It’s been 3 months since I last posted on here. So much for my weekly posts! I really don’t have any excuses. Sure, things got busy at work and in my personal life, but I’ve still had many opportunities to sit down and write a bit. I’m a teacher, and Summer break is almost over, so I want to write some update posts before things get busy and I go back to work again. Hopefully after these midyear update posts I can go back to regular weekly posts! Let’s start off with an update on music!
Surprisingly, I haven’t listened to as many albums as I would have liked to. I’m nowhere near having listened to one album per week in the past few months. I think new music can be the hardest thing for me to dedicate time to. Somehow, it’s easier for me to read a book or watch a movie every week. I think it’s because a “true” album listen for me isn’t just listening to an album one time, it’s listening to it multiple times and getting as much out of it as I can. I feel like music also requires more research for me to really appreciate it.
I’ve also found it difficult to find new albums to listen to. I’m sometimes worried about asking others for album recommendations because I’m afraid I won’t like what they recommend and that I will offend the person that recommended the album or artist to me. Music is just so personal!
Maybe we do get more picky with music as we age? Or maybe I’m just not as adventurous with branching out to new music as I would like to think. I hope to be more open-minded and less hesitant to give new music a listen going forward with the remainder of this year.
At the same time, I have been going to a lot of shows this year! I have a season lawn pass to see all of the shows at my local amphitheater. At least in this way I have been consuming a lot of new music to me! Most artists or bands that come are artists that I have heard of, but that I don’t know well (maybe I’ve just heard a song or two, for instance). Before the season started, I tried listening to some albums by some of the artists that came out, but I haven’t done enough “homework” for all shows. I feel a bit insecure sometimes and like a poser when I’m at these shows, but really I just love live music, and so I push past that discomfort.
Anyway! Here’s what I’ve listened to since April:
Young & Unafraid by The Moth & The Flame
3.5/5 stars
This is the first album my sister recommended to me this year Well, she didn’t recommend the album as a whole, but she sent me a song from this album and I liked it enough to want to listen to the rest of it. My sister has some, how shall I put this, ~unique~ taste in music. In the past few years it seems that she has mainly been into French and Russian music. I feel like she’s making her way through all music from different countries in Europe. Half the time she will send me songs that I think are spooky/unnerving. This time around, she sent me “Empire of the Sun” from Young & Unafraid, and it’s quite nice!
The Moth & the Flame are an alternative rock band. Young & Unafraid came out in 2016, so it’s not really a new album. I’m a bit surprised that I had never heard of this band before because their style of music is very much like the music that I listened to back when I was in college. It’s a very 2010s hipster-y kind of sound, but not in a bad way.
Although I really enjoyed listening to this album throughout a whole week and it has the kind of sound that I gravitate towards, I can’t rate it higher than a 3.5 because it didn’t speak to me deeply in any way with it’s themes/messages. Also, and forgive me if this is shallow, but at times the singer’s voice sounds a bit too much like Bono to me, and I really can’t stand Bono. Anyway, thank you sis! I enjoyed the album and it wasn’t spooky!
Flyleaf by Flyleaf
2/5 stars
Flyleaf is an album that came out by the band of the same name in 2005. Flyleaf is a Christian rock band, but apparently they are also popular among non-Christians. In fact, this band was recommended to me by a Lyft passenger I once drove. He said he wasn’t religious, but that this band’s lyrics resonated with him. I have vague memories of my old friends having a poster or painting inspired by this album’s cover art in her room.
Apparently there’s some controversy surrounding this band, or maybe just its lead singer, but I don’t really want to go into that. You could give this video a watch if you want to hear about the drama:
Unfortunately, I didn’t really like this album. I didn’t hate it, but it was just “meh” for me. Maybe I would have liked it more back in my “emo” days when I was more into this kind of sound. Luckily I will probably never give a ride to that same Lyft passenger again. He was a sweet kid, and I’d hate to tell him I wasn’t into the album!
