Something for everyone...pt. 2

I’m back with another random collection of sounds. This week’s picks move through three very different worlds: the ghostly pop dreamscapes of Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee, the tender Motown-inspired soul of Jalen Ngonda’s So Glad I Found You, and the brooding, sample-laden atmosphere of Massive Attack’s Exchange.

Let’s get into it!

This will probably be the greatest discovery of my week. I randomly decided to go on BandCamp and click on a random album. I clicked play and this song played. Boy did I get a pleasant surprise. Cindy Lee.

Cindy Lee is the alter-ego of Canadian musician Patrick Flegel (formerly of the cult-favorite band Women). Under this persona, Flegel blurs the line between pop nostalgia and experimental noise. Oh, he also performs this project in drag fully taking on the alter-ego persona.

The title track, “Diamond Jubilee,” opens the album like a hazy transmission from a broken jukebox. It’s woozy, hypnotic, and a little unsettling…dreamy melodies wrapped in tape hiss. It sets the stage for what becomes a sprawling, two-hour, 32-song odyssey that critics have already crowned one of 2024’s best albums. Pitchfork gave it Best New Music with a 9.1 rating. The Guardian called it the second-best record of the year. Paste praised its density and reward. And yet, you won’t find it on Spotify.

That’s part of the magic. Flegel has made Diamond Jubilee deliberately hard to access. It’s a refusal to play by streaming’s rules, a protest against algorithm culture, and it gives the album an almost mythic aura. Finding it feels like being let in on a secret which is exactly how I felt.

I’m going to be listening to the entire album as I wrap up my day and maybe I’ll report back on any additional songs that stick out to me.

Every now and then, a song comes along that feels like it could’ve been pressed straight out of Motown’s golden era but still carries the freshness of right now. “So Glad I Found You” by Jalen Ngonda is one of those gems.

Jalen is a Maryland-born, UK-based soul singer who’s been quietly building a reputation as one of the best voices in modern R&B. This track in particular feels timeless. It’s a slow-burning ballad full of gratitude and vulnerability, wrapped in the kind of lush arrangements you’d expect from a Marvin Gaye or Smokey Robinson record.

What makes it special is the honesty in Ngonda’s delivery. He doesn’t over-sing, he just lets the melody breathe, and the emotion hits even harder because of it. Critics have been calling him a leader of today’s soul revival, and listening to this song, it’s easy to hear why.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

Massive Attack’s Mezzanine (1998) is one of the defining trip-hop records of the ’90s: dense, paranoid, and cinematic. Nestled near the album’s end is Exchange, a five-minute instrumental that feels like a dream dissolving. It floats in on a sample lifted from Isaac Hayes’ “Our Day Will Come,” slowed down and stretched into something haunting.

It’s been called Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles’ swan song; after Mezzanine, he would leave Massive Attack, and this track feels like a quiet, coded farewell. Put this one on if you need to just lock in and crank on your work. It’s got this meditative groove to it.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

I’m back with another Cuban street band by the name of Los Jubilados del Caribe performing Buena Vista Social Club’s cult classic, Chan Chan. Enjoy this street magic.

This photo captures everything that made Bad Brains legendary. Mid-song, frontman H.R. (Human Rights) launches himself into the crowd arms stretched, body airborne while the band tears through a set behind him.

Formed in Washington, D.C. in the late ’70s, Bad Brains were one of the first hardcore punk bands. Their shows were chaos as seen by this epic pencil stage dive. You can almost hear the amps buzzing and the crowd roaring. Pure hardcore energy, frozen in time.

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