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Archive for February, 2009

My Wikipedia Entry

Posted in Digression, McSweeney's, Paul Debraski, The Collins Library, Wikipedia on February 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

wikiI finally decided I had something worthwhile to add to Wikipedia.  Since I have been writing so extensively about McSweeney’s Books, I decided to create a more or less comprehensive list of all of the books that they have published.  (I once asked a McSweeney’s rep if he had a list and he said he didn’t think anyone there did, which was somewhat surprising).  Anyhow, I used my librarian access and knowhow to create the chart on THIS WIKIPEDIA PAGE.  I’ve never felt such POWER!!

If you see any errors, please correct them!

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Neal Pollack–Never Mind the Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel (2003)

Posted in Beck, Black Flag, Bob Dylan, Books about music, Books about writers, Creem, David Bowie, Drinking, Funny (ha ha), Iggy Pop, Joan Baez, Judas Priest, Lou Reed, Magicians, Mark Leyner, Meta, Neal Pollack, Ramones, Rolling Stone, Sex, Sex Pistols, Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Unlikable main character, Violence, X on February 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

nevermindSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2003).

yoshimiHow do you follow up the fantastic Soft Bulletin?  If you’re The Flaming Lips, you simultaneously pull back and push forward.  I often thing of Yoshimi as Bulletin part 2 but that’s really not right or fair.  Yoshimi has a more Pink Floyd vibe: it’s quite mellow and folky.  But nothing the Lips do can be completely commercial, so you get things in every song that add immensely to the sound, yet prevent it from complete accessibility.

The opening song “Fight Test” begins with an ominous voice saying “The test begins…  NOW!!” with loud distorted crashes, and yet it quickly turns into one of their most delicate and catchy songs.  The only nod to peculiarity is the watery bass lines that fill the song.  It’s a mystery why this song wasn’t huge.

The next track, “One More Robot” is a delicate song reminiscent of Radiohead with the walking bassline and soft vocals.  This leads to the fabulous title track “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Ropbots Pt 1.”  In which yes, Yoshimi disciplines her body to take on the evil machines.  It’s another shoulda-been single, with strumming acoustic guitar and more of that fabulous fat bass. ” Pt 2,” on the other hand is a noisy cacophonous march depicting the fight.  It includes Yoshimi P-We from the Boredoms and OOIOO adding appropriate shrieks and screams.

Two more delicate songs follow: “In the Morning of the Magicians” is one of their longer songs and is quite mellow.  It also features a very lengthy instrumental section with more of that awesome bass.  “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell” is the most techno sounding song I can think of by the Lips.  It seems like maybe that touring work with Beck influenced them a bit.

“Are You a Hypnotist??” is a little louder and plays with the ascending chord progressions that Wayne does so well.   An uplifting track, with fun, interesting notes thrown in.  “It’s Summertime” has some great rubbery bouncing bass noises in the beginning, and it slowly morphs into a heavenly chorus.

The real highlight is “Do You Realize??”  It’ a song that goes from happy to sad to happy all in the space of a few lines.  But musically it is uplifting, with choruses and swelling orchestration.  I gather this was used for some ads, but I’m just surprised it wasn’t everywhere!

“All We Have is Now” is another delicate song, with gentle verses sung in an impossibly high falsetto.  The chorus is the most interesting part, with great bass notes interrupting the reverie.  The album ends with a gorgeous instrumental “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)” which is an apt title (Pavonis Mons being a volcano of Mars) and it sounds quite interstellar.

What’s most notable about this album is that there’s nothing that stands out as peculiar from the rest of the record (except “Yoshimi Pt 2”). It’s a very  constant record, mellow and comforting.  And yet I’m not going to call it safe, because it’s not.  I don’t know if it made as many critical lists as Bulletin, but I know it sold better, and it seems like a really good place to start for latter days Lips.

[READ: February 18, 2009] Never Mind the Pollacks

After reading several Pollack stories in McSweeney’s I discovered that he had written a novel. This novel.

