The Maxies 2020: Year? Bad! Music? Still very good actually!!
The red carpet is rolled out. It's time to start the show.
A lot of new faces this week, thank you for coming and for reading Max’s Music Mondays. Please follow the playlist on Spotify! And if you dig the songs or the words, it’d mean the world if you shared it with a friend who might enjoy it too <3 Worth noting that this week is wildly different (mostly just way longer) than the usual write up. For a taste of a typical MMM, feel free to check out last week’s, which I am v proud of!! -Max
Welcome everyone!! *roaring applause slowly subsides* Welcome to the most important music award show in my life, The Maxies. I’ll be your host, shepherding us from one award I made up to another award I made up. It’s my annual excuse to write about the artists, songs, and albums that shaped my life this year.
Max’s Music Mondays is dedicated to the new, the next. The art that deserves to be heard, deserves to be experienced, just hasn’t found its whole audience yet. Which I love. Obviously, or I wouldn’t keep finding and writing every week. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love the stars too. In fact, MMM has just made me love them more. It takes effort to discover, and I need my comforts. The artists and albums I can turn to and fall into. I rarely get the chance to write about them, which brings us full circle, to this beautiful “stage”, The Maxies.
I’m thankful for so much this year. My health, my family, my friends, my job even!! But this year, deprived of so many experiences, I found myself more connected to music than ever. Transportive, soothing, inspiring, heartbreaking. For those, and every other emotion they brought, I’m grateful. So please sit back, relax, and enjoy me gushing about the shit I loved this year. Let’s dive right in with some of the me-at-my-most-me awards, before a visit from Maxie Claus, closing out with my absolute favorites of 2020.
Favorite Soundcloud Discovery. Yes, I am still digging around soundcloud even though their ad platform makes it nearly unusable. But their algorithm works so well, it’s magic I swear. It’s also home to so much unreleased, weird music I can’t stay away. Last year this would’ve gone to Phoebe ∆X∆ who found her way to MMM as soon as she hit Spotify. This year, I just can’t wait that long. It’s my pleasure to give this award to r.i.pablo for buggin out (DEMO)!
That vocal is so damn catchy, so intoxicating, I’m the bee this song is the damn flower. All the nature sounds filling out the world. “And it’s trueoooohhhh / hanging in the corner of your roooOOOoom”, it’s like Post Malone hopped on a Still Woozy track? But then like Charli XCX wrote the melody? Such a playful feel, familiar and new. Then the drums hit, and I have no doubt if a bug made a song it would sound and feel like this. Past the 1min mark, and we’re really living large. Those vocals floating as we fly through the sunlight. The I’m buggin out I’m buggin section is perfect, I love it. The whole song is just a beautiful weird joy and has since led (with the algorithm as my new friend) to 4 or 5 more MMM picks from this year. Grateful for this tune and excited to write about r.i.pablo again whenever I get that chance. Also the vid hits.
Best Music Moment of 2020 (aka moment of music that made me say “oh shit!”). This is a fun category. It’s very personal - crystal clear moments shaped by music. Specifically memories of the first(ish) time I heard these songs. These three all hold a special place in my heart. The nominees are:
Gasoline by HAIM. I had been gently exploring this album when it dropped (more on this later) and was excited for their live stream. Late June, letting it rip in the living room at my old apartment. Early listens (thanks to slack transcripts) suggested Gasoline was an early favorite, but this moment right here just off the back of the intimate Man From The Magazine, just bowled me over. I was going nuts at the standing desk, true front of the pit vibes. Won’t forget it.
Rock n’ Roll by Dijon. One of the few shows I actually did see in 2020 was a wild ride. Dijon capping off a monster tour with Deaton Chris Anthony on the bill. Dijon was clearly on empty, not in a bad way, simply giving all he had left to give. They rolled through some unreleased songs, and Rock n’ Roll stole the night for me. It’s fucked up how good this song is and to have that kind of breathtaking, jaw dropping moment at a show? A real gig?? One I’ve held dear.
The Difference by Flume ft. Toro y Moi. I love the dang bus. I miss the dang bus. Yes LA has public transit, and no it isn’t good! But I love it nevertheless. Every day I would ride the damn 92 bus to Temple & Fig, shuffle my little butt down the street before catching the DASH over to the office. I remember this day clearly, that drop hitting so hard as I hopped off the 92. I was literally running down the street dancing. I was shot out of the bus like a cannon and Flume was there to score it. I miss mornings like that.
And the winner is……… Dijon!! Can’t not choose the live music if I have the chance.
The Detective Harry Bosch Award for Investigative Excellence goes to…. me? What?!? No way, I… I’m speechless. I’m honored, thank you. I’m blushing so hard rn. If you’ll indulge me I wanted to walk through one of my favorite earth-shattering discoveries of the year.
