Kat Says: “Let’s Explore Mythology With Giolì & Assia, and Thomas Bangalter!”
I’ve got a video interview, the first single from the Daft Punk man’s ballet and some new tunes.
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Hey Friends!
It’s the end of January. How ya feeling about the year so far? I hope you’re feeling motivated and inspired. If you didn’t stick to every goal every day, I want to let you know that you are still on the right track.
Just because you didn’t have a *perfect* month doesn’t mean you have to give up on your fresh goals :) I promise, you’re doing great!
I for one am feeling more tired this week than last week, but I’m still very proud of myself because!
-DRUM ROLL-
I published my first ever on-site interview last week! YAYAY! Have you seen it yet?! WATCH IT BELOW!
It’s with Giolì & Assia, an Italian duo who centers its sound around the handpan, which is a cool steel drum played with the hands, each drum of which is set to a specific chord.
The project started as a solo act, and Assia was actually Giolì’s manager in the early days, but when Assia started getting on the mic and bringing lyrical storytelling to the mix, the couple knew they had to make their duet a permanent part of the musical mission.
Yes, Giolì and Assia are a romantic couple. I shouldn’t have edited it out (honestly there was so much to consider in the process), but there was a very cute bit at the end when I asked if they had anything else to add, and Giolì said, “yes, I love her very much.”
*Collective Aaawwwwww*
I conducted this interview back at Portola Festival in September of 2022. Giolì and Assia were the ones who snuck me into the shut-down Fred Again.. warehouse set. Staff wasn’t letting anyone in anymore, because the space was full of dancing humans and probably on the verge of breaking some kind of fire code.
I had already left the press area to try and get some footage of Fred Again.. and see him for the first time. When I couldn’t get in, I realized I also couldn’t reach my friends without any cell signal, so I went back to the press area to charge my phone.
Giolì and Assia were still there with their tour manager, and I knew they wanted to see Fred Again.., so I told them it was shut down.
“Oh, well, probably not if we go in through the back with our artist passes,” they said. “Why don’t you come with us?”
Let me tell you. The amount of times I’ve been physically pushed out of backstage areas by bouncers trying to walk in with my all-access-pass friends? It’s enough to make me too embarrassed to ever try, but this was my only chance to see Fred First Time, and I had to get footage for my vlog!
And ya know what?! IT WORKED! Giolì and Assia are magical, indeed :)
The whole conversation is really interesting. We spoke about existentialism, the Greek myth of Eurydice and how it works as an allegory for depression, their debut album Fire Hell and Holy Water, the hand pan, and all kinds of neat stuff.
You should seriously just watch the whole thing. It’s inspiring and you’ll be touched emotionally. I know I was.
Speaking of myths though, Mythologies is the name of the solo album coming from Thomas Bangalter, the first official full-length piece of post-Daft Punk work from either of that duo.
To call it a “solo album” is a little disingenuous. It’s actually a soundtrack; a commissioned score to a ballet by the same name which looks tight as all hell in this trailer.
Conducted by Romain Dumas (who is not the race car drive by the same name) with choreography by Angelin Preljocaj, it already ran at the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine last year, and went on a national tour of France.
From the ballet’s own synopsis: “In Mythologies, Angelin Preljocaj explores our contemporary rituals, along with the founding myths that shape our collective imagination. Like the impressionists before him, Preljocaj utilises (sic) our ideals and beliefs to reveal what is lying within the folds of our existence, thus inducing a dialogue between ancient and modern mythologies.”
This feels incredibly right for Bangalter. He spent the past 30 years of his musical career exploring the relationship between man and machine as one half of Daft Punk. Now he’s exploring all the nooks and crannies of humanity.
It’s also hardly surprising that he’s completed a full orchestral score. I imagine working on the Tron: Legacy soundtrack was an incredibly inspiring and eye-opening experience. Consider that Human After All saw Bangalter and Guy-Man compose an album in something other than their bedrooms for the first time, and then they suddenly worked with an entire body of living musicians?
There’s a lot of orchestral instrumentation on Random Access Memories, too, not to mention just a lot of other people and musical voices. It’s like that experience working on Tron showed the pair the power of true collaboration. And here we are.
The forthcoming Mythologies LP release is set for April 7. He just put out the first single. It’s called “L'Accouchement,” which is the word for childbirth in French—like, as in the very gory act of it, and it is appropriately bittersweet and full of tension.
It feels pained but hopeful, and it’s incredibly simple in its construction, building all its emotional struggle and release in a series of sustained whole notes where the discordant layers hang in a battle of resolved and unresolved chords to move the emotional story forward.
