Things I donāt miss about the past:
- Cassette tapes getting tangled up and ruining the mix-tape you made
- DJs talking over the end of songs when you tried to record the Top 40
- Rotary phones (who has time to wait for it to click all the way back round from 0)
Things I do miss about the past:
- Not being instantly contactable (leave me alone)
- Proper snow
- Listening to albums the way the artist intended
Iām so happy vinyl is making a comeback because that means todayās kids might have some idea of what itās like to listen to an entire album from start to finish, studying the sleeve, and figuring out the story.
Because there are many many ways to tell a story and an album does it with music, lyrics, art, and everything that goes around the album.
Do you know what else kids should have access to?
Secret tracks.
Remember secret tracks? If you’re a youngster reading this ā hello welcome hi ā maybe you have no idea what Iām talking about?
Theyāre like easter eggs for fans. Bit of a gimmick? Maybe. I donāt care. I loved them.
Youād buy an album, youād listen to the entire album, youād stop the record or the tape ā and there it was. Youād see all that tape left at the end. Empty. Silent.
Why was it there?
That swathe of silence was often a good indication that if you kept listening, youād be rewarded with a secret track.
The one that sticks in my head is All By My Myself by Green Day, at the end of their Dookie album. Itās Tre Cool, the drummer, playing guitar and singing at a party. Just a silly little ditty.
Oh, and Crowded Houseās Iām Still Here (haha) at the end of Woodface.
Sometimes thereād be a āsecretā unlisted track at the start, or in the middle, or on a B-side.
I donāt think theyāre so much of a thing anymore; I was a 90s kid, and they were fun for us back then. Hard to hide a track when everythingās digital and on Spotify.
Hereās something else I miss: sleeve notes and sleeve art.
I know albums still have sleeve art, and social media has meant that imagery is still as important as ever ā perhaps itās expanded the scope of sleeve art ā but for me, it doesnāt hold the same storytelling power as it used to.
There was something about opening up a new vinyl album or CD or cassette, and pulling out the sleeve, and opening it up, and finding all the goodies inside. Perhaps thereād be lyrics printed, or the songwriterās original notes, or the backstory to each song.
And the album cover itself was often beautiful. One of my favourites is Fleetwood Macās Tango in the Night. Iād spend hours staring at it and wondering what itād be like in that world, with that music playing.
Albums always felt like a massive collaboration between musicians and artists, and itāll all work together. Sometimes the musicians were the artists, and that was always really cool to learn, too.
So tell me, dear reader:
Whatās your favourite album art?
How about the sleeve notes?
Any secret tracks I should know about?
Okay, time for the Friday Goodie Bag. You ready? Hereās what Iāve gathered for you:
The Liner Notes Project
In writing this email, I found this project, which sadly doesnāt contain the inner sleeves, but it does contain all the info for every album ever, I think. Or at least, itās constantly updated. Not quite what I was after, but if youāre ever wondering about the contents of an album, start here.
Dorothy Porter, the librarian who decolonised the Dewey Decimal System
Have you heard of Dorothy Porter? Probably not, if you look like me. But she was an extraordinary bibliophile who worked as a librarian at the Howard University. She took a look at how books and authors were classified and said, āAbsolutely not.ā Thanks to her pioneering work, Black authors and white authors were no longer segregated, books stood on their topics and merits, not their race or class. And she began to dismantle the Christian supremacy of religious books, which were either āChristianā or āotherā which is what happens when one white dude classifies stuff and nobody else questions it. Her work is still ongoing in libraries around the world.
Will we ever find the perfect way to classify books? Probably not, but itās worth trying.
How the media controls what we think
Iāve been writing a lot about getting off social media and onto peopleās email lists, and reading books, and generally questioning everything ā because mainstream media and social media is controlled by people with an agenda that almost certainly isnāt in our best interests. If youāre in any doubt at all as to whether those people with a sinister agenda are controlling what we think, check out this story Jameela Jamil shared.
She had a great time on a chat show, and the Daily Fail (well known hateful, spiteful, misogynistic, racist shitrag) spun it as her being rude to her hosts. She was not. They took one negative comment made online among thousands of positive ones, and used that one as their clickbait, ragebait, hateful headline.
Be careful where you get your information, and take the time and effort to check your sources.
The menopause by Fleabag
My friend Jocelyn (hiiii) sent me this clip yesterday when we were talking about womenās health and pain and our treatment (and mistreatment) in the medical system, and I think this clip is magnificent. Itās just a couple of minutes. Watch it here.
This beautiful slice of summer holidays
Erik Winkowskiās ZINEMAIL landed in my inbox just as I was writing this, and I just HAD to share it because itās stunning. Please hit āplayā on the little music player before you start scrolling, because the whole package is the most delightful sunny summer holiday day you can imagine. I defy you to feel miserable while experiencing this.
What Iām reading
Currently reading book 2 of The Expanse ā Calibanās War. Iām about to spend the rest of this summer diving deep into space opera, I think. Next up is Iain M. Banksā Culture novels, because Iāve never read them. And Martha Wellsās Murderbot Diaries which have been on my list for a while. Weāll be listening to the first novella in the car on our way to our camping holidayā¦
What Iām writing
A new comedy bit based on my experiences at my hospital appointment yesterday. Nobody in the hospital appreciated my comedy stylings, but Iām sure an audience willā¦
Word of the day
takiwÄtanga
In Maori culture, this is how they refer to autism. It translates to āin his/her own time and spaceā and I cannot express fully how much I love this.
Perhaps use this as a thinking prompt to consider why and how western culture and medicine pathologises everything that deviates even slightly from the abitrarily accepted ānormā and the effect this has on real people.
Quote of the day
āThe real function of art is to change mental patterns making new thought possible.ā āJean Debuffet
Preach.
Make new thought possible, friend. And have a beautiful weekend out there.
p.s. want a good book to read about creativity if your brain fights you? Check out my book Donāt Eat the Frog. Itās really good. If you read it and enjoy it, please leave me a review. Ta!
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