I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-The Destroyed Room: B-Sides and Rarities (2006).

It’s hard to imagine what gets relegated to a Sonic Youth B-side.  Not that they are indiscriminate in their selections, but unlike many bands, their discs (as of late) haven’t been all that long, so it’s not like they couldn’t squeeze the extra track on there). Of course, I rather prefer when they don’t force extra tracks onto a disc, and so, a collection like this is a good place for these songs.

Fortunately, the liner notes give a context and explanation for all of the songs, which really helps to locate them in time (and in what SY were doing at the time).  The disc opens with the 11 minute jam “Fire Engine Dream.”  It’s loud and raucous and yet also beautiful.  And the liner note comment:  “Let’s see who’s here and who’s not” is just fantastic.

The surprising track for me is “Razor Blade” a folky singalong by Kim (she’s done a few of these, so I’m not sure why I’m surprised).  The next piece is also one of Kim’s.  “Blink” is one of her more ambient/talking pieces.

There’s a couple of interesting noise experiments “Loop Cat” and “Campfire,” and they are followed by the beautiful “Kim’s Chords,” an amazing, amazing instrumental.

The last few tracks are all furniture themed (as evidenced by the cover of the disc).  According to the liner notes, the furniture was essential in that they played them and sat on them.  The titles don’t actually reflect the furniture involved, however.   The instrumentals are surprisingly melodic and, for a first or second take, sound very complete.

The disc ends with a 25 minute version of “The Diamond Sea” (as if the 20 minute version on Washing Machine weren’t long enough!).  It’s not too revelatory, but it is a great song nonetheless, so why not add a few extra minutes to it!

As with most B-side collections, this is mostly for SY fans.  Although anyone interested in esoteric pieces (nothing too outlandish like on the SYR series) would find plenty to enjoy on this disc.  Since the pieces all come from 1994 and later, if you like this period SY, it’s a worthy addition.

[READ: September 27, 2009] Federer as Religious Experience

The anal retentive part of me wishes that I had written about this article in the same post as “Democracy and Commerce at the U.S. Open,” because they would serve as a very interesting contrast in styles from an early essay to a later one. However, this piece is so marvelous that it really does stand on its own.

In the years since DFW was last paid to go to a tennis match (at least I assume that a) he was paid to go to this one and b) that he was actually at this match,) his persona has evolved from the golly-gee, so-much-to-see naif of the first piece to the I’m-here-to-watch-this-phenomenal-guy of this piece. And I have to say, his enthusiasm is infectious.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve always been ambivalent about tennis. I had a brief phase where I watched it a little, but not really that much even then. When this piece was published, I read it exclusively because it was written by DFW. I remember enjoying it then, but now that I’ve been on a DFW kick , I’m almost blown away by it.

DFW’s writing is at its finest: flowing, erudite and wonderfully empassioned. And, he’s talking about a subject that he knows so well; you can tell he’s excited to be witnessing a spectacle as amazing as Federer.

I’ll spare you all but the basics: Federer has transcended the rather dull power-baseline game that has dominated men’s tennis for years by bringing a beauty that moves him away from the baseline and into more interesting positions.  (And he is able to transcend the limits of the physical body).  This Wimbledon match against #2 Rafael Nadal is a fantastic opportunity to witness his beauty in action.

DFW also provides a (very useful) history of recent men’s tennis from Connors/McEnroe to Agassi and now Federer so we get a sense of how the game has morphed over the last couple of decades.  (And yes, it’s hard to believe that the Connors/McEnroe era of wooden racquets was such a short time ago).

There are a few detours away from the man and his match (about the boy with cancer who flips the ceremonial coin & an insight into Federer-as-star signing autographs) but for the most part it’s all about mechanics.

Much of the tennis sections of IJ almost seem like a set up for the tennis in this piece: the practice, the drills, the payoff, as if he condensed all that intensity into a short article rather than a huge book.  Plus, it includes the absolutely fascinating statistic that a serve at 130 MPH gets to you in .41 seconds (faster than you can blink twice quickly).

This piece was so infectious, even three years later, that the first thing  I had to do was to see if Federer was still #1 (see I don’t pay attention). And he is! The guy that was #2 in the article (Nadal) is still #2. In some ways I guess that’s just as bad for tennis as anyone else remaining one and two for three years, but it was still pretty interesting to see.   I thought it was also interesting that I hadn’t heard of anyone else in the top ten (except for Andy Roddick).

The second thing I did was to see if Federer was playing on TV anytime soon (not that I could tell, what with the Byzantine scheduling that goes on, and yes I know I just missed him at the U.S Open).  He doesn’t appear to be.

DFW makes the excellent point that tennis on TV is nowhere near the complete picture of seeing a match in person. And after hearing him describe it (and having seen matches on TV, and realizing what is being left out), it does make me want to see a match live.

Maybe, someday.

This piece made me realize that DFW’s real calling at this point in his career was essays like this. His writing is phenomenal and whether or not it was because it is nonfiction or just because he was really into the subject, I don’t know.  I can only hope that when The Pale King finally comes out, his fiction writing will maintain this level of grace and beauty.

The article is available here.