What I’m Listening To – March 2023

It’s that time once more, where I list a few albums I’ve been listening to a bunch this month.

Like every month, I listen to a mix of old and new (to me) things. This month was overwhelmed by older stuff, for no reason. That said there is one album I won’t list here that otherwise would’ve made the cut. It will be getting its own post eventually, and when it does I’ll link to it here for posterity if nothing else.

But for now:

I had some roofing done this month and after it I needed lower tones for a while. After a few days of nail guns going off basically right above my head, I just wanted to cut a bunch of the highs out and dug back to Morphine, specifically Cure For Pain. They were an amazing band, and Mark Sandman died far too soon. But we can still go back and listen to when Morphine drove music around. When a bass (strung with only two strings), a sax, and a drum kit were all you needed to add to lyrics that truly were poetry.

Before that, though, I buried myself in an old favorite, an album that I think almost everyone of my generation fell in love with, Nirvana’s Unplugged. Released a few months after Cobain’s death, this album (and video of the set) were a way to relive how strange and wonderful the group truly was. Full of covers of everyone from Bowie to the Meat Puppets, Unplugged sounded nothing like the Nirvana we knew, but was also perfectly recognizable as the band. They poured everything into this set, and it stands the test of time as just an amazing live performance.

Finally this month, I discovered Caroline Polachek, via her new release Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, of which the title alone made me want to give a listen. The album itself is swimmy, ever-changing pop music that changes sub-genre as it goes, becoming almost an art piece as much as an album. It rewards relistening, and creates a great mood that stands alongside a lot of old, well know, albums.

So that’s it, except for the special “gets its own post” album coming in a while.

What will next month bring? I don’t know yet, but we’ll get there…