Welcome to The Weekender, where I answer your "what should I consume this weekend?" question with a fresh batch of recommendations. Take it away, Miles!
Break out the cigarettes and the trench coat. It’s NOIRvember, and we’re heading straight into the rain-slicked streets.
In the Listening Room: My two-hour NOIRvember Playlist 🚬, spanning seven decades and featuring Frank Sinatra, Leonard Cohen, Portishead, and plenty more. Plus: my favorite new release of the day, a hip-hop masterpiece that nearly ruined its creator, and an Album of the Year contender gets the deluxe treatment.
In the Screening Room: Five essential noir films, all available in the Criterion Collection and all currently 50% off at Barnes & Noble. Every one has a spot in The Wax Museum Film Canon, my running Letterboxd list of five-star recommendations.
In the Reading Room: A classic noir novel you can knock out in a weekend (and one of my favorite reads of the year), plus a tribute to the legendary editor behind our November Book Club selection, who died last weekend.
The first record’s on the house. The rest are for paid subscribers. Let’s dig in.
The Listening Room
Two-hour Noir playlist, plus three new records worth your money.
Menahan Street Band - Illusions
Stream: Spotify | Apple Music
Get Vinyl: Translucent Violet with Pink Swirl | Purple
Menahan Street Band are back with Illusions, and it’s my favorite release of the day. I can’t believe it’s been five years since their last record, mostly because these guys have been everywhere this decade. Leon Michels produced Clairo’s Charm, one of the albums of the decade so far. Michels also produced Norah Jones’ Grammy-winning Visions and made a whole record with Black Thought as El Michels Affair. Tommy Brenneck picked up an Album of the Year nomination for his work on Lizzo’s Special, and Dave Guy is still holding down trumpet in The Roots on The Tonight Show.
The band formed two decades ago in Brenneck’s Bushwick apartment and became an institution in instrumental soul, with grooves so good that Jay-Z built “Roc Boys” around one of them. Illusions, their fourth album, is another round of cinematic soul, psychedelic funk, and gorgeous horn arrangements, with Brazilian legend Arthur Verocai adding strings to opener “Palace of Illusions.” It makes for the perfect start to your weekend.
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: two more new records, my NOIRvember Playlist 🚬, noir film recs, one of my favorite novels of 2026, and plenty more.