A PSA about Pluto in Aquarius ("Session" by Linkin Park)

I started writing this at the beginning of the year, inspired by a Star Trek episode that takes place in the year 2024 (a synopsis follows). In the Star Trek universe, 2024 marks a particularly momentous point in mankind's history. Now when I first started writing this blog post, I had no idea how fitting that was going to be. I only knew that it contained a lot of tense, transitional astrological energy and that was enough to mark it as an interesting point in time. The latter half of the 2020's is supposedly where all the fireworks are set to happen but 2024 in itself had a certain weird-ness about it. Pluto was in Aquarius this year, but not quite; Saturn and Neptune were conjunct by sign the whole year; Mars is in retrograde and it will retrograde back into multiple signs; and to top it off, this was the last year that Uranus was fully going to be in Taurus. 2025 marks Uranus transit into Gemini in over 80 years and (not surprisingly) it initiates the Uranus return for the United States. You may hear the term "fourth turning" a lot and our Uranus returns have previously occurred during the Civil War and World War II - two points in American history that have shaped the sort of nation we've become. (This is what we call foreshadowing....)

 

Moving onto the inspiration for this post. The episode I mentioned takes place during the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" series and it's a 2-part episode named "Past Tense." In the episode, Captain Sisko, Bashir, and Jadzia Dax are transported back to San Francisco in the year 2024, during what has become known as a critical moment in Earth's history. The United States is in the midst of intense breakdown of socioeconomics. The lower classes - those who cannot afford housing, food, medical care, and those who are mentally ill or disabled - have been funneled into huge camps called "Sanctuary Districts." These are much like the "Hoover Towns" of the 1930s, but they're also heavily policed to keep the masses in them. This is where Bashir and Sisko end up, because the person who found them (a cop) decided that's where they belong. For reference, both Bashir and Sisko are obvious racial minorities. Jadzia, on the other hand, is found by a wealthy businessman, who proceeds to take care of her because - I don't know - she's a pretty white woman? That seems to be the most obvious reason. From her standpoint on the outside, she can fully grasp the horrors of the Sanctuary District and how morally wrong it is. Long story short, there is a riot and a hostage situation that eventually leads to the public's attitude and handling of the disadvantaged starts to change. It's arguably one of the best Star Trek episodes to date, but I would also say it's one of the most prescient. Where we are in history is not too different than where that episode predicted we would be. Now, I cannot tell you why the writers picked the year 2024 for the backdrop. What I can tell you is that science fiction writers - whether they're writing novels or TV shows - have an almost mystical ability to look at the society they are currently living in and extrapolate the most disturbing, extreme, horrific outcomes of that trajectory. Ideally, we shouldn't be trying to replicate it (I'm lookin' at you, OpenAI). The reason why Star Trek remains so popular is that it depicts the best possible outcome of our current trajectory - that we get through these difficult times and eventually become a more equitable and forward-thinking society. Although, as the episode seems to imply, we may need some wayward time travelers to help us out. 

As I've mentioned in past writings, I've been on my own little manifestation journey. But - being me - the part I've enjoyed most is falling down the rabbit hole. Quantum mechanics. Simulation Theory. Glitches in the Matrix. If 2024 has taught me anything, it is simply this - the reality I'm experiencing is not the same as the reality you're experiencing. And I wish I could understand that better, on every level - physical, psychological, philosophical, biomechanical - in any possible way. Even so, I have this gut feeling that what we want for ourselves, our families, our nation, our future....is not as different as others would have us believe. Aquarius is very much about the outside perspective. When we are in it - like deep in the thick of the situation - we can't see clearly how to get out or even how everything fits together, sometimes. I'm making choice to believe 2024 is a turning point in our history and that we'll get through it. Things will get better but that's dependent on our approach to the challenges we face. I'm taking to heart something I heard Greg and Dana Newkirk talking about on their "Haunted Objects Podcast" (I get my wisdom from some very weird places) and embracing curiosity over fear. Curiosity often leads you to knowledge whereas fear generally only leads to more fear.

