For The Record- 10. August. 2024

Come down, turn the radio on.

Welcome to another edition of For The Record, the weekly newsletter that brings the world of music news straight to your inbox. Part essay, part good old-fashioned link drop, For The Record is a benefit for paid supporters of On Repeat. This project is 100% reader-funded. You can back independent ad-free music journalism for less than $1 a week.

Thanks!

KA~

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My first winter as a Wisconsin homeowner was a particularly brutal one. They’re always cold, and the world turns a maddening monochromatic white, but this pushed even my limits. El Nino, La Nina. Whatever. We had a blizzard, and I had a shovel. It was like bringing a knife to a gunfight. That night, I learned that the wind hit our block perfectly, and not only did I get my own snow to clean up, but I also got everyone else’s.

I also learned what ‘cutting out’ a driveway meant when a neighbor I hadn't been formally introduced to showed up and started snow-blowing my driveway. When he was done —and let’s be honest, he did about 90% of the work— he shook my hand, told me his name, and pointed over his shoulder to his house just down the block.

When I asked him what I owed him, I might as well have been chattering in Latin. Silly me. My ‘bill' was to accept a vague invite to stop by for a beer sometime. It was obviously a nice thing to do, and it was quintessentially Midwest. It’s just what people do in flyover states.

📻📻📻

A few days ago I tweeted this: