I have always loved covers. Every time a new artist sings an old song, there is new meaning, there is shared meaning. It is a creation that can be just diverting (“what a cute cover”) or soul-sparking (“oh I never noticed that before”)— the meaning is created in the liminal space between the cover songs. Old vs. new.
I’ve also been experimenting with music streaming apps for a few months now. I’m currently doing my Spotify stint. And Spotify loves to throw me cover songs in my weekly playlists. I don’t know how they know (algorithm genius!), but I love it.
This cover was amazing. The tome was changed entirely by the gender flip. The tempo was at once slower and yet more energetic and driving. The words seemed to mean more. Please follow the link & take a listen! (I couldn’t get a single song to embed from any app, sorry,..)
Going back through the year, reflecting on things I’ve consumed (whether it be music, books, movies & tv shows, or even just delicious food) has always been one of my favorite things to do. This year, however, I’ve been a little low on the brainpower. Books continued to be a constant companion for me, though. I read real paper version of books, relishing the different smells of paper and ink—as always saving poetry and graphic novels for the printed page. But I also listened to dozens and dozens of books via Audible. I’ve been using Audible since only 2018 but it has truly revolutionized how I read. I can now “read” while driving, cleaning, putting together a puzzle, or just staring at the sky from my seat on the back deck. There must be someone who argues that audiobooks are not really reading, but that person is NOT me. As I get older & my eyes get worse & my time becomes stuffed with too many to-dos, listening to books is my only way to read as much as I love.
So what did I read (in any form)?
If we do the math, I’ve read 60 total books. Forty were works of fiction (13 of those specifically the Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery Series) Non-fiction, mostly memoirs, totaled 8. Tied at 6 books each, we have poetry and comics/graphic novels.
If you’re a completist, you could go stalk me on GoodReads and see the gritty details. Instead, lets just cover some of my personal trends briefly.
At the beginning of the year, and then again about half-way through, I binged the Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery Series. These are 15 books, written by Colin Cotterill from 2004 to 2020, that follow the namesake, the national coroner for Laos, as he solves crimes & mysteries in the 1970’s. The books heavily feature the culture, history and politics of Laos, including American participation in the Vietnam War. Even the background scenery was educational, giving me new insight on the country, region, and so many other topics, like the illegal animal/pet trade. But the series isn’t heavy, if I’m making it seem that way. At its core, the books are each self-contained mysteries, just like episodes of a tv show. Beyond the serious topics, there is also magic, religion, love, and friendship. Oh, and communism.
12 out of 15 books in the Dr. Siri series, original cover art.
I was just trying to think how on earth I ended up reading this series, out of all the possible mystery series on earth, and I realize now that it was suggested by Audible’s algorithm after I read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman, a 1998 non-fiction book about the Hmong people, their flight from oppression in Laos, and one family in particular’s journey through the American medical system.
Another series that I finished was the Hell’s Library Trilogy by AJ Hackwith. The series follows main character Claire (& several other central characters added along the way) as she care for books in “The Unwritten Wing” of the all-encompassing library, and then as she is expelled to “The Arcane Wing” where she curates all manner of magical/sinister objects. She also visits many other realms and their respective libraries, with repeat visits to Valhalla and also The Dust Library (where books go after they have been read and/or remembered for the very last time on Earth). There are muses, fallen angels, one conflicted Hero escaped from his book, a whole wing full of damsels who chose to leave their unwritten books and live in the library, and of course death, whose name is Walter.
The Library of the Unwritten, first in the trilogy by AJ Hackwith
As an interesting aside, I have found a distinct topic missing from Wikipedia. The author, the individual books, even the Hell’s Library trilogy itself, of the above-discussed series. I didn’t even realize this was possible!
Another trend I’ve discovered in my 2021 in books review is a new favorite author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia. She is a Mexican-Canadian author who has published a spectacular amount of great short stories and novels in her young career. Based on what I’ve read in various biographies, she’s definitely into weird & speculative fiction. I was turned onto her 2020 Nebula Award nominated book Mexican Gothic by The Fantastic Strangelings Bookclub. This oddly and aptly named club was founded by The Bloggess Jenny Lawson, who is herself a hilarious and moving author with this year’s book Broken winning a GoodReads Choice Award.
