SYMPHONY of SORROWFUL SONGS

A fitting end to 2020. 

Symphony No. 3, Op. 36. (Symfonia pieśni żałosnych / Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). Composed by Henryk Górecki. 

Performed by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Beth Gibbons (of Portishead, soprano). Conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki.

#vinyl #turntable #farewell2020

THE LAST MEAL

The fire has been summoned. The year goes up in ashes.

Last Meal is a personal holy day. And this year we went out in style.

The back of the grill was set up with wet sticks of black walnut and Italian prune, as well as a few sprigs of cedar, to get some smoke into the meat. The fire was provided by charcoal briquets and cowboy charcoal.

The Last Meal for Troy's Work Table: steak that was simultaneously smoked and grilled, seasoned with alder wood smoked sea salt, and then served with a cranberry-rosemary reduction sauce. Heavenly! Paired with Brouwerij St. Bernardus Abt 12 Quadrupel Ale, which was likewise spectacular.

The Last Meal for The Wife: massive legs of Alaskan king crab.

The Last Meal for The Child: homemade carrots-and-peas, pasta-and-cheese "casserole."

Then we played games of Poetry for Neanderthals, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, and Qwixx.

Nine o'clock New Year was observed.

Then albums were spun on the old turntable.

Farewell to 2020!

ALBUM of the YEAR

ALBUM of the YEAR • 2020

Civic Jams by Darkstar. I've listened to this album nearly every day since I purchased it. It's really a collection of current-day fairy tales disguised as music. We arrive ("Forest") and depart ("Blurred") the world of the album on tracks that are gauzy, ephemeral, otherworldly. The songs found between them inhabit various levels of corporeality and manifestation of modern life. Lyrics are fleeting, cut up, repetitious, ambiguous, and always anchored within the instrumentation. Beautiful, haunting, and exactly what was needed in 2020.

OTHER CONTENDERS

• In the Middle of the Night by Khidja. It's like falling into a slightly sinister yet seductive rabbit hole of dance music.
  
• Getting into Knives by The Mountain Goats. This is a joy-filled and sorrow-filled set of short stories, and the best album since The Sunset Tree.
  
• Made of Rain by The Psychedelic Furs. Seriously the best album of their career and that is saying something. "Ash Wednesday" is now my all-time favorite Furs track.
  
• RTJ4 by Run the Jewels. Intelligent, challenging, sometimes coarse and/or vulgar, but always-on-point hip hop with off-the-charts production. My favorite tracks: "Walking in the Snow" and "Out of Sight."
  
• Mind Hive by Wire. One of Wire's most mature albums, reflecting the foibles and dangers of our age within the lyrics of the songs but wrapping it within absolutely spectacular music.
  

GREAT ALBUMS, but NOT QUITE ALBUM of the YEAR

• Desire by Bob Moses. Six interrelated tracks that are continually mixed into a fulfilling and cohesive whole. I could seriously listen to "Hold Me Up" on repeat for hours upon end.
  
• Alles in Allem by Einstürzende Neubauten. Wildly restrained and wildly surreal songs centered on the city of Berlin. Many of them played on instruments built by the band themselves.
  
• 10:20 by Wire. The second Wire release for 2020, originally intended as a Record Store Day special, but offered as a general release once the global pandemic challenged the music industry.
  

AND SOME NEAR MISSES from 2019

• Creation Is Perfect by Minimal Compact. Re-recorded songs spanning their entire career, which are the best and definitive versions of these songs. Plus one new track, which is worth the price of admission alone.
  
• Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains. David Berman's swan song, filled with melancholy and self-effacement and unflinching self-awareness.
  

LONGEST NIGHT

Tonight is Longest Night, the holiest of holy days in my personal mythos. A winter night. Twilight. A dark night of the soul.

I will observe it in the dim living room in the light of the Christmas tree. With prayer. With the story of Beowulf as my companion this evening.

I will weather this night. Without tradition. Without direction. Without ritual or rite. A pilgrim. A wanderer. A bearer. Carrying the gift of a small spark across the threshold of seasons. Solstice.

