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Archive for May, 2010

Roddy Doyle–“Ash” (New Yorker, May 24, 2010)

Posted in Drinking, Frightened Rabbit, Funny (ha ha), Irish Writer, Marriage Trouble, Natural Disasters, New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Sex, Short Story on May 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FRIGHTENED RABBIT-The Winter of Mixed Drinks (2010).

I enjoyed Frightened Rabbit’s previous disc ever so much: a twisted blend of rocking folk music and very dark lyrics.  The fact that a number of these songs were used in Chuck was a treat for me.

I’ve never heard their first disc, so I don’t know how much their songwriting changed from disc 1 to disc 2.  But there’s a pretty huge leap from disc 2 to disc 3.

The most notable track has got to be “Swim Until You Can’t See Land.”   And it’s notable for having a really rocking and catchy and undeniable chorus.  They liked it so much, they reprise it later in the disc (with new instrumentation and such) on “Man/Bag of Sand.”

The rest of the disc sounds like Frightened Rabbit, but like the full band version.  There’s just so much music, that it actually distracts a bit from the lyrics (on the previous disc, the lyrics were certainly more of the focus).  There’s even a string arrangement on “Living in Colour.”

And yet despite all of these changes, they never lose what makes FR special: that voice and that outlook.  Although I’m sure I would have enjoyed if this disc was similar to the previous one, I’m always delighted to see a band take some chances and try something different.  And here they did, and it works wonderfully.

[READ: May 19, 2010] “Ash”

On April 14, Iceland’s volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted.  And here, barely a month later, Roddy Doyle has written a story in which that eruption plays a role.  I’m impressed enough that he could get a coherent story written in that short amount of time, but I’m amazed that it was squeezed so quickly into The New Yorker‘s fiction schedule.  Admittedly, I don’t know how The New Yorker does anything, so I don’t know if they had a slot open (doubtful) or if they had to push back other stories (unlikely) or maybe he was slotted to give them something else, and whipped this out instead?  Beats me.  Whatever the reason, I was really surprised to see this here. (more…)

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John Barth–“Lost in the Funhouse” (1967)

Posted in David Foster Wallace, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), John Barth, Meta, Postmoderism, Short Story, Summer, The Beatles on May 20, 2010| 4 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Beatles for Sale (1964).

After the riotous fun of A Hard Day’s Night, I expected that this disc would not only continue the fun, but also be full of songs that I’d heard all the time on the radio.

But wow, this disc is kind of a downer.  “I’m a Loser.”  Really? It’s catchy as all get out but what happened to these guys in this last year?  “Baby’s in Black.”  Wow, these guys are serious now.  The opener, “No Reply” is all about getting rejected.  And “I’ll Follow the Sun” is about leaving and losing a friend.

But there are some good times as well. The cover of “Rock n Roll Music” is a little too stiff for such a rollicking song (kind of like how “Roll Over Beethoven was a little too stiff previously).  But “Eight Days a Week” is a rocking good time.  Fun for all and the first sign that the fun Beatles haven’t grown up completely.

The second half of the disc I barely recognized at all.  One or two songs were kind of familiar, but I wasn’t singing along with abandon.

Yet despite my unfamiliarity, the disc shows remarkable progression in songwriting, in structure (and even recording techniques–again, the liner notes were really informative about the technology they used).  I doubt many people consider this their favorite Beatles disc, but I think it’s a fine transition into what’s to come.

It’s also quite surprising to see how much their hair has grown in a year.

[READ: May 16, 2010] “Lost in the Funhouse”

I read this short story because it is something of the foundation of David Foster Wallace’s story “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.”  This story is part of Barth’s larger collection also called Lost in the Funhouse.  And, based on this story, I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the collection.  But this story works in an of itself and, since it forms the backbone of the other story I’m going to mention it by itself.

This story is written in a thoroughly postmodern way.  As the story opens, with the enigmatic line, “For whom is the funhouse fun?,” we are introduced to Ambrose.  Ambrose has come with his family to the shore for “the holiday, the occasion of their visit is Independence Day, the most important secular holiday of the United States of America.”

