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Although one of my favorite artists of all time and I've said this quite a few times over the years is Thelonious Monk. Which reminds me, a film that I saw recently that I think everybody should see is Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat. It's a documentary about Patrice Lumumba, who liberated the Congo, the Democratic Public and Congo and then unfortunately died not too long after that. It's the story of that juxtaposed with jazz music. I saw this movie in New York City and I know in New York City you get access to things sometimes that you might not get access to all around the country, but if you should definitely hunt this movie down and see it. I've seen it twice and it is one of the most exciting films I've seen in this, I guess they call, award season or whatever. I sure hope it wins or gets nominated for an Academy Award because I mean considering how dark ultimately the subject matter is so full of joy and life and just beautiful performances of jazz music particularly of Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, the music they used to make together, which I just find so remarkable . It's funny, I guess that I started off by saying I recommend quiet, but I guess I must be into extremes. I either like quiet or I like to hear Abbey Lincoln laying it all out there. I guess the noise I don't like. It's just kind of idle chithatters, you know, static or mediocre music or it just seems to be so much noise around to keep people from a higher awareness of things. Distraction, noise as distraction. I'm not a fan of that.
Feb 12, 2025
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This is on Kanopy! Kanopy is free with a library card in most places in the country! No hunting required.
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one of the very best documentaries of 2024, soundtrack to a coup d’etat covers the events following the independence of the congo, how far belgium and the US were willing to go to stop it, the international response from world leaders on the horrific treatment of the congolese people, and how black american jazz musicians grappled with it all.
the film is incredibly edited and dense with astounding footage from the period, culminating in a barrage of sight and sound. soundtrack feels like one long tragic jazz song.
Jan 14, 2025
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listening to a movie soundtrack on vinyl is so sick because all of the intentionality of putting a record on, playing it, flipping it, etc. in tandem with the intentional composition of a movie soundtrack for certain scenes and the arc of the film in general makes you feel like you're in a movie for the run of the record. my personal favorites:
- shaft (isaac hayes, 1971)
- superfly (curtis mayfield, 1972)
- the social network (trent reznor + atticus ross, 2010 – they also did the challengers soundtrack!)
bonus: if your life is a movie (fr) i think getting past the "poser" anxiety and just buying your favorite albums on vinyl and listening to them as the soundtrack for your life brings the same vibe. for me:
- time traveler + wagenmuzik (gum.mp3)
- room 25 + telefone (noname)
- ctrl (sza)
- starboy (the weeknd)
- the misseducation of lauryn hill (lauryn hill)
- what's goin' on (marvin gaye)
- channel orange (frank ocean)
...among others
bonus bonus: jazz. miles davis, duke ellington, stevie wonder, sun ra, pick your poison
Feb 11, 2025
Jan 7, 2025
Top Recs from @michael-shannon
I like to take long walks, typically in the park. I live in Brooklyn, New York and I like to walk around Prospect Park. At the south end of the park there's a little area with a couple of benches in it, like a little sanctuary and I like to go over there to sit on the bench and watch all the different birds out in the pond. I like to go there in all different kinds of weather and see how it changes throughout the year. I just really get a kick out of nature and it actually can be pretty quiet there sometimes, which is hard to find in New York City.
Feb 12, 2025
Oh my God, this guy Henry Taylor, I saw that exhibit at the Whitney. I took everyone I knew to go see the exhibit. I must have seen it seven or eight times. This guy is the most brilliant painter I have seen in a long, long time. I actually got the coffee table book. I never get the coffee table book. He just moved me to tears. He did a painting of Philando Castile getting shot that's one of the most powerful works of visual art I've ever seen in my life from many time period ever. So I recommend Henry Taylor and The Whitney Museum and general because I think you'll always find something interesting there.
Feb 12, 2025
I'm a big fan of quiet. I like quiet and silence. I saw a movie once a long time ago. It's called Into Great Silence and it's a documentary about monks in this monastery and it's quite long actually but there's no dialogue in it. The whole movie is watching these monks and it made a huge impression on me.
Feb 12, 2025