Sophisticated-ass
Grown-up
Music
Posts
Some things just make you feel cooler because you listen to them. You--like me--would probably look like an asshole if you tell your friends how cool your musical tastes are, so you're stuck with this silent, unwitnessed smugness. Enjoy it; You've earned it.
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane
elevation
Heavy Heavy
Young Fathers
a joyful noise
Raising Sand
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
NPR listeners' ancestral hymn
Quiet Signs
Jessica Pratt
ghostly beauty
The Lemon Of Pink
The Books
a micro-dose of joy
Watersong
Savina Yannatou
let it drown you
Transcendental Youth
Mountain Goats
like nothing else
Glory
Perfume Genius
emphasis on "genius"
The Year In Sophisticated 2024
cooler than you
How Will I Live Without A Body?
Loma
an evolution
Lemons, Limes and Orchids
Joan As Police Woman
Another great one from Joan
The Köln Concert
Keith Jarrett
one historical night
The Mountain
Haken
prog metal masterpiece
Compassion
Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, and Tyshawn Sorey
awesome trio date
uNomkhubulwane
Nduduzo Makhathini
zulu healer jazz
Reconciled
The Call
The best 80s album nobody's heard of
Workbook
Bob Mould
a favorite
The Call Within
Tigran Hamasyan
ballsy jazz
Musique Mechanique
Carla Bley Band
The Borg
Interstellar Interlude
Tomoki Kanda
beauty ex nihilo
Hope
Kevin Hays and Lionel Loueke
guitar and piano
August
Still Lost Bird Music
classic poetry set to bluegrassy music
You Will Not Die
Nakhane
a unique voice
Lungs
Florence + The Machine
Not calling you a liar.
Hejira
Joni Mitchell
a great
Makin' A Move
Henry Threadgill
Better get it in your head
Our Roots Run Deep
Dominique Fils-Aimé
cooler than you
Laugh Track
The National
a second dose
Lost In The Dream
The War On Drugs
a lovely blast of beautiful sadness
The First Two Pages of Frankenstein
The National
chiller and cooler than you
Through Empty Landscapes and New Beginnings
Mirek Coutigny
elegance defined
Nothing Like The Sun
Sting
The professor
Rough And Rowdy Ways
Bob Dylan
A Master Class
50 Words For Snow
Kate Bush
You shouldn't be stunned but it's still stunning
Floodplain
Kronos Quartet
music from the cradle of civilization
An Awesome Wave
Alt J
math pop
Labyrinth
Heather Woods Broderick
understated power folk
With A Hammer
Yaeji
something interesting
Young Team
Mogwai
fear mogwai
Prezens
David Torn
a wild trip
Live At The Acropolis
Yanni
Brought to you by the generous support of members like you
Fellow Traveller
Attacca Quartet
String quartets are cool
I Put A Spell On You
Nina Simone
it does.
Mingus Ah Um
Charles Mingus
Get hit in your soul
Gula Matari
Quincy Jones
a true renaissance man
Time Out Of Mind
Bob Dylan
a rootsy interpolation
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
David Bowie
classic rock obelisk
Permutation
Amon Tobin
an all time favorite electronic record
The Royal Scam
Steely Dan
Outsider music
More Songs About Buildings And Food
Talking Heads
The gang turns it up a notch
The Great Awakening
Shearwater
Shearwater returns with another great one
¡Ay!
Lucrecia Dalt
Excellent, beautiful, and a little creepy
Dance Fever
Florence + The Machine
Strength, beauty, power
The year in Sophisticated-ass Grown-up Music 2022
The best of things that make me feel smart
Countdown: Time In Outer Space
Dave Brubeck Quartet
complex, brainy jazz
Trouble Will Find Me
The National
cici nes pas REM
At Scaramouche
Shabason & Krgovich
beautiful pop making the ultra-mundane fascinating
Loma
Loma
a dark, beautiful gem
Sides
Lean Year
sparse, haunting, and gorgeous
Cocoa Sugar
Young Fathers
Their best yet
Let Them Eat Chaos
Kae Tempest
Tempest's Masterpiece
I Survived, It's Over
Rich Ruth
chill, elegant, and engrossing
Misadventures Of Doomscroller
Dawes
Part Grateful Dead, part Steely Dan
The Pirate's Gospel
Alela Diane
You aren't ready for this
Automatic For The People
REM
Shiny but serious
Tchamantché
Rokia Traoré
From Mali with love
Songs In The Key Of Life
Stevie Wonder
A true classic
Ghost Song
Cécile McLorin Salvant
fantastic vocal jazz
Singing Saw
Kevin Morby
no srsly. it's morbin' time
Alive
Hiromi
an under-recognized genius
