2025 so far in music

i feel like i've shafted myself by having "music" titled things on the site, despite them being dedicated to music-not-made-by-me. i don't make music but what if, you know.. how would i differentiate it with something that isn't lame like 'music made by me'? but that may or may not be a problem for future me

ANYHOW, this year's blags started with a log of all the albums i listened to in 2024. it only accounted for the latter half because that's when i started. we're about 48.49% into the year, a pretty good time to check in on my favorite music so far. i'm also worried that if i don't do this i'll forget what my opinions were...

also, no image-of-all-the-albums this time. that's for the end of the year!

honorable mentions

Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded by Rihanna

surprised to find out how many songs i recognized from this classic

A Boat on the Sea by Moron Police

the very definition of fun

Balloonerism by Mac Miller

i'm 100% new to mac miller but i'm 100% convinced of this album's solidity. i wouldn't say i love all the songs but that i could see myself having a moment with each of them, if i really wanted. right now i like Excelsior for the storytelling and when he starts saying magic spells (and laughing)

Born in the Wild by Tems

it's tems' world and we're just living in it

notables

Animals Acoustic by TTNG

released to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Animals, Animals Acoustic takes an already great album to the next level. i've known both of them for a while now but only thought there was one Animals i was listening to because Acoustic doesn't sound like a reimagining of an older album. it stands firmly on its own

i likely could have gone either way on which version would be my favorite, but i'd listen to Acoustic first and that's just how i'd come to know the songs as. Acoustic also has only the animal titled tracks (leaving out If I Sit Still, Maybe I'll Get Out Of Here and 26 Is Dancier Than 4) which makes it feel more "true" to the animal theming

while writing this i got curious about the animal theme, and found out it only happened because the band needed to give their songs temporary names. unfortunate for the 5 minutes i'd spent wondering how each song connected to the name

Cunningham Bird by Andrew Bird, Madison Cunningham

what do you think they would have named this tribute to Buckingham Nicks if the syllables in their last names didn't match up 🤔

i've never listened to Buckingham Nicks, and still haven't, so this is my only point of reference for it. the only reason i haven't given the original chance is that this is really, REALLY good. it's what i put on if i don't feel like listening to anything in particular. i'm a big fan of Stevie Nicks so this isn't really a surprise at all

Nicks is known for her lyrics, but this is the first time i've ever noticed why. she has a very "mystical" appearance and her lyrics match that:

Love somebody, save their soul
Tie them to your heaven, erase their hell
Love their lifestylе if you feel it
Don't try to change them, you nevеr will

i don't wanna flood the post with too many examples so i'll leave it with one that floored me

Life gave me you, the change was made
There's no beginning over
You are not happy, but what is love?
Hate gave you me for a lover

i'm actually not sure if Nicks wrote this part or not, but there are similar lyrics in Planets of the Universe, a solo song by her ("We will never change again, the way that we are changing. You'll forget the chill of love but not the strain."), so i'm assuming so. in the song this is sung very quietly, understating it, despite how harsh it is. the entire song is pretty harsh, but these lyrics are particularly the most distinct in that regard. "Hate gave you me for a lover." what did she mean by this...

Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial by Roddy Ricch

apparently in pre-covid 2020, The Box from this album was a hit on tiktok, so much so that people remember this as "the song before covid." i wasn't on tiktok, but one day i would get a youtube short of The Box performed live. the energy of this is wild and is probably one of the best music-related short videos ever

i'm not someone who pays much attention to an album's overall story but this one took me on a ride. even then, it took the last track, War Baby, to get me to think about the album more because it was so musically different from the rest of the album, featuring a choir and lyrics that were more serious. "'Cause I'm a war baby. Post-traumatic stress, I know the war changed me."

on the relisten, i realized the first two songs, Intro and The Box perfectly set up the thesis for the album. Intro starts with a melodic flow and honest lyrics, similar to War Baby, before transitioning into having a prominent beat and "harder" lyrics. The Box cements the latter half of Intro's character and this continues until War Baby, which goes back to the more honest side of Ricch

it was crazy finding Ricch's commentary on the album because it made everything make sense

I feel like Intro came when I realized that I wasn't a normal human being. I was seeing another side of having a little bread and traveling a little bit... You just reflect on all that and it bleeds into the music. You just talk that shit.

the commentary also confirmed the meaning of an interesting musical choice in The Box: an orchestra playing something that sounds like something that would come from a classic movie... because it is!

My process is not making an album or a mixtape... I really put my brain around molding songs together and putting different artists together and just making it a movie.

basically, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial is

ending with a song

had the pleasure of watching The Secret World Of Arietty in theaters and was encouraged to sit through the credits for an interview with Miyazaki and Yonebayashi, the movie's director. these were pretty funny. when asked why Arietty takes place in modern japan, Miyazaki said it was because it would be easier. he talked extensively about how "the youth" aren't interested in history or foreign culture, but made sure to say that he wasn't dissing his staff

anyways, during the entire watch of Arietty, never did it once feel "dated".. until the credits, which is possibly the most 2010s thing i've ever heard

if a decade hasn't passed or, god forbid, i watched at the time of release, the song would probably fly by without notice as just another end credits song. but now, in 2025, it stands out. there's something sweet about the carefree lines of, "Like a fresh air, like a windblown hair- I like you, I don't care!" and its feel-good sound. i think it was the first time i ever truly understood Ghibliheads