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Archive for the ‘Edward P. Jones’ Category

Edward P. Jones–“Shacks” (New Yorker, June 13 & 20, 2011)

Posted in AV Club, Books about writers, Coheed & Cambria, Edward P. Jones, Essays, New Yorker, The Smiths on August 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: COHEED AND CAMBRIA-“A Rush and a Push and This Land is Ours” (2010).

This AV Club Undercover is from last year.  Coheed and Cambria came in and covered this Smiths song.

As I mentioned the other day I liked just about every Smiths song.  So when I hear a song by them I pretty much automatically think, “Oh I love this song.”  And that’s true with this one.  This is a more obscure track of theirs, but since I was never one for just the hits, I know it and like it very much.  There’s something about the propulsive beat and the cool way Morrissey sings “oooohrush” that is really compelling.

But Coheed and Cambria covering it?  Coheed are a fascinating band in that they play beautiful acoustic melodies but also heavy fast metal.  Who knows what they’ll do with this song.

Well, they play it surprisingly delicate , and quite beautiful.  It’s actually a pretty straightforward cover as well.  But he brings a wonderful yearning to the vocals that the original is lacking (probably because of the tempo of the song).  This is a great cover.

[READ: July 19, 2011] “Shacks”

I didn’t know who Jones was before I read this.  Of the 5 Starting Out pieces this was the least inspiring.  (I’m not sure if any of them were meant to be inspiring, actually).  I guess what I mean is it focused pretty on one thing and stuck with it.  There wasn’t any “moving forward” feeling.

When he went away to college he wrote letters to the girl he loved who did not love him back.  That’s pretty much it.

The thing I didn’t get om the piece was his use (twice) of the, to my ear, awkward phrase “little shacks of life we can build”. I understand what he means, I just don’t think it really flows very well.  I’m not even sure if it works within the confines of the piece.  Like is a shack a shelter or a compartment? (more…)

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2011 Fiction Issues (The Walrus, July/August 2011 & New Yorker, June 13 & 20, 2011)

Posted in Aleksandar Hemon, Alexi Zentner, Alexisonfire, All Songs Considered, Canadian Content, City and Colour, Damian Rogers, Death, Edward P. Jones, Fishing, Five Dials, Food, George Saunders, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jennifer Egan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Díaz, Kathleen Winter, Lauren Groff, Marriage Trouble, Michael Lista, New Yorker, Nostalgia, Poetry, Salvatore Scibona, Summer, Téa Obreht, The Walrus, Vladimir Nabokov on June 19, 2011| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: CITY AND COLOUR Live at the Sasquatch Festival, May 29, 2011 (2011).

City and Colour have a new album coming out soon.  So it’s kind of surprising that this seven-song show is three songs from their previous album, two from their first album, a cover, and only one new track (“Fragile Bird”).

This is the first time I’ve heard City and Colour live with a band (most of the recordings I have by them are just Dallas Green solo).  It’s nice to hear how powerfully they work together (giving some of those songs an extra push).

Despite the brevity of the set (and the amusing banter about airport etiquette) you get a pretty good sense of what the “pretty-voiced guy” from Alexisonfire can do on his own.   I found the cover, Low’s “Murderer,” to be a really perfect choice–one that suits the band and their slightly-off harmonies, rather well.

I’m looking forward to their new release–“Fragile Bird” is another beautiful song.  But in the meantime, this is a good place to hear what they’ve been up to.

[READ: early June 2011] 2011 Fiction Issues

Five Dials seems to always generate coincidences with what I read. Right after reading the “”Summer’ Fiction” issue from Five Dials, I received the Fiction Issue from the New Yorker.  A few days later, I received the Summer Reading Issue from The Walrus.

I’m doing a separate post here because, although I am going to post about the specific fictions, I wanted to mention the poetry that comes in The Walrus’ issue.  I have no plan to write separate posts about poetry (I can barely write a full sentence about most poetry) so I’ll mention them in this post.

The main reason I’m drawing attention to these poems at all is because of the set-up of The Walrus’ Summer Fiction issue.  As the intro states: “We asked five celebrated writers to devise five guidelines for composing a short story or poem. They all traded lists–and played by the rules.”  I am so very intrigued at this idea of artificial rules imposed by an outsider.  So much so that I feel that it would be somewhat easier to write a story having these strictures put on you.  Although I imagine it would be harder to write a poem.

The two poets are Michael Lista and Damian Rogers.  I wasn’t blown away by either poem, but then I don’t love a lot of poetry.  So I’m going to mention the rules they had to follow. (more…)

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