I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: TANAKH-Tanakh (2004) [UPDATE]

I re-listened to this CD and actually changed my mind about my preference.  I prefer the 58 minute song to the 28 minute one.  And, even though I appreciate the duct-tape-as-musical-instrument aspect of “28,” it lacks a cohesion and a song structure.  “58” even though it is rambling and could have easily been 20 minutes shorter at least has the feeling of a song.  “28” feels just like a bunch of people improvising on whatever is at hand.  And while organized improv is great, sometimes noisy improv can just be noisy.

Incidentally, I notice don this listen that at the 54 minute mark of “58” the bassist hits a wrong note.  How much would that suck if the had to redo the whole song after 54 minutes!  I was amused by this quite a bit.  I guess that proves there were no overdubs.

[READ: May 29, 2008] Superworse

After finishing Superbad, I learned that there was a book called Superworse. It is a “remix” of Superbad. The premise is that for the softcover edition, Laurence Onge, the editor of the first book (and completely fictitious I am now certain), decided to reorganize Superbad and to include a Foreward, an Afterward and a Midward.

For the most part the rest of the book is the same. I am assuming that the stories that made the switch from Bad to Worse were exactly the same, so I didn’t bother reading them again. However, just about every story now has an editor’s note from Onge, and there are some new pieces as well.

I’ll focus on the Onge bits first because they are fascinating. The pompous mentor from Superbad has returned with a flourish. He is essentially suggesting that everything that is in Superbad was about him. He mentions Nabokov’s Pale Fire, and it is a fair reference point. The Midward (a phrase that Ogne coined!) is particularly telling. He instructs us that the piece “Notes to a Paper You Wouldn’t Understand” are actually about the works in Superworse (even though Notes was included in Superbad and the stories were in a different order). And, it is slightly uncanny how well the Notes match up to the stories thematically. I have no idea how he pulled that one off, but it’s a pretty good trick. (Maybe it’s Dark Side of the Moon and Wizard of Oz time). It wasn’t until I read Superworse, that I realized the contents of Superbad were set up in exactly the same way as Superworse: I-IX then X then IX-I. I guess it makes sense that Superworse has the same structure, nevertheless, the stories are still in a different order!

It must be fun to have an opportunity to go back on a published work and reconfigure it. Greenman (or Soft Skull Press anyhow) has removed the “songs” from Superbad, too, much to Onge’s dismay, but they are now available at www.bengreenman.com.

As for the new stories, there are four.

None of them were especially outstanding. I enjoyed “Mr. Mxyztplk’s Opus” and the fact that Ogne didn’t know where the name came from. “No Friend of Mine” just never really got off the ground for me. “Sometree/Anytree” was an interesting conceit: about a tree falling for the tree next to it. The intro suggested that this story was what attracted people to Greenman and Superworse, I have no idea if this is true. And “Oh Mama! Chapter One” is a stream of consciousness piece detailing the sordid details of the narrator’s life. Overall, although some of the new stories are okay I feel a sense of net loss in Superworse.

Below is a comparison of the contents. I’ve asterisked the ones that are new to each volume.

The Superbad contents:
I. Ill in ’99
II. Notes on Revising Last Night’s Dream

Fragments from Microsoft! The Musical

III. Paint It Shimmering Coral*
IV. Snapshot
V. Stuck on Red: My Hopes and Dreams Detailed*
VI. The Theft of a Knife

Fragments from Ivanka! The Musical

VII. In the Presence of the General
VIII. Getting Nearer to Nearism
IX. Ten Kinds of Things, A-H*

Fragments from Dylan! The Variety Show

X. Notes to a Paper You Wouldn’t Understand

Fragments from Elian! The Musical

IX. Blurbs
VIII. Reeling
VII. Hart Hurts His Hand*

Fragments from Election!! The Musical

VI. A Big Fight Scene Between Two Men with the Same Name
V. Struggle in Nine
IV. In Shuvalov’s Library

Fragments from The Death of the Musical! The Musical

III. Marlon Brando’s Dreaming
II. Fun with Time
I. What 100 People, Real and Fake, Believe about Dolores

compared to Superworse:

I. Ill in ’99
II. Notes on Revising Last Night’s Dream
III. Snapshot
IV. Oh, Mama! Chapter One*
V. The Theft of a Knife
VI. In the Presence of the General
VII. Getting Nearer to Nearism
VIII. Marlon Brando’s Dreaming
IX. Sometree/Anytree*

Midword
X. Notes to a Paper You Wouldn’t Understand

IX. Reeling
VIII. Blurbs
VII. No Friend of Mine*
VI. Mr. Mxyztplk’s Opus*
V. A Big Fight Scene Between Two Men with the Same Name
IV. Struggle in Nine
III. In Shuvalov’s Library
II. Fun with Time
I. What 100 People, Real and Fake, Believe about Dolores

Afterword

Appendix