fiction and creative non-fiction from Brennan Quenneville
During the summer of 1999 I spent an inordinate amount of time inside, hiding from the heat by playing a computer game called Total Annihilation and listening to Silverchair's Neon Ballroom on repeat. I learned about Silverchair when I saw the video for 'Ana's Song (Open Fire)', a grinding confessional about singer Daniel Johns' battle with [...]
Let's just get this out in the open: Part of the reason that I write is that I want to live forever. I am not alone in that feeling. Surveying the members of any creative field will turn up an awful lot of similar sentiment. A brief (and highly unscientific) survey of some of the creative types [...]
I'm not above embracing the year-end review trend here at BQDC, so using a series of nonsensical superlatives, let's take a look at the discussion-worthy music that I listened to this year. Without further ado, here's what I heard in 2014. (Note that this list reflects which albums I listened to in 2014, not necessarily which albums were [...]
Christmas music. It's kind of a divisive topic among music critics and fans. There are those who enjoy the seasonal novelty and those who are disgusted by the saccharine commerciality of it all. And then, of course, there's everyone who falls somewhere in the middle (i.e. most reasonable people). So if you're one of those [...]
I've mentioned before how certain songs or moments can burrow into my brain so that I want to hear them over and over and over again. There is a reason that the term 'earworm' exists, after all. And Narco Debut's 'In Frustrate', from their self-title EP, has definitely wormed me. There is a fine line between inspiration and [...]
First some disclaimers: I like to think that I once offered one of the finer defenses of Panic! At the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. (An album released back when they still rocked the exclamation point.) I really enjoy Brendon Urie's voice. Aside from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, his performance on Forgive Durden's [...]
A long time ago my musician father taught me that there are two kinds of great bands: great live bands and great studio bands. Being one doesn't necessarily imply or prohibit the other. But when a band is both, it's worth celebrating. Sometimes it's that easy. So when BQDC's spirit-animal-turned-band Gates came through Detroit on Friday, [...]
It was once suggested to me that we will spend the rest of our lives loving the music we listened to in our youths more than anything else that we will ever hear. And that may be true. But I disagree with the presented rationale. The presenter of this argument, let's call him Tim, claimed [...]
Well, not literally. But the end of the year? Yes. Very near, indeed. Which means that it's time to start putting together year-end lists of favorite books and albums, a task that I always intend to fly quickly through only to then spend an inordinate amount of time fussing over. My intent this year is to [...]
A friend of mine once suggested that all music has its proper season and I'm inclined to believe him. Case in point: the folksy vibe of Twin Forks makes their music very appealing to me this time of year when everything is pumpkin-flavored and harvest-themed. There's something warm and comforting in the band's use of male-female harmony, group claps, [...]
Songs & Stories 