Sunday, April 24, 2016

Click (Music): Permanent Highs, Moths on Hot Stuff, Satellites and Dancing Barefoot

"Permanent High" by Work Drugs

I can't take the euphoria associated with optimal gut health in heavy doses. I put aside time for kombucha on weekends, sauerkraut and tempeh every fourth Wednesday of the month, kimchi comes in spurts and sour pickles make the menu when the rest of my refrigerator is empty. That seems to be enough euphoria for me. When I saw, via NPR, that there are so many more probiotics to be had (I'm talking loaded cold brew coffee, granola, desserts and nut butters) I started to breakout in probiotic sepsis fevers. Can I exist on a permanent high? Will there be a place in the future where I can't avoid it? Will my darling little Thin Mints someday be crawling with bacteria?



"Streets" by Sofia Hardig

What if Kim Deal craved husmanskost, lingonberry jam, kotbullar and surstromming instead of Mexican?



"Moths to a Flame" by The Virginmarys

As my family and I drove to the zoo today, Janet Jackson sang about moths to flames on our radio. In front of us was an SUV with a bumper sticker that said "I don't have friends, I have family." The bumper sticker didn't seem to fit with the other ones on the car (or what was going on inside the car) so I remember dismissing it as stupid. "Moths to a Flame" by the Virginmarys has me rethinking that sticker. Maybe it isn't as stupid as I originally made it out to be. The songs camaraderie, the urgent need to continue sticking together in the face of demons like drug addiction and mental health is as important of a message as they come. Sometimes what your friends need isn't a friend. Sometimes they need something more. Boil that down over a few hours and I guess you wind up with something very similar to "I don't have friends, I have family."



"Satellite" by Sara Hartman

I recently watched a Charlie Sheen movie about satellite communications and aliens wearing human skin as they infiltrated NASA. I found the movie hollow and meek, like a flavorless hummus. Sara Hartman's "Satellite" resides on the complete opposite pole from this movie. It is big, bold and filling. Everyone else will have you think it is the song of the summer. I tell you it is the song of right now.



Covers:

"Dancing Barefoot" by Her Majesty (Patti Smith Cover) 

JP and Her Majesty have returned with a re-imagination of Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot." Of all the songs to re-imagine why this track? JP says, "When I heard the original, its psychadelic undercurrents and garage punk poetry resonated for me on a deep, intuitive level. The lyrics delivered in Patti Smith's iconic maelstrom jumped out of my laptop speakers and hinted at the mystical aspects of life, birth, and the transcendence of death. I wanted to highlight the implied aspects of the original, that sense of losing oneself in another being, the awareness that with each beginning there is an end, and, in doing so, make it a lush, herMajesty song."



Videos:

"Now is the Time of Emotion" by Prince Rama

Because who hasn't dreamed of turning the wine and cheese crowd that frequents art shows into a cake and soup one?



"Are We Alive" by Augustines

Years ago I caught a punk band in Gainesville who performed with an interpretive dancer. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. I also thought that was the gig for me. Kids, jobs, health insurance and white picket fences have kept me from becoming that dream. We can't all be Big Jeff.




Get All of 2016's Click Tracks (when available) in One Spotify Playlist:

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