Celebrating Innovators of Stuff
Everyday we stand on the shoulders of giants because stuff has to be invented
Among this week’s music selections: Get images of Thanksgiving cornucopias in your head, but replace the comestibles with compact discs. We’re celebrating a bounty of exciting new discoveries, including some deep soul that sounds like it slipped out the back door of Stax Records; a far-out adventure with a German jazz band whose brought on a notable new collaborator; an excellent piece of new Brazilian shoegaze-grunge; a wonderful soundtrack for driving around the mountains of Colorado; a new album that captures the majesty of Alaskan wilderness; and an exceptional dance music find. All that and more await you…
Does anyone else feel like the word “innovation” has become hollowed out and meaningless lately? Is that just me? The outcomes from the company’s claiming to be generational innovators have hoarded capital and raised costs for consumers in a bunch of essential industries. The scale is tipped more in that direction than signals the last 20 years of unchecked Tech-growth have created value for anyone other than shareholders. Claims of innovation are what immediately precedes the slight of hand trick where unlimited promise is tipped toward enshittification and subscription fees.
“Innovation” is a word that’s tied up with the brand identities of Billionaires who promised Utopia until it was convenient for them to sell out the rest of us and lock down what will probably amount to a generational stranglehold on US policy (as well as defense contracts). In just the past 12 months, the world’s richest people have grown their personal wealth by almost $700 Billion, which is roughly 10x more than is needed to solve global poverty from a policy perspective. But, instead they’re hoarding it like dragons. Maybe those fairy tales were allegorical, and we need to send in some knights.1 We’re all damsels in distress now, but our salvation won’t be deus ex machina based on how things are looking. That’s a bummer with repercussions.
If we (humans in the geographical territory known as the United States) can’t collectively believe in the power of something like innovation, then it becomes hard to imagine how the future ever gets better. Innovation is essential to future improvement, because the status quo sucks. The signals are there.
It might be the increasing meaninglessness that’s contributing to results like recent Pew research revealing 63% of Americans are pessimistic about the future of the country. So, there’s not a huge partisan divide about that. Being unhappy is our common ground — a grumpy majority. We’re just not collectively doing a good job of focusing on the root causes (i.e. hyper-concentration of wealth).
We need to be able to imagine what a better future looks like in order to be happy, and that’s going to require some innovative thinking. It’s pretty obvious we need new and different approaches to solve problems because unfettered capitalist globalism isn’t doing the trick. Trickledown Economics starts with “trick” too. And, what appears to be trickling down isn’t economic benefits but increased suffering.
But, we shouldn’t let our collective pessimism blind us to the importance of “real” innovation (as opposed to its hollow use in quarterly shareholder reports). We should create a vision of the future from a place of joy. That’s why it’s important we all pause for a moment on the obituary of Burt Meyer, a legendary Chicago-based toymaker.
Meyer passed away last week at the age of 99, and we’re celebrating his life because he invented the classic board games Mouse Trap, as well as Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and Lite Brite. Think about how much happiness he created with his innovative toys! There was no subscription model pricing — no in-game upsells. Just a thing that people had fun with together. What a sensation.
Another important innovator who deserves to be remembered for a moment — an unsung local hero from the past — is Seth Wheeler of Albany, NY who filed the first patent for the toilet paper roll. Even the things that blend into the fabric of daily life had to be invented at one point or another. And just because something has been a certain way doesn’t mean it needs to be that way forever. Maybe we’d all be better off on the receiving end of a warm, cleansing spray from a high-end Japanese toilet bidet in the future? Is Big Paper keeping us all chaffed?
And last but definitely not least, John Glenn was not only an astronaut but also had a lasting impact on the modern English language thanks to an innovative use of the term “glitch” to refer to an electrical short in a spaceship. Glenn was the first person to use “glitch” in an electrical context, and from there it’s use expanded to describe a sub-genre of electronic music. Let this be further evidence that you never know how an action of yours might change the world.
This week’s picks walk the line between innovation and tradition. #ListeningHabit
DeRobert and the Half-Truths - “Nothing to Prove” b/w “I Would Die”
When the going gets tough, sometimes you just need to cook with some deep, funky soul. It’ll only take you about 5 seconds to realize how hot the A-side is off this recent single. The drums are something that you can only experience because they defy language.
This Nashville-based group is contemporary even though their sound is absolutely classic late ‘60s/early ‘70s horn-section soul. These folks might reside in Nashville, but the vibe on the B-side is pure Memphis. If Willie Mitchell had produced something with William Bell, it might’ve popped like this. A real pick-me-up.
