Esopus Magazine...

Something a bit out against the grain in celebration of the long weekend of drinking that will soon commence. There's a magazine called Esopus that's comes out of New York and is geared towards art and culture. It's not the kind of thing that I read necessarily with an frequency but it caught my eye about 5 months ago because one of the components of the magazine is that there's always a CD with it. On this CD were a number of bands including the Bapitst Generals of whom I'm fond. Now this isn't a music magazine as much as it's one of art and I like the fact that it recognizes a legitimate component of both art and pop culture to be the genre of music we refer to as "indie" or "alt". The issue I currently hold in my hand is #4 for Spring 2005. It's got a short story, an amazing essay by a cook regarding her time spent learning her craft in Italty, a pull out art poster, a removable foldout of photographs of wood carvings of all the prez's of the US done by a southern folk artist, photography, etc. It's all visually striking and well written. Also included are a series of essays by readers regarding imaginary friends that they had as children. The stories are funny and creepy and interesting. On the included CD 13 musicians have put these readers tales to music. The musicians include Vetiver, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, Jon Langford, Grant Hart, The Caulfield Sisters and others. The songs range from cute to wonderful. I'm posting one song today in the hopes that you'll be interested in purchasing the magazine which can be ordered from the website or found at various bookstores the most prominent of which is Barnes & Noble. It's really kinda cool. Have a great holiday to all those in the US, to all others don't work too hard on Monday. Out.

From Esopus Magazine #4 Spring 2005:

Lisa by The Prayers And Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers