Cory Wong - Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul - I’ve really been enjoying Cory’s music lately. I wouldn’t have guessed that he’d wind up having the hottest horn section around, but here we are.

Gotye - Like Drawing Blood - This one came via a listener email, and I’m digging it. Recommended for anyone who thinks of Gotye only as “that guy who did that one song.”

Yebba - Dawn - One of the best albums I’ve listened to in a long time. I know everyone’s talking about Adele’s new album (which sounds great from what I’ve heard) but if you dig that, listen to this.

CHVRCHES - Screen Violence - Always dig new material from this band, and this one’s solid as always. A bit more world-weary, but that makes sense.

Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee - A buzzy artist who sits right in the Venn diagram overlap between games and music. She’s great.

The Strokes - The New Abnormal - Didn’t expect to be listening to a Strokes record in 2021, but hey, this is good!

Lil Nas X - MONTERO - My Triple Click co-host Maddy Myers got me to finally give this album a proper listen; I’d heard the singles, but it’s a different thing listening to the album. God, the swagger on this guy.

Love, Dean - Self Titled - A fabulous debut soul record from my buddies Luke and Rachel Price—Strong Songs listeners will know Luke as the fiddle player who played an outro solo in year two. This album is great - beautiful harmonies, great tunes. Give them some love, they deserve it!

Béla Fleck - My Bluegrass Heart - There’s something so reassuring about a group of old pros sitting down and doing their thing. The studio banter on this album is so humorously low key, given the virtuosity of the music.

John Wizards - Self Titled - This is a remarkable album out of South Africa, courtesy of a Strong Songs listening club pick. One of those bands that released one album almost ten years ago and seemingly vanished, but I’m glad I know about them.

Deafheaven - Infinite Granite and Sunbather - My buddies Mike and Billy got me to check out these guys, who mix shoegaze energy with black metal sounds to get a style of music that I suppose is called “blackgaze.” It’s an oddly relaxing sound, and I really dig what they’re doing.

Avishai Cohen - Seven Seas - Avishai has long been one of my favorite musicians, and he’s really found a nice pocket these days, playing this odd meter, organic small group stuff. Nice singing on this album, too.

Parliament - Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome - Talking about Bernie Worrell on the Stop Making Sense episode got me back listening to Parliament, and good lord, this album is cool. There’s this feeling of endless playful possibility, like they were making music with no conceptual boundaries.

Aimee Mann - Queens of the Summer Hotel - A beautiful new collection of songs from Aimee. She makes it seem easy.

Osibisa - Happy Children - Another cool band with musical roots in Ghana, courtesy of a Strong Songs listening club pick.

Horsey - Debonair - Here’s a fun one; a modern band that reminds me of no one so much as Mr. Bungle. Fantastic musicianship, never does what you expect.