Arthur Russell, "Home Away From Home" (Andy Stott Refix)

Also, the existential query of our time

Why does every day seem worse than the one before? Philosophers down the ages have never successfully answered this question, because until now it has never quite been the case. Things were good or bad, or good and bad, or bad and good, or bad for a long time and then suddenly good, but never just bad, worse, oh my God so bad, how could it still be bad, please don’t even ask anymore because the answer it just going to be “bad,” it seems impossible for things to be so bad for so long, etc. It is one of the few truly new mysteries to solve in an era where everything is a tired echo of something else.

But you came to me for an answer, so I will try to give you one. Now let me state here at the outset that I am no philosopher. I am a simple man with a simple mind. The only difference between you and me is I have a website where no one can tell me to stop saying the simple-minded things that pop into my simple mind. Even though you are still reading this you are smarter than I am. And yet sometimes the wisest solutions come from the most shallow of sources. So you ask me, Why does every day seem worse than the one before? Why do I wake each morning with a deeper sense of dread, a weight that is increasingly more difficult to bear pressing down on my chest and never lifting? And as best I can figure, thinking it over and running through all the possibilities, the answer is this: Because you are still alive. Nothing else really makes sense, does it?

Now that we’ve got that settled, here is a remix of the amazing Arthur Russell from the great Andy Stott. Pitchfork applauds its “sensation of a euphoric elsewhere,” which I am pretty sure we would all like to go to if such a thing were possible. This will have to be enough for now. Enjoy.