Utopia is not a kind of place but a kind of time, those all too brief moments when one would not wish to be anywhere else. Is there an instinct, a very ancient instinct, for breathing in unison? The ultimate utopia, that.
– Susan Sontag, In America
Category: Suggestions of the Week
Song of the Week, #12
— Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music ft. Venna & Charlie Stacey
An incredible, title track of the album coming out today on Brownswood Recordings!
“What is jazz? Where did the word derive from? Birthed in New Orleans, born in the belly of the Mississippi River, rooted in the gumbo pot of the Caribbean, South American culture & African rituals. Continuing a lineage of Miles Davis, Rahssan Roland kirk, Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong ~ music that is forever evolving & limitless in its potential. The groove, it’s feeling, the compositions, the spontaneity, with a love for family, the discipline & dedication in maintaining the very high bar set by the pantheon of Black Classical Musicians. Chasing the rhythm of drums that imitated one’s heartbeat, the melodies for the mind and spirit, the bass for the core. A Regal sound for this body of music.”
We have added many songs to our 2023 Highlights playlist since our last #songoftheweek post! Check them all out here.
What’s your song of the week/month/year?
Song of the Week, #11
— Ben Howard, Walking Backwards
Watch this lovely live performance of his new song from the album “Is It?”, released today via Island Records!
Some days I’m walking backwards Truth be told I don’t mind
What’s your song of the week/month/year?
Quote of the Week, #11
The world is a terrible place for sensitive people but the closer we come to losing our minds, the harder we’ll work to keep them.
– Kae Tempest, Hold Your Own
Recommendations of the Month
Have you been at a loss of inspiration lately? Whatever our answer at some precise moment is, we are always looking for some more. So, we want to take our mission to keep wonder alive and kicking even further by starting a series of monthly recommendations.
To start it off, some more or less random finds which resonate like crazy with our own manifesto. So, if you are still not sure what we are doing and why, click on below.
Read More »Song of the Week, #10
— Blur, The Narcissist
Always great to hear new music from Blur. This is their first single from the new album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’, out in July!
I’m going to shine a light in your eyes You will probably shine it back on me But I won’t fall this time
What’s your song of the week/month/year?
Quote of the Week, #10
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it’s either black or white
Thank God it’s not that simple
In my secret life
– Leonard Cohen, In My Secret Life (Ten New Songs, 2001)
Out of everything he wrote, the lyrics above might seem like a weird choice. But the truths we connect to in songs and art can sometimes be so simply put and still not lose the strength.
What are some of the verses of songs that touch and inspire you the most?
Feel free to share it with us in the comments below or on our social media channels.
Song of the Week, #9
— Lucinda Chua, An Ocean (from her album YIAN, 4AD, 2023)
The waves swallow me whole Tides carry me home Then it hit me Like an ocean, an ocean
What’s your song of the week/month/year?
Quote of the Week, #9
So long as you are not actually ill, hungry, frightened or immured in a prison or a holiday camp, Spring is still Spring. The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither the dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it.
– George Orwell, Some Thoughts on the Common Toad
Song of the Week, #8
#anniversaryoftheweek
— The White Stripes, Ball and Biscuit
Today marks the 20th anniversary of Jack and Meg White‘s brilliant and since cult album Elephant! Give it a listen 😉
What’s your favorite song on the album?
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