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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Colum McCann–“Transatlantic” (New Yorker, April 16, 2012)

Posted in Adventure, Colum McCann, East River Pipe, History, Jack Alcock, New Yorker, Short Story, Teddy Brown, The Mountain Goats, War on April 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE MOUNTAIN GOATS-“Drug Life” from Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers (2009).

 I could tell this was a Mountain Goats song right from the start–it’s lo fi and yet it sounds clear (especially the vocals). Normally with The Mountain Goats you talk about the lyrics, but since he didn’t write the song, there’s not much to say about them (in this paragraph anyhow).

The original, by East River Pipe is also very lo-fi.  It’s a very catchy song and it’s all about drugs: (“If it comes down to the drugs or you…baby we’re through.”).  The original is guitar and keyboards and Cornog’s straightforward singing.  The cover is simply acoustic guitar.  It’s a little faster (and a little shorter) and because I like The Mountain Goats, I prefer the cover.

Although really, they’re not very different.

[READ: April 16, 2012] “Transatlantic”

This story was out of my comfort zone–it’s about army men and airplanes, that’s not my scene, man.  And after reading the first few paragraphs, I wondered if I should keep reading it.  But McCann wrote a compelling story and I’m really glad I finished it.

The story is basically an account of two men, Teddy Brown and Jack Alcock, as they attempt the first transatlantic flight in their modified bomber called The Vickers Vimy.  Anyone with a working knowledge of the flight, or post WWI history knows that these are two real historical people.  I do not have such a working knowledge, so I had no idea that this was based on a true story.  If you know anything about them (and I swear, Google either of them and you will find all the details that you need) then you know how the story turns out.

I didn’t know how the story turned out and I found it thrilling. In part that’s because it’s an exceptionally exciting moment in history–two former army men modify a bomber and try to fly from Newfoundland, Canada to Ireland.  And really, there’s no way it should work–bombers don’t have enough fuel, they have no radar.  It could take days.   Hell the planes don’t even have a windshield that covers them.  But the excitement is also because of the way that McCann tells the story. (more…)

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César Aira–Varamo (2002) [translated 2012]

Posted in Cars, César Aira, Chris Andrews, Eddie Vedder, Fiona Apple, Gambling, Meta, Poetry, Poets, Short Books, Translation on April 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FIONA APPLE-“Every Single Night” (2012).

Many things have been said about Fiona Apple, and I’ll not repeat them here.  I will say, however, that she has put out some of the most consistently interesting music over the years.  From her introspective pop to her lavishly orchestrated pop, to the two mixes of her last album (one official, the other leaked), I’ve enjoyed all of it.

This is her first song in some seven years.  And it doesn’t skimp on what makes Fiona Fiona.  Specifically, it really showcases her voice.  And that’s because it is practically a capella.  The music is very spare–simple instrumentation (which sounds like a music box) and it more or less simply keeps the pace for Fiona’s voice (which sounds more full and powerful than ever) which creates the wonderful melody.  This may sound like a weird comparison, but I actually hear a bit of Eddie Vedder in her voice, too.

It’s a haunting song and the arrangement is curiously cool.

And I’ll share it here (well, actually I won’t share it, I’ll give you the link because it doesn’t want to embed):

http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F43923280&show_artwork=true

[READ: April 18, 2012] Varamo

Varamo is the most recently translated of César Aira’s hundred or so books.  It was written in 2002 and translated by Chris Andrews.  So far it is my favorite of the Aira books I’ve read.

It’s a fairly simple premise, although like most of Aira’s books, the premise isn’t exactly followed from start to finish.  And like his other books, there are fun avenues of detours.  But unlike his other books, it is a remarkably consistent story.  Except of course, that even though the book is set on the day that Varamo writes his famous poem, we never even get to see him entering his house to do so.

What?

Well, I’m going to quote from the beginning because it really summarizes the “plot” of the story: (more…)

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Thomas Pynchon–[Week 9] Gravity’s Rainbow [Sections 3.25-3.32] (1973)

Posted in Africa, Big Books, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Drinking, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Language, Mercury Rev, Military, Political Humor, Pranks, Racism, Research, Russia, Sex, Supernatural, Surreal, Technology, The Flaming Lips, Thomas Pynchon, Threats, Travel, War on April 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MERCURY REV-Deserter’s Songs (1998).

