Hey Darling Ones,

Without much preamble, here are some of my favorite songs of 2022.

Blush by Dessa

This song, at least to me, is about the conflict of being in a situationship with someone you really want to be in a relationship with.

As someone who has been in numerous situationships I wanted to be relationships, each line of this tightly constructed gem kinda punches me right in the heart.

I love how she justifies her ever deepening feelings and explains that there’s a lot to her and if she’s too much then they should say so.

And, because I’m a sucker for the moon, I especially love when she sings, “I’m a moon for you, give you just the good sides, save you all the best lines. I wish I was immune to you.”

Speeding 72 by Momma

I’m 99.99% sure that when I was cruising around in my best friend’s ride smoking cigarettes, listening to Liz Phair, and trying to out run my troubles the kids in Momma were not even alive yet.

They probably weren’t even alive when “Gold Soundz” came out. There is, however, a very good chance that when we were driving and smoking, we listened to it.

This song captures the universality of driving around with your best friend bitching about life, and I love that for me and kids today and for everyone who ever hit the road because there was nothing else to do about your problems.

The entire Momma record is pure rock & roll fun. As an Old Sad Spinster who is very attracted to the songs of young sad girls, Momma’s record is a nice diversion. Oh yeah, music can be fun. I forgot!

Chaise Longue by Wet Leg

Another in the rock & roll is fun camp. And again, this whole record is excellent. If you don’t enjoy singing, over and over your soul might be malfunctioning.

Empty Cups by Amanda Shires

Shires’ “Take it Like a Man” record is one of the boldest, most vulnerable, bravest, and brilliant records of, probably, all time. I’ve written about Fault Lines and Hawk for the Dove already. So instead, I’ll write a little something about “Empty Cups” which demonstrates what I love so much about Shires’ songwriting, her imagery. You can find it on all her songs, but this one is extra wonderful. . . a makeup of rainbow tears, the quietness of trees going to shade, and the rattling of spoons. I’ve said it before, she is one of the best songwriters of her generation.

On Your Way (Felix Song) by Anaïs Mitchell

Early this year I went from not knowing Anaïs Mitchell existed to her becoming the very air I breathe. I listened to her self-title release about 183 times. It was one of those records I had to listen to from front to back at least once a day for weeks and weeks.

In my memory I wrote about “On Your Way (Felix Song)” specifically, but it seems to have only been written in my head. I did mention my love for the album, but didn’t even mention Felix’s song. I picked this one for this list because I love songs about making music, buying records, or listening to the radio.

Problem With It by Plains

The Plains’ record is my favorite of 2022 followed really closely by Anaïs Mitchell and Amanda Shires. Plains gets the nod because it helped me grieve the loss of my dad & Uncle Danny. “Problem With It” was the song I listened to the most in 2022. It’s not even my favorite one on the album, but it was the first single that came out months before the record, and thus I had more time with it.

Resentment (New Feelings Version) feat. Waxahatchee by Madi Diaz

Madi Diaz’s 2021 song “Think of Me” was my #2 most-listened to song of the year. However, since I already talked about that one, I put “Resentment” on the list. Specifically, this 2022 version featuring Waxahatchee (of Plains’ fame, see above). Madi Diaz is my favorite discovery of the year, and I found her through this song because of the Waxahatchee involvement.

Frug by Rilo Kiley

Yes, this song is like 20+ years old. I don’t care. I fell hard for it this year. It’s a cute, goofy song in a year when I needed more cute and goofy than I got.

Happy listening,
Jodi

The post The Best Music I Listened to in 2022 appeared first on I Will Dare.

Hi Darling Ones,

I’ve read 170ish books so far this year. I will definitely read more before the year is over. However, I plan for all of those books to be cupcake-like mysteries that I will probably dislike a great deal. I read a lot of mysteries I dislike a great deal because I love to read mysteries and then judge them harshly.

For example, I read a mystery this week by a British author. The book takes place in both Arizona and Philadelphia, but features a British lady as one of the main characters. In the book the author has a person from Philadelphia repeatedly testify that a bloody sock was “three centimeters” away from someone’s foot.

As if. I should have quit after the second mention of the three centimeters, but I didn’t.

