I’ll be posting a new playlist every month of some of my favorite songs. Here’s the first one.
Creation story
This is an astonishing peek into the mind of a genius artist. All those influences—all those fragments of other people’s genius inspiring something new. Ah, the beauty of artistic influence. And, yeah, sometimes, it’s cultural appropriation. But, damn, I’ll take the cultural appropriation when it’s as beautiful as this song.
Historically White College
Black Punk New Wave Trickster Social Justice Magic
The joke
I’ve watched this Brandi Carlile performance at least 100 times.
Literary humor
A great comic by Tom Gauld.
Iggy
what are you going through
This is a quiet and devastating novel by Sigrid Nunez. I love her books.
Lucille clifton
Lucille Clifton is one of earliest influences and remains one of my very favorite poets.
The greatest dunk of all time
Do you remember the time when Vince Carter jumped over a 7-footer? It sounds better in French.
Jealous
Labrinth is a British songwriter, singer, record producer, and rapper. This ballad of his, “Jealousy,” is a killer. It’ll get you in the soul.