Fresh Stacks: 11/10/23
3 musicians with great taste, + 3 more
It’s been a minute since your internet farm cat made an appearance. Here’s a few things that mangy tabby’s been reading all this time.
Maggie McDonald makes librarianship fun again.
News alert! You don’t have to be quiet in libraries anymore. The old cliche about getting shushed is a thing of the past. I know: I didn’t know this either until I started working in one a few months ago. But there you have it.
Library science grad student
gives off this nu-bibliothecary vibe throughout her Substack, . Her excellent + hilarious cartooning skills, quirky archival trivia, and bathroom reviews(?) will keep you guessing what the next segment will bring.Cadence Weapon likes things.
, aka former Edmonton poet laureate and Polaris Prize winner Cadence Weapon, started connecting with fans via his Substack in the last quarter of 2020 to make up for the lack of access to open-air interaction, and he’s been killing the newsletter game ever since. What can you expect from
(the newsletter)? Uninhibited reviews of commercial rap records, essays celebrating the perfect band t-shirt, tour updates, stories from the road, and lists of stuff that he thinks more people should know about, like the one below.
Enjoy music with Teen Daze.
Canadian musicians are doing some great stuff on Substack! I might be a little biased toward this one1, but
is turning out to be an excellent way to discover new tunes and styles, especially in the world of jazz.I already love jazz, but the Teen Daze Library is way more comprehensive than my own. I learn something new every time. And to top it all off, he makes it funny, too! What’s not to like?
Patti Smith loves supremely.
Have I told you that
is on Substack yet? Patti Smith. Is on Substack.Smith’s regular, private-window posts are usually for the truly devoted, but every now and then she shares magic, like in this one about the Master of Sax, John Coltrane. It’s hard sometimes to remember that a legend like Patti is a human-being. This post reminded me. It made me feel like we could be friends. Yikes. But it’s true.
Get all Vonneguty with Gabe Hudson
This newsletter had me at “Kurt Vonnegut,” but
’s list of interviewees had me pressing the “Subscribe” button. Hudson chats with the whole gambit, from a small-house Substack favourite like 2 to U.S. national treasures like Dave Eggers.If I had to pick a Substacker who embodies the name of this newsletter best, Estrin would be near the top of that list3. I hope he and
bump into each other while my B.C. boy is in L.A. for the next few months.Gnocchic Apocryphon tells us what he means by “officer class.”
A recent fall down the
rabbit hole landed me on , a pretty heady newsletter about the kind of lit. a lit-bro like me would like, plus discussions around culture and politics that left me thinking, well said more than once.The post above is a kind of essay-within-an-essay, an attempt to define a term that
uses a lot—and that turns up a surprising amount in my own life as well (thanks Dad). I’m still not sure how helpful it is to define this group of people as a class, but I appreciate the clarification.Trade-zees?
Tell us about the posts and/or articles that got you excited these past few weeks. I WANT TO KNOW!
Regular readers will know that Jamison (aka. Teen Daze) is a good friend of Joel’s and mine (Joel and me? Joel and mine?).
For great example of his genius, check out this semi-recent post.
Thrilled & honored to appear here in your post, Andrew, esp in such wonderful company. Thank you for listening, sharing, & for your incredibly uplifting words. God bless Michael Estrin. Cheers.
Gabe's podcast will go supernova. The guest list is incredible and I'm already a huge fan.
Funny enough, Gabe also complimented me for my newsletter name. Better to be lucky than good.