Mixtape: Square the Circle
Here are some recommendations of things to read, listen to and watch:
Slate's Decoder Ring podcast has been on a roll lately: the history of Tupperware parties, the lore and surprising lasting influence of Jerry Lewis' lost Holocaust movie. But I did not expect to care about the '90s swing revival for an hour. Like, did you know that members of Royal Crown Revue and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy originally came from the hardcore scene? (Youth Brigade and False Confession, respectively.)
Superman has never really been "my guy" when it comes to comics. So when I began to read House of El by Claudia Gray (author) and Eric Zawadzki (illustrator), it took me a few pages to realize it that it's, yes, a prequel to the Superman saga, but actually it's actually a cautionary tale about eugenics and authoritarian rule… and what it takes to rebel. Stirring, potent and (sadly) timely stuff.
How many times have I watched this cover by Haku., a Japanese indie-pop band, vibing hard on Japanese tongue twisters? Such a weirdo funk bop! Here's the original.
Didn't know that an old box of records that I sent to WUOG, my old college radio station, would ever get featured in my alma mater's magazine! (The editor in me can’t help myself, though: The article really needs a fact check!) —Lars Gotrich
Stream the Viking's Choice mixtape via Buy Music Club. Follow my Bandcamp collection. Tracklist below:
Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons, "Square The Circle"
Nadah El Shazly, "Ghorzetein"
Thanya Iyer, "Low Tides"
Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas, "Clock no Clock"
Wendy Eisenberg, "I Don't Miss You"
Wretched Blessing, "Elite (Deftones cover)"
Florida Man, "El Rey"
Backxwash, "9th Heaven"
Deerhoof, "Sparrow Sparrow"
Dustin Wong, "Archangel Michael and the Pacific"
Daniel Bachman, "The sun (bending through the glass)"
Kate Carr, "these desk-bound daydreams"
Twin Court, "Broken Strands"
Noor Zehra Kazim, "Raag Bhairav (Morning Raag)"
Zosha Warpeha & Mariel Terán, "Orbweaver / Tejedor de orbes"
LOINS, "Set Like This"
Obverse., "Obverse II"
Lucy Railton, "Phase III"
Nicolás Melmann, "Música Aperta II"
Satomimagae, "Many"
Eliana Glass, "Shrine"
Black Swan, "Desolation Rising"
Fatboi Sharif & Driveby, "Battlestar Galactica"
Milkweed, "Exile of the Sons of Uisliu"
Miłosz Kędra, "airborne"
Will Parker (feat. Francesca Stevens), "Until We Meet"
oddbodi, "big bruiser"
Acid Magus, "Haven"
Water Damage, "Reel 25"