Everyone’s back! UA, Asai Kenichi, TOKIE and Shiino Kyoichi! I’m hoping there’s a full album in the future.
Tokyo Jihen, Ongaku (Music), June 9
I’ve missed Tokyo Jihen, but the singles that have been released since the reunion haven’t really caught me.
Sleater-Kinney, Path of Wellness, June 11
It feels as if everyone who’s announcing new albums wouldn’t have been working on them had it not been for the pandemic.
Duran Duran, Future Past, Oct. 22
Giorgio Moroder did wonders on Kylie Minogue’s DISCO, and the single “Invisible” is the hardest Duran Duran has rocked since perhaps “The Wild Boys”.
Vinyl
My Bloody Valentine, Isn’t Anything, May 21 My Bloody Valentine, Loveless, May 21 My Bloody Valentine, mbv, May 21
I have an unofficial pressing of Isn’t Anything, so I made sure to order a legitimate one directly from the band themselves. I can’t say I feel much need for mbv on vinyl.
Utada Hikaru, One Last Kiss (US release), Aug. 20
I already have the Japanese pressing of this EP. Will I be getting this domestic pressing? Probably yes.
Guided By Voices, Isolation Drills, Sept. 17
Isolation Drills was reissued for Record Store Day as a single disc. This new pressing spreads the album out over two discs, which is far more prudent for its length.
In June 2019, I took the plunge back into music retail by volunteering at the Lifelong Thrift Store. This immediate access to the store’s CD stock has reshaped my listening habits. I bring back so many discs from my visits to the store, it’s rare that I’ll listen to something more than once. It makes finding new favorites a challenge.
Catalog
Hans Abrahamsen, Schnee: Seattle Symphony performed this piece as part of its [untitled] series, and I was so fascinated by it, I had to own a recording.
Ali Wong, Baby Cobra: I heard Baby Cobra was a really good comedy special, but I didn’t realize Wong had filmed the special in Seattle. And I’ve known about Wong back when Chelsea Lately was on the air. I could have seen this show live, dammit.
Easterhouse, Waiting for the Redbird: The classic rock station in Honolulu back in the late ’80s would play an occasional “modern rock” track. I may have caught Easterhouse’s “Come Out Fighting” once on that station, but it was enough to make me curious about the band — a curiosity I would not explore till more than 30 years later.
Kalapana, Kalapana: I didn’t realize how pervasive this album was on Hawaii pop radio when I was growing up. I was 3 years old when this album was released, but it would continue to dominate the airwaves as I grew more aware of my surroundings.
Infomatik, Technologies: Sometimes, the Internet does forget.
My Bloody Valentine, Isn’t Anything: I missed out on the 2018 vinyl reissue of this album, so I settled for a bootleg pressing.
Robert Palmer, Secrets: This album was the pivot between the blue-eyed funk of Palmer’s early work and his embrace of a more new wave sound. It’s also one of his finest.
Rick Springfield, Tao: I’m a sucker for albums that forgo gaps and fades between tracks.
Boston, Boston: This album is against what punk music rebelled, but I like it anyway.
Roberta Flack, First Take: Stop underrating Roberta Flack!
Reissues
This year was pretty slim on reissues. To be honest, I haven’t gotten through Massive Attack’s Mezzanine and Sigur Rós’ Ágætis byrjun.
Re-Flex, The Politics of Dancing: I can’t believe this album isn’t a towering classic of ’80s new wave. Cherry Pop thankfully gives it the deluxe treatment it deserves
The Replacements, Dead Man’s Pop: The Matt Wallace mix of Don’t Tell a Soul is ahead of its time. The drier sound would not become fashionable till after 1991, but heard today, Dead Man’s Pop feels contemporary.
Janet Jackson, Control: The Remixes: I didn’t realize how much I loved the mixes featured in Janet’s videos.
Loveless casts a big enough shadow over My Bloody Valentine’s work that it made me hesitant to explore the remainder of the band’s catalog, lest it fail to live up. That is not the case with Isn’t Anything, and I regret not ordering the remastered vinyl when I picked up Loveless a year ago.
Rick Springfield, Tao
A five-disc bargain box set of Rick Springfield albums got a discount on Amazon Prime Day, and I fully succumbed to FOMO when I bought it. I’ve always liked “Celebrate the Youth”, but it turns out Tao is Springfield’s most ambitious album of his 80s work. If you must own a second Springfield album — the first being Working Class Dog — Tao would be the one.
NUMBER GIRL, Kanden no Kioku
I hate to admit it, but … I’ve listened to the four studio albums of NUMBER GIRL enough times to want more variety from the live albums. Still, NUMBER GIRL is that rare band where their live albums are hotter than their studio work.
Janet Jackson, Control: The Remixes
I didn’t realize how much I prefer the remixed version of “Let’s Wait a While” till I heard it on this reissued compilation. I’m also reminded of how awesome “The Pleasure Principle” is.
