January
Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
This is my favorite album I’ve listened to this year. It’s been an obsession. Despite listening to songs on this album before, this time I was much more delighted by it.
Among favorites: John Wayne Gacy, Jr., The Man of Metropolis Steals our Hearts, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!, They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!, Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day, Jacksonville, Come On! Feel the Illinoise!. In summary, almost all of the album. The interlude songs were pleasant too.
Beautiful instrumentals. Some of the production, maybe I’m attributing this wrongly, reminded me of Fiona Apple. For example, the DIY like sounds from Fetch the Bolt Cutters and such melodies. Beautiful piano, some choir sections as well. It gets more rhythmic at times, and it’s all just so good!!!
When I hear the beginning of The Predatory Wasp.. song, a shiver gets through me - such a beautiful melody. I also love the lyrics of this one, God… Casimir Pulaski Day as well…
Shall I say 10/10, 9.5/10?
From Elvis in Memphis - Elvis Presley
I’m aware I was not the most focused person while having this album in the background… I love Suspicious Minds the most, and I knew of it beforehand (when Priscilla (2003) was released…). I see I also added I’ll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms) to my Favorites - I love the romantic songs, what can I say.
Again, I feel very shaky in any judgements I share, because it usually takes me 2 encounters to fully “get” either song, album etc., similar to my The Beatles obsession last year (2025 Album log). Maybe this will change too with Elvis. For being The King of Rock, I surely did not familiarize myself enough with his discography. Anyways, The Beatles clear :*
Private Dancer - Tina Turner
I enjoyed the first half of this album more, even though I still liked it a lot. So 80s in sound, I loved it. Shame on me for not knowing Turner is called The Queen of Rock, oops.
Favorites: What’s Love Got to Do with It, Show Some Respect, Private Dancer
Appetite for Destruction - Guns N’ Roses
I think this is the first time I listened to this album fully. What a classic.
It feels a bit weird because I haven’t listened to some hard rock in a while.
choke enough - Oklou
Looking at the end of this month, choke enough is the album I’m still listening to almost daily. harvest sky is my favorite song, I love the collab with FKA Twigs for viscus too. I feel that some other songs might be too quiet and foggy for my liking, I’m not really sure how to express that. I do not really trust my opinion here, cause if I come back to it in the future, I might do an 180.
The Tiny Desk Concert was so beautiful.
Second Toughest in The Infants - Underworld
A blast. Great electronic music to work and to move to.
Blue Lines - Massive Attack
There was always something bugging me regarding Horace Andy’s voice in songs like One Love… On another listen, I found the album much better, with songs like Safe From Harm and Be Thankful For What You’ve Got.
Granted, I still feel that Mezzanine is a superior album.
Transient - Gaelle
This album was recommended to me by a friend via a TikTok video which compiled “albums to move to”, and it truly matches the description. I loved the mix of R&B, house, sounding like Frou Frou at times. Give it Back was my favorite.
February
Breath From Another - Esthero
“Breath From Another” was among the highest rated ones in the Trip Hop category on RYM, so I had to give it a try.
I’m in love with Heaven Sent, the blend of rock in here is amazing. The vocals sound like Bjork at places, funnily enough. Overall, the genre blend in this album is really tasteful. Indigo Boy is one of my favorites along with the title track.
Desire, I want to turn into you - Caroline Polachek
I didn’t get it at first, as usual…
Her vocals and the production on this one deliver a solid alt-pop album IMO. Sunset stands out thanks to its folk feel, I love the chorus of Bunny is a Rider, even though the lyrics made me cringe a little in the beginning, and Pretty In Possible might be my favorite.
The first half of the album felt stronger, I wonder if I listened to it more than the last songs. That’s why I can’t trust the first time I listen to anything…
The Tiny Desk Concert was fabulous, and I love the album cover.