DNA DANCE

 

"DNA Dance (after Matisse)," paper collage, 2020, by Troy's Work Table.

A response in paper collage to (and from) my piece "Through a Glass, Darkly (after Jasper Johns)" in The Body Beloved. The Body Betrayed. exhibit at www.byjenn.com/bbbb

This is a beloved response to the (mostly) betrayed nature of my original.

RAIN

Morning walk. Torrential rain. Swelling river. Fallen leaves. Clogged storm drains.

After my walk, I walked around my neighborhood clearing storm drains so that our streets and driveways didn't flood. (Be the change you want to see!)

When I returned home I was drenched. Wet to the bone. But it felt so good and refreshing. A baptism of sorts!

Q: ARE WE NOT MEN?

Considering that it is a seminal album in my musical history, it's amazing that I've never owned a copy of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978) until now.

I've always had a copy of the album for some reason, even though I've owned all of their other albums. I had a cassette tape copied from someone else's album. I had a CD burned from a CD checked out from the library. For that one, I even took a picture of myself for the cover, wearing a hat and posed much like the pseudo-Chi Chi Rodriguez on the album's actual cover.

So, as part of "Rocktober," I picked up the album on its re-release date and started spinning it's golf-ball white vinyl as soon as I got home.

I love every track on the album, but my favorite track is definitely "Praying Hands." It's such a subversively fun song, as well as short and catchy.

BOOJI BOY

My "Devo-lantern" of Booji Boy!

THE SIXTH GLASS

The Sixth Glass, a Quadrupel by Boulevard Brewing Company.

This is one of my all-time favorite ales and I'm glad to see that it's now available in six packs of bottles. It was originally only available in larger single bottles, then smaller single bottles (11 ounces? if I remember correctly), and now six packs. This more accessible format makes sense in a changing beer market. It allows for familiar presentation and a better price point. I'll take it!

WRIG RUG

We bought a new rug for inside the front door. Wrigley has officially claimed it as his own. It is now known as the "Wrig Rug."

GHOSTLY SWIM 3

Ghostly Swim 3 by various artists. Fourteen tracks on two vinyl albums. Marbled neon green and bubblegum pink.

—

You can always find at least one good track on a compilation album. On this collection of (mostly) instrumental electronic music, there is not a bad song; four of the tracks are excellent; and there is one track that, for me, is mind blowing.

The four standout tracks are "ggowwksstane" by Bogdan Raczynski, "Potatoe Salad" by Black Noi$e, "A NUN'S VVET DREAM" by Ouri, and "Fractured" by Gábor Lázár.

The track that I can't quite shake because I can hear it playing in my head even once it ends is "Kabeljau" by LNS. Laura Sparrow is a Vancouver, BC producer, DJ, and musician and this is a crazy, upbeat, jamming tune. It ends and I pick the needle up and place it back at the beginning of the song again.

Spectacular stuff!

COLORBLIND

"Colorblind," India ink and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

COLORBLIND

An American Sentence

What to do when we can
no longer discern
between stop, yield, proceed?

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

DOG DAYS

"Dog Days," India ink and Montana BLACK spray paint on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

DOG DAYS

During these dog days of summer, in my lap, beneath the light pressure of my palm, a small blind dog lies dreaming. He is deep in the dream. Running. Twitching. Yelping. What does he see in his dream? Can he imagine the form of the squirrel whose scent he follows in the yard? Is his heaven free of obstacles that would otherwise thwart his progress? 

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing. 

MEL'S MAGIC IPA

Mel's Magic IPA, an India Pale Ale, by Iron Horse Brewery.

12 ounce can served in a pint glass.

6.8% abv.

—

The pour: mostly clear, slightly hazy, orange body with an off-white head.

The nose: bold orange, tropical fruit, butterscotch, and biscuit.

The tongue: citrusy bitterness, lightly biscuity maltiness, and the faintest edge of alcohol bit.

The mouthfeel: medium and solid.

This is some wonderful stuff. I was sad to see Cand Hannon no longer on the list of Iron Horse year-round brews, but Mel's Magic IPA is an excellent substitute.

