Hello all,
It’s been another crazy, tough year. It’s hard on the soul to look at the world and see so much suffering… and then on top of it all, to witness all the ignorance, callousness and outright hatred spewed by armchair warriors across the political spectrum is truly soul-crushing. But (at least for the fortunate among us) life goes on…
Throughout my life, I’ve bounced back and forth between two career tracks. Sometimes, I try to make a go of earning a living from writing or music, supporting myself with odd jobs or part-time work. And other times, I get a full-time job for a few years to pay the bills, feed my family, and sustain my creative projects on the side. This year, I’ve been back to the latter approach. It seems you can have money or time, but not both. But I can’t complain – aside from enabling my survival, my job subsidizes the WP and my other projects.
My year in music
Weyes Blood is one of my favourite artists. Listening to her recent album And in the Darkness Hearts Aglow and crying was basically my hobby in the fall of 2022. When she played Montreal in March, I was too broke to afford tickets. And then, like some manifested miracle, a friend texted me offering two free tickets on the day of the show.
The show was amazing – somehow both very theatrical and performative, and very warm, personal and (the official word of the year) authentic. Rather than build up to “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” the album’s hit single and moment-defining anthem, she opened with it – a bold move. With a great band and an onstage persona that was somehow both amiable and authoritative, she dazzled the packed venue (there was a bit of cognitive dissonance for me in realizing that this music wasn’t just my own personal soundtrack, but I imagine that’s likely a typical post-lockdown feeling). I came away an even bigger fan than before.
In the fall, I saw another favourite artist, soul/disco veteran Candi Staton, at Pop Montreal. To be honest, I thought the show was really cheesy. But I was still happy to have seen her play – a counterpoint to the regret I feel over having missed innumerable shows by beloved artists. And she’s in great shape for age 83 – as some of you know, I’m a great admirer of elder artists and hope to join their ranks someday.
I greatly enjoyed seeing Voyageur statique, at a tribute show to my beloved, departed friend Julie Morand-Ferron (whose longtime partner Éric is one-half of Voyageur statique). They notably played a cover of the Dead Milkmen’s “You’ll Dance to Anything” – a cheeky move for a techno/electro crowd, even if (as Éric told me) I might be the only person in the crowd who recognized it. And I had fun watching punk/metal band Leash Aggression (no music online yet, but I’m told it’s coming soon) late in the year at the great (and beleaguered) venue Turbo Haus.
In terms of musical releases, I loved records by Charlotte Cornfield, Beaver Sheppard, PACKS and Love Language, and I liked many more. I’ll be playing my year’s favourites on my monthly radio DJ appearance on the Free Kick show on Sunday January 31, from 11am to 1pm EST, on 90.3 FM in Montreal or ckut.ca – live player here, show archives here. For a more complete end-of-the-year musical survey, Said the Gramophone and Aquarium Drunkard are good bets as always.
Recommended reading & viewing
This year in books, I greatly enjoyed Like Every Form of Love, Padma Viswanathan’s unclassifiable memoir about the conflict between writing and friendship (look out for an interview I’m doing with her in an upcoming Montreal Review of Books), Éloïse Marseille’s graphic memoir Naked, and on the musical side, Sean Kelly’s Don’t Call It Hair Metal (check out my interview with him on my occasionally active podcast What Is This Music?!).
I just started Brian Jay Jones’ 2013 biography of Jim Henson, and I’m already really liking it. I’m also tearing my way through Geddy Lee’s memoir, My Effin’ Life (don’t judge me). I’ve continued to revisit my classic graphic novels – Chester Brown’s collection of early work The Little Man, Jamie Hernandez’s Love and Rockets, Adrian Tomine’s Shortcomings and Joe Sacco’s (sadly topical) Footnotes in Gaza hold up well. Honestly, my favourite literary experience of the year has been revisiting my collection of classic Gordon Korman books to read to my son. (Whether you know Korman’s work or not, this recent-ish article is a good read.)
I don’t subscribe to a ton of newsletters, but I do highly recommend these:
under the full moon, by garbageface: For my money, this is the best newsletter hands down. Even if you don’t agree with his opinions, share his tastes, or quite follow some of his more esoteric musings, there is always copious food for thought, and the list of links alone is worth the price of subscription every time.
Brooding, by Katherine Jezer-Morton: For those of us with kids, KJM’s perspective on family life is unfailingly intelligent, often counterintuitive or contrarian (but never in an obnoxious way), and always coming from a deep humanist perspective.
The Honest Broker, by Ted Gioia: This is a popular one that I’m sure many people follow already. But if not, you should; his music tastes lean jazzier than mine, but his insights on the music business and tidbits of music history are consistently valuable.
Musa al-Gharbi’s infrequent but exhaustive overviews of current political and social phenomena are always illuminating. Some might find his takeaways a bit too “centrist” or even-handed for their siloed political thinking, but I like the way he lays out data and unpacks the contradictions in the information we receive.
The Biblioracle Recommends, by John Warner: For people who like books and literary culture, this is a must-read with great links and insightful opinions.
Something Good, by Mark Slutsky: Enlightening and enlivening, a little oasis of good vibes in the toxic slurry of online discourse.
TV was basically a wasteland this year… I’m watching less and less of it, and even the shows I enjoyed I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend. (I did just start watching The Curse which is pretty great so far, albeit in a kind of excruciating way.) When it comes to movies, I am pretty much in the arty middle-of-the-road lamestream at this point. I liked Anatomy of a Fall and May December. I didn’t enjoy the harsh, severe The Zone of Interest per se, but it has stayed with me. Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things and The Boy and the Heron are still on my to-see list at the time of this writing. In terms of older movies: left to my own devices, I gravitate to 70s and 80s horror movies which are always fun, but I also found myself unexpectedly enjoying The Remains of the Day (1993). Digging Merchant-Ivory… I really must be getting old. Reminds me of a new song by my friend Major Entertainer, “Try Drama.” (He may be being sarcastic – it’s always hard to tell with him – but it still struck a chord.)
Nostalgic nugget
In September 2000, I was in New York City for a gig as a member of Feist’s band. Peaches and Chilly Gonzales came through town on tour, opening for Elastica. As was our habit in those days, Feist and I jumped onstage with them for an uninvited appearance. After the show, a photographer (whose name I never caught) snapped a few shots of us backstage. One of these photos resurfaces online every few years – this year, it was on an Instagram account called indiesleaze. (I gather that “indie sleaze” is a retroactive term for the strain of music and culture that we were peripherally – or in Peach’s case, much more directly – involved with at this time. While it may be of questionable ~authenticity~, the term is certainly accurate.) Anyway, it’s a fun photo that brings back fond memories of that hectic time…
Speaking of The World Provider…
In terms of this year’s WP news proper… I feel like every one of my recent newsletters has some variation of this same statement, but: I recently wrapped up another studio session for the new record. It was very fun and productive. I had hoped to get everything in the can by the end of this year, but with the vagaries of my various collaborators’ obligations, it looks like it will spill into 2024 somewhat. No matter; I’m very excited about what we have so far and what’s still to come. The wheels are in motion for the record to be out… sometime in the foreseeable future. As far as shows: I don’t anticipate doing any touring before the record is released, but in the interim, I’m open to offers if the stars align. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. Follow the WP on Bandcamp or Spotify and watch this space for updates…
Stay well, take care of yourselves and each other, and hope to see you soon!
xo WP.