Menu Five: July 2024
Eating to 80% full
There’s a Japanese dietary concept of only eating until you’re 80% full instead of filling all the way up, and when it comes to both food and media consumption, I think there's definitely something to it.
After majorly over-consuming for my first four rounds of this personal challenge, July was by far the smallest course — and simultaneously my favorite order of them all. I did end up slipping back into my old habit of scrolling social media and sacrificed some time to mindless nonsense, instead of the lineup I’d mapped out. But in all honesty, this pacing felt a lot more manageable and set the tone of how I’ll be approaching it going forward.
As I spend less time working in isolation and transition to work that requires more silence, collaboration, and undivided mental focus, I don’t have as much space for a constant soundtrack. But I’m still enjoying this process and have so much left to explore, so I’m not going on a total media fast. Just shrinking my portion sizes to support a healthier appetite.
And as the months have gone on I’ve become a little more intentional in curating a more cohesive mix of sounds and styles, even while chosen at random, and July was the trial run. Still, this month brought me a sampler platter of 80’s-90’s post-punk, new-wave, goth rock, psych-rock, reggae, jazz, blues, 60-70’s folk, synth pop, and trip hop.
Though a much shorter lineup this time, there were plenty of standouts and honestly the whole list is very worth checking out. Of the bunch, I had a real big “how did I not already get into this” moment with Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and all the jangly riffs, hazy reverb, and monotone vocals of the gothic, post-punk sound I love so much. And in the same vein, I felt right at home doing a deeper dive into the stuff I was less familiar with from both Echo & the Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Keeping in line with the overall moodiness of the month but branching into more of a vibey, psychedelic territory, The Brian Jonestown Massacre was an immediate winner, and I could easily play Morcheeba’s ultra smooth 90’s trip hop on a loop all day.
Knowing myself and my typical taste, the only favorite that surprised me was late-60’s folk sensation, Melanie (Safka), whose distinctively powerful voice and honest, introspective lyrics sent chills down my spine. Though perhaps coming from a different world of music, there’s a certain melancholy, spell-casting quality to her songs that fit well with the tone of the rest — and it’s no wonder she came to such success after unexpectedly playing Woodstock ‘69.
I kept my order much smaller this month and didn’t get into any extra albums or movies, but I did throw in a random mix of video content — most notably a couple tours of some unusually unique homes via Architectural Digest, one of my favorite YouTube channels to watch. Reading also fell off this round, but I slowly chipped away at The Power of Now and Mary Magdalene and the Divine Feminine, which will probably be recurring for a while.
Overall, this trip to the musical buffet was exactly what I wanted and left me just as satisfied as my larger orders. So if there’s anything to takeaway, it’s that sometimes less really does fill you more, and you can always save your leftovers for later.
Check out my July Menu Playlist, and follow along for next month’s menu and review!