So who am I trying to be?
Nu Music Monday #17 / 05-04-21
Hey there,
I’m Red, and welcome to Nu Music Monday. Glad to have you here.
Every week I write quick bites about some of my favorite tracks released in the past seven days (-ish). I also go into the latest music news when I feel like it and share stuff I think is worth your time.
This week is light on ramblings, we’re going a bit meta with newsletter talk and severing ties with traditional media along with the usual high-quality crop of new music.
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Some strange music draws me in
The legendary Patti Smith has launched a weekly newsletter on this very platform to share musings and really anything that “finds its way from thought to pen, news of the mind, pieces of this world, free to all”. Knowing how eccentric the poet, singer, songwriter, author, artist, muse, human woman, now Substack writer is, the newsletter is bound to be both entertaining and thought-provoking.
It makes me think of the current shift our culture and media are undergoing away from institutions and established power structures into our little individualized bubbles where a singular voice takes center stage.
To be fair, it’s been a long, long time coming: traditional media have been chipping away at nearly every single advantage trusted and knowledgeable voices have when choosing to attach their thoughts and words to another entity. The promise of a larger audience is no longer as enticing with the development of social media; the lure of lucrative deals is disappearing as platforms like Substack provide financially beneficial alternatives to staff writing for those who’ve cultivated a large following online; and the sketches of long-standing careers are rougher and more uncertain as publications shut down, business models are rethought and cards are re-shuffled.
Going solo and writing/creating with your own voice for your own audience means a lot more to read and hear and watch. It means an even bigger need for curation. There’ll be even more newsletters, blogs, Patreons and the such to choose from in the next couple years and selecting which ones to pay attention to will prove challenging.
It’ll be tempting to stick to voices you know and trust, artists you love and admire and topics you’re familiar/comfortable with. More than ever, we need to make sure the information we get is as all-encompassing as possible: hearing from six different sources doesn’t mean you’re getting the bigger picture anymore. It’s very likely those sources are more or less saying the same thing if you’re actively following them. It’s time to seek out opinions that make you uncomfortable, annoyed even. Call out bullshit when you see it but keep an open mind.
We’re slowly drifting away on our individual rafts. We weren’t wired for a life out to sea in our little bubbles. Because when they pop—and they will—, no one will be around to welcome us into theirs.
You can read Patti Smith’s first Substack post here.
Track of the week: St. Vincent pays homage to legends in Daddy’s Home second single
Worlds away from the claustrophobic (and brilliant) ‘Pay Your Way In Pain’, ‘The Melting Of The Sun’ is an airy tribute to music icons that overcame hostile circumstances. Just a month ago, Annie Clark roared “The sun, it’s gotta, it’s gotta melt” in ‘Pay Your Way In Pain’. Now she witnesses the sun actually melting and what a spectacle! The song’s composition grows more grandiose and subtly theatrical as St. Vincent looks for shards of an identity in other lives lived. At one point, she asks “So who am I trying to be? A benzo beauty queen?” and the phrase strangely doesn’t sound as anachronistic as it should. Clark performed the track on SNL this weekend: you can watch here.
How the mighty have fallen
R&B ultimate style reconciliator Mahalia links up with Chiiild and sparks fly
Mahalia truly is the best kind of a collaborator: she slips in and out of features without a ripple, always finding a way to snuggle up within an existing frame, work her magic and disappear without a trace. Take her recent collabs with Jacob Collier, Pa Salieu, Col3trane or Pink Sweat$ for instance: Mahalia’s always dependable but never redundant. ‘Awake’ is another successful venture and I, for one, can’t wait for a follow-up to 2019’s LOVE AND COMPROMISE.
Arcade Fire, circa 2012, restored and colorized
Move to your own groove
Named after self-excitable cells, AUTORHYTHM provides the external stimulation our other cells need to start bouncing left and right. ‘Endorphins’ makes it easy for the listener to lose themselves into the ricochets of the house jam that doesn’t feel the need to ever really repeat itself to keep the party going.
Thankful this party never took place
Lola & friends take to the streets
You don’t speak Spanish? Neither do I but Lola Indigo’s message is clear: reggaetón is alive and well. So is the prototypical music video with phoned in contributions. A whole lotta dancing and breaking computer screens (??): as absurd as it is highly entertaining.
More often than not
Another hot (hot) song and visuals from Bree Runway
Stop what you’re doing. Press play. Y2K pop emissary Bree Runway just dropped another incredibly refreshing take on turn-of-the-century popular music with accompanying visuals. Each new release sees Bree sliding on further on her runway: she’s closer than she’s ever been to take-off and nothing can presumably get in her way.
Disturbingly accurate
Sharp-edged elegy from Son Lux
And Sundar better Pichai into my inbox Mrs. Warwick
A lot of little cross-eyed fishies in the big Pond
Impeccable psychedelic post-punk piece by Pond. That’s the shit right there.
Good days will come: an acoustic breeze from Duane Forrest
Time to wake up
Twerking on a sofa
Pushing it
Gearing up for the album
We’re days away from BROCKHAMPTON’s album drop (the first of two this year, according to Kevin Abstract). Here’s a treat to prepare for it.
Did you say ballroom
This track has all the attitude you could possibly pack in under three minutes: it’s also a gateway drug into the world of ballroom and a great case for Flo Milli features (from someone who’s not particularly enamored with her solo stuff).
You’re going to do it even if I don't want you to
SVE is dropping a reimagined version of her 2010 Epic LP with an impressive line-up of collaborators. This Courtney Barnett remake does the original justice and then some.
Roll the credits
This is me acting out at home and pretending I’m shooting a deeply affecting music video, money shots, glam and all.
More, more, more
Also check out these *first-rate* new tracks:
You’ll find my favorite releases of April (so far) in this Spotify playlist. And March best releases here.
Thanks for reading! Back soon with more great music & stuff,
I’m @red_dziri on Twitter.