I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: DESTROYER-Destroyer’s Rubies (2006).

My friends Jarrett and Eugenie gave me “European Oils” from this record on a compilation. I was blown away by this song because it is simultaneously very pretty and also very weird. And this is the case with all of this record. Destroyer is, as I understand it, this one guy from Vancouver, BC. And his singing style is practically a narration, and yet somehow melodic. It’s like he’s telling you a story but occasionally singing it to you at the same time. And then there’s just fabulous, practically choral La La Las, especially in “European Oils.” I like the album so much and feel there are great comparisons to make to it and yet I am at a loss for who I think it sounds like. And, strangely, I can’t even think of anything more to say about it. If this style sounds appealing I totally recommend it, especially if you like witty, and thoughtful lyrics, lyrics that are in the vein of the Decemberists or the Weakerthans (but they sound nothing like the Decemberists or the Weakerthans)…helpful, huh?

[READ: June 2007] Ten Days in the Hills.

After just recently stating that I don’t leave books unfinished, I have decided to give it a try and see how it sits with my psyche. I had just finished Spot of Bother and didn’t have anything new planned. I looked at our library shelves, and some of the ones I was itching to read were all checked out, so I figured I’d just browse the new section. And there was Jane Smiley’s new one. I loved Moo, and had really enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm, and I had read some reviews of the new one, so I thought I’d check it out. Admittedly, I wasn’t inspired to read it at the time, and it was pretty long (not a concern for me most of the time, but I knew those other books would be back soon, so I wanted something quick.)

Well, the basic premise if that the book is set up like The Decameron, with ten tales occurring over ten days. The topics would be the current Iraq war and graphic sexuality (I guess it’s not really a lunch time book).

Now, I liked The Decameron, much better than say Canterbury Tales. Of course I read it for a class (I’m not that much of a geek) and then years later named a ten-volume cassette collection of great songs after it (okay, I am that much of a geek). And I remember reading reviews of the Smiley book and being intrigued, as I never thought of her as being too lascivious in her stories. Well, the first chapter is as far as I got. It concerns a famous movie director and his paramour. She is very concerned about the war; he is less so. She hypothesizes that his inability to get it up is due to the war; he is noncommittal. He wants to make a film about the two of them in bed for ninety minutes but starring Franics McDormand as her. Oh, and they’re having company soon. So, that’s as far as I got. I rather hoped it would be say 100 different, possibly interconnected stories, but the second chapter started where the first one ended, and I just didn’t care. My lunch ended, and I kept thinking that I should have brought McSweeney’s #23 which I had just opened the night before. Presently, the book is languishing in my car, where I imagine that I won’t be picking it up again. If the book hovers over my head for the rest of the summer, I’ll try again, but I feel that I am giving up on this one. And I think I’m okay with it.