..by which I actually mean a pair newish releases that I've been playing on repeat lately: 

• By The Fire by indie alt rock veteran Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)
• Things I Never Said by relative newcomer Oceanator (songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Elise Okusami)​

Moore released By The Fire last month, and from the first listen it felt like a familiar extension of Sonic Youth - particularly their more hook-driven moments on Dirty, Goo, and Rather Ripped, as opposed to something more meandering and experimental.
​Like Rather Ripped, I think the accessibility of this record owes a lot to the drums for just being nothing too fancy for a straightforward rock foundation.  And although the 9 songs range from 5 to 17 minutes long, I found them all to be surprisingly accessible- their length driven more by pattern repetition & melody, and less by noise & improvisational jammy expeditions (with maybe the exception of the first 8 minutes of Locomotives). Some might be disappointed by this accessibility, but for me this is exactly the Thurston Moore record I want to hear right now. ​

Although Oceanator's debut came out back in August, I didn't check it out until last week for some stupid reason. But's it's been pretty much on repeat ever sense. Fuzzy, deliberate, catchy, melodic - I'm still forming my thoughts on everything going on here, but maybe I should just suffice it to say it's wonderful and special and you should check it out for yourself. It's (once again) exactly the kind of record I'd love to make myself if I had this kind of creativity and talent. So I'm glad that Oceanator brought this music into existence for us, and on funfetti vinyl no less :)