The Maxies Part One
My Made Up and Deeply Important Music Awards
Happy New Year. Welcome back to Max’s Music Mondays. And more importantly, roll out the damn red carpet, it’s time for The Maxies. It’s one of the biggest (semi-recurring, date-changing-every-year) days in music and boy am I honored to be here with you all today.
The Maxies have taken on many forms over the years. 2020’s remains one of my favorite things I’ve written. Pre-substack, there was an amazing Maxies (must’ve been 2019) where readers (my friends) recorded themselves presenting various awards. A special moment for me, so fun and goofy.
But regardless of how they arrived, The Maxies have always been about me sharing the music that meant most to me over the past year. One way or another, hoping that the music could find you. As ‘23 ended, I wanted to make this something special, really give the music the love it deserves. But through personal, professional, and global pain, I found it hard to do LOL!
So we’re here now. And I’m so proud to share this version of The Maxies, because this music means the world to me and I hope you give it a chance.
In Part One, we’ll work our way through some quick hits, little blurbs on songs and artists I loved. Then onto three records that I loved deeply. Consider this a chance to find some music you might’ve missed last year!
Then, I’ll be back on Thursday for three big ol’ awards. Artist of the year, Album of the Year, and Album of the year. Yes I am giving AotY to two albums and we’re not making a big deal about it ok?!?!?
But first…
THE MAXIE FOR BEST SUBSCRIBERS TO MY NEWSLETTER GOES TO…. ALL OF YOU!!!! Seriously a well deserved award, a lot of great nominees, but you all really earned it this year. An earnest and heartfelt thank you for all of you who read, shared, subscribed to the newsletter this year.
I was so nervous about launching the paid newsletter, trying something new by paying the artists I write about, but my goodness. Y’all had my back and believed in it, and the response has been SO fulfilling. Getting to reach out to an artist, tell them I wrote about their song and also here’s some cash?? It’s crazy and I’ve received some of the kindest messages that Instagram dot com has ever seen.
In 2023, between the newsletter and the compilation, I paid out nearly $1,200 to artists I love. What a special thing.
Don’t forget, you can subscribe to this newsletter for $5/mo or $50/yr. Of that, nearly all of that goes back to the musicians :) From that $5, after fees, I get about $1.40/mo, much of which I invested back into the compilation anyways. So truly, your money is supporting incredible artists and helping to get more music out into the world. It’s an incredibly important and unique role to play and I’m grateful for all of you. You’re helping dreams come true!! Mine and musicians!!!
Paid subscribers get special paywalled newsletters - interviews, performances, guest essays, and more. The MMM world is ever evolving and I hope you’ll trust me with a few more dollars this year.
If you are interested in supporting, it’d mean so much to me to help this thing keep growing and help support artists in more direct and meaningful ways. If you want to support, but are unable to pay, just respond to this email, I’ve got ya no questions asked :)
OK ON TO MORE AWARDS!!! LISTEN ALONG AND ENJOY <3 :)
VERY IMPORTANT MADE UP AWARDS
The Maxie for IDK What The Hell You’re Up To But My God It’s Good goes to Saya Gray!!!
It feels so corny to say an artist is “Genre-Bluring” or “Pushing Boundaries” or whatever, but that’s what Saya Gray is doing!!! In May, they released QWERTY, seven songs, each big and bold and beautiful. It opens with a MASTERFUL intro on DIZZY PPL BECOME BLURRY. But, my personal favorite was PREYING MANTIS !. Opening with acoustic guitar and vocals made into fx, it swirls and swirls, adding a harrowing melody before dropping in some bass and drums and no were verging on a punk tune. It mellows, somehow, before turning a fresh page with Grey’s vocals eerie and sure. The song bends to and frow, adding in a SHREDDDDDDing guitar solo, before echoing out to the distance. Returning with the heavy chugging of a metal song. And yet the last 17 seconds has Grey with a gentle and crazy pop melody singing ‘I could turn your dust into sparkles’. Crazy voice, one of one sound, I loved this record!!!
