#teju's playlist

[browngurl99]

I like you *shows you my Bollywood ship playlists*

[orgasming-caterpillar]

dancing on your heartstrings is the reason why i open this hellsite eagerly everyday btw (you're such a good writer oml teach me thy skillz senpaiiii)

Ahdhdjskbxhdksosudhs pehle teju makes a playlist for doyh and then ahana makes a moodboard for it and then you're coming into my inbox telling me my story is the reason you open this app im so emotional rn

[simmyfrobby]

(if anyone is interested in Teju Cole but not massively into poetry or photography, he also puts together these really cool playlists that I would 100% recommend)

[hatingwithfears]

BOOKS READ IN 2022

Here’s the complete list of books I managed to read in 2022.

168 books. 54,494 pages.

Renata Adler- Speedboat

Kendra Allen- The Collection Plate

Jonathan Alter- His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life

Kenneth Anger- Hollywood Babylon

Jason Bailey- Fun City Cinema: New York City and the Movies That Made It

Peter Baker, Susan Glasser- The Divider: Trump in The White House 2017-2021

JG Ballard- The Atrocity Exhibition

Julien Barnes- Elizabeth Finch

Brit Bennett- The Vanishing Half

Charles M. Blow- The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto

Anthony Bourdain- Medium Raw

Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever- World Travel: An Irreverent Guide

Box Brown- Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America

Mariah Carey, Michaela Angela Davis- The Meaning of Mariah Carey

Nick Cave & Sean O’Hagan- Faith, Hope, and Carnage

David Chang- Eat a Peach

Dan Charnas- Dilla Time

Leonard Cohen- A Ballet of Lepers

Lee Cole- Groundskeeping

Teju Cole- Black Paper

Ray Connolly- Being Elvis: A Lonely Life

Brian Contoir- Practical Alchemy

Antoine Cosse- Metax

Charles R. Cross- Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain

Daniele Cybulskie- How To Live Like a Monk

Travis Dandro- King of King Court

John Darnelle- Devil House

Michael Deforge- Heaven No Hell

Rita Dove- Playlist for the Apocalypse

David Duchovny- The Reservoir

Jennifer Egan- The Candy House

Robert Evans- The Kid Stays in The Picture

Scott Eyman- Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise

Nicolas Ferraro- Cruz

Mark Fisher- Ghosts of My Life

Mark Fisher- Capitalist Realism

Johnathan Franzen- Crossroads

Harry Freedman- Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius

Matti Friedman- Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai

James Gavin- George Michael: A Life

Lizzy Goodman- Meet Me in The Bathroom

Andrew Sean Greer- Less

Dave Grohl- The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

Joseph Hansen- Troublemaker

Joy Harjo- Poet Warrior

Robert Harris- The Ghost Writer

Noah Hawley- Anthem

Wil Haygood- Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Film in a White World

Clinton Heylin- The Double Life of Bob Dylan

Andrew Holleran- The Kingdom of Sand

Michel Houellebecq- Serotonin

Sean Howe- Marvel Comics: The Untold Story

Dorthy B Hughes- In a Lonely Place

John Irving- The Fourth Hand

Walter Isaacson- Leonardo Da Vinci

Kazuo Ishiguro- Klara and The Sun

Junji Ito- No Longer Human

Robert Jones Jr- The Prophets

Saeed Jones- Alive at The End of the World

Stephen Graham Jones- My Heart is a Chainsaw

Rax King- Tacky

Stephen King- Billy Summers

Katie Kitamura- Intimacies

Chuck Klosterman- The Nineties

TJ Klune- Under The Whispering Door

Karl Ove Knausgaard- The Morning Star

Hideo Kojima- The Creative Dream

Milan Kundera- Slowness

Wally Lamb- I Know This Much is True

Yiyun Li- Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life

Thomas Ligotti- The Conspiracy Against The Human Race

Roger Lipsey- Make Peace Before the Sun Goes Down

Patricia Lockwood- No One is Talking About This

Ling Ma- Bliss Montage

Stuart B MacBride- Halfhead

Michael Mann & Meg Gardiner- Heat 2

Greil Marcus- Dead Elvis

Mike McCormack- Solar Bones

Jennette McCurdy- I’m Glad My Mom Died

Janelle Monae- The Memory Librarian

Ottessa Moshfegh- Lapvona

Leila Mottley- Nightcrawling

Alan Moore, Melinda Gebbie- Lost Girls

Grant Morrison- The Invisibles

Mannie Murphy- I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Sequoia Nagamatsu- How High We Go in The Dark

Joyce Carol Oates- Blonde

Joyce Carol Oates- American Melancholy

John O’Connell- Bowie’s Bookshelf

Ryan O’Connell- Just By Looking at Him

Jenny Offill- Weather

Paul Ortiz- An African American and Latinx History of The United States

Hiroko Oyamada- The Factory

Hiroko Oyamada- The Hole

Helen Oyeymi- What is Not Yours is Not Yours

James Patterson- Hear No Evil

Larissa Pham- Pop Song

Brian Phillips- Impossible Owls

Stephanie Phillips- Why Solange Matters

Keith Phipps- Age of Cage

Michael Pollan- This Is Your Mind on Plants

Richard Powers- Bewilderment

Questlove- Music is History

Kristen Radtke- Seek You

Sue Rainsford- Follow Me to Ground

Claudia Rankine- Just Us: An American Conversation

George A Romero, Daniel Kraus- The Living Dead

Karen Russell- Orange World

George Saunders- A Swim in a Pond in The Rain

George Saunders- Liberation Day

Samantha Schweblin— Fever Dream

Leonardo Sciascia- Equal Danger

Mark Seal- Leave The Gun, Take The Cannoli

Seth- Clyde Fans

Alan Sepinwall- Breaking Bad 101

Zadie Smith- Feel Free

Won-Pyung Sohn- Almond

Bob Spitz- Led Zeppelin: The Biography

Elizabeth Strout- Oh William!

