NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS #73

Picking clean the carcass of 2024

Jan 10, 2025

Hi, folks. Happy 2025, I guess?

Well get to some music, but I’d like to offer a few quick words of support to anyone in or around Los Angeles. LA has never quite been my lady—more like a girl I once hooked up with and now it’s awkward. But so many of the people I love and care about live there, a number of whom have fled their homes, or even lost them. The scale of the damage is almost too large to imagine and I want to express my deep sympathy towards anyone who’s been affected.

If you’re looking for a place to donate a bit of money, directrelief.org makes it simple and transparent.

CA wildfire relief

Now, a hard pivot towards the frivolous.

For those of us not currently living in an evacuation zone, I hope the early days of January have been inspiring or disciplined or whatever tone you were hoping to set for 2025. Me, I’m still in denial. I even took an extra week off from this newsletter, to continue lolling about in post-holiday apathy, as you may have noticed. Apologies to anyone who was getting the shakes around 1pm last Friday.

In my defense, there’s not a ton of new music in early January. In fact, let’s spend NMFO #73 picking clean the carcass of 2024.

To wit:

Nicholas Cage-worthy darkwave!
Indie cello!
The perils of quirk!
Doechii the don, Doechii the dean
Plus a hearty stew of 2024’s best-ofs

GOOD STUFF

Last January, I wrote about my tortured relationship with year-end lists—Pitchfork, Paste and the like. I inhale these silly things, but I’m usually left exhausted by my impotent cries of “GROUPTHINK!”

*“Tell me more about the ‘shimmering guitars’…”*

Here’s an archive of a few dozen such lists, if you have hours to kill. Once you get past the suspiciously similar top tens, there’s gold in them thar hills. As usual, I discovered a bunch of new artists and also got around a few discourse-y albums I’ve ignored for my own petty reasons. Sorry, Cindy Lee—still don’t hear it!

Anyway, I today’s NMFO will consist of great tunes I discovered whilst perusing the assorted Best of 2024 lists. First up, three particular faves:

(Here’s a Glossary of Terms, should the need arise.)

Xiu Xiu, “Common Loon”

Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music

Album: 13” Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips (released September 28)
Nutshell: Art Rock
Voltage: 7
Thoughts: I’ve seen the name Xiu Xiu floating around for a decade or two and each time I’d think “Yeah yeah, I know what that is. Pass!” I’m not even sure what I knew it was—some impenetrable “intelligent dance music”, I think? Suffice to say, this ain’t that. I love the grimy glam stomp of “Common Loop”. It’s sexy and unsettling at the same time. I especially love the goofy singing, which evokes Nicholas Cage in Vampire’s Kiss. If you truly know me, you ‘ll understand that this is high praise.
Pairing Suggestion: Performing a lapdance on a fresh corpse

Mabe Fratti, “Alarmas olvidades”

Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music

Album: Sentir Que No Sabes (released June 28)
Nutshell: Avant chamber pop
Voltage: 3
Thoughts: Not sure which year-end list alerted me to Guatamalan cellist and composer Mabe Fratti, but Sentir Que No Sabes (“Feel what you don’t know”) has been monopolizing my ear-holes. Fratti’s music is a subtle mix of the traditional and experimental, merging Latin folk music with NYC’s “No Wave” scene of the Eighties. The Spanish lyrics are impressionistic and austere, allowing aspiring bilinguists like myself to (sort of) follow along. I sound like I’m describing something you’d hear on a public radio pledge drive, but this isn’t some fusty eat-your-vegetables slog. Fratti is an indie artist, with inspirations ranging from Laurie Anderson to Kate Bush to Lenny Kravitz(?!). She just happens to play the cello—occasionally through an effects pedal. Allow me to draw on my years of Duolingo to say…muy bien.
Pairing Suggestion: Fumbling your way through an opaque mist

Finom, “Hungry”

Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music

Album: Not God (released May 24)
Nutshell: Indie rock with cool vocal harmonies
Voltage: 6
Thoughts: I’m inspired by Finom’s determination to make things hard on themselves. When I heard them on Sound Opinions, and my first thought was, “This reminds me of Ohmme, that cool indie duo with the dumb name!” Lo and behold, it turns out that Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, clearly sick of being asked how to spell Ohmme, opted for a re-brand. In this scenario, most artists would go with something straightforward. You know, that whole ‘commercial viability’ thing. enhance their commercial viability by picking something straightforward. But the newly-christened Finom (pronounced “phenom”) clearly have what can only be described as a confusion fetish. Nevertheless, Not God kicks butt. The tunes are simultaneously brainy and childlike, and the harmonies are tight as a drum. To those about to self-sabotage, we salute you.
Pairing Suggestion: Exasperating your publicist

Speak! I beg of you, speak!

