1) Isaiah Rashad, “It’s Been Awful” / On his first project in five years, the native Tennessean offers some of the most artful and honest hip-hop any of us have heard in just that long.
2) Hiss Golden Messenger, “I’m People” / At a moment when unfiltered humanity seems in short supply, a new collection from MC Taylor—as warm, soulful and insightful as ever—is welcome.
3) Weird Nightmare, “Hoopla” / Give METZ frontman Alex Edkins an inch of solo work and he’ll make miles of truly power(ful) pop. The songs on “Hoopla” will wedge pleasantly between your head and your heart, at the level of your humming mechanism.
4) Ottessa Moshfegh, “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” / In my efforts to catch up with Moshfegh’s entire catalog of novels—I find her one of the truly great authors of our moment—I spent time with her 2018 ode to purposeful rot. While the book doesn’t quite land its ending (forgive me, forgive me), the voice and style is bleakly delightful Moshfegh.
5) Willy Vlautin, “The Left and the Lucky” / I don't know how he does it. Really. Vlautin is our tender-but-tough bard, creating atmosphere and crafting makeshift families out of painter's tape and Dusty Springfield records and pizza slices and a child's sobbing. This might be my favorite text of his—which is saying quite a bit—but I want to live in a world where the Eddies and the Russells rule.