My son wrote this song about our hometown when he was 16, and the music video just posted. Thanks for watching, and please repost if you like it….young musicians need all the help they can get, and I appreciate Ted and the Substack community!❤️
Thank you, Ellen! From your lips to God’s ears❤️. Though our friend @the honest broker would probably question whether getting signed by a label is the way to go - it’s a brave new world out there🤷🏻♀️.
True that. I recommend John Strohm's substack about how artists should navigate the business. He is a musician, musician-supportive lawyer, and former head of Rounder Records. Some great posts there -- https://johnpstrohm.substack.com/archive
I was introduced to the book "The artist's way" this year and it's been a real game-changer for me. It's a 12 week workbook to help unlock your creativity.
“The Artist’s Way” IS a game changer. I discovered it probably about ‘94. Attended a music camp for adults that summer, and discovered there were enough of the others like me that week for us to have a “Morning Pages” in the mess hall before our classes started. Inspired Idea, that book and workbook!👍
I was reading the artist's way and trying to write the three pages a day when I was brought up short by my other responsibilities. I was taking my mother for her first real vacation to a resort in Hana Maui, and I was writing on the plane and she kept wanting to talk with me. I finally realized that she should be a priority. I'm glad I did. She got kidney failure when she got home and fell into a coma. The doctor told me she was brain dead, but she woke up and the first words she said were, "Wasn't Hawaii beautiful?" She died a year later, and we were closer during that year than ever before in our lives. I never got back to writing my three pages a day. Except now, maybe, on Facebook, and on my substack.
I forgot to mention that I also had a childhood dream come true. My friend and I released a song together which you can listen to here https://youtu.be/cM4BtHUk5vo?si=R40E-_h5ZJvZ0Dpr. If I may be so bold it has a bit of a Daft Punk vibe to it. I arranged and played all of the guitar parts. Hope you enjoy
I was listening to the new album Gringo Vol. 1 by Selton, a Brazilian indie rock band in Italy. It's a fun album, and although it's not even my favorite Brazilian album this year (hard to beat Pique by Dora Morelenbaum), it tipped me off to my favorite "new to me" discovery this year.
Meshell Ndegeocello performing her recent album inspired by James Baldwin, with her extraordinary band live in concert. Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn. This was much more than just music, it was like church, it was the ecstatic restoration of community.
1. Hundreds of Beavers - low-budget silent movie that's more inventive than almost any Hollywood movie of the last several years (it came out this year in wide release, despite the 2022 listed release date)
2. Conclave -- I'd recommend this to most people. Intriguing political thriller that is never sensational until it is, a weird twist that's a litmus test for anybody.
3. Evil Does Not Exist -- if there's such a thing as an ambient movie, this is it, except for the ending. Lulls you in until that ending. Not recommended for most until you really can pay attention at great lengths
Overall this has been a much poorer movie year than last year, regarding wide releases in theaters and streaming. Hopefully some of these newer releases in the last month rescue this year a bit (e.g., Anora, Nosferatu, the Brutalist, and uh Gladiator 2?).
Best videogame -- Cocoon. Anybody would love the artwork and gameplay on it, possibly even older people who don't play games.
Anora and A Real Pain were the only movies that lived up to their fall release prestige. Anora especially. Its best movie Palm at Cannes is spot on. So many movies floundered imo from Beatlejuice II to the new Saoirse Ronan movie Outrun, which I was excited to see but was so convoluted trying to do a story in the present with constant flashbacks I stopped watching it after renting it for $20 and never returned.
Can anyone just make a great linear film anymore without all these overly artistic images with no substance? I’m a big fan of her movies and this one should have been so much better based off the source material.
At least it wasn’t as bad as Gladiator II, which had no story or character development and I was so bored I almost left the theater except I used the time to take a much deserved nap.
Anora Anora Anora Anora. Besides Nosferatu and the Dylan biopic, which I’m excited to see both, might be the only legitimate great movie shown in theaters all prime time fall season.
Oh I do want to see Conclave too. From what I can tell from critics and word of mouth I will not be disappointed in it. So that’s two!
