Listened to a lot of records this week AND went to the Ypsi Freak Fest. I was only able to attend the first day but it was great. Most of the bands I wanted to see were outdoors and it was free. Got to see a few musicians and bands I’ve wanted to see for a while like Dr. Pete Larson and Tyvek, and discovered new bands like Pet Me, Golden Feelings, and Tanager. If you want to discover a ton of bands mostly local to Ann Arbor, you can check out the list here. Apparently there was some discourse on Saturday when a band pulled out at the last second, citing that the word Freak is problematic, protesting an art grant from the city to pay bands and how it’s not DIY, and privately messaging other bands to pull out, and IMO they should touch grass.
That aside, great festival! It was an incredible experience seeing a band like Tyvek play on a mostly empty street at night to like 20-30 people at most. I don’t go to concerts very often these days because I have 3 kids and don’t want covid, so when I feel safe enough to go it’s an absolute delight and I treasure every minute of live music.
My journey to listen to every record in my collection continues:
The Chameleons: What Does Anything Mean? Basically (1985, YouTube)
Great album. I guess they were doing the punctuation in the middle of album titles thing before 00s era bands. Recommended if you like 80s alternative bands like early New Order. Not that they sound exactly like them but I think that’s the closest comparison point I can think of. I feel like Strange Times or Script of the Bridge are considered to be better but this is my favorite one by them. I think I originally picked it up about 10-12 years ago online, probably from Discogs.
Everything but the Girl: Fuse (2023, YouTube)
After a 20+ hiatus, EBTG finally released a new album. I always thought it was funny that the band was considered broken up since it’s a married couple that has been living together this whole time. I think this may be their best album? EBTG is weird in that I think they generally get better with every album, which feels pretty rare and it’s incredibly rare for a band that has been around for this long. Tracey Thorn sounds amazing, I love the effects they do in some parts to make her voice sound messed up, the writing is up to the standards of previous albums, and the bloops and beats are better than ever.
The Mountain Goats: The Jordan Lake Sessions: Vol. 1 and 2 (2020, Bandcamp)
4 LPs! Not essential listening I suppose but as a long time fan it’s been very fun hearing live-ish (no audience) versions of the songs with a different lineup of the band than when most of them were first recorded. A lot of the new versions have a jazzier sound, which is a fun take on them.
The Faint: Dance Macabre (2001, YouTube)
It’s fine I guess. I loved the album when I first listened to it around 2007 but it actually feels pretty dated to me now and hasn’t aged in a way that I find charming. It doesn’t help that the album feels very front loaded to me with the hits.
The Innocence Mission: See You Tomorrow (2020, Bandcamp)
The Innocence Mission is a long running band from the 90s but I believe the core of the group are married couple Don and Karen Peris. They’re kind of indie/alternative folk music I guess? This album feels more stripped down compared to previous albums but I don’t think that’s a problem. Karen’s singing is still lovely and I think the writing is just as good as ever. I’ve bought two physical albums from the band on Bandcamp and both times I got a really nice note from Karen thanking me for buying the album.
Benoît Pioulard: Caverning (2018, Bandcamp)
This was a nice little 7″ I got for free because he was giving them away at his show at the Ypsi Freak Fest. I assume he just wanted to be rid of them since he performs under a different name now but it’s really a nice duo of songs. Both are ambient but the b-side is quite a bit noiser. I recommend his current project Golden Feelings if you want more ambient from him.
Pet Me: Abomination (2022, Bandcamp)
This was another single that I bought during the Ypsilanti Freak Fest. An interesting thing about this one was that it’s a square? Like the grooves are still a circle but it’s like they didn’t cut off the extra material. I wonder if it’s cheaper that way. The record must be cheaper to produce because getting my record player to play on the grooves was also pretty finnicky. That said, I think this is some very good punk rock. This is a band from Lansing that I wasn’t aware of until the festival but I’ll have to pick up some of their other stuff.
Various Artists: Hohokum soundtrack (2014, Bandcamp)
This is the soundtrack to the video game Hohokum. It’s been a while since I played the game. I remember enjoying it quite a bit and think it’s probably something I could revisit with my kids. But even if you have no interest in ever playing the game, it’s a very good collection of songs if you enjoy more uplifting and generally relaxing electronic music. The album compiles various artists on the Ghostly label and serves as a very good snapshot of who was on the label at the time.
Mint Mile: Heartroller (2018, Bandcamp)
I’ve reviewed Mint Mile albums a couple times here before. It’s the current project of Silkworm/Bottomless Pit’s Tim Midyett. Before they started releasing full length albums, they did a series of four EPs and this is my favorite one. It’s just a really solid set of 4 whistful rock songs and I think the steel pedal guitar in these songs sounds great.