Music For Fictional Bookstores: An Interview with Real Estate’s Martin Courtney

Martin Courtney

Following an East Coast screening tour at independent bookstores, the pilot episode of new comedy sitcom Broadway Books was released in conjunction with National Bookseller Day last month. A charming alternative to the traditional film festival circuit, the literary-based television series is advertised both as a handmade antidote to the looming technocratic sprawl as well as a love letter to neighborhood bookstores everywhere. A former employee of the Upper West Side’s Book Culture — where the pilot was filmed on location — the series was created and directed by Carianne King and developed during a pilot writing class at the Upright Citizens Brigade. Originally a self-funded pandemic project, Carianne’s collaborative UCB experiences pushed the endeavor forward. In addition to King, the show’s skillful female creative production team comes courtesy of visual production company Mirmade.

Continue Reading

Jeff Jackson on the Evolution of Julian Calendar

Julian Calendar band photo

I’ve known writer Jeff Jackson for quite a while now, and one of the pleasures of that has been seeing his creative endeavors expand. To wit: the work that he and his collaborators in the band Julian Calendar have released in recent years: haunting post-punk with an expansive set of influences and a penchant for deconstruction. I spoke with Jackson about the group’s new album Speaking a Dead Language and their evolution since 2020.

Continue Reading

Notes on Darius Jones’s “Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)”

Darius Jones

Darius Jones sits alone on stage minutes before tonight’s show at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, calmly detonating blasts from his alto saxophone, two-to-three second streaks booming across the theater and fading to a moment’s silence just in time for the next one. They’re foghorn loud, piercing, but they seem like more than mere warm up exercises. Perhaps he’s testing the structural integrity of the joint and/or mapping the room’s acoustics—gauging the capabilities of tonight’s worksite and the best ways to utilize them.

Continue Reading

Karen Schoemer Debuts the Video for “August 24” — and Discusses Her New Album

Karen Schoemer on Making "August" — and the TK Video

There’s a lot going on in Karen Schoemer’s new album August, which blends her wide-ranging approach to writing lyrics with musical contributions from the likes of Mike Watt and Amy Rigby. We spoke with Schoemer about the making of this album, her work with Bernadette Mayer, and how August differs from her earlier musical and literary ventures.

Continue Reading

Pictureplane on His Haunting New Album and His Favorite Horror Imagery

Pictureplane

Travis Egedy has a lot going on. You may know him best from his musical work under the name Pictureplane or the designs he’s created for the clothing company Alien Body. Pictureplane has a new album out this fall, titled Sex Distortion, and we got together over email to discuss that record, Egedy’s approach to collaboration, and how the aesthetics of horror have shaped his work.

Continue Reading

Notes on the World of Thumbscrew

Thumbscrew performing live

Across the lake to the north, the sky darkens, blue to grey. The wind whips. Pines and birches bend. But the skies above remain clear. We’re about fifty yards offshore, standing on and swimming around rocks a few feet below the surface. Waves rise and fall. The water is warm and splashes our faces. It feels safe, comforting, to be in this space, with a beer to sip, balance to maintain, and a distant storm to watch.

Continue Reading

Notes on the Fastbacks’ For WHAT Reason?

Fastbacks live

The Fastbacks provide go-to answers to at least two of life’s frequently asked questions. One of which is, What have you been listening to lately? It’s an expected question. I spend most of my waking hours listening to music and often fall asleep to records. I also enjoy talking about music. This combination would suggest I have some capacity for talking about the music I’ve been listening to lately. Yet when the situation arises my brain freezes, my current rotation blips away, and the Fastbacks swoop in.

Continue Reading