An Autumnal Equinox of the Heart

I sincerely hope everyone had a great equinox! The Summer is over, the equinox brought us a 50/50 ratio to day and night, and it’s only get darker. Autumn is upon us, and even though the temperature in New York is still on the warm side, the layers are already out in these here streets. This used to be my favorite time of year, but these days I find myself appreciating every season for their simple audacity to change every three to four months. I’ve always lived here in New York, a region that experiences all four seasons pretty evenly. I mean Autumn doesn’t really Autumn that long anymore, but we still get a handful of weeks where a person can enjoy a walk through foliage with a sweater and scarf and not feel like they’re freezing or heating up under knitted wool or cashmere. 

And that’s the sweet spot right? The perfect weather for outdoor concerts, hiking, tailgating and city walking. The temperature where you can equally enjoy your caffeinated luxury beverages, iced or steamy. Chais, and matchas and allspice, oh my! Autumn in New York in all its versions is playing everywhere and the city is made of magic again, and the devils prance and merrys go round’. The harvest is bountiful with apples, pumpkins and squash, and we’re always prepping for ritual. I can’t wait for my annual Coco watch on Dia De Los Muertos. 

Autumn is a week in and I wore some type of jacket or cardigan every day, complete with the right boots to match. My curls are once more alive living in the damp cloudy skies and I’m feeling the season creep into my stride. Not having worn boots since early Spring, my steps are heavier and my gait is longer, and with this slight change to the everyday, my posture is a bit stiffer and my resolve is a smidge stronger. I’m ready to traverse the season and any curve balls it may fling my way. I’ll sure miss the beach though. I definitely didn’t beach enough.

Today I’m bringing a little nugget of a treat to Sunday Morning Records. A twenty-two minute album to get your Sunday started and ready to move. A short morsel that’ll follow you through your Sunday early Autumn Adventure. The last weekend in September is such a sweet weekend. Oktoberfest is in full chug, and the foreboding menace of spooky season is peaking from every shadow. Today’s album works in any season, but for me it awakens the end of Summer beginning of Autumn vibes, I’ve been feeling for the last few weeks. My offering today is full of hope and easy melancholy, with a mystical cadence that evokes some elements of Fairytale Core that’ll be an excellent addition in anyone’s cauldron. 

Every year Stephen Thompson of NPR Music and Pop Culture Happy Hour, works with his team to put together The Austin 100 , a list of their top 100 songs from SXSW. As someone who is constantly trying to discover new music, I always try to get through this list, and I usually find a handful of songs that I really love, and some new promising musicians to follow. The 2016 list introduced me to Odetta Hartman and her song Creektime, which is an under two-minute song, that completely rules. As per usual, the song led me to the album which made me a fan. 222 Odetta Hartman’s debut album, is a perfect blend of traditional and modern packaged in a very digestible twenty-two minute pill. It’s a very controlled album that teeters on the edge of chaos, but never falls over. Time to get into today’s record, 222 by Odetta Hartman. 

Side 1

1. Creektime

This is a perfect short “I am” introduction song! Very few lyrics, but full of vibe. There are five beautiful lines of lyrics, but those words fill up this one-minute fifty-four-second song and makes it feel expansive. It starts pretty easy with a banjo giving way to a fidel and keeps that energy with a subtle soundscape with some electronic elements. In fact the final few seconds the song feels like it’s going to erupt into a full on rave, but then it just ends. For the last eight years I’ve yearned for an extended club version of this. I’ve threatened to make my own remix, but my skills in that department are limited. 

2. Tap Tap

A magical natural soundscape opens this one right into an acoustic guitar played with a gentle fury to it. Hartman gives us smooth over the impending chaos I spoke about earlier. This is Fairytale Core at its gentlest. This is a fall into deep thought type of song. 

3. Dreamcatchers

If the TV show Firefly was created in the mid 2010’s and if it weren’t helmed by Joss Whedon, this would be it’s theme song. This is a space western if I ever heard one. Walk right into that space saloon and grab yourself a glass of cosmic sarsaparilla.

4. Lazy La

Here Hartman gives us a soft and sultry Jazz number with a hint of Bossa Nova in its bones. Some cool seaside sounds too. I can see her making an entire album with this exact vibe, but I’m glad I have the album she did make for us. This is a dreamscape, or maybe dreamscore? I like the sound of that. 

Side 2

1. Batonebo

Side two opens with some sweaty, stinky Blues that shivers up your spine like that Black Snake Moan movie. I love Hartman’s voice in this so much. She maintains a steadiness through the versus and just bursts at the chorus. It might have a different mic effect, or filter at the chorus, but the mixture of the electronic and traditional influences with the effects is just sublime in this song. The crescendo is so well earned and executed. All the shivers. 

2. Limoncello

I make coquito every Christmas time to share with friends and family. Even not drinking I still make a batch for some people. It’s about the sharing, the waiting, the tradition of it, the getting together and communing, it’s glorious. This song is about that but the center is Limoncello. I used to really enjoy Limoncello and I’ve used it as an essential ingredient in many of the cocktails I designed. I never made my own, but this song definitely inspired me to want to try, and to explore the wide world of limoncello and all of its practical uses. I won't drink it again, but the song brings back fond memories of gathering with loved ones and celebrating each other. 

3. Hard Wired

Probably the most epic song on the album, they tell a story of flirtation and falling deep, and desire and feeling of losing one's mind in the road to love. The bridge is just a delightful magical ride. 

4. Lucky Dog

The final song in the album starts with a similar finger picked melody to the first one, but goes a different direction and lands a bit more introspective and verbose. The music and her voice and these lyrics are a perfect incantation. It’s a wonderful way to meet a musician and end a short but extraordinarily charming album.

Thanks for exploring 222 with me, and I hope you enjoyed the album. Check out Hartman’s albums Old Rockhounds Never Die and her most recent album Swansongs. 

Sorry I missed another week there. I hope to be back next Sunday, but it might be two, so just prepare for that. On other news I’m happy to announce that the first show I co-curated at Flushing Town Hall is happening on Saturday October 19th 2024 in Flushing Queens: Historias! Global Mashup: Afro Dominicano Meets Maraca Bruja. I’ll be there hosting and moderating a conversation between two bands, come check us out. 

That’s all for now, have a great week, see you soon.