You must listen to the album below you.

[LedZep]

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Come To My Garden by Minnie Riperton
I'm still trying to find out which style of soul I like the best. I guess my fave is the more psychedelic, weird and less poppy style, although I have a soft spot for rich, orchestral Curtis Mayfield worship too. Most of the time though I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to soul, but the grooves are great. This one was nothing like other soul albums I've heard before. Minnie Ripperton's take on pop soul borrows a lot from old timers it seems, with its strings, jazzy style and even some samba on Memory Band. It's like an easy listening 50s pop record done in a more 70s soul style, and it honestly sounds surprisingly good. The songs themselves haven't really clicked yet, but the general vibe is great. Les fleur was the favourite track. High 7.5/10

I've run out of ideas for recs, so let's continue with good bands I've recently heard live, because why not.

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Nineteen In Love by Hotline TNT
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[baystateoftheart]

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Nineteen In Love by Hotline TNT

Contemporary shoegaze that sounds fresh isn't exactly plentiful, but Hotline TNT fits the bill on this album. Nineteen In Love is a noisy and pretty album that you should check out if your'e a fan of the genre and those adjacent. Thanks for the introduction LedZep, because I'd never have stumbled upon this on my own. It starts at a high 3.5/5 and on my 2021 chart.

I looked through my favorite albums described as "noisy" on RYM and found this one you haven't heard:

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Black Candy by Beat Happening
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[LedZep]

Glad you liked Hotline TNT, one of my friends booked them and that's how I learned about the band. It was a great live show, they played the local club venue and were in front of the stage with the amps, drums and everything, rather than on it. Impromptu lights as well. An intimate, raw and charming gig, loved it.

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Black Candy by Beat Happening
This is the second Beat Happening album you've recommended me Bay, thanks for that! Never thought a twee pop band could sound "cool", yet here we are. I remember thinking You Turn Me On wasn't really a twee pop album, at least from my understanding of modern twee pop. It's much more noisy and lofi than anything I've encountered in the genre and Black Candy, their earlier work, has an even greater 80s DIY feel. It's more charming and I dig the sound a lot, but the songwriting on their 1992 effort is slightly better imo. Like both albums roughly the same. 7.5/10


Another band I've recently heard live is Fontaines DC. You might dig their more shoegazy new album.

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Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[Tha1ChiefRocka]

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In Search Of Stoney Jackson by Strong Arm Steady

A project that has a great deal of talent involved with it, many that I enjoy, and I have not heard it? Don't know how this escaped my listening, but I'm glad to have heard it. There wasn't a track that necessarily stood out to me, but the vibe was right. The first track with Phonte on the mic is probably the best this project has to offer, and of course the instrumentals are all tight. Good listen.

Ledzep, I recently picked this album up on vinyl.

Voyage Of The Acolyte by Steve Hackett

[baystateoftheart]

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Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C.

I do indeed dig this album, and definitely prefer the sound and mix of styles to their debut (haven't heard the other one). In addition to the shoegaze bits, Skinty Fia overall just sounds very 90s in a good way, pulling pieces from several indie scenes of the era. The vocals, instrumentals, and songcraft are all very solid throughout. At first listen there aren't any standout tracks that stick with me, but Fontaines D.C. have put together a high-quality record that makes for a fun listen. 3.5/5.

Check out this Light in the Attic compilation of Motown's short-lived L.A. label. I think it has some hidden gems.

Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: M...us Artists
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[Tha1ChiefRocka]

Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: M...us Artists

Very cool comp of Motown music that I had not head most of.

Two things I got from this would be that I've greatly undervalued Franki Valli in the 70s. (The Night is great!)

And that I can spot Stevie Wonder from one note.

I had not heard of Syreeta before, but as soon as I heard the first keyboard parts of "I Love Every Little Thing About You", my first reaction was "hey that sounds like a Stevie Wonder song!

Lo and behold, Syreeta was the first wife of Stevie, and it seems like she was a great artist in her own right.

A nice listen to be sure.

Baystate, here's something I've listened to recently.

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Stars by Simply Red

[LedZep]

Voyage Of The Acolyte by Steve Hackett
This was pretty damn good. Prog at its best, it's technically impressive, sure, but it's soulful, folky, mystical and, first and foremost, beautiful. Hackett's acoustic guitar is a joy making machine, I tell ye. Collins' vocals were great on Star of Sirius, but even when Steve had 2 other Genesis members on a single track, it still didn't sound like Genesis. Much more free form and pastoral imo. I do wonder what could have been if Genesis stayed together for a few more years. Very good album, vibes, easy to listen to. 8/10

Here's a short one, Chief

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Detaching From Satan by Paul Chain Violet Theatre
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[baystateoftheart]

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Stars by Simply Red

So it's been a while. I got really sick for several weeks and it somehow led to me mostly losing interest in music, which continued after I got better. Anyway, I feel the interest coming back now, thankfully. I listened to this over two months ago, so I can't recall much, but I do remember that it was much better than I expected. Beautiful production and very solid vocals and songwriting. 3.5/5.

Planning to see Julia Jacklin tomorrow, health permitting. Try her debut, LedZep:

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Don't Let The Kids Win by Julia Jacklin
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[theblueboy]

[LedZep]

Hey Bay, nice to see you back in both games. Hope you're still doing well. How was the concert?

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Don't Let The Kids Win by Julia Jacklin
Julia Jacklin's type of simple and kinda generic indie pop is something that shouldn't be very interesting to me personally. But for some reason, it just works. In fact, it works really well. Crushing will probably forever be my fave, but I was following the singles for Pre Pleasure (plus I've finally listened to the whole album a few weeks ago) and was surprised at how much I still dig her voice and songwriting. Not much has changed since 2019/2020 when I was listening to her a lot. 2019 was a GOAT-tier year for music and a great year for me personally, and Julia was one of the soundtracks to that. I'm clearly biased and I clearly don't care. Now back to her debut, which I... love. Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point. In fact, I'd say her sound and the perfect mix of more upbeat songs with the ballads make this her best album stylistically. The songwriting's not on the level of Crushing, and I'm yet to decide if it's on the level of Pre Pleasure, as I've heard Don't Let the Kids Win only once. Hearing her debut definitely raises my indie street cred.

Continuing with the good stuff I've recently heard live as it's convenient and the easiest to remember:

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Sam Pravm by Balans

It's Slovenian minimalistic... something. Post punk with poppy melodies? Dark indie? Excellent live, the frontwoman has great energy and the trio transforms their minimalistic songs into consistently groovy and interesting mini-jams in a live setting.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s