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 look forward to digging into that playlist! I only know a few artists on it. (Do you know Stew & the Negro Problem? Stew is an old friend of mine, but also he has made some of my favorite music.)

[niqaeli]

Just off the top of my head, I offer a couple more black contemporary artists that I love:

Janelle Monáe, Pynk

So, here we are in the car
Leaving traces of us down the boulevard
I wanna fall through the stars
Getting lost in the dark is my favorite part

Megaran, Cry of the Planet

and there will be a day when we rise,
but that wont be until we open our eyes and recognize the lies

[alexxkay]

Ian Holm was in many movies I loved, and at least one movie I hated (but it wasn't his fault for being egregiously miscast in such a hot mess of a film).

Hurrah for the stunning of TW!

[larryhammer]

Guest star? Nah, that’s King Gidora himself.

[skygiants]

yessss thank you for the playlist and the recs, I'm excited to dig in and go music-purchase wild on the next Bandcamp friday!

[davidgillon]

the moment I heard he had died, having most recently rewatched Big Night (1996) with [personal profile] spatch, my instinctive response was "BITE YOUR TEETH INTO THE ASS OF LIFE!"

Judging from the last para of his Guardian obit https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/19/ian-holm-dies-alien-chariots-of-fire-bilbo-baggins that's precisely what he did do!

[kenjari]

Since I have been all about the punk music lately, I offer two recommendations from that genre:
Rebelmatic, a great old school hardcore punk band from New York.

The 1865, a terrific female-fronted punk band whose searing album Don't Tread On We explores aspects of American life in post-confederacy 1865.

[kore]

I love that playlist, it's amazing!

I haven't seen anyone else mentioning it, but while the LOTR stuff is good, I will always always remember Holm for being completely heartbreaking in The Sweet Hereafter. There's one monologue where he talks about his daughter having an allergic reaction as a baby that is just indescribable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wjy1mpt_Gg

[selkie]

TW is occupied trying to swim his way out of this afternoon’s mango lassi. It’s thick. He’ll be a minute.