Consuming the Tangible

I get people trying to get clicks and views for their sites, especially music sites. You want artists and labels to sit up and take notice, build relationships and – for many folks – get those advance promos. It’s a cool feeling, and I won’t like that I’ve developed some great relationships with bands whose music I’ve “promoted” by featuring here on Consuming the Tangible. But that’s never been the point here, and there’s a hidden value in being small. I’ve always positioned the site as a place for me to work out what the music I collect says about me. And though I fail at that more often than I succeed, that remains the central conceit. So this week’s playlist is the result of being numb, of finding it harder to feel things.

You can probably guess the tracks that came from recommendations from friends. Natural Magic was a pick from my friend Baxter who shares my love of krautrock and bands who love their krautrock history, and Erik turned us all on to the glory of Lamb and their insane video for “B Line” as well as the jangly indie rock of Moonbabies.

The Exodus, Overkill, and Zappa came from me (obviously). Those were the real comfort nuggets in this week’s playlist. The Zappa especially – I got Zoot Allures on vinyl and have been playing that as well as the Lumpy Money project in between bouts with The Velvet Underground, whose Matrix Tapes show just how great a live band the latter configuration (minus John Cale) could be. My infatuation with the Grateful Dead continues – I subscribed to this year’s Dave Picks series which is a pair of “transitional” sets from the beginning of ’78, and since the Dave’s Picks aren’t really shareable on streaming I grabbed a fun version of “Lazy Lightning” from the previous year.

Be safe, be good to each other. See you next week.