Friday Five: February 13, 2026
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Side A:
Side B:
Friday Fav:
Avicii - EDC NYC 2012 • I go on a bit about design and structure below, how much I admire it in any kind of art. I love studying it in other forms, finding story beats in someone else's work. Avicii was a master with structure, forever innovating within the constraints of form. His EDC NYC set was the first I listened to and immediately picked up on his storytelling, the way he was able to command the crowd with hooks, inciting incident, fun and games, midpoint, climax, etc. Never once does the set lose your attention. Worth studying; it's a hell of a ride.
Feb 13, 2026
Friday Five exists as a little challenge to me: five new albums, five new stories per week. They're here for you to enjoy (or not!) No summaries or in-depth criticism. But here are a few notes:
Jeffrey Hecker's "Five Poems" reminds me how much I love essays or flash or poems in fragments. It's why I started the mag in the first place, based on this excellent piece in Hazlitt by Sasha Chapin. I hope you give it a read.
Spinning Madvillain and MF DOOM on recommendation from M7 repeat offender Julián Martinez. I am a sucker for any kind of sound collage, so Madvillainy had me from the first track. It's been fun to see that lineage and influence in both Julián's writing and his mixtapes.
Last Saturday I spun some vinyl for the first time in over a year, after collecting a few records over the holidays. Missed the ritual. Been spinning Sam Cooke's One Night Stand, Fredagain..'s USB I and II, Cameron Winter's Heavy Metal.Â
I finished a manuscript while listening to the vinyl. That makes two in a year, and I still feel as though I am not going fast enough. Does anyone else feel this way?
Last Friday Five I mentioned I was reading The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. I made a case for why anyone who loved—or hated—Marty Supreme should read Kravitz over on Substack. They're both tales of charismatic hustlers, but I think Richler pulled it off better than Safdie did.Â
Two of my favourite designers are folding and I'm pretty bummed about it. It's making me think about how art exists everywhere, how much I love leaving the house feeling like I'm wearing works of art. Design is in everything we use, everything around us. With very explicit admiration, I recognize the same steadfast impulse they have for structure in clothing as I do in my writing. One artist to another, I'll be sad to see them finish; they changed how I move through the world. I want to see the design in everything.
Watching The Lobster, Seven Psychopaths, and Industry. Reading The Ghosts of East Baltimore and The Ghosts of West Baltimore by David Simmons, and The Employees by Olga Ravn.
xo,
Kirsti