A farewell to Folkstone: Fuzzy Needle’s Friday picks
Greetings Fuzzy Needle friends,
I hope everyone had a restful pre-Thanksgiving week. I am currently at home in the Triangle recovering from a major medical procedure (I’m fine dw - I’m great actually - it was top surgery yay!!) Being home has made me realize that a great gaping hole will soon exist in my life. About a week after surgery, I was hitting a slump round 1 pm and realized it had been eight days since I last drank a cortado. I had just been cleared to drive, so I stopped by Open Eye Cafe to try one of theirs. And it was a fine little shorty, don’t get me wrong. I have great respect for the people of Carrboro and their coffee. But (and I texted him this) all I could think about was Taylor Salvetti’s skill, finesse and divine gift for the craft.
We are immensely proud of Taylor and Maggie for this wild little experiment with Folkstone. It’s more than just a coffee stand: it’s an independent press, it’s a place to find weird roasts and cool objects, and above all, it’s where you can hang out with two of the coolest, kindest people in Wilmington. There’s a comment on the Folkstone Instagram page that made me go :’), and I’ll copy and paste it here: “Sure, the coffee was great, but I think everyone paid for a friend.”
Folkstone will close down on November 30th — not because anything has gone wrong, but because Taylor and Maggie are gearing up for new creative pursuits. You’ll still see them both round the shop quite a bit. But if you’ll miss their coffee and company, I recommend coming to our free (!) event tonight at Fuzzy celebrating the latest release from Folkstone Press. Also coming by Saturday morning to get a lil cortadski. Also studying up.
I also recommend the following works…
Cherry - Nico Walker
“How do you get to be a scumbag?” So asks the unnamed protagonist of Cherry, a veteran of the Iraq War who later gets addicted to opioids and decides to rob a couple banks to sustain the habit. Walker wrote this book while in federal prison for doing the same thing. It’s a helluva lot more gripping than its film adaptation (no shade to Tom Holland.)
Beautiful World, Where Are You - Sally Rooney
Yet another great novel that’s a little bit about people, but really about relationships, but really about the life truths we’re all searching for — we love you, Sally Rooney. Also read Normal People if you haven’t already.
Madness, Rack and Honey - Mary Ruefle
This is what Maggie wrote to me about this book: “Mary Ruefle is so smart and so strange, I can only imagine a book of her lectures will make sometimes no sense, but ultimately, make me better.”
Calling Out of Context - Arthur Russell
This was the first Arthur Russell record I ever listened to, and I only found out recently that he didn’t intend to release it as an album: these were all previously unreleased tracks that only later made it out thanks to the efforts of his estate. I find the title so neat for that reason.
Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus
The cult hit plus another bunch of previously unreleased tracks, all on green vinyl.
I Remember - Joe Brainard
A very cool experimental memoir about being a kid — every sentence begins with “I remember.”
My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross - Anohni and the Johnsons
Thursday was Transgender Day of Remembrance, and this record — by Anohni, one of the most powerful trans musicians on the planet, honoring Marsha P. Johnson, a founding mother of the trans rights movement — it feels very timely. I’m happy to be here listening to it with you.
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Too early? Maybe. But a classic all the same. I love the origin story of Vince Guaraldi’s involvement with Peanuts —apparently, the television producer Lee Mendelson was looking for the right music to use in his documentary of Charles Schultz, and heard Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” while crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Mendelson asked Guaraldi to create a theme, two weeks later Guaraldi played Mendelson a early version of “Linus and Lucy” over the telephone, and the rest is history.
Letters to a Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke
I’ve recommended a different edition of this book before, and I’ll do it again gladly. A must read.
The Slicks: On Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift - Maggie Nelson
This is so crazy — I’m reading my first Maggie Nelson book this week (The Argonauts, naturally) and here she comes with a new dose of fresh ingenuity. It literally came out one week ago!! Get your copy here at the shop.
Cool things happening at the shop:
Tonight, Nov. 21st: We’re having an opening for Tangled Envisionings by James Rettig, an awesome essay collection published by Folkstone Press. We’ll have readings from James and from Kaylie Saidin and some tunes from Exercise and Mini Mall. It starts at 7 and it’s free, free, free. Come thru.
Monday, Nov. 24th: The stand up comedian Honey Pluton is coming all the way from NYC! Alongside Honey Simone aka @wifimommyy. It’s wild, it’s weird, it’s transsexual, it’s cosmic, it’s gonna be so cute please come omg. It starts at 7, and you can get advance tickets for $10 now here.
Friday, Nov. 28th: This is actually taking place at our Durham shop — Buck Swope, imy3 and killdeer with doors at 7:30 pm. Killdeer in particular you can’t miss. Get your tickets at the door for $10. More info here.
Also Friday, Nov. 28th: Our Wilmington shop is once again participating in Record Store Day on Black Friday, which means free coffee, live DJ sets, and hundreds of discounted records. If you’ll be in town for Thanksgiving, we’d love to see you and your folks.
Also, in case you didn’t see it, we got some awesome new merch.
If you have an album or book you bought at Fuzzy that you’d like to shout out in the next newsletter, send us an email and tell us why you love it. And as always, remember to check us out on eBay and on Discogs. Y’all take care, and have a great weekend.
— Your friends at The Fuzzy Needle
