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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Caleb Crain–”Outside T-Club” (Harper’s, July 2013)

Posted in Caleb Crain, Drinking, Excerpt, Harper's, Jenny Hval, Justin Timberlake, LGBTQ, Robin Thicke, Rockettothesky, Travel on July 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: JENNY HVAL-“Innocence is Sexy” (2013).

hvalI saw this video on Stereogum.  I was actually intrigued by her last name: Hval.  Then I read a bit more about her–she’s an experimental Norwegian singer with four albums out (two under the name Rockettothesky).

I watched the video and was so mesmerized by it that I didn’t even really notice the music the first time through.  In the video, Jenny has her body filmed in all manner of unexpected angles and poses–she is shaving parts of her body, strategically positioning other parts of her body.  And pressing and squeezing her flesh in ways that are not often shown.  She is also jogging (both in a jogging outfit and in a dress–the juxtaposition is fascinating.  And then there’s the dress that appears to be made of latex.  At a time when men (Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke) are making videos of naked women, Jenny makes us question what we see and why.  It’s very cool.

It’s also interesting musically.  The first words of the song are: “That night I watched people fucking on my computer.”  The song has an interesting guitar riff playing behind her spoken words until she starts singing with a vaguely operatic Middle Eastern tonality.  After a more mellow verse, Jenny ends a with a fascinating little scale of notes.

The same confrontational style of singing occurs at the end when the music stops and she keeps singing “in and out and in and out” in a less then pleasing manner.

As I say I am fascinated by her.  Although I can’t help but wonder if this would be a case of more exposure being less satisfying.

[READ: July 11, 2013] ”Outside T-Club”

In this story, which an excerpt from a novel called Necessary Errors the narrator, Jacob, pulled out some significant pages about Eastern Europe from a travel guide. He hid the rest of the book in the garbage, keeping only the pages on gay life in Czechoslovakia.

He was living in Boston, but was heading to Prague.  This was after his boyfriend moved away to start a new job for a men’s magazine.  He had sent Jacob a postcard which tried to make it seem like Jacob would be on a  fun adventure, and he imagined Jacob hooking up with a tall dark Russian guy.

Turned out Czech men were neither tall nor dark. (more…)

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Sheila Heti–“Mini Ching” (Harpers, July 2013)

Posted in Advice, All Songs Considered, Beck, Canadian Content, Excerpt, Harper's, Sheila Heti, Short Story, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on July 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: BECK-“I Won’t Be Long” (2013).

beckSo Beck has a new song out, too (on NPR they’ve been saying this is the year of the cicadas–bands are resurfacing after years of dormancy).  I’ve actually heard this a few times on WXPN, but I never realized it was Beck and it has left no impression on me.

It’s tough to say it doesn’t sound like Beck since every album is different, but this song really doesn’t sound like him.  The drums are cheesy drum machine drums (like from the early 80s), the keyboards are cheesy keyboards (like from the early 80s), and the song is really really simple (with a strange instrumental break in the middle).  And its five minutes long.  It just doesn’t make a big splash like Beck usually does.

This is all leading me to say I don’t love it.  I usually really like Beck’s gamut of music, but this is a little too bland for me (the last minute or so adds some more details which are more interesting).  I suspect if it wasn’t Beck it wouldn’t get played at all.  I wonder if this is going to be a whole album of this style of music.

[READ: July 11, 2013] “Mini Ching”

This is an excerpt from “How to Be Good When You’re Lost.”  In it, Heti interprets six of the sixty-four hexagrams that comprise the I Ching.  I don’t know exactly what the I Ching is.  I mean, I know vaguely what it is but not exactly.  I assume that there is no real explanation for the hexagrams?

The four excerpted here are #53 Gradual progress; #24 Return  #49 Revolution #33 Retreat.

