my monday newsletter era
romanticizing every aspect of my life to the point of complete disassociation
Hi!
Thanks for opening this email / reading this post.
I found out this newsletter was only going to like 50% of “subscribers” since I’ve switched to Substack. So, if you haven’t seen this in a while, welcome back! And if you have been receiving, reading and enjoying, consider sharing it with a like-minded individual with good vibes.
Now, your links!
As a woman of taste and intelligence, I’ve been rewatching my beloved Real Housewives of New York. This time around, I’m really struck by how much of a focus the 2008 recession is during the early seasons (“While you are in high school, I am in Brooklyn, trying to survive in this economy”) versus current Housewives casts’ relative ambivalence about the recent financial downturn. It inspired me to look for information comparing the economy 2023 to 2008, leading me to this Axios breakdown (obvious gaslighting but still kinda helpful) and this NYTimes piece with a slightly more realistic view on what’s going on.
The death of the #girlboss and the rise of the “radical dilettannte” (aka my dream job), or #girlfailures.
This essay really resonated with me - it discusses the feeling of aging without the parental blueprint to guide you. A good read even if you don’t have membership to the dead parent club.
If I read about people being productive, it makes *ME* feel more productive, so I have been loving Famous Writing Routines. A lot of these have very practical advice for any kind of work, and aren’t just about the Joan Didion urge to start the day with a Coke and cigarette.
Tunes to start the week with:
I have a new tribute up on Albumism.com about MY Queen of England, PJ Harvey, and her perfect album, Rid Of Me. It’s a grunge classic, one of the greatest break-up records of all time, and still fucking rips 30 years later.
Also, this new Fred again… and Brian Eno album is a nice treat for the ambient music heads.
And finally, a question for the class - any music podcast recommendations? Where the hosts have perfect taste and are funny and cool? I like Bandsplain and Switched on Pop, but am I missing something else? Please comment or message me before I start my own music podcast (without researching licensing and subsequently landing msyelf in jail).
xx
Music podcasts seem harder to find than movie ones for some reason. Bandsplain has definitely become my go to for deep dives (Especially loved the PJ Harvey and Kate Bush episodes with Ann Powers). A few other music/sound podcasts to check out:
-BROKEN RECORD - aka the Rick Rubin interview show. Some eps are better than others but he gets good interviews. The John Frusciante series he did recently is a joy.
-ONGOING HISTORY OF NEW MUSIC - Start with: "History of Distortion and Feedback" episode.
-MUSIC EXISTS - Chris Ryan and Chuck Klosterman talk about all kinds of music together for a bunch of episodes.
-DISSECT and KEY NOTES - Cole Cuchna puts in the work in both of these shows. The Kendrick Lamar episodes are some of my favorite music podcasts I've ever listened to.
-SOUND MATTERS - More about sound than music, but as a woman of taste and intelligence, as you say, I think you would enjoy it, perhaps even more than the Real Housewives of New York, probably the same amount of noise. Really interesting episodes if you listen starting with the oldest and working up to the most recent.
-ART OF THE SCORE - great one for film scores. Browse for a movie you like, or I like to recommend the Blade Runner episodes where they get into a lot of synth analysis and film noir influences on the score.
-BJORK SONIC SYMBOLISIM - An album by album journey through her discography, touching on technology, design, style, and songwriting. I also recommend this doc for aspiring Bjorkers https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x27z8k3
Enjoying the newsletter as always!