October Roundup: Back to the basics
Happy November. Unfortunately, my favorite month of the year is over, but it brought some great listening along with it.
For the past couple of months, I’ve felt like I was losing touch with the original purpose of my 1 album/day endeavor. After spending this year publicly chronicling my listens in such a detailed way, I had to take a long hard look and see if (and how) being so public has affected the records I choose to cover, and the ways I have been consuming them. That’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed the albums I’ve shared throughout this process, because I absolutely have. I just needed to take a beat and remind myself that I’m doing this for me. This literally started as a New Year’s resolution. So, I tried to channel the energy I had in 2022 when I wasn't writing/posting about my listens: what are the records I've heard bits of that I haven't gotten around to finishing? What are “classic” albums in various genres that I haven't given a fair chance? What genres or niches have I not given as much attention to? What albums have I been hearing a lot about that I haven’t put in my queue?
October was a month of catch-up. But it paid off.
HIGHEST RATED: Turbulent Indigo, Joni Mitchell (1994)
Everyone knows I’m a Joni stan. So much so that I have the Ladies of the Canyon album artwork tattooed on my forearm. But I, like many others, predominantly know Joni for the ’60s and ’70s era of her discography. Not to say that I haven’t explored her other releases, but my deep knowledge ends around 1976’s Hejira. I recently read her biography by David Yaffe, which chronicles her entire career, from Canadian coffeeshop folk performances, to mid-’70s mega pop stardom, to the early 2000s “recluse” years. As I continued through the book, I listened* to each coinciding record, finally setting aside the time to listen in full to her later releases that I knew were a true departure from her earlier sounds.
*If you’re wondering how I listen to Joni, I have an Apple Music subscription. I initially got it exclusively to listen to Joni and Neil Young once they removed their music from Spotify, but I stuck around for the sound quality. At this point, I stick with Spotify out of sheer playlisting convenience. But I’ve been giving Apple Music quite a few minutes these days.
After powering through the misplaced sounds of Joni’s ’80s efforts, we finally got to 1994’s Turbulent Indigo. I’d heard most of the big ones from this album, but it was never one I habitually turned to; I was extremely comfortable in my folk hippie fairyland of Clouds (1969) and Blue (1971). Over the years, I’ve developed a true affinity for For the Roses (1972). Joni’s true first foray into bridging the gap between folk and jazz, the record has a perfect balance of the acoustic trances we know and love her for, and the introduction of new instruments, melodies, and thematic inspirations. Turbulent Indigo is the truest emulation of that sound, elevated to meet Joni where she was at that point in time, over 20 years later in the early ’90s.
Sonically, Joni was floundering after trying to go with the grain in the ’80s, only to be met with confused sounds and ambivalent fans—a true fall from grace after her stint as the pop star of the mid-’70s following the commercial success of Court and Spark (1974). She was also going through a divorce after 12 years with longtime bassist and collaborator (bordering on overinvolved producer) Larry Klein. Everyone loves to say Adele’s 30 is the quintessential divorce album, but I’d challenge that with Turbulent Indigo—what else is “Last Chance Lost” if not a poignant goodbye to the life she’s built with Klein (“Last chance lost, we talk of love in terms of sacrifice”)?
What makes Turbulent Indigo so successful is its use of the textures, tunings, and techniques of Joni’s iconic folk style, mixed with sounds she collected and developed throughout her jazz education (the acoustic finger-picking and tight harmonies on the title track, elevated with smooth yet driving auxiliary percussion, Wayne Shorter’s saxophone passes, and her moody and brooding vocal delivery). The record is a seamless combination of both sounds that bode so well for Joni, while exploring themes of love, yes, but also mistreatment of women (“The Magelane Laundries,” “Not to Blame”), or the commercialism of sexuality in ’90s culture (“Sex sells everything / Sex kills”), among other topical issues across public health and environmentalism (“The ulcerated ozone / These tumors of the skin”).
Joni’s notorious soprano was gone by ’94, after decades upon decades of smoking, but you don't miss it on Turbulent Indigo. This record shows Joni’s sultry alto in its prime. Just think, the punchy delivery on “Sex Kills” would not sound the same delivered in a “Woodstock”-esque falsetto. Joni has grown, as have her listeners. And Turbulent Indigo puts her maturity and evolution on display. Joni Mitchell is a reminder that nothing lasts forever and change is inevitable, but it's not something we should fear. Even if there are rough patches (or decades) you can still come out and see success on the other side: Turbulent Indigo rightfully won Joni her first Best Pop Album Grammy in 1996.
