Quoth the Raven: I've Got a Record Out!
The Queen of Physical Media has Finally BECOME Physical Media
Today The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe was first published 179 years ago in the Evening Mirror (New York) - Poe recieved $9 for it. Nathaniel Parker Willis, editor of the Mirror, wrote that it was "unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent, sustaining of imaginative lift…” He went on preciently “It will stick to the memory of everybody who reads it."
As with many important cultural touchstones, my first interaction with The Raven was through The Simpsons. I’ve long been enamoured with the way the first Treehouse of Horror (S2E3) was able to capture the tone of this 19th century poem through Homer and Bart’s already well established characterizations. It’s a brilliant piece of comedy (dare you not to laugh when you hear Homer fume “Take thy beak from out my heart and take thy form from off my door!”) and taught lil me that older writing (I was probably 8 or 9 when I first saw this, so like anything pre 1980s was BORING lol) could be spooky and fun!
The Raven remains one of my favorite poems today, I’m a sucker for endless longing and ominous birds, so of course I’ve dreamed of doing my own take on it - a female voice pining for Lenore would queer the text in a fascinating way afterall! I was lamenting this over Halloweekend 2023 with Isaac as we watched this episode of The Simpsons AGAIN. So you can imagine how my heart fluttered when Joe Carlough at Displaced Snail Publications, a DIY zine and music label, reached out to me with this project in mind!
I’m absolutely thrilled to present the first ever physical recording of my work as an 8” embossed record made in Joe's home studio on his snazzy new home record maker! You can order it alone or as bundle with a digital download and 20 page zine companion, a re-design of a gorgeous 1884 Harper & Brothers published copy of The Raven with illustrations by Gusvate Doré. Read more and select your options here!
This is my third collaboration with Displaced Snail. We have also produced two 60+ page full color zines filled to the brim with spooky stories, history, recipes, photos, art, and more sent in by my It’s Always Halloween listeners (Lanterns). Check out The Lantern’s Way Vol 1 here and The Lantern’s Way Vol 2 here! We will be making a 3rd zine together this year, so if you have something you’d like to contribute, it’s never too early to send it to me!
Physical Media is the way we preserve, archive, and venerate art in a time when corporate monopolies are only interesting in serving up tired IPs and mainstream best sellers/blockbusters guaranteed to make them even more money. Working in video rental shops and book stores for most of my life and creating my own art that mainly lives online has positioned me to fight ferverntly for the preservation of such objects. Therefore, it is a great honor to have my own work showcased in such a beautiful and lasting way, free from the threat of a corporate vault.
Thank you, dear ones, for always cheering me on and supporting my work and that of underground DIY artists!