A bit of a late playlist today but — life happens. And it’s been happening for 10 years, and this blog is still going strong. As Adobe & Teardrops approaches its 10th anniversary this December, I’ve been thinking about the trajectories of many artists I love, and how sticking with a thing often is for the better. I know I’m way better at this than I was 10 years ago, even if I don’t exactly see it.
So, I’m going to have a semi-regular playlist called Then and Now, which focuses on artists I’ve been following for the last 10 years. Once you hear two songs, spaced years apart, you get to really feel the difference between where an artist started and where they are now. I don’t think anyone’s going to be shocked by the first installment.
- Two Cow Garage — It’s not my favorite song of theirs, but “Ain’t No Shame” is the one that sucked me in. I think it’s safe to say that if it hadn’t been for Two Cow Garage, I wouldn’t have found Ninebullets and I wouldn’t have been inspired to start Adobe & Teardrops at all. Something about the song’s defeated defiance was intoxicating to me in my early 20s when everything seemed hard, but I knew I wasn’t going to quit — and I knew that Micah and Shane weren’t going to either. The unfortunate aspect of relying on Spotify is that, sometimes, the music I want to use isn’t on there. But the most recent one on Spotify is The Death of the Self-Preservation Society, and the title alone hints at the changes the band has been through. The album was the beginning of the band turning away from solipsism (which Micah pokes fan at himself about in “Mantle in ’56”) and towards an acute understanding of how politics drives the alienation at the heart of TCG’s early work. I featured TCG in my very first post on the blog, and, whenever the last one happens, they’ll be on there, too.
- M Lockwood Porter — I saw my buddies over at Black Mesa Records celebrating this album’s 7th anniversary, the first release on their label. I remember 27 hitting me pretty hard. I don’t remember which ultimately doomed relationship I was prematurely mourning with “I Know You’re Gonna Leave Me,” but damn if it isn’t fantastic. Porter’s been consistently fantastic since then. I featured one of his songs on my anti-racist country music playlist, and that radical messaging carried through on “Get Back to the Wild,” a hypnotic delight that finds liberation in the madness.
- The Alabama Shakes — That fateful EP was one of my first reviews on the blog. I reviewed the band’s first show in New York and wow — look at what a baby Brittany Howard was! Were any of us ever so young? We know what happened next; Brittany Howard’s only getting better and better with Jaime, and “13th Century Metal” is one of my favorite tracks from the album.
- Lydia Loveless — Loveless’s trajectory is maybe the most dramatic of everyone here, though certainly similar. (Lydia recently came out as genderfluid but I’m not clear on what pronouns Lydia uses.) When Indestructible Machines came out, Loveless was marketed as a sort of edgy pinup girl come to life, an image Loveless has been fighting back against every since. Lydia bravely came forward about the disgusting treatment received at the hands of Nan Warshaw and her Warshaw’s romantic partner Mark Panick at Bloodshot Records. In addition to the allegations of harassment, it became clear that Warshaw was underpaying artist’s royalties. While there is a gag order, Bloodshot seems to have reverted ownership to Warshaw. In the meantime, Loveless’s music has become increasingly experimental, as we can see on Loveless’s masterful album Daughter.
- Austin Lucas — Like the other folks on this list, Austin has circled back towards his roots in punk rock. While he’s best known for beautiful, intricate guitar-picking and sublime vocals, his last few projects have been earthier, leaning harder into his punk roots as Lucas turns his songwriting energies from love songs to politics.
I think that following me on Spotify is a thing you can do to make sure you get a new playlist from me every Friday! You can also follow Tuesday Teardrops, a playlist of new and exciting songs that refreshes every — you guessed it — Tuesday!
As always, buy music and/or merch directly from the artists because Spotify is a horrible and exploitative platform!
You can support Adobe & Teardrops by buying merch or hitting the ol’ Patreon or Ko-fi links!