Katie Wade Knows Nothing About Music

April, a lifetime happened in April,

tunes. Cling to the tunes to get you through

1. Becoming X – Sneaker Pimps 
2. Toxicity – System Of A Down 
3. Sigh No More – Mumford And Sons 
4. Babel – Mumford and Sons 
5. King Animal- Soundgarden 
6. Superunknown – Soundgarden 
7. Virtua.zip – George Clanton
8. Bon Iver, Bon Iver – Bon Iver
9. 22, A Million – Bon Iver 
10. Power Pleasure – Crush++
11. COULD BE TONIGHT – Hulvey 
12. YOUNG&DANGEROUS – The Struts 
13. Yourself or Someone Like You – Matchbox Twenty 
14. I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven – Callous Daoboys 
15. Paranoid – Black Sabbath 
16. Somewhere, Between My Ribs – Dylan Hughes 
17. When the Pawn… – Fiona Apple 
18. The Great Divide – Noah Kahan 
19. Tidal – Fiona Apple
20. Some Things Never Leave – Annabelle Dinda 
21. Javelin – Sufjan Stevens 
22. That’s The Spirit – Bring Me the Horizon 
23. Diamond Eyes – Deftones 
24. Ethiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz 1969-1974 – Mulatu Astatke 
25. Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Now Dead – The Walkmen 
26. Comedown Machine – The Strokes 
27. What Happened to The Heart?- AURORA
28. Deadbeat – Tame Impala 
29. My World 2.0 – Justin Bieber 
30. Everything Under the Sun – Jukebox the Ghost 

Sneaker Pimp’s Becoming X was a lovely introduction to trip-hop. I quite enjoyed it. A brief interlude into numetal: System of a Down was a bit much for an extended period of time, but a good many songs off Toxicity made it onto my 2026 playlist, a testament to their versatility and variation. Mumford and Sons: great car washing music! I had been familiar with a few of their songs previously, but I liked getting the full context of the albums. SOUNDGARDEN!! At the suggestion of my sister, I began with King Animal. My favorites were ‘Mailman’ and ‘My Wave.’ I never regret a George Clanton album; Virtua.zip was very different for me but I liked it. It is considered ‘vaporwave’ or ‘chillwave’ and the lo-fi synth made for good study music. Bon Iver, Bon Iver is BEAUTIFUL and I especially loved ‘Minnesota, WI.’ It reminds me of nights spent on my own on my roof. Justin covers his whole vocal range in it; his falsetto coupled with his lower register is especially powerful paired like that.

I freaking loved Power Pleasure by Crush++. Honestly it may have ruined my exploration into metal because I loved it was more than anything else I have listened to similar to it. “Edward Ten Feet” was and still is the most repeatable one for me.

I had a lot of thoughts about Hulvey’s newest album COULD BE TONIGHT. He is a young Christian making rap/hip hop music. The album began reminding me of NF with his plucky intro, but quickly evolved into a more hip hop heavy, choir infused thing while also emulating NF’s extremely vulnerable lyrics. My initial reaction to his song ‘SURVIVAL’ was “ah yes this is how people must feel when they listen to rap music,” said as someone who does not typically enjoy the genre. Skipping a lot, the LYRICS the lyric the lyrics! very good, I would highly suggest giving this album a listen. My favorites were ‘NIGHT NIGHT,’ ‘SURVIVAL,’ ‘YOUNG RULER$,’ and ‘ROOFTOP.’ HIGHLY RECOMMEND (may be fave of the month?? High praise considering Fiona Apple is coming up)

YOUNG&DANGEROUS by the Struts was recommended to me by my future roomie!! It was big big fun; nearly reminded me of Adam Levine from Maroon 5 if he was actually having a good time. Many favorites from this; I just know it’s gonna be my anthem album for this coming fall. Alright Matchbox Twenty: I wish I liked this one more. It repeated so many elements, and believe it or not, you CAN get tired of Rob Thomas’s voice. First half was definitely better than the latter half. Callous Daoboys was definitely a stretch for me: I was not always enjoying their abrasive vocals. My favorite song was, predictably, apparently, Lemon. It varied the least and was more tolerable to my ears. Though I did appreciate the challenge and stretch the album gave me. Paranoid by Black Sabbath was fun. One of my favorite up and coming artists , Dylan Hughes, came out with his first full length album and I was very happy with it!! It is such calming folk music and I can’t wait to see where this artist goes. When the Pawn…by Fiona Apple was kind of addicting to me the first time I heard it. I know I listened to it twice through at first and I coming back to it . Absolutely iconic album, no one captures the intense, logical female indignation quite like she can. The Great Divide by Noah Kahan had just came out when I heard it. I did enjoy it…espeeecially the first half, it is so emotionally rousing . The length kind of got to me and the latter half felt a tad boring. Then, I went right back to Ms. Fiona and also loved this next album, Tidal, though perhaps not as much as her first. My obsession with “The Hand” by Annabelle Dinda led me to listen to the whole album, Some Things Never Leave. It was very nice, and I particularly liked “To Reconcile.” It reminded me so clearly of an old favorite, Sara Groves.

Javelin by Sufjan Stevens was fantastic, he always is. Bring Me The Horizon was a part of my introduction to favorite metal albums, and I do think I liked That’s the Spirit, though the temptation to compare it to Crush++ has caused me to stay dissatisfied with new metal until I find something better than it. I really really liked Deftones’ Diamond Eyes and I can’t wait to continue to explore the rest of their music. I stumbled upon some Ethiopian Jazz, fell in love, and devoured this compilation of Mulatu Astatke’s. It is very grounding and gets you out of your headspace. Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Now Dead was incredibly enjoyable. I described it as “Radiohead minus a little bit of yearning, plus piano.” With Comedown Machine, I finally finished The Stoke’s discography! I think this album was on par with First Impressions of Earth and Angles. I’d say their remaining three are my favorites still. AURORA shocked me with What Happened to The Heart? Every song I was convinced was going to be my favorite on the album. The latter half, especially, impressed me. Her range and talent do not cease to amaze me! I came to Deadbeat by Tame Impala because I knew the popular ones off the album, but was not crazy for the rest of it. I took a sharp turn and listened to My World 2.0 by Justin Beiber. Now I can say I have heard it, but yes it every bit sounded like a fifteen year old boy was made to sing about things he ain’t even experienced yet. The popular ones: nostalgic and catchy; the rest was kind of eh. I finished with Jukebox the Ghost’s Everything Under the Sun. Theatrical, peppy, and fun; I especially liked “The Sun.”

All around, a fun month of new tunes! I stretched myself, and also explored some of my favorite artists deeper. My big takeaway from April was the extent I love Fiona Apple and Crush++. Go listen!!

TTYL peeps