#4 - simulations
You can skip to this week’s playlist on Spotify or scroll to the end.
This week’s playlist was supposed to be about feeling like you’re living in a simulation, or wanting to create one. It was prompted by listening to the new Big Thief album a lot, including the track Simulation Swarm (this stripped down version is gorgeous, too). Adrianne Lenker said it was inspired by a series of intense experiences including her hospitalization, upbringing in a religious cult, and estranged brother. The playlist’s expanded a bit to be in part about feeling like, or seeing that, the world around you is surreal or bizarre, from our silly little daily routines to larger social circumstances.
In that sense, many of the songs and lyrics feel random or slightly chaotic, perhaps none more than Chaos Space Marine off Black Country, New Road’s new album. They described it saying, “It’s our silly song. It’s a voyage. It’s a sea shanty. It’s a space trip.” It fits the theme tangentially, but I made the connection because (well, because I just really love the album, but also) 1. it’s fun and surreal and 2. it somehow reminded me of the escapism in looking at the world around us and, finding it difficult to accept as it is, thinking: this must be a simulation / a dystopia / a sci-fi novel. Nation of Language’s This Fractured Mind asks: “Do you think that I could simulate my life, but done a better way?”
A friend recently shared this article about a conspiracy theory that the internet died 5 years ago. Much like a conspiracy theory would, it’s packaged in ridiculous claims, but at the core, it seems people are just disillusioned by how bloated the internet’s become with automated content and ads desperately trying to make you buy more stuff. These are some real and valid concerns, but perhaps not so entertaining.
On the topic of dramatizing reality, Cairokee’s Dinosaur is a ridiculous song walking a personified Sphinx through modern day Egypt and a chorus that roughly translates to "I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw a dinosaur or a penguin getting drunk on the street corner”, but is packed with sociopolitical commentary (including a commonly censored line about territories sold to Saudi Arabia).
Towards the end of the playlist is Bartees Strange’s cover of Lemonworld by The National. When I saw him live, I was a huge fan of his original music but had no idea he had a whole EP covering The National (one of my favorite bands). When he asked “Who here is a fan of The National?” and started singing his version of Lemonworld, it felt like I coded the moment, tailored for myself (regardless of the fact that venn diagram of fans is probably quite big, I was just very happy). On Hanif Abdurraqib’s podcast Object of Sound, Bartees spoke of his own interpretation of the song saying, “I remember being in Brooklyn and thinking, everyone’s so rich but me.” He was working long hours and watching white kids in the neighborhood just, making music, and feeling pissed about how different the realities of people in the same space can be.
Speaking of being confused by your surroundings, Zoo Eyes is on here solely because of the lines “why, what am I doing in Dubai? at the prime of my life?” which I listened to many times while in Dubai, asking myself the same question. The friend who rec’d this song said Aldous Harding wasn’t talking about Dubai at all, it just kinda rhymed, which for some reason made me love it even more.
10 songs
(Spotify)
Simulation Swarm - Big Thief
The Government - Glassio
This Fractured Mind - Nation of Language
Simulation - Smallpools
Chaos Space Marine - Black Country, New Road
Dinosaur - Cairokee
Sleepwalkin’ - Daydreamin’ Version - Better Oblivion Community Center
Lemonworld - Bartees Strange
Zoo Eyes - Aldous Harding
That Funny Feeling - Bo Burnham
Whether his podcast, his poetry, or his books, I’m a big fan of Hanif Abdurraqib’s work, and I recommend all of it. His commentary and interviews make me want to appreciate music in more thoughtful, inquisitive, and generous ways, and his writing makes me want to write.