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Artist......: Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Album.......: Theory Of Ice
Label.......: You've Changed Records
Genre.......: Indie
Catnr.......: YC-048
Source......: CD
Rip.date....: 2021-03-18
Str.date....: 2021-03-12
Quality.....: 859 kbps avg / 44.1kHz / 2 channels
Url.........: http://leannesimpsonmusic.com
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\ / \ /
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\ / # title time \ /
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1. Break Up 5:04
2. OK Indicts 3:38
3. Viscosity 4:27
4. Surface Tension 4:07
5. I Pity The Country 4:54
6. Failure Of Melting 2:35
7. The Wake 3:08
8. Head Of The Lake 4:15
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\ / ________ Runtime 32:08
,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 208.71______
:\/ ', \ / , \ /
' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /.
: Release Notes: \/ , \/ ,
' '
,: Theory of Ice is a powerful act of world-building and creative :,
: sovereignty by Michi Saagig Nishnaabeg writer, scholar, and :
:' musician Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. ':
,: :,
: One of the most compelling and important Indigenous voices of :
:' her generation, Leanne is the renowned author of Noopiming: The ':
,: Cure for White Ladies (named a best book of the year by the :,
: Globe and Mail); This Accident of Being Lost (winner of the :
:' MacEwan University Book of the Year; finalist for the Rogers ':
,: WritersÆ Trust Fiction Prize and the Trillium Book Award; named :,
: a best book of the year by the Globe and Mail, the National :
:' Post, and Quill & Quire); As We Have Always Done: Indigenous ':
,: Freedom Through Radical Resistance (awarded Best Subsequent Book :,
: by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association); and :
:' the creator of the album f(l)light which combined complex ':
,: poetry and multi-layered stories of the land, spirit, and body :,
: with lush electronic/acoustic arrangements. This new album, :
:' Theory Of Ice is the result of an ongoing practice in the ':
,: poetics and aesthetics of musical relationship, the material :,
: originating in written poetry, and worked into surprising, :
:' richly organic, song-forms through a collaborative generative ':
,: process with bandmates Ansley Simpson and Nick Ferrio, producer :,
: Jonas Bonetta (Evening Hymns), and producer Jim Bryson. :
:' ':
,: ôI step over watery edgesàö The opening line of the albumÆs :,
: first track ôBreak Upö welcomes you into a world likely not :
:' encountered or immediately recognized by the majority of the ':
,: North American settler population. Imagery circles in fragments, :,
: as water moves between forms: ice, liquid, air. We are at the :
:' intersection of states, the intersection of ways of ':
,: understanding, of ways of describing, contemporary science :,
: mixing with Nishnaabeg intellectual practices. The language is :
:' precise, and surprising in its precision: ôthere is euphotic ':
,: rising and falling / orbits of dispossession and reattachment // :,
: achieving maximum density: 39 degrees farenheit.ö :
:' (Disorientation is okay. I too had to look up ôeuphoticö: ':
,: ô..of, relating to, or constituting the upper layers of a body :,
: of water into which sufficient light penetrates to permit growth :
:' of green plantsö according to Merriam-Webster). Poetry often ':
,: leans on metaphor for its effect, for its shocks: metaphor as an :,
: assertion of likeness, of something shared, it shocks with the :
:' newness and unexpectedness of the comparison. This type of ':
,: language works because a fundamental unlikeness between the :,
: objects of the metaphor is understood, and so the distinction :
:' between objects is ultimately confirmed. The language here ':
,: shocks in a different way. This language reveals relationship, :,
: embedded Nishnaabemowin appearing as both definition and poetry, :
:' a revelation of a way of thinking: ôaabawe: the first warmth of ':
,: spring / aabawe: a loosening of the mind / to forgive.ö I hear :,
: this as a generous invitation, a reinvention of understanding, :
:' the chorus rising beautifully on a melody of ôgatheringö of ':
,: ôswimming towards lightö, ôthinkingö, ôrethinkingö, and :,
: ôthinking otherwise.ö :
:' ':
,: Life is lived within water, we are made of water, we need clean :,
: water to live, and water exists in different states: ice, :
:' liquid, air, snow. Given a particular set of circumstances (for ':
,: example where capitalism or settler-colonialism obliterates :,
: meaning, connection, and bodies) you might wish to live :
:' somewhere solid. You might want to live where you can be held, ':
,: and where your hope can be held fast. In Noopiming: The Cure For :,
: White Ladies, the narrator speaks from within a frozen lake, :
:' where ôthere is solace in being cut offö, and ôthere is freedom ':
,: enmeshed within that stateö, asserting ôbeing frozen in the lake :,
: is another kind of life.ö Many of the songs of Theory Of Ice :
:' appear as poems in Noopiming. The album and the novel are ':
,: related but distinct works, two parts of a greater project of :,
: thinking, of describing the world, of affirming a Michi Saagig :
:' Nishnaabeg existence through story and song and art. I believe ':
,: ôOK Indictsö is sung from this place of holding, from within :,
