October felt like nothing at all. Despite housing my birthday and a big holiday, nothing much seemed to have happened. Even the weather wasn’t super fall-like. 2020 really does have to do it to us like that I guess. What I did find though were a bunch of albums I had no idea I was going to love, along with a few handy standbys coming through with the goodness. I was totally floored by the Better Person and Sea Oleena albums right out of the gate, whereas Eartheater’s kept creeping up on me. Lots of lovely, lush music on this month’s edition of Recommended Albums. I also enjoyed records from Gorillaz (best since Plastic Beach, and that makes me happy), Joel Ross, Actress and Southern Shores. Shout out to all y’all.

Adrianne Lenker – songs [4AD]
Autumn-colored dead leaves spill out from behind framed pictures of family, flood old photo albums and pile out of closets and crawlspaces as you lay in the middle of your living room floor.

Better Person – Something To Lose [Arbutus]
Streetlights streaking across empty city blocks as tears cloud your field of vision as you run back home from an emotional date.

Deep Sea Diver – Impossible Weight [High Beam]
A roaring sea current follows you through city streets and rural pastures, the tide always just lapping at your feet.

Eartheater – Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin [PAN]
A shapeless smoke druid acts as a siren to the River Styx, luring unwitting travelers to their doom once they touch the swirling currents.

Gunn-Truscinski Duo – Soundkeeper [Three Lobed]
Building a monolithic structure in the middle of the desert without instructions or tools, only wild momentum-based techniques.

Mary Lattimore – Silver Ladders [Ghostly International]
Watching a beautiful meteor shower crest over Earth’s surface as you float through space.

North Americans – Roped In [Third Man]
A hidden waterfall cascades currents filled multi-colored flower petals, causing river banks to be peppered with pops of bright color for a good country mile.

Róisín Murphy – Róisín Machine [Skint/BMG]
A time-bending dance party on a futuristic submarine somehow elongates the life of its participants, allowing them to dance until the end of time.

Sea Oleena – Weaving A Basket [Self-Released]
Watching wisps of smoke from a blown-out candle trail and mix into the starry sky.

Wendy Eisenberg – Auto [Ba Da Bing!]
Building a ladder out of a hole in the Earth with assorted objects that have been thrown into it and you fantasize about all the good times you’ll have once you’re out, only to have it toppling down from passing semi-trucks.

GR8 SONGS OF OCTOBER 2020:

• Actress – “Angel’s Pharmacy (feat. Zsela)”
• Actress – “Loose (feat. Rebekah Christel)”
• Actress – “Save”
• Adrianne Lenker – “anything”
• Adrianne Lenker – “come”
• Adrianne Lenker – “heavy focus”
• Azymuth, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad – “Apocalíptico”
• Better Person – “Close To You”
• Better Person – “Hearts On Fire”
• Better Person – “Something To Lose”
• The Budos Band – “Sixth Hammer”
• Cut Worms – “Sold My Soul”
• Cut Worms – “Veteran’s Day”
• Deep Sea Diver – “Impossible Weight (feat. Sharon Van Etten)”
• Deep Sea Diver – “Lightning Bolts”
• Eartheater – “How To Fight”
• Ela Minus – “Close (feat. Helado Negro)”
• Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou – “Ancestral Recall”
• Gorillaz – “Désolé (Extended Version) (feat. Fatoumata Diawara)”
• Gunn-Truscinski Duo – “Gam”
• Gunn-Truscinski Duo – “Pyramid Merchandise”
• Helena Deland – “Lylz”
• Isola – “Any Day (Main Mix)”
• Joel Ross – “Home”
• Loma – “Half Silences”
• Machinedrum – “The Relix (feat. Rochelle Jordan)”
• Magik Markers – “You Can Find Me”
• Mary Lattimore – “Silver Ladders”
• Mary Lattimore – “Til A Mermaid Drags You Under”
• North Americans – “Furniture In The Valley”
• Róisín Murphy – “Jealousy”
• Róisín Murphy – “Murphy’s Law”
• Salem – “Sears Tower”
• Sam Amidon – “Maggie”
• Sea Oleena – “Lost Song”
• Sea Oleena – “On Possession”
• Surprise Chef – “The Limp”
• Tobacco – “Chinese Aquarius”
• Wendy Eisenberg – “Centreville”
• Wendy Eisenberg – “The Star”
• Working Men’s Club – “Valleys”