In case the link’s bugged, listen to october’s playlist here.

This is it, this month’s playlist post!!! I decided, since this is the first one I’ll be doing, that this post should be free, just so you’ll know how most of these will look like in the future. This next month, the playlist posts will be paid, so if you want to read them and support the publication, consider being a paid subscriber.

But the playlist will always be free, so don’t worry. At the end of the post, November’s playlist will be waiting for you, too.

This month was a month of a lot of reflection, thinking about past lovers and hurt. It was interesting to talk about them, especially since they weren’t on my mind for what I feel must’ve been years. At the end of the day, writing feels like a confessional booth to me, and if the words can’t do much on their own, I’ll have to be fine with walking in circles and wishing upon stars.

In this month, a lot of things also ended up happening. There was this massacre in Brasil just a few days ago, very near where I live. I suppose we’re living under stress, under darkness of a cover to hide, and we don’t have words for kindness anymore; we’re creatures that want violent, bloody peace, and violent and bloody love. I hope one day we’ll stop waging war against life, while protecting life from the crossfire with our knives on our mouths.

This was quite a crowdy month for the-thief, as well, so I want to thank you all for sticking around with me. Let’s get right into it, shall we?

Everyone Asked About You —Everyone Asked About You EP

I wrote about this little EP I found this month. I’m always glad with the idea that I can introduce people to new sounds. What ended up making me fall in love with music, at the end of the day, was falling in love with Emo (or rather, Emo Pop, or 2000’s Pop Punk), and I did that by wanting to follow my older brother’s footsteps. He discovered Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance and the whatnots, and he would show it to us. It was just as we were settling in in Rio, I must’ve been 8 or 9 while I listened to songs about cabaret clubs and orgasms that tasted much sweeter than the one from someone’s partner. I guess it’s good I didn’t know any english back then.

Anyway, I always loved when I was introduced to new artists and styles, especially as I was growing older and songs started to get more different and diverse in my search. The Needle Drops of the world, the old forums of discussions… I’m glad I can be the one to introduce people to stuff that interests me, through this playlist and Nightporter in general.

I still love this EP. But maybe, if I may reflect on the text I wrote for it, if I had to rewrite it I’d like to make a better blend of the qualities of the album and the personal aspects it has with me. I think it ended up being two divided sections which seemed too apart from each other, and not because they didn’t relate with each other, but maybe because I wasn’t thinking about this cohesion.

I still haven’t contacted the lady of which I talk about in that text. Sometimes, I think I’m waiting to become a better person and then text, because then I’ll know exactly what to say. Will I be here all my life? Maybe. But while the day doesn’t come, this self-titled EP will bring me back those simpler memories.

Geese — Getting Killed

I’ve listened to a lot of Geese in the last weeks; I even had a post with Cameron Winter lyrics scattered in it. They released a new album this year, Getting Killed. I’ll write something short about it very soon, but I’ll already say I really enjoyed it.

Through my process of listening to Geese, I started to become too close with 3D Country, their 2023 album. I think it’s probably a perfect album now, and I’d love to write about it in the future. Their new record didn’t reach the same heights in my opinion, but I’m glad it made such a buzz in the underground scene, introducing more people to their genius.

While 3D Country was sort of a Gen Z Hard Rock throwback, with Winter’s refreshing lyricism and vocals (listening to someone with so much personality in modern rock music is really astonishing), Getting Killed has them going full Art Rock, being more explosive while bringing some of what Cameron must’ve learned from his solo debut effort Heavy Metal; this intimacy of a singer songwriter with the energy of a crazed out frontman.

Songs: Ohia — Magnolia Electric Co.

I’ve wrote about this record’s first song, Farewell Transmission, a while back. I think it was Nightporter’s first actual post about art, since the first was about my style of writing.

I ended up listening to the whole album, and I’ve gotta say, it was my favorite full listen of the month. I’ll definitely write about it in the near future, it’s practically perfect. I liked it so much I started considering tattooing this album’s cover art, I love it!

It’s an Alt-Country album, very personal and very intimate, written by Jason Molina, which also became one of my favorite songwriters after this experience. I’ll listen to his whole discography in the future, too. If you want to know if this album is for you or not, listen to its first song. It’s a beautiful song about Molina’s and humanity’s struggle to face the long road of life, but why we must try and do our best anyway. Sort of a 7 minute song version of The End of Evangelion, I suppose.

The Brave Little Abacus — Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We’re Alright

I’m so excited to talk more about this album!!! I’ve known of Brave Little Abacus for quite a while now, after I listened to their debut record last year.