And then as September closed we got a three-track little thing, with ANNIE, PICK A FLOWER… (MY HOUSE) which ended as one of my favorite songs of the year. Again, gliding effortlessly from indie folk, indie r&b, pop, feels so novel and so experimental and so perfectly accessible all the same. It’s so fucking thrilling at every turn and Grey’s voice is one of the best around right now. Congrats on The Maxie, it is well deserved.
One of the coolest parts of listening to music is seeing your favorite artists grow and find their sound. This year’s winner for Artist who has Grown and Found Their Sound And Is Incredible, goes to Caroline Rose.
I’ve loved Rose from the moment I heard them. 2018’s LONER a monumental record (for me). One that I saw live countless times, and held close for its wild pace, memorable and satirical writing, it was just fun!!! I’ll always hold that one dear. Their 2020 record starts the transition. Sonically it feels so much fuller, a beautiful album. Freak Like Me, I Took A Ride, some amazing songs that felt like an expansion on LONER. New ways to express that same sense of humor. But dropping mere moments before the pandemic, I never connected to it live the way I had LONER. Regardless, I was so stoked for this new album.
Following Rose on IG, it was clear this new album was something more. More personal, more honest, more meaningful. And holy fuck is it ever.
Woven with personal memories told through voicemail, it’s heavy stuff. And seeing Rose perform it, and talk about performing it, you can feel how close to the heart all of this still is. An alive and ongoing processing of life through these songs. It’s emotional and it’s generous, and it’s the kind of art I crave. Connecting with and learning about humanity through its soul.
Personally, I found myself most drawn to the Everywhere I Go I Bring The Rain & Love Song For Myself combo. The first, asking us all to deal with our pain head on. The latter, a poetic look at self, and recognizing that for all the bad we are, we are also the good, the remedy. If I’m a punching bag, then I’m here to get you fit… trying to appreciate everything, give ourselves grace in our hard moments, and coming to love ourselves as much as we can.
I’m so grateful for Rose’s album, for their continued growth and willingness to bare it all. I did get to see this record live and folks… the vision!!! It was a beautiful night, and I’ll be holding this record dear for time to come.
Constantly Flipping Ideas On Their Head Award for Songwriting Brilliance goes to MUNA for their 2023 hit, One That Got Away.
God I love MUNA. And there’s so much to love. Two of my favorite music moments of the year were MUNA-driven. Their wild set at Bonnaroo being one of my favorite live sets of the year. So much talent and joy and fun. A crowd full of people who feel at home. Number two was getting to watch my partner watch their music videos for the first time in jaw-dropped silence and awe. Beyond that, they continue to be source of comfort and inspiration in my own queerness. But most of all, they are such damn good songwriters it makes me so happy and sometimes mad!!!!!
This year they win for One That Got Away. The only 2023 single, it’s a tale as old as time, a lover, a crush, a someone, who just got away. What could’ve been!!! Except, like they always do, they take the concept and flip it on its damn noggin. A self-assured pop smash grounded in the truth that they are the ones who got away. Reflecting back on a past relationship(s) and reminding this ex, certainly reminding themselves, that this ex sucks and they rock. I’m, the one that got away / the kiss you never tasted / tell me that you hate it, hate that / I’m no longer in your reach. With it’s amazing - If you never put it on the line, how am I gonna sign for it? Perfect. These three are always doing this shit (see: Runner’s High, Anything But Me) and I’m so glad they are.
Next up is a real stretch of an award. But everyone says I need to stretch more so here we go!!! Even after two releases, some crazy tours, it still feels like just the beginning for this artist. The There’s Something Special Brewing Here Award goes to… Lutalo!!!
Really this award was earned from two incredible songs released this year. PLPH and Push Back Baby. Lutalo has a voice unlike anyone else around and is showcased in all its range across these two songs. Push Back Baby is a train of a song, unstoppable once it gets rolling. Lutalo calm as the conductor. Some melancholic indie music but somehow it’s fun at the same time?? A little western flair around the edges, but it does feel like a winter of the places Lutalo is from - a cool (and cold) combo of Minnesota and Vermont. PLPH is a bit brighter, a shiny counterpart to PBB. Lutalo floats in a higher register, fully in command over the band. Still has this dream-like quality - with the background vocals rising up at the end of phrases, the bubbly synth with a hypnotic chord progression. I just love it. Weird and cool and great!!!
The rest of AGAIN continues this way - slightly experimental indie rock that fits right in, on Winspear. Lutalo venturing into new sounds and clearly developing something special. A great voice, a great writer, and creative as hell. There’s something special brewing here I swear!!!! <3 Can’t wait to see what’s next.
An award near and dear to my heart, this year I was really lucky to witness, listen to, and befriend even(!), some of the most exciting musicians in the whole damn world. That’s why this year’s Maxie for Group of Friends/Musicians That Have Me So Excited For The Future Of Music goes to… Farrah Hanna, MER, Ben Coleman, and Hudson Freeman!!!
I know I’m writing about all of them all the time, and truly have to stop myself from doing it more. But I have to!! It feels so weird to write about people I know in this quasi-journalistic way. Just know it makes me uncomfortable, but they deserve the shine!!! I feel corny but that’s ok there’s no looking back now!!
There’s a real scene emerging (again I am so deeply horrified and cringing after writing that, but again, true!!!) among this group and the extended musical universe around them.
Last year some of my favorite releases came from these folks and I can’t wait for what’s to come from them (and from more friends in their orbit - spoiler there’s some absolutely sick stuff coming, please pre-save Mia Lorelei’s new single… eye emojis!!!).
Farrah Hanna’s EP, Dog opened the year on a high, five gorgeous songs, and a MMM fav, Crocodile still gets me every time :,-), the songwriting is so out of this world. Her latest single, TMILTM is too. A beautiful Ben Coleman production, I love this one so much. I asked you again and again and again do you wish I was somebody else GUT WRENCHING COME ON!! And Farrah joined the compilation with a perfect demo, The Fool, for which I’ll be forever grateful. Finding Farrah’s music led me to Ben which led me to MER.
MER is a star too, give Come Clean a spin and tell me otherwise!!! Her EP came out in September (happy early birthday to me) and has so much to savor. Her acoustic songwriting unfolds into these big, lush, beautiful songs. All of these songs full of life, full of friends, and full of twists and turns that make every one memorable. I’m a MER stan and can’t wait for whatever is to come.
Then, these three led me to Hudson Freeman. His music has a really distinct style and sound, these mesmerizing and heavy lofi-folk songs. His guitar tone/style feels so specific and moving. I’m Most Me was my first taste, and I never stopped loving it, ending at #5 most listened song for me this year. The opening verse is mellow and meditative, reflecting on all of the parts of himself that make Hudson Hudson. Remembering the bad parts of us are also us, and approaching them with such a gentleness. Nearly a minute in, the drums roll and give it all this urgency and darkness. It’s an easy ride, really such a tune. I also loved Mommy Jesus, more great songwriting, great progressions, and great moments where it just rocks. Letting it fly. Then Junk Drawer to top it all off. Tremendous writing yet again, feels so ~of the moment~ yet I know it’ll feel that way in a decade too. Once more, the guitar is sick, the vocals are sick, it’s just a lot to get excited about.
These musicians and the whole music world I’ve discovered through them really have been a huge part of my year in so many ways. They’re all so good and all going to win a bunch of Grammys (not that this is ANY less important!!!) and I can’t wait to watch all their dreams come true, sorry!!!
