*NOTE: The square records were proving too warped to use, so I had to switch to discs!

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, should Lucé and I try to do another release before the end of the year? Why, the answer is yes, of course! And so I present to you The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe as read by Lucé Tomlin-Brenner, available as a 20 page zine with a digital download as well as a bundle of zine and 8” embossed record made in my home studio on my snazzy new home record maker.

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December (actually, it was a pretty cheerful November) that I re-designed a gorgeous version of Poe’s The Raven published by Harper & Brothers in 1884 with illustrations by Gusvate Doré into a 20 page zine with an introduction and digital download of Lucé reading the poem - with a late autumn // early winter backing track of a fireplace crackling, wind, tappings, rappings, doors creaking, and more!

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, I contacted my friend Chris Baldys who then mastered Lucé’s reading for the record maker. If you haven’t heard me blather on about it yet in one form or another, I’ve recently invested in a lovingly restored circa-1937 Presto 6DSP record lathe, which embosses music onto records one at a time, in real time. It’s a real art form. For this release, we’ll be putting out Lucé’s reading onto clear 8” records with cover art adapted from an 1875 illustration from Édouard Manet.

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing why anyone wouldn’t jump on the chance to own this super cool artifact that brings Lucé’s trademark love of all things spooky to the darkest time of the year, the yule!