Naked Graveyard: Issue 3

Hey friends,

One of my dreams is to have someone whose job is to drive me places and someone to prepare my meals. This could be two different people, or it could be the same person acting as both my personal chef and chauffer. A cheffer! Is that a thing? I like to be driven around, and I like to eat. If I could hire an individual to make something for me to eat then drive me places, I think I’d have my shit figured out.

Last month I helped a friend and her boyfriend move. While being driven back and forth in a U-Haul truck between their storage unit and apartment, I was able to take in the sights. What I saw were a lot of liquor stores, guns and ammo outposts, pawn shops, and vape dispensaries. No thank you! If there weren’t libraries, record shops, and pizzerias, I might never leave the house.

(more words after the flirty hotdog picnic)

Is it a sign things are going well when you listen to recordings of grinding machinery to relax? Okay, so maybe I don’t listen to looped layers of harsh noise to “relax”, but I have found that playing albums made up of repetitive, squelchy electronics, field recordings, and musique concrète to be weirdly helpful while I’ve been editing my latest manuscript. I think it’s because the assaultive cacophony keeps me awake and engaged while working on my next book. Here are descriptions of two noisy albums I’ve been “enjoying”:

Pinta by Rautakymi (Tribe Tapes): Four tracks of distorted textures and unconventional electronic soundscapes made by a Finnish guy named Juho. His specialty is abrasive walls of sound, crude saturated tape recordings, and primitive noise assaults. If the idea of listening to 25 minutes of ear-shredding guitar feedback in a wind tunnel to unwind sounds like your cup of tea, I think this album may be what you’re looking for.

BUTCH JENNY #1 by BUTCH JENNY (self-released): This is a project from Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu fame. The album is described by Jamie as “harsh experimental electronic noise recorded late at night in Berlin after working on other music for 8 or more hours, each track was done with the immediate intent of making something horrible to listen to. It is bad for YOU and it is bad for your ear hole.” Yup, that’s pretty accurate. If after reading that description you buy this album and hate it, that’s on you, pal!

Well, folks, we’ve made it to the end of another newsletter. I’ll leave you with this: Life is not for everyone, which is why so many people decide to check out early. Thank glob there are outsiders who choose to live. These outsiders wake up every day, look at the world, and say, “Yikes! This place ain’t for me.” Then, instead of throwing in the towel, they work to bring their vision of how they believe things should be to life. These are my people, and this is who I am.

Here is my two-sentence manifesto:

Ignore the news. Bury yourself in art and sex.

Explore the links below. You’re doing all the right things. See you next month. Peace!