The Ink — April 22
No Machine, The Girls, tornadoes, and more...
Welcome to The Ink.
Articles. Art. Music. More. The Ink is some stuff we found—or found interesting—recently.
Read
The Girls by John Bowen
Peter: As Outkast once said, “I know you like to think that the septic tank in your garden don’t stink, but lean a little bit closer, the roses really smell like rotting human remains.” Such is the case of Jan and Sue’s backyard, a site of prize-winning tomatoes and grisly murder. The pair, known amongst the simple folk of their quaint English village as “the girls,” are renowned for their artisan cheeses and tolerated for their lesbian love. But when their idyl is upended by betrayal, jealousy, and a swinging butter pat, the fault lines split, revealing noxious gasses below. The Girls finds ironic horror in the polite, pragmatic command of nature core to a distinctly British form of small-town pastoralism. Could a folksy tolerance of the funk of a dairy, the shit-smell of a country septic, extend to mask the redolence of a corpse? It seems this dark gem of a novel was lost to time, but has been resurrected by Simon & Schuster recently with an eye-catching cover (which, according to my mother, is the main reason it ended up on my bookshelf this Christmas). Lucky us! I recommend it.
Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems by Joy Harjo
James: A light collection of poems from U.S. poet laureate, Joy Harjo. The poems transcend scope from the vast transgressions of history to the small ethereal moments right before us. Some are funny, and some are sad- but all are beautiful.
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
Julian: An eclectic group of colleagues butt heads and form close bonds as they run the CBC Radio station in Yellowknife during the mid-seventies. Through the bitter cold of winter and the undying light of summer, uncertainty abounds: personal fortunes are ambiguous; the imminent construction of a new television station threatens to upset livelihoods; and the ongoing Berger Inquiry promises to reshape the future of the Canadian North, one way or another. And in the midst of it all, a small group sets off on an epic canoe adventure that will alter the course of their lives. Hay paints a fascinating tale, dancing between the massive scope of a nation’s ongoing colonial legacy and the deeply personal tribulations of complex and memorable characters. James recently lent me this novel—perhaps after getting tired of hearing me complain about the overabundance of American media in my life—and I’m very glad he did.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall by Anne Fadiman
James: What happens when two cultures clash over the care of a child? Anne Fadiman provides a compelling account of the medical care of an epileptic child and the lack of understanding between her Hmong parents and the biomedical establishment. This journalistic account of the struggles of the Lee family and their care providers highlights the discrepancies between intercultural understandings of health and the consequences when both parties are unable to hold dialogue. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall was published in 1998 and yet it feels so incredibly relevant to the state of health today, especially given the record numbers of individuals and families seeking asylum in the United States and Canada.
Watch
Tornadoes of 2023 - Pecos Hank
Roman: Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve plunged back into one of my old childhood obsessions: storm chasing and tornadoes. In the process, I’ve realized that I was obsessed for good reason – tornadoes and thunderstorms are, like, really cool. A similar feeling motivates hundreds of amateur (and some professional) storm chasers who roam the Great Plains in April and May, hoping for a glimpse of the strange, dangerous, and awe-inspiring ‘naders. Among them is Pecos Hank,, a veteran Texan storm chaser with a calm voice, cowboy boots, and a knack for photographing beautiful supercell thunderstorms and their accompanying tornadoes. Tornadoes of 2023 is Pecos’ annual recap of his storm chasing season, and it’s awesome. Go check it out for an inside look at the chaser life: miles and miles of open roads, radar screens, bad motels, gorilla hail, non-stop lightning, and rain-wrapped tornadoes. And while you’re at it, watch 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019…and on and on. I can’t recommend his videos enough.
Listen
No Machine by Adrianne Lenker
Julian: When I confessed the other day that I hadn’t yet given Adrianne Lenker’s recent album a listen through, my housemate Aaron immediately did what he calls “backseat queuing” and instructed me to play this track. I’ve had it on repeat since then. Beautiful and haunting in its simplicity, “No Machine” is just a good old-fashioned love song.
(watch my moves) - Kurt Vile
James: Released close to two years ago, I am just listening to this album now for the first time. I love Kurt Vile, his laid back vocals, and the effortless guitar riffs that seem to just flow through him. With goofy love songs like “Hey, like a child” and jams like “Fo Sho,” (Watch my Moves) is an excellent album to welcome the warm spring air and the budding flowers.
The Trojan Horse Affair Podcast
Julian: In 2013, a messy employment dispute at a Birmingham school leaves a head teacher facing serious allegations of fraud. Then, a mysterious letter surfaces, purportedly revealing a complex Islamist conspiracy—dubbed Operation Trojan Horse—to infiltrate and indoctrinate the city’s schools. The ensuing national controversy is massive, ruining careers, fomenting Islamophobic sentiments, and leading to major policy changes. But who really wrote the letter, and why? And is it all bullshit? In this eight-part podcast, novice journalist Hamza Syed teams up with veteran reporter Brian Reed to seek the truth behind the established narratives. Over the course of their investigation, reputed facts, government motives, and the role of journalism itself will all come into question. Thank you to our friend Molly for the recommendation!
Ichiko Aoba at Théâtre Beanfield (February 24th, 2024)
Peter: Concert Report: I arrived at the venue formerly known as Corona Theatre with my brother Jack and sister Hilary just in time. Opener Skullcrusher was a great compliment to the main event, with melancholic vocal harmonies and wistful synth lines blending beautifully with folk guitar lines. Aoba emerged to rapturous applause and settled herself in an island of small comforts at centre stage: a comfy chair, a flowerpot, a rug, a little synthesizer on a stand. Aoba’s music is soft, ethereal, and at times hypnotic; she crafts looping guitar lines and swelling vocals into folkish anthems, such as “Dawn in the Adan”, at times pulling on a more classical sensibility such as in “Parfum d’étoiles,” which to me evokes the music of Maurice Ravel. Her greatest gift as a songwriter is the inventiveness of her melodies, which range from hauntingly beautiful to whimsically playful, but always fresh and novel. Live, what struck me was her virtuosic talent as a guitar player, something I had missed in what I had heard of her recorded work, and her lovely stage presence. She has a shy magnetism about her that brought the whole room into focus. I left the theatre with a sense of levity, as if the playful confidence with which she had spun her beautiful visions had been breathed into me as well.
Aoba will return to Montréal this year to play the Maison Symphonique during Jazz Fest. I highly recommend seeing her if you haven’t already!
