Welcome to my weekly column “What I’ve Been Listening To,” where I publish a post every Sunday with my 5×5 collage of most-listened releases (which is sourced by my Last.fm account and made into a collage via this site). I do not intend these to be lengthy write-ups, but I like to include notes on my listening habits, discoveries, etc.
- First off, I can’t believe January’s over. It’s hard enough to believe that 2020 is really over, but now the first month of 2021 is over, too. The insanity! But I’ll say this: the new year has gotten started with plenty of great music! This past week was filled with new and recent releases, a few personal favorites, and my explorations through the discographies of Foxing and The 77s.
- Friday was a stacked release day — as of writing this, I’m still not 100% sure what album I’ll be writing my Friday Award about. The new Remedy Drive album is fantastic, and I also greatly enjoyed revisiting their previous album, The North Star. Also, as you’ll see above, there are a number of albums I haven’t had enough time to finish yet, such as the new releases from Arlo Parks and Celeste.
- If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I recently listened through the discographies of Chevelle and Mew; my favorite albums from each respective artist, Vena Sera and Visuals, make reappearances here.
- I don’t really have much to share about this week’s main bands. The 77s didn’t do much for me, but I definitely preferred them when they leaned the hardest into soft rock (with hints of new wave and yacht rock), as heard on All Fall Down and Sticks & Stones. As for Foxing, their music didn’t hit me this past week the way that it usually has in the past, but I’d probably rank their discography in reverse-chronological order, placing Nearer My God on top.
- In general, this 5×5 displays that I listened to far less music overall than I did last week — but I think I listened to more new and unfamiliar music than any week yet this year.
- And yes, I’m still listening to my own album. I think I’m finally to the point where I can just enjoy it, without being overly critical about ways it could’ve been better. But I genuinely wasn’t expecting it to take the #1 spot, which is kinda embarrassing and hilarious.
Author’s Note: The reason I created this website and write these articles stems from my belief that artists should support other artists, in the same way that art inspires art. My sophomore album Development & Compromise is available now and I’d love for you to hear it.
Chase Tremaine 