SOUNDTRACK: The Believer June 2005 Music Issue CD (2005).
The second annual Believer CD ups the ante from the first by featuring all previously unreleased songs. And, just to put more of a twist on things, the artists were asked to do covers of songs that they have been listening to lately. There was only one song that I knew the original of (The Constantines’ track), so I can’t say a thing about how well the covers were covered.
This becomes something of a fun rarities mix CD. As with the previous one, there’s not a huge amount of diversity in the musicians, but given the target audience of The Believer, it all seems to make sense.
We get The Decemberists (actually Colin Meloy solo) covering Joanna Newsom (who I don’t know but whose song I liked quite a bit). The most interesting track to me was by a band called CocoRosie who I’m totally unfamiliar with. The song is recorded as if it they were using a 19th century recording machine. It sounds so far away and yet it feels modern at the same time. I have no idea what they normally sound like, but I’m certainly intrigued.
There’s a few parings that are practically predestined: The Mountain Goats cover The Silver Jews, The Shins cover The Postal Service and Devandra Banhart covers Antony & the Johnsons. There’s also a track from Wolf Parade, a band I have recently gotten into. Only two bands perform and are covered on the disc: Ida and The Constantines.
It’s an interesting assortment of songs. As with any cover, it’s hard to know if you would like the original artist or if you just enjoy the new artist’s’ interpretation. But a song like “Surprise, AZ” by Richard Buckner is so well written that I don’t think it matters what Cynthia G. Mason’s cover sounds like (which is quite good).
The disc is largely folky/alt-rock, but once again, it’s a good distillation of the genre, and a very enjoyable collection. The track listing is available here.
[READ: December 10, 2009] “Kawabata”
This story had the (in my estimation) fascinating attribute of reading as if it were written a long time ago. The writing was very formal. It also centered around a man and a woman who meet at a bed and breakfast and do little more than walk around town. Since no real clues as to the time it is set are ever given, I could imagine them dressed in nearly turn of the (20th) century garb.
A few things do dispel this fantasy: the use of the word “tits” for one, and the fact that no married woman would have been seen out with a widower while her husband was away. But despite that, I enjoyed the formality of the story. I’m also not sure what the title means.
In a B&B, Bernard Crowe (who is in town on business) is introduced to Mrs Andrews. She is in town for her father’s funeral. The funeral plays a big part in the story. And it makes Bernard reflective about his wife’s funeral two long years ago.
Since not a lot happens, I’m going to spare any more details. Suffice it to say that these strangers have an impact on each others’ lives and then move on. It is the insight into Bernard’s mind that makes the story enjoyable.
There’s not a lot to this story, but I found its formality to be a very cool technique for showcasing grief.
I Just Read About That... 