Missy Elliott, Da Real World
I’ve read a number of lukewarm reviews for this album, and compared the work preceding and following it, I could see how it might seem not up-to-snuff. But that’s not saying much. It’s still a solid album and light years ahead of The Cookbook.
Re-Flex, The Politics of Dancing (Revised Expanded Edition)
I’m not sure how this album has been relegated to the vinyl dollar bin. It’s damn awesome and ripe for rediscovery.
Band of Susans, The Word and the Flesh
I remember reading about Band of Susans in Pulse! magazine and wondering if I would ever encounter any of their albums out in the wild. It took 30 years, but it happened.
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
I’m not sure other music writers would agree that 1998 is an important year in music for the ’90s. 1991 saw Guns N’ Roses cap the era of hair metal and Nirvana usher the unfortunately-named alternative rock. But it didn’t have Neutral Milk Hotel.
Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du Printemps/Symphony in Three Movements (Zubin Mehta, New York Philharmonic Orchestra)
Mazzy Star, She Hangs Brightly
Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger
Bill Frisell, Where in the World?
Fishbone, The Reality of My Surroundings
Metallica, Metallica
Kronos Quartet, Lutoslawski: String Quartet
Black Sheep, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Hamada Mari, Tomorrow
Electronic, Electronic
Slint, Spiderland
My Bloody Valentine, Loveless
Painkiller, Guts of a Virgin
Mr. Bungle, Mr. Bungle
Slint and My Bloody Valentine are additions 2004-me would have made. 1991-me would have side-eyed 2004-me.
And he would have scoffed at 2018-me for including Black Sheep, after emitting a gasp at seeing Fishbone on the list at all.
He would have begrudgingly nodded at the additions of Metallica and Hamada Mari, and he would have been curious about Electronic. And he would have gone out and found Painkiller the first chance he got.
The fact I can actually post a preview entry this early in the year makes me hopeful we won’t see a repeat of last year’s lopsided schedule.
Igor Stravinsky, Chant Funébre / Le Sacre du Printemps, Jan. 12
This album featuring a newly discovered work by Igor Stravinsky comes out a week after I’ll have heard the Seattle Symphony perform it. I’ll own yet another version of The Rite of Spring, though.
Sasagawa Miwa, Atarashii Sekai, Jan. 31
Last time I checked in with Sasagawa Miwa, she was moving in a jazz direction.
Rhye, Blood, Feb. 2
The singles preceding this album release make me think I ought to place a pre-order.
Steve Reich, Pulse / Quartet, Feb. 2 (vinyl on March 30)
The cover of this album almost fooled me into thinking Reich had gone back to ECM. For proof, compare the Reich cover with John Surman’s forthcoming album Invisible Threads on ECM:
Kronos Quartet and Laurie Anderson, Landfall, Feb. 16
Anderson contributed to Kronos’ Fifty for the Future initiative, and they’ve included the piece in recent concerts. I’m curious to hear more of this collaboration.
Vinyl
My Bloody Valentine, Loveless, Jan. 18 (UK)
Kevin Shields sure went to a lot of trouble remastering this album for vinyl, when it wasn’t really recorded for analog in the first place.
SUPERCAR, HIGHVISION, March 30
SUPERCAR, ANSWER, March 30
I became a SUPERCAR fan just as the band changed its sound, so the recent vinyl reissues of Three Out Change!! and JUMP UP allowed me to discover its early work. I’m coming around to the idea that maybe that first era was better than what followed.
Shiina Ringo, Gyakuyunyuu ~Kuukoukyoku~, March 30
Have you seen how much the Shiina Ringo vinyl reissues from 2009 are going for on the secondhand market? I’ve got mine pre-ordered.
![[Duran Duran - Future Past]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/duran-duran-future-past.jpg)
![[Hans Abrahamsen - Schnee]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/HansAbrahamsenSchnee-300x262.jpg)
![[Rick Springfield - Tao]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/RickSpringfieldTao-300x300.jpg)
![[Ty Herndon - Got It Covered]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/TyHerndonGotItCovered-1024x1024.jpg)
![[Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/SleaterKinneyTheCenterWo219433XS48_f-300x300.jpg)
![[My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/MyBloodyValentineIsntAn218974_f.jpg)
![[Slint - Spiderland]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SlintSpiderland2014131919_f-300x300.jpg)
![[My Bloody Valentine - Loveless]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/my-bloody-valentine-loveless-300x300.png)
![[Steve Reich - Pulse / Quartet]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/steve-reich-pulse-quartet-300x300.jpg)
![[John Surman - Invisible Threads]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/john-surman-invisible-threads.jpg)
![[Steve Reich - Pulse / Quartet]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/steve-reich-pulse-quartet.jpg)