Fancy That - PinkPantheress
This mixtape truly defined the end of the month for me. After the Stateside remix had taken over the internet thanks to Alyssa Liu’s performance, it took over my brain too. So catchy, so well produced. I was sooo into Tonight, the lead single, when it was released to the point where I listened to it non-stop for about 50 times in the span of two days. The other songs didn’t disappoint either. I love the production, I love drum n bass and UK garage, and just how fun her songs are. Beforehand I considered some of the lyrics and Pink’s interpretation a bit cringe, probably aided by her popularity on TikTok (🤓), but they grew on me.
Favorite tracks: Stateside, Girl Like Me, Noises, Romeo
P.S. The remix with Oklou for Girl Like Me is fantastic as well.
March
Nothing’s About to Happen to Me - Mitski
I’ve been trying to make sense of what has been bothering me about Mitski’s discography, and I think the reason is that lyrically, on a personal level, I don’t see much ‘growth’, and the themes she touches on continue to be similar. I might be wrong, but, for example, I loved seeing how Fiona Apple has grown as a person listening to her albums, based on what she talks about and what phase in her life she was in. Bjork is similar too considering the theme of love and relationships (e.g. Vespertine is mostly about love, followed by Vulnicura 14 years later that talks about the breakup with her partner). Maybe it’s just me, as this isn’t really a requirement for good music, and I’m not the most thorough Mitski scholar out there.
With that to say, I agree with the online opinions I’ve seen that this feels like Puberty 2, and maybe a bit of Bury me at Makeout Creek, albums which I treasure a lot.
If I Leave shook me… She’s just so precise in capturing this feeling of inadequacy, like you’d never find another person who loves you as much as your current lover, and the idea of leaving them is the most terrifying act ever. I love the bridge, cathartic in desperate way. Oh, I love you Brand New City Mitski))
It [If I leave] reminds me of Francis Forever:
I don’t need the world to see That I’ve been the best I can be, but I don’t think I could stand to be Where you don’t see me.
I was pleasantly surprised by the instrumentals of I’ll Change for You — very lovely. Cats and Instead of Here are also favorites of mine.
A friend pointed out the Yellow Wallpaper (which I have not read…) references in Where’s My Phone?, that I think are neat.
This is also my first bandcamp purchase, for better or worse, since for sure I could’ve spent that money on buying something from a more underground artist…
Grey Area - Little Simz
Pretty okay. I feel uncertain about how to describe music in a genre I don’t listen to often, as I don’t have many reference points to compare it to. As I’m reminiscing it now, I remember liking Flowers and Selfish.
Mama’s Gun - Erykah Badu
An classic. No wonder Evanescence listen to her records to unwind for their concerts
Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos
Ah, I love discovering new artists and falling in love with them.
I’ve heard a lot about Tori in the online discourse surrounding piano-driven songwriters like Fiona Apple and Regina Spektor. For some reason, I didn’t bother to check in her music, despite Boys for Peele making rounds on Twitter topsters.
During my first listen, it all seemed like some simple piano ballads. Her vocals and piano reminded a bit of Kate Bush, but they’re not at the same level of instrumental composition. Some songs sounded very nostalgic to me, especially Tears in My Hand, and overall quite classical in terms of how you construct a pop song.
On a few relistens I was hooked! Leather is sexy (apparently played by pole dancers too), I love the feminist analysis in Mother, China, albeit it presents the classic dynamic of the woman begging a man to not be so closed off and distant. She has such way with words: “I got the Antichrist in the kitchen yelling at me again” being about her abusive grandmother…
Overall it’s a catchy and solid album with songs flowing well into one another.
I started listening to Boys for Peele this month too, but didn’t get to the bottom of it yet. Caught a Little Sneeze and Professional Widow are stronger than the whole debut album though.
The Kick Inside - Kate Bush
It is quite insane she released this at 19, while the lyrics and compositions being when she was even younger.
I understand her label wanting to release James and the Cold Gun as the main single, as it’s probably my favorite song on the album. Wuthering Heights, Oh to Be in Love, Feel It, L’amour Looks Something Like You are all masterpieces though.
Looking over some of the lyrics, the story behind The Kick Inside surprised me. “This is about a brother and sister who fall desperately in love with each other. When she becomes pregnant by her own brother, she commits suicide. The song itself is the suicide note.” The most beautiful song about incest…