Hi,
Welcome to Issue #13 of Crow’s Nest. Thank you, as always, for reading and subscribing. I hope the improving spring weather has kept you occupied in place of my newsletter.
So, the reason I’ve not written an issue in like a month is for personal reasons. My Uncle Bill, the proverbial ‘fun one’ when I was growing up, passed away about a month ago from a series of non-COVID cascading health issues he had been poorly managing for the better part of a decade. I deeply miss him and wish he were still here, especially as much of this could have been prevented to a reasonable degree, but I am relieved that he is not in pain or otherwise suffering at this time, such as that hand was dealt. To that end please be sure to keep up with any regularly scheduled health screenings or physicals you should be getting, or have any minor-seeming ailments checked out by a medical professional—especially if you haven’t done so recently or don’t think they are anything major.
One of my uncle’s final wishes was for my brother and I to inherit his lifetime collection of media—primarily music and books—and he and I have been going through it most weekends this past month. It is certifiably a lot of stuff—I estimated ~150 bankers boxes of media, half of which was CDs (~12,000!), another third books, etc. If I’m being generous my brother and I decided to keep 2% of it for ourselves—the important or major things like a personally-addressed signed Judy Collins LP and a promo white label of Madonna’s Like a Virgin from his days as a music writer in various journalism jobs, and other stuff we found interesting like a mid-2000s Patti Smith/Kevin Shields collaboration I didn’t know existed, or books we’ve meant to read/get but haven’t like A Confederacy of Dunces. But most of it is, at the end of the day, just stuff, on its way to a specialty wholesaler in Madison, there being too much of it for us to take for ourselves or distribute in a way that does it justice. I wish I had had the opportunity to sit down with him and go through it all.
This all has put me in a contemplative mood as of late, about the nature of being a music lover, how to handle and address collecting media even in an age where much of it exists only digitally (and what that itself means), doing justice to that which I listen to, what I am doing and where I am going in my life, all that fun stuff. I don’t have a whole lot of concrete thoughts I can communicate about this, nor am I sure those are forthcoming. It’s a lot of abstract muddle, mostly. It has been interesting to go through my uncle’s possessions and glimpse a bit of what he had been like outside of our relationship, but no amount of books he had bought during the 90s can come close to detailing what all transpired during, for example, his (failed) attempt to unionize his newsroom at the time. It appears a lot of his personhood has receded into the ether with his passing and will remain unknowable, and that which remains will also fade with time. It’s a lot to consider.
So, with that all in mind, here are some music highlights from the past month or so that I’ve enjoyed. I hope you give this all a spin as well, and get something from it. One of the great joys of music and writing is the communal feelings it can inspire, and I hope in doing this I can expand and help cultivate, in whatever small way is possible in this newsletter, such feelings for music. Things like this are a lot of who we are, and doing so is well worth enjoying, celebrating and bringing to others’ attention.
Despite highlighting Dry Cleaning twice in previous issues, I admit I was disappointed on my first listen to their full debut album. The obvious comparative point to their indie-rock/post-punk sensibilities and surrealist lyrics is Life Without Buildings, yet their more dour outlook didn’t help it. That being said, this is a grower of an album and I’m listening to it near-daily. The guitar riffs have gotten wired into my brain, and lines like “I’ve been thinking about eating that hot dog for hours” are staying with me like the millennial malaise I more associate with Australian acts like Courtney Barnett. This is one that will stay in rotation for a while.
I’m not one to ever truly desire more music from any artist—usually I am satisfied by what I’ve heard, even if I don’t consider a standard ~40 min album a little too long. (The big exception for me will be noted in my next Bandcamp Friday roundup.) That being said, I would like, I don’t know, at least 10x more music in this EP’s style. BoogzBrown is a capital-a Artist and on this debut EP combines contemporary electronic styles—notably juke—with those of maloya from his native La Réunion. Imagine percussive drones combined with some of the mindblowing sonic expeditions you hear when footwork producers really let it rip. Maloya itself is a fascinating genre that I’ve kept my ear on for the past few years, as are the associated Wikipedia wormholes. Do not sleep on this, and here’s hoping for more where this came from.
Here’s a compilation of French bass music from the Parisian [re]sources label. On first listen the highlight here is rRoxymore’s cut near the end, which in a sense is unfortunate given the talent level of the new-to-me names making up the majority of this. This is definitely a scene to keep your eyes on as those of us fortunate enough to be living somewhere where we are approaching the end of the pandemic (hopefully) get back to our dancefloors.
I thought the name of this album was a bit more abstract than it actually is until I started this blurb. It is not, specifically, ‘for babies’ in an introductory sense to the genre, but rather it is composed of sounds the Mexican artist intended to be soothing and delightful to his newborn daughter. Aww. Thankfully, like a well-crafted piece of children’s storytelling, this album is enjoyable to adult ears as well, hence its inclusion here.
The amount of stuff I’ve been reading has been down since my last issue, for a variety of reasons. I’ve not gotten through a book since the last issue (though I’m aiming to get through a chunk of one after sending this out) and here is some other stuff I enjoyed recently:
-Alex de Waal has a very good primer on what all is going on in Ethiopia and Eritrea as of late, for The Baffler. This is for people like me who do not have a good understanding of the two countries and were hoodwinked by Abiy Ahmed’s self-presentation after receiving the Noble Peace Prize prior to committing genocide in Tigray.