With an awesome title! Most of the awesomeness is purely luck that his name is Pollack (Never Mind the Debraskis doesn’t have the same ring). (more…)

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Pseudonymous Bosch–If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Dreams, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Magic, Mystery, Pseudonymous Bosch, Supernatural, The Flaming Lips, Threats, Unreliable narrator, YA Books on February 18, 2009| 18 Comments »

boschSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-The Soft Bulletin (1999).

bulletinThis album brought The Flaming Lips out from the underground (or one-hit wonder status) into the spotlight of Well Respected Bands.  It made a whole bunch of best of 1999 lists and even a few best of the 1990s lists.

The album is a lot more commercial than their previous records.  The choruses are catchy and they swell in beautiful strings.  And the songs themselves display amazing songwriting prowess.    Lyrically, the songs are also much deeper and more sophisticated.   While writing this up, I learned that this record was something of a payback for Zaireeka. (They promised a more commercial release in exchange for the crazy experiment).

And yet despite all of that, in no way is this a sellout album, or an obvious contender for top 40 status.  The lyrics are neither cynical nor ironic, they are simply human, emotional pleas for friendship, for love.  It would be embarrassing if they weren’t so thoughtful.

“Race for the Prize” (two versions on the disc) is full of big, loud, brash drums, smashing away as a beautiful synth intro fades away into quiet verses and a very tender bridge. It’s followed by “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton” a  delicate ballad, with a minor orchestral feel to it.  At times the tinkling pianos are almost Disneylike.  And then the big brash heavily distorted, and yet not unpleasant, bridge crashes in, keeping you dizzyingly off balance.

“The Spark That Bled” is yet another song with several different sections that meld nicely together.  The opening is emotional and delicate: “I accidentally touched my head and noticed that I had been bleeding.”  This portion morphs into the uplifting, impossible no to sing along with:  “I stood up and I said Hey! Yes!” string chorus.  And just to show that that’s not all they have, the next portion of the song is a smooth and funky guitar/synth shuffle.

“The Spiderbite Song” is the most obvious, by hardly the only, use of really cool and wholly unusual drums on this album.  The track starts with an extremely fast (too fast for human) drum roll that flanges around into a martial beat.  And it repeats this way throughout the song.  The lyrics are an earnest appeal to friendship when one of the band members got a spider bite and there was concern that he would lose his hand.

“Buggin'” is a demented pop song about bugs.  More wonderfully brash drums underscore a poppy verse about mosquito bites…  This segues into “What is the Light?” a ponderous track with a drum like a heart beat.  During their live show, they projected a giant eyeball whose iris changed color with each beat.  The next track (the instrumental “The Observer”) uses the same heartbeat drum as its foundation too.

“Waitin’ for Superman” (two versions as well) is the most straightforward track on the disc.  I think of it as an uplifting song because it is musically so upbeat, and yet lyrically it is quite sad.  No wonder it wasn’t the huge hit it should have been.  It’s followed by “Suddenly Everything has Changed” has another fantastic bassline.  And, like the title, midway through the song everything changes into a spacey keyboard motif that is so airy it almost floats away.

“The Gash” opens with what sounds like some weird Beatlesey syncopation, but it continues with the heartfelt “will the fight for our sanity be the fight of our lives?”  “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” starts with such a fantastic opening: a voice drumming “bah rup bup bup bah rup up up up up.”  And the drums eventually kick in following this same pattern.  And once again the earnest lyrics: “Love in our life is just too valuable, to feel for even a second without it.”  Fantastic.

I saw the Lips on this tour and their show remains one of the top 5 shows I’ve ever seen.  Everything about the show was magical, from the band handing out little FM headphone sets so you could hear the whole show in stereo (!) to the video screens, to the simply jubilant atmosphere that the band sent out.  My only regret is that this was the tour BEFORE they used the giant hamster ball or the bunny costumes.  We did get hand puppets though (and real fake blood!)

I also just learned that the UK edition of the disc had a different song than the US version.  Huh.  And it was recently released in 5.1 surround sound mix.  Who hoo!

[READ: February 10, 2008] If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
This is the sequel to Bosch’s The Name of this Book is Secret. I was really hooked by the first book, and was pretty excited to hear that the sequel had arrived.  To see a summary of that book and for background info, click here.

