ONLY TWO SONGS THIS WEEK BECAUSE MY SOUL IS CRUSHED BY REALITY MARCH 16-22

Less is more they say. Who is "they" and what is "less"? I wonder. The choice of these tracks is not meant to elevate them among the rest, I had more in mind. But I am mostly sad these days, and angry, and devoid of time (need to get that sweet, sweet tenure so I can hang on to an academic position in a country where that might mean absolutely nothing in about five mintues – the death drive is a bitch, ain't it?) and so here it is. 

Ainsoph – "Affection," from Affection & Vengeance (Shoegaze/Post-Black Metal – Wolves of Hades). I've been teaching a philosophy and literature class this year, haven't done that in nearly a decade. And one of the main differences between this version of the course and the 2016 demo is the addition of both H.D. and Sappho, via the notion that fragmentary, visionary, embodied poetry and insight is a valid and important form of philosophy. I don't know why I chose the new Ainsoph album, but I can tell you the dark wellspring from which my soul latched into and onto it came from that Sappho place. A place where love isn't that thing you might or might not have in life, but the bonds that make a world possible. The air I breathe once I step outside my home feels devoid of love, which is to say hateful and empty. But my home is filled with love, and the bonds of love it fosters are able to travel elsewhere and re-create the world. Ainsoph's album is one such string. A lovely fiber of noise, melancholy, and love.

Mo'ynoq – "Hyperstitions," from Mo'ynoq X Urocyon Split (Black Metal – Independent). I guess this counts as a contiunuation along the same theme, perhaps of love. But this isn't Sappho anymore. This is not the fragmented, aching, embodied undoing of desire but the attempt to construct a monolith of faith (or unfaith) amid a desert of no meaning. Do I think that attempt is a succesful one? Don't know. I am not currently writing at my most optimistic. But what Mo'ynoq do, what they have always done, is try. And in trying, and failing, and floundering, and building, they demonstrate for people like me who feel like three centimeters from giving up, enough fuel to do this shit another day. That matters.

Bands and albums I didn't mention but are worth checking out:

RHÛN – Burial Pact

Nøkken – Demo I

Blood Monolith – New single.

Zeegang – Van niets uit deze wereld

Moira – No Light Ahead (a reissue apparently from 2007, but incredible)