Hello, hello! I’m back to tell you about three new releases I was listening to over fall break! Oct. 13 was a day I had long been waiting for. DePauw was about to go into break and I was finally going to listen to two much-anticipated releases: St. Vincent’s “Masseduction” and Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile’s “Lotta Sea Lice.” I continued to be musically blessed into the next week with the Oct. 20 release of “Tegan and Sara Present The Con X: Covers.” Strap in for what I’ve got to say about these records.
I first discovered St. Vincent during her 2014 SNL performance where she gave a futuristic and rigid rendition of favorites “Birth in Reverse” and “Digital Witness.” “Masseduction” was written and produced by St. Vincent with the help of Jack Antonoff, a pop powerhouse who is constantly at work with artists like Lorde, and his own band, Bleachers. The first time I listened to “Masseduction,” I admit I wasn’t too enthused; however, I liked it more with each listen. Some tunes on the album are riddled with unoriginal lines and clunky images. Filled with sexual anxieties, debauchery, and dystopia, “Masseduction” finds its stride in the tracks that lack overt attempts to be edgy and provocative. My favorite tracks are “Savior,” “Happy Birthday, Johnny,” and “Los Ageless.”
If you’ve been keeping up with my articles, you’ll know that I covered and loved the first single from Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile’s “Lotta Sea Lice,” “Over Everything,” and since then I’ve been wondering if the entire album could stack up - and it did! Individually, these two make profoundly sincere work, but this effect is amplified when they are together. Their beautiful friendship can be seen in the covers of each other’s songs and the new tracks they wrote for each other. Barnett and Vile created a guitar-packed record that will make you chuckle, hum, and overall, feel warm. My favorite tracks are “Peepin’ Tom,” “Blue Cheese,” and “Over Everything.”
Tegan and Sara originally released their album, “The Con,” in July 2007. Surging the Quin sisters’ fame, this record heavily affected the lives of many at the time, especially gay women. As a celebration of its ten-year anniversary, Tegan and Sara asked their friends and fellow artists to cover tracks from this quintessential album and formed “Tegan and Sara Present The Con X: Covers.” Some artists kept pretty true to the originals, while others, like Shura and Mykki Blanco, totally changed up the sound. There are some recognizable names throughout the album: Hayley Williams of Paramore, City and Colour, Sara Bareilles, and more. Proceeds from this album go to the Tegan and Sara Foundation, a foundation “fighting for economic justice, health, and representation for LGBTQ girls and women,” according to their website. Be sure to listen to the original album if you haven’t, then pick up a copy of “The Con X: Covers!” My favorite tracks are: “Like O, Like H,” “Knife Going In,” and “Nineteen.”
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