Listen, I’m in the process of writing the essay for this, it’ll be out soon. You can go and listen to the album, but I’m warning you: you may not get it. It’s one of the underground’s most popular albums, it has so many fans throughout all music forums you may go to, and yet they have a sound that can be very easy to not “get”.

If you feel interested in it, and you have not listened to them in the playlist yet, I recommend their song “I See it Too”, the first song from their first record. It’s one their only songs where they kind of “take it easy”, and it’s my favorite of them. It’s very easy to like that one, but if you don’t, because of his voice or his lyricism or what-have-you, just know you’d probably hate this album even more.

If you want descriptors, they’re this kind of Midwest Emo where it’s very experimental, having this yelling and whining vocalist while a barrage of instruments flood your ears. I think it’s very beautiful, I hope you find it, too. I hope you’ll stick around for my essay about it!! I’m looking forward to introducing new people to them.

The Songs

Carissa’s Wierd — Drunk w/ the Only Saints I Know

I was in a huge Carissa’s Wierd earlier last month. I’ll talk more about their 2002 album Songs about Leaving in a future post, very soon. But this track off of their debut record is quite pleasing. You’ll notice soon enough I was in a heavy Emo phase this month.

Title Fight — Where Am I?

I think I discovered Title Fight on 2023, but I have never listened to this song. I don’t think I’ve listened to a full album of theirs that is great from front to back, but when they have good songs, they’re extremely appealing. This one is a very simple, very catchy one, kind of reminds me of some parts in The Dismemberment Plan’s Emergency & I.

My Chemical Romance — Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

I’m a huge My Chem fan, but I haven’t paid a lot of attention to their debut record, back when they were more similar to Emo than Emo-Pop. It’s a solid Emo song, having this healthy level of repetition at the end which I can always appreciate if done right. I’m interested on listening to more of their stuff from this time, so maybe a I Brought You My Bullets essay is on the way.

Bright Eyes — Amy In The White Coat

Such a haunting Bright Eyes song. Last year I was going through a gigantic Bright Eyes phase, and while going through a heavy heartbreak I decided to search for “most depressing Bright Eyes songs”. I found what I wanted; this is too heavy at times. I don’t remember if it’s based off a real person or even Conor Oberst’s life to some extent, but I just hope whoever had to go through this in their life is in a better spot now. If you want a trigger warning, it is a song about abuse.

The Microphones — I Can’t Believe You Actually Died

A bit of a lighthearted depression here, this is a cute and sad song by Phil Elverum’s project The Microphones. It’s very, very lovely, even if it brings that bittersweet feeling to everyone who has lost someone they loved.

Panic! At The Disco — She Had the World – Alternate Version

I grew up listening to Panic, and my brother actually had this CD, which came with a DVD for the show. I feel a lot of people have never listened to Panic or have given them a chance to see if their sound can be good — especially with what Brendon ended up doing with their sound when he went solo. I feel that a lot of what they tried to do in their first album is very transgressive and great, but if you feel like that’s not your thing, I highly recommend trying out this silly little song I put in the playlist.

In their second album, Pretty Odd., which would be the last one with songwriter and band leader Ryan Ross and the one that includes the song above, they were kind of trying to do Beatles-esque songs. I think their style from this time is really, really lovely, so if you’d like to see some songs inspired by 60’s Baroque Pop, listen to this album’s singles like Nine in the Afternoon or That Green Gentleman, even Behind the Sea. I think you’d also like the alternate versions from this album, Live in Chicago, their last one together.

This song, however, is just lovely. It hurts, but it’s lovely. Ryan Ross makes up this fancy, egotistical character for this album, and the lyrics he makes up when talking about love can get you thinking about yourself. “She said she’d won the world at a carnival/But I’m sure I didn’t ruin her/It just made her more interesting”. That is probably one of the lines I hate the most in any song I’ve ever listened to, so I think Ryan got what he wanted out of me. He can stop it now. But then, “I don’t love you, I’m just passing the time/You could love me if I knew how to lie”. How cold can he be? But at the end, I love this character he used to write in his songs. He’s very ugly, but ugliness always tells you something about yourself, about beauty.

Also, Live in Denver, which is the live recording of one show they did back in 2006, is finally on streaming services! I have listened to YouTube videos from this show for basically all my life, so I must recommend to you all. The live versions of their songs, both in Live in Denver and Live in Chicago, are different from the studio versions — and in my opinion, much better! They’re at the top of their game in both albums, so go check it out!

The Cure — In Your House

Okay, now I have to go back to talking about cult music, I suppose.

