2022, I think, has been a difficult year for many of
us. I cannot imagine how difficult the
past few years have been for musicians with the closures and shut downs taking
away essentially every opportunity to perform and share their art or even
create it.My goal in sharing the music
I love with as much gusto as I have is to celebrate it!Not just those that I champion here, but all
of it.I admire the effort and passion
to not only have the talent and creativity and vision to make music, but to
also bring it to the public for those of us who struggle to make things
happen.Considering all of the
obstacles, 2022 has been as vibrant and exciting as any other year in music.These choices below are an approximation of
what I believe my most listened to albums of the year have been.
Love Lives in the Body is Soft Blue Shimmer’s
second album, and as I’ve said before, this band’s sound is one that I
love! I have trouble writing about
them. My love for them does not elicit
any kind of narrative. I just enjoy
their music. It seems to be deeply
rooted in me. I remember a time when I
was in my early twenties and in love with the idea of love. I had experienced, in a big way, that early
electric bliss that comes with a fresh crush/relationship and on the other side
of the coin, around the same time, I had gone through a lot of serious
heartbreak and loss. I became a mess of
emotions and conflict. Everything in
life became exceedingly poignant and powerful.
Inevitably, all of the songs I loved from that era that evoked any
direct emotions from those experiences, all still tap into those vivid days. I began to amass a soundtrack for those times. Songs that poked the bruises of those
emotions were of a wide variety of sounds, but are all linked in their own
genre that only makes sense to me. Soft
Blue Shimmer’s warm sound envelops me into that world – a world of my deepest
desires and regrets - the things that bring tears to my eyes. Their songs mean a lot to me in a deeply embedded
way. Perhaps, they’ve stumbled upon just
the right dose of bittersweet. I miss
the feeling of feeling so much. Age and
accumulation of experiences, at least for me, has numbed me, despite my best
intentions to avoid it. Hearing music
like this makes me feel alive. In some
ways, I need to keep that bruise going.
Love Lives in the Body, indeed. Much like
Soft Blue Shimmer’s music lives in my body.
Main vocalist, Meredith takes
a breath in and out to open their second album, before we are set into their
stunning musical realm. It’s like a ‘here
we go’ prep. Their wash of soft buzzing
guitars, plush drums, and Meredith’s heavenly vocals are always pleasing, and
it’s about then when I realize that I will be listening to these songs a lot!
The slow unfurling of the pre-LP
single, “Prism of Feeling,” is beautiful as it blooms into a sound that one
wants to hear again and again. This is
similar to the rising earnestness of “Cloudless.” “9090” is the most upbeat song, while “Memory
/ Fantasy” is quite melancholy with matching incredibly visual and poetic
lyrics. Definitely my early favorite.
The album unfolds in an unusual
way. It leans toward the dreamy side
early, and increases the tempo and pop hooks as it progresses. SBS, have found a magical balance between the
shoegazey elements I love and the crisp fizz of indie pop, which I love as much. They remind me a bit of 90s legends, Majesty Crush, only without the creepy
and sinister lyrics. I feel a profound
loss in these songs, thought I am likely projecting, as they explore not just
the emotional loss of a loved one, but the physical one as well. It’s a thought-provoking thread to consider
and deeply felt. Maybe that’s part of
what poking the bruise is all about. So
often, we mourn the emotional loss, but not the little things, like just the
right touch to the forearm at just the right time. Love
Lives in the Body evokes all of that.
The dichotomy between the darkness of
the words and the bright music is fantastic - something that has always appealed to me! On their Bandcamp page they
let us know that they’re here to make you
think about stuff or forget about stuff.
Could not be more accurate.
Timeless music! Their records are
like the best candy that we all try to save to consume last.
Normally, when I present these annual
best of lists, it feels like a celebration of how much great music has come
along during a given year.It is fun to
remember those early year albums, along with the fresh fire of an exciting late
year release!This strange year has been
no exception.So much great music has
come about in 2020, despite the crushing blows received by the music industry
(and so many of us) during this pandemic.This is a small portion of what teased my ears this year and, as always,
was very tough to narrow down.The
creative spirit is alive and well and though I have not found the same kind of
fire, inspiration, and solace that I normally do from music, it is still my go
to – no matter what.Something always breaks through and brings
about raw feelings and hope.As 2020
winds down, it is difficult to be too optimistic, as promise of a return to
normal life still seems so far away.At
any rate, please check out these fine artists, if you are unfamiliar, there’s a
lot of great music here.
Not feeling especially nostalgic at the moment, despite reaching the end of another year - another decade. This list is comprised of my most listened to records of this past year. There are many other deserving releases that I'm neglecting, which is never easy for me. Here it is nevertheless.
I’ve been procrastinating writing
this forever.I think it’s because of my
constant self-doubt about why I write about my favorite music.It all feels so useless, especially since I’m
not very eloquent, and as has been said before “writing about music is like
dancing about architecture.”In other
words, it’s difficult to explain the sound of a song, especially without relying
too much on pigeonholing artists by comparing them to others.I generally attempt to describe the music’s
impact on me personally, in hopes of enticing the one person who might read far
enough to think “hey, this seems like something worth listening to!”Unfortunately, despite being really excited
about a lot of the new music I’ve been encountering, it has not translated into
words that I feel do these fine artists justice.But, I can’t seem to help myself.As I’ve said elsewhere, when I hear great
music, I want to shout out my love of it to the world!I want to play it loud enough for everyone to
hear and get the same kind of magic out of it that I do.Sometimes I think that perhaps I should
simply write my record synopses with simple phrases like: “This rocks!” and
leave it at that.
Nothing Happens Here is the debut EP from the L.A. band Soft
Blue Shimmer and I absolutely love it!!There you go.This is where I
should stop, but I won’t.These five
songs are so magically tuneful and enticing that I cannot stop listening to
them.Like the chorus from the wonderful
“Fruitcake,” my advice is to let each song dreamily work its way into your
subconscious – “crushing like a wave.”Lyrically, the songs all tie together with a theme of missing a partner
who has departed and our narrator pining over their memory.The languid “Dream Beam Supreme” presents the
battle to fall asleep when the mind won’t stop ruminating over that certain lost
someone, so, vocalist Meredith
invites that person to join her in her evasive dreams to dance.Next up is the upbeat blast of energy that is
“Shinji.”This song really gets me
going.There’s something about Meredith’s
calm vocals (I’ve been deliberately repeating “I’ve been feeling more” over and
over in my head lately during stressful parts of the day), juxtaposed with the
crashing cymbals and twin guitar drive of the music that is stunning.Back on the unbelievably perfect pop song
that is “Fruitcake,” we find Meredith in fear of dwelling on the sadness of
losing her former partner and trying to avoid being alone with those thoughts.A feeling I’m sure a lot of us can relate
with – at least I sure can.In this case
though, it all goes down easier with such a spectacularly hummable song.“Chamoy” also mines this territory
beautifully, as the memories linger (like chamoy sauce?) dangerously and with a
healthy bit of bitterness (“I thought I would miss that / the feeling of
missing / of something I thought I knew / but I’ll never miss that / the
feeling of leaving / or the scent of you in my room”).The dramatic closing song, “Happier Than
Mitsuru,” finds us getting a little fed up with these memories, and possibly
ready to try to move forward (“try to remember / but I / often forget that / I
can’t / keep seeking people from the past”).
These five songs are loaded with
sadness, but are so damn enjoyable to listen to!I cannot decide which song is my favorite, so
I have to play the entire thing from start to finish, and then, I have to play
them all over again.This young band has
completely caught my attention.I cannot
wait to hear more!