Anyway, this was a long explanation to say I’m sharing my favorite books of the year even though the year is not over. Speaking of years, some of these books were released last year or some other year that is not 2022. I do not care anymore. Art is timeless. We come to it when the time is right for us. Two of my favorite records of the year came out in 2021. So it goes with time and art.

If you’re looking for a good read you can’t go wrong with these books.

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke

A dude get sucked into the company Slack (board? App? I don’t know.) and weird stuff ensues. Kinda way more emotional than I would have expected and also cuts really close to the bone if you’ve ever worked in a corporate-y creative field.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Ugh. I don’t even have kids and this book scared the shit out of me. It’s one of those that doesn’t quite take place in the here and now, but you can definitely see it coming.

Carry the Dog by Stephanie Gangi

I read this one at the very start of 2022, and my affection for it has carried through a hundred other books and so many months. A 50+ woman as a main character who still loves sex and music, and is a vibrant, dynamic human. How could I not love this one? Plus there’s some family dysfunction and a long-dead artist mother. Trust me, this is good.

Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone by Sarah Jaffe

What I enjoyed so much about reading this book was how it made me say, “Oh my god, they are such fuckers” about all the bosses, companies, organizations, whathaveyou that employ people. I’m gonna say this about a few books on this list, but it’s super smart.

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith

This is my favorite book of 2022. I’ve written about this book three times already this year. The only thing I have left to say is, read it.

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

This is a beautiful nightmare, jigsaw puzzle of a book that is probably smarter than I am, but I reading it was a joy even when it was making my stomach hurt with fear.

The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live by Danielle Dreilinger

Adding this one to the list kind of surprised me. I mean, a book about Home Economics? It sounds like snoozeapalooza. It’s not. I learned so much and was kind of enthralled throughout. An unexpected delight.

Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be by Marissa R. Moss

I cried real, actual tears reading this book. The chapter about the Newport Folk Festival is chef’s kiss perfection. This is both infuriating and joyful in the best possible way. A must-read for all music fans even if you’re an “I like everything but country and rap” kind of jerk.

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett

This novel is what would happen if a John Irving book had a baby with George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. Tender. Sweet. Kinda quirky.

Shit Cassandra Saw by Gwen E. Kirby

Reading this collection of short stories made my synapses feel like they were filled with pop rocks. The writing is so sharp and funny and poignant that reading it made my brain feel more alive.

The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken

I read this not-a-memoir novel the week after my dad died. It was the exact perfect book to read. This is about an unnamed author grieving the death of her mother all over London. It’s way funnier than you’d think.

The Change by Kirsten Miller

Probably my favorite novel of the year. It’s about three women coping with perimenopause/menopause in the most witchy and bewitching ways. Even when it was a little predictable this one had me cackling with glee. So much fun.

Happy reading, Darling Ones.

Love,
Jodi

P.S. I didn’t link to any bookstores. You’re grownups who know how to procure books at a store or from the library.

The post The Best Books I Read in 2022 appeared first on I Will Dare.

Dear Darling Ones,

I finished reading book #99 in 2021. It was about menopause. I know slightly more about the mysterious biological happening than I did before, which isn’t saying much. To celebrate the milestone I re-read Jeff Tweedy’s memoir (more on that in a minute).

My goal for reading this year was to read widely and voraciously. I want to read about all kinds of things, which is why I’ve read a bunch about visual art and a crapton of author biographies. I should probably broaden my horizons by reading something about science or nature, but damn science is boring.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something to read you cannot go wrong with these nine books.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

I wrote about this one when I first finished reading it. It’s got all the things I love to read and thing about: rock & roll, racism, sexism, women who do what they want to do, and the story is told using all kinds of media, which is so much my jam.

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate

I was unprepared for the emotional gut punch that came with reading Slate’s essays about the end of her marriage and dating and being a woman in America in the right now. You can see what I had to say about this one earlier.

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading short story collections. For a long time they just haven’t done much for me, but Philyaw’s collection is a sparkling gem from front to back. I read the entire collection in one long, sleepless night and I do not regret one minute of the lost sleep.

Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) by Jeff Tweedy

I got the audio version of this bad boy from the library and spent all day listening to it while I prepared family dinner. Tweedy is so funny, which makes the audio version a little bit better than the print version (which I read a few months ago). Plus, his wife and one of his sons make an appearance. But what I love so much about this memoir is that he thinks about creating and creativity much the same way I do. And also, I could listen to him talk about what The Replacements mean to him for the rest of my life.*

The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

I still have plans of changing my name to Angrboda, bringer of sorrows and becoming the witch of Ironwood. If I didn’t have so much brand equity in my house being called Supergenius HQ, I would rebrand. Thinking about this one still makes my heart a little zoomy with joy because reading it was such a pleasure.