I was also in a heavy The Cure phase these last years, and one album of theirs that surprised me was Seventeen Seconds. A Forest became one of my favorite songs of all time, and I’m always going back to some deep cuts from this record. I was sunbathing a lot in October, talking to Birdy and whatnot, and usually I’d play this song while doing silly dances on my terrace.

I’m fucking up my sleep schedule these last days, so I hope I can fix it soon and get back on business with the Sun and the morning birds.

Marianne Faithfull — It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

This is a cover of a Dylan song, and I must say I just love her voice in this recording.

If you could say some songs in here are messages to past lovers, maybe moments like this yell the loudest from their glass bottle at sea.

Jeff Mangum — I Love How You Love Me – Live

Another cover, but I must say I probably listened to this version more than the original by The Paris Sisters. It’s just so… Tragic, I can’t explain why. Mangum (he’s the vocalist of Neutral Milk Hotel, if you can’t remember) sings from this place of hurt while declaring his love, and maybe that is why I always come back to this song.

Bob Dylan — Can’t Wait – Version 1

I’m a huge Time Out of Mind fan, even have it on CD. But one of these days I was searching something about the bootlegs and someone said they preferred this song’s version on the Bootleg rather than the original one. I was intrigued — Can’t Wait is already one of the best songs on that album. So I went to check out and yeah, it’s great, and probably the best version. Highly recommend it, I also think I prefer the lyrics on this version.

Cameron Winter — Can’t Keep Anything

Oh, it’s just Geese. He’s Geeseposting for the millionth time this month.

But really though, this is an underappreciated song from the record. Love it a lot.

Silver Jews — How to Rent a Room

Nothing much to say, but I think I have never listened to Silver Jews before. It’s solid, I must admit. I went through some other songs of them too and they were all really well-written. I’m really digging it.

Sugar Ray — Into Yesterday

Yeah, I don’t know, I was just in the mood, okay?

Do I lose points in the cult underground groups? Oh, I already lost all of them with the Panic propaganda? Yeah, that’s fair, I guess…

What really happened is that I always get back to this song for some reason. There was this time I spent an entire day in the dentist’s waiting room, waiting to come in. In the TV there was a surfing show going on, and then a skating one; it was some sports channel that made sports content with some real life/visiting new places spice to it. And it was fun to watch that; so fun it made me want to watch cable TV more. Live more, too. Get hurt more, too, I suppose. Travel more. Love more.

The surfers seem to live a happy life, so entranched with nature. How lovely.

The Three Degrees — When Will I See You Again

Listened to this one in an Instagram post from a comedian I discovered these days, so had to go search for it later. It’s really good. I think no explanation for my connection to it is needed if you read this month’s posts.

Elaine Kibaro — L’Amour Pour Bouclier

I think some Spotify radio recommended me this. Oh, I’m so glad it did. It’s really excellent. It’s Euro-Disco, but listening to it and knowing how unknown she is, it’s like entering a different dimension. You keep thinking that this song could’ve been a hit back then. I love it a lot.

Japan — Nightporter

There was a post about this song on Nightporter this month.

I used to know some parts of the beginning of this song on the piano, but I ended up quitting piano after last year’s depression. I’m watching a lot of Contrapoints now, and the more she talks about classical music, the more I want to know how to play the piano like her. I think I’ll get back to it soon enough.

Batatinha — Diplomacia / Só Eu Sei / Fala De Batatinha

This is a great samba song from a great samba album from a great samba performer. It’s a must listen, more than anything else on this playlist. Well, there’s one thing that maybe you should listen to as well…

Os Tincoãs — Cordeiro De Nanã

If you can only listen to one song from this playlist, it has to be this one. It’s Candomblé Music, which is basically a traditional style of singing while exalting this brazilian-african religion. They’re the best that ever did this genre, and I can guarantee it you won’t feel this song is enough for your interest in them.

Their 1973 album also titled Os Tincoãs (the one of them on the beach) came recently to streaming platforms, and it’s been for a long time one of my favorite albums of all time, a 10/10 if I’ve ever seen one. If you feel interested on their sound, both of these records are practically perfect. They’re also very short listens, so go give them some love.

Morphine — I’m Free Now

I’m a huge Morphine fan, I still dream of having a live cover band playing only their songs, I think that’d be neat. The lyrics for this one have never hit harder than in this month. I’ll literally just put the lyrics for this one in here and you’ll understand me.

