#93: 2 Years Later, It All Feels Right
Consciousness, love, music. Thank you for reading, friend.
Currently listening to: Time (Live in Prague) by Hans Zimmer
Hello, friend.
Yesterday marked the 2-year anniversary of my first post here on Substack, welcoming you to Hum, Buzz, & Hiss. Monday will be 2 years since Issue #1 of The Living Music List, my main weekly series that you’re currently reading… 93 issues later.
Yes, time moves fast. Much has transpired since I first felt compelled to send you a letter reflecting on my week, collecting new music releases like precious jewels.
Time moves slow, too. Both speeds are true.
If you have received my letters for many months now, you’ve seen me acknowledge my deep enjoyment of the time it takes to write to you like this, because it helps me slow down. It helps me grow intention in my thoughts and my listening. I hope that you having taken the time to read these (often quite long) letters has also helped time settle in your life too.
In a way, the world has shifted dramatically over the last 2 years. In a more real way (and in the words of Talking Heads), it is the same as it ever was.
A lot of what we humans deal with on a daily basis boils down to a couple of core experiences: Consciousness and Love.
We grapple with our own existence essentially all the time (at least, I know I do). And then, beyond the fending for ourselves—the sustenance of life through the securing of food, shelter, and everything else we physically need to survive—we center so much of our time and effort around our relationships. Family, friends, romantic partners. How do we meet them, keep them, please them, learn from them, connect with them, deal with them, thrive with them, lose touch with them, lose them.
It’s like that DEAD POETS SOCIETY quote you probably see reposted on social media every few months, the one about how art and love are what we stay alive for. The full quote from Robin Williams’ character John Keating (which also includes a Walt Whitman quote) is usually trimmed, but even more powerful read in full, so I will share it here:
We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?
“Cogito ergo sum,” which means, “I think, therefore I am.” That was part of French philosopher René Descartes’ verse in this powerful play. Descartes wrote that while considering what it meant to doubt everything. He realized that his ability to think (to doubt) alone must mean that he, at the very least, exists—even if the nature of his existence, including who and what he was, along with everything else that he had experienced, was ultimately a mystery.
Everything and nothing has changed since Descartes’ time. The world is completely and utterly different, but we are still considering the same mystery as Descartes, and will probably always be.
Do not despair over this, friend. Choose joy instead. O life, we are here! Our play goes on. Players like Descartes have not been forgotten for expressing the mystery in their own verse, and neither will you.
Memory is not about names or dates and quotes. We are all living one life, all living things across all of existence. Life (existence) is memory, and me writing this and you reading it is all the proof we need that we are here and we are remembered, the same way we are always remembering. And to remember is to love, because what greater example of true affection and care is there than to become proof that another exists?
Consciousness and love—these are the things that inevitably found their way into my writing over the last 2 years of my life. So, in my work-in-progress verse of this powerful play, why has music shared the stage with all of this never-ending existentialism?
At the end of the day, music makes it all feel right.
The Living Music List
Hello again, friend. I hope you enjoyed today’s reflection—and I hope you are feeling alright, alright, alright.
Quick note: The paywall on last month’s Melted Mix is now dropped for free subscribers to give it a listen. Check it out, especially if you’re into psych rock (think Tame Impala, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Temples, etc.) It’s a really dreamy hour of music!
Now, let’s get on with this week’s list of new music recommendations—10 great new records!
Happy listening.
Rite by CIRC (album / drone, field recordings) [Independent]
It’s been exceedingly hot and humid here in New Jersey as the June sun blazes overhead. As someone who generally dislikes the heat (give me cool fall weather all the time, please), I’m not sure why I have felt excited to embrace the sauna this summer. This warm bath of ambient works arrives to meet my willingness with rich, echoing drones built upon recordings of warm summer winds and the insects that thrive within them. It’s a cleansing listen that feels a bit like a sauna—wonderfully relieving in the long run, but the sweat of the moment can feel all-encompassing, sometimes to the point of breathlessness. Just what I needed.
All Gates Open by Blood Incantation (soundtrack / film score, space, drone) [Century Media Records]
Another example of the oddly fine line between metal and ambient, the cosmic maestros of Blood Incantation show here that they can make the latter brilliantly.
zakè [20th Anniversary Edition] by zakè (album / drone, minimalist) [Past Inside the Present]
While I usually don’t feature an artist two weeks in a row (see last issue’s Still Beauty by zakè & marine eyes), I felt compelled to include this anniversary re-release of one of ambient’s most beloved contemporary composers. Pure, simple drones that slowly but surely work their way into your bones.
