Monday Roundup: Tuesday New Year Edition

Wherein I take a look at select cuts from what Spotify has recommended in this week's Release Radar.



I've been listening to my massive, 650+ song Christmas playlist for a few weeks and now Spotify is going to recommend holiday music until April.

"Let's Cozy Up (Put Your Hands In My Muff)" - Barbara Dixon
I didn't know who Barbara Dixon was (now I do - is this like when Maeby pretended to be a Annette Austero but on Broadway instead?) or where this song came from, but now it's on the Christmas playlist, a veritable melting pot of the sacred and profane. A++++++++ selection, Spotify!

"X-MAS TIME! - Live version" - ShitKid
This doesn't grab me enough to go on The Playlist, but it's interesting enough for me to want to listen to their other releases. Can't fault Spotify then, I guess.

"Red River Rock" - Metronomy
This is... "Red River Valley"? But it sounds like a Christmas song? And The Oregon Trail at the same time? I don't know what to do with this one.

"Read My Mind" - Rebecca Black feat. Slayyyter
I love Rebecca Black. I'm not sure if I love this song, but I certainly like it well enough. The cover is wild, and I feel like I should watch the music video for context at some point.

"Last Night on Northgate" - The Long Blondes
That gorgeous anniversary vinyl has been released, and Spotify will also be adding all the b-sides to this playlist for ever and anon. That's not necessarily a complaint, and while I've certainly heard a lot of them, I don't recall this one. This is classic Long Blondes, on the less cinematic, dramatic side; it sounds more lighthearted, more DIY, more fun. Recommended.

"Buzzed" - BENNETT
This reminds me of "Playground" and other songs I was listening to in the summer of 2019, but those ones were... better. I know why Spotify added this - the remixes include one by Icona Pop. Sometimes the lyrics are interesting anthems ("Good girls don't go bad, they go back") but overall, it just feels like an incoherent message of depression and drugs from a(nother) white R&B artist.

"Landed on My Head" - Barenaked Ladies
I've noticed a few high-quality cuts from BNL over the past couple of years. This is no exception, turning well-worn lines and clichés on their head and throwing in a catchy chorus with just the right chord progression to boot.

"Leading" - Best Coast
I like a good '90s / early eughts throwback. This is a band I've meant to listen to for nearly a decade - they debut came out my personal wasteland of the early 2010s - but have never made the time for.

"Listen, The Snow Is Falling" - Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band
This is gorgeous.

"Let's Go" - The Beaches, Lights
Another band I've meant to dig into. This feels a little more early aughts, like an early iPod commercial, and I love it.

"We Are Children of the Light" - Black Dresses
I'm so delighted when Spotify gives me a band with an absolute bare bones bio. I'm dead serious here. Who the hell are they? A mystery! This is great.

"Featured Singer" - Cheekface
Someone wants to be the Talking Heads! This is fun and yet, I can't decide if the lyrics are also fun or depressing? THIS REMINDS ME OF A SONG I USED TO LISTEN TO CA. 2006 (it's not a Talking Heads song) AND I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT.

"Stepped On A Bee" - MisterWives
I was deeply into 2014's "Reflections," rolling in the throes of one of the crushiest crushes I've ever crushed, one of my handful of Guys I Know Because They Opened for OK Go That One Time, the best catalyst for getting away from a toxic ex but a situation which never panned out the way I wanted. And while I suppose that's always for the best, "Reflections" captured me in that moment perfectly - desperate, sad, sparkly, and dancing.
I was excited to hear them again so many years later, and yet, this feels so... generic. Sure, despite the fact that break-ups are universal, they still allow for "intensely personal reflection," but where the hell is it here? "We're all the clichés I swore would never come true" indeed.

"Spud Infinity" - Big Thief
This is a refreshing to follow up with - pared down, playful, nonsensical and yet makes all the sense in the world. I'm even willing to sit through this 1:00+ outro. I guess our elbows really are on their own.

"Walker" - Animal Collective
I'm 99% sure that it was Animal Collective which a friend dragged a bunch of us to go see at Hampshire College in like, 2004 or 2005, and we all complained so much that we subsequently dragged her away, and then Merriweather Post Pavillion came out and suddenly they were all over, and I thought, "Oh, maybe I should've paid more attention?" I can see the appeal here, but honestly, I was bored af at that show.

"sleeping with a frend - revisited version" - Neon Trees
Are "revisited versions" the new "record anniversary show"? I was never big on this particular single, and stripped down like this, "Ooh ooh, we're in danger / Sleeping with a friend" feels like the point is just too painfully obvious.

"Yellow Venus" - The Cribs
I got to see the Cribs early in their career, opening for Franz Ferdinand and playing at Siren '06, and then I just... stopped following around Men's Needs..., to my own detriment. They've put out a series of singles over the last year, and I'm grateful to Spotify for continually reminding me they exist. That ending tho.

"Favorite Person" - The Sunshine State, Hayley Gene Penner
Is this a Christmas song? Does it count as a Christmas song? The Sunshine State had a few releases last year that I got into, and I'm glad to see another, though this one vibes more melancholy than ones like "Dating a Drug Dealer." Those last few lines, though.

"My Weight" - Lady Pills
Is this a love song? This is a long song! It feels like a modern version of "Head over Feet," and friends, I've always loved that song. Another song that sticks the landing, too.

"Just For Love" - Bully
The kind of song that makes me feel like I should be at a divey rock club, holding a beer and bopping along without really knowing what's going on. That's a thing we used to do in the Before Times, right?

"Walking in the Air" - Gemma Cullingford
"Tis The Season" - Big Freedia
I told you - this will keep going until April.