Mercury Rev has changed a lot as a band over the years.  They began as a noisy punk outfit who was getting kicked off of airplanes, and by this album (seven years after their debut), they’ve turned into a kind of sweet orchestral pop band (a transformation not unlike The Flaming Lips).  I got into them with their album before this See You on the Other Side with the seriously rocking song “Young Man’s Stride.”  This album came as something of a shock, it is often so delicate.

I used to really love this album a lot and then one day I thought that it was a little irritating sounding, and that has stuck with me ever since.  The irritation comes from a combination of the really high-pitched vocals and the musical saw that seems to accompany most songs.  However, I hadn’t listened to it in quite some time and hearing it now, I found it enjoyable once again.

It opens with “Holes” a five-minute song that layers many different instruments (musical saw, of course, and horns) over Jonathan Donohue’s timid and wavery voice and gentle keyboard washes.   “Tonite It Shows” continues in the pretty vein–a beautiful song that name checks Cole Porter.  “Endlessly” features more unearthly soprano singing (there’s a lot of high-pitched music on this disc).  It has a lovely melody and references “Silent Night” on the flute.

The first highlight has to be “Opus 40” which tempers all of the potential irritants but maximizes the beauty and wondrous songwriting.  It soars to the heavens but stays grounded with a cool retro organ solo.  The other major highlight is “Goddess on a Hiway.”  “Hiway” is even better than opus 40 at blending the wonderful elements of this album.

“Hudson Line” is an anomaly on the disc–raw saxophone solo and low vocals change the pace of the album quite a bit.  “The Funny Bird” actually sounds like a Flaming Lips song circa 2008.  The Flaming Lips comparisons aren’t all that surprising since Donahue played with the Lips back in the early 90s.  And “Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp” is a pretty raucous song (“stomp” is correct).  It has a traditional feel and ends the disc on an upbeat note.

So, yes, although some of the effects on the disc veer into annoying, it’s still a great disc overall.

[READ: Week of April 16] Gravity’s Rainbow 3.25-3.32

We have finally exited The Zone this week.  The lengthy Section 3 has come to a close with an unceremonious send off to Slothrop, who I assume we’ll see in Section 4, with the reintroduction of old characters and with a chance meeting that made me go wow!

I’m really amazed at the interconnectedness of the book.  While I didn’t think that things would be unrelated, the number of unexpected connections is really tremendous.  And while I missed many of the other characters, seeing the occasional one pop up is pretty exciting.

I’m happy to leave the Zone, not because I didn’t like it (although I admit I Slothrop’s slog from one place to another was getting a little tiring), but because I really want to see how he wraps all this stuff up.  Connections are popping up everywhere, and I feel like he’s doing a whole lot more than I initially thought. (more…)

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Philippe Claudel–“The Investigation” (Harper’s, May 2012) [excerpt]

Posted in Franz Kafka, Grateful Dead, Harper's, Huh?, John Cullen, Megafaun, Philippe Claudel, Translation, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on April 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MEGAFAUN-Live from the World Cafe, November 9, 2011 (2011).

I loved the Megafaun song “Get Right,” a trippy 8 minute workout.  So I was interested to hear them in this live setting.  There’s a lengthy interview with WXPN’s Michaela Majoun (full of all kinds of details about Bon Iver–whom they used to play with before they broke up and he became Bon Iver–and about, North Carolina and Wisconsin and lutefisk).  And the band plays three songs, too.

“Real Slow” opens with a banjo (and it is real slow).  It has a very Grateful Dead feel to it and beautiful harmonies.  After the freak out of “Get Right” I was quite surprised to hear such a traditional folky song from them.  “Second Friend” is a but more upbeat–bright guitars and more beautiful harmonies.  It’s a simple song.  “State/Meant” has a bit more electric guitar, but it continues in the folkie vein.

I admit I didn’t enjoy this set as much as I expected.  The songs were really nice, but they didn’t really push any envelopes sonically, especially compared to “Get Right.”  But at the same time, what they do, they do very well.

You can hear it here.

[READ: April 23, 2012] “The Investigation”

This is an excerpt from a novel called The Investigation which is coming out in English (translated by John Cullen) in July.

I don’t know what the story is all about because this excerpt is really bizarre and wonderful, but it’s certainly not any indication of what the storyline will be.  However, it is a huge indication (I imagine) of what the story will be like.

The word “Kafkaesque” is thrown around a lot (well, in my house it is anyhow), but this excerpt is really and truly Kafkaesque.  The Investigator wakes up in a tiny hotel room to the sound of a telephone ringing.  He is naked and has no idea how he got there. And the telephone appears to be attached to the ceiling.  He has a confusing conversation on the phone that opens more questions about his situation. (more…)

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Gravity’s Rainbow Week 9 Placeholder

Posted in Thomas Pynchon on April 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Man, having a job that requires work really messes up ones time for blogging.  Not for reading, fortunately, as I’m already on to this penultimate read, I just haven’t had a moment of time to type anything.  Hoping to get it done in the next day or two.

Sadly, I have no superfun diversions to entertain you with until them (Pynchon made more than one appearance on The Simpsons, but I can’t find any videos of the other ones).

But here’s an odd video from CNN about Pynchon circa the release of Mason & Dixon.  Imagine…a 24 Hours News Channel actually devoted 5 minutes to an author

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David Sedaris–Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (2011)

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Animals, David Sedaris, Death, Dogs, Geddy Lee, Humiliation, Ian Falconer, Marriage Trouble, Matt Groening, Neil Peart, Rush, Sex, Short Books, This American Life, Violence, Yuck! on April 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-“Headlong Flight” (2012).

A new single from Rush came out on Thursday.  And it’s seven minutes long!  Yeeha!  It’s also really heavy.

It opens with a cool bass riff and then thundering guitars.  This song continues in the heavier, grungier sound from Vapor Trails.  The middle section sounds distinctly Rush (late 80s style), and Geddy’s voice hits some pretty high notes.

There’s a brief extra section with a spoken word part–I’ve not been able to make out what it says, but the instruments (especially the great guitar sound) is fantastic behind it.  That’s followed by a great solo from Alex (that hearkens back to his wild solos from the 70s).  Geddy throws some cool bass fills–although he’s not showing off as much as he might).  And, of course, Neil is doing some cool drum things through the song–little fills and whatnot–and he sounds like he’s pounding the hell out of the drums.

Here’s the video

[READ: April 14, 2012] Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

As I mentioned yesterday, I bought a book to have David Sedaris sign it, but decided the wait wasn’t worth it.  This is the book I bought.  It very excitedly claims to “with one new story” which I thought was funny both in itself and also because I hadn’t read any of the other ones (I gather they are from This American Life, although they’re mostly too vulgar to have read on the radio).  It also has illustrations from Ian Falconer, who is the guy behind Olivia, the children’s book series.

Anyone who has read David Sedaris essays knows what to expect–funny, presumably exaggerated stories about his family and loved ones.  Indeed, the stories that he read from during the show were just that–dark and funny and about his loved ones.  So imagine my surprise to find that these were all short fictional stories about animals!  No Sedaris’ are harmed in this book.

All of the animals are behaving like people, so Sedaris’ caustic wit and attacks on hypocrisy are all in play.  However, because they are animals, Sedaris can go much much further with them.  Matt Groening said that he could get away with a lot more social criticism because The Simpsons were cartoons; the same applies here.  Indeed, these are some of the darkest stories that I have ever read from Sedaris.

