almost has a reassuring quality, like something religious, like a hymn, but there’s something to it that doesn’t soothe me, y’know?
i don’t hate anything here. it’s solid and never drops into a low point, for me. the best it gets is “west country girl” into “black hair” into “idiot prayer.” like, all three of those have sick intros. there’s something about this album that casts a shadow over me. i have a feeling it might become important to me, in some way, as i get older. there’s lots of time in a life to be melancholy, after all.
“dig, lazarus, dig!!!” - nick cave and the bad seeds
almost completely forgettable. to me. this month’s “infinite granite.”
not much variety this month! though, to be fair, these are just my first listens. i continued to listen to a lot of my faves and first listens from last month (hello, djo “decide,” which i listen to in the shower and also when i make breakfast) throughout april.
i’d meant to write it up for the abbiestack, but i never got around to it, so i’ll mention it here: we went to a concert this month! swans at union transfer on april thirteenth. it was our second time seeing swans as a couple, leo’s third, and it rocked!!! i was dressed really cute and i don’t have any pictures so you’ll just have to trust me. it kinda sucks to be my height at 99% of standing room only venues, but it bothers me the least at UT. last year we went to a show at the former electric factory and that was a dogshit venue to be short at. i digress—peepaw rocked the show. i should actually listen to swans on my own some time. it’s very my shit.
while i was writing this up, leo leaned over and said “i think, at the end, you should recommend one.” i thought that was a great idea, and i’m glad he only suggested it now, because if it were last month, i’d have a hard time picking just ONE album, given how crazy i was for almost everything i listened to last month. no surprise i’m going to recommend everyone listen to “let love in.” like last month, here’s a playlist of some of my faves from april.
music enjoyment is alive in me and i hope it’s alive in you, too!!!
programming note: for may, i’m gonna run a silly little series i’m calling “music may” for lack of a snappier name. on mondays and fridays i’ll be highlighting some of my favorite artists, for funsies. yay!!!
It is alive in me too thank you