Shortly after this italicized part, the story interrupts itself with this:

Italics are also employed, in fiction stories especially, for “outside,” intrusive, or artificial voices, such as radio announcements, the texts of telegrams and newspaper articles, et cetera. They should be used sparingly.

And so it goes with the rest of the story.  The author (one assumes) interrupts the flow of the narrative, letting the reader know that there is far more at foot here than just the story of Ambrose at the beach.

The story eventually gets back to the matter at hand: Ambrose, his brother Peter and Peter’s girlfriend Magda are driving with Ambrose’ parents to Ocean City.  This trip is made three times a year but this is the first time that Magda has come with them.  They play car games (spot the towers), and generally act like a family on a long car trip.

At this point the author interrupts again to note that:

So far there’s been no real dialogue, very little sensory detail, and nothing in the way of a theme. And a long time has gone by already without anything happening; it makes a person wonder.

Oh, and all along it is quite apparent that Ambrose is, as the title suggests, lost in the funhouse at the beach.

When they finally arrive at the beach, there has been an oil spill and no one wants to swim, so they stay on the boardwalk (not under the boardwalk).  Then the family decides to go for a swim in the pool.  At which point the author jumps in again and stops the meandering:

There’s no point in going farther; this isn’t getting anybody anywhere; they haven’t even come to the funhouse yet. Ambrose is off the track, in some new or old part of the place that’s not supposed to be used; he strayed into it by some one-in-a-million chance….

When the funhouse is finally mentioned as an activity, there is general hilarity and nudging and winking about what happens in funhouses (which Ambrose is too young to understand).  At this point, it’s worth noting that Ambrose has a pretty big crush on Magda.  He has spent many an afternoon with her while the three of them were playing (although she clearly thinks nothing of it).  When he suggests that he and Magda go in the funhouse together, everyone wonders what he’s thinking, but no one says anything (again, he’s too young).

Ultimately, the three kids make it to the funhouse, the entrance of which blows girls’ skirts up (and then Ambrose realizes the point of the funhouse!).  And he realizes that the funhouse is not meant for him.  And then he gets lost.

From there the story turns into fantasy, imagination and future possibilities.

It’s a fascinating piece of work.  I certainly wouldn’t want all of my stories to be constructed in this way, but I really appreciate this point of view and the, in my opinion, funny intrusions that break the fourth wall.

For reasons I’m not entirely clear about, the whole story is available here as a Word doc.

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Kaitlin Fontana–“The Flight Album” (The Walrus, May 2010)

Posted in Books about writers, Canadian Content, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Kaitlin Fontana, Memoirs, The Beatles, The Walrus, Word usage on May 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-A Hard Day’s Night (1964).

Despite my CD player trying to eat this disc, I still managed to listen to the whole thing.

This album came out just a few months after their second disc.  But it is quite a leap forward musically.  Rather than the simple rock and roll sound of the first two discs, there’s more depth of sound (attributable to George’s 12 string guitar?)  Perhaps also because of the use of the 4 track, rather than the 2 track mixer.  Also, Lennon and McCartney wrote all of the songs, so they weren’t bogged down by covers,

At first I thought that I had gotten to my first Beatles disc where I knew all the songs.  But that turned out not to be true.  I knew the first half of the disc (the songs that are in the movie).  But when we got to the second half (and I learned that the US version was different in that in included George Martin’s score for the movie (!)) there were a couple of tracks I didn’t know at all.

With the tracks sequenced as they are, you don’t get a big crunching finale at the end of the disc, like on the first two.  However, those first few songs are pretty classic (even if “Can’t Buy Me Love” completely contradicts the sentiment of “Money” from the previous album.  This is a really enjoyable fun disc from start to finish, even the songs I didn’t know.

I was pretty certain that after this disc, I’d recognize all of the songs.  But I had one more surprise waiting for me.

