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"This is precisely the time when artists go to work"

"This is precisely the time when artists go to work"

Curated music and industry analysis | 6.27.20

June 27, 2020

📻 Hi, thanks for tuning in to Arpeggio.

The last few months are already the longest chapter in future history books. With the first half of 2020 wrapped, here's what's happening & where we're headed.

The Black Lives Matter movement’s fight for justice changed the conversation in the U.S. seemingly overnight, although the virus fears are beginning to lighten up. In light of this past month’s worldwide unrest and easing CV19 restrictions, today’s newsletter features music that mirrors this moment in history and music businesses adapting to change.

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language.”

– Toni Morrison

Instagram - @soulection

📻 Savory Sounds Radio

Don’t Stay Silent So That They Can Stay Comfortable is a curated playlist full of protest music. Some old, dating back to the Civil Rights Movement, other’s new.

This begs the question, what is protest music? In this case, we’ve included songs about a protest, songs used in protest, and songs recorded following protests. Ultimately, this playlist represents the Black Lives Matter movement’s fight for equality, yet if you dig deeper into the many song’s backgrounds, you’ll find that each and every song is rooted in various protests spanning different cultures and timeframes throughout history.

🎥 Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods is a timely masterpiece

Da 5 Bloods, released on June 12th, tells the story of five African American veterans on a journey to recover the body of a fallen soldier and some buried gold. The film opens with Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues,” which reflected the times and unfortunately still has staying power amidst today’s unrestful climate, all these years later. All told, Lee selected six songs by Marvin Gaye, whose brother Franklin did three tours in the Vietnam War and may have inspired the lyrics for Marvin’s album. The playlist below includes Spike Lee’s thoughts on his music selection.

“All the music in this film is very important to me, from the very beginning, I understood the power of music. The power of music with images…music is essential to a Spike Lee Joint.

The music…is another character, it’s another voice.”

The score by composer Terrence Blanchard serves the narrative better than any Creedence Clearwater Revival song could. Blanchard shared some thoughts in a press meeting for the film.

“When I saw the first cut and I heard the Marvin Gaye songs, my first reaction was, ‘Right, this makes total sense.' Next I started thinking about growing up in the ‘70s, and all the dudes I saw in my neighborhood that used to walk around with the tattered military jackets and shirts, who fought in Vietnam. They were struggling — emotionally, mentally. It brings me back to that period in time where African-Americans were struggling for certain rights. I still remember as a kid going someplace in Louisiana and seeing the water fountains that said, ‘For Coloreds Only.’ It’s that common theme of just trying to be recognized as equals, generation after generation. Frankly, you get tired of it.”

New Music

There are stories of artists scrapping entire projects, whether because of CV19 or the now growing unrest around the country.

I know of at least two A-list artists who have completely scrapped full length albums, one who is waiting until 2021 to begin recoding again, and a handful more who have delayed their releases multiple times just since March.
— Z (@BrianZisook)
3:55 AM • Jun 23, 2020

Thankfully, not everyone canceled releases and some artists have even created music this last month through inspiration from the protests.

Here are a few recent single releases below.

🎧 Khruangbin Presents Mordechai, the Enhanced Album

Above is another experiential Spotify playlist, including video from the band members talking about the recording process. It feels premature for me to write an album review after yesterday’s release, so below is a review from the New York Times in the meantime.