I’m free now to direct a movie
Sing a song, or write a book about yours truly
How I’m so interesting, I’m so great
But I’m really just a fuck-up and it’s such a waste
To burn down these walls around me
Flexing like a heartbeat
We don’t like to speak
Don’t talk to me for about a week
I’m sorry, it just hurts to explain
There’s something going on that makes my guts ache

I got guilt, I got fear, I got regret
I’m just a panic-stricken waste, I’m such a jerk
I was honest, I swear
The last thing I want to do
Honest, I swear
The last thing I want to do
Is ever cause you pain

Yeah, this was too much.

Café Tacvba — Eres

Huge fan of this song, I think I discovered it in 2019. So good, it’s great for when you’re madly in love with someone.

Bullet For My Valentine — Tears Don’t Fall – Acoustic Version

Yeah, all the underground points are out the window. I’m sorry.

I love this song, but I never liked the screaming in it; I thought it was a song that worked just fine being lowkey. Well, I found this acoustic version that is just that.

I remember, I was still in school. Me and my virtual friends used to have this trend of putting song lyrics and quotes in our descriptions in WhatsApp. We’d always check each others, and I loved to put these angsty and sad lyrics on there. One day, I put the lyrics from this song on there, the part where he goes “Would she hear me/If I called her name/Would she hold me/If she knew my shame”, and a friend came to ask me “Hey, where is this from? I love this, I want to put it in my WhatsApp too!”

I think men have this inherent ability of letting women down, at the end of the day. But alas, let’s not talk too much about this, since the last posts in here have all been kind of like this:

Alex G — End Song – from “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” Soundtrack

I watched Jane’s movie one of these days. Excellent! If you grew up in creepypasta culture, you’ll love this one. This is the song that plays in the credits, and it’s fantastic, too. I hear about Alex G ever since my days of being a Mac Demarco fan, but I don’t remember ever connecting with anything of his. I loved this track and I’ll definitely be searching more stuff from him in the future.

This Is Lorelei — Where’s Your Love Now

Yeah, I won’t talk a lot about this because I’m addicted to this album at the moment, so I’ll definitely write an essay about it in the future.

He’s a very creative and fun voice in this new era of Bedroom Pop/Indie Pop, and you’ll be making a mistake not giving him a chance.

Tram — Nothing Left to Say

Nothing much to say, it’s just a solid track that got me by surprise. I listened to a few songs from this album this month and I got to say, I don’t know how they never had too many fans. It’s worth your time.

Lingua Ignota — PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE

Probably the best song in this playlist, but I’ve already said that before about some other, for sure.

Lingua Ignota came back in 2021 to release an album about her relationship with Daughter’s vocalist Alexis Marshall, talking about the abuse she suffered through in his hellish presence. I don’t remember if I had listened to any song of hers before 2021, but Daughters was my everything for a while, so that destroyed me. And through all that hurt, through all her suffering, she managed to make songs so beautifully haunting in this album; it’s really a testament to her genius. These songs hurt, they’re pure pain. I’m not happy she went through all of that, but I’m glad she’s come out of that hellhole without skipping a single beat.

I don’t think this will be everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly is mine.

Paramore — Fast in My Car

How…? Wait.

I’m just seeing this now. Is Paramore’s Fast in my Car right after PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE?

Loooooooooool. Well, that’s a heavy tone shift, I suppose. Whose idea was that? I think I just accidentally put it like this. Oh well, it’s funny, so I’ll keep it this way.

Jeff Rosenstock — Staring Out the Window at Your Old Apartment

Rosenstock is like, on fire on 2016’s WORRY. For quite a while he’s been one of the most interesting and most consistent names in Power Pop or whatever he decides to do, so if you’ve never listened to any of his stuff, WORRY. is practically perfect, quite a short listen, too.

The lyrics for this one hurt, too.

The Roots — You Got Me

I think it’s the only hip hop entry of the month, which is a shame, really. But it’s such a sweet song, I remember being blown away by how sweet this was back when I discovered it. It’s so lovely, and this album of course demands no introduction at this point.

If hip hop is not your thing, give this song a try. It’ll melt your heart, really.

A Girl Called Eddy — Somebody Hurt You

I’m a Girl Called Eddy fan since I listened to her comeback album on 2020, but what I didn’t know was that she was more well known for her 2004 debut record, which was produced by Richard Hawley (that blew my mind). I’ll definitely talk more about her 2020 album in the future, but as of now, I discovered this song from her debut and it’s really… Something. The lyrics are too much. Maybe I should learn my lesson and listen to happier songs. But I’ll stay here, in this song, for a while. It understands me.

That’s it! You can listen to November’s playlist in the link below or here. Have a great month!

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