SOUNDTRACK: DEERHOOF-Live at CMJ Gibson Showroom (2008).
I don’t know much about Deerhoof (I certainly didn’t know they’d been around over a decade). I heard them on Pitchfork TV (they had two videos on it about two years ago which I rather liked). This set was recorded live at CMJ by KEXP.
The DJ is very familiar with the band, and the repertoire is casual and funny (although the Gibson joke falls flat). They play four songs and each one is virtually an instrumental. The voice is mixed so low on “Blue Cash,” I didn’t even realize she was singing until the third time I listened, so I don’t know which songs have words. “Tears of Music and Love” is a bit wilder (with some great crazy drumming in the middle). “Fresh Born” has a bit more of a sinister edge what with the intense riff and the scratchy feedbacky bridge. It’s my favorite song of the set. “Basketball Get Your Groove Back” sounds a bit like “Roadrunner” so it’s less than thrilling end to the set.
I expected the band to be a lot weirder than this, I admit, but it’s still a good set. You can listen here.
[READ: September 20, 2012] How to Be Black
Karen at A Just Recompense posted about this book a little while ago and after just a few lines, I had to stop reading her post so I could get the book. I had no idea who Thurston was before I read the book, but it sounded so good. And it was. Although it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.
This book is a combination autobiography of Thurston and “how to” book. Thurston went to a Quaker School and a black militant program at the same time and also went to Harvard before becoming a stand up comedian; he’s co-creator of Jack & Jill Politics and director of digital at The Onion (that’s some serious cred for a geek like me). As I said, in addition to being his autobiography, this is also something of a how-to manual for being black. It’s funny, but not cheesy-over-the-top funny (stereotypes are played with but also deconstructed), it’s “serious” funny, and it’s very enjoyable. And it covers topics that one might not expect, like talking about the Nigerians he has met who are offended at his name. Baratunde is a twist on a Nigerian name, although his family is not Nigerian, his mother wanted him to have a traditional African name. And he is quite annoyed at the Nigerians who assume he doesn’t know what his named means. He does (and the example he gives is very funny). (more…)
I Just Read About That... 