My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music

https://youtu.be/5S36zqxAmAg
5. Ed Schrader's Music Beat – "Daylight Commander". Somehow this mashes several '80s UK indie, goth, postpunk and synthpop buttons simultaneously without me being able to quite pinpoint who it sounds like. It'll probably hit me at 3 in the morning. And they're from Baltimore! #music

https://youtu.be/tbxV0-yg_tU
4. King Krule – "Time for Slurp". From KK's new EP "Shhhhhhh!" comes this 2 and a quarter minute, take-no-prisoners darkwave basher. #music

https://youtu.be/Av440J3y_z0
3. Horse Jumper of Love – "Snow Angel". Leaning into the louder regions of shoegaze, this track from Boston's HJOL almost strays into Nirvana territory. #music

https://youtu.be/XlqC2UfD4hM
2. Mavis Staples – "Worthy". Staples brings her legendary R&B/gospel chops to meet MNDR's neo-soul club beat in this feel-good throwback to her '80s Prince collaborations. #music

My Top 5 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 25):
https://youtu.be/zim5t0hMiZ4
1. Bootsy Collins – "Album of the Year #1 Funkateer". In some cases, "indistinguishable from his other stuff" would be a negative, but when it's Bootsy and his other stuff is stone classic funk from his 1970s heyday, it's a good thing indeed. #music

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Hypnopompic-Diaries-Steve-Carll/dp/B0CS31HFBN

https://youtu.be/-uhYWdXmoyY
I did a livestreamed reading of "Half Dreamt", the second book of Hypnopompic Diaries, from my living room/library in Honolulu in July of 2021. You can watch it on my YouTube channel. Hypnopompic Diaries, Books One and Two is available from AlienBuddha Press and can be purchased at Amazon (link in comments.) #poetry

https://youtu.be/gYwqpx6lp_s
John Oliver takes a deep dive into Project 2025, a right-wing plan to better coordinate around a second Trump presidency so its demolition of democracy can proceed at full speed on day 1. We need to make sure everyone's thoroughly aware of this before they vote.

My playlist of all the songs I can remember hearing on top 40 radio in 1970 when I was three can be found here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIl9uZo19LQmDLH0eCGDNM0s&si=98Yn0-7VCfLUeSv0
#music

https://youtu.be/Yp1GRJIEaPU
5. Eric Burdon and War – "Spill the Wine". A gem produced by the collaboration of ex-Animal Burdon and East L.A.'s War. Burdon talk-sings a fascinating dream story in which he's in a movie, then he's naked in front of a crowd, then a woman appears and gives him some cryptic advice and you're just like, what the hell is he talking about? But it's super funky, so you keep listening even though it never does make a whole lot of sense. #music

https://youtu.be/3r_qd2yxIsM
4. The Guess Who – "American Woman". Much as with "25 or 6 to 4", "American Woman" had me at the hard-rock guitar intro and the strident singing, which seemed like overkill for rejecting a woman but makes more sense when rejecting a country with both a war machine and a ghetto scene. #music

https://youtu.be/lGlXLPsxAAY
3. Santana – "Evil Ways". I was hooked by the funky groove with its distinctive percussion and keyboard sounds. But I always wanted to hear more about Jean and Joan—the mention of their names is oddly specific but we're never given any details about why they're so objectionable. #music

https://youtu.be/D6FNJS23vkU
2. The Spinners – "It's A Shame". Quintessential Seventies soul from the tail end of The Spinners' tenure on Motown (they would have many more hits after jumping to Atlantic). The guitar intro has the "wet" reverb sound common in surf music. I was initially confused by the line "It's a shame the way you mess around with your man", thinking the man he's referring to is someone other than himself, which the next line makes clear isn't the case. #music

My Top 5 Songs as a 3-Year-Old in 1970:
https://youtu.be/N6P2YujV9is
1. Chicago – "25 or 6 to 4". That heavy guitar riff that opens the song really grabbed my attention as a child, but the way it keeps upping the ante by adding hard-hitting horns, an urgent vocal, and an acid-rock guitar solo guaranteed this would still be a favorite 54 years later. #music

My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music

https://youtu.be/0yiUEKFpqeg
2. Moby featuring Lady Blackbird – "Dark Days". Moby's back with his trademark smooth electro/funk/disco (and a surprise psychedelic organ solo) backing Lady Blackbird's earthy, riveting lament. #music

My Top 2 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 24):
https://youtu.be/EgfWl6THOPU
1. Kneecap – "I bhFiacha Linne" ("In Our Debt") Kneecap are a radicalized trio from Belfast who rap in English and Irish. Here they trade bars over a track that reminds me of classic grime, very emergency warning siren. #music

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2024-election-forecast/

Anybody who claims to know who's going to win the election this year is full of crap. We're all going to have to work to get the outcome we want.

https://youtu.be/qE5BWFRETdk

Bernie's podcast guest Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks about how her family's struggles to make a better life for themselves led her to become politically active, and she and Bernie talk about why they're supporting Biden despite profound disagreements over Israel's actions in Gaza.