Things I’ve Been Enjoying During Lockdown
A friend who got laid off from three jobs in 18 hours at the outset of the pandemic texted me the other day asking how I was doing.
“The world is piss. Hbu?”
“The world is absolute piss. We live in a Cartesian coordinate plane of absolute piss.”
Hard to disagree!
But now that I’ve been hemmed in by LA’s lockdown order for a few weeks, I’ve tried to stay grateful for the small things. In the interest of sharing the goods, I wanted to write a list of stuff that’s been getting me through — videos, songs, books, etc.
1. My Analog Journal
My Analog Journal is a youtube account I stumbled on. It features simple videos: some dude playing exceptional music from all over the world. Every now and again he has a guest on. I don’t know anything about this guy other than he’s got some deep record crates. One of my favorite videos is the Japanese funk and soul one I’ve linked here.
2. The Blasted Diplomats — “checkin’ out”
I’d forgotten about this track and this band for a long time. James Dea, the lead singer/guitarist, used to work at the original Val’s Halla Records location in Oak Park, IL off the Green Line. He put up with me and turned me onto lots of good records when I was a teenager and spent hours after school milling around there. In college, swung by the old Reckless Records location on Milwaukee in Chicago with Greg Obis (of Stuck and Born Yesterday Records, whose amazing music features below) and it turned out James was working there. I bought the tape of their first album immediately. It’s a real romp. “checkin’ out” is the standout track for sure, as it still gets stuck in my head. I’ve been listening to it a lot lately. Though I recommend the whole album for some lo-fi garage rock fun. “blue jean skirt” also goes hard. I’m realizing just now that this was like 11 years ago.
3. Quinn Slobodian’s Globalists
I haven’t finished this one yet, but it’s been really informative so far. Slobodian builds out the history of neoliberalism by giving us a history of the Geneva School and the ordoliberals of Vienna, whose impact has been both immense and critically neglected. The scholarship is serious enough that an economist friend in the Geneva School mode got it on audible one I showed it to him. He has his own critiques and quibbles with Slobodian but praised Slobodian’s seriousness and rigor.
I’m not sure neoliberalism is a particularly useful term to describe the society we live in, and if it ever was, that its shelf-life has been met as we drift into a rentier-esque neofeudalism, but the history Slobodian lays out here (so far) goes a long way in helping me understand why the world is the way it is.
4. Stuck — Change Is Bad
I’ve known Greg Obis, the founder and creative force behind Stuck, for about fifteen years. Many laptops ago, I had an archive of everything he’d released from high school up until our mid-twenties. I’m his ten biggest fans, and I was pretty bummed when his long-time band Yeesh split up.
When he started working on Stuck, he said, “I can’t wait for this band to never take off.” I got giddy because I knew it meant Greg was coming into his own as an artist. The first single was good, the tour tape was better, and now the album has arrived from Greg’s label Born Yesterday and it is great. It’s dissonant, personal, political, technical without annoying the listener, and has his best, most performative vocals to date.
Run don’t walk to this. I’ve been listening to it non-stop.
5. Khaled’s Videos
Khaled is the smartest guy you’re not following on Twitter. I’ve found his insights vital and down-to-earth. If you have left-wing political brain poisoning like me, you’ll find his thoughts useful even if you don’t agree with him. Since the outbreak, he’s been putting his ideas together on youtube. To keep an eye on when they’re coming out you can follow him on Twitter.
6. Fire-Toolz — The Rainbow Bridge
If you read my last piece, you know that I’m a big Fire-Toolz fan. Every once and a while someone from an indie label sends me review materials because I used to have a freelance “career” that involved, in part, writing about music. Doug over at Hausu Mountain, Fire-Toolz’s label, has been the most consistent emailer and I’ve been waiting months for another Fire-Toolz release to write about.
Fire-Toolz sounds New. I can’t believe the music is real, that someone has reached into all of the abandonware in my brain and turned it into a soundscape I want to spend hours and hours in. I pre-ordered the latest album, The Rainbow Bridge, last week because I needed a hardcopy — something I only do if I really love something.
7. Lamniformes Radio w/ Ian Corey
Ian Corey, who used to edit me over at Invisible Oranges when I was part of their freelance pool, has successfully turned himself into a one-man media outlet. He puts out music, publishes a newsletter, and releases a podcast. No clue how he manages all that. But I’ve been listening to the podcast all week. Ian’s a great interviewer whose musical insights humble me. As do his guests — generally musicians who span the gamut from jazz to ambient to metal, all of whom are impressive in their own right. If you like deep-divey musical content, this is the place to be. You can follow him on Twitter.
I hope you guys enjoyed all this. And feel free to share what else you’ve been interested in.
