HIGHLY RECOMMENDED W/ ALASTAIR OTTESEN
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Alastair Ottesen — a singer-songer out of Brooklyn, New York who has a lovely new album out called ‘Pathless Land’ (and you can catch the track ‘Soul In Us’ on the HI54 Mix CD ‘ MORNING VIBES’)
#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”?
There’s so much stuff out there to listen to whether it’s old or new, so I will stick close to my heart and recommend “#4" from violinist/composer Carolin Pook’s quarantine album “WELTRAUM DANCES” (full disclosure: she’s also my wife).
This is experimental stuff, but to my ears it’s also somehow incredibly accessible. All nine musicians played their parts at home by themselves, at the exact same time, but not hearing each other at all. I was completely knocked out that she could write a piece to be recorded in such a way and ALSO for the results to be so good.
#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)?
I don’t end up seeing a lot of TV or films recently, but the Swedish crime show “Henning Mankel’s Wallander” from I think circa ~2010 has a fantastic vibe and great acting. The one starring Kristen Henriksson --not the BBC remake with Branagh.
#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)?
If you’re like me and you grew up in the USA, it’s a sure bet that you’ve been submerged in a hefty amount of indoctrination into the capitalist economic system and anti-communism your whole life. This book seeks to make an honest and historical appraisal of revolutionary socialist movements in the global south, and to examine the roots of fascism and the relationship between these different ideologies and political movements. Recommended for U.S. or western lefties looking to expand their thinking to a more global, historical idea about the political world.
#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?
I’ll go with Shazam or other services like it. I’m old now (35) so it’s still way cool to me that I can pluck songs out of the air and identify them. Discovered some excellent music over the years using it!
Runner up: Environments app by Numero group — a really neat transfer of long-form great sounding nature recordings that originally came out on a bunch of LPs in the 1970s into one app. Great as a white noise machine alternative for sleeping or drowning out a snoring bandmate on the road!
#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.
Meditation in any of its forms, but for me, specifically: a sitting, “choiceness awareness” meditation. There’s a lot of different ways and definitions of this, and so much self-help-for-ambitious-go-getters co-opting of different teachings, so I’ll let people discover what might be a right technique for them. It can actually be fun to sit and be with yourself and watch the thoughts come up and dissipate…to see what happens!
Of course, you can meditate while doing dishes or walking too.
OK folks, there you have it. Things that Alastair Ottesen thinks you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go sit and just be with yourself, make sure to follow Alastair on the Facebook / Instagram / Twitter and then also give ‘Soul In Us’ a listen below…
