Everyday Awesome
by Raven Baker
The Skeleton News
Walking strong on fresh fawn legs, Chicago's The Skeleton News is a newsprint rag that should be the envy of other cities. Free publications tend to suck, but issue 4, the only one I've been lucky enough to get my hands on, has thoughtful articles about dome (geodesic) housing, the influenza virus, Patty Hearst, and feral children. My fav piece is the weirded out feminist utopian fantasy of "Breaking It Off Once and for All" by Peregine Kodak, which details dolphin gang bangs and a future world where women crush the patriarchy and float the skies in balloons, breeding with aliens. Unfortunately, the comics are shit.
Catatac Magazine
Yay! It's about time Bmore's spazzcataz underground spawned a publication and with connex to Wham City, Wildfire Wildfire and The Depot, Catatac has got the pedigree. Highlights include an interview with local beatboxing powerhouse Shodekeh, a comic detaling "The Painful Life of Friedrich Nietzsche" (lots of blood coughs), and the art of D'Metrius John Rice. I took nasty delight in Ed Schraeder's piece "The Restaurant" as I'm pretty sure I worked at the unnamed business he's panning. Plus more comics, recipes and if ya go to the site, there's a 'wintry mix' to dl.
Cyriak's Animation Mix
Bonkers royale. You think it’s like dada for babies, those cute acorns, scooter-riding vans and the twinkling nintendo lullaby but then like, holy whoa. Chainsaws, brains, and barfed up intestines. Cyriak’s mind is a blender. Toss in some Monty Python, kittehs, and a couple issues of Fangoria, and those three weeks when he was fifteen and watched every Buñuel film because he was like, The Pixies number one fan. Click it. Just do it maaaan, this shit will nollie your face off. Even cooler than the news report last night about GHOST RIDING THE WHIP, and that one clip when the kid got run over by his car like four times and lived!
Nothing Serious Mix CD
What is so neat about this mix, aside from the carefully chosen songs, is the accompanying booklet. Each song warrants comment by the dj Veronica, situating her choices in the context of the memories they evoke. I guess this isn’t terribly unusual in the era of audio blogs, but it’s certainly more charming to send away for a mix than download some tracks and a jpeg of cover art. The fact that Veronica took the time to assemble the booklet, burn the music, and mail it; the tangibility of the finished product, is endearing.
The music is pulled from several genres: hip hop, soul, new wave and indie rock. What ties it together so well is the mood, a melancholy thoughtfulness. It’s the perfect soundtrack for ruminating. And it helps that Veronica is recently 25, staring down nostalgia and wondering how she ended up working where she does. Her musings hit close to home. The little essay that accompanies Slum Village “Fall in Love” meanders without seeming lost, touching on Veronica’s shock of learning about J Dilla’s death and her recollections of teenage partying to the song. She has a conversational tone that at first obscures the weight of what she’s touching on.
Stand-out tracks are New Order “Age of Consent”, Erlend Oye featuring Prefuse 73 “Every Party (Has a Winner and a Loser)”, The Velvelettes “Everybody Needs Love”, Manu Chao “Clandestino”, Three Degrees “Collage”, and Marmoset “Tuesday Horn”.
Little Girl Giant
Quite possibly the best thing ever, this enormous girl puppet walks the street, towering over crowds while fleshy children ride her forearms like ponies. Straight up magic, Disney has got nothing on this.
Lullabies for Little Criminals: A Novel
By Heather O'Neill
I first encountered O'Neill on This American's Life recent holiday special. She read a story, narrated by a young girl who befriends third grade, poor kid Jesus. Set in contemporary, cynical times, of course everyone hates on the Christ child when he starts manifesting his holiness, leading to serious playground cruelty. The story is sublimely fucked and funny, so I hunted down her novel soon after and was delighted to find Lullabies is just as amazing. Chronicling the supremely bad circumstances of the barely teenaged Baby, who bounces from juvey, foster care, her pimp's house and her heroin-addicted father's series of crappy apartments, the book seems like it'd be a downer. But, in O'Neil's deft hands it's gutsy, inspiring and yes, even hilarious at times. Narrated by Baby, the book totally nails the dangers and joys of growing up with lady parts in a shady world. A classic in the shamefully tiny genre of girl runaway tales, beating out Kathy Acker & Katherine Dunn, I can't recommend it enough.
Posted by: Raven Baker
Features (March 4th, 2007)