Picture this - it’s me on my computer. It’s late May, just doing my thing (clicking and listening). I come across what would become one of my picks on June 8th - Lessons by In Kind (still hits, still love it). It’s a psychedelic groovy tune, and in its vibe I found it tough to decipher the lyrics. So I go to the source, Bandcamp… true heads know. The final frontier for all things indie artists. An incredible resource for lyrics, supporting smaller artists, and as I found out - music discovery. The lyrics were there (bless) but something else caught my eye - “recommendations” not something I had seen before on Bandcamp. The only recommendation? A mysterious artist, quiet girl.
This shit is insane. Just check out ‘palm’. Raw acoustic guitars and vocals that couldn’t be further from raw. But it works really well and the melodies are so fascinating. Naturally, I needed to know more. I’m thinking maybe they’ve put out more on Spotify, etc. but no. There’s nothing. No spotify, no IG, no twitter, no paper trail on any of this stuff. At this point I’m scratching my head. “Who! Is! This!” I scream out to no one (sorry to my roommate if I scared you). But there’s so much talent here, this artist couldn’t have just disappeared. Googling ‘quiet girl’ isn’t getting anyone anywhere. So naturally, my melted brain suggests a reverse image search. Okay… this could be something. I opt for the artist image, seems like the best bet. Hmmm initial results are fruitless. But there it is - sitting all the way down page 2 - one little tweet from tiny wave music:
St. Panther…? Simply couldn’t be. The R+B/rapper who has been kicking around my potential MMM picks playlist since their song 'Playa' dropped in late 2018?? It’s such a different sound, but the pictures seeeeeem to match up. Close enough to believe. But I need to check my work. And well well well mhm I’m gonna go ahead and call this confirmation:
Case closed. quiet girl is St. Panther, and St. Panther is one of my absolute favorite artists of the year. Right around this time, she drops These Days, a stunning and adventurous tune for fans of Alabama Shakes. Immediately showing her insane versatility with such a unique sound on the These Days EP, B.O.M.B. a standout. Then as Ricky Reed puts together one of the most interesting projects of the year, St. Panther is right there?? I find myself in a YouTube rabbit hole and get the emotional experience of watching Ricky cry as he hears these vocals for the first time. To get to this moment, for me, all coming from the quiet girl bandcamp was this intense culmination that gave me so much more appreciation for the song and the artist that became a big part of my year. I love music so much and shit like this happens, I fall even more in love - glad I spent the day reverse image searching a random bandcamp artist.
Song That Makes Me Wish I Was Cooler. A classic Maxie award, rooted in genre-less magic, this music brings me a lot of joy and simultaneously stirs up my own personal insecurities about not being cool enough, I guess? And I think we can all agree, when artists make music that’s their aim. The nominees are:
boylife - bummy. For its effortlessness and versatility and general cool vibe.
Buscabulla - NTE. What’s cooler than timeless indie music in Spanish. Ya gotta dance!
Otta - Never See. For its absolute chaos. Absolute beauty. Weird and aggressive and eerie but all in a way that ooze’s cool.
Cautious Clay & Co. - Cheesin’. He’s got so many cool friends and everyone is so damn talented. Just a bunch of pals doing their thing, inspiring!
And the winner is……….. Buscabulla - NTE!!!!! This was my early fav for album of the year, their entire record is so fresh and groovy and just fucking rad! You know the vibe. If you’ve never heard them before, crack open that google translate and let them transport you.
***INTERMISSION***
And we’re back. It is Christmas Eve as I write this next section and the holiday spirit is alive and well in my house! Ho! Ho! Ho! Woah, who is that!? Is that Maxie Claus!?! Omg! I hope he tells us about some artists I love but didn’t know how else to wedge into the Maxies!!
You nailed it, Max, it’s time for me, Maxie Claus (very different from Max), to check my list only once and tell you who’s been naughty and who’s been nice.
THE NICE LIST
Lianne La Havas, Lianne La Havas - This album!!! I felt a bit of shame, being so late to the Lianne game. But about 10 seconds into the album there’s no room for that shame anymore. Such an inviting record, just filled to the brim with beauty. Beauty that has brought me so much peace and calm this year. There are so many highlights, but Sour Flower breaks through, a nearly 7min long hype-yourself-up-in-the-mirror masterpiece. It’s so nice.
Harry Styles, Fine Line - As an album, it’s perfect. I listened to it in awe, just how well made and tasteful the entire thing is. Laughable how good it is. As a person, he’s inspiring. Just someone so able to wield their creative energy, in his art and in his life. Someone so on top of their game and yet still so much potential to continue growing. And all of it done with such thoughtfulness and kindness. Very nice!!
Christine and the Queens, La Vita Nuova - Not much more to say, other than, this absolutely rules. An exceptional feat. Someone so tuned to their self, striving to fully express that identity in every moment. This EP is, of course, all too fitting for the year. But what makes that nice is Christine’s relentless attempts bring this art to life and continue to connect in a year that wanted just the opposite. A generous nice.
