Three chill new rap albums, an enigmatic eco-drama film, an upbeat sci-fi novel & articles on Bolivia’s (possibly) fake coup
Endless Distractions #9
Three chill new rap albums
Previous Industries - Service Merchandise
I recently interviewed Previous Industries about their debut album and am very happy to report that they were lovely, thoughtful guys. Service Merchandise is a gentle and witty album built on colourful, woozy beats (mostly produced by man of the moment Child Actor) that uses a cool conceptual structure centred around defunct chain stores as a base for endless sharp and reflective bars. It interrogates and subverts nostalgia in a really interesting way and it’s looking like a personal favourite rap album of the year.
Boldly James & Conductor Williams - Across The Tracks
Boldy James is a good example of how you can have too much of a good thing. His best albums, 2020’s The Price Of Tea In China and 2021’s Bo Jackson (both immaculately produced by The Alchemist), are some of the best rap albums of the decade. However, he’s recently started churning out releases every 4 or 5 months that vary in quality. Nonetheless, Across The Tracks is a good one; uber-laid back and full of soft beats, effervescent samples and James’ somehow-still engrossing coke dealing tales. Not his finest work, but still really good.
Lupe Fiasco - Samurai
I’ll be honest, I had a very different idea of Lupe Fiasco in my head than what I’ve heard on the elegant, endearing Samurai. It’s a wise, jazzy collection, the epitome of the type of music they used to call ‘backpack rap’. It’s obviously a big gap in my knowledge, but his vibe is not at all what I thought he was. Apparently, this album is themed around a loose narrative that involves Amy Winehouse becoming a battle rapper, which I definitely didn’t pick up on during my listens. Don't let that put you off, though. This is a commanding, confident and summer-ready collection perfect for stomping down sunny city streets (yes, while wearing a backpack).
An enigmatic eco-drama film
The remarkable Evil Does Not Exist supposedly began life as a visual art piece to accompany works by the film’s composer Eiko Ishibashi. However, this is no sedate art installation. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s mysterious new eco-drama/environmentalist parable is an engrossing and powerful watch, boasting a quietly-unfurling narrative that follows the residents of a rural Japanese village and their conflict with a company attempting to set up a glamping resort in the area. One of the many meanings of the enigmatic title is that neither side is painted as a hero or villain, with the glamping company representatives portrayed as empathetically as the villagers that live in gentle harmony with the sun-flecked, snow-strewn countryside. There’s so much to praise here; the sparsely-used but potent score (which reminded me of the Max Richter piece in Arrival), the calm, steady and crisp cinematography (that early shot of the kids playing red light/green light knocked me for six) and an unexpected ending that pours fuel and sets alight the film’s already sky-high stack of moral questions. An extraordinary, prescient film that I have not been able to shake.
An upbeat sci-fi novel
The world needs books like Plutoshine. Optimistic sci-fi seems to be making a bit of a comeback (looking forward to checking out Becky Chambers’ solarpunk Monk & Robot series very soon) and I’m fully here for it. The style generally went out of favour in the postmodern era, but now, as culture (hopefully) tilts towards a more cautiously-optimistic metamodern outlook, more books like Plutoshine will arrive. One of the novels short-listed for last year’s Arthur C. Clarke prize, it possesses a golden age-style worldview; the belief that science, technology and the inherent goodness of people will allow us to conquer the solar system and overcome our human flaws and conflicts. The fact it was written by an Oxford-educated nuclear scientist is I’m sure significant in the formulation of this outlook and tone. The story of jovial, immensely-likeable scientist Lucian’s arrival on Pluto to oversee the attempts to terraform the planet using a complicated process that involves asteroids being turned into giant mirrors, it also features imaginative first-contact, a sabotage mystery and an charming relationship between Lucain and mute, Pluto-born child Nou. There’s no point relaying any more of the plot details, other than to say that one of the tag lines that I’ve seen used for this is ‘Becky Chambers x Stephen Baxter’, which captures the blend of hard-science cosmic wonder and compassionate character building. A lovely, fun and hopeful novel.
Articles on Bolivia’s (possibly) fake coup
https://theconversation.com/bolivia-fake-or-real-the-attempted-coup-exposes-the-countrys-deep-underlying-turmoil-233484 - I’m engrossed in this still-developing story. Before reading about the coup and the accusations that it was staged, this piece goes into detail about the current state of Bolivia, including a fair analysis of previous president Evo Morales’ policies, which massively elevated national living standards but made the country reliant on commodity exports, which have been on the decline since the early 2010’s. Essential background reading.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/29/bolivias-president-accused-of-plotting-coup-against-himself-to-boost-popularity - A straighforward and well rounded news piece running through the accusations made by the detained supposed ‘orchestrator’ general, who claims (without evidence, to be clear) that he was ordered by president Luis Arce to enact the fake coup in order to help boost Arce’s popularity. As the article points out, the idea of a self coup has captured the nation’s imagination, and now Arce’s main opposition Morales has also started to question the incident.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/latin-america/argentina-reverses-bolivia-stance-saying-coup-attempt-was-faked.phtml - To no one’s surprise, Javier Milei has declared that he believes the coup was self-orchestrated. This puts him further at odds with the rest of the more left-leaning Latin and South American leaders (again, quelle surprise). This is important because these leaders have, to quote the article, been “trying to reconcile the positions of President Luis Arce and Morales ahead of an election next year. Both men are planning to run, and allies fear a split on the left could open the door for a right-leaning leader in Bolivia.” This is going to get weird and ugly.