It seems like every few months, I sheepishly show up in your email inbox just to say hi, sorry it’s been too long, writing is hard, please forgive me, anyway here’s a rundown of all the media I’ve been consuming. Well, it’s happening again!
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan: I feel like a clown for not hopping on the Chappell train earlier, but FWIW “Red Wine Supernova” was included in my September post about songs of the summer! I put one (1) foot on the train and then forgot about it until months later! Highly recommend Chappell’s Tiny Desk and her Coachella performances. Very few pop girlies of the 2020s have live vocals like her, not to mention her stage presence… she’s one of the most natural performers of our time, I fear. My favorites on her album are “Coffee,” “Casual,” and “Picture You,” and they’re also my new karaoke go-tos. I give this album a 9/10!
Calico – Ryan Beatty: My comfort YouTuber is HTHAZE, a fun quirky guy who reacts to music enthusiastically and honestly. My parasocial relationship with him is out of control, so when I found out his favorite album of 2023 was Calico, I decided to check it out. Ryan Beatty’s voice is stunning, transcendent, comforting, and the same can be said for the way his songs are produced. Beautiful stuff. My favorites are “Ribbons” and “Bruises Off the Peach”. 8/10!
Out of My Mind – Trousdale: I don’t know what is in this album, but it became my go-to commute album and my go-to shower album for weeks. That’s high praise coming from me. Trousdale’s harmonies scratch my brain just right, and they make the type of bangers I’ve been craving in pop music. Best songs are “Bad Blood,” “Can’t Get Your Love Back,” and “Placebo”. Another 9/10!
eternal sunshine – Ariana Grande: If you heard me complain about how boring this album was when I first listened in March, please look away. I know it’s annoying when people say that an album is a “grower” and that you need to listen a few times to fully understand the artistic vision, but eternal sunshine is genuinely a grower! I don’t think all of it works (“yes, and?” is one of her weaker singles) but it’s a surprisingly cohesive and satisfying listen. The lyrics are more word salad-y than I’d like, but it’s the kind of word salad that I forgive and enjoy. (Yes, I’ll address a certain other pop girlie’s word salad in a few bulletpoints.) The best songs on the album are “don’t wanna break up again” and “supernatural,” and the album is an 8/10! I stand by that! Whatever!!!
minisode 3: TOMORROW – TOMORROW X TOGETHER: No TXT comeback in the past two years has grabbed me quite like this one. “Deja Vu” is an unbelievably addictive song. It’s so good that watching performances of it has convinced me that Yeonjun is my new bias; his talent is on another level and I can’t stop watching him do his little dancey dance. The other songs are fine! I like them, but “Deja Vu” has kind of overshadowed everything for me. As a whole, I’ll give the album a 7/10.
COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé: I think the album is good. I also don’t remember what half of it sounds like, and I suspect that is because the album is roughly 10 hours long. APOLOGIES! If it helps, I think “II MOST WANTED” is already one of the best songs of the year, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t even like Miley Cyrus’ voice that much. That’s how good the song is. I’m also a fan of “SPAGHETTII” and “YA YA,” but I’m going to have to give the album a 7/10.
Older – Lizzy McAlpine: Now… [cracks knuckles] the girlies who get it get it. The girlies who don’t just don’t. I’ve heard so many fans whine: “This album doesn’t sound like her last album! Omg did you hear that Lizzy doesn’t care about that album anymore? How dare she take a dump on my favorite album! Why is she making her fans feel bad!” Seriously, these are things that people are saying. I for one love hearing Lizzy say that Five Seconds Flat no longer reflects who she is as an artist, even though it’s an actual 10/10 album to me. I love when artists evolve and find their sound! Older is so different and so stunning. The production is unlike anything she’s done before. Yes, it’s understated. But can we LEARN to appreciate subtlety? The lyrics are lyric-ing, the clarinet in that one song is clarinet-ing, and she continues to be one of the best vocalists I know. I’ll follow Lizzy to the moon and back, and I’m not just saying that because I’m going to her concert tonight. My favorites on the album are “Drunk, Running,” “Vortex,” and “Like It Tends To Do,” and I’m giving this album a 9/10 with the potential to rise to a 10/10 in the future.
