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Showing posts from January, 2021

"Emotion (featuring Wild Nothing)" - Molly Burch

Looking for something breezy and easy to listen to this Sunday evening? Try out Austin-based singer-songwriter Molly Burch's new single, "Emotion," featuring dream pop wunderkind Wild Nothing. It's chill and has a faint disco vibe that is enough to keep your mood up, but not overstimulate you in the process. It's a fine pop song, and the best of both Burch and Wild Nothing meet in the middle here.  I have to admit I'm not very familiar with Burch, but this song put her on my radar, and I look forward to discovering her work more over the next few days.  Also, if you've never really listened to Wild Nothing, there's not a bad album in their discography, so give them a listen - they're one of my all-time favorite acts for a reason.

"White Sands" - Still Corners

What better way to start a turbulent New Year then with some wonderful dream pop? I am glad that even if I am existing in a pretty dystopian period of history, that I have good music to chill out to and help me ground myself. That's why I've gravitated toward dream pop for years - it's relaxing, even when it's unsettling and otherworldly.  On January 22nd, Still Corners - one of the best dream pop bands currently releasing music - will drop the album "The Last Exit." This past week, they debuted their most recent single, "White Sands." The song details the story of a phantom who travels the desert scaring people; basically, the song is about an urban legend. I can think of that disappearing bride story that you find in nearly every region of the United States. You pick her up outside a cemetery, she seems somewhat out of it (probably because she's dead), and then eventually she disappears as you continue your journey, so you look in your backseat

"Let Me Reintroduce Myself" - Gwen Stefani

Okay, so I find this song jarring and not great, but I cannot lie and say I don't like the music video. It's kind of adorable. My only problems: She acknowledges the Blake era (INTERNAL SCREAMING) and she has the Harujuku girls appear. Which I guess the context of these dancers is way less weird than it was, say, 20 years ago - but still, probably something that could be best left forgotten. Anyway though, overall, it's good to see Gwen still having fun and recreating her classic looks. And is the song that bad? It's kind of a grower. I would probably give it a B- if I had to. Not great, not as awful as I was convinced it was after my initial unremarkable listen. 

"More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood"

The first thing I did in this New Year was read the latest book about Natalie Wood, authored by her daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner. I didn't know that much about her daughter going into reading this book; I just knew she had been in some movies in the '90s (the most notable of these being "Lost Highway," "Two Girls and a Guy," and "High Fidelity.") Note: I always confused "Two Girls and a Guy" with the TV show about a pizza place.  Now, for some context, I've voraciously read everything about Natalie Wood I could get my hands on since I was a kid. She's always fascinated me. I guess she was my childhood idol, which is kind of odd when you consider how I am not the most gender-conforming of women, but there was something about her I just found so compelling. Hard to put into words, really. But if you watch "West Side Story," "Splendor in the Grass," "Rebel Without a Cause," or even my childhood fave &