After listening to an Astrology Podcast episode about music styles and Saturn transits, I've been trying to thing more deeply about how outer planet transits shape the musical landscape of longer eras. During Pluto in Capricorn, I noticed a growing popularity of modern songs being covered in styles from bygone eras, like Postmodern Jukebox or the cover of "Low" by Flo-rida that sounds like elevator music. Some of the most popular songs over the past decade were strongly influenced by past genres - I'm thinking specifically of Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars)," which sounded like it could've come straight out of the 60s. I firmly believe that during Pluto in Aquarius, we're going to see this trend reversed - old songs being revived with New Age beats, strong techno and synthesized sounds intermingled with classical instruments. Like Mozart and Beethoven if they were covered by Daft Punk or mixed by Marshmello. Some really great examples of this would be the music composed for Eve Online by Steve Jablonsky and the "The Dance of Two Wolves" from "John Wick 3: Parabellum" which I absolutely fell in love with when I saw the movie. Pluto in Aquarius in the 21st Century is the rise of the Cyberpunk Era and it could go one of two ways - bright, upbeat dance pop or a return to heavy goth darkwave. In all honesty, it'll probably be both. I've already seen the resurgence of both in popular culture and - surprise! - everyone is a little into both. Cheerleader Goth is a thing and there are dozens of us! Since "Barbie" started advertising, we're all into Bimbocore, we're all embracing our existential dread, and we're leaning into the absurdism of the moment. I love that for us!

 

Of course, being ruled by Saturn, Aquarian themes can also be quite nostalgic. Like listening to old favorites from our childhood. Of course, my formative years took place during the late 90s and early 2000s - a fantastic time for music, in my humble opinion. This particular song reminds me of a performance my older sister did outside the Landmark Cafe in our hometown. She did a  ballet-style dance en pointe but the music was Linkin Park. It hit that perfect balance of classical mixed with futurism, which I believe will be a hallmark of the next couple decades.

"Session" Video

 

Returning to the Rhythm: A 2021 Intention Post

Obviously, I got off track last year. But I think everyone did, so I don't feel too bad. I was a bit aggressive with my original ambitions and, when you do that, you're just asking to be derailed by something. I had a nice reprieve to fall back into old, comfortable habits in 2020 but it's time to return to the music with renewed intention and awareness. A few less tangents, more actual music-oriented content. Don't get me wrong - there will be rants. Just a lot less of them. I'm planning to resume the trek through the 100 Greatest Albums that I started last January, albeit without the time limit. I'm going to try to do about one album a week so we'll hopefully be through most of them by this time next year.

In between - because I get bored easily - I have some new ideas I'll be playing around with. First, as I mentioned, 2020 was a year with a ridiculous amount of albums released and I'm almost certain that trend is going to continue in 2021. As such, I'd like to actually try to listen to some of them and share my humble opinion. I also still have several music-related books I was planning to read, one of which I believe is a legit doctoral thesis because it is a massive 1000+ page tome. Netflix has a shit ton of new musician and music-oriented documentaries (some of which look super interesting) that I'd like to review. And YouTube has been recommending a lot of great artists from all over the globe whose music I'd like to feature. Speaking of artist spotlights, I've been actively trying to get to know the bands and musicians whose music I like but haven't necessarily listened to outside of what gets to the Top 40. And, finally, I'll be sharing some of my Spotify playlists and the thought process behind some of the staples I've picked for those lists. All in all, it should be a fun year of discovery and introspection.

So that's my promise for 2021. Reviews, rants, and only a dash of madness. There's probably still going to be too much Taylor Swift fangirling and, for that, I apologize in advance. Stay tuned.

