There are albums that make the top ten you tell everyone about, to relate to other people, so they can know you better. I often name bands like Radiohead, Sylvan Esso, Elliott Smith, and (old) Coldplay. And there are albums you put in a different kind of top ten: the ones that help you relate to yourself, so you can know yourself better.
It doesn't matter if anyone else has heard of the artist. It often seems more personal because you found and listened to it without expectation, without other people's opinions in your head playing at the same time as the music. You might not even want to share this album, because then it's no longer entirely yours. You hope this artist gets just big enough to tour so you can see them live, but not too big so that you lose them to commercial radio and Pitchfork critique. You are protective of this album, this artist. You hold them close to your heart in a way you rarely do with people. At times these songs seem more "you" than you do. They can bring you back to yourself when little else can, orient you back between your ears and down toward the heart. This album will forever remind you of the day, the week, the year that you listened to it most. Where you were, how you were, how you felt. Like an anchor forever at the bottom, holding memory hostage.
This past year has been full of Phoebe Bridgers, Sylvan Esso, Overcoats, Typhoon, Half Waif, Dessa, Kimbra, Lissie, Liza Anne, Mimicking Birds, Bad Bad Hats, S. Carey and Now, Now. But again and again and again, it has returned to Tomberlin and her twice released At Weddings.
It doesn't matter if anyone else has heard of the artist. It often seems more personal because you found and listened to it without expectation, without other people's opinions in your head playing at the same time as the music. You might not even want to share this album, because then it's no longer entirely yours. You hope this artist gets just big enough to tour so you can see them live, but not too big so that you lose them to commercial radio and Pitchfork critique. You are protective of this album, this artist. You hold them close to your heart in a way you rarely do with people. At times these songs seem more "you" than you do. They can bring you back to yourself when little else can, orient you back between your ears and down toward the heart. This album will forever remind you of the day, the week, the year that you listened to it most. Where you were, how you were, how you felt. Like an anchor forever at the bottom, holding memory hostage.
This past year has been full of Phoebe Bridgers, Sylvan Esso, Overcoats, Typhoon, Half Waif, Dessa, Kimbra, Lissie, Liza Anne, Mimicking Birds, Bad Bad Hats, S. Carey and Now, Now. But again and again and again, it has returned to Tomberlin and her twice released At Weddings.
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