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

I’ve stopped reading YA for the most part because I find the voice of a lot of recent YA super cloying and kind of annoying. This one was neither of those things. A female hockey-playing protagonist who is a smarty smart smartie is trying to solve some mysterious drug-related deaths in her Michigan town and along the way teaches the reader so many things about Anishinaabe traditions.

Red Comet by Heather Clark

This biography of Sylvia Plath lit my brain on fire and became an obsession for a few weeks when all I wanted to do was read this book and wander around in Sylvia Plath’s world.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

This memoir by the lead singer of Japanese Breakfast is wonderful. Probably has the best last chapter of any book in a good long time. Also, I have extra special affection for this one because my niece read it on my suggestion (she also loved it). But the best thing was the book inspired Jaycie to go check out the H Mart in Portland and she texted me a bunch of pictures while she was there.

Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello

Do you ever get zapped by art that makes you feel more alive after experiencing it than you did before? That’s how I felt after reading Frangello’s memoir about adultery, feminism, a dying marriage, and mothering through cancer and divorce and the death of her parents. This one is fierce and ferocious and so fucking brave. I aspire to write something so fucking alive and full of passion.

Your book reports are due in December, Darling Ones.

Love,
Jodi

 
*To be fair, I could listen to just about anyone talk about their favorite band forever — especially if their voice gets a little wobbly because they’re so full of emotion about the music. Fuckin’ a – that kind of thing slays me.

The post The 9 Best of the First 99 Books I Read this Year appeared first on I Will Dare.

Hello Darling Ones,

While I was doing my taxes last night one of my twitter pals expressed an interest in my Top 10 Music Memoirs List. Because the only two things I need to do are make potato salad and work on The Beast, making this list is what they like to call productive procrastination.

Before we get to the list, I broadened the category. I’ve read a lot of memoirs by musicians. A lot. Maybe forty? Fifty? I’ve read twenty-six memoirs just by female musicians. Tonight I’ll be starting Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. I’m on the library’s hold list for Brandi Carlile’s Broken Horses.

I’ve also read memoirs by men too. From Keith Richards and Pete Townshend to Bob Mould and Ben Folds.

Here’s the thing, a lot of musician memoirs are shockingly similar. The only thing that really changes are the dates. So yeah, I broadened the category to include nonfiction books about music or musicians.

One more caveat: I did not include Trouble Boys Bob Mehr’s biography of The Replacements because it is fucking boring. Scandalous! But if you really want to know where everyone who ever met the ‘Mats was born and where they went to high school, this book is for you. Did you know Tommy Stinson’s grandma was from Shakopee? You would if you read Trouble Boys.

Also missing is Michael Azerad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life, which I need to revisit. It’s been nearly twenty-years since I read it, so my memory may be fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure there are absolutely zero women in the book. None. I know none of the bands featured include women, so it doesn’t make the list.

I only mention these two books because they’re the ones I expect to get the most flack for not including. Also, one more preemptive shut-up. Yes, I know about Lester Bangs. And Robert Christgau. And Greil Marcus.

Wanna know what else I know? Men have been writing about and controlling the story of rock & roll since its inception. They’re the ones who choose what is good, what is bad, what is lauded, and what is forgotten. That is some bullshit. As I always say when someone gets all horny about The Beatles or The Stones being the greatest of all time, “It’s not hard to be the best when you only compete against other white men.”

So, now, on with the show!

1. Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music by Ellen Willis

This book changed the way I think about and consume rock & roll. I read in the spring of 2012 and it caused a paradigm shift in my soul. I often joke that I’m unsure about God, but I believe in Ellen Willis and thus she is my deity of choice. What I love about her writing is the social and political context she gives the music she writes about. And it’s so refreshing to get that context through a feminist point of view (rather than the male sexual gaze)

2. Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll by Ann & Nancy Wilson

This one is so damn fun. I love that Ann and Nancy tell the story of Heart. I love that we learn there is another Wilson sister who is not in the band. I love the stories of pre-grunge Seattle and touring with ALLLL those dudes. I love that they talk about sexism and fatphobia and being in Seattle right before grunge broke. But my favorite is they are the first of all the women I’ve read who talked about wanting to be a Beatle and not marry a Beatle (this is a recurring theme in a lot of memoirs by women).

