★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit, Courtney Barnett, 2015, :44
This Australian singer-songwriter tells rambling stories in her songs, her deadpan, singsong-talky style spinning out unusual rhymes ("Headphone wielding to the Nicholas building / He trips on a pothole that's not been filled in") and lines you don't often hear in pop music ("I'm not suicidal, just idling insignificantly / I come up here for perception and clarity / I like to imagine I'm playing SimCity"). All of those lyrics are from the same wonderful song. I think she's brilliant, although I prefer her faster material than the slower, longer tracks like "Small Poppies." Another song, "Depreston," features some actual singing, which is also very pretty. Overall, her good stuff is so damn good that this is a five-star album in my blog. Favorite tracks: "Elevator Operator," maybe my favorite find of the year; "Dead Fox;" "Pedestrian at Best;" "Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party;" "Debbie Downer."
