#outer spaces

[dustedmagazine]

Cara Beth Satalino — Little Green (Worried Songs)

Photo by Justin Flythe

Turning into an adult has never been easy, but the people who progressed from late teens and 20s into mid-life over the last couple of years have had an especially rough go of it, given the pandemic, the lockdown and the oncoming climate apocalypse. Cara Beth Satalino, the fresh-voiced center of country-folk Outer Spaces, was among this unlucky cohort. One day she was carefree, singing her songs in bars and small clubs, the next she found herself diagnosed with chronic illness, isolated in New Jersey and unexpectedly pregnant.

The title track of this first solo album tracks that series of events in luminous folk style, a fragile voice pushing up through reverb shrouded guitar. “I used to be puppy dog, I used to be a little green, little leaf unfolding, reaching out for anything at all,” croons Satalino in “Little Green,” the brief song that is, maybe, the key to the whole album. “I used to play on my guitar, up in there at the bar, I used to sing a yearning song, a little leaf unfolding, little leaf unfolding.” The “used to” part is heartbreaking, but the song suggests a path out, the possibility of tending a garden where other leaves may eventually unfold. Satalino sings in a tender but resolute way, making her peace with the new normal.

These songs have a fresh-scrubbed authenticity, centered on Satalino’s raspy soprano and forthright language, though they often swell, mid-cut, into multi-voiced, descanting fullness. “Time,” for instance, begin in simplicity, its jangling guitar paced by kick drum, a pedal steel curving up through the verse. Satalino’s singing is straightforward, rich but unornamented, until it blossoms in dizzying harmonies and counterpoints, suddenly overwhelming.

Satalino’s tunes range in tone from jangling folk pop to near country, think Waxahatchee but not as southern. She sings about Volvos station wagons, not pick-up trucks. A few, like “Daylight Savings Time,” feature wavery keyboard or maybe recorder melodies that shade them subtly into 1960s folk territory. Yet though the accompaniment can be flowery, the words are precise and workmanlike. Consider this, from “Daylight Savings Time”— “Today I woke up feeling rested/with an hour to spare/free time in my pocket/time that was not there yesterday/it’s on the front page/it’s the good news we never gave/one solitary hour feels like money to be spent.”

Though Little Green is a solo album, Satalino is by no means alone. Her partner in Outer Spaces, Chester Gwazda, is a big presence, playing bass and keyboards on most tracks, and guitar and drums on a couple.  Angie Boylan, who has toured with Sleater-Kinney and Maria Paternoster, picks up the rest of the drumming duties, while Dan Kassel adds cello. Nicholas Metz is especially effective on pedal steel, nudging cuts like “Outlaw” into rich twanging country. The arrangements never overwhelm. Satalino’s voice and stories remain the focus. But they do expand and enliven her songs, and you can hear a certain joy in the musicians’ ability to play together again after a period of separation.

Despite the troubles that surround it, this isn’t a sad album at all. It finds ways to celebrate the good parts of the last few years, as in “The Great Liberator.” Sings Satalino, “Walked down to the farm to watch the eagles catch the sun, it doesn’t seem like much but it’s a new brand of fun.”  Like Little Green. 

Jennifer Kelly

[dinchenix]

If you had the chance to join the journey through space, would you do it?

This artwork is also availabe as a wallpaper on my ko-fi here!💙

[technician-the]

made in blender, based on a soviet era postcard. this is all rendered in eevee, with the windows and light details drawn with grease pencil. I animated the little people in the windows as well, but maybe I shouldn't have bothered.

[engravedlives]

blue graphics blinkies stamps

[punkeduppirate]

look at you, you're gorgeous💥

[theofficialastronomy101]

Close up of Pluto from the New Horizons space probe.

Will be adding several more photos to this same post

[assassin1513]

⭐️🖤💙⭐️Blue Royal Stars⭐️💙🖤⭐️

[rainbow-gend3r]

Sputnik 2, launched on November 3, 1957, carried the dog Laika, the first living creature to be shot into space and orbit Earth. Laika was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow. There were no plans to return her to Earth, and she lived only a few hours in orbit. …

taken from @gallivantsofgillis on tiktok

[lemonsharks]

Art side of Tumblr please illustrate this little guy getting into situations

[belovedapollo]

bought this gem secondhand and can’t get over how stunning it is 🪐 reblog is okay, don’t repost/use

[stavee]

I feel like nobody on Tumblr knows that the international space station is being discontinued.

Did you know that? In less than a decade it will be gone

CNN Link from above screenshot

More detailed article by Space.com

[themaninyourcomputer]

Star Trek IV is so funny because the writers were like 'what if we set these fools loose in 1980's San Francisco and have them break every single Star Fleet regulation, wouldn't that be funny.' And it was. It was the best movie to come out of the entire franchise.

[classichorrorblog]

10 Movies From The 1980s To Consider For October/Halloween

[daily-dragon-drawing]

black hole-themed dragon?

#142 - 黑洞 (hēidòng / black hole) - A dark and dangerous power…💫🌑🪐

[theofficialastronomy101]

(NEW UPDATE WITH PHOTOS) Send us your best photos!

Absolutely beautiful! I hope everyone took this in! Makes you think just how small we are. A moment the world comes together as one! That’s true humanity . We will be uploading more amazing photos to this same post. So come back later on and check out our 2024 once in a lifetime eclipse photos.