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Keep Calm, Tweet On

Disorder, already the default setting of the internet, leveled up during the few short weeks since our last Liner Notes dispatch. A Centralized Exchange Who Must Not Be Named tanked. And Twitter — the pillar of global discourse, online memes and music in web3 — has sent its own timeline into a frenzy.

While the live tweeting of a new era continues, a recurring theme grows clear: decentralization matters. Permanence matters. User-owned networks matter. If you're reading this, odds are you're thinking the same. This is why we're here.

Whatever happens, this is the time to drink more water, organize ourselves, find silver linings, and reach out. Get inclusive group chats going. Send a note to your DM friends for their contact info. Hit our Discord to get a server role and connect with others. Download your archives. Go outside. Platforms (and billionaires) come and go. Music is forever.

P.S. If you've released, collected, or curated a record on Catalog, tis' the season for free merch. To request a care package, take a moment to fill out this form by Dec 4 💛

November: month of Scorpios, midterms, and Catalog's blog era 💽

• We published an interview about shadow work and decolonized release schedules with the harp-whispering beat architect Low Leaf

• We published a profile of 3Phaz, RATCHOPPER, Nadah El Shazly and ZULI — four artists at the sonic forefront of North Africa, onboarded by Curation Cycles 01 alum Sarah El Miniawy 🇪🇬 🇹🇳

• We published a profile on a rising scene of African artists — Ace Daphlex, Theresa Ng'ambi, Nemesis vs Ladyryn and Tulile Siyumbwa —  who are crafting heartfelt contributions to Afrobeats, R&B, rap, and folk in Zambia and Nigeria, onboarded by Curation Cycles 01 alum Lady Light 🇿🇲 🇳🇬

• We also aired (and recorded!) #OnTheRecord episodes about web3 music in India, the mind-bending new sounds of Cairo & Tunis as well as Zambia & Nigeria

• Our Discord sample series, #Cook-Off, completed its 2022 run with a finale that featured dreamscape sounds from Pelham & Junior 🌌

• Ethereum hit its two-month anniversary as a PoS network, which reduced its energy usage and estimated emissions by more than 99%

Interested in being a curator for Catalog? Submissions for Curation Cycle 3 are open now through Dec 11th. Cycle 3 curators will be announced Jan 2023.

In the past months, we've worked with folks immersed in different music communities — baile funk's new wave in Brazil, mahraganat-channeling electronic from Egypt, and alternative music in Zambia to name a few — to onboard and celebrate independent artists they love to Catalog.

Read this and this to learn why we believe Curation Cycles are important in nurturing a representative web3 music landscape.

Hidden gems await your ears on Catalog. Special shoutouts to the brain-blasting synthwork of 3Phaz's “Red Signal”; VHOOR's sweat-inducing heater, “1Dez”; and the star-gazing neosoul melodies powering Upper Reality's latest gorgeous release, “I'm Cool.” Keep digging. Catch 'em all.

Whether they're snarling at your attempts to show affection or migrating, en masse, across starry nights, cats deserve a dedicated section in Liner Notes (at minimum) and the presidency (at most). For any dog people reading this, an ongoing internal power struggle will determine whether canine frens win inclusion in the next newsletter. For now, enjoy the nine-lives icons below 🌌

• Top Left: STVDIO NOUVEAU's new best buds Beaker and Bunsen

• Top right: Siber and Mumbai street cat discussing #cats-of-catalog channel in the Catalog Discord. Photo by Three Oscillators

• Bottom Left: Talk Time's cat Jazzy awaiting a Thanksgiving plate

• Bottom Right: Indacouch's cats Toast and Toph on the couch 🙃

• Dec 11: Deadline to submit to Catalog Curation Cycle 3

• Dec 13: Drop-In Voice Chat for Artists, Collectors & Curators on Catalog (Discord). Set a reminder 🫡

• Dec 14: On The Record #19: Web3 Music's LatAm Future (Twitter Space). Set a reminder 📡

• Jan 1: 2023. 11 years since the 2012 doomsday predictions.

• Everyday: Wish a loved one or stranger or DAW session good morning

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