Juana Molina - DOGA
Juana Molina - caravanas (2025)
Yesterday we held a rare party in our tiny apartment where we cooked pots of vegan soup to nourish our friends for the new year. At some point I played Juana Molina’s album DOGA and it felt like a perfect fit for the warm buzz of the gathering. The hypnotic sing-songy pop experiments stay mostly even keeled but bursts of well-placed sound design made it rise back into awareness prompting many to ask “what is this?” and writing it down for a closer listen later. I recommend her whole discography!
Love Me Or Leave Me by Nina Simone
Today’s song is Love Me Or Leave Me by Nina Simone (1965)
I love our local radio here in NYC and one tradition that has become a big part of our holidays is WKCR’s Bachfest which airs non-stop Bach and Bach-related music from Christmas Eve to the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. Although it has run for 48 years, it only became a part of my life during a COVID lockdown when we were stuck inside and used the radio to feel more connected to a sense of place. The moment stayed with me deeply and now gives tradition, texture, and a bit of an endurance challenge to the year transition.
This year, amid the organ fugues and piano suites I was surprised to hear Nina Simone’s voice but then it made sense. Her training in classical piano before moving on to her multifaceted blues/jazz/soul style was in full force as she interpolated Bach’s piano style into a remarkable solo in the middle of an already great swing song.
Happy new time spiral!
Big Resolution Energy
Hello dear reader, welcome to this digital space!
This microblog is an experiment in support of my new years intention to be creative each day and align my values more closely with the tools I use. I’ll be posting a wide variety of (mostly independent) music, excerpts from books and articles, updates from my music and art projects, and maybe some vegan recipes.
I’m interested in how digital networks can be used for more egalitarian purposes. How can we feel more human and embodied in a time dominated by abstraction and extraction at an unimaginable scale? How can we joyfully disentangle from inhuman(e) systems and find/build community at the same time?
You can find my hushed yet expansive chamber folk music and official newsletter musings over at mutualbenef.it
I believe you can subscribe (at your own risk) to a weekly digest of these posts.
Thank you for visiting, nice to meet you, my inbox is always open to swap art or ideas! Jordan mutualbenefitmusic (at) gmail.com