DJ Jim Q's Playlist: SPICY
Welcome listeners to April’s playlist. The theme this month is Spicy. Surprisingly, this isn’t a topic extensively explored in music, or at least music I could find, but what we lack in quantity we will make up for in potency. I have a short but flavorful mix of tunes for this month’s sonic stew.
The theme was selected by the Tucson Arizona chapter of CreativeMornings. I am quite fond of Tucson, I’ve spent a good deal of time in the desert city over the years. I have a number of friends who relocated there decades ago and it has been a somewhat regular destination for my posse. It is an eclectic and unique city with a thriving creative scene. Great music, art and food. We always have a blast when we are there. Evening rock shows at the haunted Hotel Congress, Luchador wrestling at the Rialto Theater, hitting every taco stand peppered throughout the city, taking in the daily sunsets at Gates Pass, I could really settle into Tucson living.
Over the years the city has certainly been developed. Like most urban centers, gentrification and commercialization is always looming and threatening the less financially privileged which often includes artists. We would typically visit in November around The All Souls Procession which was inspired by Día de los Muertos. It’s a pretty epic event. Tens of thousands of people parade across a two mile stretch of the city toward an urn filled with hopes and wishes for those who have passed. The procession is filled with people dressed in intricate hand crafted outfits, many with the sugar skull face painting, there are a myriad of alters, some on elaborate floats or represented as mobile art pieces. There are marching bands, puppeteers, dancers, stilt walkers, acrobats, and mobile drum circles. It’s an eerie carnival of creativity, a time honored tradition to mourn, reflect and celebrate the universal experience of death. Mixed into this eclectic and eccentric procession are regular folks from the community or visitors who are also doing their best to participate in the celebration. You see families with strollers, grandparents, and young kids. Some come for the spectacle, but most understand or come to understand that its a ceremony. That said, some locals bemoan the sanitization and neutralization of the event. They complain that it was once an artist-driven spiritual-centered sacred ritual and that it has become just another touristy parade. Regardless, it’s an experience unlike any other. Tucson is the coolest—great music venues, bands and a haven for artists and weirdos. Put it on your list of destinations, maybe I’ll see you there, let’s grab tacos!
Seasoned to perfection, this month’s playlist is short but bursting with flavor. Beyonce’s “SPAGHETTII” is full of spicy retorts for her haters, Chicano Batman shares an ode to the Jalapeño or maybe it’s a recipe for salsa in “El Jalapeño” and boom bap era flash in the pan Craig Mack kicks “Flavor in in your ear” yum! This sonic gumbo contains a mix of diverse spices for you to enjoy from Duke Ellington, to Echo and the Bunnymen to Tierra Whack and Hank Williams. There’s enough flavor for everyone.
Thanks for listening. If you like these playlists, please let me know. I would love to hear from you on Twitter or connect with me on Threads. Also be sure to like and follow on Spotify. See you next month with another themed playlist.