Googoosh and the Universe
Six or so years ago, having a library card with the Brooklyn Public Library gave you access to Kanopy, a movie streaming service that featured a lot of hidden treasures. For me, most notably, it had deep cut music documentaries. I came across Googoosh: Iran's Daughter and watched for two and a half hours as Iranian artists, scholars, and historians all talked about this icon and diva with the deepest love and admiration. I wanted and needed to know more about this incredible woman that, hours earlier, I hadn't the faintest idea existed. I fell in love with her music, and my friends from Iranian families all subsequently shared that she was a beloved staple in their households.
When I asked my dear friend Mitra Jouhari to collaborate on a mixtape with me, I was thrilled that she wanted to explore the music of Iran and the Greater Middle East. We had shared our love of Googoosh with each other in the past, but Mitra showed me so many new, beautiful songs that I get to keep with me forever here.
I'm excited for you to listen.
Like the mixtapes? Help me spread the love by throwing a few bucks my way via BuyMeACoffee. Thanks to everyone who has already supported me there. I plan on updating that page a little more regularly with news and bigger project updates, so tune in, and watch as I spend more money on this silly creative project I love so much.
And hey, if you like it, why not share the mix or this newsletter with a friend?
I Will Greet the Sun Again
Created in collaboration with Mitra Jouhari for the threshold overflowing with love.
*First track unavailable on streaming platforms. Use Mixcloud link for complete mixtape.*
A few words from Mitra:
*****
When I went to Iran for the first time at age twenty-two, I was struck by the beauty I saw everywhere I went. Sprawling deserts where I laughed hysterically with my father as we tumbled down sand dunes. Lush mountains littered with bright red poppies exploding out of bright green fields, where I stood still and grateful, in awe of pure color. Stunning architecture and ancient historical sites were only outnumbered by the amount of cousins and aunts and uncles I needed to meet in the month I was there. I was overfed and welcomed everywhere I went, by family and strangers at roadside stands alike. Iranian people are generous with their food, with their time, with their energy, and with their love. Our love. And they are so, so fun to be around. I wish I could show you. This playlist, made in careful collaboration with Brady-joon, is my best attempt to do so.
But this playlist isn’t just Iranian artists, even though they are heavily represented due to my AMAZING bias as a brave Iranian woman in comedy! On this playlist you’ll find music made by artists from Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Turkey - just to name a few. By the way, I don’t speak the language of most of the songs on this playlist (SO IF ANY OF THE LYRICS ARE SUPER FUCKED UP PLEASE KNOW THAT SONG WAS BRADY’S IDEA!!).
I have had the best time sending songs back and forth with Brady over the last month. I’ve learned about so many new musicians through this process, and as a long-time subscriber/follower of Brady’s playlists, I knew that would happen and was really looking forward to what he would find through his careful curation and great taste. I value the amount of time and energy that goes into every single one of these playlists, and I felt so excited to get to work with Brady on one. I feel like I’ll be coming back to listen to it quite a bit.
I hope you play these songs while driving down a long, traffic-free stretch of highway as the sun sets. I hope you play these songs while laying in a patch of grass just as a killer edible hits. I hope you play these songs with friends, your bellies a little too full of food, forcing yourself to get up and dance in the middle of the room, even if you feel a little silly doing it at first. I hope the dancing gets easier with every passing second and that you lose yourself in how good it feels to let the music move you. I hope you welcome all the tenderness, sensuality, angst, romance, silliness, and beauty that these songs have to offer. I hope they take you somewhere full of energy, vitality, and love. I hope you look around and realize that you’re already there.
Merci (it’s the same in Farsi as in French! Isn’t that such a #slay???),
Mitra
*****
Love you all. Hope you enjoy!
Join Me: Adeem the Artist @ Skinny Dennis, Tue 10/10 @ 8 PM
I think I've talked about Adeem the Artist in this newsletter before. They're the most exciting artist in country music, in my mind, right now. A non-binary poet of the highest order, Adeem writes stories in their songs with the most incredible empathy, reminiscent of one of my favorite songwriters of all time, John Prine.
While most people think of country music as Jason Aldean spouting conservative, regressive poison over dull acoustic guitars and click tracks, Adeem provides a refreshing and rejuvenating voice for the genre—one that is far more representative of regular, working people in "small town" America than Aldean could ever hope to glimpse.
They're playing Skinny Dennis. How lucky are we to live in this world?
RIYL: John Prine, country music, Office Hours
Check out Adeem the Artist's "Middle of a Heart."
Some Other Things That Mitra Loves
(that you might love too!)
Who? Weekly - This is an incredible celebrity gossip podcast that deals with B to Z list celebrities. No A-listers, only people who, when you hear their name, you go: “Who is that again?” Thus "Who? Weekly". It’s perfect. The hosts, Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber, make me laugh so much. I also recommend subscribing to their Patreon for an extra episode every week where they talk about “Thems” — that is, A-list celebrities and other stuff that doesn't make the main feed.
Writing a hand-written letter to someone you love. - It is so fun to write letters and even more fun to get one back.
Sadaf tea - This is classic. I have five to forty packets of it on my person at any given moment. And this is so special.
Dick Johnson Is Dead - Only watch this movie if you are prepared to cry. It is beautiful, silly, devastating, original, and really moving.