MOLT

 

"Molt," India ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

MOLT

There is skin
without     sin within

splitting     spreading
spitting     shedding

let us begin

peeling back with
tooth and fin

scraped and scoured
by bark and tin

seared and soured
once again.

And then.
And then.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

FAN

 

"Skylink," India ink and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

FAN

A halo
hallowed be thy name
beneath the night-heavens
heavy with heat lightning—

hanging our hopes upon
the hurricane deliverance
we desire

and the zephyr it instead
promises against the heat
and humidity.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

YOUTH

"Skylink," India ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival. (With an "asemic" poem of sorts within the artwork.)

—

YOUTH

Remember the classroom
where you played Puck
to my Titania?

A day of late summer
early fall.

Where we practiced
as though Pythagoras
with our protractors?

A day of late autumn
early winter.

Where we ran
around at recess—
the day at our desks
already long forgotten?

A day of late spring
looming adulthood.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

SKYLINK

"Skylink," India ink and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

SKYLINK

Remember when you first saw
a string of stars slide across the night sky?

They were flying south for the winter
as we warmed our hands over the campfire

but they would fly south for each
and every season you and I could ever imagine.

To find out what they were
and where they were headed

we looked them up on the internet
on your smart phone

to discover the path they took
fueled the very song that we sought.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

FOR a MOMENT

"For a Moment," India ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

FOR a MOMENT

I remember Rilke’s laughter
in the backyard

intoxicated on absinthe
or the words that Esmé spoke

syncopated rhythms of jazz
echoing the flames of the firepit

both disrupted for a measure
or three

then all was black,
spectral, gone.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

DEVIL DANCE

"Devil Dance," India ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard.

—

I've taken to illustrating some of the songs I've been listening to. I choose a color scheme, throw an album on the turntable, find the track I want to illustrate, and get my palette knife, brushes, and pens moving.

The above illustration for the song "Devil Dance" by Khidja, as found on the 2019 album In the Middle of the Night represents three spins through the track. The first listen I used the palette knife to lay down some "L" forms and "pulses." The second listen I used a color shaper to add colored dots to the postcard. The third listen I used a pen to add the black "figures."

India ink colors were yellow, orange, bright red, red, magenta, and black.

Nineteen minutes of music and there is birthed an interpretation of "Devil Dance."

FOUR ALBUMS

Clockwise from upper left: In the Middle of the Night by Khidja; Source by Gábor Lázár; Civic Jams by Darkstar; and Articulation by Rival Consoles.

—

These four albums have helped keep me sane during the past couple of months. They've been musical companions in the late evening and early morning hours when the rest of the household is soundly sleeping.

In the early months of the pandemic, I found myself reading a lot (especially poetry and short stories), praying, and walking. As a quasi-normal sense of routine and rhythm returned to my workplace and home, I found less time spent on reading (mostly due to exhaustion) and walking (due to injury). I purchased a turntable so that I could play vinyl albums that I hadn't been able to spin for nearly twenty years.

Each of these albums is unique from the others, even as I believe they share some similarities. (1) There is a dreamlike quality to the tracks. (2) The tracks are individual, but function almost as parts of a larger movement. This is something that I enjoy about albums (and find it more prevalent on vinyl than other formats), but it seems that is lacking in many current productions. (3) Tracks are primarily instrumental, and when vocals are present they tend to function as another instrument alongside the synthesizers, sequencers, percussion, programming, and other electronics.

—

Album: In the Middle of the Night.
Artist: Khidja.
Label: DFA.
Category: Experimental house and techno.

Tracks:

1. Don't Feed the Animals (Hiding in Your Room).
2. Devil Dance.
3. I Can Never Relax.
4. I'm So Bored.

Favorite track: "I Can Never Relax." There is something slightly off-kilter, bordering on sinister but then pulling back, that intrigues me. Plus the electronic throb that undergirds the piece just grabs me from the beginning. "Tell me, can you feel good?"

I don't know how to explain how much this album has captured my imagination since I stumbled upon it's tracks in a late-night internet rabbit hole. All 25½ minutes of the album speaks directly to my id/shadow.

