Alright look, I’m gonna be real here: I started writing THREE different newsletters at different times this week and it all ended up with me saying a few things that I liked but didn’t end up loving. Everything sounded boring and bland in the grand scheme of things. The topics were dated and it wasn’t anything I hadn’t written about before, either in here or on twitter. AI, music criticism, the idea of what “hardcore” is. I wrote these three separate things that were overtly negative or hater-y in a week when my friends are fighting for union recognition at Bandcamp or fighting for their rights to exist as people in this godforsaken country. I didn’t want to spend more time on bad energy. It’s unconscionable. Solidarity with the bandcamp union and all of my trans friends. I’m sending my love and all of the positivity I can muster.
Mathematicians found out about a new shape that they’re calling “The Hat” right now because it sorta looks like a hat. I don’t know what I’d call it if they gave me the option, so The Hat works for me. It reminds me of the big hat that Pharrell wore at the Grammys in 2014. One time, my mom and I were talking about people who shared our birthdays, and I said “Oh, Pharrell and I share a birthday, but I don’t think you know him.” My mom said, “Pharrell? Like Pharrell Williams?” I stuttered out a, “How do you know Pharrell?” and she told me he was a judge on The Voice. Then I told my mom about The Neptunes and The Clipse, and now she might know Pharrell and Pusha-T as guys from Arby’s commercials.
Anyway, the point is that The Hat is a 13-sided shape that can be tiled over and over again without a repeating pattern. Geometrists didn’t think this shape existed until one proved it *could* exist last month. Then they found The Hat. Neat! It’s cool that there’s still some things left to the imagination considering all of the AI garbage and the creeping feeling that end-stage capitalism means The End. This weird little shape is a ray of positivity in a growing grey sky over the earth.
Here’s 13 songs I love that fill me with joy and possibility. I’ll be back reviewing some music on Friday!