favorites – The Independent Women

As all you readers should know, finals are quickly approaching. I’m a firm believer that the right music can make or break a study session, but picking out the right music for finals week should be the last thing you have to worry about. And who better to provide some soft study sounds than some of my favorite female indie artists?

PSA, this is not to discredit these albums by labeling them as “study music,” I enjoy them any time of day :).

I’ve learned the hard way what music to not play during finals (I’m a nerd about song lyrics and one time decided to only play Beatles albums, which made me compelled to look up all the meanings to their songs, which led to my discovery of the Paul is dead conspiracy and lets just say freshman year didn’t end so victoriously…)

Here’s what I’ll most likely be listening to in the library while I crank out some final papers. Everyone focuses/studies differently, but these are my personal favorites; if none of these are working for you, just turn on some lo-fi study beats or rain sounds and pretend you never read this.

“Psychopomp” – Japanese Breakfast

Japanese Breakfast’s lo-fi and dream pop vibes make for some great background focus music. With a few instrumental tracks thrown in there, there’s a good balance if you get distracted by constant vocals.

I’ll throw in her second album while we’re here.

“Plum Blossom” – Mxmtoon

She has a calming voice and some gentle ukulele strums, the perfect album if you prefer some acoustic tunes while you study.

Anything by “Pale regard”

I can’t point to a specific album by this french indie quintet because they haven’t released one yet (they only have four songs released on Spotify), but I find it helpful listening to music in another language while I study. It’s a good compromise because I get to hear some lovely vocals but the words won’t distract me.

“Jinx” – Crumb

You might remember this album as my favorite of 2019. It’s also a favorite for studying. I’m a nerd.

“Willowbank” – Yumi Zouma

An electronic/dream pop album that’s a little more upbeat than others on this list. There’s some nice variety within the tracks, a nice study treat if you want to jam out every once in awhile.

“Telefone” – Noname

Noname’s debut mixtape features her smooth yet confident spoken word/rap with understated synth accompaniment.

“Por Vida” – Kali Uchis

Another upbeat study choice, “Por Vida” is Kali Uchis’ first EP she self-released back in 2015. It’s sweet, unpretentious and features dream-like tracks that are perfect for tuning out the outside world. To me, Kali Uchis has the world’s most calming voice and she could tell me anything and I’d chill out instantly.

…Anything by “Beach House”

I find anything by Beach House to be great background study music (the dream pop duo really knows how to commit to a sound), but here are my two favorites.

Now get out there and kill those finals! And if you don’t…at least you got new music out of it.

Me, before finals vs. after I spent finals listening to music by empowered women.

Have a go-to study album? Let me know in the comments!

With just a week left in the semester, final projects underway, and the recent arrival of my Spotify 2019 Wrapped, I’ve been thinking a lot about 2019. And since I live for a solid list, I thought I’d share my favorite albums from this year.

Snail Mail’s reissue of her 2016 EP, “Habit”

Technically Snail Mail released her debut EP in 2016 (when she was only 17 years old) and features songs that eventually made it on her debut album in 2018, but reissuing “Habit” back in June reminded us how much talent the gal had at such a young age. Plus, it features the bonus track, “The 2nd Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” which is a gift to everyone.

“Perfect Version” – Julia Shapiro

Julia Shapiro of Chastity Belt’s solo album “Perfect Version” nods to the slower, more thoughtful tracks from the band. After health concerns cut the band’s tour short, Shapiro decided to create her own solo album and reflect on her future as a musician. As a result, we have a stripped down, honest album without as much of the sarcasm and wit trademark to earlier albums but still some great guitar and introspective lyrics.

“Two hands” – Big Thief

The Brooklyn-based quartet did some, well, big things this year. “Two Hands,” the second full album they released in 2019 is a deep commitment to their folk sound that I still can’t get enough of. Everything on the album feels fresh and cohesive, and we have the mere pleasure of listening to them jam.

“Loveworm” – Beabadoobee

It’s short and sweet, filled with guitar riffs and her understated yet soothing vocals. The images from her lyrics let her personality shine through, and slower songs show her vulnerable side as a musician.

“Crushing” – Julia Jacklin

Julia Jacklin’s second album continues to explore her softer side, reflecting on past heartbreaks through meaningful tracks. She ponders reclaiming her own body and the dreadful feeling of stagnation in relationships and captures these strong emotions with the help of some simple guitar.

“All Mirrors” – Angel Olsen

Angel Olsen took a leap in “All Mirrors,” but the results were breathtaking. She demonstrated a new level of maturity as a musician with the accompaniment of a 12-piece string section throughout her tracks and candid lyrics ranging from romance to isolation. Her musical journey has landed her here, where she’s surpassed the sound of a solid indie rocker and moved to a new place where she’ll belt like an 80s diva in one moment but channel an undiscovered jazz singer in the next.

“Heard it in a Past Life” – Maggie Rogers

It wasn’t hard to fall in love with Maggie Rogers in 2019. Her genre-bending album seemed to offer something for everyone without compromising her own artistic vision, and her nerdy-but-cool persona made her instantly lovable to indie fans and beyond. I loved the way she used synth-pop to emphasize the natural elements of the album, especially on “Alaska.”

“SASAMI” – Sasami

As a classically trained musician, former music teacher in L.A. and former synth player for Cherry Glazerr, Sasami’s dedication to music runs deep. That could give an understanding for the interesting synth sounds on this shoegaze album. Her thoughtful lyrics and whispered vocals radiate sadness beneath the surface and question their deeper meaning, but her range of feelings makes for a well-rounded listen.

“U.F.O.F.” – Big Thief

The ethereal tracks from Big Thief’s first album of 2019 set the mood for the beginning of my summer. They’ll be creepy in one moment (that scream in “Contact”), but then will turn around and bust out some upbeat jam sessions in the next. The quartet sounds at its most connected here, with each piece of music perfectly curated for the song and played with just the right amount of energy. With its extraterrestrial themes throughout the album (the extra F in UFOF stands for “friend”), a return to their folk roots and a few Beatles-esque guitar solos, it’s a conglomeration of different moods but remains an unforgettable cohesive folk album by the end. And big props to them for making it on this list twice :)

“Jinx” – Crumb

Not only does Crumb manage to effortlessly blend jazz, psychedelia and indie rock together into their debut album, they also know how to create a coherent, intriguing sound throughout their 10 tracks. Neither the lead vocals from Lila Ramani nor the rest of the instruments overpower each other in this trippy album, and there’s something comforting in the way Ramani’s eerie, haunting voice makes its way through the tracks. The label-free, self-managed Brooklyn quartet gained a solid following for their understated tunes, but this is not the result of carelessness or laziness. The supernatural, psychedelic atmosphere Crumb creates in “Jinx” takes listeners out of this realm and into a world of introspection that borderlines on horror–perhaps a direct response to anyone who called their previous releases “chill.” Its an album I keep coming back to, a good one to keep in your back pocket if you want your mind to escape to another place.