More album info HERE and HERE.

— 

Album: Source.
Artist: Gábor Lázár.
Label: Planet Mu.
Category: Electronic and electronica. Braindance and IDM (intelligent dance music).

Tracks:

1. Source.
2. Stream.
3. Phase.
4. Excite.
5. Focus.
6. Effort.
7. Route.
8. Return.

Favorite track: "Focus." At times I hear echoes of Aphex Twin in these beats, which is a good thing.

This is deconstructed dance music that is simultaneously academic/clinical and emotional/approachable. The album collapses time—looking back at types of electronic dance music (past), living in the moment as a piece of art in it's own right (present), and providing tracks for other DJs to sample (future). I think the album functions as an examination of the "sources" of music that influenced Lázár and as a "source" for others to build upon.

More album info HERE and HERE.

—

Album: Civic Jams.
Artist: Darkstar.
Label: Warp.
Category: Electronic and electronica. Shoegaze.

Tracks:

1. Forest.
2. Jam.
3. 1001.
4. 30.
5. Wolf.
6. Loon.
7. Tuesday.
8. Text.
9. Blurred.

Favorite track: "1001." The vocals on this track are catchy, dreamy, and, for the most part, undecipherable. There is so much manipulation on the vocals that they easily become one with the insistent percussive beat and "low growl" and "ethereal hum" synthesizers that ground the track.

Dream-oriented dance music with pop leanings, this music has been haunting me both while I sleep and while I'm awake.

More album info HERE and HERE.

—

Album: Articulation.
Artist: Rival Consoles.
Label: Erased Tapes.
Cateogory: Electronic and electronica. Dancefloor and techno.

Tracks:

1. Vibrations on a String.
2. Forwardism.
3. Melodica.
4. Articulation.
5. Still Here.
6. Sudden Awareness of Now.

Favorite track: "Vibrations on a String." I love the squelch of the organic synthesizers, the metronomic precision of the percussion, and the light throb in the background. At times, this reminds me of some of Orbital's work or even something I would expect to hear in another Blade Runner sequel.

There is a playfulness on this album, perhaps even a hopefulness, if one can identify such in instrumental music. The album is sequenced perfectly; I cannot imagine it laid out otherwise. Every time I listen to the album I discover new sounds buried within the tracks. Something seems to emerge anew each time the needle hits the grooves.

More album info HERE and HERE.

—

I've been listening these albums just for the pure enjoyment of the albums themselves, as well as when I'm writing or painting. I've even been experimenting with new painting techniques, using the time constraints of individuals tracks to see what I can do with a palette knife and various colors of India ink while the track plays.

PIMIENTO

"Pimiento," India ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

PIMIENTO

It was jazz you wanted
and jazz you got.

We bipped and bopped
through one cold beer
after another.

The backyard brick patio
was never more alive
than that particular night.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing. 

PERSEPHONIC

"Persephonic," India ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

PERSEPHONIC

We dreamt a garden in the midst of our concrete and chaos. We named the animals. Sebastian. Siobhan. Shawn. Simeon. The garden grew and greened. All was splendor until the fruit ripened and we couldn’t keep the pith and flesh and juice from passing our lips. Then we could once more smell the notes of asphalt and tar and turmoil beneath the petrichor that promised summer rain.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

DEMOLITION DERBY I and II

"Demolition Derby," India ink and Montana BLACK spray paint on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. One of the cards I sent out for the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—



"Demolition Derby II," India ink, Montana BLACK spray paint, and iridescent calligraphy ink on 4" x 6" watercolor postcard. Another card for the August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

In the case of both of these cards, the image came before the poem. The first "Demolition Derby" was originally heading in a different direction, but I didn't like how it was turning out, so I added some spray paint. Once I did that, the car came into focus, and details followed. The "monster truck" that emerged reminded me of my father's high school friend who raced in demolition derbies. On a couple of occasions, we got to visit him at the fairgrounds and be down "in the pit" and watch the races. The poem was birthed with those memories in mind.

