What have you been listening to this week?

I've decided to go back to a project that was released a few months ago. Childish Gambino released an album titled 3.15.20. I enjoyed it when it was released but with the summer we've been having (covid) the melancholic lyrics and aesthetic mixed with upbeat tempos and dance style beats really makes a great emotional album full of energy to get me to work on time. Would highly recommend even if you aren't a fan of hip hop or Gambino.

Bright Eyes dropped their first new album since 2011 today: Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was

Not so much this week but tonight - husband went to bed early and I'm in the kitchen badly twerking to the old song "peanut butter" by Ru Paul and Big Freedia https://youtu.be/LFoRH-VtFO4 while talking on the Swedish old-school-web-forum Flashback helping a nazi get her life together (don't ask, well actually DO ask if you want. Its weird)

Surprise: some jazz standards. Also, the ole' trusty podcasts. And PBS Newshour while walking around/running.

By the way: Anyone know a better way than iTunes for getting music onto an iPhone from Windows?

(Unfortunately all songs here are in PT-BR.)

Falador passa mal from Originais do Samba.
(higher, vaguely upbeat pitch)
(lower, vaguely sad/melancholic pitch)

I like this song mainly because if the main line because it vaguely translates to "talkative people/they who talk [too much] don't do well" and that the song was made during the dictatorship that took over here so it can be interpreted as "[they who] speak poorly [of the regime] are punished".

In the same vein and (way) more explicitly, Pra não dizer que não falei das flores.

The new Burna Boy album caught my attention. Some nice collaborations on it with people like Stormzy, Naughty By Nature and Youssou N'Dour.

One of the standout tracks for me is Monsters You Made (feat. Chris Martin) and yes, that's the Coldplay Chris Martin.

On my side I’m going back to 2013 with Nadia Ksaiba’s Virtual Lover : https://phantasysound.bandcamp.com/album/virtual-lover-ph28

It reminds me of my first (and last) long distance love as it was released around the same time but I’m still trying to understand the lyrics after all these years. If anyone could help with this I would be very grateful as I dis not find anything on the web.

At this point I've lost track of whether a given album was recommended by someone here, elsewhere, or just found on my own by traipsing through Bandcamp and rateyourmusic. As such, if you see something you've recommended here and I don't give you credit for it, it's not an intentional snub!

Good music for falling asleep to

Amos Roddy - Kingdom OST (ambient game soundtrack)

I haven't actually played the game this is from, but I came across the soundtrack somehow and think it's wonderfully mellow. I've been listening to it when I lie down to go to sleep and I've yet to hear the whole album because it puts me out like a light.

Slow Meadow - Happy Occident (ambient instrumentals)

Haven't made it to the end of this one either.

Good background music

House of Waters - Rising (instrumental)

Not sure what genre this would be (jazz?), but it's an instrumental album that features a hammered dulcimer as its lead. The hammered dulcimer is very kinetic throughout their songs but has this overall softness to its sound. It creates an interesting dynamic where the music has a lot of movement but still feels very calm.

Anachronist - RGB (synthwave)

I'm not very well-versed in the details of synthwave and all of its various forms and subcategories, so I can't really describe this one past "it's synthwave, and I like it".

Good pop music

Miel - Tourist Season (sleepy pop)

Don't know the exact genre but I've been mentally calling this "sleepy pop", if such a thing exists. Has a bit of an amateurish quality in its lyrics that I find endearing.

Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA (pop rock)

This one is unfortunately not available on Bandcamp. Good pop tunes that cover a lot of range. Has a similar amateurish lyrical quality that I like.