Bestseller Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Let me just say that I am not an official member of The Fantastic Strangelings Bookclub, since I don’t have enough room in my house for MORE paper books. I consider myself an honorary member though, having been a devout reader of The Bloggess since the early 00’s and a bonafide weirdo since the early forever. Jenny Lawson chooses a wide variety of books, but she definitely has a penchant for slightly magical historical fiction. I was skeptical for a long time, but once I finally hopped on the bandwagon, I’m hooked. (Oh so many horrible metaphors/cliches in this paragraph.) After reading Mexican Gothic, I quickly moved on to 2019’s Gods of Jade and Shadows followed by The Beautiful Ones. If you’re in doubt about whether you’d like any of these books, just take a chance. You could find a new favorite author like me!
Well, its after midnight now. We’ve officially entered 2022. I crossed the threshold of the year here at my desk, watching Matrix Resurrections (for the third time). My neighborhood is filled with the sound of fireworks— people celebrating the end of 2021 or the beginning of a new year. It doesn’t really matter which, because the time on a clock, the date on the calendar, these things don’t matter in the course of a life. The Hell’s Library Trilogy posits that stories are what matter. That indeed stories are the key to unlocking the power of the soul. And Agent Smith from Matrix Resurrections would add “That’s the thing about stories. They never really end.”
Last year in 2020, the world was on fire but so was I, and my music recap shows just how much music I was listening to and how much it was really forming a strong emotional base to my existence. This year, sadly, has just not been the same. Neither my life nor my musical exploration nor in fact the whole of the world seemed quite as colorful or necessary. Partly, I’m sure it was because of my depression–but it also just didn’t feel like a real year. We all muddled through the second year of the pandemic as if on pause. Would something change? Our socially distanced lives, our jobs, our health?
Looking at my Spotify “wrapped” and my “year in review” from Amazon Music (my current main listening spot) revealed very little new music. Very little experimentation and exploration. And honestly, there may have been whole months where I didn’t listen to any music at all. If that is even possible? I spent many days and weeks in total silence, trying to distract from painful feelings with mindless games on my phone and endless naps. And more often than not, when I was figuring out what to listen to, I turned to audiobooks.
I’ll write more in another post about what I’ve been reading, but for now, lets look at the music I did listen to… All of these artists had at least 2 songs on my top 100 songs of the year:
Taylor Swift
Lorde
Miley Cyrus
Billie Eilish
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Doja Cat
Phoebe Bridgers
Sylvan Esso
The National
Black Pumas
Brandi Carlisle
Lizzo
Many of these were holdouts from last year’s heavy rotation, like the tracks from Miley Cyrus’ fantastic and in my opinion underrated girl rock album “Plastic Hearts” or Taylor Swift anthems from her second album of 2020, “evermore.” The same could be said for Dua Lipa who is still on heavy radio rotation with tracks from her hit album “Future Nostalgia” whose first single technically dropped in 2019.
There were more albums that came out in 2020 but continued on my frequent play list throughout 2021, notably Sylvan Esso’s album “Free Love” and Phoebe Bridgers’ “Punisher.” (A side note about the wonderful Phoebe Bridgers: in 2019, she released “Better Oblivion Community Center” with Connor Oberst. This is one of my very favorite albums of all time.)
Although Brandi Carlile released her most recent album “In These Silent Days” in 2021, I listened most to her super-duper groupThe Highwomen (eponymous album released in 2019) with Amanda Shires, Marne Morris, and Natalie Hemby. Somehow, it had taken me 2 years to find the song “Crowded Table” even though I was already aware of and in awe of Carlile’s great song writing and voice.
Black Pumas was another of my late-to-listen favorites, with an eponymous album released in 2019 with Grammy nods and good critical reception in 2020 and increased visibility making the late might tv show rounds while on tour. A prime time special ultimately helped them hit big on tv in 2021: the “Celebrating America” inauguration for Joe Biden.
Lastly, both The National and Lizzo last had albums in 2019 but their songs remain in my frequent play list.
