Let It Happen
Tame Impala’s “Currents” has kind of become the “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” of the 2010s. Not musically, no, these two albums couldn’t sound any more different from each other if their respective artists tried, but more so in the way that they’ve become the poster children for albums that some people push on mainstream listeners to get them to listen to stuff a little more out of left field. The irony in this is, of course, that because SO many people treat these albums this way, they’ve essentially become mainstream in their own right, which has attracted backlash from people who like “real” independent music. But hey, I’m never afraid to be kind of vanilla with my music taste, and this is no exception. If you haven’t had this album pushed on you by some guy with seemingly pretentious but ultimately basic music taste yet, allow me to be that guy!
Dance Yrself Clean
Speaking of “that guy,” I’ll never live down playing LCD Soundsystem’s 9 minute opus “Dance Yrself Clean” when my friends passed me the aux cord and I immediately killed the vibe. To their credit, I fully admit that I could’ve read the room (or car) better by playing something a little briefer and to the point, but to my credit, they’re wrong, I’m right, this song’s the best. And now, I finally get to force them to listen to it in full by featuring it in this week’s episode.
Hope
In the likely event that I write a “Top 10 Best Songs of 2024” article for ICE News, please try to forget everything I say about Vampire Weekend’s “Hope” until then, because barring any surprise releases, this is going to take the top spot. So much of the band’s earlier work is focused on youth, drawing from their Ivy League aesthetics, but their latest album shows them growing up with their audience rather than harkening back to their glory days. I’m not even sure what emotion “Hope” provokes in me, but whatever it is, I can’t get enough.
FEAR. (Contains Explicit Language)
Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.” has always been in a weird place in the cultural zeitgeist since its release in 2017.It was as critically lauded as any of his releases, gave him his first #1 hit as a solo artist with “HUMBLE.,” and I’ve spoken to many K Dot fans who still consider it his best album. When asked to rank his albums in 2017, Lamar even placed “DAMN.” as his personal favorite. Despite all of this, I’ve heard just as many fans consider it his weakest studio album, both at the time of it’s release and in the years since. That’s not to say it’s a “love it or hate it” kind of album, rather, it’s more of a “love it or think it’s just fine” kind of album. Even though I’d rank it towards the bottom of his discography, I’m still firmly in the “love it” camp. But even with the album’s slightly polarized reception, I’ve found that most listeners can agree that “FEAR.” isn’t just one of the strongest songs on “DAMN.,” but one of the strongest songs in Lamar’s entire discography.
COVER STORY: I Can’t Shake The Stranger Out Of You by Lavender Country and A. Savage
Remember in the most recent segment of Cover Story how I talked about how I had to cut down on the amount of Parquet Courts songs because they showed up in a majority of the episodes that I had planned out? Well, this week is a little different but simultaneously not all that different at all, because the band’s lead singer, Andrew Savage, released an EP earlier this year that has become one of my favorites. It’s called The Loft Sessions and is a relatively brief collection of 4 songs. 3 of which are covers, and 1 is a reworking of his own song, “Wild Horses.” And because the songs he covered are more so cult classics and personal favorites of his, rather than massive radio hits, I didn’t even notice that these were covers at first. This is especially true with the song we’re showcasing today, “I Can’t Shake The Stranger Out Of You,” as Savage has entirely transformed the Lavender Country original into his own.
I Can’t Shake The Stranger Out of You by Lavender Country
Until listening to Savage’s EP, I was completely unaware of Lavender Country. This is because growing up, I was never really a big country guy, and even today I’m not really a fan of the big names like Morgan Wallen and the like. However, I’m always trying to expand my horizons, so after hearing Savage’s take on their music, I decided to check out Lavender Country’s self-titled debut album. Not only is it a great album, but it actually holds some historical relevance, as it’s often considered to be the first gay country album. I don’t believe it’s the first country album by a gay artist, but rather, it’s the first where queer themes are the album’s primary focus. For a long time, it seemed like the band was destined to be a one-album wonder, but in 2022, they released their sophomore effort “Blackberry Rose,” only a couple of months before the death of their lead singer, Patrick Haggerty. The album actually opens with a new version of “I Can’t Shake The Stranger Out Of You,” which is absolutely worth a listen. You could certainly make an argument that it’s stronger than their original arrangement, but for me, the quaint atmosphere and wonky vocals of their first take has so much charm, which is why it’s featured on this week’s installment of Cover Story!
I Can’t Shake The Stranger Out of You by A. Savage
Who did "I Can’t Shake The Stranger Out Of You" the best?
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HAT TRICKS: “Neck & Wrist,” “Just So You Remember,” and “Diet Coke” from “It’s Almost Dry” by Pusha T
Neck & Wrist
Kicking things off with something of a bold claim, or not really, because after all, it is just my opinion, but Pusha T has like 4 or 5 songs that I could reasonably consider my favorite rap song of all time. Some of these are from his debut solo album, “My Name Is My Name,” which is kind of weird, because I don’t know if I’d call that a great album despite its incredible highs. He followed it up with the much more consistent “King Push: Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude,” but as the title implies, was only an appetizer. Sadly, the album it was teasing, “King Push” never actually came to fruition. Instead, we got “DAYTONA,” an album that was somehow even shorter than The Prelude. While I grew to love “DAYTONA,” it being only 7 songs was definitely a bummer at the time, especially when one of them featured Kanye West rapping about his affinity for MAGA hats.
Just So You Remember
Now, I’m going to do my best to do as little talking about him as possible, but that’s a little tough considering how closely tied he was to Push for over a decade. But before their creative partnership came to end in 2022, Kanye did provide some quality beats for “It’s Almost Dry,” which I felt was at long last, THE Push album I’ve been waiting for. The others maybe had some higher highs, but this felt like his most complete project yet. Luckily for my conscience, this wasn’t solely produced by Kanye the same way DAYTONA was, as the other half of the beats were done by Pharrell, who had been working with Push his brother No Malice since the early 2000s. And if he didn’t make great music, do you think they would have made a LEGO movie about him? Yeah, that’s what I thought! Here’s Pusha T with “Neck & Wrist” ft. Jay-Z and Pharrell, “Just So You Remember” and “Diet Coke!”
Diet Coke
