Welcome Dear Readers! It’s fall and it’s time to listen to some music! Here’s the Youtube playlist.
Lou’s Tune by DARGZ and Moses Boyd, Single, Papercup Records, 2021.
DARGZ is a London-based producer and Moses Boyd is British jazz drummer, composer and producer. This is a cool little ditty but be warned, there’s an abrupt ending.
Slugs of Love, Little Dragon, Slugs of Love, Ninja Tune, 2023.
Swedish band returns with a great album. Their album Ritual Union is one of my favorites of all time.
Friday by Lilblackkids, Planet of The Blues: Part 1, Epistrophik Peach Sound, 2022.
Lilblackkids is musician and singer Georgia Anne Muldrow and hip hop artist Keith Rice. Fun fact: Brittany Howard’s song “Georgia” is written about Georgia Anne Muldrow.
The Chase by Ritmo Machine, Experience, Nacional Records, 2023.
Another collab! Ritmo Machine is Cypress Hill percussionist Eric Bobo and mix master Latin Bitman. Funky stuff.
Rice by Young Fathers, Heavy Heavy, Ninja Tune, 2023.
Young Fathers is a Scottish group composed of Liberian-Scottish Alloysious Massaquo, Nigerian-Scottish Kayus Bankole and Scottish Graham Hastings.
Grow by limerence, Single, Pacific Plaza Records, 2022.
limerence is a Portland, OR based producer.
Blackoak by Maribou State, Single, Ninja Tune, 2023.
Maribou State is made up of two British producers: Chris Davis and Liam Ivory.
Famous by Jenn Champion, Single, Gay Forever, 2023.
Jenn Champion is a Seattle-based artist. Her voice reminds me of someone (early Beth Orton?) but she’s doing her own thing. Amazing record label name.
…So Many Plans, Beirut, Single, Pompeii Records, 2023.
From a Pitchfork article about the upcoming Beirut album by Evan Minsker: Condon wrote the new album on the island of Hadsel in northern Norway. He was given access to the local Hadselkirke—an early 19th-century wooden octagonal structure with a church organ. “During my time in Hadsel, I worked hard on the music, lost in a trance and stumbling blindly through my own mental collapse that I had been pushing aside since I was a teenager,” the musician said in a statement. “It came and rang me like a bell. I was left agonizing many things past and present while the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms played an awesome show around me.”
No Se Puede Decir Adios, Yahritza y Su Esencia, Obsessed Pt. 2, Lumbre Music, 2023.
Straight from Yakima, Washington where I lived for a summer in grad school! The band is made up of three Mexican American siblings*. Yahritza, the lead singer, is 16! They recently did a marvelous Tiny Desk.
Other Things
Podcasts
One of my favorite podcasts, The Dream, is back baby! And this season is all about life coaching. Episode 2 (“Whatever Happened to Happy Jane”) is one of the rawest and realist discussions of mid-life depression and divorce I’ve ever heard. And then it’s back to MLMs (still evil!). I also really enjoyed Do We Get To Win This Time? which is a fascinating look at how Hollywood portrayed the Vietnam War and how those movie portrayals morphed over time and influenced our cultural understanding of the war in its aftermath. And, finally, I loved the podcast Wilder which is about the cult of Laura Ingalls Wilder, authorship controversies, racism, the challenges of mother/daughter working relationships and so much more.
Movies
Bottoms: HAHAHAH! So bonkers! Joy Ride: Delightful! Past Lives: so insanely great! Return to Seoul: astonishing.
TV
I really enjoyed watching Platonic starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as best friends who reconcile after a several year fight and start hanging out again in middle age. It’s a great odd couple pairing (she’s a stay-at-home mom of three, he’s a child-free brew master) and it’s refreshing to see a male/female friendship without an ounce of sexual tension centered in a show. Plus, these two actors are hilarious together. It kind of all falls apart in the final episode but up until then it made me laugh a lot.
I finally started watching Reservation Dogs! It’s just as wonderful as everyone says it is. And the music is incredible.
Thanks for reading! I think you are swell!
If you are looking for more music, check out The B-Sides playlist which is full of tracks I love but can’t make fit into a mix.
*The members of Yahritza y Su Escencia are siblings! That’s some blood harmony right there! Please listen to the Louvin Brothers episode of Cocaine and Rhinestones for more info.