I'm going to see Conclave tomorrow at a preview (here in the UK is coming next Friday) so great to read it's been a highlight for you. The cast is brilliant.
thanks for the reminder... I heard about Hundreds of Beavers from the woman graciously filling my popcorn at a local theater while watching Nosferatu on Halloween.
She was over the moon about it and I got the sense she knows her films!
"woke" There is no meaning in that word. It's all euphemism. Can you actually describe in any critical manner what you thought about the movie? Provide some insight.
Say Nothing on FX is brilliant. Based upon this book by Patrick Radden Keefe: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (https://amzn.to/40YacPD)
I could neither put the book down nor stop watching the show.
A son of the woman who was murdered spoke with The Guardian about how traumatic that TV series has been for him and his siblings.
It's a wakeup call for me. Fictional murder mysteries are one thing, but murder has many victims - the survivors - IRL. It only seems like The Troubles were a long time ago.
I just mentioned the book was one of my highlights this year! I was wondering how the series translated that story on screen so this is very interesting. Glad to know the adaptation does the book justice.
Jon Batiste, "Beethoven Blues". Just out. At the heart of the slightly pretentious marketing (you can purchase it on translucent black ice vinyl) is one of the most gifted musicians of our time, someone passionately alive to the ways music transcends the specific genres and labels we use to identify it.
As part of an effort to reclaim my off-hours from the stressful weirdness that characterized the last year or so, I decided that I would not fill my eyeballs with anything that wasn't uplifting and/or educational in the last hour or two before bedtime. I read through a few poetry collections, some nifty music nerd books, and a biography or two, but the thing that really sent me off to dreamland with the best feel-good brainfood was -- no, I'm not kidding -- Japan’s official English-language travel and cultural exchange TV channel, "NHK World Japan.”
NHK is free, and it’s got food shows. Fine arts shows. Traditional handicraft shows. Travel features. Trains. History. Nature. Fashion. Design. Archaeology. Architecture. Tech. Gadgets. Ramen. Religion. Urban planning. Innovation. And SUMO! NHK World Japan is awesome!
You can usually find NHK World Japan down in the nether reaches of your typical big-city cable or nationwide streaming platforms, with all the other mysterious foreign-language channels. It’s also stream-able online here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld . Check it out; you won’t be disappointed!
(Sorry, wait. one last thing that makes NHK World TV a must-see affair — beyond the fact that it’s FREE — is the fact that everybody in Japan is just so darn polite and friendly, all the darn time. Just watching people going about their business without p*ssing anybody off is refreshing.)
Probably most of you know Mary Spencer. Rick Beato friend. Imagine being a talented artist, signed to a major record label at 13, after meeting Ed Sheeran, your music has been streamed a million times but your record label steals all your money so you can barely afford rent. Let Mary tell the story https://youtu.be/9gjZsLjxN4s?si=vHVYsF_KoVP2T52h
Good Lord, that's appalling! It's like something you wouldn't be surprised to read about happening 50 years ago. Damn.
-Well, it's been an awful year for all sorts of jurisprudence. A lot of us were apprehensive that SCOTUS would take voting rights back to Reagan's '80s. Nobody expected they'd drag it back to the late-50s.
Do you mean Mary Spender? Well, I have years following Mary and never heard that story, and that's a testimony of Mary's resilience, not talking much about that. I love her last álbum, absolutely beatiful one, here's the link, enjoy, people: https://open.spotify.com/album/2Mzy8GK53qHtdJK2anfUpk?si=tgYQyHKQTCOgnJLTgXutQA
Yes. Mary Spender. My error. However the story isn’t about her. Mary tells the story. I didn’t type the entire story, other then a brief synopsis, but put the link to the video
Yeah it was a little confusing, then the new video appeared in my recommendations and I understood. The artista name is Mahalia, if others are ever reading this. Appaling story for sure. Music industry executives are real monsters.
