looking ahead: registration for January collage classes are OPEN—there’s even an early bird rate if you sign up for “Is This Art” Collage online workshop before 1/1 and you can get a digital giftcard and gift a class to a loved one!
liner notes for a chaotic year
The past few years, I've assembled a top 10 in photos but this year, well, this year has been complicated. There were some really great times, usually involving waterfalls, teaching or new art friends. There has also been a pile of loss and grief, some public and global, and some private. Y'all know I don't mind sharing but, to follow some solid writing advice of writing from the scar and not the wound, I have something else for you to carry you through the literal darkest days: music.
Sure, I could screenshot my apple music most loved list, or dump links to the many new artists you all shared when prompted but this is my playlist. Since succumbing to digital music sites, I have made playlists for seasons, to bookmark new music or a answer a mood. Since I can't dig through my cassette tapes1 I like to have a playlist ready. Unlike my gym playlist which helps distract me from the reality that I am walking and not going anywhere, this playlist had an order. Some of you remember mix tapes: the agony of timing the perfect song that won't be cut off at the end or leave a two minute emptiness open to interpretation, choosing highs and lows while attempting to share just the right amount of hidden messages. I've been collecting these songs since August and now, for you, edited the list into its final one hour form. It is chaotic, with bigs ups and downs, new music, old favorites and probably at least one song you already know.
And I am including notes because I am a writer not a musician.
Here you go.
this year
emily king: this year : I made a call for new music from y'all and this is the first song that stuck with me. I think it was sent from HanaKyle and I played it on repeat. It is catchy, melodic and builds into defiance. this year's gonna be about me, never will I have another reason to doubt me
the mountain goats: choked out : I have not made it to a live music show yet, post-concussion though I keep trying. I had tickets to see the Mountain Goats in August, outside in Portland hoping the open air would dissolve some of the reverberations. But at 5 pm I realized wasn't going to make it, too exhausted and unprepared for more noise. Often I think my symptoms have resolved, and they are so much better than a year or two ago but I also find noisy social situations more draining than before. Headaches tend to return when I feel depleted and sometimes I choose not to challenge my brain with One More Thing. Even if that thing is the only band I listened to for a few years. To prepare for the show I misses, I searched through more recent albums and still cling to this gem. I can see the future it's a real dark place
the bleachers: I wanna get better: So, look, I never claimed to know a lot about music--should I have led with this? Did I bury the secret that I am not even close to a critic but want to dance and sing along and feel something? There's a lot of non-pop music I like that accomplishes this but post-concussion I struggled with discordant sounds and irregular timing. I embraced what I already loved because I knew what to expect. I wasn't interested in pop music relationships until I realized that one dude was producing a bunch of stuff I was screaming along to in the car. Not only am I late to the party, but I'm late to a basic party and that's ok. This playlist is about making it through the year. These are the songs I'll be singing into midnight on December 31 so I can wake up on January 1st and listen to André 300 New Blue Sun and get on with my life. I'm just over here screaming I WANT TO GET BETTER until my voice is hoarse and maybe maybe maybe I find a way forward. Is that what you look for in a karaoke song--total loss of inhibition and emotional dump? Is 2024 the year I finally try karaoke?
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