J Randy Taraborrelli- The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe

Herve Le Tellier- The Anomaly

Manjit Thapp- Feelings

Olga Tokarczuk- The Books of Jacob

Jia Tolentino- Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion

Leo Trezenick- The Confession of a Mad Man

Stanley Tucci- Taste

Una- Becoming Unbecoming

Ocean Vuong- Time is a Mother

Chris Ware- Rusty Brown

WC Ware- Jimmy Corrigan

John Waters- Liarmouth

Peter Weiss- The Shadow of The Coachman’s Body

Missouri Williams- The Doloriad

Antoine Wilson- Mouth to Mouth

Sarah Winman- Still Life

Laurie Wollever- Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography

Kenneth Womack- Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and The End of The Beatles

Hanya Yanagihara- To Paradise

Ed. Jelani Cobb & David Remnick- The Matter of Black Lives

Ed. Sinead Gleeson & Kim Gordon- This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music

[diaryofarthurjones]

An example of dichotomy:

Currently listening to YG and Tyga’s album, or playlist, titled “Hit Me When U Leave The Klub: The Playlist.”

To my left, on the table, is Teju Cole’s latest novel titled “Tremor.”

[singh25-shreya]

I have not read most of the big 19th-century novels that people consider “essential,” nor most of the 20th-century ones for that matter. But this does not embarrass me. There are many films to see, many friends to visit, many walks to take, many playlists to assemble and many favorite books to reread. Life’s too short for anxious score-keeping. Also, my grandmother is illiterate, and she’s one of the best people I know. Reading is a deep personal consolation for me, but other things console, too.

Teju Cole

[slapegg]

Steam Powered Giraffe

I recently played through SteamWorld Heist and it's a darn fine game I highly recommend, but I left it with a rare for us musical recommendation. I thank the game for introducing me to “Steam Powered Giraffe”. These guys are great and I get the vibe that if you're into what I write, you'll probably like their works too. They post most of their songs on Youtube, so go check it out!

The SteamWorld Heist soundtrack is more twangy and a lot of fun:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Z_Ad4LDKGS-14M-zuhWdXkUaqO-TejU

Heist Ho!, Prepare For Boarding, What We Need Are Some Heroes, The Vast Frontier, and The Stars were all written for Heist, I believe, and are great every one of them.

The music video for The Stars is just so goofy and lovable:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw3nssdp-0I

And check out Star Scrap to see just how crazy on point Rabbit's mime game is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwOg5wI5Gj8

The whole band is just stupid adorable!

And they have lore! So much lore!

The Vice Quadrant is a space rock opera!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Z_Ad4LDKGRKW2Jm7Ure706swssZk6b5

Fire Fire is the best song about astronauts burning to death that I have ever heard and I went out and bought it and have just been playing it on repeat for too long.

For lighter fare, the music video for GG's song is pretty much a requirement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8wGRUeIkfw

Seriously, they have lore and it's so good!

https://steampoweredgiraffe.com/index.php/lore/

[samegavi]

Farewell Fafa

As with Julius, so with me

On that morning, the first Sunday of May, I finally began to cry. I could no longer hold back the tears when I started listening to the Lenny LeBlanc songs a friend had sent my way. Perhaps it was a mistake to have travelled to Accra, I thought, the city that holds almost all the memories Fafa and I created. Those memories, as evidenced in the iPhone photo album of her name, but all recently deleted, still find their way to haunt me from time to time, and more painfully so as I sat in the One Corner Garden in Kokomlemle that morning. It's been two months since Fafa, in a swift mood swing I was in no way prepared for, pulled the plug on us, first with a text message and later a short audio call. The pain cut deep but I had never been able to shed a tear until that morning. I now weep at unpredictable hours everyday since then, so much so that I prefer to work from the safety of my home office so I can spare anyone the uncomfortable sight of a grown man drowning in a flood of tears.

A few weeks before this chronic crying began, I had fallen into the habit of observing the Catholics in my community closely, and I wonder now wether the two are connected in some way. As someone brought up in the Pentecostal and later Charismatic Christian traditions I had always found Catholics weird. I would mock at what I thought to be idol worship, "celibate" priests and sisters, and their antic clothes. This time, however, I found myself paying serious attention. During the period in my life where I experienced a deep crisis of faith, and did not hesitate to adopt the atheist label, I found my Catholic friends to be the most tolerant of all. Granted there where a few occasions where I felt ridiculed and even dehumanized but they still welcomed me into their homes. I'd engage them in debate over the doctrines I found silly and I would surprisingly leave with a deep appreciation of why they do such and such even when I wasn't convinced completely. Later I even surprised myself further when I started attending mass occasionally at the chaplaincy in the university nearby.

At first I only attended night vigil on some Saturday evenings. The plan on such days was to head out to campus to do some research I had reserved for the weekend, head to the tennis court right after, and then as if I had to complete the state of being cerebral and corporeal with a state of being sensuous, I would descend on the road between the commercial area and the art department where I'll fall in with others on their way to revive their spiritual vitality. Mass turned out to be more orderly, always starting and ending on time, and I felt 'talked to', not 'shouted at', during the Priest's sermon. It always felt like I was sitting in a well-organised banquet for the spiritually malnourished.

