Solo cleanups are nice and all, but cleanup crews are better. Shoutout to Aaron and Ari for joining me today:
Vacant lots aren’t the best — wasted space, litter magnets — but they’re kinda nice when bordered on both sides by pretty murals:
They’re even nicer with pretty murals and no litter:
Came across some interesting stuff today. An assortment of old video game cases (WWE, Call of Duty), a trashy porn DVD, a Pokémon card, and a wholesome family photo, which Aaron found propped up just like this:
Normally Santa brings people things, but today he took stuff away:
Bad apples, good music. On January 26, my cleanup MC was ZekeUltra, who’s an incredibly talented rapper associated with the Philly-based art collective Bad Apple Commune. Today, I delved deeper into the BAC and listened to Semi Sweet, an album by Highnoon, which is a four-piece band led by Kennedy Freeman. When forced to put a name to their sound, Freeman calls it “dream pop” — think Cocteau Twins — but they’ve also said Semi Sweet puts off “Summertime Sadness” vibes, and their influences range from Christian music to the Cranberries. When in doubt, indie rock is a safe label, and that’s often what Highnoon gets tagged with. In any case, the band is active on Philly’s indie rock scene, though that hasn’t always been easy for Freeman, as per this interview excerpt:
What are the biggest hurdles for you as a queer, black musician?
In a city like Philly, the only real obstacles are the ones you can’t really see—which mostly have to do with social capital. A lot of the time if you don’t know the white guys who are running the show houses, they’re not going to book you. People started trying to diversify their bills and they would make stupid Facebook posts that were like, “We need one black, queer person for the bill on Friday. Know anyone?” And that’s how I got a lot of shows, which, you know, it’s weird but you kind of have to take advantage of it at the same time.
The Gate Keepers tend to not have any black friends or listen to music made by black people. And so that makes it tougher to break into the scene. But I think I’ve benefited from it being trendy to be inclusive. I think people are trying in some way to not just have a bunch of white guys up there anymore, which I appreciate. I try not to think about it too much because it’s either this or not play any shows at all.
If Highnoon has thus far been partially reliant on trendy inclusivity to land gigs, it’s not for a lack of talent. Give them a listen and see for yourself. Here are some of my favorites from Semi Sweet:
If you like what you hear, be sure to check out their Linktree and/or give them a follow on Bandcamp / Instagram.