Book wise I discovered the Argentinean author Mariana Enriquez and fell in love with her work. She writes horror fiction with a political and social bent that I really appreciate. Her newest collection of short stories is titled "A Sunny Place for Shady People" and it was released a few months ago.
I haven't seen many new films but I thought Dev Patel's directorial debut Monkey Man was a lot of fun. It's a highly stylized action movie with a big heart. And when it comes to television or streaming shows, I really appreciated Nathan Fielder's The Curse. The show's extremely dark, smart and absurd sense of humor was refreshingly adult and appropriate for our times. Fellow David Lynch fans (or fans of British comedy) should enjoy it.
As for music, Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry both released new songs in 2024 that I've enjoyed having on replay. I'm also liking tracks on the new records by Kim Deal and Kim Gordon. And I believe it was you who recommended the new Cerys Hafana single "Child Owlet," which is really lovely so thanks for that, Ted!
My daughter and I LOVED Monkey Man! we especially appreciated the mysticism and folklore elements he incorporated. I grew up with Hindu friends and relatives, so I am quite familiar with the stories of Hanuman :) A truly amazing debut! Going to check out Mariana Enriquez' book, sounds right up my alley, Thanks for the rec!
The Hindu folklore elements were wonderfully done! I really hope Patel makes some more films. And I hope you enjoy Mariana Enriquez if you give her work a try.
Monkey Man was such a delightful surprise for me as well, I loved one of the final scenes towards the end when he gets out of the elevator and everything is red and black. I thought that looked incredibly stylish.
Mei Semones. I loved seeing your positive review of her music which also put a positive light on how the internet and social media can be wonderful. I am FB friends with Mei’s mom, Seiko. We do not know each other in IRL but have a mutual friend Newfoundland dog friend in common, and both own Newfies. I posted your kind words about Mei to FB and tagged Seiko. She has staunchly supported her daughters’ artistic endeavors. I loved the thrill she had in reading your glowing comments. Serendipity can be such a beautiful thing.
New to me in 2024 is the podcast, "The Rest is History." Two British historians discussing wide range of topics from antiquity to the present. They play off each other extremely well. It's entertaining and informative.
I was introduced to it by a work relation as we had a chat about history and he mentioned he listened to it often. I often prefer reading a book to fix the information, but as you say it's quite entertaining and informative.
My son wrote this song about our hometown when he was 16, and the music video just posted. Thanks for watching, and please repost if you like it….young musicians need all the help they can get, and I appreciate Ted and the Substack community!❤️
https://youtu.be/y-2LXxbtOe4?si=Tp2Hc50JdcoJOL8h
It's amaaazing! I was just enjoying it in the living room and my wife screamed from the other room "wow that's great, who's that?!"
Oh my gosh - thank you! Please spread it around, if you are so inclined!❤️
It's wonderful. I subscribed to his Spotify channel. Please tell him to keep writing.
Wonderful! Thank you for your support, Tina! He has more music coming!
What beautiful music and great lyrics. A very nice video too.
A label should sign your son, pronto!
You must be very proud.
Thank you, Ellen! From your lips to God’s ears❤️. Though our friend @the honest broker would probably question whether getting signed by a label is the way to go - it’s a brave new world out there🤷🏻♀️.
True that. I recommend John Strohm's substack about how artists should navigate the business. He is a musician, musician-supportive lawyer, and former head of Rounder Records. Some great posts there -- https://johnpstrohm.substack.com/archive
Oh, this sounds very helpful! Thank you!
Beautiful! Howdy from a Fellow Okie here - loved this!
Greetings, Okie! Thank you for listening!
Lovely! Gracias mil for sharing it!
I was introduced to the book "The artist's way" this year and it's been a real game-changer for me. It's a 12 week workbook to help unlock your creativity.
“The Artist’s Way” IS a game changer. I discovered it probably about ‘94. Attended a music camp for adults that summer, and discovered there were enough of the others like me that week for us to have a “Morning Pages” in the mess hall before our classes started. Inspired Idea, that book and workbook!👍
Julia Cameron is so lovely--my biggest takeaway from her is "morning pages" for my songwriting ideas.