Again, I don’t know how many others have “interpreted” these mystical hexagrams.  But Heti creates are wise fortune cookie-sounding advice for each one. (more…)

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Hamilton Morris—“Blood Spore: Of Murder and Mushrooms” (Harper’s, July 2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Death, Drugs, Essays, Hamilton Morris, Harper's, High Times, The Flaming Lips, Utopia, Violence on July 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS–Live from SXSW 2013, playing all of Yoshimi battles the Pink robots.

yoshimiThe day before their main set, which featured songs from their newest album, The Flaming Lips did a surprise set in which they decided to play Yoshimi in its entirety–something they had never done before.

Indeed, there are a few songs from the album that they say they have never played live before.

They have an hour to do the deed.  But, Wayne being Wayne, he can’t stop talking between songs long enough for them to actually complete the album and they are left without playing the final track.  (I haven’t heard of that happening to other bands).

The set sounds pretty good.  It is quite different from the album in that the live unit plays all kinds of interesting sounds effects and updated keyboards and whatnot, it alters things in small and large ways although it doesn’t make it sound completely unlike the album.

Wayne’s voice is not as great as it used to be and he can’t hit all the notes anymore, which is a little disappointing (and may explain why the newer albums are not quite so soaring).  But they are clearly enjoying themselves, as is the audience.

The only bad thing about this set (you can stream the video at NPR) is that the volume is very low.  It sounds good, but is a little too quiet to be fully enjoyable.  And, of course, you don’t get to hear “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia).”  Although you do get to hear how they came up with the title “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell.”

[READ: July 11, 2013] “Blood Spore”

This was a Folio in the center of the July issue of Harper’s.  The Folio is a lengthy article that’s printed on a different type of paper.  The Harper’s Folios are usually quite good.  And so was this one.

This essay is about the life and death of Steven Pollock.  Pollock was into mushroom.  Really into them.  He believed that they held cures to many different ailments and he set about trying to prove it.  He had a fully functioning lab and he did extensive tests on the different types of mushrooms and spores that he collected.  (Some of the tests simply included ingesting them, but he also used scientific methods).  He ordered manure and other kinds of bases and then he set about growing and testing different genus of mushrooms.

True, he was also interested in their psychedelic powers, but he believed they could do much more.

In order to make money he sold paraphernalia in High Times.  He was very successful (his company name and color ad in the magazine was quite a hit and he made an astonishing amount on the quasi legal market).  Most of his money went back into research.  He believed that when he made $2 million, he could get a proper lab.

The whole article was really interesting—seeing what Pollock did, seeing how some of the mushrooms he cultivated lasted throughout the years and how he managed to get some to spread (by getting spores in various materials in time for a Hurricane to blow them all across the South).  Pollock’s personal favorite mushroom, which he described as being the most amazing trip he’d had, was on the verge of extinction.  And he died believing that it was no more.  Fortunately somehow made it to Amsterdam where now it is a very common (and very popular) strain of the fungus.

Shame he was murdered under mysterious circumstances and the author began researching this article because he received a tape that someone claimed showed who was guilty of his death. (more…)

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Tom Gauld–You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack (2013)

Posted in Art, Books about writers, Comic Strips, Consumerism, Death, Demons, End of the World, Fables, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Golems, Meta, Myths, Nature, Neurotics, Noir, Short Books, Smarty Pants, Surreal, Technology, The Future, The Guardian, Time Travel, Tom Gauld, Travel, UFOs, Video Games, War, We Were Promised Jetpacks on July 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

jetpackSOUNDTRACK: WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS-“Quiet Little Voices” (2009).

jetpacksWhen you have a book with “Jetpack” in the title, the appropriate band is We Were Promised Jetpacks, no?  I’ve heard a lot of good things these guys.  But all I knew for certain was that they were Scottish.

I listened to their debut EP, The Last Place You’ll Look, which I liked a little.  But I didn’t care for the sound of the EP itself, it was rather flat.  A few listens got me enjoying the melodies and such but it never grabbed me.  Especially when I compared it to “Quiet Little Voices,” the lead single from their debut full length, These Four Walls.

