Music Monday: Punk, The Gate, and Ceramics

I’m vaguely thinking about pushing pause on Music Mondays for my summer travel season. That said, listening to music is an important part of archaeological work (at least for me). From blocking out the din in a busy shared workspace to unwinding after a long day of mental labor, music is a key part of my summer work routine. More than that, music has come to influence how I think about archaeology in general and I’m slowly formulating a project that considers how music and literature can influence how we think not only about the past, but also about the archaeology of the present and future. 

These ideas started about fifteen years ago with the “Punk Archaeology” project. To be honest, I’m still not sure what that was really about, but a decade ago, a bunch of us got together in a dingy Fargo bar to talk about punk archaeology, listen to some music, and embrace some archaeological conviviality. My colleague Andrew Reinhard produce an album from that event that circulated in various places. Now you can download it from Bandcamp or listen to it on your favorite streaming service. 

Check it out here.

Also, check out the book that we produced after that event here.

Other than that, my listening has been a bit predictable for readers of this blog.

I’m enjoying the new Dave Sewelson, William Parker, and Steve Hirsh album, The Gate. It is another free spirited, improvised sessions from the Mahakala label. I find these recordings have a kind of intimacy and buoyant creativity that prompts me to enjoy the moment (and not become too anxious about whether I understand the theory or virtuosity that I’m experiencing). You can get a sense of it here:

Finally, I’ve really enjoyed Leslie Mok’s new album The Living Collection. She’s a percussionist, but his album is very much an ensemble piece and it’s adventurous, interactive, and “alive.” In fact, the liner notes evoke images of breath, of ecosystems, and of dusks and dawns. Even more interestingly, you can buy the album with a set of ceramic vessels. I have no idea that the significance of this or the relationship between the ceramics and the album, but it seems like a nice way to connect music with pottery and my summer plans.