2019 EN BREF: A PLAYLIST

2019 has been a strange year. weird strange; empty strange, but full sometimes. the have been highlights have all involved music.

i’ve sang bohemian rhapsody at least five times. one of which was in a crowded kitchen in shacklewell at four in the morning. another time in berlin. i’ve spoken to aldous harding, amanda palmer, marika hackman, joan wasser. covered my first festival where i discovered snapped ankles and dirty dog cocktails.

halloween karaoke went well with under pressure alongside cj. we were pretty good, albeit drunk. on a birthday boat ride along regents canal, we got an entire boat full of diners singing gloria gaynor along with us. sang the song that goes this is halloween from nightmare before christmas in a crowded uber and hole at a lock in. 

mats and i listened to patti smith’s horses in the dark and cried. we also finally jammed. finally saw the strokes and bikini kill, too. and vita & virginia. and janelle monae. experienced melodifestivalen, had an ABBA night at the vic. also, an open air opera screening of carmen where carmen was in a suit. 

yes, daddy.

at one point i thought i was going to have to shit in a park. turns out it was heatstroke and i actually needed to puke my guts out. mats serenaded me with nick cave to distract me and it worked. missed out on seeing amyl & the sniffers at a warehouse party in harringay, but that’s okay if not a little painful. 

one of my favourite days was spent in an old railway arch by the river in berlin. opposite kraftwerk. i made the joke, “what if they play all points east?” and they are. psychic or psychotic? 

in retrospect, 2019 has been better than i thought. it’s been the moments that matter. the memories, the people, the experiences. it’s something i’ll hold on to as we step into the roaring 20s. 

may it be a decade where i continue to live. not just exist.

BANDS I’VE SEEN … BIKINI KILL. SNAPPED ANKLES. ANNA CALVI. LOU DOILLON. ARXX. DREAM NAILS. COURTNEY BARNETT. THE STROKES. INTERPOL. AMANDA PALMER. MARIKA HACKMAN. THURSTON MOORE. MALLY HARPAZ. JAMES MARPLES. HAZEL IRIS. HONEY TAPE. SAMANA. THE MOTION. molly nilsson. monsters abyss. velodrome. LEMONDAZE. GENN. JANELLE MONAE. 

RECORDS I’VE LOVED … BAT FOR LASHES, LOST GIRLS. ANY HUMAN FRIEND, MARIKA HACKMAN. aldous harding, designer. SLEATER-KINNEY, THE CENTER WON’T HOLD.  KING PRINCESS, CHEAP QUEEN. 

interviews i’ve done … lou doillon. ALDOUS HARDING. JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN. KATE TEMPEST. CABLE TIES. DONNA MISSAL. MARIKA HACKMAN. AMANDA PALMER. THESE NEW SOUTH WHALES. JUST MUSTARD. YAEGER.