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Archive for the ‘Anachronisms’ Category

Four Letter Word: Original Love Letters (2007)

Posted in A.L. Kennedy, Anachronisms, Audrey Niffenegger, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Chris Bachelder, David Bezmozgis, Death, Demons, Douglas Coupland, Dreams, Fantasy, Francine Prose, Gautam Malkani, Geoff Dyer, Gods, Hari Kunzru, Harper's, Humiliation, Illusion, Jeanette Winterson, Jonathan Lethem, Juli Zeh, Leonard Cohen, LGBTQ, Lionel Shriver, Margaret Atwood, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Nick Laird, Peter Behrens, Phil LaMarche, Religion, Romance, Sam Lipsyte, Sex, Short Story, Sigur Rós, Sonic Youth, Stereolab, Super Furry Animals, Supernatural, Technology, Tessa Brown, The Walrus, Ursula K. Le Guin on September 3, 2009| 1 Comment »

LoveLettersSMSOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 7: J’accuse Ted Hughes/Agnès B Musique (2008).

syr7The first side of the disc (for it was only released on vinyl) is a ballsy blast of music.  Ballsy because it was the opening track of their live set at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2000.  And who opens up their set at a festival that features bands like Super Furry Animals, Sigur Rós, and Stereolab (basically a who’s who in awesome Brit-rock) with this 22 minute shriek of noise?

The set was so derisively received that the cover of the NME (hilariously reproduced on the cover of the LP) stated “Goodbye 20th Century, Goodbye Talent.”

The noise is palpable: squeals and squalls and all manner of feedback.  Kim even gets a strange little spoken word section in the middle.  I would think fans might have enjoyed it for 5, maybe even 10 minutes, but by 23 it’s pretty numbing.  The rest of the set included instrumentals from the not yet released NYC Ghosts and Flowers.  It almost seems like the set was payback for the invitation.

The B-side is an 18 minute “soundtrack” of sorts.  Agnes B. is a French clothing designer and yet somehow the music feels like it could be for some scary kids’ movie.  It has a number of creepy elements to it.  I kept picturing people sneaking around a little cottage.

The liner notes are written in Arpitan, a steadily-declining-in-use language spoken mostly in Italy and Switzerland.

Not for the faint of heart (or the vinylphobic).

[READ: August 31, 2009] Four Letter Word

I read about this book in The Walrus and then I ordered it from Amazon.ca as it doesn’t seem to be available in the US.

The book is a collection of “love letters.”  What is so very interesting about the collection is the varied nature of the letters themselves.  It’s not just: “I love you XOXO” (of course).   There are letters to mothers, stepmothers, mountains, and the Earth itself.  There are letters of love, lust, anger and respect.

I was most attracted to the book by the great list of authors, some of whom I read religiously and many others whom I just really like (and of course a bunch who I’ve never heard of).

It’s hard to review a collection of short stories that is as varied as this, especially when the pieces are this short (as most of them are).  And, I guess technically, they aren’t even short stories.  They are just letters. I would never base my opinion of these authors from this work.  Although some of the authors that I know well definitely retain their signature style.  There were only one or two letters that I didn’t enjoy, but for the most part the entire collection is very good.  And if you like any of these authors, it’s worth checking out.

I’m going to list all of the authors, mention who the letter is to, and any other salient features (without trying to give anything away–several letters have a surprise in them)! (more…)

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Periodical: The Believer

Posted in 18th Century, 19th Century, Amy Sedaris, Anachronisms, Art, Book Reviews, Books about music, Books about writers, Bret Easton Ellis, BritLit, Charles Burns, Christian Bok, Consumerism, Daniel Handler, David Foster Wallace, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Geoff Nicholson, Greil Marcus, Haruki Murakami, Jean-Luc Godard, Judd Apatow, Mary Williams, McSweeney's, Music, Nathaniel West, Nick Hornby, Paul Collins, Poetry, Rick Moody, Scientists, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Technology, The Believer, Tony Millionaire, Wikipedia, Will Self, Zadie Smith on July 8, 2009| 1 Comment »

believerA few years ago I was visiting my friend Roman.  He asked me if I read The Believer.  I told him I hadn’t heard of it.  He silently reproved me, knowing that it would be right up my alley and being quite displeased that I wasn’t keeping up with the hip.  I was very impressed with what I saw.

The Believer is put out through McSweeney’s.  It seems to have filled in for the non-fiction niche that McSweeney’s slowly removed from its pages.

And since then, I have become a devoted follower.  At some point (probably around issue ten or eleven) I decided that I was going to read every word in every issue.  And so, (this was pre-kids) when I went to an ALA conference with Sarah, I spent a lot of the down time reading all of the back issues’ articles that I hadn’t read.