What I loved most about mass at the chaplaincy, however, was the music from the choir, and It's very clear to me how that is connected to my year long Sunday morning ritual of listening to nothing but classical and choral music from the comfort of my studio apartment. I would be awake as early as 3am on a Sunday and tune in to P2 Klassisk, on Danish public radio DR Lyd. After an hour I'd switch to Spotify where I would spend hours enjoying the beautiful sequencing in Teju Cole's playlists. His a history of jetlag 7, my all time favourite, introduced me to the music of Chanticleer, Tomas Luis de Victoria, The Cambridge Singers and Phillip Glass. I found so much joy in this new music I was listening to that I would, on impulse, take screenshots of whatever music app I was using and share on my whatsapp status, though I was not sure how anybody could relate by just staring at an image of a music player and album art.

On some of these Sunday private musical festivals of mine, I would put Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight on repeat play. Listening to this felt like being taken on a journey up and being brought back down very slowly in both directions. Not starting abruptly and not ending abruptly, as if the composer was being very careful not to traumatize the listener with sudden swift shifts in tempo, either at the beginning or at the end. It must have been this hypnosis I am usually under when listening to this...hymn without words... that made me start questioning the logic of the binary circuits in the switches on the walls in our homes. How do we complain of the trauma of Dumsor, that one can be suddenly plunged into darkness and brought abruptly back into the light without warning, giving our senses no time to prepare for either shock, and yet be so comfortable with the small acts of trauma we inflict upon ourselves when we use switches that don't have the ability to turn off the lights slowly or turn it back on slowly, that know only zero and one and know nothing in between. I made a vow to find a solution to this in my own home. I would rather reduce the volume than pull the plug, and prefer to dial down the luminous flux slowly to zero than to press a button, and switch from close to a thousand lumens to nothing, in the flash of a microsecond.

It was to break the monotony of these Sunday morning home musical concerts that on the second Sunday of May, which turned out to also be the sixth Sunday of Easter, I decided to attend morning mass. I arrived at 8:30am and was ushered in after the usual Covid protocols of hand washing and sanitizing. I had my nose mask on. Nothing unusual happened until what came after the bidding prayer. To my surprise, I voiced out the prayer to Mary without any doubt that she was up in the heavens listening intently. The Hail Mary, together with all the other prayers said to the mother of God, was not a part of mass I keenly anticipated or participated in. This time I felt differently about it. Perhaps it was because that Sunday was also Mothers Day. I had observed through posts on social media how eager people are to celebrate the love of a mother, a love we acknowledge is out of this world, almost divine, and yet somehow the divinity of Mary, the mother of God, was questionable to half of Christendom? I had thought about the memory of my own mother in the early hours of that morning and maybe in my subconscious I had wondered how God would feel about his own mother, the only one through whom he could become flesh. After Hail Mary I said a silent prayer for all the mothers I knew and all aspiring mothers. It was then that thoughts of Fafa came rushing through my mind, like a rush of blood to the head. I began to say a prayer for her and I wept as I prayed.

The tears continued to roll down my cheeks throughout the rest of mass, and this time I felt no inclination to hide it from anyone. I was mourning the living as if it were the dead but I let go of any impulse to hide or trivialize this pain of loss. I mourned freely, and felt this sensation of being loosened, as if a knot in me was being untied. I felt my senses were now whole, as if I had fully recovered my senses from all the untold damage a man suffers growing up in a male dominated society. I felt happy to have overcome my masculine lachrymal challenge.

A few days later, when I was seated inside the Goethe Institute Library in Accra, and about to return a book I had borrowed, I wondered what amount of pain might have caused Fafa to turn cold. What weighed so heavily on her heart, so heavy she chose not to communicate, knowing that my most likely reaction will be to console her or offer an apology if that was warranted. I went over to the Librarian's desk, handed in the copy of Trevor Noah's Born A Crime, and headed for the exit. On my way out my mind was flooded with memories of our good times together. Fafa, she who calls me King Promise, with smiles like kisses, the only Nyabinghi High Priestess I've ever met in person, who taught me how to appreciate House music, a spiritual companion, my own Grace Lee Boggs. A sob ascended my spine.

[tsuede]

Change of shades

Tripunithura is a temple town much obsessed with it's past - a town in perpetual rumination. The place takes on the persona of that old lady who talks about her ancestral home's 'pathayam' full of rice reserves when she was young. The thin, pale, peripheral branches of a kshetreya legacy - the town's favourite residents. Vestiges of this aristocratic legacy are preserved in structures of brick, blood and society.