At the end of book one, Cass and Max-Ernest were on the verge of joining the Terces Society. This book picks up several months later with the pair still waiting to hear from their secret contacts: either Owen or Pietro Bergamo.

One day at lunch, Cass receives a letter in secret code telling her to come to the docks. When they board the boat they are dismayed to see that it is full of Midnight Sun members (The Midnight Sun is the group of bad guys that they defeated in the first book. They include: Dr L. (twin brother of Pietro), Ms. Mauvais, and the Skelton Sisters). This boat trip puts in motion most of the events of the story. (more…)

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Sandra Tsing Loh–Mother on Fire: A True Motherf%#$@ Story About Parenting! [UNFINISHED]

Posted in Memoirs, NPR/PRI/PBS, Sandra Tsing Loh, The Sound of Young America, Unfinished on February 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

mother[READ: February 14, 2009] Mother on Fire

I heard about this book on The Sound of Young America.  Sandra Tsing Loh was pretty funny.  She’s a writer/performer and a contributor to NPR. This book is all about being a mother at 40.

I read about 15 pages and decided that a) the book is more for moms than dads; b) it was funny in parts, but was more of a potential one woman show of quips than a book and c) I just really didn’t care about her or her husband very much.

I tried again to read the book last night, I even skipped to another chapter, but it just kept eluding me.

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Steven Blush–American Hair Metal (2006)

Posted in Books about music, Creem, Gilmore Girls, Guns n' Roses, Kerrang, Short Books, Steven Blush, Virginity (Loss of) on February 14, 2009| 1 Comment »

metalSOUNDTRACK: Hmmm….

There’s so much to choose from to go with this book.  And yet, despite how much I loved metal in high school, I really didn’t like hair metal at all.  In fact, when looking at the bands listed at the end of this book, there were very few that I own or intentionally listened to.

The bands that I liked in this book were: Ratt and Whitesnake.  I also liked Motley Crue’s first two records, but I gave up on them once their makeup went from Kiss to CoverGirl.  Nevertheless, I’m not going to review any of that music here, I’m just going to let you soak in the beauty of this book.

[READ: February 8, 2009] American Hair Metal

My brother-in-law received this book for Christmas. And he proudly showed it to me when we were visiting this weekend. I was immediately hooked, and rather than just flipping through the photos as I thought I might, I actually read the thing cover to cover.

So this book is a loving (or so it says) look at American hair metal of the 1980s and 1990s. The book is basically comprised of three things: outrageous photos, hilarious quotes and occasional comments from Blush. (more…)

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Jeff Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw [#3] (2009)

Posted in Children's Books, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Jeff Kinney, Set at School, Shel Silverstein, Short Books, Smarty Pants, The Flaming Lips on February 12, 2009| 12 Comments »

strwaSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Waitin’ for a Superman [US maxi single] (1999).

supermanmaxiThis single contains the official stereo mixes of two Zaireeka tracks: “Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)” & “Thirty Thousand Feet of Despair.”  Unlike the downloadable homemade mixdowns, these were  created by the band.  The tracks are modified somewhat from the originals.

On the album, “Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)” is 7:02, and on the mixdown, it’s only 5:54.  While “Thirty Thousand Feet of Despair” is the same length: 4:59.

Because they are mixed down properly, they do not present the glorious insanity (out of synch items etc.) like the online versions, but they sound really good and allow you to appreciate the songs.

[READ: February 3, 2009] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

Boy I love this series.

This is the 3rd book in the Wimpy Kid series.  I was very excited that it came out, and I plowed through the book in a couple of hours.  Although I can’t be certain, I think that this book may be even funnier than the first two. (more…)

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Ben Schott–Schott’s Original Miscellany (2003), Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany (2004) & Schott’s Sporting Gaming & Idling Miscellany (2005)

Posted in Ben Schott, Books about music, Books about writers, Collecting, Dip-in Books, Dreams, Drinking, Food, Funky Web Sites, History, Holidays, Oddities, Outer Space, Pac Man, Short Books, Smarty Pants, The Flaming Lips, War, Wikipedia on February 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

originalSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Race for the Prize (1999) & Waiting for a Superman’ (1999) singles.

race11race21When these singles were released, Zaireeka was out of print; these discs were the only way to get any of the tracks.  So, each of these singles has two track from a Zaireeka disc as a B-side: “Riding to Work in the superman1superman2Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)” & “Thirty Thousand Feet of Despair.”   “Race for the Prize” (1 and 2) have the tracks from Zaireeka discs 1 and 2, and “Waitin’ for a Superman” (1 and 2) have the tracks from Zaireeka discs 3 and 4.  The singles aren’t really worth hunting down at this point since Zaireeka is now available, but at the time, they were worth it.

