HIGHLY RECOMMENDED W/ AARON MARTIN
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Aaron Martin — a cellist/composer out of Kansas responsible for, among many great projects, the beautiful original score for the feature-length documentary ‘The End of Medicine’, which came out earlier this year on the always excellent Lost Tribe Sound (and you can catch the track ‘A Threat Emerges’ on the HI54 Mix CD ‘STOP TALKING… I’M TRYING TO THINK’)
#1 - WHAT IS THE ONE ALBUM (OR EP OR SONG) THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE VERY NEXT MUSICAL THING THAT EVERYONE PRESSES PLAY ON THE NEXT TIME THEY FIND THEMSELVES THINKING “WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NOW”?
Anne Garner’s Dear Unknown on Slowcraft Records is an album that I can listen to over and over again without ever getting tired of it or having the emotional impact of the music degrade over time.
It’s an interior journey that is laid bare for the listener, who is ushered into a vulnerable realm of deep questions by Anne’s indelible voice.
#2 - WHAT IS THE ONE MOVIE OR TV SHOW THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE NEXT IN EVERYBODY’S NETFLIX QUEUE (OK, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NETFLIX, WE’RE ALL INTERNET ADULTS HERE AND KNOW HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ONLINE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER)?
“All the Haunts Be Ours” is an incredible collection of folk horror films curated by Kier-La Janisse and released on Blu-ray by Severin Films. It’s a daunting task to know where to begin with not only the feature films and documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, but also the short films and other bonus features included.
Eyes of Fire is a standout in the collection and the disc includes the longer cut called Crying Blue Sky. It’s beautifully photographed and has a dreamlike quality that’s unique and rare.
#3. I (AND BY “I” I MEAN “THE PERSON THAT IS READING THIS”) AM GOING TO THE LOCAL BOOK STORE (OK, MAYBE THE LOCAL LIBRARY FIRST) TO FIND THE VERY NEXT BOOK THAT I WILL BE PUTTING SOME EXTREMELY VALUABLE ‘ME-TIME' ASIDE FOR. WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU GET, IF YOU WERE ME (AND, I SUPPOSE, YOU HADN’T ALREADY READ WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SUGGEST)?
I’m currently reading Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham as a part of The Library of America collection Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s.
The book is divided into 22 chapters each named after a Major Arcana card in the tarot deck, which is a fascinating choice that is integrated into the story and comes from the subject matter itself. It’s a story about our fascination with mystifying our own self-destruction and how that layer of mystification, no matter how convincing, can never quite mask the true nature of humanity.
#4 - WHAT IS THE ONE WEBSITE (OR JUST ANY OLD INTERNET THING: APP, GIF, SERVICE, WHATEVER) THAT YOU WOULD GET REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS ABOUT IF IT WERE TO SUDDENLY GO AWAY?
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t spend time on The Criterion Channel. There’s an overwhelming selection of films both from Criterion and licensed out from other places as limited engagements. It’s a service that I hope remains around for a long time in its current form.
#5 - AND FINALLY… PLEASE GIVE ONE COMPLETELY UNAIDED RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD START DOING / USING / WATCHING / EATING / THINKING / QUITTING / ETC-ING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE BETTER AND/OR BEARABLE.
Visit your local library. They’re still around and have a lot to offer. There’s a great library where I live. They often have holds rooms or other ways to get materials to cardholders, which is nice if a person feels uncomfortable spending too much time in a public space.
OK folks, there you have it. Things that Aaron Martin think you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go pop over to your local library, make sure to follow Aaron on the Facebook / Instagram / Twitter and then also give ‘A Threat Emerges’ a listen below…
…and if you like what you’re hearing, go do some further aaron-martin-flavoured audio exploring over on the Bandcamp / Spotify / Soundcloud.
