Caroline Polachek, a former member of Chairlift, just released an album called Pang and everybody is loving it. It’s a run of love songs with ’80s Haim vibes, only less self-serious than Haim, and bouncier, and perhaps more skilled. Polachek is a classically trained vocalist and she truly uses her voice as an instrument, pulling some wild tricks to tangle in with the synths beneath her. It’s new enough as a musical concept that you might not be bothered by the age-old love tropes like the “I miss you and your bod” statement on “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings.” Or maybe the classic pop subject underscores the contrast between her and her predecessors. You decide. Listen here.
Stimulus, you say? Here’s a story for you: in this golden age of podcasting, people are dipping into audio porn— or as we’ll call it, “aural sex.” Just like a regular podcast, a ~sensual recording~ is an intimate solo experience where you fill in the visuals with your imagination. And lots of people seem to prefer that to video, which kind of hits you over the head. Right now most of the recordings are done by amateurs (find them in this flourishing Reddit community), but wouldn’t it be fun to see the industry develop into sexy podcast studios in industrial neighborhoods that then get acquired by Spotify? We can dream.
Wise Bread, a company that analyzes the best credit cards for different lifestyles, has a PSA for you about an extremely high-cash-back card. Evidently this card gets you up to 5% cash back on a bunch of the stuff you normally spend money on (think: food, transit), and they double that at the end of your first year, which means your 5% becomes 10% (you’re welcome for the math there). There’s no annual fee, either. Now you know!