A musical gratitude list

The labyrinth of practices I have attempted or continue to employ in order to keep myself marginally sane is truly something but maybe the easiest and most enduring one is the gratitude list. It’s giving “I did mushrooms and realized everything is one thing” or alternatively, serenity prayer core (or I guess in some rare cases, both) but regardless I find it helpful and try to do it every day. I won’t share my actual one with you because it is too humiliating (I’ve put Bosch on it more than once) but since it’s the week for being thankful (we don’t have time for the colonizer genocide talk right now but obviously we all know that it’s fuck Christopher Columbus et al but also I love green bean casserole and both things can be true at once) I would use this week’s letter for a brief musical gratitude list.

Let’s commence:

• There’s a lot to unpack about what’s going on with Geese and how the wackest bitches I have ever met in my life were posting stories like “there’s a bomb in my car” and how maybe how you feel about their rapid ascent is more of a mirror than a fact but none of that is either here nor there or affects my deep love and gratitude for the Cameron Winter solo album Heavy Metal that came out at the tail end of last year. I listened to it every single day for like three months after the fires (there’s a tiny violin in my car) and I still find it deeply moving and affecting, a year later.

• Getting an advance copy of the This Is Lorelei album (this hasn’t happened yet but this is a manifestation/gratitude hybrid, get on my level).

• My friend Issy Wood’s mind and also her brilliant new single “IHS” (the juxtapositish going on here is just wonderful).

• That there is a lot of talk again about The Replacements (in my house we have never stopped talking about The Replacements) due in large part to the Rhino Let It Be deluxe boxset re-release thing. I particularly love the liner notes by Elizabeth Nelson, printed here in full on the GQ website which includes this exquisite quote from Jessica Hopper: ““And Paul is like your best fucking scenario for a loser dream boy. He’s like a reverse manic pixie dream girl.” This Washington Post interview with Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars is really great too.

• The Goo Goo Dolls revival. And in particular this video of them playing “Iris” in the pouring rain in Buffalo in 2004 which is part of my ongoing spiritual practice.

• That it’s almost time to play “A Long December” by Counting Crows 4-12 times a day every day for the entire month (more on this later).

• That My Bloody Valentine is playing shows again. God is good.

• Speaking of, that people are using music to talk about god again. This is most prominently seen in the new Rosalia album (so fucking good) but I’m seeing it pop up other places too.

• Elizabeth Fraser performing “Teardrop” with Massive Attack live in Buenos Aires three weeks ago.

• Karly from Wednesday’s website.

• That sometimes (a lot of the time) I get sucked back down into the comparison olympics of social media and gold medal in hating myself with a silver in feeling not good enough™️ and then end up on the page of some random single digit BMI influencer who looks AI generated and wears head to toe Khaite or something for like two to four hours but then I spend a few weeks doing my job and researching an artist like say Jeff Buckley (wink) and am slapped in the mouth with Kylie Jenner level realizations of what I actually want out of the texture and feel of my life and now I have a note above my desk that says “Be vigilant the world is trying to dissolve you but you must read, write, and carry yourself with delight.”

• You’ll hear more about Jeff next week but until then I’m also grateful for this wholesome post in r/short:

  

• And lastly I’m so grateful that you guys read this Substack and/or listen to the pod so that I get the great honor and pleasure of doing what I love (Earnest is fully at camp babe).

Happy Thanksgiving <3

As always all the songs mentioned in this post live in the Fast & Loose playlist HERE