What's on Your Playlist for December 2020? by Christian Joyce

December 22, 2020 Frances Joyce

For your December 2020 playlist, I’ve chosen four albums without a holiday theme. The first featured album is by three multi-talented sisters from the Los Angeles area.

Also featured are two artists/bands from New York and a band from Baltimore, Maryland.

Women In Music Pt. III is the 3rd album by HAIM. It was released on June 26, 2020, on Columbia Records. Three sisters from the Los Angeles area, Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim are the founding members of the pop/rock band, HAIM.

Danielle, Este, and Alana are skilled musicians whose talents shine on this album. Drawing from their own personal tragedies and the difficulties facing women in an often-male dominated industry, the sisters have combined the reflective nature of their lyrics with multiple musical genres. They are takings risks and successfully expanding their musical footprint. The album received critical acclaim and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The single, “The Steps” was also nominated for Best Rock Performance.

Danielle, Este, and Alana were raised in a musical family; they sing and play multiple instruments.

My favorite songs on the album are “Gasoline” and “I Know Alone.”

Other albums by HAIM include:

Days are Gone (2013)

Something to Tell You (2017)

HAIM Photo credits:

By Raph_PH - HaimFoxPomona110418-25, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68876328

By Kim Metso - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28337666

Album Cover:

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63264646

My second featured album is basking in the glow which is the third album by Jade Lilitri who performs as oso oso. It was released on August 16, 2019, on Triple Crown Records. Lilitri, formerly with the band, State Lines, is the sole performer in the band, oso oso, which originated in Long Beach, New York. On this album, Lilitri gives his listeners a sense of the performer as an evolving man capable of empathy and trying to focus on life’s highs and lows without making excuses or playing the victim. He seems to be looking inward to better understand what he brings to relationships and his own culpability when a relationship ends – “taking in the good parts and accepting what comes with life.”

Jade Lilitri (the last name Lilitri is a pen name) grew up in the emo hotbed of Long Beach on Long Island. He cites emo and pop-punk as his major influences. My favorite songs on this album are “The View” and “Dig.”

Other albums by oso oso include:

Real Stories of True People Who Kind of Looked Like Monsters (2015)

The Yunahon Mixtape (2019)

Eps and splits:

Osoosooso (2014)

Oso Oso/Free Throw (2014)

Gb/ol h/nf subside (2018)

Photo of Jade Lilitri and album cover photo:

Taken from https://osoosoband.bandcamp.com/

Oshin (pronounced “Ocean”) is the first album by the band, DIIV (pronounced “Dive”) from Brooklyn, New York. It was released on June 26, 2012, on Captured Tracks.

Zachary Cole Smith formed DIIV in 2011 as a forum for his own songs. Originally, the name of the band was spelled DIVE (after the Nirvana song of the same name), but it was changed to DIIV after Smith learned of the Belgian industrial group by the same name. Smith cites Nirvana as one of the band’s biggest influences along with Malian guitar player, Baba Salah whose record, Borey, influenced how Smith experiments with melody. Instead of focusing on personal experiences for inspiration for his lyrics, Smith deals with more universal themes to avoid making the album about himself. The lyrics and vocals add texture and definition to the ethereal quality of the guitar-centric melodies on Oshin.

The members of DIIV include: (* denotes artists on this album) Devin Ruben Perez* (bass) 2011-17; Andrew Bailey* (guitar); Zachary Cole Smith* (vocals and guitar), Colby Hewitt III* (drums) 2011-15; Ben Newman* (drums) 2015-present - additional musician on album, and Colin Caulfield (bass, keyboards, guitar, vocals) 2013-present.

My favorite songs on the album are “Earthboy” and “Oshin (Subsume).”

Other albums by DIIV include:

Is the Is Are (2016)

Deceiver (2019)

DIIV photo credit:

By Pablo Youngs - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95395111

Album Cover:

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54645276

7 is the seventh album by Beach House. It was released on May 11, 2018, on Subpop Records. Beach House is a dream-pop band founded by Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. Legrand sings vocals and plays keyboards. Scally sings back-up vocals and plays guitar and keyboards. 7 was co-produced by Beach House and Pete “Sonic-Boom” Kember. It features drums from James Barone, the band’s longtime live drummer. Legrand and Scally wanted the album to be a rebirth and rejuvenation for Beach House – a chance to depart from the safety net of their signature sound. The result is a heavier rock sound. Legrand’s vocals are edgier and more forceful. Pre-programmed drums have been replaced with the immediacy of James Barone’s dynamic contributions to the album.

The artists met in Baltimore’s indie rock scene and decided to form Beach House after Legrand graduated from Vassar College (2003) and Scally graduated from Oberlin College (2004). Their original sound consisted primarily of organ, programmed drums, and slide guitar. Their self-titled debut album, which ranked #16 on Pitchfork’s Best Albums of 2006, was recorded on a 4-track over a two-day period in Scally’s basement. Legrand has often stated she prefers to work as a duo because she and Scally are always challenged to be creative and innovative because there are only two of them.

My favorite songs on this album are “Lemon Glow” and “Black Car.”

Other Albums by Beach House:

Beach House (2006)

Devotion (2008)

Teen Dream (2010)

Bloom (2012)

Depression Cherry (2015)

Thank Your Lucky Stars (2015)

B-sides and Rarities (2017)

Beach Hose Photos and Album Cover:

By Tristan Loper - 20120701-00008.jpg, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78848752

By Oxfordwhites - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40003362