Year in Review 2023: Music, Part 1

Best Miscellanies I Listened to in 2023

• “Apart From” by Ava Mendoza (2021)

• “Tisched Off” by Bartees Strange (2023)

• The Wave that Got Away by Ben Levin Group (2020)

I originally watched the video for this EP and was really moved by it, but for some reason listening to it a second time it didn’t quite hit. It’s fun to hear him go full Bruce Hornsby on “Why Not” though. (EDIT: I have since re-listened to this as part of my project to add lyric transcriptions to all* of the songs in my library, and I’m back to liking the whole thing, it’s great.)

(*in practice, some)

• “A Real Thing” by The Beths (2022)

The Beths keep finding little ways to bend their sound without breaking it. In this case the familiar verse veers into a late-2000s pop-punk/emo-esque chorus and it’s great, especially with the little choral twist they add on the last one.

• “12,000 Lines” by Big Thief (2022)

• “Welcome to Hell” by black midi (2022)

• “Time Off” by Bob Boilen (2020)

While the main synth parts remind me of Lena Raine, the guitar and piano are more improvisational, more rough around the edges. There’s a feeling of someone trying really hard to relax, but not quite getting there.

• “Cease & Seckle” by Born Jamericans (1994)

I don’t know what exactly makes reggae/dub a great soundtrack to running around a virtual city shooting aliens, but for whatever reason Saints Row IV‘s Four20 103.6 quickly became my go to station. Outside of that context it turned out I could take or leave most of them but this one seems to have stuck.

• the rest EP by boygenius (2023)

• “Pompeii” by Cate Le Bon (2022)

• “Sugar Coated” by Colour Me Wednesday (2014)

A blast of lo-fi pop-punk that recalls Sports, but with a bit of a Britpop twist.

• “Arcade Dreams” by Conor O’Brien (2019)

For Saints Row (2022) I tended to switch between the classic hip-hop station and the synthwave station (and occasionally the country station). For some reason all of the synthwave artists (and several of the country artists) are listed under fake names like Emerald Ice, I guess because Conor O’Brien doesn’t sound cool enough. Or they wanted to hide the fact that every song is by one (or sometimes two) of like 4 people.

• “Stop Pretending” by Deep Sea Diver (2020)

It’s kind of a weird mishmash, with that jangly, spacey guitar that suddenly gets buried by this massively distorted lead. I think what makes it work is Jessica Dobson’s vocal, providing an emotional center amongst the contradictions. If it doesn’t work for you, though, there’s also a version with mellotron, and who doesn’t love mellotron?

• “This Ain’t No Getaway” by The Delines (2022)

Musically there’s an almost wistful, nostalgic feeling, but the lyrics take a dark turn pretty quick: “The stereo’s too loud / but the neighbors are scared to complain,” which probably has something to do with the fact that “sittin’ on the TV / is a loaded .38.” The dread that underscores the rest of the song following that line never truly gets resolved, but the closing refrain does not inspire hope.

• “Tre Delinquentes” by Delinquent Habits (1996)

Another Saints Row (2022) jam, featuring a Herb Alpert sample that makes it perfect for your non-specifically Southwestern US-based criminal empire activities.

• “Happening” by Desperate Journalists (2014)

• “Shiver” by Fever Ray (2023)

• “Fontana” by The Free Fall Band (2014)

The resemblance fades a bit as it goes on, but for the first 2 seconds I really thought this was Ben Folds.

• “Grand Theft Audio” by Giacomo Trivelli & Matt Sibley (2016)

What can I say, I’m a sucker for synthwave. Come to think of it, I should really track down the Cyberpunk 2077 synthwave tracks.

• “Unready (Live at Sydney Opera House)” by Gordi (2022)

• “Old Engine Driver” by Guided By Voices (2009)

So this isn’t a Saints Row (2022) song, but rather a song that I found while I was looking for a Saints Row song of the same name (which I couldn’t find anywhere so if anyone has a lead let me know). All I knew about Guided By Voices up to this point was that it was the name of a band and was very obviously referenced in the opening line to Feist’s “Any Party”, but based on this track I’ll have to check them out.

• Long Distance Celebration by I Feel Fine (2018)

Sort of The Twilight Sad meets We Were Promised Jetpacks (though less Scottish, unfortunately, and with way more gang vocals)? Certainly it’s as loud as that would be—and that hard to hear the vocals, which normally I hate but for whatever reason works here. It’s definitely more about rocking out and feeling the feelings than about the lyrics anyway, though there are some good ones in there, e.g. “You sold us heaven at different rates / bent our bodies in awkward shapes” and “Me without my worst of habits ain’t me at all.”

• “What’s It All About?” by Jockstrap (2022)

• “Sound of da Police” by KRS-One (1990)

I’m telling you, Saints Row (2022) has a pretty great soundtrack. This was actually the first song I heard in there where I was like “OK I need to start writing these down.”

• “Walking Backwards” by The Leaf Library (2015)

There’s something about this that reminds me of “California Dreamin'” or “Bus Stop”, but I don’t think anyone in the 60’s was combining that sound with this beat, and also this song has no acoustic guitar so I don’t know where I’m getting the comparison from in the first place. They might just all have similar chord progressions?

• “UPSHIFT” by Lena Raine (2016)

• “When I Was Your Age” by Mammoth Penguins (2014)

The storyteller Laura Pershin Raynor says that when she was a kid her uncle would ask how old she was and she’d say, “I’m seven,” and he’d reply, “Huh, when I was your age, I was nine.” So this is basically that but for a whole song.

• “1997, Passing in the Hallway” by Martha (2014)

• “Flood” by ME REX (2020)

• Beautiful Rat Sunset by the Mountain Goats (1996)

• “Year of the Horse” by Oh Peas! (2014)

• “War Song” by Oh Pep! (2012)

• “Thou Mayest” by Rich Ruth (2022)

• “Bet My Brains” by Starcrawler (2019)

• “Do I Have To Look For Love?” by The Tuts (2015)

• “Reed Rd.” by TYPHOON (2023)

• “Run” by Vasco & Patrick West (2015)

You’ll never guess which 2022 game this was featured in.

• “Sway” by The Weather Station (2022)