Finds: Midwestern Apostolic gospel • Overexplaining and Underthinking • Life after Talking Heads • Agnes Varda

No relationship to Penelope, Sylvia Pérez Cruz is a Spanish musician and this perfect little song feels like it has influence from a Ravel string quartet. I recently learned that Spotify has a hidden feature that allows you to translate lyrics inline with the original language. Very useful if you’re trying to learn a language (or understand a song).

In theory, you could travel to Blufton, Indiana, one of the less geographically interesting parts of the world, and hear soaring, transcendental sacred music from the Blufton Apostolic Christian Young Group. In this recording, you’ll hear the origins of a very well known American folk song, which was originally sung by Blind Willie Davis and later adapted by the Carter Family before becoming the melody that schoolchildren will find familiar. 

Take a long cold look in the mirror and splash your face with ice water. Lee Fields, Sentimental Fool, only asks that you confront your poorly informed emotional decision making.  

Deforesting of the American myth, as composed by Bryce Dessner. He’s not the only Yale educated musician who’s been making new classical disguised as popular music. 

Post Talking Heads, the founding co-musicians slowed it down, warmed it up, and let dub and reggae into the studio. I suspect Tina and Chris are living comfortably off royalties these days. 

“If we opened people up, we’d find landscapes.” Agnès Varda, as quoted in her autobiographical film, The Beaches of Agnès. It’s the expansive, 1970s cinematic energy of this quote that appeals to me. As seen in Apollo magazine. 

Are we overexplaining? How much can writers assume about one’s baseline understanding? Do we need to define everything? Footnotes on every complicated idea? Or, is there an element of condescension when writing for the LCD? Maybe there is a path where one writes so well that audiences are inspired to learn for themselves? Seth elaborates.