The Living Music List #39: On Trivia Night

Why I'd like to give more people the benefit of the doubt

Currently listening to: Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve

Reflection

Hello, friend.

It’s 11:11 as I write this… make a wish?

I just got back from a bar called Pineapple Express. It was trivia night, and amid the “who the hell knows that?” questions, I met up with some coworkers and their friends to share a couple of beers and puzzled looks when the answers are things like “the Aleutian islands.”

I don’t go out much. It’s weird. It feels like I always have plans but also like I never have plans, if that makes any sense. I voluntarily went to the office for my day job today—I’m a copywriter for an ad agency if you didn’t know—and we ended the day with a meager happy hour that turned into a secondary trip to trivia.

The trivia bar was situated in an old brick building that had once been used as an office according to one of my colleagues, though it was also right next to an old train station, and the steel trusses running across the lofted ceilings gave it more of a warehouse look. The music echoed around the wide space, overlapping with the nesting layers of loud voices emanating from the wide range of patrons between their gulps of crisp, golden ales poured from pitchers or their tender sips of cocktails and canned vodka lemonades.

There was a youthful attitude to the place. As I walked over to the bar, I glanced around and saw lived-in Chuck Taylors beneath cuffed jeans, mirroring my own style. One guy sang along to Steve Lacy’s Bad Habit while the girl next to him shouted something into her other friend’s ear. Many of the tables looked sat with college students who viewed Thursday night as acceptable as any to raise a glass—meanwhile I found myself occasionally remembering my work week still had 20% of its required hours unfulfilled. I came back to our table from the bar with a pint anyways.

The trivia, as usual, was harder than it needed to be (and/or our education system failed us—probably both of those things are true). After a few questions, we focused less on brainstorming answers to questions about history and geography to focus more on exchanging gossip about former colleagues, unfair salaries, and reality TV scandals.

It was one coworker’s second to last day at our company, so throughout the night, we toasted his departure and made promises to socialize more outside of work. These pledges felt real this time—a lot of times, those kinds of conversations feel artificial to me. I’m not sure why tonight was different. It’s funny how a little bit of alcohol makes you all sentimental and eager to connect.

I wasn’t sure if I should’ve gone to trivia. Right before getting in my car to drive to the bar, I hesitated and reconsidered. I knew I still had to write this newsletter for the morning—I always leave it for the last minute—and I had already spent all day away from home. I missed my fiancée and two cats lounging at home. I’m glad I went though. It’s crazy how you can spend 3 years working with people and never really get to know them. Like, not even talk to them outside of working hours, don’t know what town they live in, what drink they like to order, or what song they would pick at karaoke.

It was funny—at the end of the night, the 3 friends of one of my coworkers who were also there with us all lined up to give hugs as we went our separate ways. I met these strangers not two hours earlier and then we parted as new friends who willingly gave hugs along with that “let’s do this again sometimes” statement that usually feels so empty. They said they were on their way to karaoke next and asked if I would join, but I knew I had to get home. They asked me what my top 3 karaoke song choices were and I blanked but said Bohemian Rhapsody and probably a Les Mis song just to be silly and dramatic.

As I ventured home, singing along to Galileo by Indigo Girls and My Obsession by Pale Waves, I felt warm despite the pouring rain pattering on the windshield. Sometimes I get so fucking angry at people I don’t even really know. I wonder how they can possibly think the way they do, feel the way they do, vote the way they do. Many people—most people, I think, I hope—really aren’t so bad though. They go out and play trivia with their friends. They go to their whatchamacallit jobs and work too many hours in the week just so they can get by, pay for a place to stay, food to eat, and maybe a couple of pints on a Thursday night.

Most people, most of us, are just living, man. I know that shouldn’t be some grand revelation or shocking insight, but it’s so easy to overlook. Most of us—ah, hell, I’m just going to assume all of us—just want a goddamn drink and a basket of french fries and a couple hours to just yell over some good, loud music at people who make us feel not so lonely or stuck or pointless. Getting the right answers in trivia, knowing where the hell the Aleutian islands are—none of that matters when we’re laughing with a few friends who know just as little as we do.