I also brought the movie home from the library one night but I couldn’t get through most of it.  Guess you had to be there.

[READ: May 13, 2010] “The Flight Album”

This is a memoir of the a Vancouver author’s stay in New York City.   I wasn’t really sure how interesting this story would be, I mean, there are a million stories in the City, so why should this transplant’s story be worth reading?

The piece starts with the author’s awkward assimilation to New York (and the almost offensive Dave Chapelle joke she relates to a cabbie).  His mild reaction lets her know that maybe she can make it there.

For me the best part was the author’s insert of Shit: A Guide to Canadian Usage.  The most notable difference between Canadians and Americans, she has found, is that Canadians use the word “shit” all over the place, and in many ways that Americans do not (in fact it is more all purpose than fuck.  The things that started it all was her use of the phrase “What the shit.”)  It is quite a funny section. (more…)

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Pasha Malla–“1999” (The Walrus, May 2010)

Posted in Books about music, Canadian Content, End of the World, Gnarls Barkley, Minnesota, Pasha Malla, Prince, Sex, The Walrus on May 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PRINCE-Purple Rain (1984).

I resisted Prince for most of my high school and early college years.  He was just so, so, so.  Well, actually I think he was just so popular.  Plus, my freshman year of college, someone on our floor used to blast this CD at full volume every time he did laundry.  It was pretty oppressive.

As I grew less strident, I learned to appreciate his talent (and his absurdity), and even to like Purple Rain.  And when I divorce Prince from the hype, the overplay, the excess, the quirks (yes, I’m talking 2 U) this is a damn fine record.

It’s also somewhat surprising that it was as big a hit as it was.  Musically, it’s all over the place (or is that something for everyone?).  I think in today’s specialized market, this may not have sold as well (or else it would be like Gnarls Barkley and be a hit regardless).

“Let’s Go Crazy” is poppy sure, but it rocks really hard (and showcases Prince’s guitar virtuosity).  But it’s the  second half of the disc that is just berserk with great music. “When Doves Cry” has that insane guitar solo opener.  The rest is simple keyboard pop (until the ecstatic screams at the end).  “I Would Die 4U” is the poppiest thing on the disc.  And the disc ender, “Purple Rain” is just a great rock track.  Delightfully pretentious in the beginning, full-bodied by the middle.  It’s quite genre defying.

I’m obviously not the biggest Prince fan in the world.  I have a few discs from this period (and the greatest hits).  It’s more than enough Prince for me.  And while I don’t listen to this disc while I do laundry, sometimes, when it’s warm, I’ll open the windows and crank this up.

[READ: May 14, 2010] “1999”

This story opens with the line “I wouldn’t fuck [the artist formerly known as Prince] if he was the last man on Earth.”  This turns out to be excellent foreshadowing.  The year is 1999, morphing into 2000.  And the unthinkable has happened.  There is no one left on the planet.  Except for the voice of TAFKAP on the radio, exhorting women to cum 2 him and b with him.

Although Sonya wouldn’t fuck him, several other women in the story most certainly would.   And so, the story follows four different women, each with her own agenda as they travel across the continent to Minnesota, to Paisley Park. (more…)

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Joshua Dysart & Cliff Chiang–Neil Young’s Greendale (2010) [prepub]

Posted in Books about music, Canadian Music, Cliff Chiang, Concept Albums, Death, Joshua Dysart, Nature, Neil Young on May 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE-Greendale (2003).

This is a lengthy song story (rock opera?) from Neil Young.  It’s a pretty meandering story, musically, although there’s a lot of electric guitars involved, and Crazy Horse keeps the pacing pretty brisk.

The songs are all pretty long (from about 5 to 12 minutes).  And they are all employed for telling the narrative of the town of Greendale and its first family: the Greens.  The town of Greendale was named after a patriarch of the Green family.  The story focuses on his great-granddaughter ( I believe) whose name is Sun.