Don’t Forget Me – Maggie Rogers: I’m gonna need more time with this one. It’s fine! But my favorite songs on the album are “It Was Coming All Along” and “Don’t Forget Me” because I don’t remember what the other songs sound like. Still love you, Maggie! Perhaps a 6/10 is too generous but 5/10 just seems harsh for the kind of ~artiste~ that she is.
The Tortured Poets Department – Taylor Swift: Let’s be so for real right now. This is not good. Straight up not good. Earlier this year, I saw someone refer to Taylor’s recent music as “completely devoid of risk,” and that phrase has been rattling around in my brain ever since I streamed this ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO MINUTE LONG ALBUM. The production is stale. The word salad (see, I told you I’d address this) is lazy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if I am harsh about Taylor’s work, it’s because I know she can do better. I’ve been here since “Our Song”! I’ve been here since “Teardrops on My Guitar”! I know what actual Taylor Swift genius sounds like, and these two hours of nonsense are not it. I don’t even know how to rate this out of 10, so I won’t. I just think that when an artist no longer has anything to say, maybe it’s time to stop going to the recording studio. Next!
Radical Optimism – Dua Lipa: I love Dua. She seems nice and normal. Future Nostalgia is one of the best pop albums of this decade. I saw her make a surprise appearance at a concert last year, and I had to have been one of the most excited people there, bouncing up and down while other people politely swayed. I just think she’s really neat! Now that I’ve gotten my compliments out of the way, I’m not sure what happened with this album. The main single “Houdini” was hit or miss for a lot of people; I think it’s the best, most memorable, and most interesting song on the tracklist. Even my second favorite, “These Walls,” doesn’t really feel current or fresh. 6/10, unfortunately!
Dìdi: Had the pleasure of watching this at the SF International Film Festival a few weeks ago, and I already know that this is the movie of the year. Writer-director Sean Wang tells a semi-autobiographical story about a Taiwanese-American boy in the trenches of AOL Instant Messenger, his first crush, and his passion for making janky YouTube videos, all during the summer before his freshman year of high school. Sean grew up in Fremont, California, so his protagonist does too, and the movie’s Bay Area energies are palpable. I actually need to stop talking before I spoil the entire movie. You can feel free to watch the trailer, which dropped this week, but I actually recommend avoiding it unless you do want to get a little glimpse at what the film will look like. Fine either way – I just loved going in cold, so I’m biased. So excited to watch this 10/10 movie multiple times in theaters when it officially releases on July 26!
Challengers: This was made to be seen in a movie theater so I highly recommend doing that before it moves to streaming! Zendaya is a star. Josh O’Connor is everything. Mike Faist… I’m free on Thursday. 8/10!
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring: Saw this for the first time at the SF Symphony, and when intermission hit, I turned to Mike (my actual boyfriend, not the aforementioned Faist) and said, “THEY DON’T MAKE MOVIES LIKE THIS ANYMORE!” The sheer scale of this project, the stacked cast, the storytelling, the drama… it’s basically perfect. 9/10, perhaps a 10/10 when I rewatch!
The Devil Wears Prada: For years, people gasped in horror when finding out that I had never seen this movie, and now I finally know why. This film is very Me in a way that I can’t describe. As someone who used to be career-focused to a fault, I empathized so much with Anne Hathaway’s character. Would love to have seen this movie during my assistant era. It’s imperfect but an instant classic in my mind. 8/10!
13 Going on 30: So wholesome! I cried! Young Mark Ruffalo is apparently my dream man! I give this an 8/10 too.
I leave you with a performance of an iconic song that I surprisingly only heard for the first time a few days ago??? I thought I knew the Celine Dion classics but apparently not all of them. Have a wonderful week!