There are 10 song-sized holes in your brain that I am now filling with this week's picks.
Local Picks
For me, the standout track from Phantom Cries, an album centered on motherhood released last Friday, is this closer, with voices gently breezing past one another, mostly a cappella, to suggest one of those moments of peace that comes when you stop struggling and everything unexpectedly falls in place.
It’s been disheartening to watch the Black political concept “woke” become a snide term of dismissal. Minneapolis’s pop-gospel institution strives to reclaim its tradition here, proclaiming “Say it loud—I’m woke and I’m proud.” I don’t know if it can be reclaimed.
Orikal Uno, “What’s the Word”
The ever-consistent rapper flows effortlessly from "St. Paul to Abu Dhabi" with a layered beat from BooduhMuzik gliding him along his way.
Good news: The Tyrants will release their long-delayed album Lo-Fi High in September. Bad news: Then they break up. Best news: They sing “fast and loose” here like that’s the only way to live, which, when you rock out like this, it kinda is.
An attempt at getting back to nature doesn’t work out as planned, and there’s only one possible explanation: “It’s my anxiety GETTING THE BEST OFFFFFF MEEEEEE!!!!” The band plays a release party for their new album I Tried that's also a farewell show, along with Doggy (who are also calling it quits), at Mortimer's on Friday.
Non-Local Picks
Bethany Consentino, “Natural Disaster”
Could sobriety ask for a better representative in the indie world? Consentino re-emerged clean and clear-headed on Always Tomorrow in 2020; three years later her solo album wonders how to live when tomorrow isn't exactly promised. This title track is hardly a focused take on climate catastrophe, but it's got a jumbo guitar hook, plenty of sha-la-las, a Sheryl Crovian groove, and a simple truth at its center: "This is the hottest summer I can ever remember 'cause the world is fire."
Ms. Milli's still got bars from “Everything I do make the boys go cuckoo” to "Bae hit the spot, makе me sing like the Bee Gees." But somehow she's never more eloquent than when she repeats “I’m the shit” 28 times in a row. Cuz she is, you know.
Apparently Em sent me this song in chat “weeks ago” (her words) but only umptillion “Hello Christ, I’m ’bout to sin again!”s on TikTok and a Vulture piece later am I catching up. Whatever—it's not a race, and all that matters I can listen to that piano hook echoed as a synth bass as often as I like. What a golden age for bratty female rappers this is! “I’m a great fuck/But a better lover” and "Me and my bestie are the same/Like a synonym" are just as good as the viral line. Moral: Spend more time on TikTok or (more likely) pay closer attention to the group chat.
Kind of a fake out, with just Mitski and her acoustic guitar suggesting a return to her early sadgirl days. But then a choir wallops in when she sings “family” to remind us you can never really go back. The title image just sits there, unexplicated, like the lil critter on the bottom of Mitski's glass, establishing the tone regret and broken promises.
Travis Scott, “Delresto (Echoes)”
Only in an age of rap minimalism could Travis Scott be touted as an extravagant producer. But even if you don’t agree with hiveminders that the secrets to the next stage of Renaissance are contained herein, there are pleasures to be had from Beyoncé at her most rappity and Justin Vernon at his most sound-effective and the track's moody, inexorable momentum. Scott also raps occasionally, I guess to remind us that we live in an imperfect world.
Wanna get a local song considered for the playlist? To make things easy on both of us, email keith@racketmn.com with MONDAY PLAYLIST in the subject header. (Don’t, as in do NOT, DM or text: If I’m in a good mood, I’ll just ask you to send an email; if I’m in a bad mood I’ll just ignore it.)
