Listening Party Podcast Episode 18

Indigenous Mentors

Sarah Rhude

Six-Song-ish 😉 Playlist 
I’ve always thought- how do people pick only 5-6 songs when asked to make a playlist. I’ve come to realize that while this is a snapshot of where I am at now, my list would always resemble some form of this feeling.  Something old, something new, something borrowed, something Blues… I’m more in love with music than I can imagine. I would marry it if I could. <3
Note that while I am picking one quintessential song – and a suggested follow-up, really, I am choosing these artists for you to listen to in the guise of a song playlist…
So here you go.

• The Rheostatics, The Group of Seven, Seven or ”Northern Wish”
  This album is my most played album of all time. Truly it needs to be listened to in its entirety. It can take me from any mood and send me into a creative dream state. When my son was little, we used to move the furniture and put on the album and he would interpretive dance the album. It’s an entire world. As an Indigenous artist, this album’s colonial nature can create inward conflict, (the place that The Group of Seven have played in the erasure of Indigenous art/ portrayal of the land). Here is a link to the Indigenous Group of Seven for you.
• Something New: Billie Eilish – Everything I wanted
  Voice of a generation, in its angst, forced apathy, anxiety, beauty, honesty, uncomfortableness, and HER uniqueness. WATCH “The Worlds A Little Blurry”. This documentary on her is an eye-opening spiral into the perspective of some youth. <3. Don’t stop here. Listen to it all. Support and love our youth. Listen to their words.
  Also, that voice!
• Something Old and Bluesy: Lil’ Green – Romance in the Dark
  My favourite Jazz singer-just a hair above Billie. Put the record on, light a candle, turn off the lights and listen. Listen to all Lil’ Green – all. the. time.

The next two artists and the songs make me cry every single time I listen.  Not because I’m sad… but because of the straight shot to my spirit that they send.  The power, the angst, the truth, the love, the unyielding fierceness…

• Janelle Monae – Django Jane and her new song Turntables
  This multi-disciplinary artist is amongst my favorite humans. Fist Raised. “You can kill a revolutionary, but you can never kill the revolution.”- Fred Hampton. Bring it.
• Allison Russell – Nightflyer
  This song. This damn song.
  I know Allison, and the adversity and utter bull shit she has risen above. I cannot be more proud of her. I picture her sitting on the edge of the kitchen table, in a smoky living room, drinking white wine, and just singing all the demons out of her damn heart out. That was us in our early twenties, and here she is still healing, singing, and killing it. Another song I cannot get through without those good ‘springing out of eyes’ tears by her and her husband JT Nero - American Flowers.
• Lastly, Something Borrowed: Fawn Wood – Remember Me
  Cree beauty – Written by her Uncle Angus for his brother. We’ve been given permission to sing this song, borrow it, for our ANSWER (All Nations Strong Woman for Education and Reclamation) naming ceremony coming up. This song is a ceremony to listen and sing. And the eagle bone whistle – also a direct line to spirit.

but wait- a tail, gotta add one more here…
isn’t a list without some Buffy –

• Buffy Saint Marie – Qu’Appele Valley Saskatchewan
  Perfect song to end off with. A contemporary/trad love song. “Wrap me in your blanket, dance me around”……

What does this playlist say about me- I feel it all <3

Lindsay Delaronde

• Elton John – Don’t let the sun go down on me
• Brenton Wood from the album “Oogum Boogum” – I Like The Way You Love Me
• George Jones – I Threw Away The Rose
• Ana Carolina, Seu Jorge – Prá Rua Me Levar (Ao Vivo)

Bradley Dick

• The Tragically Hip – Ahead by a century
  This song reminds me of simply reminiscing, past, present and perhaps what the future holds. Learn from my mistakes cause “disappointing you is getting me down”.
• Alt J – 3ww
  Simply for the beautiful sentence – “I just want to love you in my own language”.
• Tom Waits – The Piano has been drinking 
  This some is somber, visual, poetic, reflective and about owning drunken metaphors about other, not me, but not me.
• Atmosphere – The Waitress
  Slug has a way of telling a story, a perspective on life, whether hard or happy times, see tragedy in social behaviours, and points out the obvious.

Community Mentors

Chris O’Connor

For me…hmmm, how about Agnes Obel – The Curse. It is on Spotify, but I particularly like this video.

And as far as a statement:

There are many songs that I think fit under an umbrella of perfect (I guess I am generous that way 😊). When I listen to this song, I feel it is coursing through my veins, at times shooting through a longer passage with abandon, at other times resting gently within an eddy. I feel safe in giving over to the ride, and that false ending gets me every time, as if they are saying ‘we are not done yet, let us wrap you up and let you sink into a deeper place’.

Parker Johnson

• For driving: SiR – D’Evils
• For biking: Cautious Clay – Cold War
• For flexing your ego: Jazmine Sullivan – Pick Up Your Feelings
• For nostalgia: Terrace Martin – Sleepless Nights

All of these songs have injected emotionality into my mundane, everyday moments in life. I hope whoever listens, has the same experience as I did.

Lisa Mercure

I know I have the support of my Ancestors, particularly my Nimamapun who rose above all the barriers in her life. This song reminds me of how we can all rise above our struggles, shine, and project love! ❤️

• Katy Perry – Firework

Paulina Grainger

Here are 2 of my faves!

• Dadju’s – Django
• Master KG – Jerusalema

But I have so many I love, over so many genres it’s hard to choose. Depends on my mood. From Afro-beat, Latin-pop, R & B, Soul, K-pop, to good old country.