fiction and creative non-fiction from Brennan Quenneville
When discussing Halloway, the late-2016 EP from Tessa Violet, the natural inclination is to focus on the album's jaunty electropop feel. While it's true that 'Dream' moves along on the back of a bouncing hook and that 'Not Over You' sounds like the musical lovechild of Tillian and Carly Rae Jepsen, these salient points do [...]
I didn't plan on playing Final Fantasy XV. In truth, I didn't even want to play it, having ostensibly abandoned the series after the incomprehensible slog that was Final Fantasy XIII. Still, I couldn't help but read the reviews that started flooding out around Final Fantasy XV's late November release and, much to my surprise, the [...]
This post was originally included in a group discussion at Type In Stereo. 5. Letters to Lost Loves by Tyson Motsenbocker. There were a handful of albums contending for this final spot, from PUP’s rambunctious The Dream Is Over to Panic! At the Disco’s surprisingly enjoyable Death of A Bachelor but I’m going to go with a more subdued choice in Letters to [...]
I am nothing if not a (wayward, powerless) arbiter of pop music. Over the years I have advocated for indie darlings, universally acclaimed megastars and criminally underrated savants. And now I've got a new addiction: 'Your Girl' by Violet Days. I don't want to get too technical here but, guys, that song is awesome. It's got smooth hooks! It's got [...]
Goddamn if this album isn't beautiful. From the moment it begins, with three twinkling strikes of a xylophone, Owel's dear me is a gorgeous, sweeping ode to the power of beauty in music. Each song across the album's 66-minute runtime brims with tenderness and passion; when, for instance, vocalist Jay Sakong sings the titular syllables of 'Pale Soft Light' during [...]
There's an old Jerry Seinfeld bit about the hazards of choosing a cold medicine. “This one's quick acting, but this one's long lasting,” he notes. “When do I need to feel good, now or later?” Weirdly, this is not so different from some of the listening choices that we make. Some albums use shortcuts to jump [...]
Two of my best friends are brothers; one is a comic artist and the other a musician. We used to play in a band together. Bands, actually. The most successful was probably our high school band, a pop-punk/screamo outfit that consistently covered both Finch's 'Letters to You' and the Limp Bizkit version of George Michael's [...]
For a few years I was lucky enough to work as a staff writer at Type In Stereo where I got to voice all my strange and needlessly in-depth opinions about music. It was a great time. So I'm happy to announce that some of my fellow writers from Type In Stereo are dusting off their [...]
Alliance Commander: "Seems odd you’d name your ship after a battle you were on the wrong side of." Malcolm Reynolds: "May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one." Firefly, ‘Bushwacked’ --- When we lost Gatsbys American Dream after their self-titled album in 2006, they were - in their own [...]
Following up on Monday's musical retrospective, it's time to award some superlatives to the books that I read in 2014. Straying even farther from release dates than with my musical entry, this list reflects books that I read in 2014, not necessarily books that were released this year. Most Hyped Book (That I Didn't Really Like) - [...]
Songs & Stories 