Tiny letter #8
A DEEP DIVE INTO A GREAT TUNE
The Smiths - How Soon Is Now
As Steven Wilson said, and I am fond of repeating, there is too much of everything. It's so easy to go down the YouTube rabbit hole and forget where you started. But among the pile of content are some real gems. This breakdown of The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now is genius. To start, did you know that the iconic riff was borrowed from Bo Diddley? Second, Morrissey apparently did not like harmony vocals, so guitarist Johnny Marr substituted guitar parts instead. Whether you geek out on musical inside baseball, or you just like the song, there's much to love here.
AND NOW WE MUST PRAISE THE INTERNET
Speaking of finding useful things, I had to update some software that is notorious for having a lot of dependencies. In plain English, that means that part a relies on part B, which relies on part C, and then you need part D, but it must be a certain version, and then you need to add a special line which excludes some of the features of part C…
Configuring this type of thing is one of my least favorite tasks at the screen. I was getting frustrated, as I often do when things don't work right away, because I am an impatient baby, so I did a web search for a tutorial, and the very first thing that came up demonstrated best practices for setting up the software in a very clear, step-by-step manner, and also provided a set of sample files. I watched the video, grabbed the files, and everything worked perfectly. I sent a thank you to the tutorial's creator. Sometimes, the Internet gives you exactly what you need.
COLD WAR MUSIC SHARING
In Soviet Russia, X-Ray…
(I can’t think of one)
During the Cold War, just about anything from the West was forbidden. In the 1980s, I heard stories that if you were going to visit Moscow, to bring extra pairs of blue jeans and cartons of cigarettes. Apparently they were prime currency. Western music was also forbidden, but ingenious entrepreneurs and music fans discovered that discarded x-rays could be used as a medium to make records, in place of traditional vinyl.
What happened was, it's 1946 or so. The Second World War is over but a much colder war has begun, and in the Soviet Union a lot of culture was subject to a censor, whether it be art, paintings, architecture, film. In St. Petersburg — Leningrad, as it was then — a guy turned up, and he had a war trophy with him. That war trophy was what's called a recording lathe: It's like a gramophone in reverse, a device which you can use to write the grooves of music onto plastic. People who came into his shop observed what he was doing, and, as is the Russian way, they "bootlegged" his machine and made their own machines.
Bones And Grooves: The Weird Secret History Of Soviet X-Ray Music : NPR
In Cold War Russia, getting your hands on an American rock record was close to impossible. But a few bootleggers found a way to hide their contraband in the last place anyone would think to look.
CAN SOMETHING NEW BE SAID?
On polarization, disinformation, and split realities
I had bookmarked a few articles about political polarization, and was prepared to link to them with some commentary, but I can't say I've heard anything terribly novel in this arena lately. It's a strange thing to ponder, knowing that virtually everyone reading this newsletter, I think, is part of the same, shared, fact-based reality. Even writing the words "fact-based reality" is weird. Like there is another one, based on speculation or what we imagine to be true? It snowed this afternoon, I watched it fall outside my window. Yet someone will claim that it didn't, and I have to consider their "viewpoint," as if it merits consideration.
Instead I'm going to link to a thoughtful piece on police reform, because it is a more balanced, and arguably hopeful take, on a perennial problem.
David Couper was Madison's chief of police when I was a kid growing up here, he held the position for 21 years. Couper directed police away from confrontation and towards cooperation.
Couper’s philosophy of respecting — and even encouraging — free speech and assembly offered a nationwide blueprint for police to ditch militarized crowd control tactics that, decades of research shows, more often escalate violence rather than prevent it.
“Why does it have to be the police versus people who want to protest? Why can’t police be there to facilitate protest?” Couper said in an interview. “When I started thinking along those lines, it all made sense.”
I especially appreciate his offer to meet with protesters ahead of a protest. Of course, this is a bit more challenging considering that the protests of last summer were against police misconduct.
STRAIGHT UP FUNNY
What podcast episode synopses sound like sometimes
Question: When we close our eyes, do we disappear? You’d think the answer is no—but it’s a lot more complicated than that, although the answer is still no. For the real explanation, we talk to an 104-year-old beekeeper in the Canary Islands and my cat Patricia.
Read them in “podcast voice” to enhance the effect.
The cost of solar keeps falling
In 2009, solar was the most expensive energy source and in 2019 it’s the cheapest.
This is exciting, and will change the world in ways that we haven't yet figured out.
FAVORITE ALBUM
Outlander is (was?) a Milwaukee hard rock trio. They are one of the best unsigned, virtually unknown bands I've ever heard. They sound like a combination of Rush, Soundgarden, Led Zeppelin, and Tool. Great songwriting, exceptional musicianship, and the music of a certain style and feel I've not heard much of lately. Perhaps the closest current match is Greta Van Fleet. Outlander has a website so atrocious I'm not even going to link to it. You just have to trust me on this one. Here’s a full sample track.
Find their album on iTunes or tracks on Spotify. (If you listen on the latter, don't confuse them with an electronica act of the same name.)
The relative inaccessibility of their music has me philosophizing about the value and endurance of art, but I will save that for another day.
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