I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: GREAT NORTHERN-Trading Twilight for Daylight (2007).

A patron donated this disc to our library.  I had never heard of Great Northern, but I gave it a listen, in part because I hoped that the band name came from Twin Peaks (no idea if it does). And wow, I was blown away by this disc.

This is like the great unheralded indie rocker band (although having looked them up apparently the are quite heralded).  Their songs sound like an inviting combination of The Anniversary (the GN song “The Middle” always puts me in mind of The Anniversary’s “The Siren Sings”), Veruca Salt, Nada Surf and any number of supremely catchy bands.  The vocals are split between a make and female voice which makes the diversity even more appealing.

There’s not a bad song on the disc, and I find myself playing it quite often. The music is first rate, with great textural setups and drop offs, and the choruses, oh the choruses.  It’s hard to even pick a favorite song.

I’m somewhat surprised I’d never heard of this band before (they have a new album out this year that I haven’t heard), but then they are on a label I’ve never heard of either (Eenie Meenie).  I will totally get their new disc, as well as their Sleepy Eepie EP.  I’m really that impressed.

[READ: January 2007] Sacco & Vanzetti Must Die

I read this book over two years ago (I’m cleaning up the final books that I haven’t posted about), and I’m afraid I’m a little shaky on the details.  But I just remembered that I read about it in The Believer.

The premise of the book is that Sacco & Vanzetti are actually a comedy team, not anarchists.  Well, they are anarchic, but in the realm of comedy, not bombs.  They are a sort of Laurel & Hardy with Sacco as the fat troublemaker (and yes the name fits) and Vanzetti as the straight man, the ideologue.  As they progress from slapstick routines to film, their comedy gets more specific, and their schtick concerns “knife grinders/throwers.”  The knife angle is explained as a family trademark or maybe it’s a stolen gimmick.

Inevitably, their careers begin to wain, and their lives take a turn for the worst.  And when things get bad, they get really bad, leading them to trial, with possible execution.

There are a lot of undercurrents about the role of immigrants, specifically Italian immigrants, in America (and the scapegoating that was often done to them).  For example, one of their films is called A Couple of Wops in a Jam. Other Italian stereotypes are also employed in the book, all of which lends to criticism of the way the real Sacco & Vanzetti were treated in their trial(s).  For an overview of the real case, including the suspected Italian prejudices, see here.

The main conceit of the book, however, is that Sacco & Vanzetti are inevitably doomed.  It is their nature to be found guilty, whether as comedians or as anarchists.  And so the book plays out as something of an alternate history of the 20th century, yet with a similar outcome.

If memory serves, the end of the book gets a little confusing.

Well, I just flipped through the copy and I’d forgotten that there are “supplemental materials” and “historical interludes” and as the book nears the end, the confluence of art and history gets very tricky.  It turns out to be a rather intellectual exercise (which is not surprising coming from Dalkey Press).  It deals with grand themes, but also revels in pie fights.

I remember there being a lot of scenes that I enjoyed (especially the film excerpts).  And of course, I love surreal/metafictional concepts.  As I said, I think it got a little tricky at times, but overall it was a really good read.  In fact, writing all this makes me want to read it again.