And after I had mentioned this single on BlueSky a couple of days ago, it triggered an excellent follow-up recommendation from LH kindred spirit, poet of the people and record aficionado Raven Mack. This 2016 single from the Coolin’ System called “I Need Some Money” was released on the same label (GED Soul) and includes several overlapping band members. Excellent chaser, if that first pick has you in the right mood.
Web Web - Plexus Plexus
This new album from a Munich-based jazz troupe features contributions on guitar from the German funk-meister JJ Whitefield (Poets of Rhythm, Karl Hector and the Malcouns), which adds a fuzzy psychedelic quality to what has historically been more of a traditional jazz outfit. But the meeting of the minds works in not-so-mysterious ways. The album’s opener “Apotheosis” has that fuzzed-out, late-60s biker movie soundtrack feel to it, but it’s contrasted by the cheshire cat pounce of a jazz break backing “The Madness of Ajax”.
If you’re only going to listen to one to make up your mind, I’m jamming “Mysia” on repeat for the Caravan-esque organ riffs that harken back to a polished update of Korla Pandit, or the absolutely beautiful slow sax groove on “Bird’s Lament”. This is a great listen front to back.
Oruã - Slacker
When I come across an album boldly titled Slacker, it’s sets some expectations — there are very specific, subjective associations that creates musically. But this excellent Brazilian band somehow checks all the boxes. Press play on “Casual” and immediately get swept away by a wave of impeccable ‘90s nostalgia. And that’s not to say it’s derivative, but that I am transported. You could call this a timeless form of alternative rock delivered with great measures of taste and skill.
Regular readers may recall a mention of Oruã back in late September due to a split LP with Reverse Death out of Seattle released by Half Shell Records (LH140: News, Notes and New Releases #2). It was the first I’d heard of them, but there are devotees of the Brazilian scene that have been plugged in for a couple albums now. This is just a pitch-perfect grunge-y shoegaze situation. No notes.
Golden Brown - Patterner
Golden Brown is a long-running project from Stefan Beck who is rejoined on this newest record by cellist Sara Beck (I assume their shared last name is not a coincidence, but I haven’t done any research besides listening to this album a couple of times now). The intermingling of cello, acoustic guitar and various electronics creates a soundscape in the key of Colorado mountain drives. Blast this headed southbound on 285 and then turn up and over Guanella Pass. All good.
Stefan is also a contributor to the longform open-range mood music of Prairiewolf, which gives you a starting point for the range (literal and figurative). I almost described this as a departure from his last album, but that’s not correct. It’s really more of a refinement. There are some choices about where to put focus that raise the level of the work, and the songs that include the additional underlying structure of the cello achieve transcendence in spots. The title track is a magnificent painting of a desert dawn that captures the light just right. You can see the brushstrokes if you get up close to the canvas, but from a few feet away, it’s like you’re there.
Saapato - In Alaska
Speaking of being transported by sound, the newest album from the Hudson Valley-based artist Saapato is the result of a residency program with the National Park Service in 2023 where he created site-specific field recordings in Alaskan wilderness and then used those recordings as the foundation for new music.
Within those field recordings are whales and birds, but also tourists and helicopters. It’s not just untouched majesty, but the intersection of time, technology and humanity with remote locales.
In Alaska really a lovely listening experience. It’s not the sort of thing you jam on the way to dance rehearsal, but more like a record where you have space to experience sound and its relationship to place. Slow down for a spell. Put on headphones. Be transported by the power of vibrations.
Weval - Chorophobia
Shout out to Evan for recommending this whip-smart dancefloor shaker. Press play to start with “Open Up That Door” featuring a vocal cameo from KILIMINJARO and get swept up in it. But don’t expect that exact thing throughout because this is a real dance music adventure…
That’s chased by the ice-castle electro-trance of “Mercator” and just when you think your heart might explode, the record closes with the anthemic “Free” and the whole thing reaches a new plateau. This is an album structured by people who know about dancefloor experiences, and their production is just the right blend of crisp, smart and catchy af. Not a hair out of place. The album opener climbs out of a wild Giallo binge-watch and gets ready for the evening. Then a wild function pops off across the rest of the songs…
This is great as a whole album. If you like Jacques Greene-type situations, this one is for you. “Moving On” is another standout.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for spending some time listening with us. We’ll be back next week with something completely different. Until then, let the quality of the experience be your guide.
This “dragons and knights” metaphor ties back nicely with regards to the Future Medieval trend in LH-124: Three Hot Trends You Need Right Now.