[READ: January 18-Feb 5, 2009] Schott’s Original Miscellany

This is the book that started the Schott empire!

Ben Schott wrote this book (the origin story will appear shortly) and it was so successful that he wrote 2 more volumes (all reviewed here).  This led to his annual almanacs/miscellanies. There are different versions of the annual almanac for England and the U.S. (and Germany too!) and I can’t help but wonder just how different they are.  So if any one has an old UK edition of a Schott’s almanac that they want to send me, let me know!

For all your miscellany needs, check out  http://www.miscellanies.info/. Lots of information here! (more…)

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Ara 13–Drawers & Booths (2007)

Posted in Adventure, Ara 13, Christmas on Mars, Clifford Chase, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Joseph Heller, Meta, Military, Religion, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, The Flaming Lips, Threats, Unreliable narrator, War on February 6, 2009| 1 Comment »

drawersSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Zaireeka (1997).

zaireekaOkay, get ready.  Zaireeka comes as a 4 CD set.  With a twist.  Each CD is meant to be played simultaneously.  So, you get yourself 4 boomboxes hit play at the same time and enjoy!

Each CD has some aspects of each song.  So, on one disc you may get some vocals, maybe another has some guitars and sound effects.  It all varies per disc.  In fact, on one disc, track 6 is given a warning, perhaps my favorite warning ever on a CD: “This recording also contains frequencies not normally heard on commercial recordings and on rare occasion has caused the listener to become disoriented.”

And if you do a search for Zaireeka you will read the gamut of opinions about the disc and its ridiculousness or its social coolness.  So I won’t go into that.  I will say that one fine day many years ago I tried the experiment.  I got 4 radios and synched up all the songs and it worked and it was a lot of fun.  I also listened to the set in many different ways:  Discs 1-4 individually.  Discs 1& 2, discs 1&3, discs 1& 4, discs 2& 3, discs 2&4, discs 3&4 and then discs 1,2 & 3, discs 1, 2 & 4, discs 1, 3 & 4,  and discs 2, 3 & 4.  Phew.  (I had a lot more free time on my hands back then).  And since then, I haven’t really listened to the discs at all.  Because, well, how often do you get a chance to listen to 4 discs at once?

So, online I found a stereo mixdown version of the disc.  I know purists argue that that is simply not the way to listen to the disc, and they have a point….  Many of the effects are certainly lost, and since part of the point of the experiment is that the tracks are going to wobble and go out of synch, the mixdown does ruin the effect.  However, if you actually want to hear the songs as songs, not as experiments, the stereo mixdown mix is the way to go (at least until they release the disc in a 5.0 DVD version (which evidently they might…maybe?  in 2000, or maybe 2007, or who knows.))

But what about the songs?  It’s hard to say that the songs are typical Flaming Lips songs, because that’s not really very meaningful.  (Lips songs being off the wall at the best of times).  However, the songs are designed to allow the different discs to go out of synch somewhat, creating echoes or even stranger sounds.  As such, they are rather meandering pieces, somewhat lengthy, without a lot of heavy beats (that said, there are sections with very loud chaotic drums, they just don’t have other parts to synch up to).  But this experiment allows the songwriting to shine through in th emost minute details.  And it pays off on their next album in big time.

A track by track rundown goes:

“Okay I’ll Admit That I Really Don’t Understand” opens with a big drum splash and a fantastic bassline. Intermittent piano chords let you know that this song  isn’t going to be typical.  Fun effects and a swelling chorus add to the ambience.  It’s a short song, but it sets the tone for the rest of the disc.

“Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)” starts off in a chaotic jumble, but once it settles down it has yet has another fantastic bassline  to start.  The middle choral part is really beautiful, although that scream section is pretty jarring/creepy.

