Change the water flow

[sovay]

Happy Juneteenth. I am glad to know the original handwritten record of General Order No. 3 survives in the National Archives. I am glad to see, too, that Massachusetts recognizes it as a state holiday, although in practical terms I'm not quite sure what that recognition translates into. Otherwise, federal holiday already.

1. Elsenet I was asked for recommendations of contemporary Black musicians and spontaneously generated a far from comprehensive playlist, which I reproduce here because I have not posted much music in a while.

Afrosideral, "Ode Ni Ire (feat. Nickodemus)"

Algiers, "The Underside of Power"

We're on the wrong side of the power
It's the shadow
It's just a fire thrown across the wall

Angélique Kidjo, "Born Under Punches"

I'm a tumbler
I'm a government man

Anthony Russell & Veretski Pass, "Train"

Deym bilet vus di haltst in tash—
Dus iz dayn mazl, dayn rayze-plan,
Vi tsi furn, un vus far a klas.
Dus iz bashtimt fun Got—der direktor fun ban.

The ticket that you hold in your wallet—
This is your fate, your itinerary,
Your destination, and in which class.
This is determined by God, the director of the train.

clipping., "Air 'Em Out"

The keyword is kemmer
That's what your ass need

Farai, "Punk Champagne (feat. TONE)"

Poor rich boys
Poor rich girls
We could be sipping on this punk champagne

Jamila Woods, "ZORA"

Kiss of chocolate on the moon
Collard greens and silver spoon
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes you can't stick onto me

Jidenna, "Classic Man (feat. Roman GianArthur)"

The ladies on my elbow ain't for the show
Every madame on my team is a top general

Mdou Moctar, "Tiknass (Sunbone)"

Lonnie Holley, "I Woke Up in a Fucked-Up America"

Would you make it look at me?

My Midnight Heart, "Drown"

I've found I cradle things that make me weak
Belong to words I'd shout but never speak

Oko Ebombo, "Black Bowie"

A woman must kiss and a man must cry
You were born on both sides

Orion Sun, "Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don't Leave Me)"

On the dancefloor, you wooed me like a warm breeze
Swept me off my feet
It feels so good to know you

Nilüfer Yanya, "In Your Head"

And I can think what I want
And I can feel what I feel
Until you say it out loud
How will I know if it's real?

The Reminders, "Have It All"

It ain't enough just getting by
It just seems so small
And I want a little more than a little
I want to have it all

Rhiannon Giddens, "At the Purchaser's Option"

You can take my body
You can take my bones
You can take my blood
But not my soul

Songs of Our Native Daughters, "Moon Meets the Sun"

May the God that you gave us
Forgive you your trespasses
We're survivors—you can't stop us
And we're dancing

Sudan Archives, "Confessions"

I know it's weird
How all this green appeared
I think I dreamt it here

Zeal & Ardor, "Devil Is Fine"

Little one got to heed my warning
Devil is kind
He come in early morning
Devil is fine

2. Ian Holm has died. I am not sure that I have ever written about him, but he was several people onscreen who were important to me. Nevertheless, the moment I heard he had died, having most recently rewatched Big Night (1996) with spatch, my instinctive response was "BITE YOUR TEETH INTO THE ASS OF LIFE!"

3. Courtesy of selkie: the three-headed Etruscan basilisk. You tell me what else that looks like, unless a guest star in the Godzilla franchise.

Also courtesy of Selkie, selections from yesterday's photoshoot are now on Twitter. Tiny Wittgenstein seems to have been stunned into silence. I think it's doing me good.

Comments

[gwynnega]

I will restrain myself from linking twenty songs. Here's a song from the first Negro Problem album: "The Great Leap Forward," and one from the second Negro Problem album: "Repulsion." Then here's something much more recent, from Stew's theater piece about James Baldwin: "Jimmy."

Somewhere in between all this, Stew wrote the book for Passing Strange, and there's a Spike Lee film of it which I highly recommend. Here's a song from Passing Strange (but not from the actual production): "Work the Wound," and a couple of snippets of the show: "Keys/It's Alright" and "The Black One."

[sovay]

I will restrain myself from linking twenty songs.

Not like he needs to hear it from me, but your friend Stew is amazing.

[gwynnega]

Yes, he is (and I'm happy to introduce you to his work)! It was one of the highlights of my life to be in Los Angeles in the nineties when the Negro Problem were playing all the time.

[sovay]

It was one of the highlights of my life to be in Los Angeles in the nineties when the Negro Problem were playing all the time.

Time machine, dammit!

(It still counts if I was alive at the time but didn't know something cool was happening.)

[gwynnega]

Fortunately there is video! (I was at that show. This is the first lineup of the band, featuring my dear friend from high school, Gwynne Kahn, on bass. She and I were named after the same person.)

[sovay]

Fortunately there is video!

Hooray!

(Which Gwynne were you both named after, if you don't mind my asking?)

[gwynnega]

We were named after the best friend of Other Gwynne's mother and a friend of my dad. She passed away right around the time we were both born. We wound up at the same school together not knowing about any of this!

[sovay]

We wound up at the same school together not knowing about any of this!

That's nuts/wonderful. When did you find out?

[gwynnega]

I kept hearing about there being another girl in the school with my name. (She was a couple of grades ahead of me.) Eventually we met, and it turned out we were both Patti Smith fans (which was quite uncommon in those days). Eventually we became good friends, which is probably when we found out that our families knew each other!