Towards the end of November is 'vrishchikotsavam,' the temple's anniversary, a week of chaos. The whole temple compound gets a golden glow at night, yellow luminance invading into the privacy of the black night sky. Camphor soot and dust, disperse the yellow light from the sodium vapour lamps propped on bamboo poles. Everything, and everyone, becomes beautiful in that light. I spend the nights near the wooden stairs of the West gate. They're relatively less crowded. It's not easy, you know, existing as the omnipresent like me. It's very distracting, and also, you don't have as much freedom. Everything becomes decided for you, you are restricted by the imagination of the dumb few who made you up - your shape, name, mobility, sexuality, where you exist, who you can see, who can see you - everything. It's hard. On the third day of utsavam I saw him in his favourite black tee and 'kaavi mundu.' His goatee is catching up since the last year I saw him. He knows I don't exist and hence doesn't bother visiting, except for these yearly visits. He's here for the 'panchavadyam' - the orchestral drum music. He stands away from the rush, in a clear patch, looking down at the sand moist with elephant pee, cross-armed, taking in the rhythmic beats of the chenda. But, today he's disturbed - too conscious of his presence. She is the reason. She's there standing by the gallery wall, with an ease which he can only dream of, and she's beautiful. Her sharp nose with a bump at 1/3rd the length, her exotic pale grey eyes, bony fingers with closely cut nails and her lilac chiffon churidar with floral patterned baggy salwaar. She waves at her sister who along with the rest of her family is watching the procession from the gallery reserved for the royal families. Privileges of your ancestors being fucked by some Aryan. Maybe it's these privileges that let her exist at ease in this crowd and maybe the lack of which makes him conscious of his presence in the same crowd. The space itself is new to his ilk. They are strangers, at least in the broader sense of the word. For her, he is just another face illuminated in yellow. But he knows her face a bit more thoroughly, maybe a bit too well, well enough to sketch it on a Monday morning from memory. He used to enjoy his bus rides back home from Palarivattom, after those wretched classes, with a curious sense of achievement. It was his reward for sitting through 8 hours of depressing lessons in cramped classrooms - his way of unwinding. One day she gets on his bus and sits a few seats ahead of him. He observed every curve on her head's silhouette. Next morning he woke up at 4 and started sketching it down so that he wouldn't forget how it looked. This was 5 years ago. He hasn't seen her since, until today. That face he sketched from memory, the only one he could - the bump on her nose, the grey in her eyes, everything was before him again. The chenda beats were muffled. He watched her as she sat down on the moist sand, cross-legged, leaning back on her hand propped on the ground. Then she closed her eyes, raised her head up and tried to read the beats. ..... Day 5, he came early. The panchavadyam wouldn't start in another 2 hours. He went to the koothupura to see the kathakali. 'Baali-vadhanam' is playing today. She is sitting at the back, in a corner. She recognizes his face from a dream she once had. The boy who painted her in the light of a kerosene lamp. Every stroke on the cotton rag canvas gave new colours to her skin. She got maroon hair, grey skin and yellow eyes. She loved how she'd changed, she wished she had maroon hair, grey skin and yellow eyes. She believed it was the light from the soot-covered glass shade of the lamp that gave her her new colours. She saw his face in the flickering glow of the 'aatavillaku,' and she felt the joy of having a chance to get the colours she never had. She relished the possibility in all its absurdity. The handheld curtain is let to fall and the music became louder, a few hurried stomps of the feet, and he looks back over his shoulder. Two beats skipped, two breaths stuck half-way, and two pairs of eyes averted. The first set of sticks fell on the chendas - panchavadyam has started. The Kathakali crowd started shrinking. She stood up, dusted her bottom and walked to the front. She introduced herself, 'Durga.' Two wide-opened eyes met the outstretched hand. 'Hey, I'm Tejus,' he shook the hand. 'You wanna sit?' She sat beside him. He's amused by Ravanan's face patterns, a bit of extra black and red, violent and threatening. This is the part where he abducts Sita to the forest confinement in Lanka. What if Sita wanted to be with Ravanan and the whole Ramayanam is a distorted version of the story - an elope rather than an abduction? The panchavadyam beats were getting intense, but neither of them felt like leaving. 'Do you draw?' Durga asked, noticing the black-bound sketchbook jutting out of his satchel. 'Yes... I like to sketch, yeah.' He was always reluctant to acknowledge his taste in art. I bet he felt noticed and exposed. 'What kinda things do you sketch?' 'I like doing portraits, illustrations, ...that kinda stuff.' 'Can you draw me?' Durga asked. A question that he's heard an umpteen times before, and yet, this time it was different; for both of them, both knew he already had. 'Yes... sometimes,' he replied with a shy nod. Tejus' phone rang, True caller tab popped up red, 'Bsnl telemarketing,' it read. 'Wow, Yumeji's theme? From "In the mood for love?" Are you a Wong Kar Wai fan too? They gushed over their love for Wong Kar Wai movies. They both thought they were the only ones to see all 10 of his features. Tejus' favourite was 'Chungking Express' and Durga's was '2046.' They talked about the omnipresent elements in his movies: the rain, mirrors, unrequited love, stop printing and catchy pop songs. When the nuances of Wong Kar Wai movies were exhausted they bitched about almost everyone who was sitting there - the GoPro techie who had brought the whole product box with him, the aunty with jasmine flowers on her head that had started to rot, the bald guy who ironically had scored most number of mosquitoes circling his head, the butt crack guy with a fluorescent 'Jockey,' the over engrossed mom whose kids they planned to murder, the sorority of princesses with matching blouses, and the oldie, who for some reason kept calling me, only interrupted by the periodic scoffs of disappointment at the mumbling two. They hardly cared anything about the grieving Ram(easily an 8) who just lost his wife to the dark evil Ravanan( a 5, at most a 6). The Kathakali performers bowed and left the makeshift stage. A few of the audience had come with bed-sheets to sleep on, which they spread over the floor and slept. Durga and Tejus left the koothambalam. It was 3 in the morning, the panchavadyam was over long back, and the temple grounds were deserted except for the footprints from the night. They decided to sit and talk for some more time before they went home. They sat at the west gate, on the black rock platforms on which people, and I, usually sit. It'll glisten ever so lightly in the moon, the oil from the lit lamps would mix with the dew and give a greasy coating to it. Durga started, 'Have you seen ''Begin Again?" Yeah? So, there's this scene in which they talk about how you can know so much about a person from their playlists.' Durga looked at Tejus intently, waiting. '...Oh, you wanna know my playlist? Okay cool, how about we play one song each from our playlists, alternatively. How's that?' 'Cool, works. You wanna start?' 'Yeah, sure.' Tejus started with 'Angela' by The Lumineers. They played Angela. I liked that song. Something about tree logging. 'Wasteland baby, by Hozier.' 'Okay,...Hero by Family of the year.' 'Coastline by Hollow Coves.' 'Cherathukal...?' ... Tinges of orange spread in the sky and suddenly there were rays of sunlight creeping in from behind the silhouette of the clock-tower. Savithri had started sweeping the stone pavements. She's a friend. We talk often about her grandkids. Pigeons stirred from under the clay-tiled roofs. Durga rubbed her eyes and took a few deep breaths of the cold morning air. She looked at Tejus sleeping on her calves, waited a moment, and then woke him up. A bit embarrassed by the drool on her salwaar he gave her an awkward smile. He lazily sat up. 'Oh, shit..! We're back in real-time.' 'Do you hear a Harpsichord playing? We can dance maybe,' She asks with an animated face of sarcasm. Tejus spurts out a laugh, 'It's funny you said that. I've always had this fantasy of having a sunrise-esque moment. You know, in some foreign city, walking around the streets - connecting with a person...Oh, and then I want the sequels too. I really love them, Jesse and Celine. They put everything good in those movies, and now, that's my scale, you know what I mean?' 'Yeah, I guess so. Yeah...But, you're gonna be disappointed my child. I don't think it ever works that way. Probably why the movie is special, right? I mean - you'll probably be perpetually disappointed in whatever you'd have - I guess...' 'Yeah...I guess. Anyways it'd be something I'd be looking for I guess.' Durga jumps down from the platform they were sitting on, 'well, this was close, right?' They shared a smile. They and I knew it was; the closest. The sand was cold - pleasant to walk on. They got a morning tea from the stall at the gate and decided to leave for their homes to sleep the day off. As they parted and Durga walked to her home, she looked down at her feet - there was a patch of grey on her skin - like a brushstroke. I watched on as the maroon at the ends of her hair glistened in the sun.

