[The Future] – ‘Old Souls Part X: Night Music’ (2017-2020)

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Stream the mix while you read; download at the bottom of this post.

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A little under two years ago, Musicophilia launched the ‘Old Souls‘ series to celebrate the thrilling contemporary music that shines a light forward in dark times.  The times now are darker still–but the light of human creativity in contrast to the darkness of human failing is even brighter, more focused, and even more necessary.

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‘Old Souls Part X – Night Music‘ lives in the beauty in the darkness of night, unlike the darkness of our days.  The night is many things: time for dreaming, time for dancing, time for contemplation, time to plan for tomorrow’s fight, time to rest, time to mourn, time to look inward, time for love.  It grants us the time to avoid the noise and near-chaos of the day, to replenish our minds, hearts, and souls.  This music reflects all of those possibilities, and more.  Befitting those myriad possibilities, for the musicians featured in this mix, genre is at best a starting point, a foundation; but it is never a prescription, never a wall, never a limit.  The emotional truth comes first; whatever sounds are needed to convey that truth are readily (and expertly) employed.  So this music defies easy classification other than by way of clumsy hyphenates, other than to say that, in my opinion, it’s as good and as beautiful and as moving as music made at any time before.

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Looking back across ten volumes of ‘Old Souls,’ I can only say that the music the series features have given me an immense gift: hope.  I still believe that music from all times remains alive, and “new to you,” if they still speak–and music of the past still speaks volumes, to me and I hope to you.  When I was young, freeing myself from the constraints of “now” and “new” was hugely liberating, especially because contemporary music wasn’t nearly as vibrantly healthy and exciting as it is today.  But losing faith in contemporary music through the 2000s and early 2010s cut me off from the energy and future-possibility that “new” and “now” can uniquely offer: the exciting and reinvigorating knowledge that greatness was is out there now, that human creativity is as strong as ever.

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Hugely popular artists like Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, and Solange reawakened that excitement in me, through the early and mid-2010s–truly popular music hadn’t been this great in decades.  Next, discovering Bandcamp (and their brilliant editorial staff) helped me realize that that brilliance was to be found–like in the 70s and 80s–from the bright lights of the big names, but even more so in the hundreds and thousands of luminaries not yet so well known.  As the current era’s evil actors have stolen and intimidated and lied their way to the fore of our political, economic, and often psychological and emotional reality, the army of amazing artists out there today has been a bulwark against encroaching hopelessness.  So I thank you, artists, with all my heart (and as much as my bank account can manage); and I thank you, fellow listeners, for supporting those artists.  As much as anyone, you are my heroes and my hope.  You are our future.

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Download/stream the mix below the tracklist. As with all the volumes in the ‘Old Souls,’ series, this music is made by working artists who all deserve your financial support. These are unprecedented days in our lifetime at least, and musicians–normally reliant on live performance in this age of Spotify (aka corporate theft)–are being hit as hard or harder than anyone. So whatever your situation allows: please, please, buy music and merch, go to shows when shows are a thing again, and propagate the art to everyone who needs to hear it. I’ve included links to pages where you can buy the music in the tracklist below. Thank you for listening, and please pass it on.

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Various – ‘Old Souls – Part X – Night Music‘
2017-2020
01 [00:00] Yves Jarvis – “That Don’t Make It So” (‘The Same But By…’ 2019)
02 [01:50] Sault – “Threats” (‘7’ 2019)
03 [06:10] Nnamdi– “Flowers to My Demons” (‘Brat’ 2020)
04 [09:05] Obangjayar– “God’s Own Children” (‘Which Way…’ EP 2020)
05 [11:55] Yves Tumor – “Romanticist” (‘Heaven To a Tortured Mind’ 2020)
06 [13:40] Onipa– “We No Be Machine” (‘We No Be Machine’ 2020)
07 [17:20] Algiers– “Wait For the Sound” (‘There Is No Year’ 2020)
08 [21:30] Tyler Holmes – “Two Tylers” (‘Devil’ EP 2019)
09 [23:35] Duendita– “Mind” (‘MInd’ single 2020)
10 [26:30] Wizard Apprentice – “You Won” (‘Dig A Pit’ EP 2019)
11 [29:55] Roy Kinsey – “Everything is Everything” (‘Kinsey: A Memoir’ 2020)
11 [33:00] Serpentwithfeet – “Messy (Acoustic)” (‘Soil Reprise’ EP 2018)
13 [36:00] Quinton Barnes – “This Moment” (‘Aarupa’ 2020)
14 [39:40] Dumama & Kechou – “Umzi” (‘Buffering Juju’ 2020)
15 [42:10] Dua Saleh – “Survival” (‘Nur’ EP 2019)
16 [47:00] Mahawam– “Livery” (‘Is An Island’ EP 2019)
17 [50:45] Jon Bap – “Zone Out” (‘Yesterday’s Homily’ 2017)
18 [52:30] Nappy Nina & Nelson Bandela – “Cooperate” (‘Really Good’ EP 2020)
19 [55:20] Kassa Overall – “Show Me A Prison” (‘I Think I’m Good’ 2020)
20 [59:00] Moor Mother – “Cold Case” (‘Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes’ 2019)
21 [60:50] Nazar– “Retaliation” (‘Guerilla’ 2020)
22 [63:55] Nathalie Joachim – “Resevwa Li” (‘Fanm d’Ayiti’ 2019)
23 [67:50] Moses Sumney – “Colouour” (‘Grae’ 2020)
24 [70:55] Thundercat– “How I Feel” (‘It Is What It Is’ 2020)
[Total Time: 1:12:05]

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Download ‘Old Souls Part X – Night Music’ Here (173 MB)

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Stream here:

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