What's up good people?? Of late, I've felt particularly aware of how music can help create space for things I want more of in my life. Putting on an Adrianne Lenker record when my mind is scattered is a ritual I can count on to wind down, to bring me a little peace. Playing guitar and jamming with others is something that inevitably makes me more grounded, more present than I came to it. This weekend, I went to a jazz club that was crackling with energy, the band was ripping, and midway through their second set I had a moment where I stopped and noticed a room full of strangers visibly animated in their excitement about the same thing. I left recharged and inspired by an environment that had been built around some special music (the club's called Ornithology, if you're in nyc definitely check it out). Good music has been providing me a lot. I'm feeling grateful for it, and for those who've helped me find it all. All of that gets me excited to share what I've been listening to lately with you all: Here's a playlist I made full of songs I've been into It's a Spotify collaborative playlist, add stuff you're digging to it! I've written some thoughts on an album (potentially my favorite so far this year??), an artist, and a single that I wanted to highlight Zack Miller, now the first two time contributor in The Collective Record's storied history, also has a new album recommendation for us Hope you find something that moves you, Matt P.S. I changed the way I'm sending the emails in hopes of triggering less spam filters (lol). If you didn't get the first three of these, and are interested let me know!

An Album

I Walked With You A Ways Plains Genre: Folk/Country I. love. this. record. I went about 48 hours from the time it was released without listening to anything else. This collaboration between Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) and Jess Williamson is a project of songs that explore challenging love. With soaring harmonies, and just the right amount of ‘twang, this theme takes shape in the orbit of troubled relationships. A summer romance that was never going to make it (Summer Sun), a partner that knows their love can be wild and unwieldy (Hurricane), a lover acknowledging that they will to need to fight for what they have (Easy). The stories are crisp and clear-eyed - they never say too much. This creates the space for the words they do say to resonate, like when Crutchfield admits, “I can’t hide / in your line of sight” (Line of Sight). Crutchfield and Williamson’s steady, gorgeous vocals provide a sense of assuredness, of growth in the face of heartbreak. It’s an honest portrayal of love, of connection with jagged edges, moments of bliss, and sometimes unconquerable obstacles. Through it all, they recognize meaning found in these experiences to be worth the risks and the pain, as Williamson sings on the closing, title track, “I’ll be better all my days / cause I walked with you a ways.” Also check out: Waxahatchee's fantastic 2020 album Saint Cloud - Matt Kollada

An Artist

Mavi Genre: Rap MAVI’s verbose brand of rap has really caught me. His bars are dense, packed with internal rhymes and double entendres, the 23 yeard old artist wrings everything he can out of each line. He performs these gymnastics with a sense of cool, not rushing to show off, a style reminiscent of collaborator Earl Sweatshirt. The beats behind him are usually tasteful but simple - soulful loops and sparse percussion put MAVI's words at the forefront. His writing leans toward abstraction, creating room for the exploration of language that the Charlotte rapper clearly covets. At the same time, his lyrics reveal an insightful, provocative thinker. Rapping on topics varying from the difficulties his communities find in the face of oppression, his complicated relationship to romance and sex, and the importance of the cultivation of love and of one’s own mental health. It’s wordplay, it’s auto-biographical introspection, it’s societal commentary, it’s poetry. His two albums, the recent “Laughing so Hard, it Hurts”, and 2019s “Let the Sun Talk” are both fantastic. I’d recommend starting with the latter and to keep a lyric sheet handy, because, as MAVI tells us, “What kind of songs you make?’ / I make the kind you gotta read baby.” Here's a 10 song intro to MAVI playlist - Matt Kollada

A Single

Angel SAULT This 10 minute, multi-part single from the British collective, SAULT, is a striking, ambitious piece of music. “Angel” is a journey through loss - of what can be learned, and what comes after. It begins with a heartwrenching story. An assertive, repeated guitar riff sets the stage for the narrator to grieve - his younger brother has been killed. As the instrumentation builds, he describes the system that put his "angel" in a position to lose his life. Though there is plenty of room for bitterness and anger, the narrator never turns there, instead choosing to center the beauty he’s seen in his little brother. This perspective leads into a more heavenly plane, as the driving beat gives way to soft piano, and the narrator sends prayers to his god, “Lord, will you open the gates of Zion? / His soul is ready to, to come home.” The celestial harmonies eventually fade and give way to a spoken word poem that takes a wide angle view on existence - perhaps a message from the other side of giref. Finally, the epic ends with an uplifting guitar and bass combo, as the narrator is left to sit and wonder on a piece of advice given to him by his grandmother. “Angel”, well worth its runtime, is a moving testament to the difficulties and the power of processing one's grief. Also check out: Everything by SAULT, but maybe start with the album 7 - Matt Kollada

A recommendation from Zack

When Everything is Better, I'll Let You Know Pip Millet Pip millet starts off her lovely debut album posing the question again and again: “So you think you know me?” before ending the intro with the proclamation “you don’t know a thing about me… and you’ll never be close.” By the end of the album, one thing I do know about Pip is that she’s earned her spot amongst the new-age R&B / neo-soul titans (the Jorja Smith and SZA’s) of the world. Throughout the project, her feathery voice takes center stage floating over mostly subdued hip hop beats with a surprise dance track, Slow, reminiscent of Jamila Woods’ BETTY (for Boogie). When Everything is Better, I’ll Let You Know is an album that can be easily enjoyed with a casual play and heavily appreciated upon a deeper listen. Highlights: Slow, Smoking - Zack Miller