The Pains of Nostalgia

I would like to put in some sort of preamble here, saying something random here, but I have so much to get through. Between obsessions and recommendations, this is going to be a long one. Get a cup of coffee or something and settle in.

The Obsessions

PJ & Bjork Play Mick & Keith

Before beginning getting too deep, I want to drop something that has been rattling around in my head for a while. Through some chain of music video watching on YouTube, I ended up at the following video:

As you can see from the title of the video, it is Bjork and PJ Harvey doing a cover of The Rolling Stones’ eternally cool classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Rather than playing it at the regular speed, Harvey slows it down to a crawl, strumming her guitar slowly and drawing out the words. The sensual presentation of Mick Jagger is replaced with menace. Bjork drops into the song, sitting above Harvey in register but it absolutely works. The regular guitar line is done with electronics controlled by Bjork, and it’s so rad. As the song builds, the two of them open up a bit more, and the reasoning for the initial changes become more apparent.

The fact that they crushed this cover is not why I have been obsessed with this video. The location of this performance is why I have been obsessed with it. This is at the 1994 BRIT Awards, the UK equivalent to the Grammys. I could never fathom such a performance occurring at an award show in the States. It’s absolutely wild to me that they were able to do this. I also wonder how the public felt about this performance. Were people in their houses listening to this and thinking what is this shit? Who the fuck are these ladies, and why are they ruining the Stones? How many people were at home hearing this and absolutely losing their minds, their two crown princesses on the telly doing a cool cover together? I don’t have these answers, and frankly, I don’t want them. I just like knowing that this happened, and it was rad.

The Coming Classic Rap Apocalpyse

This past week, Ghostface Killah dropped Supreme Clientele 2, the sequel to one of the greatest albums in the hip-hop canon. (He has two other albums in it: Ironman and Fishscale.) Did anyone need this? That’s extremely debatable, but for the sake of argument, let’s say they did. What would they find on this album? They would find Ghost rambling off some of the stream-of-consciousness bars that made him the legend that he is. They would also find something extremely off-putting too: they would find a rapper who has not kept up with the times, a rapper who insists on using beats and flows that harken to a long-since-past sound.

There are some people who want this, but do not count me among them. To me, it was an old rapper, by rapping in the style that made him successful over 25 years earlier, trying to signify that all of the young rappers who exist now have no idea of what is means to really rap. This is a stupid arugment on any variety of levels. To start, all genres of music advance. What would rock and roll be if everyone just kept sounding like Little Richard and Chuck Berry? It wouldn’t be good. Music evolves. People start trying weird shit, and it actually works. That’s great, this is what we should be encouraging. Rap has been growing by leaps and bounds. Do I love all of it? Of course not, but I’m thrilled when I hear Babytron whip off a weird flex or Maxo Kream drop a banger of a verse.

Furthermore, by making this argument, it only makes the music more washed. Ghost is already 55 years old, and he’s got a very prescriptive idea of what rap music should be. (For example, the only young rapper that meets his standards is Kendrick Lamar. Liking Kendrick is like liking kittens or puppies—it couldn’t be less controversial if it tried.) This vision is out of line with the culture. He can disagree, but he has two options. First, he can just say that this new culture is not for me and live off the legacy of his earlier work, which still influences the young rappers he has gone out of his way to shit on with this album. (There’s a skit on the album where he complains about how young rappers cannot string lines together; they say a line, they pause, and then they say another line. Clearly he has never listened to That Mexican OT, Chicago drill, or Denzel Curry, to name a couple quickly.) The second is he could actually try to update his sound, to try new production and vary his flow. By doing neither of these two things, he ends up being the dude in Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days,” reminiscing about his past successes while the rest of the world has passed him by. In reality, this sounds like Ghost rapping about drug dealing and shootouts over a sample of the 1999 Eric Benet song “Georgy Porgy,” a song that was washed by the time I enrolled in college in 2002.

Now, this reality led me to another reality that bums me out to no end: we are on the verge of having classic rap. There are old folks who are convinced that there isn’t any “real hip-hop” anymore, that all of the young people are just sagging their pants and mumbling. As a result, they will revert to the music that they consider to “real hip-hop.” This immediately makes think of all the boomers who complain about rock music, how all of the music now isn’t as good as what they grew up on. As a result, they listen to “Roundabout” and “Tom Sawyer” on classic rock radio and think about how good music used to be, sheltering themselves from the idea that people have taken those original ideas and updated them to make something new. I wouldn’t be surprised to see hip-hop stations revert to a classic format in the coming years, especially as young people don’t listen to the radio anymore anyway. This will be disappointing on any variety of levels, but I won’t say that I’ll be surprised. That said, I will be listening to “Scenario” every time they play it.

The Conformity of Covers

I love covers as much as the next person. However, I don’t like all covers. For example, I don’t like 90% of acoustic covers that I hear of songs that weren’t originally acoustic. I 99% don’t like acoustic covers when they are slowed down versions of the original songs. (There is an acoustic cover of Misfits’ “Last Caress” by David Pajo of Slint, which is both good and quite funny as it highlights the comically deplorable lyrics of the song.) While I don’t need fidelity to the original song in a cover, these cover versions are almost uniformly terrible. They sound bland and strip the song of 95% of its original vibrancy.

