Aw Hell Yeah, Volume 2!
In which we remember we started a newsletter...
Launching a casual newsletter right before your thesis is due can be risky, as you will probably forget you started a newsletter in the first place. Oh well! At least I graduated.
I think I’ll start off this volume with a roundup of stuff I’ve recently written. Been sticking to my usual favorite outlets to write for, but I’m hoping to get back to freelancing regularly now that I will never have homework ever again.
For April’s entry into The Bargain Bin, freshly (and kindly) rejected from Taco Bell Quarterly, I revisit one of my desert island records. In grand 2007 fashion, I present to you Guitar Hero hallucinations from Taco Bell magic mushroom burritos and LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver.
May marks the 20th anniversary of getting hired at the record store, so I wrote about how I got the job and the first purchase I made there for The Bargain Bin. (I left out how I had to skip the Yo La Tengo in-store for my high school graduation almost immediately after being hired, but that’s a whole other story.)
For Paste, I reconnected with an old friend from high school, comedian Kevin Casey White, to discuss his new standup special, Harangue. (He was recently on the Troubled Waters podcast, hosted by fellow former St. Louisan Dave Holmes and it’s also worth a listen.)
I don’t do quite so many reviews anymore—which is a future newsletter entry in itself, but I loved covering Reggie Watts’ book last year and decided to tackle Paul Scheer’s new memoir, Joyful Recollections of Trauma. Spoiler alert: I loved it.
Recommendation corner:
Speaking of Dave Holmes, as I am wont to do, I’ve been digging his new podcast Who Killed The Video Star?: The Story of MTV.
I saw Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The TV Glow, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it for weeks. It’s worth seeing in the theaters. If you’ve seen it and enjoyed it, hit me up, and let’s gush about it.
I’m super late to the Chappel Roan party, but I'm very glad I got hip to her record from last year. Highly recommend watching her Tiny Desk, too. My ADHD/weird OCD-adjacent rules mean I don’t watch a lot of those, yet Brittany and I have watched this together twice.
You can buy a print of this amazing Garfell Roan by 4kateoriginals if you click here!
That’s enough for now! My recommendations and links to writing and so on soon.
Jack