So what new albums did I listen to in 2021??? In no specific order, here are some of them:
Lorde, “Solar Power” 2021: I loved both the title track and the single “Stoned at the Nail Salon” and did listen to the whole album straight through at least a few times when it first dropped.
Billie Eilish, “Happier Than Ever” 2021: shit, yes. This is probably the album I listened to the most this year, along with songs from many of Eilish’s previous albums too. In some ways, I could probably call 2021 the year of Billie. The top tracks in my playlist from “Happier” are “Your Power” and “Lost Cause.” But there are about a dozen other Eilish songs in my top plays, including “everything i wanted,” “my future,” “bellyache,” “lovely,” “you should see my in a crown,” and “Therefore I am.” She speaks deeply to many of the turbulent feelings I’ve experienced this year. And wasn’t there a concert performance and a movie this year? I think so. And I watched it all.
Olivia Rodrigo, “Sour” 2021: her first single “Drivers License” was an ok song that definitely got me singing along in the car, but my favorites from this debut album are “good 4 u” and “deja vu.” Rodrigo’s pop hooks and rock guitar and emotion-laden near-screams speaks to me even though I’m in my forties. You don’t need to be young to feel heartbreak.
Doja Cat, “Planet Her” was a frequent listen because how can you possibly escape this superstar? And speaking of music you cannot and should not escape, Lil Nas X “Montero” l is an absolutely unstoppable hit that must not be skipped. Lana del Rey had two new albums that I enjoyed this year (“Chemtrails Over the Country Club” and “Blue Bannisters”) matching Taylor Swifts’ prodigious 2020 output.
Speaking of Swift, she did release “Red (Taylor’s Version)” this year, and I am always delighted to her the songs I love from that album, such as “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Did I listen to all the new tracks? Yes. But do I remember any of them? Not particularly. I don’t know if its because of my mood lately or just because these tracks were never meant to see the light of day to start with?
Another 2021 release that I assumed would be my favorite next thing on repeat all day? Adele’s “30.” The first single “Easy On Me” is a gorgeous and sing-along-worthy track, but I didn’t find myself as involved with this album as I had expected. It is her divorce album after all… I suspect at least in part, my distance from this album is related to the emotional reticence I feel to even get involved in reliving yet even more feelings from my own divorce. (As if I could escape it, lol.)
As I end this post, writing on NYE itself, it seems to me that this year in music was defined by what my corporate overlords gave to me. I’m a baby of the Amazon Music algorithm this year. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I just hit “My Soundtrack” and let it play. In my top 10 songs, Billie Eilish sings four. I’m just going to call 2021 what it was: the year of Billie. But even though Billie Rules, I have to be totally transparent. The song of the year, the #1 song that I played the most, used the most on social media, and just generally screamed from the inside of my heart: “Cover Me in Sunshine” by Pink & her daughter Willow. Tell me that everything will be alright.
I haven’t been watching much tv lately. In fact, since impulsively starting this blog ___ months ago, I have only watched ONE new series and a handful of movies. The rest of the time, if there has been a tv on, it was background noise to a craft project or housecleaning and often on the Hallmark Channel, which is just like cookies–ubiquitous for the holidays– or one of two series: “Criminal Minds” and “Supernatural,” both of which I’ve already seen from beginning to end and love, so I can certainly enjoy as background company. Plus, am I allowed to say–cute boys?
Oh jeez, that was distracting. The one series I have watched that I want to recommend to you is “The Wilds” on Amazon Prime. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and I believe that’s for a few very good reasons.
The show is like “Lost” in a good way. Some teenage girls get stuck on an island after a plane wreck. Emotional and physical drama ensues. But in this world, we see a unique paradigm playing out. How will all girls, on the cusp of womanhood, choose to get along (or not) when the stakes are high. Their backgrounds and ethnicities and life experiences are all different, and each character is fully explored as to how she became who she is–and why. Then there’s the mystery. Was or is there a spy among them? Was the plane crash an accident?
The series continues to explore human relationships in times of serious crisis while also being funny and entertaining. It is the best kind of watchable! It doesn’t feel like junk food. Honestly, by the end of the serioes, I was thinking about feminism and politics and world government and the future of our species in general. This is soul food tv. In 10 episodes, and they’ve already promised a season 2.
