23/16 - Like a Breeze Between His Hands, A Dream On Wings

Things take a stranger turn:

Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke - Pilgrimage of Lost Children

I don't know where this came from. Suddenly it was just there, with its perfect drums, its tingles of bells and its visions of a slow march into the unknown.

David Holmes, Jon Hopkins, Stephen Rea - Elsewhere Anchises

A reading of Virgil set to ambient electronica. Feels like I've been waiting for this since I discovered Soft Rains a bit back. I like my Sunday night music literary and theatrical please.

Björk - Notget

The best VR bit of the Björk Digital exhibition. I stepped into a bigger than life light-node version of Björk. And as she reached the line "...our love kept me safe from DEATH!" she spread her arms and grew a pair of horns. Heart-stopping stuff.

Gil Scott-Heron - Work For Peace

A whole other side of Gil from last week's joyful soul. What a way with words. I could listen to him rasp "the military industrial complex" any number of times.

The Military and the Monetary
From thousands of miles away in a Saudi Arabian sanctuary
Had us all scrambling for our dictionaries
Cause we couldn’t understand the fuckin vocabulary

Marionette - Black Hand

My old friend Axel with his signature screech of a voice, leading the way to a wonderful hammering break at 2:11.

22/16 - There Are Places To Come From and Places To Go

I'm still doing good. Five songs brimful with positive energy:

Jónsi - Go Do

Walk down the street. Look at the cute humans. Smile. Notice tokens of love. This is your mission. Go do.

Gil Scott-Heron - When You Are Who You Are

How's that for a feel good song? Peaking in Gil shouting "Get it!" an almost ridiculous, but yet perfect, amount of times. I get it.

Joni Mitchell - Night In the City

Starting to make my way out into London again. Daily excursions at my own leisure. Joni in a pop mood is a rare but fantastic treat. That jaunty piano sets the scene for an indelible call back chorus.

Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy

Finally got around to watch the documentary 'What Happened Miss Simone?' the other night. Fists were clenched. Tears rolled. Shivers ran. The most powerful thing I've seen in a while. She'll always be one of the greatest. And this, her breakthrough, is pure bliss. Her piano notes alone transport me somewhere heavenly. I wanna stay here, with you forever...

Bon Iver - 22 (Over S∞∞N)

The exact feeling of nostalgia for the present, captured in the most mesmerisingly moment-defining way.

It might be over soon

Finally, I also visited the Björk Digital exhibition at Somerset House, which I highly recommend every Björk fan to do. The Virtual Reality experience of the new album is powerful, but the 'Björk Cinema' room with a continuous roll of all her earlier videos is an almost bigger treat. Revisiting irresistible pills of joy like the bell choir version of Who Is It on a big screen can lift any day to euphoric heights.

21/16 - By the Foot of Yon' Mountain Lays a Clear Flowing Fountain

I am not doing an awful lot these days. And I'm enjoying it royally. Reading books, pottering in the garden, napping frequently, catching up on TV – I am surprisingly content with staying away from production for a bit. Five soothing songs to reinforce my self-imposed inertia:

Juana Molina - Vive Solo

I do not live alone. Luckily. Having housemates around to cook dinner and watch Stranger Things with is, I suspect, what stops these lazy days from tipping into depressing lethargy.

John Martyn - Spencer the Rover

An absolutely delicious song about the bliss of returning to a hearth and sooth one's restlessness for a while after confused roaming and rambling. But "contented he'll remain and not ramble away"...? I have reason to doubt it.

Emilie Simon - Baby Penguins

Peak decompressing time. I'm building a nest. I don't need the rest of London. All is homely and cute and assuring. Baby penguins tiptoe past.

Julianna Barwick - Someway

Breakfast in the sun. What more do you need?

Sophie Rimheden - Touch

Slight notes of dissonance enter. Obviously I should get out do stuff... meet people...

20/16 - They Keep Erasing All The Streets We Grew Up In

This is a send-off to my final essay. Now I am free... to enjoy economic despondency.

L.A. Salami - The City Nowadays

This feels a little bit like one of those 'promising new artists' the industry promotes heavily with only a couple of songs, gets to play Jools Holland, and rotates on BBC6 for a couple of months and then fades from view. However, I'm enjoying it before the novelty wears off, and my essay was called 'Post-Urban Space', so....

Arcade Fire - Suburban War

This one has not faded away. Revisited the album the other day and was once again awed by how solid it is from beginning to end. So many great songs about post-urban space. Plus a great Dark City-reference:

This town’s so strange, they built it to change
And while we sleep we know the streets get rearranged

PJ Harvey - Reeling

This is what happens when you're cooped up in a room with 15 books for 10 days straight.

I can't sleep for thinking
Set my head a-reeling

Iggy & The Stooges - Gimme Danger

A great song for escaping that room and going out running in the early morning hours. This album is definitely a case of getting what it says on the tin.

Refused - Rather Be Dead

Rather be alive 

Rather be alive 

Rather be alive 

Rather be alive 

Rather be alive