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Music Recommendations

Hello again, friend.

Thank you for reading today’s post. I hope you enjoyed the reflection—and I hope you can enjoy a pint or two with some friends this weekend. Keep your friends close, and remember to give strangers the benefit of the doubt.

I wanted to try something new this week with the All Genres list and split it up into small groups of records categorized by their common genre/sound. There are SO many good new records out and I really don’t want to neglect the non-ambient stuff—maybe this will help you more easily find what you’re interested in? Let me know if you have any thoughts about the way I format my music lists, I’m always open to feedback.

Happy listening.

The Living Music List—Ambient

Note: All of the below ambient projects are available on Bandcamp. Bold and ^ denote reader-submitted work.

1. the brink by end, red dress (album / dark ambient, field recordings) [Independent / Bandcamp]^

2. AURUM by Brian Eno (album / experimental, dark ambient) [Opal Records / Apple Music] {Note: Apple Music-exclusive release with spatial audio—additionally, I’ve included a link to Zane Lowe’s interview with Eno below, which was released alongside AURUM}

3. Gift Songs by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (album / ambient jazz, experimental) [Mexican Summer / Bandcamp]

4. No Floor by More Eaze & claire rousay (album / experimental Americana, sound collage) [Thrill Jockey Records / Bandcamp]

5. Gems IV by Celer (longform single / drone) [Room40 / Bandcamp]

6. Flora by Hiroshi Yoshimura (album / melodic, kankyo ongaku) [Temporal Drift / Bandcamp] {Note: re-issue of the album crafted in 1987 and first released in 2006}

7. Gardens to visit this weekend by Summer Film (album / experimental, musique concrète) [Language Instinct / Bandcamp]

8. Drifting Between Seasons by Valotihkuu (album / field recordings, lofi) [Independent / Bandcamp]

9. 6 Studies for Short Loops by Heliocentrist (EP / tape loops, melodic) [Independent / Bandcamp]

10. Seven Stages of Grief III by Various Artists (compilation / drone, meditative) [Neotantra / Bandcamp]

11. a slowly clearing sky (one hour environment) by tom eaton (longform single / drone, minimalist) [Independent / Bandcamp]

The Living Music List—All Genres

Note: All of the below projects are available on major streaming services.

Film & Video Game Soundtracks

1. Wanderstop by C418 (soundtrack / chill piano)

2. The Boy and the Dog by Akira Kosemura (soundtrack / classical)

3. ASH (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Flying Lotus (soundtrack / electronic)

Indie/Alternative

4. Equus Asinus by Men I Trust (album / indie folk)

5. For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) by Japanese Breakfast (album / indie rock)

6. is by My Morning Jacket (album / alternative)

7. Nothing Sticks by Pictoria Vark (album / alt rock)

8. The Even More Freewheelin’ Jeffrey Lewis by Jeffrey Lewis (album / folk-pop)

Electronic

9. Creek by nimino (EP / garage house)

10. 1999 DJ Tool by Cassius (album / French touch)

11. Unlawful Assembly by C Powers (album / experimental bass)

Jazz

12. ROOTS by Daniele di Bonaventura & Arild Andersen (album / contemporary jazz)

13. Blues Sky by Dave Hanson (album / jazz)

Pop

14. i said i love you first by Selena Gomez & benny blanco (album / pop)

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The Press Box

No feature this week—check back next week when I’ll be previewing Música Aperta by Nicolás Melmann, out via Umor Rex on April 4.

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That’s all for this week’s issue. Thank you for reading. Until next time.

Your friend,

Melted Form

Remember to listen to the hum, buzz, & hiss of the world around you—there is music to be heard there.

Read the previous issue of The Living Music List:

The Living Music List #38: On Starting

Afterword—Let’s Get In Touch

Are you an artist, a label owner, or a member of the press? Want to share an in-depth feature of your upcoming release, an advertisement, or a guest post for a future Hum, Buzz, & Hiss issue? Get in touch with 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.