albums i listened to all the way through
posted this week and every week (33)
I have no TS hot takes for today. My disappointment has faded into disinterest after reading a bunch of album reviews here on Substack. This is the first time I’ve lived through a Swift album release as a music writer here, and it’s honestly a little scary.
The only thing I can really think of now is that scene from Mean Girls:
If you know, you know.
In other news, I started watching HBO’s Vinyl recently. You know the one—the single season tragedy from Marty Scorcesse and Mick Jagger starring Bobby Cannavale, Olivia Wilde, and Ray Romano. Yep. I decided to give it a shot in light of my album awakening. It’s a wild 70s romp—part crime drama/part music biopic. Everyone who was anyone in music in the 50s, 60s, and 70s cameoed in this truly expansive show.
It got me thinking about the album—that is, the album on vinyl and radio and physical media—before all this 21st century hullabaloo. I’ve listened to more albums this year than I have in my entire life in some systematic attempt to discover what the fuss is all about.
Having done almost a year of this weekly ritual, I am more and more convinced of the sheer power of the album.
A few years ago, I wrote an essay about the lost art of liner notes and my desperate Gen Z wish that more attention be paid to the physical media of our rich and layered music histories. At the time, I was just beginning to scour record stores and used media heavens for anything that might scratch the itch I felt.
I’ve always had a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to music. Even as a kid, I remember dozens of instances in which my older brother and parents listened to music I never could have dreamed of discovering on my own. The three of them seemed to speak a secret language I couldn’t understand.
Inevitably, this complex followed me through high school and college. Sure, I discovered plenty of music, but it was all tied to those around me with better taste. They were the conduits through which I learned about this artform we call good music.
Even today, I am resistant to acknowledge that I have “good” taste. I just know how to surround myself with people who objectively have great taste and are willing to share their secret sauce with the world.
In the show Vinyl, Cannavale’s character Richie has what I call the secret sauce, or the right “ear” for music and finding new talent. I’m no A&R rep, nor do I ever plan to work for a record label, but it all made me wonder if I do, in fact, “have it” or if I’ve just sucked the marrow out of those who actually have it.
At a show a few weeks ago, my friend told me she really liked the band and thought I had good taste in music. I thanked her, but inside, I felt like such a poser. The honest truth is I found that band entirely by accident when at a show for a band I definitely didn’t discover on my own.
Sometimes, I feel my discovery tactics are so convoluted that no one in their right mind should listen to me wax poetic about music at all.
I think it’s sad and funny that Taylor Swift always brings these long-repressed feelings up in me. I think back to being a teenager and feeling pressure to hate on her music when really, I enjoyed a lot of it.
The point of this too-long, run-on sentence is that I still feel like an imposter, even when I write reactions and reviews and album newsletters. There are people who devote their entire lives and careers to this stuff, while I’m over here just fucking around, trying to figure out if I’m worthy of being in the room, much less if I deserve to move to the front.
My true saving grace is the feeling I get any time the music is playing. As long as the music is on, I’m as close to nirvana as I’ll ever get. Albums have pushed me further in this direction, and when an album hits…my god, it hits. Speaking of—
Here are the albums i listened to all the way through this past week:
Bleeds (2025) by WednesdayX
The Life of a Showgirl (2025) by Taylor Swift
Dirty (1992) by Sonic Youth**
Neon Grey Midnight Green (2025) by Neko Case
I think finding out about music from others is really how everyone, even some of the most storied critics, find music. Word of mouth is the most common and powerful tool for recommendations in general but specifically music. I think that's why many of us are here on Substack! Music is all about community and the community helps clue each other on what's new and things we may enjoy!
Not for nothing, but finding a band at a show when you were there to see a different band is as legit mode of discovery as anything a self-deigned tastemaker might use. Same with finding stuff through older siblings, parents (gasp!), or anything else. Sometimes it's a simple as an LP having an visually appealing cover. That's the magic! We've all just been conditioned to think that the opinions of a few rainmakers are all that count. That's simply not true.
Speaking of tastes, what're your thoughts on SY's 'Dirty?'