: this ice: ôI saved shards of hopeö; ôI saved drops of lightö. A :
:' song is a beautiful place to hold a thought, to honour a life. ':
,: :,
: Viscosity, the property, is a measure of a fluidÆs internal :
:' resistance, its internal friction. ôViscosityö, the song, rides ':
,: a thick groove, a reckless darkness of thick bass and drums, as :,
: it ruthlessly dissects a contemporary world that celebrates :
:' connectivity over connection, taking hard measure of the ':
,: inherent friction and alienation in our social-mediated society: :,
: this ôyelling the loudest in the empty roomö; this ôfeeding fish :
:' to insecurities.ö And then, after an unexpected, disrupting ':
,: piano solo, rising and falling, another voice enters, and the :,
: song rises, less alone, removing itself from that world of :
:' digital violence, peeling off from the ôblue light.ö A ':
,: remarkable change is enacted and described: building a fire, :,
: alert to the coldness of the world, and the warmth of each :
:' other, in relationship, ôcareful moment after careful moment.ö ':
,: The careful, articulate delivery of the poetry, the communal act :,
: of playing music, of singing together, of listening to each :
:' other, of trusting in each other in the creation and generation ':
,: of the song û this offers a model of how worlds are generated. :,
: :
:' ôSurface Tensionö arrives in a hush, Leanne dueting with John K ':
,: Samson (of The Weakerthans), her friend, peer, and, through his :,
: work with Arbeiter Ring, sometimes publisher. ItÆs a quiet, :
:' beautiful celebration of the ôsimple stolen momentsö and our ':
,: ability ôto love when we are able.ö I hear the song as a gift, :,
: making those moments feel more possible, more present. :
:' ':
,: The continuity of Indigenous resistance, rebellion, and truth is :,
: reaffirmed with a powerful new arrangement by Leanne and her :
:' band of Willie DunnÆs ôI Pity The Country.ö Most widely known ':
,: as the first track on the essential Native North America Vol 1. :,
: (Light In The Attic, 2014) compilation, the songÆs ongoing :
:' relevance and resonance is a powerful indictment of the ':
,: continuation and persistence of settler colonial violence in :,
: North America. The presentation here is completely contemporary :
:' and rattling in the caverns of history. It is a song filled to ':
,: the highest edge with sublimated rage and a profoundly caring :,
: humanity in every word: the settler colonial state is not hated, :
:' it is pitied, for its smallness, its evil, its perpetual ':
,: cruelty. I have heard this song sung at protests and marches, :,
: against the illegal occupation of unceded lands, in support of :
:' water and land protectors, by beautiful voices rallied ':
,: together, united in a hope for restoration and justice. I heard :,
: Leanne and Ansley and Nick sing this song at Native North :
:' American gathering in Ottawa, in a room filled with Willie ':
,: DunnÆs family and his peers, Willie Thrasher, Eric Landry, :,
: Willie Mitchell, the great poet Duke Redbird, the film-maker, :
:' musician, and force of nature Alanis Obomsawin. Immediately ':
,: before LeanneÆs performance news reached the auditorium that :,
: Saskatchewan farmer Gerald Stanley was acquitted by an all-white :
:' jury in the murder of Colton Boushie, the 22 year old man from ':
,: Cree Red Pheasant First Nation. Screaming. Crying. Terrible :,
: silence. This is the only song I know that can hold this :
:' feeling. ItÆs the only song I know thatÆs big enough. I pity ':
,: this country. :,
: :
:' The experience of art is a powerful way of knowing, of ':
,: learning; it is a gift from the world to the listener. It is an :,
: action and a way of being for the maker, it is a relationship :
:' with the world. I am thankful for the generosity of the worlds ':
,: here, the life here. Life goes on in the details, and death too, :,
: a part of life. The world is amassed with details. The poet :
:' records those details as precisely as she can, singing of ':
,: blankets, books, plastic flowers, pierogis, and cabbage rolls; :,
: singing of the disappearance of kids, of trailer hitches, :
:' coffee, spoons. While we were finalizing the master for the ':
,: album, Leanne was definitive that it was not organized in a :,
: linear, narrative manner. It works laterally, :
:' non-hierarchically. It works musically. Yet, ôHead Of The Lakeö ':
,: offers something like a conclusion. In the face of tragedy and :,
: in resistance to ongoing colonial violence, relationship is :
:' affirmed: ôWe made a circle and it helped.ö; ôSinging broke ':
,: open hearts.ö Here are Ansley and Nick, singing together, :,
: singing with Leanne, a moment of surprising beauty, :
:' understanding, and peace, and something like a conclusion, ':
,: however provisional, partial, but also something like an :,
: acknowledgement of love: ôin realization / we donÆt exist :
:' without each other / she says: thereÆs nothing about you / IÆm ':
,: not willing to know.ö :,
: :
:' ':
: '
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\ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ /
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\ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ /
\ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ /
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\ / H O U N D \ /
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