I see distance in your eyes

Mostly good. Some real great highlights, punctuated by some indescribable mediocrity, and some who were just meh. 

Day 79 - St Vincent - All Born Screaming'

Someone who I've known by name only for a number of years. People I know swear by her with great confidence. But I never did feel any kind of pull towards her. Not sure what I was expecting, but this is a really diverse album. Doesn't make it great, though. For me, at least, just on the edge of decent. 6/10 

Day 80 - Angel Olsen - 'Big Time' 

This is probably the record I felt the most trepidation about. I can still remember the first time I listened to her, I can still remember where, and I can still remember the alcohol and sex fueled night that involved that first listen. Out of all of that, she was the only thing I kept with me. I used to love her early stuff, but eventually I completely disconnected from her. But when 'All Mirrors' came out, I bought it, hoping that it would be really good. And I really didn't like it one bit. It was too lush, too overproduced. Just felt a bit too fake. And nothing could have prepared me for this record. It's just an amazing album, really, from start to finish. She sounds incredibly happy, and the music and her singing reflect that happiness. Album of the week, for sure. Stunning 9/10 

Day 81 - Sharon Van Etten - 'Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory

What I'm going to say might shock a lot of people, because for the longest time I actually, really, truly thought that she was the singer for Within Tempation, who is, in fact, called Sharon den Adel. So it always left me wondering why so many people who don't listen to that kind of metal were suddenly fans of her... I even listened to a couple of her songs way back, and I recall thinking she sounded nothing like she did when she sang on WT. Then the other shoe dropped. Eventually, after many years...
So, with all that in mind, I had absolutely no idea what kind of album would be waiting for me. And you know what? Probably the surprise of the week. In a sense it feels like the greatest Arcade Fire they never wrote. One dud, just, but everything else was so good - especially the Siouxsie-ish last song . 9/10
Day 82 - Weyes Blood 'And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow' 

In 2019 or so, when I still spent a lot of time on social media, there was this nymphette I was 'friends' with on Instagram who very often posted good music, some of which I already knew about, others not so much. One day she posts something about this one here, and says something along the lines of 'Is this how our parents felt like the first time they listened to Enya?' Well now, me, being somewhat of an Enya enjoyer myself, rushed to Youtube to listen to her latest record - 'Titanic Rising''. And... not only does it not sound anything like Enya - at all, not even in the slightest - I found it to be incredibly bad, unbearably dull, Karen Carpenter derived slop. And don't get me wrong - Karen Carpenter was an amazing singer. So, seven years on, I decided to give her another try. And you know what? It's still incredibly bad, unbearably dull, Karen Carpenter derived slop. I'm giving it a very, very generous 4/10.

Day 83 - Mitski - 'Nothing's About To Happen To Me'

I only know some of her songs, mainly from Youtube adverts that led me to Shazam whatever I was listening to. I quite liked them. Listening to an entire album was an experience in and of itself. A very good one. This is pretty good. Pretty sad. Pretty relatable. 8/10 
Day 84 - Jehnny Beth - 'You, Heartbreaker, You' 

A good while back, there was a band called Savages that I was a bit fond of - not enough to buy their stuff, or to listen to an album even, but I didn't mind if they came up on the playlist. But I never really paid that much attention to them, to be honest. I knew the singer had started a solo career, but I never cared to explore her. I shouldn't really. This was atrociously bad, from the incessant shouty shouty shouty shouting, to the nu-metal-ish sound. I don't give it a 1/10 just because this atrocity is 'just' 28 minutes long. It's still an appalling 2/10

Day 85 - Lana Del Rey - 'Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd'

Well. This one made me feel icky from the get go BECAUSE WHERE'S THE FUCKING QUESTION MARK AT THE END OF THE TITLE? It just isn't, and that makes me very, very angry. When I was a kid and went to school, if I made a mistake like that, I'd get the shit slapped out of me, and now not only do these people get away with it, they make millions at the same time. Ah well. 

I didn't immediately get into her - it wouldn't be until late 2013 that she finally made sense to me. But she has this 'problem' where I feel like every time I fart, she's releasing a new album. And the last record of hers I listened to was 'Norman Fucking Rockwell' - which I found to be just OK, really. Not bad, but not great. I thought that after this one she'd already released five more records, but alas - the new one is slated to come out this year. And this one... well, when you have someone who can sing so well as her, and who surrounds herself with people who clearly know what they're doing when it comes to the production and composing sides, how could this be anything other than great, sublime, even the greatest thing since sliced bread? It isn't, of course it's not. It has a huge, huge problem - for me, at least. It's 77 minutes long. It's bloated, overlong, and lacks direction and clear editing. Quite a few of these songs could've stayed on the cutting room floor, or just been decent B-sides. It made for a slog of a listen, if I'm honest. If it had been around that 45 minute mark, with just the strongest cuts, I'd have given it a 9/10. As it stands... it doesn't warrant anything below a 7/10, but then again neither does it merit anything above it.

Done with the ladies for now, but I'm sure more will pop up in the near future. I have a few in mind, but for right now I'm sticking to old geezers. The ones whose bands I loved when I was in my early teens, but who I've not really followed in a long, long time. I predict it's going to be absolutely painful, I hope I'm (somehow) proven wrong.