Melissa Kacar

Happy Record Store Day! To celebrate the sem i-annual event, Olivia Rodrigo was one of the many artists to release exclusive vinyl available only at indie record stores for Black Friday. When Olivia released her sophomore album GUTS recently, she sold four special vinyl variants that featured a bonus "secret track" on each, which are not available to listen to anywhere else. With this special Record Store Day Black Friday release, she compiled all four of those bonus songs onto one disc, limited to only 7500 copies worldwide. I had to go to two different local record stores to find it and I'm so happy to have it! It is pressed at Third Man Records, which is known for their incredible quality and innovative pressings - I love all of the records I have that are made by them! GUTS: the secret tracks *  is pressed on opaque deep purple with a butterfly etching on side B. It is such a unique pressing, one that perfectly represents the aesthetics of this album perfectly.  The

"Houdini" // Dua Lipa Dua Lipa 's long-awaited lead single for her upcoming third album is finally here and it is incredible! Dua is one of the best pop artists out right now, there truly isn't a song of her's that I don't absolutely love. "Houdini" is so modern and fresh, while still feeling like a natural sonic progression from the sound of her sophomore album Future Nostalgia . It is her first collaboration with Kevin Parker, the Tame Impala influence is all over this song in the best way possible. The pop psychedelic production is amazing, it is such a cool sound for her to be experimenting with right now. "Houdini" is one of my favorite songs of the year, I haven't been able to get out of my head since I first heard it! As always, I'm really looking forward to hearing more music from Dua in the new year! Catch her before she goes... ✨ "Alma Mater" // Bleachers & Lana Del Rey "Alma Mater" is the second si

the rest is the latest release from boygenius , following up their incredible debut album, the record , that was released earlier this year. This is a four-song companion piece to the record , perfect for those that were craving just a little bit more from the trio. boygenius is comprised of Phoebe Bridgers , Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus . All three have really great solo careers, but when they collaborate it is always magic. the record is one of my favorite albums  of the year and I was happy to hear more from them so soon. Much like their full-length album, this EP feels very rooted in their personal musical influences and style of their solo music, but crafted in a way that creates the unique collective sound of boygenius. the rest * is only about 12 minutes long and is overall a much looser and less-refined approach to music than we have heard from them so far, whether it is their self-titled EP from 2018 or the record from earlier this year. While I don't think the res