The vocals are a bit stronger, the guitars and bass are both more clear.  The overall feeling is just brighter.  Now this may be a sign of selling out (is that something bands still do?), but really I think it’s just a better production for this song.  Which has a big chorus (and good backing vocals).

I listened to a few more tracks from These Four Walls and they are all good too.  I guess start with the albums and save the EP until after you’ve absorbed the band.

[READ: July 5, 2013] You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack

Gauld makes comics like no one else I know.  Most of his people are silhouetted or are the most rudimentary designs–simple triangle-shaped clothes, circle heads with dots for eyes and little else–maybe a nose if it’s profile. (Okay, there’s a bit of Chris Ware, but more like a much more relaxed Chris Ware).  And the wonderful thing is just how much he can convey with these painstakingly simple drawings.

The content of his comics is usually quite clever and often literary.  While I admit there were some I didn’t get (Like the Eric Gill cartoon–shame on me?–Aha: “[Gill’s] personal diaries describe his sexual activity in great detail including the fact that he sexually abused his own children, had an incestuous relationship with his sister and performed sexual acts on his dog.”  Geez, now the comic is very funny.).  There were some in which I liked the set up but would have preferred something funnier (like the Tom Waits comic–shame on him?)

But overall this collection was really enjoyable.  And I laughed a lot. (more…)

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Grantland Quarterly, Number 5 (2013)

Posted in Alex Kahn, Alex Pappademas, Amos Barshad, Anachronisms, Andy Greenwald, Baseball, Basketball, Batman, Biking, Bill Barnwell, Bill Simmons, Books about music, Books about writers, Boxing, Breaking Bad, Brian Phillips, Bryan Curtis, Charles P. Pierce, Charlie Pierce, Chris Ryan, Chuck Klosterman, Contests, Cycling, Daniel Kellison, David Cho, David Jacoby, Drugs, Essays, Football, Grantland, Hockey, Hua Hsu, Jane Leavy, Jay Caspian Kang, Jonathan Abrams, K-Town, Katie Baker, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Louisa Thomas, Mark Lisanti, McSweeney's, Molly Lambert, Olympics, Racism, Rafe Bartholomew, Religion, Rembert Browne, Sexism, Shane Ryan, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Soccer, Tennis, Violence, Zach Baron on July 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

grantlandSOUNDTRACK: The xx–Live at KEXP (July 25, 2012).

I xxkexphave casually seen The xx on a few shows and I’m intrigued by them.  I’ve never really given their albums any time though, so I can’t say anything much about them.

However, I really enjoy the sound they get live (which is funny since in the article below they talk about how much of a perfectionist Jamie, the studio tech guy, is about the recordings).

This set from KEXP (KEXP always has great audio quality) contains four songs “Fiction” “Reunion” “Sunset” and “Angels.”  And I have to say the band sounds amazing.  So close, so clean, so intimate.  Oliver’s voice is right there, whispering in your ears, and Romy’s guitars sound gorgeous–gentle vibrato, chiming chords; her voice is also beautiful.

The thing that throws me about The xx is how spare their music is.  Sometimes it’s almost like there’s no music at all. And I keep thinking of reasons why I wouldn’t enjoy such simple music (it’s usually not my thing). Or that it should only be experienced in a dark room by yourself.  But the melodies are so beautiful that I think they’ve made a convert of me.  I really adore these songs.  And I must have heard “Angels” somewhere because it is completely familiar.

I wonder if they sound this good on record.  You can watch the show here:

[READ: July 9, 2013] Grantland #5

Grantland continues to impress me with articles about sports that I don’t care about.  They style that the writers have (and the humor they impart) is wonderful.  And it goes to show that if you are passionate about something you can make it interesting to anyone.  So, even if I don’t know who some of the people who they’re talking about are, I can still enjoy what they say about them.  Plus, their entertainment coverage is really fun, too.

BILL SIMMONS-“Battle of the Olympic Heavyweights”
I really enjoyed this article which compares Olympic swimming and gymnastics to see which one “wins” in this battle for TV coverage and the hearts of Olympic fans (hint: it’s gymnastics, but Simmon’s categories are very good).