Now tell me, in as much detail as you see fit, why these songs are terrible.

BUT WAIT!

I neglected to include one more artist who has recently blown me away, primarily because she’s as much a visual artist as a musical one. A few weeks ago I mentioned that I’m often hesitant to bloviate about hip hop artists, for fear of robbing them of credibility. But when you’ve gone on a run like Doechii has these past few weeks, I’m thinking you’re pretty much bulletproof.

This Tampa-bred rapper/singer/dancer is having what you might call a “moment”. Her mix tape, Alligator Bites Don’t Heal, was released back in August, but aging dipshits like me only became fully aware of Doechii in December, when she managed to go mega-viral twice within the span of days.

I mean, come the fuck on.

It’s becoming more common for artists to treat these late night performances as de facto music videos, with costumes and an elaborate set. But Doechii’s charisma, along with the fact that her mic is actually live (no offense, Caroline Polacheck!), keep this firmly in the territory of musical performance, rather than simply a dance recital.

If you think her schtick wouldn’t work without the theatricality, Doechii quickly followed up her Colbert performance and with a stellar appearance at NPR’s hallowed Tiny Desk. The band. The arrangements. The charisma! This is Wembanyama level shit.

To be clear, I understand “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and National Public Radio are not exactly the bleeding edge. But if there is any justice left in this world (debatable), Doechii will soon be a megastar. It’s probably a good idea you at least know who she is.

Oh, and if you’ve been secretly wondering what distinguishes an album from a mix tape, fear not—even the artists themselves seem a bit fuzzy. From what Doechii says, I suppose a mix tape is just an album without a lot of label involvement or promotional support.

Now I understand my confusion—by that standard, every album I’ve released has been a mix tape.

PLAYLISTING

Finally, enjoy this 20-song playlist of great stuff I missed over the course of 2024, as culled from the bloggerati, podcasts, YouTubers and…viewers like you.

You’re bound to find something you dig.

PLAYLIST: NMFO 2024 Year-End Lists

This playlist on Apple Music // This playlist on Amazon Music

Here are my nutshell summations:

See above
See above
See above
See above
FKA twigs, “Eusexua” — Slightly unsettling hyperpop.
Kim Gorden, “BYE BYE” — More-than-slightly unsettling noice rock.
Midwife, “Killdozer” — Extremely settling bedroom shoegaze.
Kim Richey, “Goodby Ohio” — Folk-y Americana for fans of Kathleen Edwards and Lori McKenna. Recommended by Michael Barclay, of That Night in Toronto.
Tindersticks, “Don’t Walk, Run” — Another Michael Barclay suggestion, I’m going to steal his remarkably precise description: “Louche middle-aged British-man torch music”.
Ducks, Ltd., “A Girl, Running” — Both Michael and beloved commenter Dwight Harvey recommended this twee jangle pop. I like it, even if I kinda want to give the entire band a wedgie.
SOFTJAW, “Waiting at the End” — Also via Dwight, I’m digging this British Invasion throwback.
Fievel is Glauque, “As Above So Below” — Jazz flute!
Melt-Banana, “Code” — Delightfully annoying Japanese noise rock.
Nala Sinephro, “Continuum 3” — Experimental jazz you can float in.
Sharp Pins, “If I Was Ever Lonely” — Guided By Voices, wearing a clip-on tie.
Kelly Moran, “Superhuman” — Cool, meditative piano music
Suki Waterhouse, “Supersad” — This is going to get stuck in my head, I just know it.
DIIV, “Brown Paper Bag” — This song sounds like falling into an endless beanbag.
Macie Stewart, “Neon Lights” — Ambient art-pop from one half of Finom.
Blood Incantation, “The Message [ Tablet II]” — Experimental prog metal. I put this at the end for a reason!

Last licks? Get ‘em in now.

New Music for Olds

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