About two weeks later, I learned that my father's friend had died from COVID-19 after being hospitalized in an out-of-state intensive care unit for a couple of weeks. The second image was a reaction to his death, although I really wasn't quite sure what it was. I just knew that it was another "Demolition Derby" piece. Perhaps it was a smash up on the course. The Wife thought it was an eyeball. (Maybe it was/is.) Anyway, the poem soon arrived, mostly writing itself.

Not only do they stand as memorials of a sort to Fred, however. The addition of the spray paint shifted my thinking about the art I was creating for cards, as well as freed me up to experiment with my process in other ways.

These two cards were a couple of my favorite of the entire month. Partly because they are paired together. Partly because I was a bit looser in my approach to both, in image and word. Partly because the poems and their illustrations worked well together.

—

DEMOLITION DERBY

I’m the driver
     and you’re the driver
and there is no driver

dented fenders
     and dragging tailpipe
and flattened tires

yet still we persist
     and still we insist
as metal twists

and our engine
     smokes and flames
and we run and laugh.

—

DEMOLITION DERBY II

the ghost teeth
     grit as they did
in real life

when the engine
     stalled and the
flames arose

only then was
     the collision
remembered.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

THE GATES of JERUSALEM

"The Gates of Jerusalem," India ink and iridescent calligraphy ink on two 4" x 6" watercolor postcards. Sent to separate individuals (as "The Left Gate" and "The Right Gate") as part of the 2020 August Poetry Postcard Festival.

—

THE LEFT GATE

The left gate is law—

stark, stern, immobile
protection for the chosen few

its gems as though
knife edges—
angular, unfriendly,
dead and cold

like the prayer-polished
hearts of those within.

—

THE RIGHT GATE

The right gate is righteousness—

a door cracked ajar
in subtle invitation

Come in, come in
it calls to all passersby—

the gems of its door
glitter as though

adorning the crown
you’ll be asked to wear.

—

All artwork and poems by Troy Kehm-Goins © 2020 Troy's Work Table Publishing.

CREATIVE COLLOQUY

Today was a Creative Colloquy day. Today was a Troy's Work Table day.

My erasure poem "Funeral" was published on the Creative Colloquy website. You can read it HERE. The boxes prior to the words are intentional, although they are rendering differently depending upon the web browser and/or device. (Which I really like. It injects a bit of play into the poem.) They are placeholders for Melville's missing words, phrases, and sentences.

I read five poems at tonight's monthly Creative Colloquy ZOOM Literary Gathering. Three recently written interrelated body poems: "The Saint of Second Street," "White Noise," and the aforementioned "Funeral." Two August Poetry Postcard Festival poems: "Molt" and "Tree."

And the work of the other four readers was stellar.

It was a great day filled with the beauty of language and laughter and story and conversation.

CREATION IS PERFECT

Creation Is Perfect by Minimal Compact is indeed a piece of perfected creation.

There is a largeness to each of these tracks that opens them up beyond their original recordings. Perhaps it is the maturity of band members, the accumulation of life experience, staring toward the ever-approaching limits of mortality, or all of the above. But this definitely feels like their most realized album. And it is not simply a “greatest hits” album. It truly stands on its own, even though all but one of the eight tracks are revisitations and reimaginings of prior songs.

—

SIDE A

Track 1 > “Statik Dancin’”
Minimal Compact, 1981
What a great version of this song. (Probably my favorite.) From the wood block beats to the bass pulse to the guitar noodling over the top of it all. Then additional guitar noodling. Then Samy’s deadpan voice. Gah! “Dancing! Statik dancing!” If this is Minimal Compact’s “jam” song, then this version of it deserves to be lengthened, remixed, expanded upon.

Track 2 > “Take Me Away”
One by One, 1983
This track just gets right to work. Pulling no punches. The interplay of Malka’s and Samy’s voices, in the midst of music that is a bit irritating and grating, reminds me a bit of early music from the Sugarcubes. Except with a distinctly Middle Eastern bent.

Track 3 > “Nada”
Deadly Weapons, 1984
For me, this track has the same tone, atmosphere, feeling of “New Clear Twist” from —. There is a somber sadness that plays against the electric guitar and it is beautiful in its melancholic juxtaposition. And the guitar plucking between the anchor beats of drum and bass at the end? Haunting.