Her parents own the Double E ranch, where her mom sings and her father paints.  The story is set during Bush’s war in Iraq.  And as more revelations come out, Sun has more and more reason to fight.  She ultimately winds up fighting PowerCo, chaining herself to their giant eagle statue, wielding only a megaphone and the truth.

Later, she plans to travel to Alaska to protect the environment.

But there’s also ancillary characters.  Sun’s cousin Jed is trying to do anything he can to avoid joining the army.  But when his drug running comes to the attention of the cops he acts impulsively against someone he actually knows and is punished for his crimes.  We also meet Sun’s grandfather, a tough old man who speaks his mind just a bit more often than he speaks with his guns.

And there’s also Earth Brown, the boy that convinces her to go to Alaska with him.

Musically, the songs fall into a similar vein: long, loping, kinda sloppy jams, acoustic guitar over the top of Crazy Horse, and of course Neil’s voice.  There’s nothing revolutionary about the music.  It’s just a solid collection of tunes.  If you don’t like songs that last 12 minutes, this may not be your cup of tea.  But I find that if I engage with the story I really enjoy the disc.  And yes, there’s a few catchy choruses too.

[READ: May 11, 2010] Neil Young’s Greendale

Adaptations from one media to another are quite common these days.  So, to see a comic book made from a record (and a film) isn’t that surprising.  What is surprising is how this story comes to life on the page.  I haven’t seen the film of this record, so I don’t know how it compares, but this graphic novel really fleshes out the story from the CD.

I was delighted to get this as a prepub, as I didn’t even know it was coming out.  This preview copy of the comic is one of the first advance copies I’ve received that is not anywhere near the final version.  The final product will be in color, while my version has about ten pages in (beautiful) color and the rest left uncolored.  I didn’t count the pages, but I suspect that a fairly large amount of the final product was left out as well.  And that’s fine. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #34

Posted in Adventure, Annie Holmes, Anthony Doerr, Art, Arthur Bradford, Ben Marcus, Bridget Clerkin, Daniel Handler, David Means, Death, Fantasy, Funny (strange), Greil Marcus, History, Jack Pendarvis, John Hodgman, Jonathan Ames, Jonathan Lethem, Julie Klausner, Lisa Brown, McSweeney's, Mike Leigh, Mona Awad, Nick McDonell, Sarah Vowell, Sean Casey, Short Story, Silver Mt. Zion, Stephen Elliott, T.C. Boyle, Tim Carvell, Tom Barbash, Violence on May 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra-Kollpas Tradixionales (2010).

Silver Mt. Zion are back!  And they are noisy!

This disc continues their fine output of haunting, rambling epics.  The opener is a 15 minute slow builder called “There is a Light” and the finale is a 14 minute story called “‘Piphany Rambler.”  In between we have  a couple of multi-part tracks: “I Built Myself a Metal Bird” and “I Fed My Metal Bird the Wings of Other Metal Birds” which are some of the fastest tracks they’ve recorded.  The other “suite” is 3 versions (and spellings) of the title track.

The one consistent thing about Silver Mt . Zion (in whatever version of their name they employ) is that they write incredibly passionate music.  It’s often raw and it swells and ebbs with feeling.  I especially enjoy the (multiple) climaxes that fill all of the longer songs.  And when the band brings in the horns and the strings and the whole group sings along, it’s very affecting.

The one thing that I’m still not totally on board with is Efrim’s voice.  On previous releases, I bought it because he sounded very angsty, but I’m starting to think that the tenor of his voice just doesn’t work with the bombast of the music.  When the backing singers chime in, the sound is glorious, but I find his voice to be simply the wrong sound.  There’s a few parts on the disc where he sings in a lower, softer register, and I found them really moving.  I think if he sang all of the parts like that, they would impact the songs more strongly (and maybe even be more understandable).

I realize that the vocals are an essential part to the disc, and I definitely get used to them after a few listens, I just feel like the whole disc (and not just the music) would be amazing if Efrim used that deeper register more.

Nevertheless, the music is really fantastic, and if you buy the LP, you get some great artwork, too.

[READ: May 13, 2010] McSweeney’s 34

After the enormous work of Panorama, (McSweeney’s newspaper (Issue 33)), they’ve returned with a somewhat more modest affair.  Two slim books totaling about 400 pages  Each is a paperback. The first is a collection of short stories artwork, etc.  The second is  nonfiction work about Iraq.  Both books are bound together in a clear plastic slipcover (with a fun design on it).  [UPDATE: I cannot for the life of me out the books back in the cover.  They simply will not sit without ripping the plastic.  Boo!]

The first collection opens with a Letters column, something that we haven’t seen in years!  And, as with the old letters column, the letters are absurd/funny/thoughtful and sometimes just weird. (more…)

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Scott Teplin, Mac Barnett & Eli Horowitz–The Clock Without a Face: A Gus Twintig Mystery (2010)

Posted in Adam Rex, Adventure, Art, Children's Books, Chuck BB, Collecting, Contests, Eli Horowitz, Mac Barnett, McSweeney's, Mystery, Puzzles, Rheostatics, Scott Teplin, Short Books, Smarty Pants, The Beatles, Travel, YA Books on May 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: My Volkwagen Jetta hates The Beatles.

Lately, I have been playing some Beatles discs in my car.  And my Jetta clearly hates them.

First it was Please Please Me, when the entire CD player shut off mid-song.  It had lost all power.  I had to bang on it for about 5 minutes before it came back on.

The player played other discs fine after that.  Then, last night I played A Hard Day’s Night and half way through the disc it shut itself off again.  This time I was able to power it back on, but it wouldn’t play the disc anymore.  I ejected it and put in a new disc which worked fine.  When I put A Hard Day’s Night back in, same spot on the disc (“Can’t Buy Me Love”), and the player was totally off: no power at all.

A bit more pounding on the face and it came back on, and today played a Rheostatics disc with no trouble.  I guess I’ll not be listening to The Beatles in the car again.  Is it because the Beatles recorded versions of their songs in German but they weren’t included on the disc?

[READ: May 8, 2010] The Clock Without a Face

This review is about my first read of this book.  When I get to the end you’ll realize why there will have to be a second read and updated review.

This is an amusing tale.  And also a confounding (and evidently very real–see the bottom paragraph!–) mystery. (more…)

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Nathan Englander–“Free Fruit for Young Widows” (New Yorker, May 17, 2010)

Posted in Death, Holocaust, Nathan Englander, Nazis, New Yorker, Short Story, The Beatles, War on May 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: The Beatles-With the Beatles (1963).

Reading the liner notes to these discs gives me a greater appreciation for what the Beatles did.  They put out these first two records in the span of eight months and recorded both of the discs in a matter of like 26 hours each.  That’s pretty amazing.

I’m also starting to think that mono may be the way to go with these early discs.  I mean I’m a stereo guy, but I’m listening to these discs in the car, and it’s weird to have all the instruments on my side and all the vocals over by the passenger seat.

As for this disc itself, again, I was surprised by how many songs I didn’t know on it.  It’s also funny to hear so many cover songs (although it makes sense this early in their career).  Especially since, for the most part, their originals are quite a bit better.  It’s also funny how many of these covers I think of as Beatles songs.  Especially, “Money.”  This disc closer is like “Twist and Shout” in that it really rocks the house down at the close of the disc.  It’s not quite as intense as “Twist” but it’s close.

The only real dud on the disc is “Roll Over Beethoven” which is remarkably stiff for a song about rock and roll.

Whether it’s the production or the amount of time they spent in the studio, this disc sounds more accomplished than the first.  And I can really see  what all the excitement must have been about.  Four good-looking guys singing about love.  What could be better than that?

[READ: May 11, 2010] “Free Fruit for Young Widows”

After reading the Holocaust-based story in McSweeney’s (post coming soon), and the Holocaust section of 2666, the last thing I was ready for was another Holocaust story.  And what a doozy this one is.

