Catching Up...Catching Up...Catching Up...
Winter 2023 mixtape, Hole Studies review, Spring Into Winter Mercury Retrograde Sanity Mixtape Series, Calumet in Dub catalog essay, and everything else that happened or is about to happen
Hello there,
It’s been a minute. Forgive me, as my entire life in Chicago essentially disintegrated over the past seven months or so. In addition to being extremely stressful and totally exhausting, I was involved in multiple legal negotiations simultaneously, and couldn’t freely communicate about what was going on until it was all totally resolved. I’ve been living back home in Cleveland for a few weeks and it’s hard to describe how happy, natural, and at ease I feel here. Yesterday, I turned 36 and it was very nice to be in the region I was supposed to be born in.
Since the last time I wrote one of these, I did many things. I went to Indianapolis to interview Craig Bell (Rocket From the Tombs, Mirrors, Saucers); sent seventeen mixtapes to pals in my Spring Into Winter Mercury Retrograde Sanity Mixtape Series, met up with Brian McMahon (electric eels) to pick his brain and listen to the Spin Age Blasters 2xLP eels compilation dropping on Scat Records later this year; and published a few new things along the way.
The first was a catalog essay for the Norman W. Long solo exhibit Calumet in Dub. There is also a reflective essay by me in the Black Eyes 20th Anniversary archival zine which is available for pre-order on Bandcamp and will also be available in person at their reunion shows in DC, NYC, and Philly this weekend. Easter service with Black Eyes at First Unitarian Church in Philly is going to be the greatest thing that’s happened so far, absolutely. I’m in Philly for a couple days, so hit me up if you will be around.
Last week, I published my first book review in Cleveland Review of Books; it’s my favorite thing I’ve written so far and the culmination of what I learned in my near-decade in Chicago. If you enjoy reading my review, then you will love Hole Studies. Period.
Today, I dropped my (very late) winter 2023 mixtape, which details the journey I have been on to arrive back in Cleveland and be able to commit myself fully to the book I have been trying to write for a year now. I’m very grateful for the amazing outcome of the seven month nightmare that led me out of Chicago and back home to do this important work. Everything is coming together in the most magical and auspicious ways to make this happen.
My spring mixtape has been complete for multiple moons now and will be getting mastered very soon for a more timely arrival with the actual spring weather. It’s about returning to Cleveland AKA Heaven and being fully in my power at long last.
Once I return from the Black Eyes reunion next week, I’ll be kicking things into high gear with two big projects you can look forward to: an oral history of crucial Cleveland record stores due to drop in the fall issue of Maggot Brain and a monthly radio show on a very cool but secret-for-now outlet in Amsterdam called Sounds Coming Out of the Land, where I will essentially be sharing music and interviews relating to my book each month for the rest of 2023. This way I can still share content with you all somewhat regularly, while I focus on a more long-form project which is likely to take me years to complete.
Back soon with the spring tape, probably a whole newsletter about the Black Eyes reunion, and some excerpts from my first interview with Robert Kidney from all the way back in December.
I’m feeling a lot of love, gratitude, and inspiration in my world right now. Thank you.
<3 EMD