HIGHLY RECOMMENDED W/ SEAN ROWE
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Sean Rowe — a singer-songer out of New York who has a nice new album coming out in October called ‘The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights’ (and you can catch the first single ‘To Make It Real’ on the HI54 Mix CD ‘ 420 ALL DAY’) // Artist photo by Joe Navas
#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”?
I can always count on one of my local neighborhood pals, Jon to turn me on to music that I am embarrassed never to have heard. Case in point would be this track "Shady Grove" by Taj Mahal. The version to listen to is off of the album called Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal.
There is nothing about this track that I don't love. The banjo part is hypnotic and the way the upright bass comes in and the timing of it, I have never heard in a song before. And then when Taj finally comes in with the vocal after a long build-up, it's just so raw and beautiful. I love that the voice comes across as both un-effected with overproduction and unaffected with pretense. I don't get the feeling that the song could have been done any other way with the same feeling that this gives me.
#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 think Bo Burnham's Inside was the best piece of cinema I've seen in a very long time. It's truly remarkable how this entire project was conceived and produced by one person and it's also extremely rare for me to not only enjoy musicals but to watch them twice! On so many levels, such a great piece of art.
#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)?
One of the more recent books I've read that made the hairs on my arm stand up consistently throughout would be Edith Eger's "The Gift." It's a relatively short read but the fact that it was short does not in any way take away from its profundity.
#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?
Google maps! One of my relationships actually ended because of my written map reading skills. I don't want to go back to that again.
#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.
Do not argue with people on social media. Do not get your news from social media. In fact, turn off the news for a while. If something is truly worth immediately knowing, you will find out rather quickly from those around you.
Start really slowing down with the ones you love and notice them. You never know when their or your last breath will be.
