New Music Memory
ISSUE #151
On Tuesday, I found I was home alone for the night—an intoxicating feeling. And, like intoxication, there is the rush and then the crash, the future's boundless meadow dotted with hidden sinkholes of memory.
I’m still surprised by what I forget—like how it feels to be alone—and how often I find I'm repeating myself. I worry I’ll fall right back into old patterns, Jeff the Walking Déjà Vu, an optometry test flipping between panes with imperceptible changes.
This came to mind that night listening to Fearless (Taylor's Version). I forgot that I once knew a lot of the words. I was drawn by how well she retraced her steps, an invisible difference that still felt new. The songs had deepened with the wisdom of now, like knowing what water can sustain a dive.
Every new song we hear is a fresh batch of feeling. After weeks of Wyrms looking back to the past, here is a collection of new music we missed—with every note, the chance to remake a memory.
Irv Teibel, who released the influential Environments records over ten years from 1969–79, was a pioneer in putting field recordings (i.e., nature sounds) into the hands of stressed-out college students and, eventually, anyone who needed to drown out all the noise. Turns out that was a lot of people.