Track 4 > “Raging Souls”
Raging Souls, 1985
There is an echo of a Wire track here, but I cannot quite think of which one. (Something on The Ideal Copy?)  But that doesn't mean that this track isn't wholly a Minimal Compact song because it absolutely is.

SIDE B

Track 5 > “Not Knowing”
Deadly Weapons, 1984
This track give me “film noir” vibes when it opens. I can’t exactly name why. But it’s there. And it continues.

Track 6 > “My Will”
Raging Souls, 1985
If there were a track on this album that could bring me to tears, this is it. The interplay between Samy’s and Malka’s voices is absolutely beautiful, especially when Malka sings, “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, my will is stronger than me.”

Track 7 > “The Well”
Deadly Weapons, 1984
The Mediterranean flavors on this are spot on. Voice, guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums are hypnotic sync and I could imagine this just going on forever.

Track 8 > “Holy Roller”
Creation Is Perfect, 2019
Calliope-like opening leads into pulsing thrum. Then more layers, more instruments, then the vocals. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to this particular track in the short amount of time I’ve owned the album. It is stunning. The unison of voices. The harmony of voices. The countering of voices. The mixture of English and Hebrew. The song never sits still, but rather keeps shifting “beneath my feet.” “The voices in your head won’t stop.”

—

This is one of those albums that I will either wear out the vinyl or a needle. I've already played it over and over. I have several Minimal Compact albums on CD but I am absolutely glad to have this one on vinyl. It helps me to slow down and really focus on the music, which this album absolutely rewards!

POETRY POSTCARDS

Troy's Work Table is participating in the August Poetry Postcard Festival. TWT's first postcards with new poems and art heading out in to the mail and toward the the mailboxes of other participants.



Meanwhile, the first August Poetry Postcard Festival poem/card sent to me arrived in the mailbox this afternoon!

HAYSTACK ROCK

Campfire in the sand on the beach near Haystack Rock.

BEAK BREAKER

Beak Breaker, a Double IPA by Pelican Brewing.

19.2 ounce tall can served in a pint glass.

 9.0% abv.

—

Dinner consisted of food and beer from Pelican Brewing. Beer Sausage Flatbread. House Salad with huckleberry peppercorn vinaigrette. And then the Beak Breaker.

I had ordered the India Pelican Ale, but the last tall can went out the door as I was ordering. Beak Breaker was the substitute for it and I'm glad it was. The flavors were grapefruit, orange, pine, malts, and a bite of alcohol. It was a nice balance of biscuit-ness, bitterness, and booziness. Perfection.

Plus the beer and food were great together.

BREAKFAST BEER

Mel's Magic IPA, an India Pale Ale, by Iron Horse Brewery.

12 ounce can served in a pint glass.

6.8% abv.

—

Breakfast of champions. This IPA is a perfect breakfast beer to accompany a Chicken Fried Skillet (chicken fried steak, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and hash browns all smothered in gravy).

Please wake me up after my heart attack!

HAYSTACK ROCK

The ocean recharges me.

A gift of time and a gift of space allowed me and the family to stay at Cannon Beach just a couple of blocks away from the beach.

Haystack Rock is one of those natural wonders that I can constantly observe. Each moment is it's own. A slightly different angle. Changes in light and weather. Fog. Sea birds. The scent of seaweed and brine. High tide and low tide. Ebb and flow. Wind and waves. Throngs of people and an empty beach.

SWIM FREE

Preparations.


Carving block number one. Octopus body.


Carving block number two. Suckers and wave motions.


Carving block number three. Eye.


Inking.


Printing the first layer.


Print and block.


Octopuses in many colors of water.

SWIM FREE

"Swim Free (Sandy Fest 3)." Speedball block printing ink and India ink on 3" x 4" colored index card.

—

Each year since my mother died, I celebrate her "Feast Day" with a day of art and poetry and food and family. The past couple of years included a visit to the cemetery to clean gravestones of family members, to the Bremerton Art Walls to paint, to a memorial garden, and out to dinner with members of my family. But most of that was unmanageable this year due to the global pandemic and stay-at-home emergency measures.

