LAB Mixtapes: Episode 14

Guy Maddin made a film called The Saddest Music in the World. Did he have this music in mind? Christine Fellows sings about loss and memory, while Cat Power, sings of regret, pain and forgiveness. The Weakerthans quietly ruminate on a simple prayer in a hospital room. Sarah Harmer may be the odd one out in this mix but this particular song, Lodestar, is to me, beautifully sad but finishes on more of an up note. I just couldn't bring myself to swallow that many downers in a row¹.

Episode 14
Runs 14:49 mins

Links below open the iTunes Music Store
1. I Don't Blame You - Cat Power
2. Verterbrae - Christine Fellows
3. (hospital vespers) - The Weakerthans
4. Lodestar - Sarah Harmer

FN 1. That was actually an unintentional pun on suicide. Only one of these artists have attempted suicide that I know of. I've been reading a lot of David Foster Wallace lately and of course have read about his suicide and struggle with depression. Then I found myself reading about Ludwig Wittgenstein's brilliant family. Two of his brothers committed suicide as did another relative. Ludwig thought of it often and as early as the age of ten. It occurred to me that maybe "genius" as we know it, really is a type of damaged brain. A mind swirling with too many things at once, going into dark places where it may not return. We revere the brilliant, the genius, yet is there a kind of intelligence so severe it casts the mind into constantly thinking of ending itself? At any rate, it makes being average seem a little more salable.