Still on the hauntology vibe, floating out on the vapors of a lost future, so to speak. It’s the perfect mood for a pandemic that isn’t disappearing. Whatever. The world is no more or less weird than it was six months ago. The way we navigate the world has changed for many, but everything else is the same ol’ same. It’s just harder to ignore the weird bits and it’s not the pandemic that’s weird. COVID-19 isn’t weird at all. It’s just new and unfamiliar. How many times can I say that?

It’s been such a perfect time to find these mixes, sitting back so many hours and waiting to see what comes next. Some days and nights really are like sitting somewhere far out in orbit and watching the little blue sphere, waiting for new developments to come in on the waves.

Earth to Apollo.

Earth to Soyuz.

You never really believe something is going to happen until it does. We are warned that one day there will be some kind of pandemic, a new flu that we’re not prepared for, and 150,000 people die and we’re still arguing about masks. We get leveled by a hurricane and rebuild on the exact same spot. What’s the next one coming down the pike? Something we’ve been warned of and have been quietly ignoring. Climate change is here and nobody is making any real moves to slow that. So what’s next? More terrorism? A global nuclear conflict? It even sounds shrill and science fiction reading that back, but no, it isn’t. There are things we’ve put in motion that are bigger than us.

It also sounds a lot more bleak than I actually feel right now.

What do I feel?

Capable.

I am capable. I feel neither good nor bad this morning. It’s just sort of peaceful. It’s acceptance that there are things so much bigger than my ability to affect any change in. That in mind and it leads me to wonder what the rest of the year will look like. Where will my feet be allowed with the rest of me in tow, with my eyes and my ears and my camera? What will I see there? Who will I meet there? Oh the thinks you can think, Mr. Geisel.

For here am I sitting in my tin can, far above the moon. Planet Earth is blue, and there’s nothing I can do…

And that’s how many of these days have felt, Mr. Bowie, wherever you are now if anywhere. That’s how many of these days have felt. We’re on the downward side of summer now and COVID-19 is still calling most of the shots. The warm weather has afforded mobility and some socialization for many and that won’t last. It seems like everyone is waiting to see which will last longer, the weather or the virus. My money is on the latter and as days will grow shorter and weather cooler all these new outdoor cafes will close again and… well, I can’t imagine many people won’t gather at home, but who knows? Every so often a news story will pop up about a vaccine, a miracle cure if you will, but these stories are few and far between. Will people be going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house by Thanksgiving? So many questions and how well you move through the coming months really depends on how badly you believe you need the answers to those questions. It’s a bit easier for me these days, what with having stopped demanding all the answers right away.

This Sovietwave thing, of all the genres and subgenres of music I’ve explored in the last five months of semi-quarantine, have fit the situation for me better than any. They’ve really been the perfect dystopian soundtrack. Is it possible to be melancholic and optimistic at the same time? That’s how it feels, after all. Is it it possible to feel locked down and locked up and free at the same time? It feels that way too. I’m understanding what it means to be able to be able to see that silver lining. It’s not exactly a joyous feeling, but there have been many more days of weightlessness that’s probably more due to having the time to contemplate what free means rather than the change in circumstance. It’s certainly a healthy dose of both. The circumstances freed me to breathe.

Of course it would be nice to hit the lottery and that would pretty much… well, what would it do?

What would it do?

I’ll wrap this up with the tracklist, something to return to one day and pick through bit by bit:

• 00:00 Луч – В кольцах Сатурна
• 03:33 Протон-4 – Облака
• 06:45 Наукоград – Дальний поезд
• 10:08 Гербарий – Сквозь горизонты
• 13:52 Время акаций – Межзвездная экспедиция
• 18:06 Pen Friend – Parachute
• 21:35 Neverbeen – Первостроителям
• 24:33 DaNKoV – Импульс
• 26:59 Весна 310 – Восход
• 29:15 Soviet Space Program – Radiowaves
• 32:10 Звездный Пегас – Сквозь звезды
• 39:15 ВнутриЯ – Летаешь ли ты во сне
• 44:35 20 Years – Сквозь Время