Lighting Talk #1
Ah, the joys of listicles! In this case, a quick summation of the fun music media I've been delighting in over the week
What Is Asian American Music, Really? By Cat Zhang (Longform Article)
I really enjoyed reading this article! Zhang does a tremendous job illuminating a rich and often overlooked musical history in a very accessible manner, and I appreciated hearing their thoughts on what it means to form community and identity beyond vague terms and the hassle of representation politics.
Zhang also made a spreadsheet of the resources he used while writing the piece, which is so kind and generous! I’m hoping to get my hands on Speak It Louder: Asian Americans Making Music as soon as I finish literally any of the books currently residing on my bedside table.
How Trucker Country Music Became A '70s Fad (Youtube Video)
An aspirational country girl at heart, I do love just about everything country and what more could a cowgirl want than odes to the working man? Estelle Caswell and the Vox team do a great job breaking down the history of trucker country with music scholars Travis Stimeling and Nate Gibson and offering some absolutely stunning graphics along the way! Excited to check out some new tunes and explore the rest of the channel!
What Did You Expect? By Michael Cohen (Album)
Released in 1973, Cohen’s sophomore album, What Did You Expect manages a balance of wholehearted fury, vulgar hunger, and tender longing as it narrates his experiences of coming out, desire, self-doubt, and self-worth and creates something wonderful.
My favorite track off the album:
This is also a recommendation that you follow Smithsonian Folkways on social media, which is how I found the album (And Zhang’s article)! It's an incredible resource for all sorts of audio recordings, and the current collection has over 4,000 albums and 60,000 tracks. A useful way of wasting all sorts of time and finding all sorts of gems!
Vegetables (song) (Wikipedia Page)
And finally, you wouldn't assume a song that barely reaches the 2-minute mark would have much to offer in terms of a Wikipedia page, but from the song's inspirations to the reported source of the celery crunching noises, every aspect of Vegetables (song) is a new punch straight to the gut.
The song itself:
Happy media consumption!