Kathleen, Kathleen I, Kathleen II - Eight breathtaking songs. Kathleen sees the world differently, unwilling to indulge so many of the trivial ways of life we’ve all agreed to. She writes with such devastating insight, delivering blows in the biggest moments (see the loving and soaring ‘Seven Miles’, or the existential-anxiety-yet-still-a-Pop-SMASH ‘Can’t Stop’) and the most vulnerable (‘August’ will crumble your heart into a thousand pieces, speaking to 2020 and the timeless feeling of returning home in ‘Dark Side of the Moon’). It’s all so so nice.
THE NAUGHTY LIST
Charli XCX, how i’m feeling now - Regular readers will remember Charli was one of our (Max’s) favorite records of 2019. Because of that, how i’m feeling now was scary to me. Was I willing to live in this new record with such high expectations? The answer was no. I loved watching Charli make this album on IG Live, but when this record came out in May I just wasn’t in a place to hear it. But come this fall, oh baby is this record fucking sick. Charli XCX is such an inspiration to me - finding herself and her sound, bringing out the best in collaborators, and making music that is only getting better with time (every song on 2017’s Pop 2 could come out today and still feel so new and creative). So I guess Charli XCX is getting coal for releasing too good of an album too soon? A stretch, but that’s why I’m not checking this list twice!!
Okay Kaya, Watch This Liquid Pour Itself - No one writes like Okay Kaya. WTLPI came out at the end of January and I am still not over it. With matter-of-factness, she is able to paint such real portraits of life today. Some favorite lyrics for proof:
I just want us to do well / like Jon Bon Jovi’s rosé - Asexual Wellbeing
What if the pills I take will stop me getting wet? / I used to be inspired, used to feel something / I used to fight the feeling, always let it win - Baby Little Tween
My heart's so slick, my heart's a well / Throw a sandwich down, I'll be forever grateful - Popcorn Heart
You say, "Good morning" / The same way I say, "Goodnight" / Are you awake? (Hey) - Overstimulated
Who can get away with saying these things with such sincerity, and manage to make such beautiful songs!? That’s naughty!
Perfume Genius, Set My Heart On Fire Immediately. Another album I wasn’t ready for when it dropped, but have been soaking up this winter. This Pitchfork interview is a gem. Without You in particular has been a meaningful song for me, “To make a country song about body dysmorphia is really sick to me” and to me too. But PG gets coal for being so funny too… Every tweet is a perfect tweet.
A perfect song maker and tweet creator?? It’s a “yes, I’m jealous” naughty, sry. But thank you, also.
***INTERMISSION*** last one i swear, i can’t type much longer…
Like any award show worth its salt, we saved the best for last. In the past I’ve done album and songs of the year, but this year, I simply refuse! Instead I’ve picked the artists who really affected me this year and share a little bit about what made them so special. And frankly, it’s a fool’s errand to try and properly represent their power and meaning with words, so just throw your 1.5x multipliers on all this.
HAIM, Women In Music, Pt. III - Far and away my record of the year, #1 artist on my wrapped, 11 songs in my most played, this album consumed me. I was primed for it. Vampire Weekend is my favorite band, and the HAIM x VW universes continue to blur into one another. Musically, this album has everything I could want - a generally upbeat indie rock core, splashes of saxophone, careful kisses of western vibes, moments of R+B, reggae, screaming, all feeling earned and natural on the album. All produced so carefully and with so much heart. The vocals match that bar, each sister shining when they step to center stage, every harmony a lifetime in the making. The emotion flows through generously, when lines like “It's wrong, but you could do no wrong / And baby, even though it makes me miserable / It's fucked up, but it's true” I can’t help but be stopped in my damn tracks!! I love this album for its commitment to the messy. Whether sonically, thoughtfully rough around the edges and so full of life, or thematically, taking on life’s hardest moments. It’s been a year of finding beauty and meaning in the imperfect, WIMPIII a living artifact of just that. Then beyond the album, its continued life has produced two of my favorite remixes of the year.
The band keeps making some of my favorite art, and collaborating with seemingly all the important musicians in my life, and I’m savoring every last second of it. This album has kept me whole and given me hope in times I when I needed it the most. It’s a record and a band that I can just feel meaning more to me over time and I look forward to being obsessed with this record for years to come.
Remi Wolf, I’m Allergic To Dogs! + Monte Carlo - Hello hello HELLO!!! Remi Wolf has absolutely arrived and I am so freaking happy about it. Longtime readers might remember her MMM write up in March ‘19 (ok max, flex on ‘em!!) and now less than two years later she’s the voice of an Apple commercial?? She’s on a tear and there’s no sign of it slowing down. And what’s most remarkable to me, is that it’s the live performance that really brings her music to life. This recent VEVO vid probably the best version of that online (but bang my line if you want the real deal, dozens of live clips I’ve been lucky to capture myself).
