Music for the month - June 2024

What’s music for the month?

Music for the month is simply a monthly post of my favourite songs and albums of the month.

Favourite song

Ceremony - New Order

I first heard of this song from a Radiohead livestream cover of this song (and a few others) and when I heard the high-treble crush guitar riff, I felt like this was my thing, I felt like I needed to listen to the original.

Upon finding the original, I discovered that this was originally a Joy Division track written when Ian Curtis was alive. After reading about the song on Wikipedia and exploring other people’s interpretations, it became apparent that many conclude this song was written as something of a suicide note from Ian Curtis. Knowing this saddened me and made me appreciate life, as without it, I wouldn’t be able to listen to this song. It’s disheartening to think that Curtis sacrificed his life for the sake of this song and cultural impact.

Favourite albums

Mr Morale & The Big Steppers (2022) - Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar was/is probably my favourite rapper, I learned of him when he released the album DAMN. and the Black Panther soundtrack, in fact I like the two albums so much I bought them on Vinyl (to go further, I’ve got the DAMN. Collectors edition).

I confess, I wasn’t that big of a rap/hip-hop fan and had basically forgotten about rap since at that time I was focusing on rock music as I was getting serious with improving my guitar skills.

Now it’s 2024, the war for the soul of rap happened (Kendrick Vs. Drake beef) and honestly I have never expected myself to follow this beef and analysing it in detail, to me (and most people) this was not just a beef but a reclamation of a culture from a colonizer (that being Drake), yes, I might not exactly be from the African-American black culture, but as someone who consider himself Asian, I wish to offer solidarity for our cultures, so of course I was on Kendrick’s side, although I think Drake’s Family Matters song was good, Kendrick just wiped the floor with all of his songs.

When Drake released his terrible defence-track The Heart Part 6, he mentioned the song Mother I Sober where he falsely accused Kendrick of hating paedophiles because Kendrick was raped when he was a child, which is totally untrue, the song is about how Kendrick’s mother was raped and how her trauma past on to Kendrick as a child.

But yeah, the beef got me to listen to Mr Morale & The Big Steppers and I confess I shed tears throughout this album, I never realized that rap music can be this deep, he was rapping and telling us about his traumatic past and his depressing present, trying to heal himself and trying to save his family from himself.

Most people say that this album was too personal, I found myself to be able to relate to this album a lot, from having a bad relationship with my parents to being unable to express emotions, I don’t think I could exactly compare my life to Kendrick’s since he had definitely had worse than I have, but still I feel so lucky to have this album to listen to, as I don’t have someone who could help me understand myself, seeing Kendrick learning and trying to heal himself gives me inspiration that I could become a better person too.

Rating: 9/10

Favourite songs: United In Grief, N95, Die Hard, Father Time, Count Me Out, Savior, Auntie Diaries, Mr. Morale, and Mother I Sober

Overall, this album is great, the reason it’s not a perfect 10/10 is because honestly I would still skip a song here or there because some songs are just too much, but still it’s absolutely an essential rap album to listen to, and it’s really underrated when compared to his other albums.

To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) - Kendrick Lamar

Another Kendrick Lamar album WTF? Well after listening to Mr Morale, I felt like I needed to listen to TPAB at least once, Alright and King Kunta were the only two songs which I knew before hearing the album.

When I started the album, I confess I couldn’t really get into it (at least yet), it felt really experimental, so I had TPAB downloaded for literally months slowly trying to listen to it, but then it clicked, and I started to like it as I looked into the meanings behind the lyrics.

Honestly if I have to compare this to another album, it would be Radiohead - OK Computer, OK Computer was also an album I had downloaded for months and struggled to get into it at first, but after letting the album guide me through it, I started to appreciate the album to the point it’s one of my top 5s, but weirdly enough I think both actually deals with similar issues, whether that be Anti-Capitalism, Societal and Mental issues, yes, they speak from different cultures, but still both are considered very experimental in their field too.

I confess I have a rather weird perspective when listening to this album and that is, I could actually relate to it in an Asian view, on the album Kendrick raps about how the US government encourage African-Americans to fight each other (“Bring M16s to the hood” & etc.), I could actually say the same thing about what happened in South East Asia, how they were funding right-wing militias and authoritarian governments.

I can also relate on songs such as U where Kendrick tells us about how he feels guilty for leaving his hometown for profit, I also feel the same, I left my friends and fellow generation in Thailand for the sake of profit and safety.

Rating: 10/10

Favourite Tracks: Wesley’s Theory, For Free, King Kunta, These Walls, U, Alright, Hood Politics, The Blacker The Berry, and I

Revolver - The Beatles

After listening to a lot of Rap, I felt like I needed to go back to my rock roots, my choice of listening was Revolver by The Beatles.

This was their revolutionary album which also introduces us the shift of sound The Beatles will have in their future albums, this album also shows that The Beatles aren’t basic, they experimented and made experimental music pop.

On this album they literally invented several music productions technics, such as artificial double-tracking, reverse guitar solos and pioneered sampling.

Rating: 9/10

Favourite Tracks: Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, I’m Only Sleeping, She Said She Said, Tomorrow Never Knows, and (technically not on the album but) Paperback Writer

There isn’t really much for me to say really about this album, the songs are just amazing, and it’s very enjoyable, I can fully understand people who rate this as the best Beatles album, but the reason I gave it a 9/10 is because I still feel like it’s their first try (kinda like a first gen product), the technics are still unrefined, and you can find more experimental things in Sgt. Peppers, and honestly I have this album at 2nd place below Abbey Road when ranking Beatles albums.

But still listen to it please, The Beatles are not boring.