I thought about covers while I was listening to a sampler from Mexican Summer records, a great indie label that has been putting out excellent work for the past several years. (The sampler is called Sitting on the Moon, and it’s worth your while.) On said album, there was a cover of “Wicked Game” by Natural Beauty Wonder Concept, a fantastic alt-dance project whose debut album is a beautiful piece of nocturnal electronic music. Their cover is very cool. They excavate the song a bit to make it sound like them, but it still hits on all of the sad, yearning moods of the original. I like it quite a bit, but it also makes me sad—and that’s not because of the song itself, which is pretty cynical.

The sadness comes from all of the covers that exist of “Wicked Game.” So many bands and artists have covered this song to the point where it begins to feel meaningless. It feels like some hurdle that has to be cleared, like you’re not a real band until you do a cover of “Wicked Game.” Furthermore, there are so many better Chris Isaak songs to cover. That’s right, I said it: “Wicked Game” is an okay Chris Isaak track that has a legacy because of its extremely sexy music video. (Shoutout to Helena Christensen, one of the great supermodels. Kendall Jenner can’t reach her level in her dreams.) There are songs that I like more from him. Some examples include “Dancin’” from Silvertone, “Lie to Me” and “Blue Hotel” from Chris Isaak, and “Heart-Shaped World,” “Blue Spanish Sky,” and “Wrong to Love You” from Heart-Shaped World (the album that contains “Wicked Game). There are others spread across San Francisco Days, Forever Blue, and Speak of the Devil as well, but I’ve made my point.

All of these songs would be great for covers. And since they have been covered so infrequently, a band could really make a name for itself taking one of them on. For example, I would love to hear someone do a weirdo version of “Lie to Me” or a synth version of “Can’t Do A Thing to Stop Me.” Will this ever happen? Of course not. That would require people who aren’t me and wine moms to listen to Chris Isaak albums in full. But who knows? The youngs keep diving into older music. Maybe they will get into rockabilly and start listening to Chris Isaak, Roy Orbison, and Wanda Jackson again, and then I’ll get interesting covers.

Along this same line, I need fewer covers of “Fade into You” by Mazzy Star. I love that song as much as the next person, but again, they have so many other songs that are rife for covering such as “Halah,” “Blue Light,” “Cry, Cry,” and “Disappear.” If you’re out there making music, consider doing one of these other songs for me. I’ll be delighted to hear you not do the same thing as every other person on TikTok with an acoustic guitar.

I’ve ranted long enough. Let’s get into the recommendations. You might want to refill your drink here. The last two weeks have really brought it. There’s a lot of new music worth your time.

The Recommendations

Greg Freeman - Burnover

A part of the Burlington, Vermont, music scene along with past Spins artist Lily Seabird, Greg Freeman has released his second album, Burnover. Freeman did much of the playing and all of the writing for this album alone. The result is a compelling album of Americana music with sharp writing and plenty of interesting instrumentation. There are connections to be made to MJ Lenderman due to the wild guitar playing and general tone. While not wildly off base, I think those comparisons are a little facile because Freeman feels a bit more folky than Lenderman to me. In any case, the album is a good listen when you want a nice, driving rootsy album.

Winter - Adult Romantix

I have been keeping up with Samira Winter since her 2018 album Ethereality. Her sound has been teetering between atmospheric dream pop and hard-edged shoegaze. On her new album Adult Romantix, she, with assistance from co-producer Joo Joo Ashworth (of Froth fame), find an excellent balance between the two, turning out a lovely album. For me, it’s her crowning accomplishment so far, and one of the defining shoegaze/dream pop albums of this current renaissance. This album is clear proof that the sky is the limit for her.

Kathleen Edwards - Billionaire

Edwards, a legend of Canadian roots music, comes back with a phenomenal set of songs. Her writing is clever, self-reflective, and incisive. There are also times when it is extremely petty, and I’m always here for that. The sound varies from acoustic-led tracks to hard-rocking bangers. She works with Jason Isbell and he and the 400 Unit support her in the studio. 2025 has been very good for Americana/alt-country music, and this is just another addition to a banner year.

Water from Your Eyes - It’s a Beautiful Place

Following the success of their 2023 album Everybody’s Crushed and Nate Amos’s solo project This is Lorelei in 2024, expectations were rather high for this album. Water from Your Eyes did not disappoint. Bringing the guitar to the center of the maelstrom of drum loops and synthesizers, the duo of Amos and Rachel Brown come with another suite of experimental tracks that touch on dance music, punk, shoegaze, and nu-metal, among other things, leaving listeners with a lot to process along the way. While the whole is chaotic, it holds together quite well. I think they are doing something truly fascinating, and this is as good a time as any to start listening to what they are up to.

Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones

In 2023, a young man from Baltimore, Marcus Brown, going by the name Nourished by Time released Erotic Probiotic 2, an album of heartfelt crooning accompanied by beats influenced by punk, hip-hop, dance music, and R&B. It blew everyone’s face off, mine included. Last year, he released an EP, Catching Chickens, that signaled a greater conversation with synth-pop and new wave. In 2025, on major indie XL Recordings, Brown pays off those suggestions from the EP with The Passionate Ones. Those references to synth-pop and new wave mix with his original base and create a more engaging, more heartfelt follow-up to his debut. Although you can hear the extra recording money, the personality hasn’t gone anyway, and the sincerity remains in spades. Absolute must listen album, and you know I don’t say that often. This man is the present and the future.

Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love

Boutique rapper extraordinaire Earl Sweatshirt comes back with another absolute banger. The kid does not miss. Working over some absolutely mad beats, Earl, in his signature style, contemplates being a dad, talks about marriage, talks mad shit, and references hip-hop of all stripes. Ghostface could take a lesson from Earl, who can also easily rap circles around him at this point. The album is only 25 minutes, but you’ll need at least 50 to understand the brilliance. It will be worth your time. Also, if you don’t always watch the videos in these, please watch this one. It’s amazing.

Marissa Nadler - New Radiations

Are you interested in ghostly/haunted folk music that is simultaneously soothing and menacing at the same time? If so, Marissa Nadler has a new album for you. She’s been occupying this space for quite a while now, and this album is just another addition to her peerless catalog. This album does a lot with electronics and amplified guitars, adding a bit of depth to her sound and really rounding out the images her lyrics create.

Molly Tuttle - So Long Little Miss Sunshine

Molly Tuttle, one of the stars of contemporary bluegrass music, decided that she needed a new challenge. So, she took her myriad skills—excellent guitar playing and fantastic songwriting—and made a pop-oriented album. The bluegrass elements are still there in the corners, but the overall sound is much more pop, much more cosmopolitan. It completely works. I came in with absolutely no expectations, and was very pleased with her writing and her amazing guitar skills.

Kerry Charles - It’ll Be Over Soon

While I tend to not read much about albums before I listen to so my judgment isn’t biased, I rarely go into an album completely blind. This was one such album. What I found was a funky soul/jazz album anchored by the smooth voice of Kerry Charles. It’s extremely well-played, and the vibes vary nicely. At times, there are just straight grooves, and at other times, there are rhythms that sound like a looser Steely Dan. I just nodded along with the ride. It is a deeply entertaining listen.

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - GUSH

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is one of the women who has taken over the mantle of Buchla wizard from Suzanne Ciani. On her recent album, her Buchla-based compositions have been accompanied by drum machines and other rhythmic elements. On GUSH, Smith continues this trend and makes some of her most sensual, tactile music. It is still experimental with treated vocals, complex synth modulations, and dense rhythmic patterns, but the music is more visceral than it used to be. This is a good thing. When listening to this, I thought of a more upbeat Julia Holter in the sense that you can feel her ideas clearly.

Steve Gunn - Music for Writers

There are no tricks to this album. Steve Gunn, an amazingly accomplished guitarist, took his guitar, some synthesizers, and field recordings and crafted an ambient record. The music itself allows your mind to relax and enter a truly creative space. I was listening to this album while I was cleaning, and it both relaxed my mind and helped me to enter into a creative space. I would have needed to have been able to write stuff down while I was there, but the effect of the album was both clear and much appreciated.

TOPS - Bury The Key

TOPS has been playing a weird, out-of-time version of sophisti-pop for the last decade or so, but it became clear with their 2020 release, I Feel Alive, that they needed to do something new. The band took five years off, and members worked on separate solo projects. The result of the time off and the different projects is an album that is still connected to that original sound but is also infused with a livelier element derived from arena rock, funk, synth-pop, and disco, among other sources. While the lyrics can skew slightly dark, the overall album is lovely and infectious.

Dijon - Baby

Dijon is having quite a moment right now. His public profile rose high because he was a major collaborator on Justin Bieber’s Swag album, which was not great but that wasn’t due to the work of Dijon and Mk.gee. His follow-up was to release his second album, Baby, which he recorded in his house. Thinking about marriage and fatherhood, the album is dense with sounds and ideas, derived from hip-hop and R&B among other things. Anchoring the entire affair is Dijon’s voice, which is magisterial. An fine outing from a young man who cannot set a foot wrong.

Hunx and His Punx - Walk Out On This World

Because this whole thing has been a little bit too serious, I’m going to recommend this album from California-based trio Hunx and His Punx, made up of Seth Bogart (Gravy Train!!!!), Shannon Shaw (Shannon and the Clams), and Erin Emslie. While the lyrics can get a little serious at times, the band still wants to have fun, playing rollicking garage-punk songs and dousing them in girl-boy harmonies. Seriously, if you need some fun, put this on and have at it.

Thank you for reading a very long Spins column this week. Next week, we’re returning to the year of 1985. Will Bruce still be on the charts? What’s Kate Bush up to? We’ll answer these questions then. As always, tell a friend and take care of yourselves and each other.