High Violets at Collapse Board

Through my job, I’ve seen more gourmet cakes in six months than in my 25 years of admiring cakes. The real luxury in these confections usually isn’t the cake itself, but the two-inch glove of gummy fondant frosting, often curled into pink ribbons atop the solid white base. Now, most guests just can’t handle that… Continue reading High Violets at Collapse Board

Jeff Runnings at Collapse Board

Come to think of it, “dreampop” is a horrible tag. Rarely anything that the indie world perceives as “pop” is ever popular, and then the stuff we perceive as “dreamy” rarely lulls us into any dream-like state of bliss. Mired in the existential angst of post-punk, “dreampop” done right leads us further into ourselves, to… Continue reading Jeff Runnings at Collapse Board

Witching Waves at Collapse Board

You feel misplaced too, don’t you? Some place was promised for us, for the talents that our teachers adored. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We shouldn’t be the ones stranded in apartments, stuck in the towns we hate, doing the work that no one with dignity would do. Well, then. You can just lie there… Continue reading Witching Waves at Collapse Board

Antlered Aunt Lord at Collapse Board

Antlered Auntlord. Antlord Aunt Lard, Aunt Lured Antlered. With every encounter, you faced a different creature. The first time I met some Antlords in Athens, they were a trio, and they set up right in front of us, no need for a stage – Brent with the heavy metal drum face, Ted the really tall… Continue reading Antlered Aunt Lord at Collapse Board

Mark Van Hoen at Collapse Board

Back in high school, I kept a log of my dreams. Nothing fancy, really – under each entry, I noted the people that appeared, and the events that occurred, and then an explanation for why I thought those events and people materialized. My initial goal was to sound out my subconsciousness – why did this… Continue reading Mark Van Hoen at Collapse Board

Thee Koukouvaya at Collapse Board

People can disappear behind their creations. I used to – all day long, I’d run a story in my head, and act out the dialogue under my breath. Long walks shifted into expeditions to far away kingdoms and alternate dimensions; the playground transformed into an alien planet; my mom’s bed (never mine) was a prime… Continue reading Thee Koukouvaya at Collapse Board

Static Daydream at Collapse Board

Y’know, that character I conjured for the Viet Cong review wasn’t a total fiction. That pathetic, miserly anti-ego still rips holes in my skin, still tells me I can’t write whenever I sit down to the keyboard, still gets off on corpse-resting-on-marble-tomb stuff like Clan of Xymox. I know it’s that side of me that… Continue reading Static Daydream at Collapse Board