albums i listened to all the way through

posted this week and every week (34)

Oct 12, 2025

Hello and Happy Sunday to you lovely listeners :D

Finally—the long awaited Jay Som and Flock of Dimes albums were released on Friday.

The new Flock of Dimes release is an impressive emotional journey. From its opening line, “I did not enter this world afraid/and I refuse to leave it that way,” to the last song—a humble, yet evocative admission, The Life You Save is a staggering look at one’s own mistakes, behaviors, and miseries. It’s also a patient realization about trauma and the ways in which it pervades our lives well beyond the first cut.

As singer-songwriter and producer Jenn Wasner, the genius behind Flock of Dimes, put it,

“As it turns out, this record is not someone else’s story–it is mine, the story of my life. A life spent believing I had escaped, and that I deserved to feel guilty for doing so. A life in which I believed that the right combination of words, actions, effort, and expense could somehow change others’ behaviour. And a life in which blindness to my own patterns caused me to hurt others and prevented me from finding the true love and acceptance I yearned for.”

I can certainly relate.

Sonically, this album follows in line with their previous releases—a beautiful blend of folk music and electric elements used sparingly. I have to admit that this particular subgenre is easily my favorite. I am a big fan of artists who adeptly intertwine two seemingly diametrically opposed things to create something entirely new and otherworldly. The Weather Station does this too, and to have them both release such great albums within the same year feels like a unique blessing.

Jay Som’s Belong is equally interesting and emotional. Not only does it include an impressive roster of features, it also showcases Melina Duerte’s characteristic lyricism—subtle but moving all the same. These songs flow through your ears and sink deep into your bones. My personal favorite tracks are probably “Appointments” and “A Million Reasons Why,” principally because they offer such different takes in terms of genre and production. Yet, they are on the same album. This is the power of Jay Som and their well-cultivated producing prowess.

These two albums were a breath of fresh air after a week of me running around at work like a chicken with my head cut off. I was seriously busy and probably didn’t take care of myself as I should have.

I get in these creative flow spaces where I can work without food, water, and bathroom breaks for a solid 6 hours. Then, I wonder why my head hurts, I’m grumpy, and I desperately need to pee. I have two modes really—I go a million miles per hour for several weeks or days and then I crash—hard—and can’t seem to be motivated to do much of anything.

Thankfully, I had two really special days in the city this weekend to alleviate some of the crash.

For one, I went to see Sister. and Hiding Places at this cool little venue in Ridgewood on Friday night. The fact that there were booths there was such a welcome surprise to a chronically ill person such as myself. The bands were, as always, incredible. I’ve been teasing out a DIY show review newsletter for a while, and I think I finally have enough of them under my belt that I can go ahead and announce it this week. Be on the lookout!

Yesterday, I went downtown to the NYQueer Zine Fest and grabbed a few zine goodies for myself and the zine library. I met some new friends and greeted familiar faces, all in the spirit of DIY on a rainy Saturday afternoon. After a coffee pitstop, I headed into Brooklyn to meet a few friends for an early birthday karaoke celebration. We also pounded the pavement in search of photobooths and located several, including the one at Union Pool I’d never had the pleasure to use.

There is more to tell about all this in another post, but it’s safe to say I feel remarkably grateful for all this year has brought to my life, even in spite of how awful everything seems in the greater world. Balancing this has been difficult.

Yet, here we all are, trying to do it every second of every minute of every day. If that isn’t punk rock resilience in the fact of abject awfulness, I don’t know what is.

Here are the albums i listened to all the way through this past week: