It’s the last Monday in November—the holidays are coming!—but for now, let’s get into some righteous jams.
**What Editor-at-Large Doreen St.Félix is listening to:**
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I’ve seen the release of Erykah Badu’s new mixtape, *U Cain’t Use My Phone* , framed as a “comeback” offering. Dedicated fans like myself understand Badu a bit differently: afro-futurists like her don’t work so linearly. Rather, after *Baduizm* established her warble as one of soul’s most eccentric, Badu has been an ambient presence in the R&B genre. I thought I’d take us back to 2000. “Bag Lady” plays out as a classic rumination, pensive and slow, on the inevitable drop the spirit experiences when a love fizzles out. The video, a panorama of statuesque women draped in bright, monochrome garb, provides a gorgeous visual, a calming portrait to begin the work week.
**What Associate Editor Laia Garcia is listening to:**
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*A Thousand Leaves* Â was the first Sonic Youth record I ever purchased. It was 1998 and I had just discovered the magic that was 120 Minutes, Sunday nights on MTV when they played the video for the first single off that record, “Sunday.” I loved that song just fine, but it was the song that follows it on the record “Female Mechanic Now on Duty” that opened up a whole world of possibility for me and began my long-lasting Kim Gordon obsession. Between slow, lazy, jarring guitars that almost come to a standstill before starting again, Kim’s raspy slightly dissonant voice talk/sings “modern women cry/modern women don’t cry.” I had never heard such words in a song, I had never felt such feelings, but I knew they would last forever. This morning I played this song and it felt as groundbreaking now as it did then. This live version is even better than the recorded version.
**What Editor in Chief Jessica Grose is listening to:**
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I’ve been a little emo lately. When I get in one of these moods, I always have trouble deciding whether I want to really have a wallow in some sad bastard music, or if I want to listen to something upbeat to try to lift my spirits. This time I decided on a good wallow with Modest Mouse, the song “Make Everyone Happy/Mechanical Birds” from the amazingly titled album, *This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About* . It’s more dissonant and instrumental than songs I usually like, but hey—I’m in that kind of a bummer-y mood. It has the beautiful, ponderous chorus that’s perfect for navel gazing: “I’m not sure who I am/But I know who I’ve been.
