SWEEP FREQUENCY #407: It's Dark Again
New tunes from SPLIT DOGS, untitled (halo), Jeshi, FACS, Public House, and more...
OPENING RIFF: "Her past passions sound tinny when clicking against the jar of time. But they add up to a stack next to her elbow, a growing collection of desire and insight that might acquire significance if she trusts that it will." -- Marie-Helene Bertino, Beautyland
SMALL TALK: On Election Night, I led my run club around the Bywater neighborhood here in New Orleans, which was convenient because I didn't check my phone for an hour right as a lot of polls closed. When I got home, I drank beer and watched The Simpsons, hoping that the strands of news I heard couldn't be true. I didn't want to make too much noise while my wife was asleep after that, so I spent the rest of the night and a good chunk of the next day reading Beautyland, the latest novel from Marie-Helene Bertino. The book, aptly, tells the story of a woman named Adina who is actually an alien, sending correspondence back to her superiors 30,000 lightyears away. She documents the absurd futility of everyday life, the way that being in a body is so peculiar and embarrassing. Bertino also uses Adina as a vessel to explore the way that humans are utterly cruel, utterly mean, and the ways we justify being this way without feeling bad about it. She also feels grief and love, those two emotions that are so often hand in hand. Adina is very lonely on Earth and searching for her people, for fellow aliens who feel confused and conflicted by their own existence on this strange planet. This week, I do, in fact, feel like an alien, like so much of the species is foreign and unrelatable. I am, however, not alone. This is what I've chosen to think about this week. In 2016, on top of the element of surprise and my faith in humanity collapsing, I spent so much time lashing out at everything and everyone in sight. I chose anger over sadness or introspection or any of those healthier emotions, choosing instead that extremely easy and cheap emotion that the Republicans use to manipulate us day after day. This week, I feel compassion for people who are like me, who believe in reproductive rights and protecting the trans community and immigrants and the rights that should come with basic human dignity. I feel love for the people I’ve chosen to surround myself with, who have values that would stand on the right side of history if I thought there’d still be history books in the future. I feel grateful for those people in my life, many of whom are probably reading this. I am saving my anger only for the DNC, a group of smug consulting class lifers who are sure to blame anyone but themselves and refuse to look in the mirror in the hard months ahead. They are a group who refused to give people anything to hope for, whose entire platform seemed to be that the other side was maniacally evil and less civil in their cruelty. A group that chooses to treat its liberal base with scorn for wanting anything more than what little was presented to them, be it ending genocide or asking for a living wage. This week was a big, hard, undeniable loss, and the ball is in the court of people with much more power than us to actually offer anything worth fighting for. Be kind to yourselves, let's get to this week's new music.
Nearly Every Song From Every 2024 Newsletter Will Be Available in Playlist Form: SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC
1. SPLIT DOGS - "PRECIOUS STONES": I've got a feeling you want to listen to something righteous and angry right now, and this new cut from SPLIT DOGS’ upcoming debut album absolutely delivers. Clocking in at just over two minutes and not letting up for even a second of it "Precious Stones" is a furious punk banger about even the smallest positions of power turning into a false use of authority.
2. UNTITLED (HALO): "BLUNT SUBCONSCIOUS": They've been putting out a series of stellar singles since their emergence last year, and I'm really digging this new tune from untitled (halo). With each member taking a verse, "blunt subconscious" is a beautifully distorted shoegaze tune that captures this week's doomer vibes.
3. JESHI FEAT. SAINTÉ - "SAINTS AND SINNERS": Jeshi has increasingly become one of my favorite rappers on either side of the pond over the past few years, and I'm stoked that he's announced his sophomore record. "Saints and Sinners" is a woozy track with an assist from Sainté, one that expands the tinges of sadness in Jeshi’s verses in interesting new directions, and it definitely hits right at this moment.
4. FACS - "WISH DEFENSE": It's still pretty surreal to remember that Steve Albini is gone, but it was cool to find out that the final record he worked on comes from some newsletter favs. Like their best tunes, "Wish Defense" finds FACS creating post-punk that's on the jagged, experimental, and abstractly melodic side in a way that really scratches a specific itch for me.
5. PUBLIC HOUSE - "LONDON CITY": I've sung the praises of Nice Swan Records quite a bit in the past few years, and the first offering from their new electronic sub-label is just another reason to pay attention to them. Featuring a trio of producers from Manchester, "London City" is a late-night banger that brings to mind everything from the post-dubstep golden era to ravey hip-hop while bringing something entirely new to the table in the process.
PARTING SHOTS: I certainly agree with the idea that we're going to have to live with this loss, and a lot of the convenient finger-pointing doesn't lend itself to just how bad of a beatdown this was. That being said, we're going to have to soldier on and fight in our own little ways despite feeling like it's truly hopeless. Understanding Texas is probably key to understanding the rightward shift of Latino voters. To lighten the mood, here are the few actually good things that happened Tuesday night, and revisiting that iconic Quincy Jones interview will bring a smile to your face.
ENCORE: "HOPELESSNESS"