As the title, “Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair” suggests, it’s a sad song about a depressed pilot.  The effects include a plane taking off.  The song is propelled by a heartbeat-like drum, and the echoing voices suit the experiment very well.  There’s a “sane” vocal track and an “insane” vocal track.

“A Machine in India” is 10 minutes long.  It’s got a long meandering middle section, but the slow keyboard melody remains constant.  It’s also the first real occurrence of Wayne’s apparent obsession with vaginas (see Christmas on Mars).  It begins sweetly as a nice acoustic song but it explores many sonic areas (according to theliner notes, Wayne and his wife were discussing her menstrual cycle, and that was the jumping off point of this song).

“The Train Runs over the Camel but Is Derailed by the Gnat” begins with a fascinating cacophony of drums and ends in a very sweet “na na na” chorus.  In between you get yet another splendid trippy pop song.

“How Will We Know? (Futuristic Crashendos)” contains a shockingly high pitched sound (as warned) and yet the main body of the song is another of Wayne’s folky and very catchy melodies.

“March of the Rotten Vegetables” is probably my favorite track on the disc, despite the fact that it’s an instrumental.  It starts with some really interesting squeaky sounds and a cool guitar riff.  It morphs into yet another bombastic drum “solo” over a nice piano melody.  The liner notes indicates there are bats involved, but I’m not quite sure I hear it.

“The Big Ol’ Bug Is the New Baby Now” is a spoken word piece in which Wayne relates a story about how his dogs treat a stuffed toy like a baby, until they get a “Big Ol’ Bug” which becomes, as you may guess, the new baby.  Each disc has different ambient effects.  As the song ends, a swelling chorus sings the title until the loudly barking dogs bring an end to the song and the experiment as a whole.

As I mentioned, the stereo mixdown version is one way to enjoy the music.  But I must say that even listening one disc at at time can be fun (although really, that comes down to much more of an experimental music experience than anything else).  The social aspect of the performance certainly appeals, but I’m pretty antisocial and can’t imagine that I’d ever do it.

If you like the Lips at all but have been afraid of this CD because of how ridiculous it is, it’s probably worth the outlay of funds to buy the set or download a track or two.  It’s a fun disc that rewards patience, and, really, the songs are all very good.  You could also look for the stereo mixdown, but really, you’d only be getting half the story.

[READ: February 3, 3009] Drawers & Booths

Full disclosure: Ara 13 asked if I’d like to read his book and write about it. I looked up the book on Amazon, and it sounded cool, so I agreed.

Drawers & Booths is a work of metafiction.  A simple definition of metafiction, in case you don’t know, is: “a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction;  metafiction does not let the reader forget that he or she is reading a fictional work” (for the full Wikipedia explanation click here.)

SPOILER ALERT:  Generally I try not to give anything away when I review a book.  Some things are unavoidable of course, but any major plot twists or surprises I try to leave for the reader to discover by him or herself.  However, because this book is metafictional, and there are twists, surprises, and massive plot alterations throughout the book, the only way I can review it at all is to give some of these things away.  I don’t think I ruin anything for anyone, but tread lightly if you want nothing revealed. (more…)

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Lemony Snicket–The Lump of Coal (2008)

Posted in Art, Children's Books, Fables, Funny (ha ha), Holidays, Lemony Snicket, Short Books, The Flaming Lips on February 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

lumpSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Clouds Taste Metallic (1995).

cloudsClouds Taste Metallic is a clear precursor to later Lips albums.  The opener “The Abandoned Hospital Ship” even sounds like it could come from Soft Bulletin (in fact it sounds more than a bit like “The Sparks That Bled”). Wayne’s high voice is finally finding its range nicely.  The chord progression is also great. The only thing that makes it sounding off the wall is the fuzzed out guitar solo (and the tubular bells, of course).    “Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles” returns to the fuzzy rock of old.  On “Placebo Headwound” the acoustic guitar is back but it is buttressed by the wonderfully full bass sound that the Lips have started using (and will continue to use on the next few discs).  “This Here Giraffe” is one of my favorite early songs: a loping bassline over a cute and catchy chorus (“This here giraffe…laughs”).

