Five Obsessions (January 2025)
Five Obsessions covers five of my favorite songs each month. Some new, some old. Some new to me, some revisited. Published in the middle of every month (typically on the second Saturday).
This month’s obsessions come in the wake of one of the most surreal, devastating weeks of my adult life. Most of my choices are softer, more meditative in nature. In 2025, I’m planning to practice brevity for this column.
You can listen to the running list of Applied Science favorites in the Spotify playlist below and read about this week’s specific picks below that.
Before jumping into the normal proceedings, I wanted to thank everyone who has engaged with my new podcast Where Do We Go From Here? and has subscribed in the past week. Thank you all for taking the time to listen. It is a true labor of love and comes from a desire to know more, to challenge my way of thinking, and to form compasses for others to navigate this strange world.
Current Joys - “California Rain”
Much like Sturgill Simpson’s “What If The Sun Never Rises Again,” a favorite from last year, Vegas-born, L.A.-based Current Joys’ “California Rain” belongs in the whatever there is of a New American Song Book. It captures a moment in time when many things prove true, pain and joy and remorse and confusion all congealing in the indescribable feeling that rises in your chest, a feeling CJ singer Nick Ratigan washes away with the titular rains that don’t come often enough. Lived in like the contradictions we all lie to ourselves about.
Anna Ferrer - “Malanat”
A mournful meditation from mesmerizing Menorcan artist Anna Ferrer. As ominous as it is transcendent.
The Doozer - “Look After Yourself”
I am a sucker for anything that takes me back to the first time I really experienced Nick Drake’s seminal album Pink Moon. (Hat tip to Matthew Schnipper’s always illuminating Deep Voices).
Prince - “Empty Room”
Every now and again, you encounter a song from a beloved artist you’ve never heard. It transforms your understanding of their catalog. I have loved Prince since I first encountered him as a kid watching VH1 on mornings and weekends. His catalog is famously expansive, his vaults the stuff of closely guarded legend. I thought I had discovered almost all there was to discover during my obsessive high school years. Cooking dinner for my family last week as we spent a week together in the wake of the fires, a live version of “Empty Room” came on, leading me down a wormhole of discovery about this incredible unreleased mid-80s slow burner.
This “discovery” reminded me of something recent Where Do We Go From Here? interviewee Tebs Maqubela said to me in a text about an Outkast song he had recently discovered/rediscovered:
You can learn more about the history “Empty Room” here at Prince encyclopedia PRINCEVAULT. I have been primarily listening to the 2002 version that was released as a live recording, but also loving the unreleased original version from 1985. Both are below.
Kiefer - “Dreamer”
Like Mos Def’s instrumental masterpiece “May December,” L.A. pianist and producer Kiefer’s “Dreamer” is a bit of soulful hip-hop that doesn’t need words to evoke the ache of specific time and space.
Los Angeles Fire Support Resources:
Mutual Aid Network of Los Angeles’s spreadsheet lists an expansive number of funds, organizations, and aid types across the expanse of the city. A great place to start.
15 Food and Drink Fundraisers To Support L.A. Wildfire Relief, organized by the incredible folks at L.A. Taco.
HitsDailyDouble has compiled a wealth of resources for people within the music community, including emergency financial assistance, support with pets/animals, temporary shelter, food, medical and mental health services, gear storage, and free clothes.
A comprehensive volunteer and support guide from local organization LA2050.
A good post from The Angel on different ways to get involved with relief efforts.
A book/PDF written for parents to help explain the enormity of wildfire to their children.
PBS SoCal’s resources for how to talk to children about wildfires.
A U.S. government fact sheet on protecting children from wildfire smoke and ash.
A spreadsheet of GoFundme’s for Black families from Altadena who have been displaced or lost their homes. Altadena is one of Los Angeles’ historically Black centers, a place where generations of hard-earned wealth and equity in the land were decimated in a matter of days. (first seen via Saul Williams)
An excellent primer called AQ101 on wildfires themselves and the pollutants they release into the air.
Two camp resources for those in need of outdoor childcare (though there are still numerous reports about the danger of the air quality in parts of Los Angeles that are down wind of the fires; I am certainly no expert, so I would do your own research).
The official government map of the fires.
A comprehensive resource guide from Trusted Advisor.
A collection of GoFundme’s that are under 20% funded, shared by 5PM LUCKY (via Ventura-based brand RatBoi):