BRIAN PHILLIPS-“The Death’s Head of Wimbledon”
Phillips tries to cover Wimbledon and finds it very difficult to manage because it is all designed for TV, not in person coverage.

REMBERT BROWNE-“I Feel Like a Free Man”
The amazing decision of Frank Ocean to come out and how little it impacted his career. (more…)

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Yes is the Answer and Other Prog Rock Tales–edited by Marc Weingarten & Tyson Cornell (2013)

Posted in A Clockwork Orange, Anachronisms, Andrew Mellen, Asia, Be-Bop Deluxe, Beth Lisick, Caravan, Charles Bock, Death, Drinking, Drugs, Esquire, Essays, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Genesis, Guided By Voices, H.R. Giger, History, James Greer, Jeff Gardiner, Jim DeRogatis, Joe Meno, John Albert, King Crimson, Larry Karaszewski, Mara Lethem, Marc Weingarten, Margaret Wappler, Marriage (Happy), Matching Mole, Matthew Specktor, Nathan Larson, Nick Coleman, Paul Myers, Peter Case, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Rick Moody, Robert Pollard, Rodrigo Fresán, Rush, Seth Greenland, Shudder to Think, Soft Machine, Sonic Youth, Styx, Surreal, Technology, The Incredible String Band, The Nice, Todd Rundgren, Tom Junod, Wesley Stace, William T. Vollmann, Yes on July 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

yitaSOUNDTRACK: WXPN (88.5 Philadelphia) xpnand wxpn.org online-Prog rock Marathon (2012-??).

Every January, Dan Reed plays a prog rock marathon on WXPN.  This year I was able to enjoy portions of it.  I rather wish the playlist was still available (you can search, but only by artist), because I’d love to rave about the tracks they played (like the live “Supper’s Ready.”)

I was delighted by the great mix of songs they played and (as I learned from reading this book) I was surprised by how many prog artists I didn’t even know.

In 2014 I’ll be listening again and maybe this time I’ll copy the playlist to document what I’ve missed.

[READ: July 7, 2013] Yes is the Answer

This book was sitting on a cart outside of my cube.  I was intrigued by the title (it didn’t have that trippy cover, so I didn’t know what it was).  But “Yes is the Answer” was calling me.  Especially when I looked at the cover and saw that the cover had an excerpt from a William Vollmann story in which the protagonist plays In the Court of the Crimson King (track 5) for Reepah and watches her face as they band went Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!.

Quoting Vollmann (from The Rifles), playing King Crimson?  What could this book be?   Then I saw the subtitle and I knew I had to read it all.

I’m not going to review these essays because that would be like making a radio edit of a side long track, but I’ll mention the band the author focuses on and any other relevant details. (more…)

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Peter Bagge–Reset (2013)

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Decadence, Drinking, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Geddy Lee, Graphic Novel, Neil Peart, Peter Bagge, Rush, Sex, Technology on July 11, 2013| 2 Comments »

resetSOUNDTRACK: RUSH “Garden Road” and “Fancy Dancer” (from Fifth Order of the Angels) (1974).

I mentioned this bootleg a few years ago, but it has recently been updated to include the missing songs.  (Huzzah!).

So this set from 1974 is pretty great–rocking, noisy, screaming solos–a very heavy show (and the crowd is quite appreciative).

These two songs never made it on any Rush albums.  They were written before Neil joined the band and, when asked, he said they never made it on an album because they were written before he joined the band (bitchy!).  But evidently the songs were quite popular when they toured.

“Fancy Dancer” opens with a staccato riff and lyrics about a woman who leaves him.  The second verse allows Alex to noodle while Geddy is singing (which is why I never really notice the lyrics).  The chorus has some big chords and reminds me in some ways of “Making Memories.”  But mostly this seems like a chance for Alex to solo and solo and solo (and for Neil to play…only a bass drum!  (for a few measures)).  The song is 3:43 and the solo is over a minute and a half.  Although the end has some cool fast short chords that the band would use very effectively on 2112.