Even though, this year's celebration would primarily be at home and, later, with family via videoconferencing software, I wanted to make sure it hit most of the touchstones that make the day for me.

The primary focus of the day was this year's version of "Swim Free." The first "Swim Free" (Year 0) was painted in acrylics on the Bremerton Art Walls. The second "Swim Free" was painted in spray paint on the Bremerton Art Walls. The third "Swim Free" was painted at the Bremerton Art Walls, with the first spray painted on the Walls and an additional three painted onto concrete panels.

This year's fourth "Swim Free" (Year 3) was an attempt to capture the spirit of the previous three versions in a new medium—linoleum block printing. I spent the day carving two 3" x 4" linoleum blocks and one 3/4" x 3/4" eraser, and then printing the layers onto index cards that were cut in half.

—

Later in the day, family members gathered via Zoom to hear a couple of poems read—"For Grief" from To Bless the Space Between Us by John O'Donohue and "Washing My Mother's Body" from An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo—and give a "Coca Cola" toast in memory of my mother.

BIRD BOX

I finally viewed Bird Box (2018), directed by Susanne Bier. At its heart, it's a mixture of a zombie film and a quest film, with elements from H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and Thomas More's Utopia acting as anchors of each. There are echoes of A Quiet Place (2018) and The Book of Eli (2010) throughout.

The film's story strangely resonates in a world filled with COVID-19, Black Lives Matters protests, MAGA, notions of community versus the individual, freedom and the rights/responsibilities that come with it, and whether or not one should wear a face mask (blindfold). I wonder how this film would have "read" for me prior to March of this year. Alas, I will never know.

All in all, the movie was too tense/intense for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

THE BAUDELAIRE FRACTAL

The Baudelaire Fractal is promoted as the first novel by poet Lisa Robertson. But this "novel" is just as genre-bending as much of Robertson's prior work in poetry, essays, and creative non-fiction.

It's a coming of age novel. It's a "portrait of the artist as a young woman." It's a selected biography of Charles Baudelaire. It's a sci-fi/fantasy novel. It's an ekphrastic exploration of various paintings made by contemporaries of Baudelaire, many of those paintings of Baudelaire himself, his partner Jeanne Duval, or others in their various circles of friends. It's an examination of some of the influences on Baudelaire, such as Edgar Allan Poe. And, ultimately, it isn't really about Baudelaire at all, but rather the fictional character Hazel Brown, who feels as though a stand-in at times for Lisa Robertson. So, perhaps it's also a thinly veiled autobiography in some sense.

I also know that it was a fantastic and welcome read. I found myself slowing down and savoring the text. I read deliberately and methodically. I used the internet to search for the many paintings referenced in the book, in order that I could connect the words on the page with the paint on the canvases.

SPLID

The splendid creature that is Splid: Special Edition by Kvelertak.

Pictured, clockwise from upper left: black vinyl A/B; cover of the special edition; white vinyl C/D; gatefold inside "cover" of the regular edition.

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My second album purchase since obtaining the new turntable is the fourth album by Kvelertak. This Norwegian heavy metal band continues to grow into their fusion of rock, punk, thrash, and black metal. With a new vocalist and new drummer joining their bassist and three (!) guitarists, it is good to hear that they've lost none of their bite. In fact, I think this may be their strongest album.

Similar to their first album, there are a couple of guest vocalists. Troy Sanders of Mastodon sings on "Crack of Doom" and Nate Newton of Converge sings on "Discord." Ivar Nikolaisen, who was a guest vocalist on 2010's Kvelertak, is the new front man for the band and does an amazing job taking over after the departure of Erlend Hjelvik. (Something that many fans thought could not happen!)

After a couple of initial listens, my favorite tracks are pulsing gut-puncher "Bråtebrann" and, for its shifts in tone and tempo, "Fanden ta Detta Hull!"

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The album artwork by Marald van Haasteren, which is a strange "organic" combination of various repetitive animal parts that borders on the cancerous; the multiple gatefolds; and the colored vinyl all add to the craziness that this album contains.

