Hello True Believers!

Welcome back to The Good News! 

Thank you for coming to our recent shows! When we've got another one lined up, we'll tell ya about it :). For nowwww:

A nice thing to listen to this week:

Sister Janet Mead – With You I Am (1974)

It's probably no surprise that at a certain point in my life I had a complicated relationship with religion. These days my opinions on the whole operation are pretty well worn on my sleeve (and in the lyrics of our upcoming album The January King). But when it comes to spiritual music, I tend to limit my consumption to only that which is totally radical. Sister Janet Mead, much like my other favorite in this genre of 1970's Australian Catholic psychedelic nuns, Sister Irene O'Connor, blew up (to a certain degree) after the release of her rocky disco-y version of The Lords Prayer. It's pretty straightforward, but it just kinda rules. The rest of the record is by and large fine, so no shame if you dip out after the first track haha. Disclaimer: Those with religious trauma may have a different experience 

Terrific thing to watch:

Amarcord (1973)

A quintessential "day in the life of a small town", stretched out over the course of a year. It's a film that can perfectly transport you away from any daily troubles you might be experiencing today, and straight into a beautifully, gossipy small Italian town nearly 100 years in the past. It's a quiet, beautiful exploration of childhood, nostalgia, and the distance between what we remember and what really occurred sometimes being something we just forget for an afternoon. It's a Fellini film, so you know you're going to get a lot of deeply fleshed out characters in rich atmospheres, everything eating up everything else. It's a total "watching the only movie on the only channel that Grandma's TV can get this time of year" kinda film.  Oh and I suppose it is worth mentioning that it's a Fellini film, so if you were wanting to watch one of his, this might as well be one ;).

A good read:

The Left Bank Gang - Jason (2006)

This was the first of Jason's comics that I picked up, probably a year after it came out. Being a college kid obsessively diving into the older, "more real" art movements of the past, this fictionalized, anthropomorphized version of figures I didn't so much idolize but was certainly intrigued by, helped in demythologizing them for me. It is a quiet, contemplative exploration of complicated figures that can sometimes be heralded as monoliths in our western cultural hegemony. It was also the first time I'd been introduced to Ezra Pound (unfortunately), which then led me to H.D. and her Pool Group (fortunately), which led me to my favorite Paul Robeson film, which is a topic for another day. It's a 15 minute read, but it'll stick with you. It's not quite as haunting or beautiful as his biggest hits, but it's a good place to start.

And finally, our weekly pic of the pup, Apollo:

Be nice to each other, and we'll see you next week!

Best,

Luke