“Garden Road” has a faster riff (very bluesy), which is interspersed with some chugga chugga guitars during the vocals.  The chorus is completely unintelligible to me.  “This Garden Road is Whoa!.”

A few other things about this bootleg which I neglected to mention.  The solo in Working Man incorporates some sections of what would become “By-Tor and the Snow Dog.”  And it’s really funny hearing Geddy say, “We’d like to do something from our album.”  It’s pretty amazing how far the band progressed from these rocking beginnings.

Download the whole thing here.

[READ: July 5, 2013] Reset

I recognized Bagge’s name, although I haven’t read his previous books.  I’m sure I’ve seen his work anthologized as his style is very familiar.  His drawings are dark (some might say ugly) and his characters always seem a little pained.

So it’s unsurprising that this book’s protagonist is Guy Krause, a former actor.  (His famous line is hilarious and I love that it is revealed very late in the story and then as a running joke).  He has recently come close to hitting bottom–his upcoming shows have been cancelled and his last resort is a reality show.  And when we first meet him, he is in a drunk driving class.

And that’s where Angela Minor comes in.  She offers Guy a chance to relive his life.  He’s obviously skeptical until she explains that it is a virtual experience.  They hook him up to a machine and he gets to try to change the virtual past.  This is all an experiment in seeing how people react to being able to change things that they fixate on.  It turns out the scientists have all kinds of information on him (because he is a celebrity) so it’s not a coincidence that they found him.

Guy balks.  Until she tells him how much they’ll pay him to do it.  Then he’s in. (more…)

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Maile Meloy–The Apprentices (2013)

Posted in Adventure, Communists, Culture Shock, Ebony Bones, Magic, Maile Meloy, Ofra Haza, Supernatural, Trilogy, War, YA Books on July 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

apprenticesSOUNDTRACK: EBONY BONES-“I See I Say” (2013).

ebonyI don’t really know what to imagine about this album from this one song.

The song opens with a skittery sampled vocal chant of “I See I Say” bouncing around.  It has a vaguely Indian sound to it (and reminds me of Ofra Haza).

After a bout a minute the voices slow to a halt which made me think something new was afoot.  But no, the voices start again, with more layers of keyboards and what is more or less a lead vocal keening away.

Then there are some actual sung words (and people chanting I See I Say), making the song sound fuller and fuller.

At first it didn’t really sound like a song so much as an introduction to something, but after a few listens, I can hear that there’s a lot more going on than I realized.   I just can’t imagine what the rest of the album will sound like.

[READ: June 30, 2013] The Apprentices

This is the second book in a trilogy (what is it about trilogies?) that began with The Apothecary.

This book is set two years after the action of the first book.  The kids are 16 now and have not seen each other since. (The book helpfully fills in the things that we have all forgotten since we read the first book, like that Benjamin’s father gave Janie and everyone a forgetting potion so that they would stay out of danger).

Now Janie is back in America, attending a private school (on a scholarship) while her parents are back making movies.  I would have loved to see more of Janie’s school, believe it or not, but the little we do see if enough to set the action in motion.  Janie, a very smart girl and a whiz at math, is accused of cheating by her roommate and (sort of) friend.  The friend is jealous of Janie because her dad keeps talking about how smart Janie is (and consequently how un-smart his own daughter is).

Obviously Janie is upset, but she is more upset because she has been working on an experiment in the chemistry lab.  She has been trying to remove the salt from salt water.  She has been getting memories of her time with Benjamin and one of the things she remembered was the desalinator.  She has been piecing together the formula and has just had a breakthrough.  But what will happen to her stuff (which is actually the school’s stuff?)