Credit: Nick Seluk, The Awkward Yeti

New Year, New Project

As I've been hinting at for the past couple of months, I've been itching to take this blog in a different direction. The theme format has been working for the past year and a half and I've taken a lot of great lessons from working with it. I've learned how to focus in on patterns, broadened my knowledge of lesser known musical genres, and generally have had a lot of fun ranting on the various topics explored. My new project, in a way, is a natural evolution of that. Before I get into it though, I did want to go over the success (as I define it) of the past year. My goal was to write more and I have accomplished that. Prior to December, I was hitting an average of 10 posts a month, or roughly 2 a week, which I believe is a very sustainable rhythm to be retained this year (in fact, in order for my new project to really work, I need to try to hit that average again). During December, I didn't quite hit my goal of writing a post every day, but I did hit 21 posts in a month. This is a personal record for me and is pretty good considering how busy I was during December. Overall, my writing style has evolved considerably. The goal is always to develop and become more confident in my own voice and I think I've moved the goal posts a fair distance in that respect.

Now, for the project. I intend to write and research the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time. There are many lists that recount and rank all the albums, so to keep it simple, I'm using Rolling Stone's list. Say what you will about them regarding their current direction as a publication, but Rolling Stone has been the standard for music writing since the '60s and that's something to be respected. I considered going in order from 100 to 1 but, that's really not my style and it's not really important for the goal of this project, so the album choice will vary in ranking from week to week. My goal for this project is to expand my musical knowledge in a more structured way. Each album has been shaped by events on both the micro-and-macro levels. I plan to research what was happening at the time of the album's development and release in the artists' personal lives, the historical backdrop of the era, and in the skies up above in astrological regards. These won't really be reviews - as far as I'm concerned, my opinion is insignificant. These were listed as the greatest albums for a reason - even if I'm not completely in love with the music, there is probably something there I'll appreciate and respect on an intellectual level. At most, I may interject any stray thoughts, emotions, or images that were evoked while I was listening. For the most part, I want to focus on the historical aspect and why these albums had the impact they had.

Additionally, I have a few music-related movies and books I've been meaning to watch/read. I may do some short reviews on them throughout the year. I'm not going to say this year will be completely Song du Jour free, but they will be few and far between. Thank you for your continued readership and I'm super excited to see what 2020 brings.

New Year, New Rules

Ahoy Music Sluts!

Yet again, I've returned from a long hiatus, renewed for the long haul. Another New Year brings another resolution to be more consistent with posting and this time, I intend to keep it, in spite of the promotion at work (Mo' Money, Mo' Problems....no, seriously, my workload stresses me out big time), the long distance relationship (7 years strong, my friends) that will probably end in a big move in a few months, and a family that gets crazier the longer I know them -- or perhaps because of all these things, I'll become so immersed in my music and writing about it.  That's Plan A.  Plan B is writing through the demotivation caused by the mundanity of my life has devolved into, which has been working pretty well for the past 4 months. Anywho, my arsenal of secret weapons:

• I got a legit record player for Christmas.  It's got that Ye Olde Tyme look to it, too and it also has an aux adapter (for the ipod), CD player (for the few CDs I haven't digitized yet), a cassette player (borderline useless), and a radio (probably won't use that very often, either.) Super excited!  I've already created a wishlist of all the albums I'm going to buy and I've already bought my first one.  If you don't know which one it is, you don't know me at all. (I would also like to add that it is an absolute bitch to edit/add pictures to these posts - or even write them, quite frankly-on a tablet.  So....you're welcome.)
• $25 dollar itunes card (and more money in general to purchase music, provided Congress stops being a bunch of dicks...oh...wait...)
• New websites and other music news sources to educate, innovate, and excitate your ears (I was going for something but I'm pretty sure I failed.) I've been Twitter-stalking some really great new bands for y'all to try on for size and 2013 has quite a few long-awaited albums that are slated for release, so I'll keep you up to date on those.
• Tentative plans for craziness up in Tempe, AZ that involve booze, buddies, and maybe some Flogging Molly for St. Paddy's Day.  And hopefully a little less sleeping in cars with boys.....it's super uncomfortable and I don't recommend it. 

It's going to be a hella good year and I hope y'all will join me.  Happy Listening!