[browngurl99]

Previously @brownweeb99. Now @browngurl99

Teju/Arya

She/her

Indian

Hindu

Asexual

I am on Ao3

@tejuwritesstuff is my writing blog

I post and reblog a bunch of stuff ; Don't mind me. Also, this is not a spoiler free zone.

...

This blog is a mess. And you chose to follow it.

[latinosbelike]

Music That Cures Seasonal Affective Disorder

By Daniela Serrano

Despite all my literary aspirations I spend more time listening to music than actually reading. Commuting used to be my reading time but given the choice of having to find a way to hold onto a chair and a book or music, I will choose music. Listening to music, for me, since I moved to Boston, has been something that while calling it political would be stretching the word too much, it certainly is deliberate. In one of the essays in Known and Strange Things Teju Cole says about music: “The music you travel with helps you to create your own internal weather.” When I read this I felt that flash of soul validation one feels when someone else puts into words what we have been struggling with. By putting on headphones and listening, always on repeat, oftentimes mumbling along--in a volume I am certain has made more than one commuter uncomfortable--every once in awhile softly dancing by myself, to the songs I like and the rhythms I wished were more common in Boston I am cocooning myself in this space where I am most me in a city that asks for too much assimilation.

Choosing a definitive list of favorite songs is slightly ridiculous. There is far too much music in the world to try to do something as nearsighted as a “definitive list of songs.” In an exercise pulled directly from High Fidelity one of my most favorite, problematic books I decided to cluster groups of songs when they suited different needs.I organized the songs by seasons because I found I need some of these songs with more urgency during certain weathers. Music has also helped me navigate this new phenomenon. Seasons. This radical and rather violent changing of the weather every set of months. We don't have this where I come from (Yes, Colombia doesn't really have seasons, No, Colombia is not hot all the time, we're not the caribbean). How do people not go insane in living with such an inconstant partner. Anyways, music, my own personal selection of music, has served as a stabilizing weather.

SPRING

1. "Las Transuentes” - Jorge Drexler

With its temperate weather and ontological confusion: is it its own season or just some taunting relapse of winter? It´s a time when I need something soft, but also something sweet. During Spring's warmer days I like to waltz around the city feeling as if everything belongs in a Jorge Drexler song. In particular this song. I also like to listen to pop-y reggae that reminds me of warm nights and drinks and the promise of people. 

2. “Dulcito e Coco” - Vicente García Junto a Kumary Sawyers 

Spring music, like the season itself should blend into the background and make the days bearable without quite marking them. I love in particular listening to Piel Canela, even when I believe it to be “Aunt Music” because it feels redeeming while living in a language that does not have the proper words to describe my skin. I think about this a lot. 

3. “Piel Canela” - Andres Cepeda

4. “Every Other Freckle” - alt-J

Although I know Alt-J is the one odd duck in the list, I still find myself returning to this song and band often. I like the music I like for the same reasons I like the people I like: porque sí and because there is something weird and appealing about them. This song is strange and soft and sometimes even I need a dose of English. 

SUMMER

5. “Sober” - Lorde

I both love and am terrified of Summer. The hours are too long and oftentimes there is too little to do. For me, at least, this particular Summer has involved two things that make me extremely uncomfortable: idle hours and writing. So even though I might front a lot about listening to music in Spanish, I can only write while listening to indie-singer/songwriter-type of music.