“Brainville” is probably their nicest ballad to date.  It has a sweet feeling and a goofy chorus.  “Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World” is yet another great alternapop song.  “When You Smile” could also come right from Bulletin.

“Kim’s Watermelon Gun” is a fast and fun rocker.  The next two tracks “They Punctured My Yolk” (later sampled by the Beastie Boys on To the 5 Boroughs, and “Lightning Strikes the Postman” are instantly classic fast alternapop songs.

“Christmas at the Zoo” is another pop gem like “Giraffe”; what is it about their poppy animal songs?   Despite its message “Evil Will Prevail” is another seemingly happy poppy song.  And the last song “Bad Days” is listed as (Aurally Excited Version) although it doesn’t sound any different from the rest of the disc but it sure sounds good.

The major labels have been very good to the Lips, sonically.  And the Lips are about to repay them by releasing the most ridiculous album ever….

[READ: January 26, 2009] The Lump of Coal

In what seems to be a new tradition, Lemony Snicket has written another holiday book.  Unlike The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming, this book is not published by McSweeney’s and it features art by Brett Helquist (the artist from A Series of Unfortunate Events).

Also unlike pretty much everything else he’s done, this book is actually sweet and heartwarming. There’s nothing sinister about the book at all. (more…)

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Lucy Thomas–Jokes Told in Heaven About Babies (2003)

Posted in Corporate skewering, Dave Eggers, Dreams, Essays, Flash Fiction, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Lucy Thomas, McSweeney's, Short Books, The Beach Boys, The Flaming Lips on February 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

jokesSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993).

transIt’s easy to see how people could cry about the Lips moving to a major label.  I mean, comparing this to Hear It Is, they’re like different bands. Except that they’re not.  They’re still the same band, they’re just better, more refined, more mature (maybe) and they know how to use their previous experiments in a way that assists and strengthens the music.

Pretensions aside, this was the disc that scored them their biggest hit, “She Don’t Use Jelly.”  It’s a super catchy, slightly annoying, certainly borderline novelty song (except that all Lips songs are borderline novelty, they’re so weird).  I was thrilled when I saw the Lips on the Soft Bulletin tour and they not only played “Jelly,” they made a big party out of it with balloons and all kinds of fun.

“Jelly” isn’t entirely representative of the album, but, if you really listen to it, it’s not that far afield from the rest of the disc either.  “Turn It On” is the first time you can really hear all the elements of the Lips coalescing into what they would one day become.  Wayne’s voice is coming in close to what we know now, and the musicianship is quite good.  “Pilot Can at the Queer of God” (see, their titles haven’t sold out!) on an earlier disc would have been a messy shambles, but their refined sense makes this a fantastic song with cool backing vocals and everything.  A sort of punk Beach Boys if you will.

“Chewin the Apple of Your Eye” could actually have been a B-Side of Soft Bulletin, in its simple acousticness.  “Superhumans” starts showing off the kind of interesting drum sound that would be a staple of their later releases (this disc welcomes drummer and main contributor Steve Drozd, so that makes sense).

“Be My Head” is another fun Beach Boysesque song. It’s such a simple, happy song (complete with ahh’s in the background).  The distorted guitar isn’t overpowering.  The only thing that is decidedly not Brian Wilson is the lyrics (“You can be my head, I’m through with this one).

“Moth in the Incubator” seems to summarize their whole career in one song.  An acoustic intro, a noisy, crashing middle section and then a slight weird yet catchy as hell melody to close.

Track 9 is listed as “********” but its’ actually a song called “Plastic Jesus” from the film Cool Hand Luke.  A short acoustic song.

The disc ends with the really cool “Slow Nerve Action” a very simple riff, but it is played so differently from the rest of the album, (almost like a professional guitarist?!).  A simple song but very catchy.  An excellent end to a great disc.

[READ: January 26, 2009] Jokes Told in Heaven About Babies

I can’t really say how disappointed I was by this book.  And primarily I was disappointed because the title is awesome and has so much potential.  However, the title is neither accurate nor expounded upon.  That’s right, the book with probably the funniest title published in 2003 is misleading. (more…)

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