I made a mix today to celebrate and accompany an upcoming ep of new material I'll be releasing relatively soon. I'm pleased to announce it will be available on the hatchery label. It's exciting to release new music into the world despite the oppressive conditions we're living through due to the pandemic and ongoing social challenges. Music is a big part of my therapeutic regimen as I'm sure it is for you, too. It's my hope that what I've made can serve in that role for you. I'll post more about the ep, that I'm calling Experiments in Relaxation, in the coming weeks. There's also a lovely video made by Aaron O'Laughlin (from which the still above is taken from) that will be available soon. For now though, you can enjoy this mix on Apple Music if you use that service: Where I'm calling from
It's been some time since I've posted anything here. This seems like an appropriate song to share and a fitting segue considering the content of my last post about D.C. Berman. You may be thinking: what is the connection? Well, keep going and you'll see. I got into the Pastels, the Scottish indie pop group, somewhere around the turn of the century. I used to mine Soulseek for obscure indie pop/rock and electronic music around that time. Searching for the Pastels there I came across the American doowop group of the same name from the late 50's. I found I liked them, too!
Recently, I have departed social media (mainly Facebook) for the sake of my own sanity. I am unable to deal with the methodical way people are being turned against one another as the disinformation machine kicks into high gear ahead the election. Facebook has become the boomers' echo chamber and I have no interest in being bombarded with willful ignorance, racism, hateful rhetoric, and the constant stream of bad news. Having said that, in lieu of Facebok, maybe I'll post here more often. And now I come to the Pastels/D.C. Berman connection: The Pastels covered 'Advice to the graduate' from the Silver Jews' 1994 record, Starlite Walker, during a Peel session at Maida Vale in 1997. Again, it was something I found by mining the esoteric in the days of Soulseek. It was a version of that song that made it onto many mixes from those days. What could be better than the crossing of wires from two of my favorite groups? I was super excited when it was announced that the song would be issued as a 7" single for Record Store Day. Sadly, it was not released stateside, but being as I am, I ordered it from Rough Trade UK. It has arrived and sits safely in one of my 7" bins.
The only thing I'll really miss about Facebook is getting to flex my music collection and knowledge as I did in a group called Present Listening where people post whatever they are listening to, as the name suggests, presently. It's a group where music and record store nerds could congregate and commiserate. So maybe I'll use this space to that. Now, without further ado, The Pastels covering Silver Jews:
