Welcome to The Weekender, where I answer the eternal "what should I consume this weekend?" question with 15 curated recommendations:
Five for Bandcamp Friday, including an acid folk take on Japanese ambient and a debut that sounds like Philip Glass sitting in with Explosions in the Sky.
Five from Letterboxd’s new Video Store, including a very funny documentary about a very unfunny ecological disaster and my favorite psychological thriller of the decade. Every rental is $6 or less, and all five join The Wax Museum Film Canon, my private Letterboxd master list of every movie, concert film, and documentary I’ve recommended in this newsletter.
Five upcoming books worth blind buying, including a grotesque, darkly funny 1990 novel heading back into print with a foreword by MJ Lenderman.
The first record’s on the house. The other 14 are for paid subscribers. This issue is a banger if I do say so myself, so let’s dig in.
The Listening Room
Five records to buy on Bandcamp Friday.
Sour Widows - Sigil
Stream: Bandcamp
Get Vinyl: Splatter | Green Goblin
Let’s start with a record that dropped a few weeks ago and has been on repeat at Wax Museum HQ.
Sigil, the sophomore album from Bay Area band Sour Widows, is a gorgeous collection of slowcore-leaning indie rock, with delicate harmonies, slow-building guitars, and occasional bursts of noise that threaten to blow your speakers out. These songs about grief and impending doom have a real beauty to how they unfold, often taking their sweet time before erupting into something enormous.
And just look at the credits: released by Julia’s War Recordings, one of my favorite labels, produced and engineered by Melina Duterte (aka Jay Som), and mixed by Alex Farrar, placing it in the ever-expanding Alex Farrar Cinematic Universe I’ve spent so much time hyping up around here. “Her Garden” and “Lucky Star” are my early favorites, but there isn’t a skippable song in the bunch.
You’ve reached the Walled Garden of The Wax Museum. Paid subscribers get The Weekender every Friday, plus $10 off in the Gift Shop, where you can treat yourself to a coffee mug, mousepad, or vinyl tote. It’s just $5 a month or $50 a year (that’s two months free).
Waiting on the other side: four more Bandcamp Friday picks, the best of Letterboxd’s Video Store, and the upcoming books I’m most excited about.