Since then, I have read every issue cover to cover.  The thing that I love about the magazine (in addition to all of the stuff that I would normally like about it) is that every article is so well written that even if I don’t care about the subject, I know I’ll be interested for the duration of the piece.  Whether or not I will go on to read anything else about the person or topic is neither here nor there, but when I’m in the moment I’m really hooked. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #31

Posted in Anachronisms, Barzum, Biji, Bill Cotter, Books about writers, Charlie Chaplin, Consuetudinary, Corporate skewering, David Thomson, Death, Digression, Douglas Coupland, Duan Chengshi, Dystopia, End of the World, Ernest Hemingway, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Barr McCutcheon, Graustarkian Romance, History, James Hannaham, Jessica Anthony, John Brandon, John Cusack, Joy Williams, Legendary Saga, Mary Miller, McSweeney's, Meta, Miguel de Unamuno, Minnesota, Nicolas Chorier, Nivola, Oddities, Orson Welles, Pantoum, Plato, Poetry, Religion, Say Anything, Senryū, Sex, Shelley Jackson, Short Story, Sight & Sound, Smarty Pants, Socratic Dialogue, Supernatural, Susan Sontag, The Replacements, Threats, Violence, Virginia Woolf, Virginity (Loss of), War, Whore Dialogue, Will Sheff on June 12, 2009| 2 Comments »

31SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Hootenanny (1983).

hootThis is the second full length from The Replacements.  For a band that just released two punk albums (one’s an EP), naming your new one Hootenanny is pretty ballsy.  As is the fact that the first track sounds like, well, a hootenanny (even if it is making fun of hootenannies.)

However, the rest of the album doesn’t sound like hootenannies at all.  In fact, the rest of the album is all over the place.  I don’t want to read into album covers too much, but the design has all 16 titles in separate boxes in different colors.  It suggests a little bit of stylistic diversity inside.

Just see for yourself:  “Run It” is a one minute blast of some of the punkiest stuff they’ve done. (It’s about running a red light).  Meanwhile, “Color Me Impressed” marks the second great alt-rock anthem (after “Go”) that Westerberg has put on record.  “Willpower” is a sort of spooky ambient meandering piece that, at over 4 minutes is their longest piece yet.  “Take Me to The Hospital” is a punky/sloppy guitar song.  “Mr Whirly” is sort of an update of the Beatles’ “Oh Darlin.'”  “Within Your Reach” is technically the longest Replacements song to date.  It starts with a cool flangy guitar sound that swirls around a fairly mellow vocal track (this song was featured in the end of Say Anything.  John Cusack cranks the song up past the red line).  “Buck Hill” is an (almost) instrumental.  “Lovelines” is a spoken word reading of personals ads over a bluesy backing track.  “You Lose” is the first song that sounds like another one…a sort of hardcore song.  “Hayday” is a fast rocker like their first album.  And it ends with “Treatment Bound” a sloppy acoustic number that sounds like it was recorded in a tin can.

As you can see, this album is all over the place, and almost every song sounds like they may not make it through to the end.  Yet, despite all of the genres represented, the band sounds cohesive.  The disc just sounds like a band playing all the kinds of music that they like, and the fact that there are a couple of really lasting songs on the disc makes it sound like more than just a bar band.

I feel as though not too many people even know of this disc (it was the last one I bought by them, as I couldn’t find it for the longest time).  But in reading reviews, I see that people seem to really love this disc.  I enjoyed it, and, like other ‘Mats discs, it’s certainly fun, but I don’t listen to it all that often.

[READ: June 9, 2009] McSweeney’s #31

The latest issue of McSweeney’s has a totally new concept (for this journal, anyhow):  They resurrect old, defunct writing styles and ask contemporary writers to try their hands at them. I had heard of only two of these defunct styles, so it was interesting to see how many forms of writing there were that had, more or less, disappeared.

Physically, the issue looks like a high school yearbook.  It’s that same shape, with the gilded cover and the name of the (school) on the spine.

Attached to the inside back cover is McSweeney’s Summertime Sampler. As far as I know this is the first time they have included a sampler of multiple upcoming works.  There are three books sampled in the booklet: Bill Cotter’s Fever Chart; Jessica Anthony’s The Convalescent & James Hannaham’s God Says No. I enjoyed all three of the pieces.  Fever Chart has stayed with me the most so far.  I can still feel how cold that apartment was.  The Convalescent begin a little slow, but I was hooked by the end of the excerpt. And God Says No has me very uncomfortable; I’m looking forward to finishing that one.

As for #31 itself:

The Fugitive Genres Recaptured (or Old Forms Unearthed) include: pantoums, biji, whore dialogues, Graustarkian romances, nivolas, senryū, Socratic dialogues, consuetudinaries, and legendary sagas.  Each genre has an excerpt of an original writing in that style.  Following the sample is the modern take on it.  And, in the margins are notes in red giving context for what the author is doing.  I assume these notes are written by the author of the piece, but it doesn’t say.