I was reading the artist's way and trying to write the three pages a day when I was brought up short by my other responsibilities. I was taking my mother for her first real vacation to a resort in Hana Maui, and I was writing on the plane and she kept wanting to talk with me. I finally realized that she should be a priority. I'm glad I did. She got kidney failure when she got home and fell into a coma. The doctor told me she was brain dead, but she woke up and the first words she said were, "Wasn't Hawaii beautiful?" She died a year later, and we were closer during that year than ever before in our lives. I never got back to writing my three pages a day. Except now, maybe, on Facebook, and on my substack.
Yeah that's a great one. I loved it too.
I enjoy morning pages....journalling has gotten me through so much!!
Isn't it fabulous. I am on that journey, also. Love it.
I forgot to mention that I also had a childhood dream come true. My friend and I released a song together which you can listen to here https://youtu.be/cM4BtHUk5vo?si=R40E-_h5ZJvZ0Dpr. If I may be so bold it has a bit of a Daft Punk vibe to it. I arranged and played all of the guitar parts. Hope you enjoy
Read Harper’s Sept. issue about the creators of Artist’s Way, fascinating & questions to be pondered.
If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to know about what you find that you’re still pondering after reading this bit in Harpers
New? When there's still so much old discover? Maybe it should be a thread "New to me."
I was listening to the new album Gringo Vol. 1 by Selton, a Brazilian indie rock band in Italy. It's a fun album, and although it's not even my favorite Brazilian album this year (hard to beat Pique by Dora Morelenbaum), it tipped me off to my favorite "new to me" discovery this year.
The first track is a cover of "Sangue Latino" by Secos e Molhados, from 1973. It is transcendent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BliqScxpNRs
Meshell Ndegeocello performing her recent album inspired by James Baldwin, with her extraordinary band live in concert. Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn. This was much more than just music, it was like church, it was the ecstatic restoration of community.
The album "No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin" is incredibly powerful. Great suggestion.
Now this is something I want to check out! Thanks for the suggestion.
Title?
No More Water. Got it.
Music highlights (mostly indie rock / indie adjacent):
Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
Manning Fireworks - MJ Lenderman
Scream from New York, NY - Been Stellar
Charm - Clairo
In Waves - Jamie XX
Romance - Fontaines DC
Love Fontaines DC - thank you, I'll check out the rest.
Going to listen to them all, thanks for posting!
Excellent list!
My favorite movies of the year so far:
1. Hundreds of Beavers - low-budget silent movie that's more inventive than almost any Hollywood movie of the last several years (it came out this year in wide release, despite the 2022 listed release date)
2. Conclave -- I'd recommend this to most people. Intriguing political thriller that is never sensational until it is, a weird twist that's a litmus test for anybody.
3. Evil Does Not Exist -- if there's such a thing as an ambient movie, this is it, except for the ending. Lulls you in until that ending. Not recommended for most until you really can pay attention at great lengths
Overall this has been a much poorer movie year than last year, regarding wide releases in theaters and streaming. Hopefully some of these newer releases in the last month rescue this year a bit (e.g., Anora, Nosferatu, the Brutalist, and uh Gladiator 2?).
Best videogame -- Cocoon. Anybody would love the artwork and gameplay on it, possibly even older people who don't play games.
Been listening to Dave Bristow album on repeat since we saw these guys live earlier this year. So singable and uplifting, which I have needed recently.... https://open.spotify.com/album/3mCY1TIfN4BZsnwdwZg8xx?si=fin9x4_tSJKFfgl3GSAjvQ
The ending of Evil Does Not Exist ruined the whole experience for me
Anora and A Real Pain were the only movies that lived up to their fall release prestige. Anora especially. Its best movie Palm at Cannes is spot on. So many movies floundered imo from Beatlejuice II to the new Saoirse Ronan movie Outrun, which I was excited to see but was so convoluted trying to do a story in the present with constant flashbacks I stopped watching it after renting it for $20 and never returned.
Can anyone just make a great linear film anymore without all these overly artistic images with no substance? I’m a big fan of her movies and this one should have been so much better based off the source material.
