I am extremely achey. For those of you not in the know, I’ve been practising traditional karate under the Renshinkan school for almost 8 years now, and earned my black belt back in 2022. This comes as a surprise to no-one more than me, someone who is notoriously clumsy and avoided sports like the plague throughout my slightly chubby childhood/teenage years. However, karate has wormed its way into my life and has become a crucial part of both my physical and mental well being. I really do love it, but as they say with love comes pain, or in this case occasionally getting womped. Today was one of those times.
This morning I took part in the 27th annual Renshinkan Karate tournament, an event held in the illustrious Triangle Leisure Centre on the outskirts of the mid-Sussex town of Burgess Hill. This year was an especially exciting one as our Grand Master, Soke Yuzo Tamotsuo, made his first ever visit outside of Japan (!!) to attend. Whilst this is obviously a great honour for us, I do find it hilarious that his introduction to England was a place that has been described by my friend Fiona as a ‘cultural void’ (sorry not sorry to any Burgess Hill residents subscribed to this email). As I’m sure you can imagine, the presence of our Grand Master meant people really bought their A-game; you could describe some matches as ‘feisty’. I performed both kata (kinda like a sequenced dance) and kumite (sparring, which in our school is carried out in body armour) today, but during the latter I took an accidental knee to the knee and in a way that is true to my 30 something years of age I am now somewhat incapacitated.
This has meant that after hobbling home and furiously devouring what little snacks I had left in the house, I’ve indulged in a nice long epsom salt bath to ease my aches and pains (and not just a bath, but also a beer in the bath, the most decadent of life’s treats). In recent months I’ve taken a leaf out of my friend Tory’s book and am making evening bathing a more regular occurrence in my life, despite our flat having a bath with a total depth equivalent of a small puddle. Frankly I don’t have much more to say about baths other than the fact that they are bloody great. So we’re gunna cut straight to the chase: a postcard made for you to enjoy during a good, long soak.
In my mind, bathing music has to straddle a fine line. You want to be relaxed, but too relaxing and you risk the slightly dangerous activity of a bath sleep; you want your mind to be able to wander, but you also don’t want to end up bored. With these points in mind, I’ve chosen to vary between songs that focus on texture and ones that stand out for for their stories, to keep you serene but also entertained. An example of the latter is the stunningly beautiful ‘New Bikini’ by Cassandra Jenkins, off her 2021 record An Overview on Phenomenal Nature. Cassandra has been mentioned by me before in this newsletter for the sonic narrative of her track that acts as a guided songscape for walking in Central Park’s The Ramble. Here we get a more direct and incredibly poigant example of her storytelling, which touches on loss, compassion and hope in the face of destruction, centred around the healing properties of immersing yourself in water. I felt that was pretty appropriate.
An example of the opposite end of the spectrum is ‘lex universum’ by Luke Schneider off his accurately titled record Altar of Harmony. Luke is all about texture. Using a plethora of guitar pedals and effects, he repurposes his pedal steel guitar into what can only be described as something truly heavenly. Listening to his music is almost the equivalent of bathing in sound; he crafts a soundscape that envelopes and warms you, encouraging you to sink into its depths and let the drone wash over above you, like looking at the water’s surface from underneath. There’s a great dimensionality to his sound too, with shimmers of notes that ring in across the musical landscape. It’s a track you can really get lost to, and a bath is the perfect environment for really spending time wandering its winding paths.
Finally, we’re finishing up the playlist with some Jeff Tweedy. Naturally, I ended up doing some research for this playlist whilst in the bath (can confirm, these songs slap for bathing), and after my alloted tracks had finished playing, this song came on Tidal radio. As a man who’s unafraid to proclaim his love of dad rock I have been a fan of both Wilco and Jeff’s (underrated) solo work for a while now, but somehow this gorgeous cover of Bill Fay’s ‘Filled With Wonder Once Again’ had snuck by me. I feel like I’ve wasted time not having this in my life. There’s something about the aching earnestness in Jeff’s voice that never fails to pack an emotional punch for me; combined with the tight production and edges of tape loop texture it makes for a really sweet little track. It may stand out as a little more energetic than the rest of the songs, but this does have a purpose. If you’re like me, summoning the energy to escape the lukewarm clutches of the end of a bath is a challenge. I hope that this track manages to rouse you from your slumber in a firm, but gentle, manner to provide you with some will power to get out of the tub, or at least ensure you don’t entirely doze off and/or get too pruny.
As always, you Tidal folks can find the playlist linked here. I hope this postcard provides you with both the opportunity and perfect accompaniment for a nice bath. You’ve earned it.
Postcard 08: 11/03/2024.
Jon Hopkins & 7RAYS - Welcome
Espen Eriksen Trio - Grounded
Cassandra Jenkins - New Bikini
Advance Base - Dolores and Kimberly
Bullion feat. Carly Rae Jepsen - Rare
Purelink - Butterfly Jam
Yo La Tengo - Here You Are
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, for the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year
Luke Schneider - lex universum
Jeff Tweedy - Filled With Wonder Once Again