Welcome to the first musical musing from the Bad Paper Jam talking head. I can never sit still in terms of musical criticism and consumption so I must share with the masses (small circle of friends and family). Tik Toks are a little too taxing and I wanted something more intimate and editorial. Will this be weekly? Bi-weekly? Who knows. I might just do these whenever inspiration strikes!

I’ve been thinking about what to talk about with this first edition of the weekly musings. The absolute s*phic motherquake at coachella, Vampire Weekend’s new album, record store day as a concept, airbuds and tracking music data, and Charli’s new dance music where all topics that I have been ruminating over. I decided to go with an experience that Catie and I (and Drew shoutout) had while seeing Laufey last Saturday.

The Laufey concert was one of the first times I have felt genuinely old. No line for the bar. Fields of high school girls with bows in their hair. Very coquette. Very softgirl. I had some idea that Laufey was popular among the youth but I was not expecting the ratio to be this lopsided. Was it a bad thing? Not at all. If anything it gave me hope for the youth. But while I was sitting there, high out of my mind (this was 4/20 mind you) swaying to this lovely soft jazz-pop, I thought to myself “Do the kids yearn for jazz, or just emotional connection?”

Upon further thought it was obvious that it was the latter. Laufey conveys here lyrics and pop-symbolism in a classical teeny-bopper fashion. Lots about breakup. Lots about boys. But there is something very serene about her lyrical landscapes. “Beautiful Stranger” is a great example of this. Soft electric guitar permeates your mind while Laufey paints an image of passing glances with a beautiful boy on the tube. The lyricism is simple but incredibly effective as any shy high-schooler can relate to these thoughts. Even if the kids are pulled to her by this dynamic (which isn’t dissimilar to many of her pop girly colleagues), they must stay for the jazz. It was incredibly impressive seeing Laufey go from acoustic guitar to electric guitar to cello to piano. Even more impressive was the fire pre-concert playlist that I was praying these kids were paying attention to. Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and classic bossa nova from João Gilberto just to name a few. Great artist with similar style albeit a little more “grown up.” All in all the concert was fantastic and Laufey has cemented herself as my third favorite Icelandic artist (behind Björk and Sigur Rós). She gave me hope for the children.

The day after Laufey I decided to fix my piano. One of the d keys was not working because I spilled coffee (or maybe alcohol) on it. I’ve had the keyboard since high school so it holds a weird amount of sentimental value for me. I have fixed faulty keys before so I thought I would give it a try. After opening it up I realized the inside was full of cat hair and it was a miracle any of the keys worked. I cleaned it and the key kinda works but it was a very stressful experience. All this preamble is given because this is the state of mind in which I listened to Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, for the first time.

I do like Taylor Swift a lot. I believe she really has some great pop music, witty lyricism (at times), and a killer stage presence. But the greed she is displaying is almost biblical in nature. She is capitalizing on her rerecording in such an egregious way. Every album she has released since starting to rerecord her music is just stuffed with extra tracks and millions of vinyl variants (I’m part of this problem). I understand the “strike while the iron is hot” mentality that she is going for but that just destroys any semblance of artistry. As Charli XCX said once “music does not matter /artistry matters.”

The Tortured Poets Department chuks 31 tracks onto the listener with no regards for human life. I am not oppose to incredibly long albums. One of my favorite albums of the year is a 32 track 2 hour long album from Cindy Lee called Diamond Jubilee. That album has variety though. I highly recommend (it is only on YouTube for some reason). That is my main complaint with Swift’s new album. Even the “anthology” version with more Aaron Dresner led production is pretty monotonous. The Antonoff-Swift duo has really ran its course. They are not pushing each other. Antonoff’s soft synthy production sounds stale and overrun. At least there was a little more variety with the production of Midnights. Antonoff is at his best when he lets the artist’s voice shine in the production. Lorde’s Melodrama and St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home are two great examples of this. Swift’s last two albums lack any of that unique artistry production wise. I do need to give the album a couple more listens (feels like homework). I quite dislike the instantaneous reviews that people give music these days but with this album I understand. People are tired.

Lyricism is usually Swift’s strong suit but I fear she is getting complacent. TTPD feels like the kind of yellow journalism that led to the Spanish-American war. There are endless lyrics designed to get a rise out of people and send her rabid fans into a frenzy on Twitter. Where is the poetry mama? Where is the subtlety? Where is the finesse? She somehow creates lyrics that don’t function poetically or musically. Just kinda beige. There is some through line here about capitalism and such but that is a little trite at the moment.

Florida is kinda gas though. Please do not dox me.

Thank you so much for reading my little rambling ilysm :) <3