-Also in The Baffler, Dennis M. Hogan wrote about Springsteen and his political evolution. I’ve never been big on The Boss (I know), and this was a good read on that for the casual observer.
(Side note: if you have enjoyed articles from The Baffler and are interested in subscribing, hit me up; they take tax-deductible donations and I’ve given them enough that they’re letting me gift a year’s print subscription. First come is the only served.)
From The New Yorker:
-Christine Kenneally on brain implants and how they affect our identity. A fascinating piece given the real-world implications and ever-furthering encroachment of technology into our proximity and our bodily meat, even if the classical philosophical conundrums of the same sort never interested you.
-Charles Bethea on a Portland, Maine-based company of psychics who, for a fee, will find the marijuana you lost and deliver it to you. nudgenudgewinkwink
-Merve Emre on the 25th anniversary of the book Emotional Intelligence and the neoliberal moralization it embodies.
-“Let Me”, a poem by Camille T. Dungy. I don’t have a good ear for poetry nor the floral/pastoral understanding to ‘get’ most of the New Yorker’s poetry selections, but this was a good one, in my estimation.
Finally, after my last issue political theorist/analyst, writer and Twitter troll Matt Bruenig started up a paid newsletter for non-policy writing—and closed it perhaps a record 10 days later, citing workload commitments with his other work (and children). Legendary. Unfortunately it appears he also deleted those posts from his website in doing so, which is unfortunate considering one post ‘What Is Lost in Post-Scarcity?” has stuck with me. Analyzing Spotify from a largely non-economic, non-technological/cultural view, he sees it for better or worse as an embodiment of post-scarcity, and that the related culture changes as a result of such changes in material conditions, which others largely see as negative. It’s not a perfect piece—notably, it does not mention past gatekeepers like radio—but it is quite thought provoking. This newsletter, as much as it is a personal thing to document and write about primarily music and ‘do something’ outside of my job, is in a small way meant to push back on some of the cultural changes brought about by technology (mostly algorithmic recommendations). If you’d like to read it and/or discuss it further, I have the piece filed away in an email folder and would be happy to forward it to you upon request.
Bloodslide is a new post-punk, I wouldn’t say supergroup at this point but definitely a team-up between Protomartyr’s Greg Ahee, Preoccupations’ Mike Wallace, and AJ Lambert, daughter of one Nancy Sinatra (and, yes, granddaughter of Frank). Every time I think of this group I do struggle to reconcile what I hear with what I’ve been told, since it doesn’t fully line up with what I’d expect from that familial lineage. The couple of songs that have been released are solid, which is what ultimately matters, and I’m looking forward to the full debut EP (and perhaps more) in a few months.
I don’t hold the association between a release’s cover art and the sounds within in the highest regard, but I am confident you can guess at what this sounds like based on the art knowing it’s experimental dance music. A new project from Alexander Tucker, probably best known for his work with Grumbling Fur, this album features appearances from Gazelle Twin and Nik Void. The Quietus, whose opinion you can take an educated guess on at this point, essentially called it reconstructed deconstructed club in their review. It’s a fitting descriptor.
Speaking of expeditionary footwork tracks, local producer Sirr TMo Sama has self-released more music in that vein on his Bandcamp. It opens with a now-sinister sampling of South Park, and while the tempos don’t stay at footwork’s pace, there’s plenty of left turns to hold your attention. I’m a bit disappointed no one appears to have taken the plunge on it yet, though in my defense I hold off on purchases until Bandcamp Fridays nowadays just so the artists I support get that 15% more $ from me. I encourage you to do the same.
Finland’s Sasu Ripatti has been on a tear recently. I’m not sure how else you could describe his releases from the past year or so. As the name suggests, this is a sequel to last year’s Rakka under his Vladislav Delay alias, and continues the harsh, desolate industrial ambient vibes in line with some of the region’s most notorious musical legacies. It’s described as a “romantic summer vision full of hope and optimism”, which is probably a sign of differing perspectives considering I wished this came out sooner so I could wallow in it during the winter months. He has a footwork-indebted followup under his last name out next month I am excited for as well.
I’ve been on a strong Carl Stone kick recently. The sampling is wild, and the strong balance between sonic overload and the music itself being enjoyable is simply phenomenal. Al-noor has been the big one for me but that isn’t on Bandcamp from what I can find so I’m posting Stolen Car instead. It recently was released on vinyl and by all indications, unless something else in his pipeline overtakes it, is looking to be a top contender for underrated-upon-release gems in the next few years.
I highlighted this in my last issue and am breaking my informal rule to not highlight the same artist in consecutive issues just to be sure you’ve heard this. The freak folk meets West African polyrhythms sound from this Los Angeles quartet remain exquisite, and since the last issue I’ve purchased a concert ticket to see them open for an act I don’t have much interest in like 6 months from now. Yeah, I’m thinking I’m back on my bullshit now. It feels good, somewhat.
With that, I am calling the end of this issue. If you’re reading here, thank you for sticking with this all and reading/listening to it. I appreciate you doing so, and hope you’ve found something you enjoy within. Have a wonderful afternoon, evening, morning, whenever it is that you’ve gotten here. Here’s a picture of some geese on the pond from the hospice facility where I saw my uncle one final time.