It is fitting that the last group of songs ended with Keala Settle. Born in Hawai'i, of Maori and British descent and now living in Seattle. Maori are Polynesian, so could fit into Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage, celebrated in May, and which I have been trying to honor.
However, there are Pacific Islanders who question whether it makes sense to combine them. I get that.
In many ways, there United States experience has been more similar to Native Americans under colonization and genocide rather than the experience of immigrants from China building the railroads, or Japanese Americans interned in camps during World War II, or refugees from South East Asia after the Vietnam War.
There is still more that fits under that umbrella.
This post is titled "Asian and Asian-American" rather than "Asian-American and Pacific Islanders" because even though I had started looking for more Pacific Islander musicians to review, that was happening at a time where I was finding it harder to do reviews or blog in general, and took a break.
It turns out life is messy, too.
Also, in the reviews I did do before then, there are a lot of musicians that are not Asian-American, just Asian.
Plus there was one who was of Asian descent but based in Sweden. Then, Woodie Alan (there' a name that didn't age well, but it was a combination of their names) was an white ex-pat joining a blues band in China and playing around there, as documented in Big In China by Alan Paul.
There are a lot of ways things can turn out. I am not sure that I always met my goals, but I found a lot of music. I found things that I wouldn't have found otherwise, including songs that were love at first listen, and songs that resonated, and songs that still stick with me after years.My point is that even messy attempts have value.
And also, I know it is important.
That was strengthened when I watched an interview with Simon Tam. He talked about responding emotionally to footage of some Asian people walking in a cool gang in a film (it was O-Ren Ishii's crew from Kill Bill, but I can't find the interview now), and realizing he had never seen that. That's why he started a band.
One of the people I follow on Twitter, writer William Yu, has worked in practical ways to increase representation.
He also tweets it daily. "Representation matters today."
It does matter. In this day, we are not past needing it, but it is also something to remember daily.
Today and every day, representation matters. I believe it and I will honor that, regardless of the size of my sphere.
Songs for this week:
“Kiss Me” by
Kyosuke Himuro -- I fell in love with this song instantly. Himuro has an excellent catalog, but this is the song I absolutely need.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMyAZh_BT4s
“Ganyan Lang”
by Lampano Alley -- Their other numbers tend to be faster and more upbeat, but this one has a poignancy that sticks with me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJndiL2uBwg
“Yellow” by
Katherine Ho -- The only version of this song that I like. She has a beautiful voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6NQZHyJYO8
"Oh My My (What A Life)" by MILCK -- Weirdly, this is one of my favorites of hers, but I haven't used it for a song of the day by her yet, and she has had three. Maybe the others felt more important, but there is a lot of love and joy in this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PMbl7wzhY0
“Wankyoku” by
Shing02 featuring Emi Meyer and Motoki Yamaguchi --Shing02 has a great body of work on his own, but I like how he brings in other musicians and finds new levels with them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvArYx_wHPI
“Would I Break
My Heart Enough For You” by Ogikubo Station -- This song is actually newer than my original review. It seems to show that they are getting more punk; I have no objections.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqcWhe8M5yY
“From The Heart”
by The Slants -- Finishing strong with this one. Again, I reacted to it musically and emotionally immediately, but there is meaning too. I am very grateful I got to see them live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwfEgcRXJjM
Related posts:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-have-special-history-months.html
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2015/07/reading-diverse-characters-and-authors.html
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