I’m going to give a brief synopsis of the genre, but I’m not going to critique either the old piece or whether the new piece fits into the genre exactly (suffice it to say that they all do their job very well). (more…)

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My Great Depression: Ten dispatches from the near future (Harper’s, June 2009)

Posted in Anachronisms, Barack Obama, Ben Katchor, Ben Marcus, Colson Whitehead, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Rees, Dilbert, Dystopia, Garfield, Get Your War On, Harper's, Hüsker Dü, Jamaica Kinkaid, Kevin Baker, Minnesota, Ruben Bolling, Sherman Alexie, Short Story, Simon Critchley, Technology, The Family Circus, The Replacements, Thomas De Zengotita, Tom McCarthy, Tom the Dancing Bug on June 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

hapersSOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981).

sorrymaSince I’ve been talking about The Replacements so much, it made me want to go back and listen to their stuff.  The Replacements are the quintessential band that “grew up” or “matured” and for better or worse sounds utterly different from their first album to their last (a span of only nine years!).  In fact, I don’t imagine that there are too many people who would enjoy all seven of their discs.  One suspects that if the band themselves were given a copy of their All Shook Down disc in 1981, they would have smashed it.

So this was their first release. It has 18 songs in about 30 minutes.  That’s pure hardcore, right?  Well, not exactly.  Even though the songs are short and fast and quite sloppy, there’s something about Paul Westerberg’s voice and delivery that makes these songs seem not quite hardcore.  He enunciates!  And you can understand him most of the time. And, maybe this is a better indicator: there’s parts to these songs, it’s not just breakneck pacing.  They also have song titles that belied how good their song writing would become.  Like: “Shiftless When Idle.”

In fact, “Johnny’s Gonna Die” isn’t fast at all.  It shows what the kind of songs that they would eventually write: literate and moving indie rock.

There must have been something in the water in 1981 in Minnesota.  Hüsker Dü, the other amazing punk outfit out of Minnesota (referenced in the ‘Mats song “Something  to Du”) also put out a blistering live hardcore record in 1981 called Land Speed Record (17 songs in 26 minutes, listed as 2 tracks on CDs because they don’t pause in between songs).  Like the ‘Mats, Hüsker Dü wouldn’t recognize their later incarnations in 1981 either.  And why are The Replacements abbreviated as The ‘Mats?  I don’t know.

But this ‘Mats record is the kind of sneaky record that can get you to enjoy punk even if you don’t think you like it.  There’s something so fun about Sorry Ma, that you don’t really notice that it’s all done so fast.

[READ: May 22, 2009] “My Great Depression”

This essay collection is tough to catalog.  Do I include all of the authors in the title of the post, do I pick selected ones, or just go with none.  Yes, go with none.

Harper’s asked ten authors/artists to send stories from the near future, after the economic collapse of the country. All of the pieces are three columns or less, and some are more enjoyable than others. (more…)

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Italo Calvino–“Two Cosmicomics” (Harper’s, May 2009)

Posted in Anachronisms, Fables, Funny (strange), Harper's, Italo Calvino, Marriage Trouble, Martin McLaughlin, New Yorker, Outer Space, Pearl Jam, Short Story, Supernatural, Time Travel on April 29, 2009| 2 Comments »

harpers-maySOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Yield (1998)

yieldThis Pearl Jam disc is something of a return to form after the experimentation of No Code.  Part of me feels bad that they experimented less, because I do enjoy a band’s wild side, and yet these songs are uniformly fantastic, and they include some of my favorites by Pearl Jam.

“Brain of J” bursts out of the speakers, as one of their heavier opening tracks.  Catchy and fast.  “Faithful” starts as a ballady song but the choruses once again build into a great sing along.  “No Way” is a more experimental sounding song.  It’s right in the middle of their speeds, but the guitar has a mysterious echo on it that gives it an eerie feel. “Given to Fly” is a classic: slow, building, anthemic.  “Wishlist” is another of Sarah’s favorites: a simple, catchy melody that builds and builds.

“Pilate” is a rather confusing song: “Like Pilate, I have a dog”  Okay.  A gnashing rocking chorus with verses that are actually catchier.  “Do the Evolution” quickly became my favorite Pearl Jam song from the live sets.  This studio version is a little slower, and to me it sounds off.  But it’s such a weird little song, what with the “choir” singing “alleluia” and yet it is just a perfectly tidy punk song.  Certainly one of my favorite PJ songs.  The next untitled song (a red dot) is one of those weird, forgettable tracks that PJ throws on their albums, it’s less than a minute of steel drum inspired chanting.  It’s quickly followed by another of my favorite songs “MFC” a rocking song that sounds like its subject matter (driving).

“Low Light” is a slow song that builds, but it is a very full song; the whole band plays, keeping it from being dull. “In Hiding” has a great guitar opening and one of those great Pearl Jam singalong choruses. “Push Me, Pull Me” is another weird little track, that reminds me of some of the Who’s wackier numbers. “All Those Yesterdays” ends the disc on a quirky song.  It’s catchy but not as catchy as some tracks.

The album ends with an untitled hidden track. It’s a Middle Eastern style guitar solo. Amazon says the song is called “Hummus.”

I really enjoy this disc, it’s a shame it took me so long to discover it as I had given up on PJ after No Code.  But now it ranks as one of my favorites.

[READ: April 24, 2009] “Two Cosmicomics”

I’m not sure why all of these Calvino stories are appearing in magazines all of a sudden.  But after the one in the New Yorker not to long ago, I figured I’d give this one a try, too. (more…)

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