Fluxblog Weekly #84: Winter night mix + Margaret Glaspy, Monomyth, Childish Gambino
November 28th, 2016
Say When
Say When
This two-hour mix is adapted from a much longer personal playlist of night music. I have no particular definition for “night music” aside from that all of it sounds much better at night, and in some cases, sounds as though it should only ever be heard at night. Some of it is melancholy, some of it is sexy, all of it has a certain ambience to it. I hope you enjoy it. If you like this, you may also enjoy my Studio One Holiday Mix from last year, which is still available.
FYI, there is no Spotify playlist for this because – shocker! – some key tracks are not available on that service.
November 29th, 2016
A Little Rock On A Big Mountain
Margaret Glaspy “Somebody to Anybody”
“Somebody to Anybody” starts off as an expression of deep humility, with Margaret Glaspy singing about being at peace with the idea of being an insignificant part of a much bigger world. But as the song progresses, it becomes clear that this isn’t just about humility. It’s about not wanting to deal with the pressures and responsibilities of being important to someone else. The meaning of the song’s chorus – “I don’t want to be somebody to anybody / I’m good at no one” – subtly shifts as it caps different verses, and Glaspy’s voice takes on different tones of resignation and melancholy. Her pride gradually fades away, and is slowly replaced by a lonely sort of shame. Not a shame in feeling insignificant, but a shame about turning away from potential happiness and fulfillment out of fear and not wanting to leave a comfort zone.
Buy it from Amazon.
November 30th, 2016
Ain’t Worth The Psychic Disease
Monomyth “Re: Lease Life (Place 2 Go)”
“Re: Lease Life” is a modern twist on up-tempo Velvet Underground songs like “What Goes On” and “Rock & Roll” – the tone is the very similar, but the stakes of the lyrics are totally different, with Monomyth leaning into the “write what you know” axiom by just singing about being a broke indie rocker in Canada. The music has a nice slackness to it without getting sloppy, and as banal as the subject matter can be, they capture a feeling caught in some awkward space between laziness and restlessness very well. I’m particularly fond of the shift into the refrain – “the first snow of the year / and I notice that you’re not here” – where everything suddenly gets a bit more tight and crisp for a few melancholy moments before shrugging back into the groove.
Buy it from Amazon.
December 1st, 2016
It’s So Hard To Find
Childish Gambino “Have Some Love”
Somewhere along the way I missed the part where Donald Glover set aside rap in favor of psychedelic funk in the vein of Sly and the Family Stone and Parliament/Funkadelic, so hearing the songs on Awaken, My Love! was a genuinely surprising experience for me. Glover went all in on this transformation; there’s almost no overlap in aesthetics between this album and anything else he’s done as Childish Gambino. As it turns out, the hard funk vibe suits him, and allows him to express ideas about love and life that may have seemed trite in hip-hop, but feel vital and profound in this genre. (“Have a word for your brother / have some time for one another / really love one another,” in the case of this song.) Given that Glover is best known as an actor, it shouldn’t be surprising that he has the talent to be a genre chameleon. This shift sets a precedent for him to move in any direction he wants in the future, and if he commits himself as fully to whatever that may be, it’ll probably end up being as convincing and strong as the best cuts on Awaken.
Buy it from Amazon.