6. “The Ideal Husband” - Father John Misty

To be honest, had you looked into my most repeated songs three or four years ago it would have been all Indie Coffeehouse Playlist™. 

I´m all about Belle and Sebastian, I can not not pay attention to anything Father John Misty puts out. Guys, this is a big confession: Indie music is my biggest guilty pleasure. I tag it as guilty pleasure just because I know. I KNOW.  I have seen first-hand the level of pettiness and self importance that inflates people who usually like this music. I still like it. The writing is pretty and the singing is mumbled enough i don't feel tempted to sing along so it does not distract me from writing. 

7. “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross” - Sufjan Stevens

I end Summer with Tú Sonrisa Inolvidable because it might be one of my Top Five favorite songs, and it deserves a spot somewhere. 

8. “Tú Sonrisa Inolvidable” - Fito Páez

FALL

Fall might be my favorite season for extremely sartorial reasons. It is the perfect season for cute dresses and cute jackets. It is also the weather most similar to home, I think. I like to listen to melancholy music here. They grey of the city does not get more colorful by listening to the always masterful old-school Shakira, but it is brighter. There are some people who, when extremely happy, only like to listen to really sad music. It is something like that.

9. “Que Me Quedes Tu” - Shakira

Things are never “bad” but they can always get better by blasting Me Dediqué a Perderte in my room as if it were a karaoke night after the worst breakup recorded by mankind.

10. “Me Dediqué a Perderte” - Alejandro Fernández

WINTER

11. “Señora” - Otto Serge

Two years ago, as I was preparing to go into the first real winter of my adult life I created a playlist I decided would cure me from any Seasonal Affective Disorder. Sort of a musical equivalent for those sunshine lamps. Since I am the only person who has listened to the playlist I can not claim it “scientifically” works, but it has certainly kept me together. And I believe it has kept me together due, only, to the extremely trash reputation of the music I chose.

On the first night we went out with my two American roommates, as we were asking each other the questions meant to paint an accelerated picture of  this-person-I-am-agreeing-to-pay-to-live-with, we talked about music. I told them I was very glad neither of them had any of the social context to judge the trash I listened to. They didn't understand how what I listed could be trash if all Latin music is dancey and fun. But it´s not. Some of it is vallenato, and although it is Intangible Cultural Heritage according to UNESCO it is also reminiscent of drunk, misogynistic men getting drunk off Old Parr. 

Some of it is reggaeton or salsa. An inordinate amount is champeta that I listen and dance to and sing badly both in private in public because walking about the city with Kevin Florez blasting in my headphones feels like keeping a unique kind of secret. 

12. “La Invite A Bailar” - Kevin Florez

I am aware that the lyrics in most of these songs are problematic at best. But, in all my reading, and lord knows i read a lot, few genres provide such catchy and immediately satisfying lines as “Hay un chorro de bobos que te tienen ganas / pero dile que tu eres Del Rey como Lana”.

13. “Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola” - J. Balvin  ft. Bad Bunny

At the end of the day what I listen to falls squarely within the realm of things that are my problem. And I will listen to anything and everything that makes me happy, and smile, and reminds me that I used to live in a place where, if I wanted to, I could have gone out dancing every week. And I never did, because I never liked it that much. Until I missed it.  

14. “El Preso” - Fruko y sus Tesos

Listen to full playlist here:

Daniela Serrano is a Colombian editor and translator currently based in Boston.

[unitedtalent-blog]

Husharu’s “Na Na Na” Making Every One Go Wah Wah Wah

We are happy to announce that the new song from our Lucky Media Presentation’s Husharu has gone viral. It was launched by Dil Raju Garu, the man with a Midas touch. The song “Na Na Na” is making waves among the music lovers. We thank Dil Raju garu for launching the song.

"Na Na Na" is composed by Arjun Reddy fame Radhan and sung by another crazy music director Bobo Sashi of Bindaas and Takita Takita fame. After a very long gap, he is returning to Telugu cinema. He has picked a catchy winner for his comeback. The catchy, and foot-tapping refrain “Na Na Na” that forms the part of lyrics is on everyone’s lips. It is rocking the music lover’s playlists all over.

The good news is “Na Na Na” is only the beginning, and there is more to come from our very talented classy music director Radhan.

Husharu is a youthful love story starring Tejus Kancherla, Tej Kurapati, Abhinav Chunchu, Dinesh Tej, Daksha Nagarkar, Priya Vadlamani, Hema Ingle. Sree Harsha Konuganti directs the movie. Bekkem Venu Gopal (Gopi) produces the film which is presented by Lucky Media.

[shydelusionpeach]

Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? Naij.com TV

Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? Naij.com TV Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? | Naij.com TV Subscribe to NAIJ.COM TV for more political and celebrity news! https://goo.gl/WtN4Yv Nigeria celebrities who are also the happiest parents in the world – that’s the central theme of this top video. In Nigeria, we highly appreciate family values. That’s why Nigeria celeb who successfully combine career and parenthood are incredibly popular with our people. So, what do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, and Teju Babyface have in common? They all are blessed with twins! In this top video, we will show you these cute twins and their parents! Are you ready to see these happy families? Click “Play” and enjoy the video! And don’t’ forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get more news about Nigeria celebs! Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? 0:27 Teju Babyface 0:50 Akpororo 1:11 Paul Okoye Subscribe to NAIJ.COM TV for more political and celebrity news! https://goo.gl/WtN4Yv Current affairs - Nigeria News | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2qZIi3V The latest Africa and Nigeria News on Naij.com TV! Daily current affairs and crime news. Issues of public concern and statements of opinion leaders. Political news, comments, and scandals. The views of experts and street interviews of ordinary citizens of Nigeria. Breaking news and updates. What's troubling people in Africa? And what news stories are the most discussed in Nigeria today? Save this playlist to be the first who gets the answers! Naija lifestyle | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2qZNBzu This playlist contains videos under the heading “Naija LifeStyle”. Here you can find the latest Nigeria entertainment news. Do you like watching people answering tricky questions in the street interviews? Are you interested in gossip news? Do you want to know more about public and personal lives of Nigerian music artists, actors, and other famous people? Are you a music fan who wants to be the first to watch the newest music videos of Nigerian pop-stars and rock-bands? If at least one of your answers is “yes”, save this playlist and have fun! Special projects | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2HwHUAj This playlist contains videos under the heading “Special projects” on Naij.com TV. Hilarious comedy videos about life in Nigeria. Nigerian opinions on politics. Overviews of big political conflicts and social problems that concern the society. Success stories of self-made men and women. Exclusive interviews with public figures and your favorite stars. And amazing life stories of unusual and talented Nigerians which can inspire you. Save this playlist to get interesting content every day! Nigeria Top List | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2JwAP3s In this playlist, we've collected videos that can broaden your horizons. The team of Naij.com TV regularly chooses top 5 interesting facts on different topics related to Africa. What were the biggest Africa’s scandals of the year? Who are the best football players in Nigeria? What interesting facts should you know about the Igbo people? Do you have the answers to these questions? Watch our top lists to stay on top of Nigeria entertainment news and learn more about Africa and Africans! Star Chat | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2JtOqbL Are you looking for the latest news about famous Nigerians? Do you want to become closer to your favorite Nigerian celebrities? Do you want to watch only the best interviews with your favorite stars? Whatever your idols are doing, you will find it in this playlist. Also, you can be the first to know hot gossips, always stay on top of the biggest celebrity scandals and details of their personal lives. Save this playlist and get access to all Nigerian showbiz and entertainment news you are interested in. Sports news | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2FjHqvh Do you want to enjoy updates on international sports events and the most important sports news of Nigeria? Watching this playlist, you can get the best sports coverage. The Naij.com TV team is bringing you the latest Nigerian and international sports news, gossips, and interviews. Watch football highlights and reviews of premier league football matches. Be the first to know boxing news and fights results. And, of course, enjoy vox-pop interviews of other passionate sports fans. ___ Do you want to know more about Nigeria breaking news? Connect with Naij.com TV! Visit Naij.com Site: https://www.naija.ng/ Follow Naij.com on Twitter: https://twitter.com/naijcom Follow Naij.com on Facebook: https://ift.tt/1QsdYVZ Follow Naij.com on Instagram: https://ift.tt/1oxB17x Follow Social project Street Gist: https://goo.gl/Nn3QEd #naijcomtv #naijacomtv #naijtv #nigerianews

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[rubycoldwater]

Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? Naij.com TV

Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? Naij.com TV Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? | Naij.com TV Subscribe to NAIJ.COM TV for more political and celebrity news! https://goo.gl/WtN4Yv Nigeria celebrities who are also the happiest parents in the world – that’s the central theme of this top video. In Nigeria, we highly appreciate family values. That’s why Nigeria celeb who successfully combine career and parenthood are incredibly popular with our people. So, what do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, and Teju Babyface have in common? They all are blessed with twins! In this top video, we will show you these cute twins and their parents! Are you ready to see these happy families? Click “Play” and enjoy the video! And don’t’ forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get more news about Nigeria celebs! Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? 0:27 Teju Babyface 0:50 Akpororo 1:11 Paul Okoye Subscribe to NAIJ.COM TV for more political and celebrity news! https://goo.gl/WtN4Yv Current affairs - Nigeria News | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2qZIi3V The latest Africa and Nigeria News on Naij.com TV! Daily current affairs and crime news. Issues of public concern and statements of opinion leaders. Political news, comments, and scandals. The views of experts and street interviews of ordinary citizens of Nigeria. Breaking news and updates. What's troubling people in Africa? And what news stories are the most discussed in Nigeria today? Save this playlist to be the first who gets the answers! Naija lifestyle | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2qZNBzu This playlist contains videos under the heading “Naija LifeStyle”. Here you can find the latest Nigeria entertainment news. Do you like watching people answering tricky questions in the street interviews? Are you interested in gossip news? Do you want to know more about public and personal lives of Nigerian music artists, actors, and other famous people? Are you a music fan who wants to be the first to watch the newest music videos of Nigerian pop-stars and rock-bands? If at least one of your answers is “yes”, save this playlist and have fun! Special projects | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2HwHUAj This playlist contains videos under the heading “Special projects” on Naij.com TV. Hilarious comedy videos about life in Nigeria. Nigerian opinions on politics. Overviews of big political conflicts and social problems that concern the society. Success stories of self-made men and women. Exclusive interviews with public figures and your favorite stars. And amazing life stories of unusual and talented Nigerians which can inspire you. Save this playlist to get interesting content every day! Nigeria Top List | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2JwAP3s In this playlist, we've collected videos that can broaden your horizons. The team of Naij.com TV regularly chooses top 5 interesting facts on different topics related to Africa. What were the biggest Africa’s scandals of the year? Who are the best football players in Nigeria? What interesting facts should you know about the Igbo people? Do you have the answers to these questions? Watch our top lists to stay on top of Nigeria entertainment news and learn more about Africa and Africans! Star Chat | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2JtOqbL Are you looking for the latest news about famous Nigerians? Do you want to become closer to your favorite Nigerian celebrities? Do you want to watch only the best interviews with your favorite stars? Whatever your idols are doing, you will find it in this playlist. Also, you can be the first to know hot gossips, always stay on top of the biggest celebrity scandals and details of their personal lives. Save this playlist and get access to all Nigerian showbiz and entertainment news you are interested in. Sports news | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2FjHqvh Do you want to enjoy updates on international sports events and the most important sports news of Nigeria? Watching this playlist, you can get the best sports coverage. The Naij.com TV team is bringing you the latest Nigerian and international sports news, gossips, and interviews. Watch football highlights and reviews of premier league football matches. Be the first to know boxing news and fights results. And, of course, enjoy vox-pop interviews of other passionate sports fans. ___ Do you want to know more about Nigeria breaking news? Connect with Naij.com TV! Visit Naij.com Site: https://www.naija.ng/ Follow Naij.com on Twitter: https://twitter.com/naijcom Follow Naij.com on Facebook: https://ift.tt/1QsdYVZ Follow Naij.com on Instagram: https://ift.tt/1oxB17x Follow Social project Street Gist: https://goo.gl/Nn3QEd #naijcomtv #naijacomtv #naijtv #nigerianews

