The Useless Critic 2.0

Just doing my yearly little music recap! As I get older it does get harder to stay on top of new things. But I did do marginally okay this year. Here's my entire playlist on Apple Music FYI. Would be remiss to say "Brat" was clearly the biggest thing that happened this year in music: I'm not a huge Billie Eilish fan (I think she's quite talented, and I like a few of her songs a lot), but I really thought this collab was the best thing she has done to date. I kind of hope she continues in this direction! I am still waiting on the Uffie renaissance. At the *very* least, I think Uffie deserves a documentary at this point. If you were on MySpace circa 2008, you know . Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter obviously had banner years. They are both pretty talented - I think I have a mental block with Sabrina though, since some of her music is so bland . But she's still catchy. You can't deny Chappell is incredibly talented, and I do applaud her for sticking up for...

This song is a throwback from 2019, but I absolutely love it and think more way people need to be aware of its existence. I guess Netflix featured it on a show or movie a while ago, but it's likely been a minute and so. Check it out! This is like a "Wicked Games" by way of dreampop with some shoegaze-y elements.  It looks like the Denver-based group remains active, so go shoot their other stuff a listen if you have some time today! I hope to be back with more contemporary stuff very soon - just went through my 2024 playlist and it's like if Lilith Fair came back and was repopulated with female pop singers. It was hard not to add the entire "Brat" album!

Hi! I have been pretty MIA this year - more so than usual, I think. Things have been very busy and I've only halfway completed my laundry from the past two weeks. But I'll get back there (eventually).  Earlier this year, one of my favorite bands on the indie-r side of things released a few new singles. Gems is dreampop duo based out of DC/LA who have been quiet for a while. Several years ago, they did some really interesting stuff with John Lennon covers and the phases of the moon. I absolutely adore this band, and was ecstatic to see their return.  This longtime duo of Lindsay Pitts and Clifford John Usher released two tracks: "The Past Is a Just a Story We Tell Ourselves" AND "Deus Ex Machina," which features Usher's other project, Falling Over Water. They have some really good stuff too, like "To Live and Die in LA." I'm not exactly sure what I'd classify them as, but dreampop adjacent seems appropriate. You can check out his stuff h...