It’s the last month of the year, which means I will be listening to a lot of winter tunes as we barrel towards the solstice. Top of that list lately has been Victorialand, the fourth album by the Scottish band Cocteau Twins. Released in 1986, the record is a swirling terrain of sounds inspired by the Antarctic — the title refers to the section of the continent named after Queen Victoria — and the frozen poles in general, with one instrumental named after the Inupiaq word for musk ox. I pulled the title of this week’s column from it, too, because why not? I’m closing in on the homestretch of the 50-odd weekly titles I cough up, and this year I’ve more-or-less stuck with song titles. Again, why not? It seems like a habit unlikely to hurt anyone or cause offense in any meaningful way, which, in today’s insane cultural landscape, marks it as an outlier.
In this lifetime, I have not lived through a more stupid and hysterical era, starting with the W. Bush years, during which I was inaugurated into the world of adulthood. National pride is a thing of mythology for any of my sensible cohorts. But I like mythology. It has resonance and the ability to speak truths inaccessible to the more formal historical record. It’s more syncretic with and available to our universal sensibilities. We hid in shelters from bear-men and skinwalkers while venerating our own homeland beasts and kitchen gods. As we do now. We spoke in metaphors that had power over life and death along with consequences in the hereafter. As we encounter today. Things are spoken into existence that should not be, forged in the darkness of sin, just as there are stories and prayers that cannot be accessed by words alone, only sung or danced, warding off the concrete lies of men with the eternal mutability of creation. The birds display for each other to mate, flashing colors in the frozen darkness, retelling the chaotic story of life curling out of the void like wet electricity in a black thunderhead. We do that, too — we must, actually. As long as we are alive, we keep the vigil of life with rote prayers the motions and form of which predate language. Fires in the night. If they seem more important in the winter, that’s just because it’s darker and colder now, but not forever.
Thursday-Cold Moon Supermoon
Few things are more precious than libraries and literacy. Throw family into the mix and you have a trifecta that can change the world for the better. Trinidad Library is hosting a free family literacy puppet show today at 5 p.m., so in that spirit consider rolling through with your people to enjoy Sean’s Shadows: The Magical Measuring Cup performed by Sean Powers.
Friday
Local cumbia superstars Makenu will be playing their last gig of 2025 tonight at Humbrews at 8:30 p.m. The headliner is, appropriately, Oakland’s ragin’ psychedelic Cumbia outfit Bicicletas Por La Paz. Judging by the colossal turnout I witnessed the last time Makenu played at the Basement, expect the dance floor to be packed this evening in the spotlight of the backend of the supermoon’s waxing phase ($20, $18 advance).
Saturday
Making up for a canceled gig earlier this year due to illness, prog art rock supergroup The Stick Men are back in Arcata tonight, this time at the Wild Hare Tavern. King Crimson alums Pat Mastelotto and Tony Levin are joined with German composer and instrumental master Markus Reuter for a night of inspired space jams. Opening up is We Are Ants to Them, the electronic solo act of Andre Cholmondeley, an ace front and sideman himself, whose tech and musical skills have seen him travel the world with the likes of Pat Metheny, Todd Rundgren and Adrian Belew. The fun begins at 8 p.m., and tickets are going for $30 in advance, $40 at the door. Viva.
Sunday
The Arcata Playhouse presents the closing performance of the first weekend of its holiday pantomime show this evening at 7 p.m. The D&D-based comedy is called The Dungeon, The Dragon, and The Wizard of Doom, and like the role-playing game, will have elements of group participation. Tickets are $15 for general audience members, $10 for youths, and $40 for a family package.
If you are in a more of a rockin’ and groovin’ mood, head over to the Miniplex at 7:30 p.m., where you will find Nigerien Tuareg guitar ambassador Mdou Moctar performing a solo show for the lucky ones in the know. It’s $25 at the door, $5 off if you buy in advance, so plan wisely.
Monday
Speaking of all-ages fun, the new Siren’s Song Tavern is hosting a trio of rocking delights tonight at 8 p.m., where $5 gets you in the door and on the floor in front of Super Apes, Clean Girl & the Dirty Dishes and Lxs Perdidxs.
Tuesday
He may have hung up his Cumbia hat for the year, but professional gigger and Makenu hired side iron Daniel Nickerson is still active on the scene, tonight with a set of solo music over at the Redwood Curtain in Myrtletown. This is a free show with music starting at the dark hour of 6 p.m.
Wednesday
Back over to the Miniplex tonight at 8 p.m., where Modern Nature will be weaving pastoral found sound fables with living splashes from the free jazz color wheel. The band is on the Bella Union Label, founded by two thirds of the Cocteau Twins if you want to check out the music at home. Also on the ticket is Thee Oh Sees keyboardist Brigid Dawson and her collective of merry makers Mothers Network. Come through with at least $15 dollars in hand, more if you want to warm up with liquids and food.
Collin Yeo (he/him) is doing an old thing in a brand-new time.
This article appears in Flash Fiction 2025.