Sometimes, when reading a Holocaust based story, I worry that my emotions about the Holocaust will overshadow the quality of the story.  In other words, is it a cheap ploy, an easy setting to get a reaction from the reader.  This story definitely is not. (more…)

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Damion Searls– ; or The Whale (2009)

Posted in 19th Century, Big Books, Damion Searls, Death, Fishing, Funny (strange), Gods, Henry Rollins, Herman Melville, Infinite Zombies, Jimmy Fallon, Meta, Morality, Peaches, Pink Floyd, Racism, Religion, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, The Flaming Lips, Whales on May 13, 2010| 12 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS & STARDEATH AND WHITE DWARFS featuring HENRY ROLLINS and PEACHES doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2010).

You’ve got to have balls to cover the most popular album of all time.  Everyone knows Dark Side of the Moon, according to Billboard charts everyone probably owns a copy of Dark Side of the Moon.  So, you’re taking on a pretty big task here.  But the Flaming Lips aren’t called The Fearless Freaks for nothing.

What delights me about this album is that it is utterly unfaithful to the original.  There’s nothing worse than a cover song that just apes the original version.  With that in mind, the Lips have put their bizarro stamp on the classic album, oftentimes rendering the songs almost unrecognizable–but more on that in a moment.

The two guest stars on the disc are Henry Rollins and Peaches.  Rollins recites all the spoken word bits from the original.  He actually makes a lot of those weird ramblings clear for me for the firs time.  The originals were spoken by a (presumably) high Englishman.  Rollins’ delivery is much more abrasive (but then so is the music).  It works pretty well, especially since Rollins’ laugh is maniacal, although if he sounded a bit more drunken I think it would work even better.  Peaches sings a few of the female vocal bits.  I’ve never been much of a fan of hers but, man, she does an awesome job in covering “The Great Gig in the Sky,” the track from the disc that features a wondrous diva singing and screaming her heart out.  Peaches really lets loose and showcases the power of her voice.

The Lips play on 7 songs and StarDeath play on 6.  They work together on 2 tracks.

StarDeath is fronted by Wayne Coyne’s nephew, Dennis.  I’d only heard one track from them before, and I liked it.  Dennis’ voice is a higher register, like Wayne, but he’s also a bit more subtle. Musically they are less noisy as well, and it’s a good counterpoint to the static of the Lips’ tracks.

So the opener, “Breathe” (Lips) is distinct right away, because the main focus of this version is a loud throbbing bassline. “On the Run” (Stardeath) is completely indistinguishable from the original.  You would never suspect it was a cover.  It’s a bass-propelled, very cool song, but there’s almost no similarity.

“Money” (Lips) stays fairly faithful to the original, except that the vocals are totally auto-tuned.  It makes the song sound really alien, as if coming, yes, from the other side of the moon.

“Time” (Stardeath) on the other hand, is a very delicate, acoustic track, (sounding somewhat like Mercury Rev, actually).  It is something of a counter to the rocking version on the original.

“Us and Them” (Lips) is probably the closest sounding to the original.  It has simple washes of sound and Wayne’s delicate voice.  But, once again, the louder sections of this song are left out.  “Any Colour You Like” (Stardeath) is a much closer instrumental to the original than “On the Run” was.  And “Brain Damage” (Stardeath) is really quite spot on (and may be even creepier than the original).

The ender, “Eclipse” is like a distorted indie rock version of the original.  It works pretty well.

There’s surprisingly little in the way of sound effects (which are all over the original).  I’d have thought they’d populate the disc with all kinds of fun things, but no, they actually play it pretty straight.

My one real complaint about the disc (and actually about Embryonic as well).  The Lips have always pushed the envelope of music.  But lately, they seem to be redlining  a lot of their sounds, making them distort and crackle.  Now, I love distortion when it’s used well, but this “too loud” distortion actually hurts my ears, even if the volume is low.  I find the sound to be unpleasant, and not in a good way.  And I think it’s a shame because the Lips write such great music, that I hate to have it obscured by clouds of noise.

