Last night I went out. Got some basic provisions at the cornershop five minutes from me. Had a silly conversation with the Indian guy behind the counter about taking care of his hair. He had a fine, slightly unruly but frankly enviable mop .Like the hair I had myself when I was a teenager. Most of it long gone now.
I lifted up my shabby porkpie hat and proffered my sad, bald dome at him as if I were an elderly primate, indicating deference to a younger rival. My intention was to show him the danger of not tending to your roots on a daily basis if you're young and have good hair. Why it's important to show diligent care. Combing stringently. Briskly. I think he thought I was slightly mad. Then I came back and listened to Ichiko Aoba's Luminescent Creatures with headphones on at my desk as the clock ticked remorselessly towards the midnight hour.
I don't want this to become a political blog. With daily rants about the powers that be. 'Who force us to live like we do'. They do though Chrissie.Don't they love. Whether we like it or not. I don't want to switch course and start ranting about politics on a daily and undiluted basis. Like some nutter on a soapbox. At Hyde Park Corner on Sunday morning. I think this would just become boring quickly and I don't want to bore people.Never mind people. I don't want to bore myself. The political bloodstream I see as toxic and diseased frankly. It always has been. But especially now. The gloves are off. Haven't you noticed?
Real life discourses are invading the narrative of It Starts (such as it is. It's a blog, I know we're not talking War & Peace here. I do try mind). But I'm getting distracted by the tenor of these days. Meaning I don't feel I can just say. Oh here's a great record. Here's another great record. Isn't it cool. It sounds a bit like Pavement. It sounds like The Byrds. I think they've been listening to The Beatles psychedelic phase records. Or The Go Betweens. 'It's the second best album they've done so far.' Do just this every day. It would be disengenuous of me. Bad writing. Bad appreciation.
Elon Musk is on the march. Haven't you heard. Elon is coming. He fancies himself as Napoleon that guy. If Napoleon were reborn. White, South African and deranged. And deeply racist and dangerous. We all need to be aware of that and one thing I was brought up by diligent parents to be is to be honest whenever I can. For better or worse.The times they are a changing. Yeah Bob, they're changing again ! They're always changing of course but we don't always notice.We need to now.
So a record like Luminescent Creatures is very welcome. It offers escape. That's much needed now. Pastoral respite. Folk. Calm. The idyllic. It's not The Clash and even though I love the Clash it wouldn't be a good idea to listen to them all the time. We crave some light and shade. Righteousness. Defiance..Guidance, They're all fundamental human responsibilities. But sometimes we also need peace.We need to recharge our batteries occasionally. For the fight.
Luminescent Creatures offers peace. Plenty of it. Tranquility. Harmony. An opposite gambit to political activism. We can't spend all our lives on the barricades .This is almost a polar opposite to that approach.To Clash City Rockers for example. It's a calm record. Like a tranquil garden park in Kyoto. Or somewhere similar. A dream landscape. There are vocals but they are in Japanese and seem designed primarily to lull you to sleep. Good idea.Go to sleep when you can. Sweet dreams. It's almost the weekend.
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