10:20

After being without a turntable for approximately eighteen years, I fixed that problem.

The first few days with the new turntable were spent listening to old albums. The Lords of the New Church. Still Falling. Devo. Depeche Mode. Motörhead. Run DMC. Black Flag.

The first vinyl album I bought in twenty-four years was 10:20 by Wire.

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10:20 is a beautiful piece of art.

It was originally intended as a Record Store Day release, but then a global pandemic got in the way. The band decided to release it as a "regular" album rather than a limited edition RSD offering.

Side one (10) consists of four tracks recorded in 2010 with then new guitarist Matthew Simms and touring guitarist Margaret Fiedler McGinnis. 

Side two (20) consists of four tracks recorded in 2020. 

All of the tracks are studio versions of favorite live tracks of the band members. Reimaginings of reimaginings.

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10

Track 1 > "Boiling Boy"
Originally appearing on A Bell Is a Cup...Until It Is Struck (1988) the tempo of this track is faster here. Robert Gotobed's metronomic drumming on cymbals for the first half, joined later by snares, as well as the bass line really propel this song. Gritty guitar noodling in the latter half replaces vocals for a wonderful mirroring effect.

Track 2 > "German Shepherds"
This is my favorite version of "German Shepherds," which had its first proper album appearance on It's Beginning to and Back Again (1989). I'm in love with the interplay of voices between Colin and Margaret.

Track 3 > "He Knows"
One of Wire's "quieter" tracks, the lyrics are so surreal that I'm not quite sure what's going on. And that's okay, because Colin's delivery over the ever-increasing-in-volume instrumentation, until it mostly drops out into some beautiful sound washes and shifts to Graham's voice leave us, as they sing over and over, "hypnotized."

Track 4 > "Underwater Experiences"
The most punk-leaning track of the album, this is a bit more discordant than the first recording as found on live album Document and Eyewitness (1981).

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20

Track 5 > "The Art of Persistence"
A "soft" and lilting pop track that could have easily found its way onto Mind Hive (2020), this is the first proper recording of it, with the exception of it's "demo" appearance on the rare The Third Day EP which was only sold at one particular tour.

Track 6 > "Small Black Reptile"
The original track appeared on Manscape (1990) in a "squishy" and slow mechanical rendering. With this reinvention of the song, Wire have managed to humanize it and make it more relatable and accessible.

Track 7 > "Wolf Collides"
This is the first appearance of "Wolf Collides." Once again, this feels like something akin to tracks on either Silver/Lead (2017) or Mind Hive (2020). It's a pop tune that has enough meddling with minor chords to pull us in and then push us back. And I'm okay with that ebb and flow of music and lyrics. It's a really beautiful track.

Track 8 > "Over Theirs"
There is a drone that anchors this track, credited to guitarist Matthew Simms. It reminds me a bit of the guitar squall that Helmet guitarist Page Hamilton created for the Wire track "All Fours" on Object 47 (2008). It originally appeared on The Ideal Copy (1987) and then in a fairly similar version on IBTABA (1989). There's an extra tinge of paranoia in this new version. They also play it at a much slower tempo. I like it a lot!

MONTH

And just like that a month passes.

YELLOW JACK / DEATH NOTICES

"Yellow Jack," watercolor and iridescent calligraphy ink on parchment, 2020, by Troy's Work Table.

Inspired by my own recently published poem, "Death Notices."

The maritime signal flag "Lima" is also known as the "Yellow Jack" and when flown alone symbolizes a ship under quarantine due to contagion.

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"Death Notices" was published in the May 2020 issue of Creative Colloquy. You can read it at http://creativecolloquy.com/death-notices-by-troy-kehm-goins/

The poem was inspired by the "death notices" published in the classified section of newspapers, as well as the four main characters found in 1 Samuel 28:3-27—King Saul; the witch of Endor; the shade of the prophet Samuel, conjured forth from Sheol; and the Lord God. The poem presents the "death" of each, although in an oblique manner. (And the deaths are related to the passage, although none of them actually occur within the framework of the Bible passage but elsewhere.)