3. Rat Girl by Kristen Hersh

Quoting myself here: “If you’ve ever felt music was your religion or your life or had a deep, confusing, inexplicable relationship with Rock & Roll you should read this book. While I believe Hersh’s relationship with music is wholly unique to her, she writes about it in such a way that it gives those of us who have yet to find the words hope that those words are still out there.” She has a new memoir out too. My cup overflows.

4. Just Kids by Patti Smith

Come on! This probably the most lauded, awarded music memoir of all time. Justifiably so.

5. It’s a Long Story: My Life by Willie Nelson

Wanna know what’s so good about Willie Nelson’s memoir? He leaves out all the boring shit. This doesn’t happen a lot when men write their stories (see: Townshend, Richards, Mould). It’s folksy as fuck and has so many fun facts! Charlie Pride sent him his first email! Tons of ’em about “Pancho & Lefty” I won’t spoil for you. It’s a super fun read.

6. Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc. by Jeff Tweedy

Hi. I feel like I have not shut up about this book since I read it in March. I talk about it a lot, almost as much as the Sylvia Plath biography. This one is such a great read because Tweedy is funny, self-deprecating, a little catty, totally vulnerable, and smart.

7. My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love by Dessa

You know that sentence that I wrote about the Jeff Tweedy memoir? Same goes for the Dessa minus the catty but make the smart, super smart. I’ve read this one three times. There’s a passage where she writes about singing with Aby Wolf that when I read it I get goosebumps and when I talk about it to people my throat clogs with tears. It’s that beautiful.

8. Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways by Evelyn McDonnell

I fell in love with Joan Jett when I was eight or ten or whatever age it was I discovered her cover of “Crimson & Clover.” I fell hard. So hard that at my 40th birthday party, childhood BFF Jodi Hanson glared at my cousin Laurie and asked, “Were you the one with the “Crimson & Clover” forty-five?” I played the song a lot. This biography of The Runaways blew my mind. There was so much I didn’t know and, again, McDonnell gave me so much context for the band I didn’t have before.

9. Nobody Ever Asked Me about the Girls: Women, Music and Fameby Lisa Robinson

This book is a lot. There’s an entire chapter about rape and sexual assault and how that played out in some women’s music. There’s also chapters about marriage and sex and babies and Lisa Robinson never fails to point out the hypocrisy in how men never get asked these kinds of questions. Go for the Madonna-snark and stay for the keen insight on how female musicians are portrayed in the media.

10. Janis: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren

I think this book was so revelatory because it was the first time I experienced Janis outside of the male gaze. George-Warren presents her as a flawed, complicated woman with all the care her story needed and never seemed to get.

I could probably make a list of Top 10 Fiction Music Books, and I might.

For now, it’s time to make the potato salad,
Jodi

The post The COVID Diaries: Top 10 Nonfiction Music Books appeared first on I Will Dare.

Hi Darling Ones,

There’s still a whirlpool going around in my head, but instead of all the sad garbage it’s the book The Witch’s Heart and the ridiculous amount I am relating to it even though I’m a modern giant and not like an ancient, old-timey Norse Ironwood Witch giant. I’m doing my best to ration the book so I can think a little about it instead of gobbling it up in one greedy gulp like I do all the other books.

So instead of taxing my pre-occupied braincells, I’m gonna kick it old school with a random list of things that ARE THE BEST and if you disagree you are wrong, the wrongest wronger down in wrongville who did not love truth at all. This list is inspired by the 90s sitcom Blossom which I recently discovered on Hulu and watch all the time now as though my life depended on it.

These Things Are Better Than Other Things in the Same Category

DISCLAIMER: These bests are subject to change without notice and based solely on the whims of the day. Unfortunately, nobody paid me for any placement on this list. I am not opposed to being bought off like that because I’ve worked a total of 45 minutes so far this month and I’m beginning to lose my mind a little bit.

Serving you up the hottest of takes,
Jodi

P.S. I have an interview for a potential gig this week so keep your fingers crossed that it goes well for me.

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