Music for Election Reflection

Five releases for all mental states: Confusion. The scream. Be the change. Life goes on. Ambient escapism for the inconsolable

I had a newsletter planned for yesterday, but then I was so shocked by the US election result that nothing much, not even music, seemed to matter any more, so I decided to take a day off from my avoidable responsibilities.

My girlfriend, who studied political science at university, and I went for an early morning walk instead along the local river.

With our daughter’s toothless smiles beaming up at us from the pram we walked through the fishing village as old men threaded hooks and repaired nets. Then we skirted around the back of the old castle that helped name this “city”, to stare out to sea in the direction of America and wondered what lies ahead for her?

Don’t get me wrong, as much as I’m an anarchy curious, tree hugging socialist I completely respect people’s voting choices, and prefer to judge people on their character rather than political preferences. BUT, it’s a shocking moment when the “leader of the free world” chooses an Anthropocene accelerating, divisive, lying, racist, insurrectionist and proven sex offender with autocratic tendencies as their president. Any country deserves better than that.

My social outlets used to be full of rabble rousing rhetoric about my social, post-truth and environmental concerns until I realised early on that everything I was saying was being recorded and squirrelled away on server farms, ready for the day when there are computers and algorithms powerful enough to make sense of it all. Who knows what will happen to all our methodically scraped profiles then? If the data remains in the hands of Meta and Google then I guess it will just be used to sell us stuff or help deny medical insurance claims, but history also tells us that if wider access to the information is granted then it won’t end well for questioning or dissenting voices during more authoritarian governance.

So I chose the cowards way out and The Slow Music Movement was born. My late nights were largely over and I was taking things easy, the concept had promise and I figured that promoting chilled music from independent and alternative artists as an escape and possible coping mechanism for modern life’s stresses and information overload, authoritarian creep and anthropocene angst was a decent compromise, and might even be useful for some people, not least the artists.

Today I’ve decided to come out of pitchfork waving retirement. Luckily music also plays a part.

[Confusion/Disorientation]: Worldpeace DMT - Brass Invaders (Haunter Records)

I like to know that sonic madness exists rather than actively listen to it these days. I explore all sorts of crazy shit, often just skipping through it and joining the dots in my mind rather than immersing myself in it. Yeah I know, not a very slow, but it struck me that I might have an LP bookmarked that perfectly conveyed the emphatic result’s shock and ensuing disorientation, and now I’ve had the playfully unhinged, 8.5 minute long electroid-punk EP from Worldpeace DMT on repeat a few times I think I’ve nailed it.

Vintage Sega game console noises remind me of my more optimistic youth. The death metal growls and power riffs might save a few cats and dishes from annihilation as soaring synths and kooky pop melodies raise wry smiles. Just for good measure synthesized voices spit random words to confuse the disenfranchised. Madness. Just perfect.

[The Scream]: Francisco Mora Catlett & Carl Craig - Outerzone (Far Out)

Francisco Mora Catlett is a percussionist of Mexican heritage who wasted no time in making America his home, including a seven year spell with Sun Ra’s Arkestra. Settling in Detroit he recorded with the local legends, but perhaps most interestingly, in his late career he teamed up with second generation techno legend Carl Craig, helping him forge new jazztronic Afro-futuristic paths.

This LP was first released in 2007 but only hit my radar the other week courtesy of a Far Out Records re-release. It has the sort of defiant, revolutionary vibe of its oppressed and vilified 20th century jazz forbearers, and just sounds so relevant as decades of hard won social gains are sacrificed for dark political ends. There are a few free jazz howls but on the whole it’s a kick arse, hard grooving jazz ride that jolts the self pity out of you, rolls up your sleeves and will soundtrack the resistance very nicely. Oddly it doesn’t exist on Bandcamp so please seek it out on your streaming service of choice.

[Be the change] t l k - Strength In Tenderness 2.0 (Severn Songs)

I’ve no idea of how I stumbled across this release from t l k, but the altruistic boldness of title would have immediately jumped out at me wherever I saw it, so much so that I remembered it at 6am this morning - it was just meant to be, and fortunately the music lives up to the title’s power.

Dreamy vocals real and warped float over piano and ambient jazz soundscapes peppered with sax, viola, piano and guitar snippets and there’s even the odd percussive moment. The 2.0 suffix stems from the excellent remixes of each track now packaged with the originals, which take the tracks into cutting edge beat territory, and are a welcome second half energy progression to the lazier start. Maybe they’ll perk you up enough so you stop worrying about the geopolitics, look around you and start making your surroundings a better place first? If people take your kindness and tenderness as weakness then more fool them.

[Life goes on] Lone Mesa - Dirt Park (Worried Songs)

This one has been sitting in the diary for a bit and today seems like the moment to drop it, not least because it’s the sort of album that Democrats and Republicans might just agree on, just don’t tell anyone Lone Mesa’s from Norwich in the UK.

The LP is a walk on the ambient side of Americana, the first half being more recognisably structured acoustic folk musings that would sound great on a wooden porch overlooking some grassy plains. The second half descends into more ambient constructs, but by then everyone will be going with the flow, and maybe even have started talking to each other again.

[Ambient escapism for the inconsolable] Lake Mary & Daniel Wyche - Deer's Breathe In Every Color (Laaps)

Get used to recordings from Laaps in the newsletter, they’re a bit of a pet label. The latest is from Lake Mary (aka Chaz Primek) who has TSMM form, and the new to me Daniel Wyche, who seems like a force for improvisational and experimental guitar good. They’ve certainly got some synergy, the soundscapes are rich in atmospheric guitar work, pedal steel swathes, elevating electronic support, field recordings that have been layered until all provenance is lost but which still make sense. It’s lazy, it’s hazy and a welcome temporal escape for those who can’t afford a rocket.

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