Benjamin has also been sending Janie cryptic messages.  She finally realizes that there is a code in which he is letting her know where he is.  It turns out Benjamin and his father are in the jungle saving people. Benjamin’s father has been using his apothecary skills to create some healing potions that are saving lives in the war-torn jungle.  But their mission is secret and Benjamin’s father doesn’t know that Benjamin is communicating with her. (more…)

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Jhumpa Lahiri–“Brotherly Love” (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Arranged Marriage, Death, Drug Church, Excerpt, Jhumpa Lahiri, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Pregnancy, Racism, Short Story, Soundgarden, Travel, War on July 9, 2013| 1 Comment »

CV1_TNY_06_10_13Schossow.inddSOUNDTRACK: DRUG CHURCH-“Deconstructing Snapcase” (2013).

drugchurchYesterday I commented about another Drug Church song by saying I liked this one better.  What’s interesting is that this one is thirty seconds longer but seems shorter.

The song opens with big loud aggressive guitars (kind of early Soundgarden), but the vocals, which are screamed, are brighter that their other song, providing a  nice contrast.  But the thing that made me like this song more than “YouTube” is the fast bright guitar bridge, in which the guitars ring out in contrast to the heavy opening chords–it gives the song a lot of dynamics.

There’s a guitar solo, which surprised me for some reason, but it breaks up the song and reintroduces some of the earlier riffs.  It’s a good heavy song.

[READ: June 18, 2013] “Brotherly Love”

Lahiri has the last and longest story in this New Yorker issue that’s chock full of stories.  This one is some fifteen pages and is part of a novel.

I was gripped instantly by the story.  But I am glad that it is part of a novel as I feel there were parts of the beginning that seemed extraneous without more story to follow.  Or should I say, if it was just a short story, it could have been shorter.  The story is about two brothers, Subhash and Udayan.  Subhash is older by fifteen months but Udayan is the far more daring one.  Subhash is cautious and does everything his parents say, while Udayan flouts the rules at every opportunity.

The first transgression we see is when they climb the wall into the country club, where locals are pretty much excluded.  They were told they could get golf balls, so they hopped the fence and took what they could.  They also marveled at the manicured lawns and the beauty around them.  They returned regularly until they were caught–but luckily for them they were not turned in. (more…)

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Julie Hecht–“May I Touch Your Hair?” (Harper’s, July 2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Consumerism, Drug Church, Funny (ha ha), Harper's, Julie Hecht, Neurotics, NPR/PRI/PBS, Short Story, Summer, Unlikable main character, Unreliable narrator on July 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK:DRUG CHURCH-“Reading YouTube Comments” (2013).

drugchurchI enjoyed the really noisy chaos of another Drug Church song that NPR played (“Deconstructing Snapcase”), but I really like the name of this one (although I can’t tell if it has anything to do with the lyrics–as the lyrics talk about walking with canes and using wheelchairs).

The song starts with thudding drums and angry vocals which are all about the singer’s ailments.  The chorus is fast and kind of repetitive, but fun to sing along to (decline, decline).  I enjoy the song for its aggressive, distorted sound–not quite metal, although I think it needs a bit more…something.

[READ: July 2, 2013] “May I Touch Your Hair?”

I recognized the name Julie Hecht but I couldn’t place her.  It was only after I read this whole story that I looked back at a review of something else I had read by her and I was pleased to see that I felt the exact same way about her narrator then as I did this time.

Hecht writes fiction with that seems like non-fiction.  Her narrator is first person and everything that she writes about seems very real–opinionated enough that you think she’s telling non-fiction.  Indeed, at times I had to confirm that it wasn’t simply an essay.

This story looks back at the narrator’s childhood.  Much of the story spends time at their beach house looking at all of the families who lived around them there.

There is not a lot to this story except really the narrator’s tone.  Little things come through like “Elinor was in her own upper-teenage world of grown-up girls in college.  She was studious as well as boy-crazy.”  That “boy-crazy” note is a bit of a judgment.  The narrator is very judgmental.  Like: “she got married at a young age, then made the mistake of having a baby right away.”  Or, “My mother told us she’d heard that Elinor had said to her three-year old child, ‘Your parents are young and want to go out, and you can’t expect us to be with you all the time.  We have our own lives.’  This was thought to be a bad thing to say to a child.”  I love that last line. (more…)

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