Vol. 19
In this issue: Favorite Music of 2022 | Now Read This | Parting Shot |
Oh hello, here we are again at Substack! Alas, my former host is no longer offering newsletter service and advised me to find a new home. I’ll be here for the foreseeable future. I’m pretty sure I was able to transfer everyone’s subscriptions over, so hopefully there’s nothing y’all need to do (unless you want to sign up for a paid subscription, or share this newsletter with someone who you think might like it - either would make me happy/grateful!).
Now, let’s get on with it:
In 2007, I was working as co-editor for the now-defunct Dane101 news/culture/arts site. We had decided to run the usual year-end lists, and my assignment in particular was to look back and determine my “top 5 Madison events” (whatever that meant). It was around the same time that an internet friend introduced me to his annual mixtapes that put together some of his favorite new releases from the year.
It occurred to me that I’d stopped really paying attention to new releases once I graduated and stopped working at the college radio station (shoutout WSUM) several years prior. As a lifelong lover of music, it felt wrong and frankly a little pretentious to just give up like that. There’s nothing like the music that wraps itself around your brainstem when you’re a teenager or young adult, of course, but that doesn’t mean music ceases to be relevant and/or great as you get older.
I took it as an opportunity to challenge myself and, hopefully, share some good tunes with others along the way. And so my yearly “best of” mixes began. At first, they were carefully curated mix CDs handed out to friends and loved ones. I went so far as to design and print out custom covers and track lists for them. But then streaming came along, and being able to maintain and add to a playlist all year long opened up how many songs/artists I could include.
Plus, it saved me a ton of money on physical materials! But I also stopped actually buying music, which didn’t feel good either. These days, I still rely on the streaming playlist to create the mix, but at the end of each year, I make sure to go back and purchase all of the songs (or albums) that make it on, either digitally through platforms like Bandcamp where the majority of the profit actually goes to the musicians, or by trekking out to our local indie record shop for a good, old fashioned CD or vinyl record (seems that younger generations are coming around to appreciating physical media again, too). I encourage you all to do the same with your favorite music of the year! Especially if it’s local (and if you’re looking for great recommendations for Madison-based artists, check out Tone’s year-end list and compilation).
Em’s Favorite Music of 2022:
Click here for my playlist of favorite music from 2022, including artists like The Linda Lindas, Little Simz, Angel Olsen, SZA, The Soft Moon, Tank and the Bangas, Carla Morrison, Yumi Zouma, and Monica Martin.
If you’re curious about that first list from 2007, you can still find it here (along with 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021).
Stay safe and warm out there, friends!
Now Read This.
“I Was Thrilled to Get Married. I Resent That We Need a ‘Respect for Marriage Act’”
I officiated this wedding! More importantly, Liz Zaretsky makes some important points here about a topic I mull quite often: “I am supposed to be grateful that Congress is taking action to protect my marriage, but the truth is that I resent it. My marriage should not need to be protected, and nor should anyone else’s.” (I don’t think government should be involved in marriage at all, but that’s an essay for another day)
“Stop Debating Abortion” [Jessica Valenti]
“Every time we engage in a conversation about the morality of abortion, we are accepting a premise that says our humanity is up for debate…what kind of credibility does the anti-abortion movement have? They don’t have science or popular opinion on their side—nor do they have the moral high ground, despite their best efforts to claim as much. The only thing that they have is us, continually showing up to defend ourselves as if our beliefs and humanity need defending.”
“No one wanted Princess Fiona. Then the balding, potbellied pitbull met a little girl.” (via the Washington Post - GIFT LINK) If you need a good happy-cry, read this. And please, adopt! Don’t shop. xoxo
“The Democrats’ ‘crime problem’ is a self-inflicted wound” [Scott Gordon for Tone]
“The real scandal here is not that ‘crime is up’—a generalization that we must always take with a barrel of salt—or that violent offenders escape the system’s clutches only to hurt and kill more people. The scandal is that we don’t have an actual public-safety apparatus worthy of the name in this country. Our leaders have failed to think about all sorts of different interventions throughout a person’s life that could have steered them away from harmful and destructive behavior and instead invest billions upon billions in the absolutely wrong tools for the job. We keep making the same decisions on crime while expecting different outcomes. Meanwhile, politicians knowingly abandon people to death or grievous injury at the hands of the cops.”
“An Opaque Bisexuality” [Lux Alptraum]
"Rather than identifying as bisexual because I want people to ‘understand’ me better, I identify this way because I want people to realize that they cannot understand me, that bisexuality is impossible to pin down and constantly in flux, and that that is what is so beautiful about it."
Parting Shot.
Despite it being around 0F at the time, a large group of folks came out for the annual winter solstice bonfire at Olbrich Park in Madison this last week. It’s one of my favorite local traditions. “Wishkeepers” wander the crowd handing out slips of paper to write your hopes for the new year on, which are then cast in the fire. And there’s hot chocolate, a drum circle, and plenty of dancing hippies. What’s not to love? Here’s to the return of the light!
‘Til next time.
Thanks for reading! Hit me up in the comments section with any questions, comments, suggestions, and tips on great hiking spots. And please feel free to forward this email to a friend and/or hit that subscribe button. xoxo
I gave you a a shit ton of CDs in an exchange and those were parts of 2 songs on it!
Just remember to avoid A-11 or B-17 at the jukebox!!