Residency is a four-part weekly journal entry brought to you by one of our favorite artists every month.
This month, both Sam Nobles and Katie Dill of Delaware’s Mean Lady will be filling our site with memories, mixtapes, and more.
“Yeah, happy Valentines Day to you too, you terrible, terrible person,” I remember thinking towards some anonymous criminal, responsible for smashing in the driver’s side window of my girlfriend’s car. Better yet, in an attempt to remove the plate below the steering wheel to try and steal the car, they could have simply broken through the passenger’s side, whose already-missing window was replaced by a thin sheet of shower-curtain plastic. The city of Wilmington had been rough on us that winter—particularly on my girlfriend—and it had been quite difficult to resist feeling bitter and defensive towards people.
Regardless, we tried to go about our romantic day with flowers and dining out and whathaveyou, but it was tough. The tone was set early on and it was difficult to shake. So towards the end of the day, after taping up the window with plastic, I figured I’d take her car down to the gas station and vacuum out the bits of glass from under the seat and inside the door.
I remember the experience well; her loud engine competing with the surrounding flap-rumble of the plastic-windows, and her cold car, mirroring the coldness we’d been feeling from the spirit of the city. In some strange way, it seems that these unpleasant feelings are sometimes the moments in which you feel most human. And it was at this moment of surrender that a folk song from a tiny Thailand village came onto a mix CD that was playing in my girlfriend’s car (to be exact, it was a woman named Ma Sei, part of the long-neck people, who we had visited together in Thailand).
The track is perfect—there are roosters and chatter and babies crying all throughout, as Ma Sei sings along with the drone of her homemade and out-of-tune guitar. And the emotion of the tune she is singing is totally heavy and, in that particular moment, was totally transformative. I remember all at once recognizing the pleasantness of everything around me—now the soft, soothing, womb-like rumble of the plastic windows flapping as I drove down Pennsylvania avenue, and the metallic winter sunset, gracing us with it’s final goodbyes for the day. The people walking the street looked like angels. And I remember feeling forgiveness; towards whoever it was who smashed my girlfriend’s window; towards systems and patterns that happen in society; towards whatever force it would be easy to feel defensive against. I felt love, and comfort, and forgiveness, all from a two-and-a-half minute song.
I find myself really paying attention to the music that I listen to these days. I’m drawn to music that uplifts me, or music that makes me feel what I felt that particular Valentines Day. I’m drawn to those raw and rugged folk tunes—songs that are scratchy and out-of-tune, or songs where the emotion so strongly translates what that person is going through. More than anything, I’m drawn to music that makes me feel good and connected. Lately for me, that’s come in the form of these corner-of-the-world, hard-to-pronounce recordings, where I feel I could dwell forever. And also in the form of D’Angelo.
—Sam
This is the most recent mix I’ve made so I thought I’d share it with you all. It includes a lot of modern songs as well as old-timey music, like 60s folk and old Irish ballads. There’s also some reggae on here. I like a lot of different styles and I get a kick out of putting them back-to-back. There’s also a song on here from some of my friends from Tennessee: Star & Micey and Carolina Story are two great bands who toured through my area and the recording is from a show we all played together. I highly recommend y’all check them out, they are such great people and wonderful musicians. I didn’t think about it when I included that song, though; it’s just a great song whether I know them or not.
Tracklisting:
01. David Byrne & Brian Eno - “Strange Overtones”
02. Tame Impala - “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”
03. Star & Micey ft. Carolina Story - “Mississippi Queen”
04. The Everly Brothers - “Walk Right Back”
05. Panda Bear - “Last Night at the Jetty”
06. Animal Collective - “Laughing Hieroglyphic”
07. Cilla Fisher & Artie Trezise - “Leaboy’s Lassie”
08. Amy Winehouse - “Back to Black”
09. Paul Brady - “Arthur Mcbride”
10. Bob Dylan - “Times They Are a-Changin’”
11. Ian & Sylvia - “Darcy Farrow”
12. Dolly Parton - “Jolene”
13. The Specials - “A Message To Rudy”
14. Ronnie Drew - “The Kerry Recruit”
15. Jim James & Calexico - “Going To Acapulco”
16. Karen Dalton - “Are You Leaving For The Country”
17. Led Zeppelin - “Tangerine”
18. Sam Cooke - “Bring It on Home To Me”
19. Mean Lady - “Could It Be The Place”
20. Father John Misty - “Fun Times in Babylon”
And lastly, here’s a video I made in reference to the image and mix above:
—Katie
-
Hugh
