Bedroom Problems

Dear Tumblr, there's a lot I have to thank you for -- getting my through seemingly endless workdays, aggregating photos of cats and scans from vintage comic books, occasionally thought provoking political writing and cultural criticism, but one of the better things that's come out of my relationship with Tumblr (at least, in the past few weeks) are these six songs by Bedroom Problems.

Bedroom Problems is the home-recording project of Maria, whose Tumblr indicates a spot-on taste in music & a discerning sense of style. The six songs that Maria has recorded and made available for free download have a great range -- I initially thought that Bedroom Problems would be a garage-y band (the first track, "You're Boring," has a relentless buzzsaw guitar coupled with howling vocals), but it's striking how much some of these songs (especially "At Least Counting is Easy" and "See You Next Wednesday?") remind me of Young Marble Giants in their catchy minimalism (also worth noting: the way she sings the word "you" in "See You Next Wednesday?" sort of reminds me of Sue Tompkins from Life Without Buildings.)

Lately I've been thinking a lot about taste-making, wondering how I develop a personal canon of what's I like (Mirah, Guided By Voices, Hüsker Dü, Kaia) and what I don't like/straight up don't care about (Radiohead, Girl Talk, uh, most stuff, actually, now that I think about it.) As I've gotten older & as my taste has expanded, I've realized that what I actually appreciate is music that reminds me of the possibilities of the individual/the "amateur." Maria's songs are very clearly the product of someone who loves to make and listen to music & I love that.

You can stream Maria's songs on her bandcamp and download them for free (you just need to provide an e-mail address.) If you're on Tumblr, Maria blogs as theoreticalgirl, and she also hosts a radio program, Her Jazz, on WPRB in Princeton, NJ. Maria is also in a Go-Go's cover band, Lust 2 Love. You can stream their version of "Vacation" here.