August, like July, was a month that found me in a state of stasis. I improved on the zero-concert total of July by going to three in August. I went on vacation with family and took everything super slow and easy, as summer was winding down. Music-listening wise, I was enraptured by the releases of the month, especially Mitski and Tirzah, both incredibly anticipated albums for me this year. After those two huge pillars of my listening, I had to search around for other great records of the month. I trusted in the greatness of Saintseneca with their new album Pillar Of Na, IDLES won me over for life with their unbelievable live antics, and the star-power behind Roy Montgomery’s album Suffuse (featuring Grouper, Circuit des Yeux, Julianna Barwick + more) was a no-brainer. I was so happy to find Steady Holiday and The Beths, both albums I’ve been enjoying more at the time of writing (September) than in the month they were released. Wish there was more from this month that grabbed and shook me, but I’m sure I’ll find more down the line. I’m only one guy, after all!

The Beths – Future Me Hates Me [Carpark]
The satisfying feeling of watching your close friends and family react negatively and shamefully after you say something really self-deprecating but actually very funny.

IDLES – Joy As An Act Of Resistance. [Partisan]
A best friend duo of hulking, golem-like behemoths tend to the university’s garden and pummel racists and fascists on campus into garbage cans.

Mitski – Be The Cowboy [Dead Oceans]
Taking the moments from your past that hit you with waves of hotly embarrassing nostalgic memories when you lay in bed at night and recreating them as high-budget feature films with you playing every role.

Roy Montgomery – Suffuse [Ba Da Bing]
A series of arcane rituals to summon a great one are performed in a remote cornfield, shaking the sky and loosening the earth’s crust below.

Saintseneca – Pillar Of Na [Anti-]
A freak snowstorm in the dead of summer causes mass hysteria across the world, both causing an early start for those seeking the comfort of winter, as well as birthing a new cultish religion based around a supposed snow god.

Steady Holiday – Nobody’s Watching [Barsuk]
A sacred trickster bends time and space to plant pranks throughout the universe.

Tirzah – Devotion [Domino]
Drifting between lucid dream states and bleary, active consciousness while riding out snooze alarms in the early morning.

GR8 SONGS OF AUGUST::

• The Beths – “Future Me Hates Me”
• The Beths – “Little Death”
• Empress Of – “When I’m With Him”
• Fucked Up – “Normal People”
• IDLES – “Never Fight A Man With A Perm”
• Jerry Paper – “Grey Area (feat. Weyes Blood)”
• Marissa Nadler – “Blue Vapor”
• Mitski – “Blue Light”
• Mitski – “A Pearl”
• Mitski – “Remember My Name”
• Mr Twin Sister – “Power Of Two”
• Robyn – “Missing U”
• Roy Montgomery – “Apparition (feat. Haley Fohr)”
• Saintseneca – “Ladder To The Sun”
• Saintseneca – “Timshel”
• Steady Holiday – “Nobody’s Watching”
• Tirzah – “Basic Need”
• Tirzah – “Holding On”
• Travis Scott – “SICKO MODE”