What makes the live set so powerful is the way she contextualizes her music. And as I’ve said a thousand times before, her music is SO fucked up!! But like good fucked up. It’s weird and fun and beautiful and earnest and goofy and irresistible. It carries such a distinct sound, different from anything else. No one can deliver this level of playfulness balanced with such undeniable chops. Remi’s got pipes!! Every song begs you to dance and sing along even when the lyrics sound like gibberish the first time through. But that’s not a fault, it feels like this daring inaccessibility almost? Like Remi is presenting her full self right up front. If it’s not for you, no sweat, but if it is?? Oh baby, stick around. Each listen, each song, rewards you more and more as the Remi Wolf world starts to come into focus bit by bit. Then there’s the lyrics - the delightful how-does-she-do-it lines, “When I'm gone my baby makin' eggplant parmesan / When he's with his other baby he's a vegetarian”. And there’s the hit-over-the-head-with-wisdom moments, “And I’m running out of Oxycontin / And I’m running out of good options / And I don’t know what I really wanted / And fuck I think I lost my wallet”. And maybe you think that’s a funny one too, and maybe it’s both! And maybe, that ability to wrangle the real and the goofy is what makes Remi so magical to me.
So back to the live performance. Again, she is an absolute powerhouse of a vocalist. And to see her live, you feel each word, each chord so much deeper. It’s that magic again, that she’s able to take music that can feel chaotic and alien (in purely positive ways) and breathe so much humanity and talent and love into them. So when you see her singing and meaning every note, good luck not being a die hard fan for the rest of your life.
Despite not having maybe her best tool at her disposal, Remi Wolf put out single after single after hit after hit after remix after remix after remix. She had a banner year, and really put herself on the map in a way that has stayed so true to her music and her self. It’s so fucking inspiring to see and I cannot wait for the rest of the world to meet her and for me to dance front row at her inevitable Bonnaroo set just belting at the top of my lungs “I’d literally pee outside for you / On Hollywood Boulevard / I would literally die for you / Cuz you broke down my heart”, I’ll see you all there. An artist whose music gives you full permission to be yourself is a powerful one, and I’m grateful to have Remi Wolf to do just that.
Becca Mancari, The Greatest Part - Becca Mancari appeared out of thin air in my life, and big love to whoever made that happen. The Greatest Part is a haunting and loving record. One of the few I found myself continually letting run top to bottom, over and over again, all year. Mancari’s writing is just so vulnerable and moving. Her storytelling is breathtaking at every turn, filled with heartbreaking lyrics to hold on to. It’s all honest, it is her story, and to channel these incredibly painful memories and experiences into such beautiful music is a feat and a half. The kind of personal that makes me feel lucky just to hear it.
The opening lyric of the album is “Letters in the mailbox, say ‘I’m gonna hunt you down’”. A true story of someone she knew from her childhood church writing her threatening letters about who she was and the music she made. To live through this, to stay true to yourself, and then to create and share stunning art from it? It’s music made from the heart, true lived wisdom from someone so strong. But the second you recover from that gritty number she drops another gem, opening First Time with “I remember the first time my dad didn’t hug me back”. And it doesn’t stop there. But the music often feels breezy and bright. The whole thing is hard, life is hard, but crafted with such levity and love, it gives me hope. That Mancari has lived a life, yet is still able to make music that’s just fun. You’re just as likely to find me bawling my eyes out to Lonely Boy (my personal favorite off the album) as you are to find me smiling while I dance in my room to the same song. The music is there to meet you where you are, gives you just what you need.
I really don’t know what else to say about this one. Masterfully produced, it’s just gorgeous top to bottom. I think it’s one of the most overlooked gems that came out this year and I sincerely hope you give it a spin. I can’t wait to see Mancari play this album live *that one emoji, you know the one*.
Honorable Mentions - I’m out of words so just look at that really great photoshop I did at the top. If they’re in there they mean a lot to me. Would be happy to talk more about any/all of them but had to draw the line somewhere (yes this is 100% me begging for you to hit me up if you wanna chat Vampire Weekend and/or Maggie Rogers, thanks!!).
*Roaring applause resumes* A standing ovation?? OK!! Well, that’s it. Thank you so much for coming, I hope you enjoyed the show, I know I did. Mostly, I hope you didn’t hate it lol. But actual mostly, I hope you found something new in here to carry you into the new year.
A sincere thank you to everyone reading. As always, I am so grateful to have a place like this where I can continue to share music in a way that’s meaningful to me. So proud of 2020’s MMM’s and so so excited to see how this thing keeps evolving next year.
Sending all my love, see you next year where there will be a real red carpet I hope,
Max