SOUNDTRACK: PETER BJORN AND JOHN-SXSW May 26, 2009 (2009).
This brief set at SXSW (available from NPR & KEXP) showcases the band’s (then) new record Living Thing. The album was just about to be released, so these are all previews of the album (“New music is the best music”). The album itself is very sparse and these live songs are equally sparse, but are slightly different in construction (some songs have different instrumentation live than on record).
The crowd is very responsive, and the band is really funny. During “Just the Past” there’s a section where the song sounds like it ends, but it is just a pause, and the band tsk tsks the audience for applauding too early. There’s also a joke about John being Joaquin Phoenix and taking up a career in rap.
It’s a wonderfully lively set, even if it is a bit short (the gripe with almost every SXSW download). It’s a good introduction to the album and a great introduction to a band who has been around for ten years and just started making inroads into American consciousness a few years ago.
[READ: April 16, 2011] Five Dials #1
Five Dials is an online magazine. It is free to subscribe (and to download). All previous issues are available on the site in PDF format. I learned about it because they printed the eulogies for David Foster Wallace in Issue 10. But the magazine looked interesting in itself, so I decided to go back and read the whole run (the most recent issue is #18).
The only real complaint I have with the magazine is that they don’t put a publication date anywhere on it. Which is a shame if you’re anal retentive like me. According to Wikipedia, the inaugural issue came out in June of 2008. It’s a monthly (ish) publication and, although I originally thought it would be a literary magazine, it proves to be very much of a magazine-magazine. And a good one at that.
There’s a letter from the editor, there’s Current-ish Events, there’s essays, reviews and even fiction. There’s also a “classic” letter from a “classic” author. The magazine also has some very cool black and white art in it. The style is very crisp and one that I find quite agreeable. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 