December 25 2024
gifts gifts gifts and no thinking (the biggest gift of all)
I am grateful to everyone who brought Earlier into existence. (Bring the book into your house.) Chris Kraus said “Yes,” Hedi el Kholti said “Let’s go,” Robbie Dewhurst said “What is this?” and Janique Vigier said “Here it is.” Semiotext(e) for life.
Once in the world, Earlier found remarkable readers: Stephen Piccarella in The Nation, Michael W. Clune in Bookforum, Sam Hockley-Smith in Southwest Review, and Ms. Briefly Noted in The New Yorker. I had discussions that stay with me: Leon Dische Becker in Broadcast, Kate Wolf in LARB Radio Hour, and Ariana Reines in Frieze. In real time, I talked with Natasha Stagg at Mast; with Sukhdev Sandhu and Michael Miller at NYU; and with Elvia Wilk and Catherine Lacey at McNally Jackson. My thanks to each and every one of these people. If you are in Los Angeles, come see me on January 24th at 2220 Arts with Chris Kraus. (No, it’s not in the calendar—idk why.)
Everything below the fold is a full-throated co-sign.
This very electro-heavy set by Prosumer and almost every Prosumer set, especially the most recent one (great use of Janet and Massive Attack).
This Pam The Funkstress mix of E-40 tracks, which could be from 2010? Or is new? I have no idea.
Elizabeth Schambelan on Theranos and Thanatos and privatized suns in n+1.
Every PubLIZity ever—more than an hour of gentle elevation through mindfulness.
OVID.tv, a streaming channel for independent film. For example, here are three shorts by true genius Tiffany Sia and you can watch these: Jan Švankmajer’s Alice, Derek Jarman’s Blue, Jeremy Workman’s The World Before Your Feet, and Roberta Cantow’s Clotheslines.
A Ghanaian Curb Your Enthusiasm poster I don’t want to spoil.
Masha Allah, Sister Minnie.
JoAnn Wypijewski at New Left Review’s Sidecar, every single time, especially her Sam Bankman-Fried column.
Newly restored footage of Pylon playing “Beep” on December 1, 1983 at The Mad Hatter in Athens, GA. (I love Pylon so much that I did this with Alexis Krauss, once.)
Benny Bock and Nora Stanley’s Distance of the Moon, the album I have played more than any other this year.
Sydney Spann’s Sending Up A Spiral Of, a fully realized sound world.
Top Boy and Snabba Cash: two drug-dealing stories that are actually about parenting.
A brand new, fairly brief Fela Kuti documentary.
Fifteen minutes of Derek Bailey playing and talking on December 29, 2001 at Downtown Music Gallery.
Raphael Rogiński playing a few weeks ago as part of Unsound Festival at Lincoln Center (which we saw in person).
AshTreJinkins’s It’s Trash Now, the album that did more with beats than any other.
An Althusser doc with a little flair! For once!
Lewsberg, a band from Rotterdam.
Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders KSAN Live from the Record Plant PRE-FM SBD 1973.
“Pyramid Song,” 800% slower, which can played over or under this dub playlist.
This one-hour Nightmares On Wax mix from October: a spin on house, sort of.
Willie Bobo’s “Always There,” the 12-inch mix: instant activation.
These clips from 1970 of the Tony Williams Lifetime—Jack Bruce, Larry Young, John McLaughlin lineup—playing live: “One Word” and “A Famous Blues.”
Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Exhibition,” a 15-minute instrumental track from 1985.
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