ARCADE FIRE'S "THE SUBURBS" has been my favorite album since I was old enough to know what it means to have a genealogical place in the world. I was born in Mahattan and lived there for many years but my real home is suburban New Jersey and it probably always will be. I fear and loathe the city, I've come to realize in my 25 years on this earth, and my true home is the suburbs of NJ. There are good things about it and bad things about it. ARCADE FIRE weighs them both and speculates on the future for suburbia, and, ultimately, the world at large.
CHILLWAVE, or C86, is one of my favorite musical genres and chillwave band REAL ESTATE, New Jersey natives, really strike a chord with me. Their self-titled debut album may not be their most musically accomplished but it's my favorite one. On songs like "Suburban Dogs" and "Suburban Beverage" they capture the milieu, the tedium and boredom, of suburban New Jersey while relishing in it, languishing in the general peace and privilege of living in such a place.
This is an album that feels good.
These are albums that I proudly identify with my home.
