Greetings.

I trust your Thanksgiving indulgences were agreeable. Now that the tryptophan coma has worn off, we can get back to business. Here’s an update about some recent concerns at The Contrarian HQ.

• Scotch Whisky: I’m learning (or hope to begin learning more) about this magical beverage. I never much cared for Scotch, considering it to be another affectation of an American male leisure class to which I have no business belonging. Which is why I’m somewhat annoyed that I’ve developed a taste for single malts — seemingly right on schedule. 35 years old, with something resembling an actual career and what might even be considered in these dour economic times to be disposable income. It’s all so predictable. Sigh.
• Lists: I loathe them. But I’m gonna do the responsible publisher thing and throw our lot into the “best of the decade” hullaboo. The other night, I drank a bit too much of the aforementioned Scotch whisky and emailed a crapload of people to hopefully persuade them to tell me their fave albums of the aughts. Looking back, I think it’s been a grim decade for music, but others may disagree. I’ve also asked a more select group of folks to help me think through a “most underrated guitarists” list. So stay tuned for all that.
• Existential Dread: I’ve been considering what it means to be a writer of horror fiction, mostly due to the positive responses to my short story “The Cove” — which is part of the “digital extras” package for my new album, Eldritch Musicks. Though the story will be published at other outlets, those who purchase the CD directly from this site will get an early edition featuring illustrations from our own Susan Norton. But back to the existential dread. Since childhood, I’ve had very few ambitions: to be a writer, to be a rock star, to be a horror movie visual effects person and to work in politics. So far so good? While I won’t be breaking into the FX business anytime soon, I might be able to do the horror writer bit — albeit at a modest level. Lately, I’ve been revisiting those “outsider” scribes with a grasp of our cosmic insignificance and a knack for crafting tales of philosophical terror. Currently, I’m reading Roland Topor‘s The Tenant (with an introduction by Tomas Ligotti!), and my Amazon cart is a who’s-who of literary foreboding and antipathetic decadence. Now, I’m sure I will never reach the heights of the masters, but I can always fail above expectations.

If there’s a lesson that I’ve drawn from my 35 years on this planet it’s that imagination is precious and no one is keeping score. At least no one that matters. So I am delighted, in my own peculiar way, to have the means to pursue my fancies and the temperament necessary to advance my ideas, however trifling. This feels as close to liberation as I imagine I will ever comprehend.

End Transmission.

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

About the author

Casey Rae-Hunter
Casey Rae-Hunter is a musician, public policy wonk and the editor/publisher of The Contrarian Media. An in-demand speaker, he gives frequent talks at conferences and campuses on issues at the intersection of creativity, technology, policy and law, and is a go-to source for major media outlets from NPR to the New York Times. Casey works alongside leaders in the music, arts and performance sectors to bolster understanding of and engagement in key policy and technology issues, and has written dozens of articles on the impact of technology on the creative community. Casey is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and the Deputy Director for Future of Music Coalition. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Media & Democracy Coalition and the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. The Contrarian does not necessarily represent the views of the organizations to which he belongs.

3 Comments for Scotch Whisky, Lists & Existential Dread

guylaine l'heureux (chagota)

Very interesting thoughts. Going through some stimulating chaos recently, I keep going back to Joseph Campbell’s words. It goes like this:

«If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.
Wherever you are, if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.»

Following your bliss takes courage and determination. As I have read many of your posts, you seem to be spot on and congruous with this belief.

Go ahead: enjoy single malt (I quite like it myself) and everything else in life that matters. Really.

Tanner

I rather think it’s been a great decade for music. I could go as far as to say better than the 90′s.

Casey

I’m sure you’re incorrect about the aughts being better than the 1990s. The ’90s were annoying as hell, but at least they were genuine in their disingenuousness. The ’00s seemed like a nervous pantomime. Certainly no one actually enjoyed themselves.

There is no 2000s, really. History has already ended. Francis Fukayama made his prediction too early and was completely off-base as to the true nature of the finale.

But yeah, the 2000s were a drag.