the week in joy
I tested positive for COVID on Sunday and I’ve been down bad every since, so this might be a short one today. Let’s see if I had any joy between the chills, fever, sore throat, body aches, and general fatigue.
It’s here! The weather I have been waiting for. Days in the 70s, nights in the 50s, cool, crisp air, windows open. Turning the a/c off and hoping it’s the last time for the season brings me all kinds of joy and hope. Summer’s dead, long live fall (and yea, Im aware it might get hot again, let me have this).
If you don’t already know about MJ Lenderman then you don’t follow me on twitter because he’s all I’ve been talking about since his album Manning Fireworks came out Friday. I’ve been listening to it non stop since then. Every song is great. There is not a single miss on the entire record. How to describe him? Well he’s a singer/songwriter guy but that doesn’t exactly cover it. He’s a 25 year old songwriting genius. The depth of emotion, the sharp, pointed brilliance of the lyrics, the melodies that drag you in, it’s all here. It’s going to land in my top three for albums of the year, probably only held back by the Foxing album coming out this Friday. This is a rare 10/10 album that feel fully realized. Don’t miss it.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m making a website! This has been the most exciting thing to me, to build a site from scratch the way I did in the 2000s when I was blogging. Thanks to the creative and organizational help from my sisters and various online people who have helped me through this, it’s coming together. This is just a mockup I made in Photoshop, but it’s pretty much what I want the site to look like. Seeing my vision slowly come into focus has been a great joy, and a lot of work that I’m happy to do.
The other part of this is that well over 100 people have volunteered to take part in the site, by writing about their own collections, or single albums, or record stores. I have musicians who want to talk about making vinyl, obsessive collectors who want to talk about their favorite finds, new collectors who are writing about how they got into it. I’ve got some great names lined up for this and it’s so gratifying to have everyone on the same page as me, excited for the site to launch (November). Putting this together has made being home with COVID a little easier to get through.
If you love records and want to do something for the site, just contact me and I’ll send you the FAQ and contact form. Would love to have all voices represented here, so don’t be shy. You don’t need to be an amazing writer. You just need to have passion for the subject at hand. I’ll help you tell your story.
As promised, short newsletter today. I have tested positive again and I’m trying to rest up because I have a wedding next weekend I don’t want to miss. Also, nothing much happens when you spend the entire week on the couch hating your body for betraying you.
Have a great week. Stay healthy. Listen to MJ Lenderman.