double transgression theory
Still here.
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The Riser:
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The Death of Luis Chalet, 1984. Fernando Botero.
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Wendell Berry reading 6 of his poems.
Including ‘How to Be a Poet (to remind myself)’:
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
..
See also, this long interview with the new yorker that touches on - among other things - love, happiness, limits, religion, farming…
“I think my dad was speaking religiously when he said, “I’ve had a wonderful life and I’ve had nothing to do with it.””
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Two newish mixes, and two genres that - at various points in my life - were everything to me. Both kept me company in the last few weeks as I was pressing buttons on my laptop. And both reminded me that the great genres and musical movements don’t really die, they just move to the shadows of the dancefloor, back up against the wall and rest up until they are ready to go again.
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This absolutely flies.
See also this and this for the quickest of Gaidaa 101’s
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Joy Orbison did one of those residency shows on bbc radio 1 and this was how he closed it. There is a certain type of excitement reserved for those moments between hearing something you think is amazing and locating a rip of it on youtube. I bet the germans already have a word for it.
“in the immortal words of daniel beddingfield”
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Hotel du Lac, 2019. Dora Dalila Cheffi.
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If you need a vehicle for your melancholy then please look no further than this.
The album is called Vivienne and it is by Laila Sakini.
And this is a sample:
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Music to crush to.
You will maybe recognise this from THE famous kendrick lamar album of our times but it has just come out in its own right as a piece of instrumental music.
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Music is not always the cure but if you are willing to see whether it might be Nigeria is probably where to head at this moment in time.
I could have picked this, or this, or this…
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The Many Faces of Jazz
by Billy Collins.
There’s the one where you scrunch
your features into a look of pained concentration,
every riff a new source of agony,
and there’s the look of existential bemusement
eyebrows lifted, chin upheld by a thumb,
maybe a swizzle stick oscillating in the free hand.
And, of course, for ballads,
you have the languorous droop,
her eyes half-closed, lips slightly parted,
the head lolling back, flower on a stem,
exposing plenty of turtleneck.
There’s the everything-but-the-instrument look
on the follow at the front table,
the one poised to mount the bandstand,
and the classic crazy-man-crazy face,
where the fixed grin joins the menacing stare,
especially suitable for long drum solos.
And let us not overlook the empathetic
grimace of the listener
who has somehow located the body
of cold rage dammed up behind the playing
and immersed himself deeply in it.
As far as my own jazz face goes –
and don’t tell me you don’t have one –
it hasn’t changed that much
since its debut in 1957.
It’s nothing special, easy enough to spot
in a corner of any club on any given night.
You know it, – the reptilian squint,
lips pursed, jaw clenched tight,
and, most essential, the whole
head furiously, yet almost imperceptibly
nodding
in total and absolute agreement.
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Some other things:
1. bandcamp is going to waive its revenue share on the first friday in june and july. (For the uninitiated this means they are even better days to support your favourite independent musicians.)
3. Drillosophy.
4. 1 hour of Prince Instrumentals.
5. There are other ways to live: atlantic city casinos, haiku and ta-nehisi coates.
6. Excerpt from a new book about Venice and Rome by the poet Cynthia Zarin.
7. More than 1000 Peel Sessions online. (when i was 18 i would have tried to work my way through this methodically, now, as a sign of progress (i guess) i just let it all overwhelm me)
8. a new essay from Jamaica Kincaid
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The Closer:
My recommendation for the last notes you should hear before you give yourself up to sleep.
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& another playlist:
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Like last time:
Love and joy to you all x