So, yeah, this will never replace the original for anyone.  But it’s a fun experiment and actually sounds a bit like a rough demo for the final release.  In fact, in many ways it sounds like it’s coming from outer space and may be conceptually more accurate for the title.

I saw The Lips and Star Death on Jimmy Fallon.  They played “Breathe” and all eight (or more) guys were on stage.  It was a big wonderful mess.  And they sounded really good together.

[READ: May 11, 2010] ; or The Whale

In 2007, a book was published called Moby Dick in Half the Time.  And, as the title implies, it took Herman Melville’s Moby Dick; or The Whale and truncated it.  The editors basically kept in all of the “plot” and excised most of the “wandering” parts of the story.

So, in 2009, Damion Searls decided to print all of the excised material as a book itself.  This exercise was published in The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Summer 2009 | Vol. XXIX.  So, this “book” is Moby Dick without the “plot” or as the introduction puts it, “all Moby, no Dick.”

This book includes “every chapter, sentence, word, and punctuation mark that Anonymous removed to produce [Moby Dick in Half the Time]” (10).

And so what we get is a very surreal story indeed.  It comes across as a fascinating look into the mind of the (in this version) not named until Chapter 11 or so narrator (since we’ve obviously lost “Call me Ishmael”).  It also comes across in many sections as bizarre poetry.

; or the Whale’s opening line is:

“methodically.” (31). (more…)

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Ross Campbell–Wet Moon Book 3: Further Realms of Fright (2007)

Posted in Bella Morte, Demons, Drinking, Goths, Graphic Novel, Humiliation, LGBTQ, Meat Loaf, Ongoing, Oni Press, Ross Campbell, Sex, The Sisters of Mercy on May 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SISTERS OF MERCY-Floodland (1987).

Since I’m reviewing a goth book, why not talk about a goth record?  Back in the day, I really liked Floodland (and still think it’s pretty cool).  The album is over the top, but it’s quite apparent that I’m really drawn to theatrical music.

It’s opens with a wonderfully driving medley of “Dominion/Mother Russia” (I can recall singing “Doh-Min-E-Un!” at the top of my lungs on many a car ride.)  The second epic track, “Lucretia, My Reflection” is another great over the top ode to darkness.  I get that melody in my head and it doesn’t leave for days.

“1959” is the odd track on the disc: a straightforeward piano ballad.  It shows Andrew Eldritch’s voice works well solo as well as when he’s emoting with the “band.”  This is followed by the great spooky chorus of voices that open “This Corrosion.”  This song, which starts out so theatrically, morphs into a keyboard based bouncy dance track.  The chorus keeps coming back, giving this a delightfully operatic quality.  (I was going to make a comment in the first paragraph about liking theatrical artists like Meat Loaf, and when I looked this disc up I learned that this track was produced by Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf’s major producer guy.  Huh).

The end of the disc can’t reach the extreme heights of the earlier portion (although the guitar lines of “Flood” are quite nice).  But after the trio of  “Dominion,” “Lucretia,” and “Corrosion,” you’ve easily satisfied anyone’s criteria for great goth disc.

[READ: May 9, 2010] Wet Moon Book 3

I can’t believe it took me this long to read the continuing saga of Cleo and friends.  When I finally had a window, I devoured almost the whole book in a sitting.

The biggest change in the book is in Cleo’s eyes.  They are suddenly HUGE!  They’re very cartoon-like (specifically like Bugs Bunny’s nephew Clyde).  It’s very disconcerting since everything else is so meticulously true to life.  Contextually, it can be argued that at the end of book two, when Myrtle kissed Cleo for the first time, her eyes popped out of her head, but that’s stretching it, I think.

Aside from that incongruity, the rest of the cast remains the same.  I was delighted to have a flashback to high school, where we could see a young (evil) Cleo, and a young Trilby (with hair!). (more…)

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