The Notepad #2 — Ted Lasso, Albums I’ve been listening to
It has been a while since I’ve gone back to this series. I kind of just posted that one piece and never went back to it. I’ve thought about a lot of topics since then, but there are a few that really stick out to me.
If you didn’t read the previous installment to my series “The Notepad”, this is where I write some of my non-sports related thoughts in an unfiltered and unedited manner.
TED LASSO
I think one of the most unique shows running currently is Jason Sudeikis’s Ted Lasso. Season One was about an American Football coach hired by a woman attempting to sabotage her ex-husband’s soccer club. It worked beautifully. There was little to nothing that I didn’t love about the first season of Ted Lasso.
It was funny, engaging, had several different emotional and character development arcs — and the plot never failed to keep you guessing.
Season two, while I don’t think it has been quite as good — I do believe still is some of the best television running currently. The main theme has really been about mental health. The previous two episodes have been totally unique in the sense that there’s been little to no soccer having been played. There have been several one-off episodes in season two, including a Christmas-themed installment in August/September and a single episode following one of the assistant coaches. The strokes of mental health awareness within Ted Lasso (both the character and the show) are strong overpowering, to the point where you’d be struggling to not see the blatant messaging. Still, it’s an important topic to cover and I think Ted Lasso does it very effectively.
MORE ALBUMS I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert — Little Simz
I was hesitant to listen to this album at first. I waited two weeks after it came out to give it a full listen. I don’t know where my hesitancy lied — but finally getting around to this artwork was great. Little Simz delivered one of the strongest albums of 2021 with an introspective, in-your-face experience that touches on heavy topics with strong instrumentals, incredible lyricism, and unbelievable storytelling.
My favorite track on SIMBI is probably “Standing Ovation” — there’s dramatic drums, an uplifting set of horns/woodwinds, and three downright killer verses.
There aren’t any misses on this album, and it will end up being in my top-3 for the year.
Limbo — Amine
For some reason I can’t stop revisiting this LP. Amine had the album of the year for 2020 when he released Limbo, and I think 6–7 different songs on this project have been my favorite at some point.
Limbo opens on a bar-heavy “Burden”, a track with a haunting instrumental that beautifully breathes life into the album — leaving you wanting more. From there, “Woodlawn”, “Roots”, and “Can’t Decide” are all three very strong tracks that each bring a unique atmosphere and experience. “Compensating” is another banger, followed by “Shimmy” and “Pressure In My Palms” — that’s probably the strongest 3-track run on this LP.
I also just want to say that Vince Staples has the best feature on this album, and his verse lasts for like… ten seconds.
((Okay. I just went back and timed his verse. It was 22 seconds long. Forgive me.))
The final three tracks of Limbo are a bit slower, and I want to particularly highlight “Fetus” (feat. Injury Reserve), which has entered my rotation recently. It’s a more experimental song for Amine, but I think it really works. Of course, Groggs has a verse here — which, well. Just listen to it. Groggs unexpectedly passed recently (this was actually his first posthumous feature) — that’s the furthest I’ll go into it.
Anyways, this album is fantastic, you need to listen to it.
PSA: I started writing this at like 6AM when I couldn’t sleep. Thank you for reading my thoughts.
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“Here today but gone tomorrow, I might just spend it all (We gon’ run it up)”