i am writing this in kensington, watching drops dimple the concrete behind my building.
it is a new year, hours in. so far, it seems very hangover-y. despite this, my hopes are high. not only am i confident that the headache prevalence will diminish, i am anticipating other truths to declare themselves. people are getting it, i think, more and more each day. school children understand that the world is an ecosystem in a way that my zoology professors struggled to explain, that all things are connected. soon, economic news that we aren’t buying as much as before won’t be seen as the end of civilization, but its beginnig. the occupy movement won’t be seen as a failure because it lacked message, but important because of the inclusivity of its process, and its peacefulness. “post-modernism” wil be replaced by “post-secularism”, and we will meditate more, discovering that if we are not our thoughts, then we can only be the universe effervescing, and the charred skeletons of children burnt black in drone attacks will be as unacceptable as if it were a block away. we will realize that the opposite of happiness is not sadness, but fear, and as it fades with the understanding of our agency, we will want less, work less, party more and have better sex. the real obama will come out of hiding, and risk his life to start telling the truth of how the military corporations are running the world, because we can handle this truth and work to end their dominion. other politicians will follow or be toppled. a robot will be invented that can unpack my suitcases, because i really don’t like doing that. packing seems fine. it’s the un-.
last year i did a lot of packing. and un. from asia, to europe, africa, the nevada desert. i spent the first part of this year in the world’s largest refugee camp, dadaab, working with somali’s fleeing the violence in their country amidst a great drought. people were starving and many died. two of my colleagues got kidnapped after i left, two others were recently killed in mogadishu. 2011 has been a big, bad year.
i was lucky enough to work with many somalis. the cultural rift was large, but they were generous of spirit. we learned with and about each other. once i asked a man why music, for many of his countrymen, was forbidden. “because it distracts one from god”. puzzled, i answered, “but music IS god”.
so, from me to you, from 2011 to 2012, music to god, god to music, may both move us through these brand new days, and when we doubt the brightness of a human spirit may its everpresent effervsecence dance us. the past is for ghosts.
all of these songs came out on records released this year, though a couple of tracks were released previously. each of them have been stuck in my head for months, and the albums worth buying. i hope you like them.
they are not mixed, but they are loosely ordered to make sense played in sequence. here is the link to a youtube playlist. a couple of tracks aren’t there, and if you really need the links (or even the tracks) i can sort you. hit me on here.
1. Bobby – Youth Lagoon – Probably listened to this record, the suuns, and tuneyards more than any other this year. kid from san diego. haunting melodies. saw him at the garrison after a seven day silent mediation retreat. could see the music. it looked beautiful.
2. Lord Can You Hear Me – Spacemen 3 – old band on a new record. one of the best albums of the year might be a mixtape, done by MGMT for “late night tales”. buy it. what’s old becomes new.
3. God is taking care of me – Reverend Deacon Williams – ignore what i wrote above about old songs on new records, and MGMT’s being the best. This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel On 45rpm 1957-1982 triple CD set will remove any distinction between music and god.
4. Powa – Tuneyards – all kindsa could not stop listening to this record. this and youth lagoon on repeatrepeat. saw her twice, once in barcelona, one in trono. looping her voice, banging on a drum, face smeared with electric neon paint, shouting about love and gangsters.
5. The Wolves – Ben Howard – i think i like this song so much because i watched Danny Macaskill’s trials video a million times. still, howard is from the UK, a young guitar virtuouso, who just released his first record. but it is macaskill who is le shit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShbC5yVqOdI
6. Ritual Union – Little Dragon – awesome. saw them at the Hoxton. i still have their drumsticks on my kitchen counter. when they were finished, brenalynn was, to the drummer: “buddy. drumsticks.” he walked down and handed her one, and she was, like, “what the fuck good is one drumstick” and pointed him back to his kit. i have them both.
7. Separator – Radiohead – i sometimes start my shift by asking my students who the best band in the world is, and if they don’t say radiohead i fail them, because how could their medicine be trusted if their judgement is so poor? lotsa people hate on this record, but they are also wrong. hate on the remixes. radiohead does it best. except modeselektors does bang the SHIT out of Miss Magpie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B74uDKMMoPE
8. Opus – Strangeboys – what can you say about these guys. garage punk record followed by something much more mature. surprising but still cool. i will buy every record they do, and go watch their lazy awesome shows when they come through. i wish i was seeing this band right now and drinking whiskey.
9. Doom Wop – Mr. Heavenly – these guys are included because they seem to give a fuck, but also not really, and if “doom wop” doesn’t become a musical genre, i will recant all my optimism about humanity’s future. doom wop? the record is much more poppy than this cut. and one of the guys is from modest mouse. what else do you need? more doom wop, that’s what.
10. Serve the People – Handsome Furs – sure, i’m fond of the album cover, and i know people can hate on the obviousness of the refrain, but its best not to consider haters. husband/wife team from montreal, wide travellers through music scenes around the world, from asia to eastern europe, and, really, if you say you serve the people and instead swerve the people, you’ll soon be over. truth. the smartest people i know are working on that.
11. Black and White – Generationals – aren’t you glad I included your new favorite song?
12. North Star – The Rural Alberta Advantage – i’ve been living off my RAA from the beginning, and though i know that even if there’s no end in sight it’ll come anyway, and when it does, if im there, tracing the big dipper’s front lip to the north star, i’ll be happy. there is space in these songs like the RA sky that is this mixtape’s album cover.
13. The Life – Gary Clark Jr. – Whoever Gary Clark Sr. is, dude must be proud. This album is tiight. More black keys than the black keys when needs be, then an uptempto newsoul joint like this that hits, particularly so, having got home at 4 in the morning. they tell me it’s the life.
14. The OtherSide – The Roots – Shit. I won’t comment on how they played Fishbone’s “Lying Ass Bitch” when a notorious climate denying antigay republican guested on Jimmy Fallon, nor that I haven’t heard such urgent, tight rhymes from black thought since ever. I will say that, one time, I was in the BK and ?uestlove was djing at the brooklyn bowl, and i ran into him at the door, said thanks, and he went in for the knuckles and i gave him magic fingers and he was bedazzled. i will also say that any year that has roots/radiohead/tom waits = not a complete catastophe.
15. 3 heures – Angelo Spencer – sure, he’s from brittany, and he’s appropriated malian music like it was his own, but who cares if it sounds so sweet. on a tous besoin amour ici.
16. New Year’s Eve – Tom Waits – i also fail residents if they don’t answer that Tom Waits is one of three people, living or dead, they could share dinner with. you probably wouldn’t eat much, likely leave the table at different times, and find yourself sitting on a porch with jesus watching a car burn wishing that you still smoked, but if bet if you didn’t say too much, tom might come to your new year’s eve party one year and play this song.
may many many deep deep blessings dimple your days. love. j.
