For The Record- 16. December. 2023

So I'll wait for you where I always wait

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Welcome to another edition of For The Record, a good old-fashioned link drop and benefit for paid supporters of On Repeat.

As a reminder, On Repeat is 100% reader-funded. And as always, there are 7-day trials for anyone looking to test the waters.

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This week, we’ve got news on Shane MacGowan’s parting gift, J. Robbins, J. Mascis, and how Wu-Tang will be spending next year.

All that and a LOT more, including a lot of people’s favorite songs by The Cure, what Spotify thought my #1 song this year was, and the worst version of ‘Chop Suey’ you’ll ever experience.

Let’s get to it!

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This is a Christmas story. It’s also a story about Portland. Portland has always been quirky—from a sign with a deer on it to a store that gave free buzz cuts in the style of its owner (“and Gloria too!”) to a parade about roses. Mention ‘Psycho Safeway’ or say ‘Rip City!’ to someone outside of The Rose City and see how it goes.

Keep Portland weird? Oregonians have been doing that since day 1, long before it became performative or a sport. 

Every city had these sorts of things, I suppose. The kind of thing that transcends most demographics but is corralled within a few zip codes. A common ground that gets the diaspora to come out of the woodwork years later. It is a language 1000s share, but few outsiders get, like how the best Jojos come from gas stations. This is an absolutely true fact. It’s science. And that statement reads like gibberish if you aren’t from the 503.