Top tracks include: “Sunny Sunday,” “Sex Kills,” “Turbulent Indigo”
Listen if you like: cigarettes, being cynical but being right, saxophone that could simultaneously put you to sleep and wake you from a coma, Van Gogh, comebacks
October Honorable Mentions
Self Titled, Crazy Horse (1971)
Top tracks include: “Beggars Day,” “I’ll Get By”
Listen if you like: Dad rock, circling guitar patterns, a wide open field, saying “horses” when you see horses out the window on a long car ride
Harmonium, The Soundcarriers (2009)
Top tracks include: “Uncertainty,” “Calling Me,” “Volcano”
Listen if you like: Antena, film scores, King Gizzard-esque vocal effects, Broadcast, shoegaze-adjacent
Roman Candle, Elliott Smith (1994)
Top tracks include: “No Name #1,” “Kiwi Maddog 20/20 (version 2 of 2)”
Listen if you like: instrumental interludes, surprising surf rock guitar, fog, archival tracks, wallowing
SHOCK OF THE MONTH: Something To Give Each Other, Troye Sivan (2023)
I’ll say it. I was a Troye Sivan doubter. I really didn’t think the person I’d seen on YouTube and Tumblr in 2013 could drop a pop release like this, but he did. Consider me shocked.
I know Troye Sivan from the internet. Like any other debilitatingly online person, one day Tyler Oakley’s Tumblr Tag video popped up on YouTube, my Tumblr was suddenly filled with #Troyler ship posts, and Troye Sivan never left my brain.
I’ve always known who he was, but I never dedicatedly tuned into any of his releases. When he dropped his TRXYE EP in 2014—the album art for which is firmly imprinted in my brain—I never listened. Even as he became a little more established (even releasing a now iconic collaboration with one of my personal favorites, Charli XCX), I never did a deep dive of sorts, and couldn’t consider myself a fan. I’ll be the first to say that since the first time I saw him was on YouTube in 2013, I questioned his musical ability, as well as his legitimacy.
Something To Give Each Other is his first full-length release since 2018, but Sivan has spent the last five years dropping various singles and EPs, exploring new sounds and techniques. It seems that the work he was doing on these small releases was finally complete, and he was ready to return with a bang. His first single, “Rush,” was incredibly strong and undeniably catchy. Sivan was making much more of a statement, letting it be known that he is to be taken seriously as a pop artist. And the world listened.
Out the gate, Sivan had the internet talking. Whether he was being accused of being fatphobic for the lack of diverse dancers in the “Rush” music video, getting somewhat trolled for an obvious and uninspired sample of Bag Raiders’ “Shooting Stars” on “Got Me Started” (a sample I, for one, have not gotten over), or the combination of debuting his drag look and featuring Ross Lynch in the “One of Your Girls” music video (I recently heard a friend of a friend say it is this decade’s “Wrecking Ball”), with each drop, anticipation was growing for the full LP.
Something To Give Each Other delivers pop decadence, with unique textures and beats that are as classic as they are fresh. Sivan dots his i’s and crosses his t’s with the little things: a gentle cascading synth leading into a chorus breakdown, deeply layered harmonies across the backing vocals, beats that evoke a play on ’90s R&B fusion. High point “What’s The Time Where You Are?” emphasizes this better-than-you attitude the record possesses: Stereogum published a great article about Sivan’s propensity for ‘curating’ and how that shows itself across the record. “How To Stay With You” provides an interesting close, with unique and punchy tones on the synths underneath Sivan’s casually confessional vocal delivery evoking some realness. Aside from being shocked that I enjoy a few songs on the record, I’m shocked at the overall picture I get when the album’s over. Once a doubter, I now consider myself a believer in the Sivan image, even if it is hypercurated.
Top tracks include: “What’s The Time Where You Are?,” “How To Stay With You”
Listen if you like: opulence, any of the Pop Greats, traveling, influencers, poppers, TikTok Shop
In Other October News, this month I also saw My Morning Jacket and Faye Webster in concert within days of each other: both wonderful experiences, and both with great openers (Madi Diaz for MMJ and Upchuck for Webster). I will say I do have some thoughts about the zoomer concert etiquette minefield we seem to be in these days, but now is not the time nor the place for a longwinded rant. Maybe soon, though.
In Other Other October News, I also have some more track reviews up on The Line of Best Fit. Check out my review of “Inzane” from Oslo art rock group Mall Girl, and Malummí’s new indie psych track “Bones.”
And with that, we continue. Only two months left!
