RiYL

A self-proclaimed theater kid, Tahlena Chikami spent much of the past decade landing roles on film and television, including a number of beloved series like Parks and Recreation and Gilmore Girls. In 2019, however, her IMDB page takes a turn. A year after forming Bite Me Bambi with with ex-pats from a number of Orange County ska titans like Save Ferris and My Superhero, the band had already made the scene. Punchy ska singles backed my memorable music videos gave way to virtual shows during the pandemic and, finally, the band’s debut EP, the fittingly titled, Hurry Up And Wait. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In September, The New York Times published a feature on Kevin Whelan bearing the headline,  “The 18-Year Wait for New Wrens Music Is Over. Sort Of.” The piece was exactly as bittersweet as the title betrayed, documenting the genesis behind Aeon Station, a musical project born out of the ashes of what would have been a final Wrens record – the first since the band’s 2003 masterpiece, The Meadowlands. Eighteen years is, of course, an extraordinaire amount of time to wait for a follow up album – particularly for one that ostensibly never broke up. In intervening years, life happened. For Whelan that meant a family and a job in the pharmaceutical industry that temporarily moved him around the world. But he never abandoned the dream of releasing another album, even if he ultimately had to do it on his own terms, aside from the long, looming shadow of The Meadowlands. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than anything, Ex Libris is a love letter to a medium. Framed as a meta-fiction mystery of sorts, the book is an exercise in flexible styles and genre, as the story leaps from book to book.It’s an ideal outlet for author Matt Madden, who happily serves the role of stylistic chameleon, expanding the short story form of his 2005 collection 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style into a book length narrative. A comics educator and coauthor of the educational Mastering Comics: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures Continued (with Jessica Abel), Madden is drawn to questions of style and form. His latest book is an ode to these ideas – and an exploration of how they can be subverted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Her music career wasn’t an accident, exactly. But it’s safe to say that Anika didn’t see it coming. A music journalist by trade, the singer assumed she was signing up for a guest vocalist gig on what ultimately became her self-titled debut. Largely comprised of covers, the LP featured a smattering of originals, cowritten with electronic rock band, Beak. After being handpicked by Portishead to perform at All Tomorrow’s Parties in London, Anika went on to form the group Exploded View in Mexico City. This year, she returned for Change – her sophomore solo album and first under her own name in 11 years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“If a book is good,” Lou Mathews explains, “it will find an audience.” Finding a publisher, on the other hand, is often a different question altogether. “A writer writes” is perhaps a more appropriate adage for the author and educator who has thus far had two of his seven novels published. Luck, timing and connections are every bit as important in publishing. And thankfully, in the case of Shaky Town, the latter finally paid off. Last year, the book finally saw publication courtesy of newly-minted publisher, Tiger Van Books, which arrives with the following manifesto, “We believe in books. Our business model is failure. We plan to lose money and fold quickly. Join us.” A labor of love founded by Lodge 49 creator – and Mathews’ former student – Jim Gavin, Tiger Van aims to put good things into the world, financial windfall be damned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s no lingering doubt after an hour-long conversation that Bonnie Bloomgarden believes in the power of music. And not in any abstract sense, mind. This stuff is transformative manifestations, filtered through almost ritualistic commutations of the spirit. But for many, such notions are understandably secondary to the power of rock. And by that measure, Under the Spell of Joy is a routing success. The Death Valley Girls’ latest delivers the joy it promises in a wonderfully fresh garage rock package couched with gang chants that provide the spell aspect of the equation. It’s feel good music without the self-help trappings at a time when we can use it the most.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2022, Hanson will celebrate 30 years as a band. It’s a remarkable accomplishment for any group, let alone one whose members ranged from age six to 11. The group was propelled to success in its earliest days on the strength of its 1997’s Middle of Nowhere, a multi-platinum debut. Hanson’s seventh’s studio release, Against the World, arrived earlier this month. At first glance, the title is downright confrontational, though Taylor Hanson explains that the name is intended to reflect a kind of underdog status adopted by the group. It’s a strange notion, for band that has seen such high highs, but intervening years have forced the group to forge its own path in the often difficult to navigate world of the music business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2021, Merry Clayton returned with a vengeance. In her solo first album in 27, years the singer once again poured her heart out on record. Beautiful Scars bears the mark of a musician who has suffered tremendous loss, but remains defiantly joyous and hopeful. Her voice remains confident and unmistakable, singing a title track that references, in part, a 2014 car crash that result in the loss of both of her legs. It also marks a post-humous return for her husband, Curtis Amy, whose sax part from her original recording of “A Song For You” 50 years prior reemerges on a rerecording. As she notes, our interview was recorded on what would have been his 92nd birthday. It was Amy who answered a phone call in the middle of the night that found Clayton recording what may be her best-known performance, dueting alongside Mick Jagger on the Stones classic, “Gimme Shelter.” But that’s just one moment in a 58-year singing career that’s among popular music’s most legendary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Released over the summer, Alone in Space offers brilliant glimpses in the process and work of a powerhouse cartoonist. The collection offers works from her teenage years and the classroom prompts that catalyzed her early works, include a Windsor McCay homage that would prove foundational her developing style. Walden’s books range from 2017’s deeply personal Spinning to 2018’s sci-fi meditation, On a Sunbeam. Most recently, she’s been working on Clementine, a coming-of-age zombie book set in Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead universe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I spent a lot of hours and a lot of words exploring the world of vertical farming over at TechCrunch. The research, which resulted in this feature, was bookended by conversations with Dickson Despommier, a former Columbia University professor now regarded as the godfather of vertical farming. This final discussion with Despommier is a kind of coda to the piece, exploring his seminal book, The Vertical Farm 10 years after its initial publication. You can read a writeup of the full interview over on TechCrunch.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.