I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: BECK-One Foot in the Grave (1994).

It’s pretty well established that Beck’s Mellow Gold came out before One Foot in the Grave, although the recordings for Grave may have been earlier.  This is Beck’s other indie label release that came out just as he was selling millions with DGC (One Foot in the Grave is another one that has barely sold 100,000 copies).

I have the earlier release with 16 songs, but it has since been re-released with 16 bonus tracks.  The album was recorded with Calvin Johnson at his Dub Narcotic studios.

In contrast to the chaos of Soulmanure, this album is a lot more focused on Beck’s anti-folks style.  And while there are some silly freakouts, the disc is largely a straightforward indie folk release.  The disc even opens with a traditional track.  And he has another song that sounds traditional (with slide guitar) but isn’t.

Sometimes the guitars are out of tune or overly twangy, but the songs are all serious and real, not noisy freakouts or nonsensical whaling.  That’s not to say there’s aren’t a few silly songs. “Cyanide Breath Mint” is certainly weird  and “Ziploc Bag” is a cacophonous blues song.

But this album is more consistent.  Calvin Johnson sings vocals on the album with him (I don’t actually know which voice is his as there are a number of people credited with vocals).  There’s a deep voice doing backing vocals on some tracks and there even a duet, on “Forcefield” in which Beck does not do lead vocals.

Probably the best song is “Asshole” which has a good melody and has lyrics that are somewhat surprising given the title: “She’ll do anything to make you feel like an asshole.”

It’s tough to say that the album is a precursor to Sea Change, because it is so lo-fi and under-produced and because the lyrics are more absurdist/funny, but the vibe is strong enough to make Sea Change a possibility rather than something that came out of left field.

[READ: March 1, 2014] 29 Myths of the Swinster Pharmacy

In continuing with the McSweeney’s McMullen’s children’s books series, this one is yet another weird book that my kids didn’t really like.  I enjoyed it, but felt that the ending lacked somewhat.

Lemony Snicket books are often peculiar, and it seems like he’s really pushing the levels of what counts as a story with some of his books.

I love the conceit of the story–these two kids just don’t understand what is up with this building–what do they sell? And in trying to learn more about it, they have come up with all of these notions.  Some of them are funny, some are absurd, some are serious, some are even true.  But there’s no real sense of completion at the end, which is kind of a bummer.

It starts off simply:

1. We are very curious about the Swinster Pharmacy.  We traveled all the way from the next town to find out what it sells.

and

8. We like to sneak up on the Swinster Pharmacy…lurking behind trees in quiet yellow light.

There are some weird myths, like “when the town aches, the Swinster Pharmacy aches with it” (what?).  And that there are secrets about the place–but no one knows what they are.  There’s even arson in the story (which may have been a bit too intense for a picture book).

But what I really liked and wished it had continued more in this vein were things like

13. I think the Swinster Pharmacy is closed on weekends.

And

15. The building is a perfect square. We measured it last night.

Even this funny one:

20. Three pets have gone missing within a block of the Swinster Pharmacy in the last fourteen years.

And

27. Dogs bark at it all the time.

28 finally gets to the point: What do they sell there?

But the thing that throws it off is number 4.  There is fruit at the counter and “you can take a piece if you want to, but I never do.”  Which implies that he has been in the store and therefore knows what they sell.  It seems so much more interesting if he has never been inside.

I know this is a silly book, but I feel like it drifts too far into the bizarre, rather than the potentially funny look at how kids might be really confused about what a store with mannequin heads in the window might sell.

The art is wonderfully done with pictures drawn by Lisa Brown, and as with all the McMullens books, the cover folds out into a two-sided poster.