Halftime Report

Best of, shmest of. 1/2 way into the two-four

THE PRE-GAME

I really should write more.

But I am reading more, and not just 3 minute or so long articles on websites. I’m talking about books. Reading more books should count as much as, if not more than writing, right? Ok. Maybe. So before I dig into the music, here’s some book thoughts.

A page turner I recently read that I loved was Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free by Sarah Weinman.

Set mostly in the 60s, this is a non-fiction story about Edgar Smith, in prison and sentenced to death for the murder of teenager Victoria Zielinski. Smith strikes up a correspondence with conservative journalist and politician William F. Buckley, the founder of National Review. Buckley, refuses to believe that he was guilty of the murder, begins to advocate for and works to overturn Smith’s conviction. But wait: then there’s Sophie Wilkins, an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, who with assistance from Buckley, helps Smith write and publish his first book. While we know the ending before the last page, Weinman, who writes a crime column for the NY Times Book Review, stitches together an incredibly detailed, chronological story line that is fast-paced and well documented including the ‘love letters’ between Smith and Wilkins. Highly recommended if you like this kind of stuff.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, whose 2020 book Mexican Gothic, I loved, is a supernatural blast. Silver Nitrate is a spooky thriller that brings together Mexican horror movies, Nazi occultism, and a curse that the three main characters get swept into. Another one that I highly recommend.

PS - Speaking of books, go get yourself a copy of Ann Powers mega autobiography of Joni Mitchell. It’s incredible.

THE GAME

Now that we’ve got the book thing out of the way, I present to you my favorite/best lps of the year so far. I was going to cut it off at 6/30/24, and publish the same day but because I dilly-dallied, July 4th hit, and so did the new Zach lp, The Great American Bar Scene. After my second complete listen to it yesterday, I tweeted:

And of course some dude said something to the effect that there was no “Cherry Bomb” on it, which is a good point but it wasn’t mine so I just liked his tweet and moved on.

So here goes (Spotify list below). Let me know what I’m missing. No particular order here, but I’ve leaned into the Waxahatchee record a lot this year. I’d wouldn’t be suprised if, at the end of this year, Katie’s lp will be chosen by many music journos and critics as the best album of ‘24.

Adrienne Lenker - Bright Future

Bonny Light Horseman - Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free

Good Looks - Lived Here For A While

Zach Bryan - The Great American Bar Scene

Hannah Frances - Keep of the Shepherd

Lily Seabird - Alas,

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven

Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us

Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know

Lizzie No - Halfsies

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis - s/t

Maggie Rogers - Don’t Forget Me

DEHD - Poetry

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well

Little Simz - Drop 7

Lucy Rose - This Ain’t The Way You Go Out

Mk.gee - Two Star & The Dream Police

Ayra Starr - The Year I Turned 21

Erika de Casier - Still

Brittany Howard - Prove It To You

Glass Beach - Plastic Death

Nia Archives - Silence Is Loud

Vijay Ayer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey - Compassion

Astrid Sonne - Great Doubt

Beyonce - Cowboy Carter

Liquid Mike - Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot

Sprints - Letter To Self

Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee (d/l here)

brat - Charli XCX

Sierra Ferrell - Trail of Flowers