This week the music is about the music. Many of the albums and songs on the playlist are instrumental or the vocals act like instruments, blending in with the sound instead of flying over it. There’s something sexy about it, the interweaving and folding in of sound, the improvisation of next moves, never knowing what’s coming next. There’s a stillness in the movement. Quiet, reaching.
We begin with Mary Lattimore, a harpist out of Los Angeles, whose work thrives on evoking change and memory. Goodbye, Hotel Arkada “celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephemeral, all that is lived and lost to time.” On lost to time, we have Cold Fact, an album both under appreciated and cult classic, due to its patchwork success across the globe. The sound is haunting and psychedelic, like the peak of an uncomfortable, illuminating trip. If you’re looking for something that might make your jaw drop, start here. Next, a trip of a different kind. Beirut’s uncanny ability to transport and make new is unparalleled. The newest album Hadsel is also haunting, but more like looking over a cliff into the sublime. I’ve listened to this album more than anything else since its release. It’s quiet, it’s there for you. On the inverse of quiet, we have daddy of the technicolor dream sound, Burt Bacharach. Make It Easy On Yourself is simply that. If you’re looking for a good time, start here. We stay in good times, but go deeper with Surprise Chef and their warm, grainy 70s sound, “the moody shades of instrumental jazz-funk.” This instrumental album is constantly moving — it moves toward, away, gets bigger, grows quiet. This album fucking grooves.
Enjoy.
The playlist is here.
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Monday
Goodbye, Hotel Arkada - Mary Lattimore (2023)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Tuesday
Cold Fact - Rodriguez (1970)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Wednesday
Hadsel - Beirut (2023)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Thursday
Make it Easy on Yourself - Burt Bacharach (1969)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Friday
All News is Good News - Surprise Chef (2020)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Pair with:
Pasta with butter, sage and parmesan. An easy and perfect pasta recipe. Add sausage for protein.
Another natural box wine. This box wine by Italian wine maker Sandy Giovese is solid. The rosato was pretty good and that’s what matters. Pretty good wine!
Maggie Nelson’s book On Freedom. A controversial read. “As we think, we might remember that it matters not only with whom and what we choose to think; it also matters what spirit we choose to think with.”
NYT’s 10 best books of 2023. Historical fiction is having a moment, clearly.
Sage candle. Sage is kind of a constant scent — it works in summer, winter. The earthiness always works. It brings warmth to a summer pasta and texture to any winter dessert. So, as a candle, you can’t lose.
- Clarice Lispector, Too Much of Life
Thank you, thank you. Have a great week.