music friday: end of the year

What would ordinarily be the biggest music news of the year for me went sideways. First, Bruce Springsteen got peptic ulcer disease, postponing what would have been our first Bruce show since 2016 until next March. Then, Sleater-Kinney announced a new album and tour. I have seen them 17 times over a period of 21 years, but the last two times, they were without Janet Weiss, the drummer who left the band (or was kicked out), and those shows weren't the same. Also, although Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein have been the only constants in the history of the band, Janet was already there the first time I saw them in 1998, and I never thought of them as anything other than a 3-person group. In some way, Janet's departure broke my heart, and I don't have the same feeling for S-K as I once did. I've checked out the few songs they have already released, but I don't have any enthusiasm for them, and their Bay Area shows come just before we leave for Spain, so it's easy to decide I won't be going to see them.

These are the two songs I've obsessed about the most in 2023:

Comments

[Tomás]

These two songs are great, with Billie's one of the prettiest and most emotionally devastating I’ve heard in a long time. Without a doubt my favorites of this generation.

[Steven Rubio]

I've already forgotten who said it, but someone described "What Was I Made For?" as Rick Deckard from Blade Runner realizing he was a replicant.