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[thoughtfullysillydelusion]

New video by Naij.com TV on YouTube

Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? Naij.com TV Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? | Naij.com TV Subscribe to NAIJ.COM TV for more political and celebrity news! https://goo.gl/WtN4Yv Nigeria celebrities who are also the happiest parents in the world – that’s the central theme of this top video. In Nigeria, we highly appreciate family values. That’s why Nigeria celeb who successfully combine career and parenthood are incredibly popular with our people. So, what do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, and Teju Babyface have in common? They all are blessed with twins! In this top video, we will show you these cute twins and their parents! Are you ready to see these happy families? Click “Play” and enjoy the video! And don’t’ forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get more news about Nigeria celebs! Top Nigeria Celebrities: What Do Paul Okoye, Akpororo, And Teju Babyface Have In Common? 0:27 Teju Babyface 0:50 Akpororo 1:11 Paul Okoye Subscribe to NAIJ.COM TV for more political and celebrity news! https://goo.gl/WtN4Yv Current affairs - Nigeria News | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2qZIi3V The latest Africa and Nigeria News on Naij.com TV! Daily current affairs and crime news. Issues of public concern and statements of opinion leaders. Political news, comments, and scandals. The views of experts and street interviews of ordinary citizens of Nigeria. Breaking news and updates. What's troubling people in Africa? And what news stories are the most discussed in Nigeria today? Save this playlist to be the first who gets the answers! Naija lifestyle | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2qZNBzu This playlist contains videos under the heading “Naija LifeStyle”. Here you can find the latest Nigeria entertainment news. Do you like watching people answering tricky questions in the street interviews? Are you interested in gossip news? Do you want to know more about public and personal lives of Nigerian music artists, actors, and other famous people? Are you a music fan who wants to be the first to watch the newest music videos of Nigerian pop-stars and rock-bands? If at least one of your answers is “yes”, save this playlist and have fun! Special projects | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2HwHUAj This playlist contains videos under the heading “Special projects” on Naij.com TV. Hilarious comedy videos about life in Nigeria. Nigerian opinions on politics. Overviews of big political conflicts and social problems that concern the society. Success stories of self-made men and women. Exclusive interviews with public figures and your favorite stars. And amazing life stories of unusual and talented Nigerians which can inspire you. Save this playlist to get interesting content every day! Nigeria Top List | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2JwAP3s In this playlist, we've collected videos that can broaden your horizons. The team of Naij.com TV regularly chooses top 5 interesting facts on different topics related to Africa. What were the biggest Africa’s scandals of the year? Who are the best football players in Nigeria? What interesting facts should you know about the Igbo people? Do you have the answers to these questions? Watch our top lists to stay on top of Nigeria entertainment news and learn more about Africa and Africans! Star Chat | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2JtOqbL Are you looking for the latest news about famous Nigerians? Do you want to become closer to your favorite Nigerian celebrities? Do you want to watch only the best interviews with your favorite stars? Whatever your idols are doing, you will find it in this playlist. Also, you can be the first to know hot gossips, always stay on top of the biggest celebrity scandals and details of their personal lives. Save this playlist and get access to all Nigerian showbiz and entertainment news you are interested in. Sports news | Naij.com TV - https://bit.ly/2FjHqvh Do you want to enjoy updates on international sports events and the most important sports news of Nigeria? Watching this playlist, you can get the best sports coverage. The Naij.com TV team is bringing you the latest Nigerian and international sports news, gossips, and interviews. Watch football highlights and reviews of premier league football matches. Be the first to know boxing news and fights results. And, of course, enjoy vox-pop interviews of other passionate sports fans. ___ Do you want to know more about Nigeria breaking news? Connect with Naij.com TV! Visit Naij.com Site: https://www.naija.ng/ Follow Naij.com on Twitter: https://twitter.com/naijcom Follow Naij.com on Facebook: https://ift.tt/1QsdYVZ Follow Naij.com on Instagram: https://ift.tt/1oxB17x Follow Social project Street Gist: https://goo.gl/Nn3QEd #naijcomtv #naijacomtv #naijtv #nigerianews

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