Come on Over by Shania Twain
5/5 stars
I mainly listened to Come on Over by Shania Twain to prepare to see her in concert for the Summer lawn pass concert season I mentioned earlier, but wow! Where has the Queen of Country Pop been all my life? Of course, I knew “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” prior to listening to this album, but I have been missing out on so many amazing Shania Twain songs. I went to see Shania Twain with one of my coworkers, her husband, and my boyfriend. My coworker is a huge fan, and so I knew I had to do my homework for this show. I asked my coworker to recommend some albums to me, and this one was the first one she recommended, of course.
Growing up I wasn’t exposed to much country music. I actually kind of hated it, for the most part. I guess I’m not a fan of the cookie-cutter country formula of the music that you hear on radio. The kind of country that sounds like Bo Burnham’s parody song:
In any case, I really am trying to learn more about this music genre, and I loved dipping my toes more into country by listening to Come on Over. I loved its fun songs as well as the more serious/heart-felt songs. 5/5! Give it a listen. I guarantee you’ll find at least one thing to like about this album.
Creatures of Habit by Kiltro
4.5/5 stars
Creatures of Habit is the first album released by Kiltro, which is a band that was created by Chris Bowers Castillo, a Chilean-American. This is the second album my sister recommended to me this year. She said she wanted for me to listen to it and analyze the lyrics with her. I still haven’t gotten around to really looking into the album’s lyrics and meaning, but you can definitely tell that Kiltro is telling a story, especially when songs like “Curicó” and “Julia” mirror each other.
I loved the rhythms in this album and the guitar. I also loved how it blends English and Spanish at times. The code switching tickles my bilingual brain. The album has a dark and dreamy mood. It feels like it could be the soundtrack to Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo (not that you could really properly turn this book into a movie). Yes, I know Rulfo was Mexican and this is an album by a Chilean-American, but still, same vibe in my head. Dark Latin alt-rock and a gloomy Mexican novel.
Maybe this is also just me, but Castillo’s voice reminds me of the Alt-J’s vocalist, which might be a pro or con depending on who you ask!
The only reason I’m not giving this a firm 5/5 is because after a while, the songs all start to blend with one another. Maybe that’s the point though. It can make you feel like you’re stuck in a dream. Either way, I highly recommend this album! It’s not super long either, but at least give “The Drunk” a listen. It’s a fun one.
…and finally. Way too much John Mayer!
Like I said earlier, I haven’t listened to many new albums since April. The point of this blog was to keep myself accountable and actually push myself out of my comfort zone. And what has been my comfort zone for the last few years? John Mayer and Joji, but John Mayer especially this year.
Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that John Mayer is super talented, especially when it comes to playing the guitar. He is like my comfort food. I listen to him a lot of times when I work or when I drive. He’s just so easy to listen to. Of course, he does have several songs that do speak to me on a deeper level, but mainly I just throw him on in the background most days.
My mom has been a fan of his for a while too, ever since he released Heavier Things. Therefore, who else would I choose to take with me to see him live when he came to town this year? I bought the best seats I could afford, and we went to see him for his John Mayer Solo tour.
The show was amazing. It was just him and his acoustic guitars on stage (well, and the piano for a song or two). I suspect he decided to go on this tour ever since his contract ended with his music label. You can tell that he wanted to go out and return to what he used to do when he first started out. He even admitted that this tour was mainly for him and that he hoped we would be ok with him playing the songs he wanted to play and not necessarily the most popular songs.
While I’ve listened to all of his albums, I can’t say that I can name every single one of his songs, and I only somewhat know some of them. On the other hand, there were a couple of guys sitting behind my mom and me who knew every song and all the words. I loved their enthusiasm! When John played a song I didn’t recognize, they were able to tell me its name. I’ve been listening to “Edge of Desire” on repeat ever since.
And that’s basically what I’ve listened to since April! Four albums and a whole lot of John Mayer and songs I’ve saved on Spotify in the past.
I hope to post my movie and book updates in the next few days. Thanks for reading!
One Per Week 
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