Harkive was an annual research project by Dr. Craig Hamilton aimed at understanding how, where, and why people around the world listened to music. Each year, on a specific day, listeners would send in the music they listened to, how they listened to it, where they were, and why they played what they played. Submissions occurred over twitter, instagram, tumblr, email, and on and on. Posts ranged from bullet points to essays. I only caught onto the project in July 2021 (here’s my first post about it), which happened to be its last year. It’s grown to be a personal music documentation prompt for me that I follow through with every so often. With that said…
Weird day today, my allergies took over and completely disconnected me from my head. Drove to work listening to some Vampire Weekend songs from OGWAU, thinking about learning the keys on “Connect”. Looking forward to the back to back shows this summer (well, a week apart), handing out stickers, waltzing around GA, driving 2 hours south, 2 hours north.
Back to the open tabs on my work computer (sorry!), it’s a good mix of discogs, rate your music, and a variety of record stores and labels and bandcamp pages and cassette/vinyl rips on youtube. I’ve been balanced between 70s folk rock (Jim Spencer, Jim Sullivan, Peter Galloway, etc) and 90s acid techno/house (particularly Space Wreck/Industry by Man Made). Complete opposites. Not sure how they’re both existing in me at once. I’ve been diving deep into rate your music and Discogs, feeling like I can crawl into its tiny crevices, pinch to zoom in, another flight of stairs into the basement. Today is starting on a different path but will surely find its way back to one of the two.
Started things off with Lite Hits by Sukpatch, found on All Night Flight and listened to on Youtube (two parts). I would’ve loved this in 2021 and I love it now. I believe the vocals are from the lead singer of Kitty Craft (that’s what this rym list told me, very informative). It’s on Bandcamp, so I’ll go ahead and buy it when I get home, though I’ll probably pass on the vinyl reissue this summer.
Now I’m on Emergency Exits by Saucer, found on the aforementioned Kitty Craft rym list. Harsh in the beginning, softer in the middle, harsh at the end. The distorted guitars add grit to her gentle vocals. I’m into “Cigarette Polly”, “The Bunny”, and “Spoonerisms”. Now onto Jeep Music by Patch, also of Sukpatch and accompanied by vocals from Kitty Craft. Free download on Bandcamp! Not the best quality, but the direct cassette rip adds to the DIY nature of it, so I’m pleased.
Long lunch spent at urgent care, morale is in the tank. Not in the mood for anything remotely upbeat and vocals are not allowed. Scrolled through the From the Stacks releases page on Bandcamp, Numero Group’s accumulation of stuff that’s not quite deserving of a full blown release. Perhaps that’s unkind as there are some gems there, but I will stand by the fact that not everything needs to be a masterpiece to be great. Currently enjoying Full Court Press by Calvin Keys. Now this is some smooth jazz/Nordstrom Bistro music. Exactly what I need right now.
Listened to two tracks from the new Soda Lite album, Earthbound. Found on New Commute, I appreciate their succinct commentary, not in the mood for longform at the moment! It’s nice, atmospheric. I might be a little too tired for this music right now. /Next day/ I was in fact too tired for this, had to turn it off and take my headphones out.
Didn’t listen to much of anything else for the rest of the day, drove in silence after work to the gas station, I was cutting it way too close. Skipped a screening of Mulholland Drive because I was in a bad mood, but turns out I just needed to be productive at home to feel better. Which I did! I played a little bit of How Many More? by Serious Bizness, a record I got on my most recent visit to Papa Jazz in Columbia, before deciding to end the night with the movie Greener Grass. Fuckin’ weird, extremely compelling. Back to chill 70s folk rock for the weekend, gotta embrace this last little bit of a spring breeze before the sweltering humidity kicks in.
