Hi! I’m Sam, Wax Trax’s high school marketing intern, here to help promote events, put out this newsletter, and do fun social media things. I’m told that what a high school kid is listening to these days might make an interesting record store newsletter, especially since kids my age are getting very into vinyl and coming to Wax Trax all the time, buying out all the Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter records.
As a Denver-raised kid in the 2020s, with music more accessible than it has ever been, my music taste is constantly evolving– from classic folk records to harsh experimentalism. What’s been in this teen’s ears is as varied as the records that come through the Wax Trax used store. Getting into vinyl and listening to music analogue means I’ve been really getting into the album and the art of a full LP, rather than just a collection of songs or a playlist. Due to the lowered barrier of entry into music creation, the music being made right now (and the music we have access to) is incredibly varied, no longer confined to what can be played on the radio or taken from an older sibling. What are the kids listening to these days? I don’t know the answer to that huge question, but here are some albums that the pretentious and nerdy Wax Trax intern has had on repeat.
- “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake
“Pink Moon” is one of those rare albums that transcends what it is. For a record that, aside from a single overdubbed piano line in the title track, is entirely Nick Drake and acoustic guitar, the album never feels stale or confined. The lack of any instrumentation aside from Nick’s guitar allows him to focus purely on the emotion behind the songs, emotion varying from hope to self-loathing to acceptance. I think the closer, “From the Morning,” exemplifies this the best. It also might be my favorite song ever made. Drake sings of dawn and evening over a deceptively simple yet astoundingly beautiful fingerpicked guitar line. The endless summer nights and the endless coloured ways he sings about transmit a palpable hope for the future. For an album that reaches some incredibly dark points (“Parasite” and “Things Behind the Sun” are especially moving in their depictions of depression), ending on hope is incredibly comforting. A day once dawned, and it was beautiful.
“Pink Moon” taught me that an album doesn’t need to be grand or huge to be a moving, relatable piece of art. It can just tangibly portray the human experience. To keep living knowing a beautiful day will soon dawn, and I can finally play the game I learned from the morning.
2. “Animal Companionship” by Advance Base
I first heard Advance Base through “Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera,” an Adult Swim special. After musing on Kafka, apples, and the almighty waterfall, Joe Pera asks the audience: “If you could be anywhere in the whole world, where would you be?…Taking a summer boat ride through downtown Milwaukee? That’s incredible, because I’ve got a whole sequence of just that. I set it to some music by my friend Owen.”
For the next four minutes, we sit on a boat floating through downtown Milwaukee while “Your Dog” by Advance Base plays. It’s a meditative sequence, with Owen Ashworth’s heartbreaking storytelling and warm synths taking center stage. The song’s story, about seeing an ex’s dog and having him bark and remember you, is stunning in its simplicity. The rest of this record follows suit; beautiful songs about love, loss, and man’s best friend. Ashworth’s gentle synth-pop, usually accompanied by not much more than an omnichord and drum machine, puts his songwriting and storytelling up front. These songs look into new lives, affirm them, and wrap them in warm synths. It’s one of the most moving but easy-to-listen-to records I’ve ever heard. There’s no harsh experimentalism or self-flagellation on this record – it’s a stark reminder that not every piece of art needs to be confrontational or boundary-pushing. It can just be Ashworth’s omnichord, drum machine, and voice.
3. “XO” by Elliott Smith
It’s hard to choose one Elliott Smith album for this list. He truly doesn’t have a bad record, and nearly all have been my favorite at one time or another. Today, it is “XO.” Tomorrow, I may tout “Either/Or” or his self-titled as my favorite. But I think “XO” exemplifies what makes his whole catalog so compelling and emotionally resonant, while expanding Smith’s sonic palette past hushed acoustic guitar and barebones drums. This album never stagnates on one musical idea. Opener “Sweet Adeline” begins like most of Smith’s songs, with gentle finger-picked acoustic guitar and a self-deprecating whisper, before exploding in the back half with drums, piano, and harpsichord. This album contains huge studio flourishes that expand the record, but never loses sight of the core of these songs. Tracks like “Pitseleh,” with its spare acoustic guitar and piano, ground the album before picking you back up with songs like “Independence Day.”
It’s an album that refuses to be categorized by a single genre. None of Elliott’s records fully fall into a specific genre (indie-folk? Chamber rock?), but this one especially; the record succeeds on account of Smith’s incredible songwriting and lush, stirring instrumentation.