Candle Days by Carl Aagesen (album / ambient piano, contemporary classical) [Independent]
Lovely, low-key piano vignettes perfect for long, slow moments.
Disclosure Day (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by John Williams (soundtrack / film score, classical) [Back Lot Music]
John Williams is 94 this year, and this new film score is his 30th collaboration with legendary film director Steven Spielberg. Let that all sink in! I can’t wait to see this film in theaters later tonight.
you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love by Olivia Rodrigo (album / pop) [Geffen Records]
When a pop singer becomes as big as Olivia Rodrigo has, doubt and hate are bound to find them. Expectations balloon. Positives get downplayed. Every single lyric and choice is analyzed to death. And yet, Rodrigo’s songwriting and vocal prowess answers all of it with a proud middle finger. Every track believes in the build. The writing is cheeky and serious, vulnerable and guarded, liberated and tortured. Also, if you actually stop to consider how hard it is to sing some of these songs live—listen to her blast through the chorus of stupid song on Jimmy Kimmel last night and her insane breath control on this acoustic performance of drop dead—you’ll truly begin to realize how massive her talent really is. This is one of my favorite things about pop music—the seamless listening experience. The instant get. The universality. These songs touch you right away, and you understand them, and you understand her, and you feel like she (and everyone else) understands you. Olivia Rodrigo fucking rocks.
Side note: if you’re into analyzing singing techniques, I highly recommend watching Tristan Paredes’ videos on Olivia Rodrigo’s performances like this one for The Cure.
Distant Lands by zzzahara (album / bedroom pop) [Lex Records]
There is so much fucking great music in the world. Case in point: this new indie rock/bedroom pop record from zzzahara that sounds like a room where weak sunlight is diffused through cigarette smoke as it bends around everyone’s internal teenager who’s hanging out, getting high, and wallowing in their seesawing emotions as they ponder life’s bullshit.
People Pleaser by Damian Dalla Torre (album / contemporary jazz) [Squama]
This album sort of creeps around on you—not in a creepy way, but just in like a tiptoe-y kind of way. The arrangements of guitar, woodwinds, strings, and more feel sort of restrained, like nobody wants to step on anyone’s toes. This all may be intentional given the album’s title.
Blindspot by Ella Hunt (album / folk) [Historical Fiction Records]
Get up close and personal with Ella Hunt as her unabashed lyrics and bold vocals tell tales of complex relationships, grief, and family. Very hard to believe this fantastic album is Hunt’s debut.
in this body by Sparklmami (EP / soul) [Independent]
Another incredible debut record—shoutout to Assorted Tapes and his radio show The Infinite Loop for turning me on to it. Only 23 minutes long, but Sparklmami packs in so much punch, soul, and silky-smooth sweetness.
Music List Reminders: Bandcamp links provided first when available—if an album is not on Bandcamp, then YouTube 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:
Join Our Discord Community
Hum, Buzz, & Hiss has a free Discord server where music fans and artists hang out together, share music, chat about our work, and learn from each other. Plus, you’ll get some behind-the-scenes stuff and even more music recommendations from me. I’d love for you to join us! Click the button below and I’ll see you there.
Ways to Support My Work
Upgrade to a paid subscription for some extra goodies. Full price is $5/month or $50/year, but I also offer no-questions-asked, pay-what-you-can discounts on annual subscriptions. Learn more about the perks of paid subscriptions here.
As an alternative to subscriptions, you can buy me a coffee for an easy, one-time tip.
Referrals also mean a lot! If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider sharing it with a friend, a family member, a coworker, or your social media followers. The more it grows, the more ears can hear the music shared here.
Get In Touch
Are you an artist, a label owner, a fellow writer, or just a music fan? Want to share news of your upcoming release, an ad, or a potential idea for a future Hum, Buzz, & Hiss issue? Email me at: meltedform@gmail.com.
As always, I would love to hear and recommend your music, especially if it’s new and ambient/electronic/experimental. However, please note that I am not able to respond to every inquiry I receive.
Thanks, Spencer, for the mention; I really appreciate it.
Like you, I hate it when it's really too hot, but in the middle of summer, in the middle of the night, here in western France, the temperature becomes interesting and almost soothing in the dead of night.
Always a pleasure to read your posts, listen to your music, and discover your selections. Happy birthday HBH!
François / CIRC