SOUNDTRACK: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN-World Cafe Live [downloaded from NPR] (2006).
This is a live in-studio session promoting The Life Pursuit. David Dye conducts an interview between songs (we learn what “Funny Little Frog” is about and how “Seymour Stein” came to be).
Stuart and Stevie are animated and in good form and the band sounds excellent. On “Funny Little Frog” in particular they sound like they’re really enjoying themselves.
The session is only 25 minutes long, but they play 4 songs: “Funny Little Frog”, “Meat and Potatoes,” “Seymour Stein” and “Sukie in the Graveyard.” It’s worth a listen and it’s available here.
[READ: November 6, 2010] “What Separates Us from the Animals”
For some reason I always put off reading T.C. Boyle stories, even though I invariably enjoy them. And this was no exception. I saw that it was a fairly long story and I waited to read other things in this issue of Harper’s (Susan Faludi–where has she been all these years? and another NASCAR article–my second one in a few months after the article in McSweeney’s, which is pretty surprising since I’ve never seen more than a second of a race).
But back to Boyle. I loved the technique involved in this story. The narrator is a critical woman who makes claims towards being reasonable about her criticisms. And the thing is, her criticisms are entirely justified and yet her attitude makes you want to disagree with her. It’s a very cool conceit–an unlikable narrator whose opinions happened to be your own.
What she’s critical of is the new doctor who arrives on their island (I’m gathering it’s Nantucket). He was picked out of a couple of applicants to be the island’s only doctor, handling basic problems and issues (especially during the summer tourism season) but always with the understanding that serious problems would have to go to the mainland. In addition to his salary he would receive free lodging in an older, historic house.
She met him on the night of his arrival in order to get him set up in the house. She immediately invited him to dinner. He accepted for the following night and arrived at their own beautiful house in paint-spattered jeans and dirty work boots. He ate well and then fell asleep on their couch. Obviously, this did not set things off on the right foot. But what was worse was that this dirty demeanor spilled over into the rest of his life: his car has a flat tire for two months and worse, his examination office is filthy too (something I’m totally on board with criticizing). They’re also concerned with the state of the historic house, which no one has seen yet–what no invitations to cocktails? (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: MASTODON-Leviathan (2004).
This is the CD that started it all. Well, for me and Moby Dick- related music, anyhow. My friend Andrew asked if I would be reviewing it along with Moby Dick. And, yes I am.
SOUNDTRACK: THE DECEMBERISTS-“The Mariner’s Revenge Song” (2005).
This was the hardest week for music tied to Moby-Dick. (I’m saving Mastodon for the grand finale). I don’t really have anything that relates directly to the book. I have a number of nautical-themed songs, but very little in the way of albums. And, it’s true that this song doesn’t have anything to do with Moby-Dick directly.
The Decemberists are one of your more nautical bands (and I’ve reviewed all of the albums here somewhere). Their first album, Castaways and Cutouts featured an album cover with a ship with ghosts drifting from it.
SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Whale Music (1992).
The Rheostatics are from Etobicoke Canada. Their second album was called 
“Self Serve Gas Station” is a great opening. It begins with swirling guitars and a beautiful solo (Rheostatics guitar lines sound so elemental as to seem like they’ve always been around). But just as the vocals begin, the song becomes a sort of country track: a folkie song about adolescnece. But it returns to a good rocking (and falsetto fueled) rock track.
“King of the Past” is another great track, with a wondrous string sound near the end. It’s a gorgeous song with (again) different sections conveying shanties and jigs (and you can dance to it). Like Moby from last week, Rheostatics, also bust out a fast metal track, but this one works well: “RDA (Rock Death America)” has a major hook and name checks everyone from The Beatles to The Replacements.
SOUNDTRACK: MOBY GRAPE-Moby Grape (1967).
Moby Grape is one of those bands that I’ve always heard of but had never heard. I know, their debut is 43 years old and yet I’d never heard it. Well, thanks to the internet (lala.com, RIP as of today), I was able to listen to what I assumed was their Greatest Hits. If only I had done a modicum of research. The disc I chose was Legendary Grape, which it turns out is not a greatest hits at all, but is actually some weird pesudo-Moby Grape record released in 1989 under a different band name due to legal protractions, but then reissued as Moby Grape. It was rather uninspired and nothing at all what I thought it would sound like. Nothing dreadful, just nothing worth thinking that this band “legendary.”
So, with a little research, I learned that their first album is what I should have been checking out. Moby Grape is the eponymous release and it sounds much more like what I assumed this psychedelic era-band would sound like. This disc is pretty much in keeping with what a band that produced an album cover like this would sound like.
SOUNDTRACK: LED ZEPPELIN-The Song Remains the Same (1978).
I don’t normally try to have my soundtracks correspond to the book. But since Andrew 
SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS & STARDEATH AND WHITE DWARFS featuring HENRY ROLLINS and PEACHES doing The Dark Side of the Moon (2010).
You’ve got to have balls to cover the most popular album of all time. Everyone knows Dark Side of the Moon, according to Billboard charts everyone probably owns a copy of Dark Side of the Moon. So, you’re taking on a pretty big task here. But the Flaming Lips aren’t called The Fearless Freaks for nothing.
I Just Read About That... 