I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: MY MORNING JACKET–Z (2005).

I’ve enjoyed My Morning Jacket since I bought their live album Okonokos.  I’ve enjoyed all of their releases since, but I never listened to Z, the album that forms the basis of much of Okonokos. Finally, I saw it cheap and picked it up.

And I was really surprised.  The reason I hadn’t gotten it was because I figured I had all of the songs already in live format, so who needed the studio?  Well, it turns out that the studio versions are quite different from the live ones.  In fact, on my first listen, I didn’t really like the studio versions all that much.  After a few listens of course, I like them just fine, but they are indeed quite different.

There are three songs here that didn’t make the live record: “Into the Woods,” “Anytime” and “Knot Comes Loose.”  But the other seven songs appear (often in slightly longer form) on the live disc.  And the live disc is fuller, louder and more energetic than the studio.  That’s what a live album is supposed to sound like.

Z, on the other hand, sounds a bit more polished, more almost dancey–reflecting the kinds of sounds they would incorporate down the road (like on Circuital).  But Z isn’t quite as full-sounding.  Despite that, the songs are top-notch.  And Jim James’ voice is truly a thing to behold (check out that crazy high note at the end of “What a Wonderful Man”).

I hate to sound like I’m down on this disc, because indeed, I am not.  It’s a really fascinating mix of psychedelia and Prince-inspired keyboard rock (I’m not going as far as funk, but it’s certainly Prince-y.  There’s some folk tracks, there’s the amazing “Wordless Chorus” which has a kind of 70;s soft rock feel, which is followed by the Prince-titled “It Beats 4 U” which sounds nothing like Prince, but has a great subtle guitar intro.  “Gideon” doesn’t match any of the over the top epics of earlier records, but it sure feels close.  And “Off the Record” is a practically ska.  The album even has a near 8 minute closing track, the awesome “Dondante.”

All in all, Z is pretty great.  But I still like the live versions better.  That’s what happens when you listen to things out of order, I guess.  But when do live albums count for anything?

 [READ: July 11, 2011] 3 book reviews

According to Five Dials, Zadie Smith is an official member of Harper’s staff now (funny I found out about it from Five Dials, but they really do have tentacles in all aspects of my life).  Congratultions, Zadie.

I can’t imagine having to review two or three books a month (I know I review a lot here, but most of them are short stories).  Zadie plows through a lot of books for this column, but what is wonderful is that the diversity of what she reads is really pronounced.  Just witness this months’ books.

MELA HARTWIG-Am I a Redundant Human Being?
Zadie takes a great angle on this novel.  She (with the help of an online reviewer) compares the protagonist of this novel (written in the 1930s) with Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City.  Why?  Because both protagonists seem to live their lives in the male gaze.  And yet they both also continue on their merry way regardless of what the men say or do.  True, Hartwig’s novella has much more angst, but really, there is a similar attitude present.

I especially like Zadie’s argument that women writers have never really had they way to express the bragging rights that men have employed time immemorial “We can’t, as the saying goes, pull it out and slap it on the table.”  And as such, women have had to achieve their victories through more roundabout means.  I rather liked this analysis.  And, I think it makes for more interesting reading most of the time.

MARLENE ZUK-Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World
Although very different from the novella, Zadie uses a nice segue to tie these books together.  This book sounds delightfully trashy (in an intellectual/scientific sort of way).  For although the book has a kind of sensationalist title, it is really designed as an informative look at insects.  Without having read this book, it reminds me right away of Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex by Olivia Judson.  Although it sounds like this book is more about the insects themselves rather than just the reproductive aspects.

Zadie proposes that anyone would enjoy this book because they will be able to give all kinds of dinner-ending anecdotes (the one about zombie crickets is pretty awesome).  This is the kind of book that I think would be wonderful to read but I will probably never get around to reading it.  And if I did I would forget everything I read pretty quickly.

SIGRID NUNEZ-Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag
Zadie manages a tidy segue to tie this book to the previous one as well.  Her review of this title is very brief and I’d say fairly dismissive (“a sprung trap laid by a needy author”).  I’m put off by the subtitle.  “A memoir of Susan Sontag?”  I’m not even sure what that means.

Although Zadie is more put off by the contents.  Because it appears that we can’t possibly appreciate a female intellectual without trying to dig up all kinds of rumors about her.  (Some are pretty awful).

So, here’s three new books to read (or not).  I think Sempre Susan is the first one that she has outright disliked.  And while she’s not as nasty as say Will Self in her criticism, I wonder if she enjoyed not being nice for a change!