January 2025 Recs

cameron winter heart heart heart

Hello friends. Another year means more music, more reading, and more art to find comfort in/reckon with/make meaning out of the wreckage that is the world right now. This month was pretty hard for me. I was depressed for a while and then quite ill, all while Trump has returned to office/LA has burned/Palestine continues to burn/my mom got in a car accident (she’s okay). Anywho, all of this is to say that this month was emotionally harrowing, and it really was music and art and books that got me through. Emo music, ambient music, hopeful music, noisy music, poetry, prose, the whole gamut. Thankfully, there was a lot of new and good stuff, so I’ll just dive right in.

Favorite Album That Came Out This Month: “EUSEXUA” by FKA twigs

It was hard to choose between Ethel Cain’s “Perverts” and this album, but ultimately I’ve decided on “EUSEXUA” because I think I just listened to it more. Initially I was kinda disappointed by this release because my expectations were sky high, but a lot of the songs have really grown on me. I think this month I also just needed an album that would uplift me more than anything, and this album got me on my feet dancing and out to the gym.

Full review here.

Favorite Album That Didn’t Come Out This Month: “Heavy Metal” by Cameron Winter

Okay, this fucking album!!! For some reason, I thought it dropped this month and I was all set to make this my AOTM and probably my 2025 AOTY until I learned it was released in December!! Now that did a lot of damage, because I’d already written up my 2024 Best Of’s. Never have I ever gone and changed them retroactively, but I had to go and add some of these songs to my playlist/best songs list. I didn’t add the album to my 2024 Top 10 Albums because it felt too late, but if I could, I probably would. This album is so freaking good, and I’ve pretty much been listening to it non-stop since I first heard it. His voice and the music just bring me a deep sense of comfort that is hard to describe. Kind of like a warm cup of tea. Unlike anything I’ve heard in a long time. Soo good.

Full review here.

Fav Live Performance I Saw This Month: N/A

The only show I went to this month was Oakland DJ/electronic artist Bored Lord headlining in CDMX, but we left before they came on lol (left at 1am).

Perhaps the lack of shows contributed to my sense of un-wellness. Food for thought. Lots of good shows coming up in Feb and March, though, so will have much to report back on.

Fav Book I Read This Month: Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

My dad actually got me this novel for Christmas, so thanks dad :P I didn’t really understand the premise/it was kind of marketed as science fiction, which I’m not super into, but in my opinion it reads much more like a regular realistic fiction novel than sci-fi despite some elements. I think it does the novel a disservice to try to explain it, so I won’t here, but I will just say it was so good! Really easy to read and also witty and profound and smart and fun. Have been thinking about it a lot since I read it early in the month, which I think is the marker of a great book. Highly recommend.

Monthly Reviews Wrap-Up

Perverts, Ethel Cain (8/10), ambient/slowcore

Stargirl (EP), Cryogeyser (6/10), indie rock

Renny Conti, Renny Conti (6/10), indie folk/rock

Biodiesel, Brittle Brian (8/10), indie folk (2022)

There Is A Well, Shallowater (7/10), shoegaze/slowcore (2024)

Arlgon’s Purple Perplexingness Complex, Make Your Maze (6/10), art pop/synth pop (2024)

MONTHLY PLAYLIST!