4. “The Lamb as Effigy” by Sprain
I was able to see Sprain at the Hi-Dive last June, prior to the release of this record and their successive breakup. I hadn’t heard them before the show, and decided to listen to their top songs before heading to the show. The first track, “True Norwegian Black Metal,” was a slow, pin-drop quiet piece. At the show, I was expecting slow, sparse electric guitar, brush drums, and whispered lyrics. Sprain came on with an organ so loud the venue shook. They opened with a then unreleased song, “We Think So Ill of You,” from this record. Walls of screeching guitars, pounding drums, and shouted vocals. From there, they only seemed to amplify, transforming every negative thought it seemed like the frontman had into screamed vocals and microphone-head-bashing anxiety. The band wailed against harsh organ drones, spurts of guitar feedback, and pummeling drums, attacking their instruments with violin bows and drumsticks.
A few months later, they released this record – raw, angry, violent music-as-catharsis. I won’t be able to ever unhear the final 6 minutes of the 20+ minute closer, 4 of which are just the frontman, alone, repeating one phrase. By the time the band comes back in, it feels as though we, as the listener, have intruded on something very personal. Something like the last chunk of your album being a nervous breakdown crescendoing into shimmers of piano and guitar, seems like pretentious post-rock we’ve heard before, but the dramatics of this album never feel played-up or faked.
This is a confrontational, harsh record, one that almost intentionally alienates the listener. However, the volatile anger that would deter many from this album is what also draws me to it. It is like a hyperpersonal trainwreck that is hard to look away from, where moments of pure anger dissolve into beauty.
5. “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” by Big Thief
A stark contrast to the previous album on this list, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” is a very warm, inviting record. Big Thief’s sprawling double LP covers folk, indie rock, a little bit of shoegaze, and country (complete with jaw harp!), all filtered through Adrienne Lenker’s personal and heart-stoppingly beautiful songwriting. Songs like “Change” and the title track feel like watching the sun rise on a cold, misty morning, finally feeling the warmth and light that radiates after a cold night.
This album has countless moments of this kind of beauty, but also contains a refreshing joy and playfulness lacking from much of Big Thief’s music. Songs like “Time Escaping, Spud Infinity,” and “Blue Lightning” radiate the fun that the band is having playing these pieces. “Spud Infinity” takes an absurdly profound look at living and the self, two huge and formidable topics. Adrienne Lenker’s songwriting doesn’t make the song feel like it’s an existential crisis, rather taking the topic to an incredibly positive place, one with potatoes, garlic bread, and an infectious fiddle. When Lenker sings about potato knish baking in the sun of spud infinity, it’s hard not to smile and dance. But as a whole, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” never rests on just being a smile and dance record; songs like “The Only Place and Promise Is a Pendulum” could fit perfectly on one of Adrienne’s solo records with its sparse acoustic guitars and melancholic lyricism.
This album is so, so incredible, just because it can encompass “The Only Place…” and “Spud Infinity,” along with so many others, while never feeling forced or out-of-place. This is a record that allows the listener and the band to feel all their emotions. Like the campfire drawing on the cover, “Dragon New Warm Mountain…” feels like a shared experience, where birds, dinosaurs, and owls gather around a campfire to listen to a teddy bear sing some really nice tunes. I’d have loved to be invited to that campfire, and this album is as close to that experience as I think one can get.
It was hard to narrow down my picks to just five records, since I’ve been listening to so much lately! These picks definitely aren’t what all the teens are listening to right now, rather just what I’ve been spinning and resonating with on my record player at home or on Spotify when I’m on the go (I picked up most of these at Wax Trax at one time or another). I have all these records on vinyl, some signed (Advance Base!) and some very cool color pressings (Sprain! The Flenser doesn’t miss with their color pressings), and I spin them all fairly often. Some of these albums are very mood reliant; I wouldn’t listen to Sprain when I’m having a great day, but some, like Pink Moon, I can put on no matter how I’m feeling. If you haven’t listened to any of these records, check ‘em out! Some are easier, sweeter listens and some are more challenging, but they are all immensely rewarding and moving records.
Great post. Thanks for the recommendations!
I’ve had this post starred for weeks, meaning to read it. Glad I did. Pink Moon turns 53(!) this year. So cool that someone growing up right now can pick it up and get so much from it.