I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: lions.chase.tigers: To Their Blood EP (2009).

I learned about lions.chase.tigers from the Dromedary compilation Make The Load Lighter.  When I looked them up online I found this site, where you can download their debut EP.  (Normally I’d encourage purchasing the CD to give the band some £, but it ships from the UK and would probably take weeks and cost a fortune in shipping.  So, download and spread the word).

lions.chase.tigers play a fascinating mix of noisy shoegazey guitar rock combined with very delicate quieter ballady bits.  There are only four guys in the band.  I was sure there were at least five maybe six.  They have  one guitar which plays beautiful picked guitar chords (high notes), and another which plays harmonized lower notes and sometimes big power chords.  The drums and bass complement perfectly.  And the vocals offer this great understated focus to these dramatic songs.  I imagine Sigur Rós jamming with Mogwai with vocals by Bob Mould.

All of their songs work to a dramatic climax; the tension builds like a mini epic.  The title track is the most dramatic (with that crazy screaming in the background!), and I think it’s the best track on the EP, but with each listen I hear more in the other songs to like, too.

I’m also delighted that one guy’s last name is the same as another guy’s first name: Fraser Sanaghan (guitar/vocals) and Seoridh Fraser (bass/vocals) [and no I can’t pronounce his first name but I love Gaelic names like that].  There’s also Iain Thomson (vocals/guitar), David Watson (drums).  There’s a live video on their myspace page, which shows that they sound amazing (possibly better?) live.

Scotland has been producing some amazing indie bands over the last few years, and lions.chase.tigers sis definitely a great one to add to that list.

[READ: February 5, 2010] “William Burns”

This was the first short story I’ve read since beginning 2666, (before I decided to find everything I could Bolaño).  I saved this story for last because it is the most recent release.  I initially noted: I’m in the midst of 2666, and lo, here’s a Bolaño story to read (and to hopefully not confuse matters).  It didn’t confuse matters, but I was a little concerned when I saw that it was set in the same town (Santa Theresa) as the bulk of the 2666 action.

One of the things I have grown to like about Bolaño is his multiple layers of removal from the action of the story.  So in this one, William Burns tells the story to a guy named Pancho Monge who tells the story to the narrator who tell it to us.

After that brief introduction, the rest of the story (in Burns’ own words, mind you) come in one long passage with no paragraph breaks.

Burns is living in Santa Theresa and is bored.  (Is there any other state of mind in Santa Theresa?).  He is living with two women and their dogs.  They asked him to stay with them for protection from a man who is coming to kill them.  (And, of course, they are each his lover as well).

The description of the house they live in is fantastic with windows all over the place, making it look like it has three floors when it only has two.

They live an idyllic life awaiting the murderer, until both dogs run way.  The women are super mad that he let them escape and they claim that the killer will have taken them.  He drives around eventually finding both dogs, but then he sets his sights on the killer’s place of business (whose address the women have given him).  He calls the killer Bedloe.

He goes to Bedloe’s place to check him out and as he leaves Bedloe’s dog follows him.

Some time later, Bedloe shows up at the apartment and things take a major turn for the worse for all parties involved.  This is one of the more visceral pieces by Bolaño.  It’s not always clear what the point of his stories is, but I do enjoy the ride.

It was translated by Chris Andrews and is available here.

For ease of searching I include: Bolano