about this Thanksgiving

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving. I like the turkey in a bag, the mashed potatoes, green beans, pie and whipped cream, and the Cowboys. I am looking forward to eating and watching the game together. It never matters to me if the game is exciting or if the turkey is juicy. I just want to smell the food cooking in the house and know that you are right there.

 

a quick blurb about some noise rock band

 

Pulpy belligerence on noise rock band Mal’s swirling debut

Sounds from the far end of a bender

Mal play experimental prog-ish noise rock. The addition of a bad-tempered saxophone differentiates this soup of sound—a sound that adds metal, free jazz, and art rock—from a lot of other noise rock bands. Mal formed in late 2019 and on October 21, 2022, released its debut, Malbum, on Ordovician Records.

This versatile 4-piece band from Minneapolis cites Sleepytime Gorilla Museum as an RIYL. And the boozy sax can add the noirish sound of blurry neon over black and white—ahistorical scenes built on shaky metal scaffolding.

about a recently published obituary

The Wednesday, November 9 edition of The Dallas Morning News included an obituary that was written by the deceased. It is rather long; here is a link (which might expire) and four screenshots to try to catch it all.

 

https://www.restlandfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Richard-Shlakman/#!/Obituary

I enjoyed reading this, but it also reminded me of a scene from Young Hearts Crying, a Richard Yates novel. In the scene, a writer is working on a short biographical statement to go with his photo in his soon-to-be-published debut book; he gives the draft bio to his wife.

And this was the finished copy he brought out for Lucy's approval:

Michael Davenport was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1924. He served in the Army Air Force during the war, attended Harvard, lost early in the Golden Gloves, and now lives in Larchmont, New York, with his wife and their daughter.

"I don't get the part about the Golden Gloves," she said.

"Oh, honey, there's nothing to 'get.' You know I did that. I did it in Boston, the year before I met you; I've told you about it a hundred times. And I did lose early. Shit, I never even got beyond the third—"

"I don't like it."

"Look," he said. "It's good if you can work a light, self-deprecating touch into something like this. Otherwise, it's—"

"But this isn't light and it isn't self-deprecating," she told him. "It's painfully self-conscious, that's all it is. It's as though you're afraid Harvard may sound sort of prissy, so you want to counteract it right away with this two-fisted nonsense about prizefighting. Listen: You know these writers who've spent their whole lives in college? With their advanced degrees and their teaching appointments and their steady rise to full professorship? Well, a lot of them are scared to put that stuff on their book jackets, so they get themselves photographed in work shirts and they fall back on all the dumb little summer jobs they had when they were kids: 'William So-and-so has been a cowhand, a truck driver, a wheat harvester, and a merchant seaman.' Don't you see how ludicrous that is?"

and posts an interview with some hardcore band

Brass guitarist talks lyrics, inspiration, and Canada.

 

BRASS released a new EP, Look on the Bright Side, on October 21st. The sound reflects the band’s influences—The Bronx, Alexisonfire, At the Drive-In, IDLES, and Refused. Sounds range from hard-charging hardcore to moody and dynamic post-hardcore. Last week, guitar player Tristan Milne took a moment to respond to a few questions.

 

Damon: I just heard the new album. The song “Milestone” sticks out for me. I liked the sense of tension, the dynamics, and, of course, the breakdown at around the 2-minute mark. The song lyrics include the line, “The ground moves right out from under me now / Does anybody else in here feel that?” I like this lyric and the phrasing. Was there a time in your life when an event suddenly seemed to change everything?

 

Tristan Milne: No. When we look back at the dynamic changes in our lives, the thread of what stayed the same is what becomes important. The milestone markers happen, but the crucial aspect is staying on the road.

 

D: What non-musical works or forms of art and media influence you and the band’s music?

 

TM: Painting and photography seem to be the two that we refer to the most when constructing songs. The combination of the immediacy of the recording process, which is like a snapshot of time, while creating on a canvas that has no ties to the physical reality of life is part of what makes music so fun.

 

D: The band comes from East Vancouver. “Bad Neighbours” is presumably about the U.S.A. Tell me a little about Vancouver and East Vancouver from your perspective. And talk a little about British Columbia and Canada. In your view, how does Canada’s proximity to and relationship with the U.S.A. affect Canada?

 

TM: While the band formed in East Van, we all came from different parts of Western Canada. East Van is great because it's been a melting pot that for decades has housed a lot of creatives and progressives. Canada still has its share of backward idiots, so the U.S. scenario isn't surprising to us. Devon has lines in that song about the States, but you can call someone out without denying your own faults, which I think he does effectively.

 

D: What makes you feel good?

 

TM: Sunsets, live drums, great headphones, good weed.

 

The EP, Look on the Bright Side, was released October 21st by Early Onset Records. The band lineup changed a little going into these recordings. Previous albums by BRASS are No Soap Radio (2015) and For Everyone (2018).