I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: JENNY HVAL-“Innocence is Sexy” (2013).

I saw this video on Stereogum.  I was actually intrigued by her last name: Hval.  Then I read a bit more about her–she’s an experimental Norwegian singer with four albums out (two under the name Rockettothesky).

I watched the video and was so mesmerized by it that I didn’t even really notice the music the first time through.  In the video, Jenny has her body filmed in all manner of unexpected angles and poses–she is shaving parts of her body, strategically positioning other parts of her body.  And pressing and squeezing her flesh in ways that are not often shown.  She is also jogging (both in a jogging outfit and in a dress–the juxtaposition is fascinating.  And then there’s the dress that appears to be made of latex.  At a time when men (Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke) are making videos of naked women, Jenny makes us question what we see and why.  It’s very cool.

It’s also interesting musically.  The first words of the song are: “That night I watched people fucking on my computer.”  The song has an interesting guitar riff playing behind her spoken words until she starts singing with a vaguely operatic Middle Eastern tonality.  After a more mellow verse, Jenny ends a with a fascinating little scale of notes.

The same confrontational style of singing occurs at the end when the music stops and she keeps singing “in and out and in and out” in a less then pleasing manner.

As I say I am fascinated by her.  Although I can’t help but wonder if this would be a case of more exposure being less satisfying.

[READ: July 11, 2013] ”Outside T-Club”

In this story, which an excerpt from a novel called Necessary Errors the narrator, Jacob, pulled out some significant pages about Eastern Europe from a travel guide. He hid the rest of the book in the garbage, keeping only the pages on gay life in Czechoslovakia.

He was living in Boston, but was heading to Prague.  This was after his boyfriend moved away to start a new job for a men’s magazine.  He had sent Jacob a postcard which tried to make it seem like Jacob would be on a  fun adventure, and he imagined Jacob hooking up with a tall dark Russian guy.

Turned out Czech men were neither tall nor dark.

But for the rest of this excerpt Jacob sets out on his quest, guide book pages in hand. He takes a tram to a quiet area to look for a bar called T-Club.  When he finally reaches the area, it seems deserted except for a few bars. But none have the name T-Club.

He saw a building that was boarded up and thought maybe that was it, but no.  When he rechecked the address he saw that the well-lit bar he was standing in front of was the right address.   Just with a different name.  Jacob walked in for just a brief second before getting a bad vibe and leaving.

He was about to leave the area when he saw a stairwell leading downstairs.  He decided on a whim to head down.  There was a bouncer at the door.  Jacob asked in his best Czech to be let in, but was denied.  Jacob waited as two men came down the stairs and were let in.  He tried to follow them but again the bouncer gave him a dirty look.  But there was no real communication between them and Jacob wasn’t sure if he should stick around or not.

Finally three men come down the stairs.  They joking with the bouncer in Czech. Then one of them talks to Jacob in English and asks him to hang out with them.  Jacob agrees but the bouncer doesn’t react and when the men are let in, Jacob is denied again.

The end of the excerpt is really interesting.  I liked that once he has surmounted a small challenge, he immediately sees what the next one will be. I’m curious to read more of this, which is due out soon.