#90: Trying to Slow Down in a Life That is Short
A poem inspired by a Laura Misch lyric + new music from Jogging House, Visible Cloaks, Max Cooper, and more
Currently listening to: Shell by Laura Misch
Hello, friend.
What are you searching for? What do you seek?
It is easy to breeze past the completion of each season.
Easy to unbelieve the beliefs one once had.
Easy to freewheel like the collegiate one once was.
Easy to ignore the lesions slow appearing on one’s skin.
Yet it is hard to see how far one has to go for love and loss.
Hard to feel the parts of life when scars would leave their marks.
It isn’t hard to know the trial’s over when it starts.
It’s harder to acknowledge we know nothing of our hearts.
We know nothing of what’s next.
We know nothing of what’s now.
We know nothing of what’s left.
We know nothing of what’s how.
We hear the music playing, watch the needle in the groove.
We hear what we are saying, read the feelings in the room.
But in the end, we play pretend.
We shrug and scoff and sneer.
We skip a step and place our bets.
We are never really here.
The Living Music List
Hello again, friend. I hope you enjoyed today’s reflection—and I hope
While I don’t have any lengthy personal words to share about this week’s list of recent releases, I have included a single line from each record’s Bandcamp description—just to give you a tiny hint at what you can expect from each.
Happy listening.
Sender by Jogging House (album / minimalist, meditative) [Independent]
“A calmer language.”
Oceanine by Jolanda Moletta (album / vocal ambient) [Beacon Sound]
“What if the sirens’ songs were considered dangerous because they carried another truth, an ancient truth long forgotten?”
Paradessence by Visible Cloaks (album / electronic, experimental) [RVNG Intl.]
“The album’s fourteen songs shift, heave, and shimmer against a faintly luminous backdrop of night, a cavernous space shaped by sparse hyperreal representations of the natural world.”
After Nothing Comes by Fugue State (album / jazz, experimental electronic) [Switch Hit Records]
“The ship of Theseus sailing the .WAVs — how many plugins can you apply to a human performance before it’s no longer human?”
Feeling Is Structure by Max Cooper (album / electronic) [Mesh]
“We have this remarkable capacity to spill ourselves into the world through form.”
sssiv 2 by sssiv (EP / dream pop, indie rock) [PinkCottonCandy]
“We love imperfections, we love fucking things up in the beautiful way that only humans can.”
Music List Reminders: Bandcamp links provided first when available—if an album is not on Bandcamp, then YouTube, Soundcloud, or other preview links are provided. List format: Title by Artist (release type / approximate genre or subgenres) [Label].
That’s all for this week’s issue. Thank you for reading. Until next time.
Your friend,
Melted Form
Read the previous issue of The Living Music List:
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beautiful poem and great music choices! a couple i haven’t heard of before that are just wonderful. thanks for sharing!