FINALLY!! A category with some damn competition! All the previous awards were such runaway winners, I couldn’t believe it. But these nominees spent the last month calling me, texting me, skypeing me, jockeying for the award. It was humbling and a good experience and entirely real i swear. Anyways, last time I was in the MMM world, I wrote that little essay exploring me only liking new music. Well that’s not totally true! There’s a few records from the past couple years that stay with me. So this year’s nominees for Father Time Award for Music That Lasts are:
Charli XCX - How I’m Feeling Now. This record still hits so fucking hard. Charli will forever be living years ahead of music. Easy to see why this stuff still holds up, we haven’t caught up to it yet!! To open with Pink Diamond is a fucking statement!!! It’s nasty and gnarly and ever-evolving and punishing and through it all, catchy as hell. Into Forever, one of my favs, a pop song that people will still be trying to make in the years to come. It feels like the perfect night, mysterious and magic all the same. It’s almost surreal sonically, but the storytelling is a step away from the Phoebe-specific songwriting everyone gravitating towards now. Knew I’d be here be here be here with you / when the roof caved in and the water fell through / hope when we’re old, we’ll be friends, reminisce. enemy is one of the wildest and hottest love songs written. c2.0 of course. party 4 u is the best crush song ever. anthem is maximalist pop and so easy to love. visions like the coolest version of all of the techno/trance music i was listening to in 2009. The production is fantastic and thrilling through out. I love this album. And honestly, 2019’s Charli gets a last min nom too. Holy hell that album is so sick too.
Haim - WIMPIII. I really think this is a classic album. It sounds just as fresh today as it did in 2020. Sounds just as timeless too. A golden project from a really good band, doing their thing and doing it so so well. Rich production and just full of life underneath it all. Los Angeles for it’s sax driven breezy rock. The Steps for being the true LA song of the album. I Know Alone for the darkness and the dance. Up From A Dream for it’s I must already know this?-ness. Gasoline for that I get sad! and the sexiest bridge in music. 3AM for it’s ‘we are a sum of our influences’. Don’t Wanna for the harmonies. Another Try feels ripped from another time entirely in the choruses, but so contemporary in the verses. Leaning On You for its love and its mandolin. I’ve Been Down for that depression spiral made fun. Man From The Magazine for the Joni-inspired guitar, the painfully honest writing. All That Ever Mattered for screams made beautiful. FUBT for that perfect riff and a chorus to put a smile on anyone’s face.
But our winner is obvious… It’s always been him, always will be him, congrats on the FTAfMTS, Dijon!!!! How much more can I write about my favorite album. I wrote A LOT about this for the ‘21 Maxies and stand by it all. Absolutely! remains king. Yea duh, sorry but this guy is a genius and these songs are masterpieces. Since it dropped in fall ‘21 Many Times has STAYED on repeat, and it still moves me the way it did when I first heard it. A song that changed my life. My heart RACES. The album, and movie, are rough and raw perfected, an achievement in emotion and creativity and storytelling.
THREE SPECIAL ALBUMS THAT ALL CAME OUT WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF EACH OTHER AND THAT’S SO MESSED UP FOR ME.
The first Maxie for Special Album goes to Feist. A wide-ranging, personal, haunting, and delightful record. It feels so exciting and adventurous, and I still think her live performance - both made for youtube and then translated to the stage - is one of the most creative things in music this year. Plus it’s just such a deeply grounding and inspiring thing to hear such a sick album and sick evolution from someone who is 47 years old. And OBVIOUSLY that doesn’t matter, anyone can do anything at any age. But I think in my turning 30 this year, it was a welcomed reminder of how much life has to offer, how much life is left to live for all of us. New lives, new chapters that still lay ahead. And here, Feist, making some incredible art out of that truth.
A recent mother (adopting in 2019), living through the pandemic, all the pain and change that life brings upon us all, generously shared through these songs. The songs are so warm and the production just places you in the middle of it all. Stories and instruments swirling all around you. I’ve loved how peaceful it often feels, a lack of drums giving the songs a little more openness to flow wherever they flow.
I Took All Of My Rings Off is one of my favorite songs of the year, powerful and unique. The whole album feels so intimate in such an “in the room” way. I really love it.
Then two weeks later, in what was probably my most anticipated album of the year, Ryan Beatty released Calico and I lost it. This sunny morning of a record, these big warm orchestrations that feel just as excited and scared of the day ahead as they reflect on the night before. It has this in-between-time feeling to so much of the record.
I love Beatty’s writing so much, this effortless storytelling that feels almost stream of consciousness. Again, something I see in all my favorites this year, a real vocabulary that emerges. Cinnamon Bread (a great on-ramp to the record if you need it) feels like a start-to-finish example of this. You galloped on the piano keys / like a liberace fool / you hummed a little out of tune / and somehow you sounded cool / i can’t lie / May, June, July / I was a good guy. All of his lyrics have this simplicity to them, still managing to paint the picture clear. Words and phrases any one could have written yet together they feel distinctly him. A poetry to his melodies and phrasing that really sets him apart.
Even beyond vocabulary, it all feels connected, truly an ALBUM album. Having heard Ribbons and Bruises, I knew I was fucked when this thing came out, but I will not forget the day it dropped. Walking through the neighborhood, barely making it 10 minutes in before the tears started to roll down my face. I still tear up every time I run this record. It’s so welcoming and relatable - Beatty’s vulnerability making me feel less alone in my own.
Only nine tracks long, but there’s SO much on display. A fool for the tight 10ish-track record, it feels like a perfect little package here. No skips, definitely NO skips so don’t you fucking dare. Give yourself 35mins, go for a walk, and just let this man tell you some stories. Singing of love, of grief, of just trying to get through this life the best we can. And he does it with such dynamic forms, unafraid to let these songs open up in their own ways. Such a special work here, an album I know I’ll be coming back to over and over for as long as I can imagine.
Also coming out on April 28th (wtf are y’all trying to do to me!!!!!), was this killer of a record from Indigo De Souza. Where Calico and Multitudes live together musically, this Indigo record went ahead and woke me up. This is good rock n roll!!!!!
It’s all just so good. Another that I was always craving to listen to top to bottom. From Time Back’s brave intro track - the painful almost-chanting over bouncy synths and children on a playground - to the epic closer, with Younger & Dumber another of the sickest songs of the year. De Souza is really a genius.
An unmistakable voice that constantly verges on eruption. And when it erupts it’s so damn moving. The emotion just uncontainable, the pain needing to be expressed. A ridiculous band with no weak spots - everyone giving one hell of a performance, song after song after song. And it all sounds amazing.
Even writing now, I’m listening through, reading the lyrics, remembering the song again and going “wtf!!!!! this one is so good too!!!!” So let’s run through it as quick as I can.
You Can Be Mean - some of my fav “oh shit” moments of the year. “You can be a dick to me / it’s what i’m used to / I can’t believe I let you touch my body”. Perfect climactic ending.
Losing - battling depression, loneliness, and beautiful melodies.
Wasting Your Time - FUCK!!!!!!! ROCK!!!!! this one is nasty >:) probably my favorite from seeing them live in December.
Parking Lot - maybe my fav??? And I’m not sure what is wrong with me / but it’s probably just hard to be a person feeling anything
All Of This Will End - first two lines are PRIME De Souza - lyrically and melodically. Just a good ‘keep your head up’ song. trying our best / sometimes it’s not enough / who gives a fuck.
Smog - Let’s dance!! The honest other side of the AOTWE coin, dancing through our insecurities and flaws. I don’t know how to tell you that your jokes aren’t funny is an all time lyric for me too.
The Water - a perfect chorus. the trumpet too??? c’mon!!! Ends so beautifully.
Always - When De Souza gets all quiet and slow like this…. you know something crazy is about to happen. It’s weird and haunting and then it’s heavy as all hell and screaming and I’m obsessed.
Not My Body - this one hits close for me, always thinking of my body and being perceived (working on it!!!), and this song has brought me solace through that too. It feels good to belt I WANT TO BE A REDWOOD TREE. Crazy outro, vocal solo goes so hard.
Younger & Dumber - A masterpiece. Please listen to this one if nothing else. Then you will love it and have to listen to the rest sorry.
Whew some GOOD music there I’d reckon. Thank you for reading and supporting the newsletter!! See you Thursday for my AOTY, AOTY, and AOTY!!!!
Have a great one,
Max
wow, this is amazing Max. Listening to the artists i didn't already know, thank you!