Mixtape: The Seer
A few months ago, I got a text from a friend: "I'm listening to an episode of How Did This Get Made (it's just them talking about stuff they like, not a movie) and Jason Mantzoukas just talked about how much he likes Lars' episodes of All Songs Considered." I've learned how to be better at receiving compliments over the years because, well, when someone says something nice about you, they usually mean it — I no longer wanted to seem ungrateful for the thought put into it. Still, this was such an out-of-the-blue surprise! (If you don't know Jason's work, he's been in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place and John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, which, honestly, is just the coolest freaking thing.)
Fast forward some time and, after some hilariously disastrous technical difficulties, Jason Mantzoukas and I finally taped a very Viking's Choice-y episode of All Songs Considered with Robin Hilton. (The show went up a week ago, but I'm always running behind on this newsletter.) And let me tell y'all, a bromance was a-brewing from the very start: me, quiet and even-keeled, and Jason, brash and hilarious, engaged in an hour-long discussion about the qualities in music that move us (turns out we're not that dissimilar in our need for transcendence), nerded out on private press recordings, Life Without Buildings and pan-Afro fusion. But mostly, I just felt a kinship with a fellow digger and the absolute thrill a new-to-us discovery can give.
It was really good for my heart. [I keep writing and deleting and re-writing and then once again deleting a whole section about my past year dealing with imposter syndrome, including a link to this adorable screaming turtle and this very chaotic, but very funny newsletter by my pal and colleague Danielle Kurtzleben… but, yeah, it's nice to be reminded that I'm good at what I do.]
Take a listen wherever you get your podcasts and then you, too, can become obsessed with “We’re Not Animals.”
Other things: I'm playing music with friends again. Gnarly Rae Jepsen, my punk-ish Carly Rae Jepsen cover band, is headlining Korchfest on Aug. 23 at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. It's our drummer's 40th birthday and all he wants to do is play the drums, so he's playing five sets in a row with The Armors (rock and dang roll), Pilau (grindy hardcore), Hobis (Lord of the Rings-themed screamo) and Monument (Midwest emo). Get to the gig! My face hurt so much from smiling after our first practice that I am, once again, reminded that I should really do this more often.
Other other things: Keith Fullerton Whitman's 40-minute modular synth tessellation is good for meditation. Dan Charnas' history lesson on "Espresso," a song I am so-so on, is probably my favorite music read of the year. I joined Letterboxd. The “cream”-filled key lime pie from the vegan shop Donut Run is bonkers.
Stream the Viking's Choice mixtape via BNDCMPR. Follow my Bandcamp collection. Tracklist below:
Nubya Garcia, "The Seer"
The Jesus Lizard, "Hide & Seek"
GUU, "Split My Body"
Tristwch Y Fenywod, "Ferch Gyda'r Llygaid Du"
The Softies, “I Said What I Said”
Pigeon Pit, "Stone Song"
ZULI (feat. MICHAELBRAILEY), "10000 (Papercuts pt. 1)"
Ira Glass, "Nancy's Hell"
Respire, "Distant Light of Belonging"
Denzel Curry (feat. TiaCorine & A$AP Ferg), "Hot One"
Fax Gang & Parannoul, "Lullaby for a Memory"
Terry Green, "Safety"
Robber Robber, "Sea or War"
Fulu Miziki, "Mosala"
Olof Driejer & Diva Cruz, "Brujas"
De Schuurman & DJ Chuckie, "Gangster Sht"
Sumac, "World of Light (Moor Mother Remix)"
F***** Up, "Stimming"
Maulawi, "Street Rap"
Short Dark Strangers and the Shady Motherf******, "We're Not Animals"
Ville Pirinen Combat School, "Lintunen"
WUT, "Talking to Strangers"
Kississippi, "Last Time"
Velocity Girl, "Audrey's Eyes"
The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die, "Auguries of Guilt"
Mast Year, "Tiegnmouth Electron"
David Byrne, "Glass, Concrete & Stone"
C. Lavender, "Melt Into Light"
Arianne Churchman & Benedict Drew, "Day Song"
Wes Tirey, "Work 4"
Charlatan, "In the Reeds"
Penza Penza, "Much Sharper, More Focused"
Loren Connors & David Grubbs, "The Pacific School"
Slow Salvation, "Call a Friend"