At least it wasn’t as bad as Gladiator II, which had no story or character development and I was so bored I almost left the theater except I used the time to take a much deserved nap.
Anora Anora Anora Anora. Besides Nosferatu and the Dylan biopic, which I’m excited to see both, might be the only legitimate great movie shown in theaters all prime time fall season.
Oh I do want to see Conclave too. From what I can tell from critics and word of mouth I will not be disappointed in it. So that’s two!
Cocoon is a really sweet game!! Felt pretty magical and I adore the central mechanic.
I'm going to see Conclave tomorrow at a preview (here in the UK is coming next Friday) so great to read it's been a highlight for you. The cast is brilliant.
thanks for the reminder... I heard about Hundreds of Beavers from the woman graciously filling my popcorn at a local theater while watching Nosferatu on Halloween.
She was over the moon about it and I got the sense she knows her films!
I need to check it out.
Going to see Conclave soon!
Conclave is a woke disaster!
"woke" There is no meaning in that word. It's all euphemism. Can you actually describe in any critical manner what you thought about the movie? Provide some insight.
Thanks for that. Totally agree and mystified by the positive reviews.
Evil Does Not Exist was terrific!
Highly recommend Clarkson’s Farm - perfect blend of education and comedy in a beautiful Cotswolds setting: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/clarksons-farm-review-thank-farmers-protest-esg
Just came across this today somewhere else—definitely going to watch!
The guy is a total wanker – best avoided.
Perfect Days (Win Wenders)
Perfect Days is pure poetry. Absolutely amazing movie.
My favourite film of the year
Perfect Days was beautiful, I was a bit less convinced by Killers of the Flower Moon and could have done with 30 less minutes 😅
Say Nothing on FX is brilliant. Based upon this book by Patrick Radden Keefe: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (https://amzn.to/40YacPD)
I could neither put the book down nor stop watching the show.
A son of the woman who was murdered spoke with The Guardian about how traumatic that TV series has been for him and his siblings.
It's a wakeup call for me. Fictional murder mysteries are one thing, but murder has many victims - the survivors - IRL. It only seems like The Troubles were a long time ago.
I just mentioned the book was one of my highlights this year! I was wondering how the series translated that story on screen so this is very interesting. Glad to know the adaptation does the book justice.
Jon Batiste, "Beethoven Blues". Just out. At the heart of the slightly pretentious marketing (you can purchase it on translucent black ice vinyl) is one of the most gifted musicians of our time, someone passionately alive to the ways music transcends the specific genres and labels we use to identify it.
Oh actually can I add that the best TV series I watched was Slow Horses with Gary Oldman on top form. 4 series in and nowhere near bored of it.
As part of an effort to reclaim my off-hours from the stressful weirdness that characterized the last year or so, I decided that I would not fill my eyeballs with anything that wasn't uplifting and/or educational in the last hour or two before bedtime. I read through a few poetry collections, some nifty music nerd books, and a biography or two, but the thing that really sent me off to dreamland with the best feel-good brainfood was -- no, I'm not kidding -- Japan’s official English-language travel and cultural exchange TV channel, "NHK World Japan.”
NHK is free, and it’s got food shows. Fine arts shows. Traditional handicraft shows. Travel features. Trains. History. Nature. Fashion. Design. Archaeology. Architecture. Tech. Gadgets. Ramen. Religion. Urban planning. Innovation. And SUMO! NHK World Japan is awesome!
You can usually find NHK World Japan down in the nether reaches of your typical big-city cable or nationwide streaming platforms, with all the other mysterious foreign-language channels. It’s also stream-able online here: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld . Check it out; you won’t be disappointed!
(Sorry, wait. one last thing that makes NHK World TV a must-see affair — beyond the fact that it’s FREE — is the fact that everybody in Japan is just so darn polite and friendly, all the darn time. Just watching people going about their business without p*ssing anybody off is refreshing.)
