Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that, in every way, from the gravy to the pecan pie, you get to do it how they do where you’re from.
#nowplaying
Egghunt Records
Can we stop for a quick second and talk about how Egghunt Records is absolutely killing it right now?
You’ve already heard me sing the praises of the label’s White Laces and Diamond Center releases, but there’s a bunch more singing to do:
Noam Pikelny
Dead Professional
Had a great meta moment the first time I listened to “You Heard What You Wanted,” the second track from Dead Professional’s new Young Hardware EP.
Will Butler
This video blew my mind a little bit. “Anna” has always reminded me of something Mark Mothersbaugh would have written for The Life Aquatic (“Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op” might be what I’m thinking of), and the first few seconds of the video pick up on the film’s aesthetic, with the yellow credits set against the ocean’s surface, the interior shots of a boat that seems very clean and vaguely antiquated… Emma Stone’s (excellent) performance takes the Brantley Gutierrez-directed clip to a different place — more Spike Jonze than Wes Anderson — but it still feels like the association I’d silently made was somehow extracted from my brain and given a visual form. I love it.
J. Clyde
Positive No
While running along a barrier- and spectator-lined section of Monument Avenue, I found the perfect album to pair with UCI Road World Championship racing: Positive No’s Glossa.
My rationale:
Dawes
I really liked “All Your Favorite Bands” when I first heard it, though I have to admit it felt a tad sentimental. Then I saw the video, at which point shit got real.
Cave In
My brother-in-law Brian knocked the birthday present baseball out of the park with a colored vinyl copy of Cave In’s Tides of Tomorrow EP, the front cover of which is pictured above. It’s excellent on its sonic merits, but it has some especially intriguing art on its inner sleeve. Check it out:
William Basinski
I’ve been spending a lot of time with William Basinski’s Disintegration Loops, “dlp 1.1” especially. Given the project’s backstory and cover art (you can read more here), it’s hard to avoid thinking about 9/11 while you’re listening to it. As a result, I’ve had today’s date at or near the front of my mind more often than I otherwise would, and while it’s certainly a somber way to spend your time, I’m inclined to think that it’s a reasonably healthy way to do what Americans collectively said we’d do about what happened that day: to never forget.
You Hear That 