48 entries for December 2021

[Journalism helps you learn about the world and understand what's around.]

Caetano Veloso: O Leãozinho

From Caetano Veloso (1986). I’m overwhelmed by the simplicity of this little tune: just voice and simple guitar patterns can vividly paint an entire scene, with this bright, lilting mood. The singing and accompaniment are rhythmically fused in a way that makes it natural to embody. It was written for Caetano’s sister Maria Bethânia, whose hair may resemble a lion’s mane. The percussive clicking might be unique to this version of the song. See the lyrics for a translation.

Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 (1835)

A live performance (with hands as the focal point) of a friend and pianist from Italy playing this masterpiece, followed by an analysis explaining what makes certain parts of this piece stand out from other repertoire. I enjoy this fluidity of being able to talk about music that one performs, to help other people hear what’s going on and find their way in.

Kidi Band: Gimme Gimme (2016)

Another release from Kidi Band (featured in #022). I initially didn’t make the connection that this was the same group, so they truly managed to captivate me twice—it became distracting to do anything else and I just wanted to listen. I tend to avoid ‘loud’ music, but this reminds me that it’s possible for me to enjoy it. Thoughtful, complex, and emotional. My favourite moments: How Long with busy, intricate, active drumming in the midst of graceful, expansive, widening sung phrases, plus a polyphonic polyrhythmic sundae in the middle; the rhythmic singing in Mountain, feeling like a collective rhythm machine with sudden metric changes; Fever Driver’s dense, rich texture, heavily lilting from side to side (or maybe in circles) might get you high.

Lessons from a Feline Gaze

My former professor started writing in public recently and managed to describe transcendence in what we, here on the Internet, refer to as a “cat picture”. I’m fond of lenses that help us see the sublime in ordinary experiences. There is so much we can learn from animals and nature, such as paying attention to our natural reactions and inhibitions. Feels also like a kind of oblique strategy.

Here is Stella, instructing us on how to look at something we’ve never seen before. As our resident cat-comedian with a gift for irony, she is wondering whether this item — a conductor’s baton — can be worked in as “A” material for her next vaudeville show. The baton is also about to become a tooth sharpener, but we’ll explore that in a moment. Here, Stella is elevating attention itself into an art form, and teaching us to do the same. If that idea doesn’t resonate with you, please find your inner still-point and a moment to drink in her lucent, emerald gaze.

Let's talk about Thanksgiving with your liberal mom....

[Frame it as a dream because in some cases people like to make dreams come true.]