What I've Listened This Year
It has come to the time of the year where for a brief moment everybody talks about their Spotify Wrapped. To be honest, I hate it. It makes all you listen to feel like a simple statistic. It seems to break the entire purpose of music for me because it encourages passive listening, as Spotify as whole does. People brag about listening to music 24/7 instead of actually talking about the artists they've listened to. Thus, I decided to list some albuns I've listened this year and just write a little bit about why I like them.
Clube da Esquina by Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges
In my opinion, Clube da Esquina is the best album in the entirety of Brazillian music. Its name is also the name of an artistic movement both authors took part. This movement was informal, consisting of friends in the state of Minas Gerais that frequently gathered themselves to write music. Certainly Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges are the most famous members of Clube da Esquina, however other like Beto Guedes, Wagner Tiso, and Márcio Borges also had an important role in the development of the movement.
Realesed in 1972, Clube da Esquina is certainly different from what already existed in Brazillian music, especially MPB, the genre of the album. It has diverse influence, including jazz, samba, and The Beatles' rock. The authors included regional influences in their music too. Representing the culture of Minas Gerais while also trying to depict the reality in all Brazil. This makes the sonority of it incredible.
The lyrics of most songs are profound and represent different themes, however, depicting poltical, philosophical, social, and instrospective themes is common for the artists. Moreover, the voice of Milton Nascimento is probably the best in the country too (and certainly one of the best in the world). I don't know how to explain that well since I'm not a professional musician nor know a lot about technical things, nevertheless he has a strong voice, that marks his presence.
Clandestino by Manu Chao
Manu Chao's Clandestino is certainly an album that depicts the core of South American music, with diverse influences from the continent. It was a product of the musician's travellings around the world after the fragmentation of his band, Mano Negra, in 1994. The lyrics show the struggles of a modern world including topics such as crime, illegal immigration, the invisibility of certain people, more.
One charactheristic of Chao's album is the usage of pieces of audio of a diversity of sources in his songs, including radio transmissions, news, speeches, and other songs. The feel that this creates in his music is something I really appreaciate. Also, the musician preferred to keep an acoustic aesthetic, highlighting his acoustic guitar and his voice, what contributed to the message he want to transmit with the album.
For Lovers by Lamp
I'm learning Japanese, so I still don't get most of the lyrics of Japanese musicians and bands, however I still like them a lot, especially because of the sonority. One of these bands is Lamp. Recently, Lamp got popular on the internet and it wasn't without reason. They have a calming rythm that mixes bossa-nova, shibuya-kei, and city pop. This mixture is the reason behind the creation of interesting compositions that caught my ear.
Flying Beagle by Himiko Kikuchi
I don't even remember when I first listened to this album, but I certainly know the cover and title were two things that made do it. However, what was just a random album that I had found suddenly became my entry point to japanese jazz-fusion. Kikuchi presents vibrant tracks that give me different feelings. I always liked funky music, especially soul and classic funk. Thus, jazz-fusion was a perfect match for me. Many of its influences come from Brazillian music, what makes me like it even more.
I cannot describe the feeling that listening to Kikuchi's album gives me. I think it is something unique to every person, but it seems to transport me to another place.
Seychelles by Masayoshi Takanaka
Takanka's Seychelles is probably my favorite jazz-fusion album. It, alike Kikuchi's Flying Beagle, makes me feel in another place. It has a tropical sounding, what is a common charactheristic of Takanaka. Also, we see a kind of idealized version of tropical places as paradisiac places. Also, because of this and other works, Masayoshi Takanaka has become my favorite guitarrist.
Rubber Sould by The Beatles
This album by The Beatles is certainly a classic. Songs such as "In My Life" marked generations of listeners. I always have been a fan of The Beatles' rock, but what made me listen to this album this year was Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. When I started reading the novel, I kept listening to the song which gave the book's title and the whole album by consequence. Usually Murakami makes conections between song lyrics and his works. Thus, this helped me understanding the novel a little bit more.
I love The Beatles' lyrics, and the voices the members fit the songs well. Overall, I like the way that the band sounds, they certainly influenced many others (including Clube da Esquina) what makes me see a lot of value in the sonority of the group.
Remember That You'll Die by Polyphia
I always loved instrumental rock and discovering Polyphia was amazing. The songs in the album are incredible and show how skilled the musicians are (I'll probably never reach the level to play one of their songs). Basically, I can say that their songs 'go hard'. This album had Y2K and others from the same scene in the production of some tracks, what brought a little bit of trap music to the songs. The mixture ressonated perfectly for me, even though I'm not the biggest trap fan in the world.
Twilight by Bôa
If you're here in Neocities, chances are you've watched Serial Experiments Lain. Thus, you probably know "Duvet" from this album or already have listend to it entirely. I love Bôa. It simple like that. Their songs incorporate indie rock well. They are sentimental with a 'darker vibe' (yes, I don't know how to describe music, I'm sorry). I was listening to this album a lot during the rainy season in my town, making the perfect ambience to it.
T H E by Tricot
Coincidentally with my taste for mathematics, one of my favorite genres is math rock. I love the structure of the songs, especially the guitar. For me, what makes Tricot special is the way they transmit a rebelious energy through their songs. They weren't the first math rock band I've listened to, but certainly they are the main reason I started loving the genre.
"Frühling" by Franz Liszt
"Frühling", or "Spring" by Franz Liszt is my currently my favorite piano piece. This work truly encompasses the feeling of spring to me. I feel as I was rebirthing while listening to it. As I have said, I'm not a professional musician nor know a lot about technical things (although with time I'll get better at this since I'm studying a lot of music, especially classical pieces) so I think I'm not the appropriate person to describe why or how this piece transcribes these emotions into sound, however this is certainly what I would call 'beauty', something that makes you closer to the symbolical elevation of spirit.
愛をあるだけ、すべて by Kirinji
Kirinji is probably the only j-pop musician I've listened actively through the year. I've seen people describing some of his songs as 'fruitiger aero', what I know kinda agree. As I've said, I am not fluent in japanese making my understanding of the lyrics not so great, however I started understanding some of his songs over repetitvely listening to them. For me, the best thing in Kirinji's music is the sonoroty, that is really interesting and truly seems to be what 'fruitiger aero' would sound.
Conclusion
Obviously I could expand this article indefinitely, however this would be time consuming since I'd need to do deeper research into the artists and albuns. Here I prefered to write about my experience with this albuns and how do I feel about them rather than do a profound depiction of their creation and the musical/poetical structures behind them. Also, many artists weren't placed here because I simply didn't have time to do it, but I think 11 is a great number (in a math study group I participate there's an internal joke about this number) though.