I’ve never given birth to anything other than my own ideas, but I imagine this is a nice representation of labor, and it certainly matches the creative struggle.
“L'Accouchement” is the 10th movement in the total 23 which make up the full ballet. It sounds very much like we’ve been dropped in the middle of the story, because we have. I’m excited to see where else this story takes us. What is the beginning? What is the end? Where does that highway go to?
Also, I really wanna see this ballet. I’ll see what I can do about digging up a full video recording.
That’s all I’ve got for you today. No giant essay or anything, just a few thoughtful shares and comments. That being said, there’s plenty of room to dig into my favorite songs of the week!
Absolutely Necessary
(This is the part where I share songs that are so good, they’re absolutely necessary to listen to. That’s it. That’s the bar.)
I made two Spotify playlists for this section that you can follow: one weekly playlist updated with just the new stuff every week, and one cumulative playlist that will host every song I pick ever (until Spotify tells me it's full). Check them out! I made them for you—and me, but mostly you.
SG Lewis - “Infatuation”
This song is not new to this week, but I am including its highly funky disco sheen on my list in honor of SG Lewis’ album AudioLust & HigherLove, which did indeed drop this week. If you missed my IG story detailing how his single “Something About Your Love” is a cute lil homage to Daft Punk’s “Digital Love,” well, go listen to that song and see what I mean. The whole LP is really fun, though. Give it a rinse.
Juuku - “Moonlight” Feat. Gianni Taylor
Brace yourselves for an onslaught of shiny synth stabs. This song is hyper energetic and explosive. It’s like a neon rainbow blowing up in your face, and it’s truly beautiful. I wrote about this one for Billboard Dance’s First Spin. It’s the first single from Juuku’s forthcoming EP, Lavender Dreams and Scarlett Nightmares. Stoked for this!
Former Hero - “Self” (Hard Version”
Listen. I will admit, I haven’t heard the soft version of “Self,” but this song grabbed me by the lapels and shook my brain around. I had to include it. The beat is definitely hard. This isn’t for people who don’t find joy in repetition, but we all know I do, lol.
Lucille Croft - “Bury Me In Leather”
Okaaaaay! Calling all goth rave queeeeeeens. This tune from Lucille Croft is hard, dark and brood-som. Her whispered vocals are serving Shygirl but the music is serving “I listen to a lot of Nine Inch Nails and it turns me on.” I’m digging it. It’s a vibe. Gonna get Ms. Croft on Kat Calls Season 4, too! That’s a done deal 🙂 PS, you’re not ready for the second half of this song, lol.
Hi-Lo - “Pura Vida”
I just realized 80 percent of the song’s on this week’s playlist are hard beat bangers. Sorry not sorry. This one comes from Oliver Heldens’ side project, Hi-Lo, and sounds kind of like if Polo & Pan went to Berghain, or so I can only guess.
Gorgon City - “Sidewindah” Feat. Flirta D
This song is also old af (three months lol), but I wrote up its B-side for Billboard Dance last Friday, and while that tune (“Rumblah”), is very cool, this one is like, something totally unique and different. I didn’t include it on my playlist when it originally came out, so I’m including it now. This song is 100 percent made by Flirta D’s weird vocal and the chop-work Gorgon City put on it. Saucy af, v old school rave. Love it.
Raury - “Fire & Desire”
This is the left-field pick for the week; a soft, jazz-rock palette cleanser to clear your ears after all that beat-forward harassment. I listened to it three times trying to decide if I was gonna include it or not, and then I was like, “I keep listening to this. I really like it. SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD!”
Look. Nothing about these playlists have to make sense. I just like these songs, okay? Okay.
THANK YOU FOR READING. I’m done for the week. Amtrac’s LP Extra Time comes out Friday. So effing stoked on that. Maybe I’ll write about it next week. I did his bio, we talked about the album at length. He’s a dope dude, that one.
I’m also going to Neon Liger this Saturday. Gonna relive my bloghouse past and shoot champagne into kids’ mouths. I am not being hyperbolic. We bought champagne guns LOL.
Further Reading: Remembering Neon Liger, Florida's Most Epic Party (Miami New Times, 2018)
Next Monday is my dad’s birthday, too, so I’m going to Alabama. If you get another Tuesday newsletter next week, that’s why 🙂
OKAY! LOVE YOU ALL! JOIN THE PAID SUB TIER AND SUPPORT ME FINANCIALLY SO I CAN DO MORE COOL SHIT.
Like flying to London in early March to report on the Ed Banger Records XX concert at Printworks HAHAHAHA I’M GOING!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the playlists on Spotify. One is updated weekly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!