September Pairings
Presenting a new Redshift series. Each month, we pair a handful of albums with other works of art or literature they feel inextricably connected to and do our best to identify why.
The Koreatown Oddity – Little Dominique’s Nosebleed and Karen Tei Yamashita – Tropic of Orange (book)
Los Angeles is an oft-written-about place, often to a level of ridiculousness and dead-horse-beating – despite this, it’s seen as a city where reality and fantasy blur, a theme explored in The Koreatown Oddity’s Little Dominique’s Nosebleed (2020) and Karen Tei Yamashita’s Tropic of Orange (1997). Both works dive into LA’s contradictions of wealth and desolation through surreal narratives that reflect the city’s complex identity.
Little Dominique’s Nosebleed is a psychedelic exploration of Dominique Purdy’s life, blending autobiographical rhymes with a dreamlike soundscape that mirrors LA’s chaotic energy. The album’s fractured narratives and hallucinatory beats create a mosaic of experiences, capturing the city’s disjointed reality. As the album art reflects, this album centers 2 car accidents in Dominique’s life, both of which fall smack-bang in the middle of his formative years, an effective thematic backdrop to explore his upbringing in LA.
Similarly, Yamashita’s Tropic of Orange transforms Los Angeles into a living entity where personal and cosmic events collide. The novel’s magical realism dissolves boundaries between the real and the fantastical, depicting a city teetering on the edge of collapse. The surrealism in both works transcends mere aesthetics, reflecting LA’s beauty and brutality, its dreams and disillusionments. You can imagine the highway surrounded by fire forming the music video set of one of The Koreatown Oddity’s videos, with characters like Buzzworm feeling picked out of an eccentric rapper’s entourage.
Little Dominique’s Nosebleed and Tropic of Orange both present Los Angeles as a surreal stage where the extraordinary hides just beneath the surface. They offer portals into a version of LA that exists beyond the map, into the liminal spaces where dreams and reality intertwine.
Mary Lattimore – Silver Ladders and James Tissot – Jesus Ministered to by Angels (painting)
Mary Lattimore’s Silver Ladders (2020) is a meditative journey through ethereal soundscapes, evoking a sense of ascension and spiritual reflection. This is mirrored in James Tissot’s Jesus Ministered to by Angels (1894), where the serene, almost otherworldly depiction of Christ being comforted after his trials resonates with the calm, introspective mood of Lattimore’s harp compositions.
In tracks like ‘Pine Trees’, Lattimore creates an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, akin to the moment captured in Tissot’s painting where divine beings offer solace to a weary Christ. The song’s delicate melodies seem to echo the gentle presence of the angels, providing a musical parallel to the painting’s serene and reverent tone.
The title track, ‘Silver Ladders’, as well as the stand-out ‘Sometimes He’s In My Dreams’ suggests a metaphorical ascent, much like the spiritual elevation depicted in Tissot’s work. Both pieces explore themes of transcendence, healing, and the intersection between the earthly and the divine. Together, they offer a contemplative experience, with Lattimore’s music acting as an auditory extension of the quiet, sacred moments Tissot portrays, inviting the audience to explore the nuances of solace and spiritual renewal.
Lucki – Freewave 3 and Milan Kundera – The Unbearable Lightness of Being (book)
Lucki’s Freewave 3 (2019) and Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) both delve into the complexities of existence, where the weight of choices and the desire for freedom create a delicate balance. In Freewave 3, tracks like ‘Peach Dream’ and ‘More Than Ever’ express a sense of existential weariness, with Lucki’s introspective lyrics touching on themes of escapism, self-doubt, and fleeting happiness. This mirrors Kundera’s exploration of lightness and weight, where characters grapple with the consequences of their actions and the search for meaning in an unpredictable world.
The melancholy in Lucki’s delivery, particularly on ‘Politics’, reflects a similar emotional detachment found in Kundera’s characters, who navigate love, identity, and freedom with a sense of inevitable resignation. Both works question whether life’s burdens are meaningful or trivial, and whether true freedom comes from embracing or rejecting these burdens.
Together, Freewave 3 and The Unbearable Lightness of Being offer a nuanced look at the struggle between finding purpose and succumbing to the weightlessness of existence, making them compelling studies of the human condition that resonate deeply with those contemplating their own place in the world.
Michael Katsavos
September 2024