No Art No Life
Document 72 hours
The Professionals
Asia Insight
Today's Close Up
Documentary 360
Core Kyoto
Cycle Japan
Japanology Plus
Anything with goofy Kyle Card in it!
Probably most of you know Mary Spencer. Rick Beato friend. Imagine being a talented artist, signed to a major record label at 13, after meeting Ed Sheeran, your music has been streamed a million times but your record label steals all your money so you can barely afford rent. Let Mary tell the story https://youtu.be/9gjZsLjxN4s?si=vHVYsF_KoVP2T52h
Good Lord, that's appalling! It's like something you wouldn't be surprised to read about happening 50 years ago. Damn.
-Well, it's been an awful year for all sorts of jurisprudence. A lot of us were apprehensive that SCOTUS would take voting rights back to Reagan's '80s. Nobody expected they'd drag it back to the late-50s.
Do you mean Mary Spender? Well, I have years following Mary and never heard that story, and that's a testimony of Mary's resilience, not talking much about that. I love her last álbum, absolutely beatiful one, here's the link, enjoy, people: https://open.spotify.com/album/2Mzy8GK53qHtdJK2anfUpk?si=tgYQyHKQTCOgnJLTgXutQA
Yes. Mary Spender. My error. However the story isn’t about her. Mary tells the story. I didn’t type the entire story, other then a brief synopsis, but put the link to the video
Yeah it was a little confusing, then the new video appeared in my recommendations and I understood. The artista name is Mahalia, if others are ever reading this. Appaling story for sure. Music industry executives are real monsters.
Book wise I discovered the Argentinean author Mariana Enriquez and fell in love with her work. She writes horror fiction with a political and social bent that I really appreciate. Her newest collection of short stories is titled "A Sunny Place for Shady People" and it was released a few months ago.
I haven't seen many new films but I thought Dev Patel's directorial debut Monkey Man was a lot of fun. It's a highly stylized action movie with a big heart. And when it comes to television or streaming shows, I really appreciated Nathan Fielder's The Curse. The show's extremely dark, smart and absurd sense of humor was refreshingly adult and appropriate for our times. Fellow David Lynch fans (or fans of British comedy) should enjoy it.
As for music, Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry both released new songs in 2024 that I've enjoyed having on replay. I'm also liking tracks on the new records by Kim Deal and Kim Gordon. And I believe it was you who recommended the new Cerys Hafana single "Child Owlet," which is really lovely so thanks for that, Ted!
Mariana Enriquez is a monster writer! Please read "Nuestra parte de noche" (if you haven't) whenever you are able, it's a great, longer read.
I finished Nuestra a few months ago and it was fantastic! A heafty read but well worth the effort.
My daughter and I LOVED Monkey Man! we especially appreciated the mysticism and folklore elements he incorporated. I grew up with Hindu friends and relatives, so I am quite familiar with the stories of Hanuman :) A truly amazing debut! Going to check out Mariana Enriquez' book, sounds right up my alley, Thanks for the rec!
The Hindu folklore elements were wonderfully done! I really hope Patel makes some more films. And I hope you enjoy Mariana Enriquez if you give her work a try.
Great film!
Monkey Man was such a delightful surprise for me as well, I loved one of the final scenes towards the end when he gets out of the elevator and everything is red and black. I thought that looked incredibly stylish.
Me too!
Mei Semones. I loved seeing your positive review of her music which also put a positive light on how the internet and social media can be wonderful. I am FB friends with Mei’s mom, Seiko. We do not know each other in IRL but have a mutual friend Newfoundland dog friend in common, and both own Newfies. I posted your kind words about Mei to FB and tagged Seiko. She has staunchly supported her daughters’ artistic endeavors. I loved the thrill she had in reading your glowing comments. Serendipity can be such a beautiful thing.
New to me in 2024 is the podcast, "The Rest is History." Two British historians discussing wide range of topics from antiquity to the present. They play off each other extremely well. It's entertaining and informative.
I was introduced to it by a work relation as we had a chat about history and he mentioned he listened to it often. I often prefer reading a book to fix the information, but as you say it's quite entertaining and informative.