I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Bait 5 (2011).

When this was released it was an astonishing free giveaway.  A mix of previously released and brand new recordings that spanned from 1987 to 2009!  Over 6 hours of music!  For free.

It’s fun to hear the really early stuff–like the songs that are from “Ian McLean’s Party at Connie Condon’s Farm” where the band is laughing with the audience (which seems like it’s about 100 people).  And when they invite everyone to another free part coming up.   This was back in 1987 before they had released their official debut Junta (who was taping all this stuff for them back then?  And with such good quality?).  But this one is especially fun because you can hear dogs barking during the quieter parts.

There’s also a big chunk of live Gamehendge material from Townshend Family Park in Vermont (circa 1989).  The middle block features the addition of The Giant Country Horns who play on “Flat Fee” and great versions of “David Bowie” and “Gumbo.”  I wouldn’t want the horns all the time, but they do add something to these shows.

Then there’s a jump to 1996 and a whole series of songs from shows at Loring Air Force base (through 1998).  There’s a 27 minute “Down with Disease” and a fun “Bathtub Gin.”  There’s then a bunch of songs from one show at the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation.

After a few year’s hiatus, they resume in 2003 back at Loring.  There’s a great version of “Waves,” although I found the “Mike’s Song” from this era kind of anemic.  And then, interestingly, there’s a “Split Open and Melt Jam” which is indeed, just the jam from the song and not the song itself.  “Suzy Greenberg” features Sharon Jones–it’s funny to me to hear r&b singers singing about a Jewish woman going to a neurologist. Fish, by the way has some of the funniest lines during the “forgotten my name bit.”  I’m also intrigued by the 2009 version of “McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters,” a pretty but kind of goofy song that dates back to 1985!

All in all, this was a very cool freebie to give to fans.

[READ: July 5, 2011] Five Dials 24

The newest Five Dials came as something of a surprise since Number 23 came out not too long ago and there was talk of the next issue being quite large.  But I like the small editions of Five Dials.  And this one is a cool, bite-sized nugget–a little fiction, an interview and an essay.  I have to assume this one was released when it was because it has a remembrance of David Rakoff, making this release rather timely.

…plus bear illustrations like you won’t believe by BECKY BARNICOAT (funny and dark drawings), LIZZY STEWART (beautiful pencil drawings) and NEAL JONES (blue bears).

CRAIG TAYLOR-“A Letter from the Editor: On Bears, Bridget and B”
Taylor explains that this issue was brought to you by the letter B.  It began because the staff was thinking about bears and how drawing bears is like casting practice for a fisherman–it keeps the muscles in shape.  They then received an essay on bears from Amy Leach (this essay was radically reduced from the original one which she did not like).  In continuing with the B theme, an agent told Five Dials that he best unpublished short story out there was by Bridget O’Connor (“We Do Not Forward Suicide Notes”).  O’Connor died recently, and this issue has three of her stories.  There’s a lengthy section about Bridget in this introduction from her husband and writing partner Peter Straughan.  He explains how they wrote together (they did the screenplay for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), which seems like an ideal situation.  Note there is no mention of Rakoff in the introduction, so that must have been a last-minute addition.

AMY LEACH-“Radical Bears in the Forest Delicious”
Leach writes about panda bears and how they are so stubborn and unusual.  They are solitary (until they need to mate) and yet their hide is so uncamouflaged, they are totally easy to spot.  They can eat (and do eat) anything yet 90% of their diet is bamboo–a plant that is not really very nourishing (which is why they have to eat so much).   This is a brief essay and quite a treat if you like pandas.

JOHN BANVILLE-Interview
I haven’t read much by Banville, but this interview with him is quiet enjoyable.  He’s a funny man and he is gracious in talking about his writing (and how he goes into an altered state when he writes so that when he later does interviews he can’t say that he’s the same person that wrote the books).  I’m not entirely sure that this made me want to read his books, though.

BRIDGET O’CONNOR-“We Do Not Forward Suicide Notes”
This did not prove to be my favorite short story ever.  It’s quite peculiar, and feels like it never really gets into focus (that’s on purpose).  The story is about a man in a cafe (on the edge of a cliff). The woman working there doesn’t speak great English (she may be Polish) and has extraordinarily wide hips and ass especially compared to the rest of her frame.  The story reveals that the man (Colin) is an escaped convict and has recently killed someone (maybe).  He also intends to harm the woman, but she changes things by offering him a free meal.  And she then reveals her desire to kill herself.  This of of course changes his outlook on things.

BRIDGET O’CONNOR-“Kasta Sus Bull Ya Suckers”
This crazily titled story is another story about an ex con. In this story, Bee and Sal are on the lam in Greece. They have been working at Tavi’s–and nicking things from him–for the past two weeks.  They have run in to a man who they call Jesus (his real name much longer than that with lots of zs and gs).  He brings them to the top of a hill where he has a small pit full of dogs that he has gathered for them (British people love dogs).  The women are disgusted (but the story is so surreal it’s not even evident that they are at first).  And they decide it is time to flee this man.  So they travel around the Greek islands, making new friends, stealing things and playing “what’s in the bag” (a game that shows their inventory and reveals what the women like to steal).  But wherever they go, Jesus follows along.  In their haste to escape, they make a mistake, and things turn from bad to worse for the pair.

BRIDGET O’CONNOR-“At least pull your jumper up.”
Clara tells Jake that she is going to marry him.  She has picked the date and time, everything is arranged–from invitations and stag parties–all he has to do is show up on the date.  They have been together for 13 years and he is content, he doesn’t want to get married.  But Clara is off doing her thing.  So for the week of the wedding he stays home by himself and orders take out.  Then on the night before the wedding he orders a “home made” meal.  They have an adventure (which is, based on the other two stories, characteristically surreal), and he realizes it’s time he gets to the church.  But the ending throws another twist on things.

For each of O’Connor’s stores, I didn’t really like the overall story itself very much.  They were a little too surreal and untethered.  And yet the details that she wrote about were amazing and very grounded.  So I enjoyed sections of these stories very much.  But for some, it took a second read just to understand what happened, and for others even that didn’t help.  I’m curious what her published work is like.

CRAIG TAYLOR-Remembering David Rakoff
Taylor was a friend of Rakoff’s.  They had known each other for years (and Rakoff had contributed to Five Dials).  Taylor has some wonderful anecdotes and some examples of Rakoff’s emails that made him laugh–comic timing in an email!  But he was more engaging in person–he never let his cancer get the better of him, and he was always on the watch for something to write about–arched eyebrow at the ready.  Once again, I feel it is a shame I have to learn so much about him now that he is dead.