Summer of Soul
Summer of Soul
🔀 Shuffle Sundays #82 • When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised
💽 » Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
r&b / soul / soundtrack • 17 songs • 84 minutes
A few weeks ago my friend and musician Ciyadh Wells invited me back to her great podcast Musically Cogitating, this time to participate in the first episode of her new series Film Club, which was inaugurated with our casual talk about the documentary Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), directed by the omnipresent Questlove and Best Documentary Feature winner at the Oscars earlier this year.
In case you’re not yet familiar with it, Summer of Soul remembers the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African-American music and culture and promoted Black pride and unity. And that was one of the most fascinating things for me: it could have been just a concert film, or a documentary focused on the festival only, but instead it’s a documentary about the history, pieced together with lots of amazing musical moments from the festival.
Listen to the podcast • Listen to the soundtrack on your platform of choice
🗣 During our conversation, Ciyadh and I talked about which artists we think would be a good fit for a modern version of the festival, and some obvious names came up like Leon Bridges, Silk Sonic, and Jon Batiste. So to keep things on the same theme, I’m expanding my curation this week with two more bands I think would be great additions to the lineup.
🎶 » Gimme All Your Love, by Alabama Shakes
You may know Alabama Shakes by their 2012 breakout hit Hold On, but in case you don’t, you’re in for a treat. They can be simply classified as a “rock band”, but their influences can be seen all over the place with deep blues, southern rock, gospel, and soul roots in their music. From their sophomore album Sound & Color (2015), comes one of my favorite tracks of theirs, Gimme All Your Love, with an incredible vocal performance by lead singer Brittany Howard, and an instrumental that blends and showcases perfectly all their influences.
🎶 » Sons of Kemet - Live From The Basement
Sounds of Kemet is just one of the many projects of multitalented and prolific musician Shabaka Hutchings, and maybe his most popular one. The group, currently formed by Tom Skinner, Theon Cross, and Eddie Hick, in addition to Hutchings himself, is known for their high-energy jazz compositions constantly influenced by afrobeat and world music, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that their live performances can be a transcendental experience, to say the least.
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🧩 » Random Bits
• Last Night in SoHo is yet another masterclass on film and sound editing from Edgar Wright, who continues to blow my mind one film at a time;
• Is Old Music Killing New Music? | Ted Gioia expands his thoughts on the podcast Pop Culturely, hosted by Derek Thompson;
• Book Exploder is the book version and spin-off of the super successful podcast (and Netflix show) Song Exploder.
⚡️ Visual Inspiration
Peter Uka is a Nigerian-born, Cologne-based artist who, inspired by a profound love of music, depicts detailed scenes of dance and everyday life. Check out his Website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
🎶 » New Music
this week’s new albums I'm curious to check out
Also, new singles from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santigold, Four Tet, and many more. If you’re curious to hear some of these songs and more, make sure to follow my 2022 playlist on Spotify, updated weekly with new releases:
Another excellent issue! I look forward to this every Sunday!
Can't believe that Alabama Shakes hit was nine years ago.