exploding
A young artist whom I’d heard before, but not noticed. But this track stuck in my head in a way I didn’t expect. When I listened to more of his music, it didn’t all resonate with me, but this plus “ketamine” have remained in my rotation. I think the song “exploding” in particular communicates some sense of anxiety mixed with indignation. “You think I care,” “I don’t want any help,” “And I don’t need any of your warnings,” etc. The song is about your blood boiling, your heart ready to explode, a feeling that I think is strongest in our youth. It made this old dude remember those times, though.
First Aid Kit
This album balances a fine line between strange, creepy and catchy. I heard the song “1000 times” on a playlist while driving and looked them up the second I parked. It wasn’t “good” but the singer’s shout/cry over weirdly simple lyrics was somehow really catchy? Turns out it was sung by a 13 year old, who largely improvises lyrics, with the band “Big Blood,” which is made up of her, her mother, and her father. A family band. I guess that explains the strangeness and creepiness. The catchiness I think comes from musicians who know how to mix bubble gum-y pop with adolescent shout-singing to create a multi dimensional ear-worm.
The Art of Creative Thinking
A collection of thoughts on the creative process, ranging in insight from corny-dad to surprisingly profound.
The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood–Youth–Dependency
The Scandinavians have a way of finding the drama within the banal and exposing the weak underbelly of what it means to be human. The final chapter was a challenging reminder of how fragile we can be
Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day
A collection of tactics with the aim of helping readers take greater control of their daily schedules. The idea is that with this control we can actually better align how we spend our time with our real values and goals.
Woof Woof
A weird, short, song from a weird artist that stuck with me. The artist is very young and I think channels the contradictory weight, lightness and awkwardness of youth.
Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet
A compelling book comparing the present day digital advertising industry with the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. It’s hard to imagine that “ads don’t work” but I do believe that the system powering them is complex, automated, and holds an enormous amount of money
Lurking: How a Person Became a User
Lurking is an old-school-internet term describing what we do when watch, but do not participate in, online life. McNeil outlines the history of online communication, exposes some of the false nostalgia of the early internet and concludes that our current social platforms are flattening the human experience
