Episode 135: Lessons in the Uncouth

A few weeks back, episode 133, I noted that the episode number and the BPM rate of the mix were the same, noting that such had been a rare event and suspecting that it would remain so. Two episodes later, BEHOLD!

Episode 135 has some techno and some club, with mmnl-ist thud and industrial pound, but it starts with a brooding goth-pop tune and ends new wave. The connecting thread is a mood, which I dub November Beats. Things are dark, things are chilly. As I write this it’s smack-dab the middle of November, a week shy of Thanksgiving, and snow is falling outside my window. The sun will set by five PM. It can be a grim time, moreso if one spends it wishing things were otherwise.

Nick Cave recently compared grief to love in its all-overpowering conquest. It comes and takes over our lives and we have no power to stop it. The same could be said of the weather, of the change of seasons, of the Autumnal shortening of the days, the encroaching darkness. Various news stories in the past few years have encouraged Americans to deal with it by embracing the Nordic concept of “hygge,” of finding or constructing some coziness in the midst of the freeze and the night. I think of this hour of music in those terms. Don’t resist what must come, don’t embrace it either, but find some warmth and comfort during its (transient) reign. This too shall pass, but don’t forget to dance.

[NB: as tempting as it may be, and despite what Ian McKaye might say about politics being like the weather, this is NOT a political metaphor. Politics is NOT like the weather; we can do something about bad government. An illegitimate leader promoting white nationalism is not Winter and must be raged and fought against to our last. OK!]

• Λ°C (Lambda Celsius) – Dog On [Ana Echo and the Beauty of Indifference]
• Sonido Berzerk & HAI – Convenience [Oggun EP]
• Bicep – Kites [Bicep]
• Zach Lubin – Lessons in the Uncouth [Dispense With Tactics]
• Anthony “Shake” Shakir – Spectre [Frictionalism 1994-2009]
• Robert Hood – One Touch [Minimal Nation]
• object blue – Act Like It Then [Do you plan to end a siege?]
• Tomás Urquieta – Banbra [Banbra]
• Container – Soak [Vegetation EP]
• Rabit – Imp [Baptizm]
• Karen Gwyer – Why Is There a Long Line In Front Of the Factory? [Rembo]
• Martyn – KJLFYE3024 [GL Outtakes]
• Imaabs – Corps [Discretización]
• M.E.S.H. – Scythians (Grovestreet Remix) [Scythians remixes]
• Rizzla – Airlock [Iron Cages]
• Wristboi – Warboi (Estoc Remix) [Warboi EP]
• Macy Rodman – Greased Up Freak Pt. 2 [Sweat Equity Vol. 3: Extreme Hits!]
• Gangsta Boo – Late Nite Tip (Tearz Bootleg) [Santa Muerte & Friends Bootlegs and Edits Vol 5]
• Romeo Void – A Girl In Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing) [Instincts]

BPM: 135