Four Things #19
Four Things #19..
I'm back! It feels like just a couple days ago we were in May, how is it end of September all of a sudden? Welcome to a very long overdue Four Things, straight from the corona vacuum that is Washington DC. I wish I could tell you I had returned from a long planned hiatus but honestly this letter has just been delayed endlessly with other things taking up my physical and mental space over the last few months. I'm sure most of the new subscribers signing up in the last few months have wondered if anything at all was happening, I wanted to thank you for your patience and I promise a more regular newsletter from now on. I really enjoy doing them so bear with me!
This summer I've been working so hard but still feel like i've achieved exactly nothing. Probably I'm using the wrong measuring stick. Instead of how many gigs I've played, how many tracks were finished, how many places (read: record shops) I've visited, the grand scheme of things requires us to reconfigure and focus on other things. How to keep your family safe, how to stay healthy, how to build something for the future and pass on the things I've learned over the years. The mentoring program gives me a lot of life, I love all my 'mentees' and there's so much positive energy in the program. I'll write a bit more about that in the next Four Things. But first, let's get to a couple other Things...
Your thoughts, observations and feedback are always appreciated! Feel free to pass on the link to your friends, or check out the archive right here https://tinyletter.com/Martyn-Deykers. Stay safe & healthy - Keep the Faith..
Martyn
September 28th, 2020
FIRST THING: DARKEST LIGHT WASHINGTON DC EDITION
For my Darkest Light show on NTS I recently teamed up with Washington Post music critic Chris Richards to record a 2hr long special showcasing jazz from Washington DC. Not unsurprisingly, this city is a very transient place where people constantly move to and from for education or (government) work, at the same time DC also has a strong local community with deep musical roots. Howard University, the most famous black university in the US, also inhabits a special place in DC's musical history, with many famous musicians teaching / studying there. Making this show with Chris was a really great experience, and I am very proud of the result. There was so much amazing music to choose from and there's still plenty to explore (maybe for a second show). Also wanted to shout out NTS' Padraigh, Femi & Sean for being so supportive of my work. I may have said this before but in tumultuous, transitional times like these, it strengthens me to know I can work with people who are not afraid to use their massive platform to speak out on important issues. If you can, please support NTS with a small monthly contribution. Here's the show. (art by Nate G)
SECOND THING: CULT OF PERSONALITY
On the eve of the first Presidential Debate of this year's US election cycle, I was reminded of the first time I heard the term "Cult of Personality". It was in this amazing song by Living Colour, which stormed up the pop charts in 1988. The term originated in a 1956 report "On the cult of personality and its consequences" written by First Secretary of the Communist Party (essentially the President) Nikita Khrushchev. In the report Khrushchev blamed the deceased former leader Joseph Stalin of using the veil of Communist ideals to establish a government of yea-sayers solely meant to idolize and enrich him. I don't think I need to point out the obvious parallels with 2020 here! Guitarist Vernon Reid of Living Colour talked about political celebrity in a 2019 interview and how the song addressed the cult of personality on either side of the political spectrum by using speeches from various politicians throughout the song. As a not unimportant aside, I remember the Dutch press back in 1988 always presented Living Colour (alongside counterparts Fishbone and Defunkt) as an outlier 'black rock band', as if it was such an 'odd' thing to have black people play guitar! They are certainly not an outlier, but a band that is part of a strong lineage of great bands and artists, going all the way back to Lead Belly (the 30s), via Chuck Berry, Hendrix, Sly, Black Merda, Death, Bad Brains and continued onwards by Rage Against The Machine and Rough Francis. I've been listening thru this little playlist I did recently, take a listen and you will hear some of these connections across the decades.
THIRD THING: HANIF ABDURRAQIB
There is a lot of really good music writing & poetry happening at the moment. The most interesting writings manage to not dissect the music piece by piece but establish connections between the music, its impact on society and the writer's personal world. I'm not a Taylor Swift fan so a review of her album describing how well her music is produced doesn't interest me much. But what Taylor Swift means to a new generation of girls taking a stand, and how a good writer ties that to her personal experiences - that's a story I want to read and want to learn from. My favorite music writer at the moment is Columbus OH-born Hanif Abdurraqib, who does this really well in "Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest". In the book he successfully alternates between descriptive music writing and his personal experiences of and with the music of ATCQ and specifically Tip & Phife, that echo those of many kids growing up in the 90s. I just picked up his older collection of music essays "They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us" which is excellent as well featuring thoughts on Bruce Springsteen, Chance The Rapper, Fall Out Boy and Nina Simone. It made me look up Carly Rae Jepsen's music on Spotify, so there's that, too.
FOURTH THING: BROWN LOOP
After being out of print for several years, Duval Timothy's 2016 album "Brown Loop" is being reissued. Following a lengthy legal struggle, Duval bought back the rights to his own music from the original label, so he can now re-release it on his own Carrying Colour imprint. This also finally makes the album available on Bandcamp and Spotify. I've been enjoying his music for a few years now and he asked me to write a few words about my experiences with "Brown Loop". You can read that here on the Bandcamp page. If you've done enough reading for today then do enjoy the phenomenal "Hairs" right here: (pic is from Duval & Charlie B at NTS)
see you next time!