Some of them are kinda funny, but most of them left me mildly bemused at best.  Because while they seem to be a kind of laugh-at-the-recognition-of-our-foolish-behavior (as done by animals), really they are preachy and seem generally disappointed in us.   And who wants to read that?  It basically seemed like an opportunity for Sedaris to make fun of things that he doesn’t like about people.  But he knew it would be obnoxious to makes stories about people acting that way, so he made them animals instead.  And perhaps he thought that would make it funnier.  At times this was true, but not very often. (more…)

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David Sedaris (RVCC Arts, Branchburg, NJ, April 11, 2012)

Posted in Animals, Audiobooks, Branchburg, NJ, Corporate skewering, Culture Shock, David Sedaris, Essays, Gordon Grice, Monkeys, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Prospect, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, Yuck! on April 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 11, 2012] David Sedaris

I have enjoyed David Sedaris for a number of years now.  When our friend Melissa went to see him a few years ago, she said he was hilarious.  I’ve heard several readings done by him and had to agree with her–he’s very funny live.

I find that he’s much funnier when I hear him read his stuff than when I read it myself.  Indeed, when I read his stories I try to imagine it in his voice, just so it will be funnier.  Turns out he does a much better David Sedaris than I do.  Each of the stories was very funny (tear-inducingly funny) and very typically Sedaris.

This show was him on stage reading from a number of his pieces and from his diary.  I didn’t know the first piece, called “Understanding Owls,” which was about Owls and taxidermy.  It was also about trying to find the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for his boyfriend of 20 years (wow!), Hugh.  He wanted to buy a stuffed owl because of a long running joke about all of the owl tchotchkes in their house.  The setup alone was hilarious and the sequence in the taxidermist was very funny and rather uncomfortable. (more…)

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Junot Díaz–“Miss Lora” (New Yorker, April 23, 2012)

Posted in Garfunkel and Oates, Junot Díaz, New Yorker, Red Dawn, Scrubs, Set in New Jersey!, Sex, Short Story, The Day After on April 20, 2012| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: GARFUNKEL & OATES-“Fuck You” (2009).

My coworker sent me a link to this Garfunkel & Oates song.  Garfunkel and Oates is a comedy folk team comprised of Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome.  This song was featured on Scrubs (seriously) because Micucci played “Gooch,” creepy Ted’s girlfriend on the show.

The song is kind of sweet and funny, but also rather dirty (just like Scrubs).

This version is under two minutes, but there’s a new version (complete with kazoo solo) on their website.  The new version plays up the confusion of the kiss you/fuck you chorus a little more with some very funny lines.  You can also see a bunch of their other funny, catch, dirty songs like: “Gay Boyfriend,” “Sex with Ducks” and “This Party Took a Turn for the Douche.”

So cute!

[READ: April 20, 2012] “Miss Lora”

Junot Díaz is back with another short story–I smell a collection coming out soon.

This one is about Yunior and his brother who died of cancer (as most of his stories are).  But in this one, his brother is more of a presence than an actual character.

For this story is all about Yunior and his lengthy affair with Miss Lora.  Miss Lora was a neighborhood older woman–not too old, but certainly older than the kids.  She was super skinny–totally flat in front and back–but she was very muscular.  She liked showing off her gymnasts’ body in a bikini.  The women (like Yunior’s mom) didn’t think much of her in town, but she didn’t seem to care.

And, although she wasn’t all that much to look at, Yunior developed a bit of a crush on her.  And then one day he realized it was mutual.  (more…)

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Paul Theroux–“Our Raccoon Year” (Harper’s, May 2012)

Posted in Bill Callahan, Death, Harper's, Humiliation, Paul Theroux, Short Story, Smog, Unlikable main character, Versus, Yuck! on April 19, 2012| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BILL CALLAHAN-“Santa Maria” from Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers(2009).

I don’t often listen to songs that are as simple and straightforward as this one.  It’s an acoustic guitar with occasional piano and Callahan’s deep voice.  The melody is enjoyable and the vocals are crystal clear.  (Callahan is from Smog, a band I know of, but whom I don’t really know).

The original of this song is by Versus on their Afterglow EP.  I’ve liked Versus for a long time–their mix of male/female vocals and rockin’ guitars is always exciting.  But I didn’t remember this song at all.  It turns out that it’s kind of a slow, brooding number, something I probably wouldn’t have paid a ton of attention to back when I was rocking out more.

I prefer the Versus version as there’s more interesting tricks afoot, although Callahan does some cool subtleties by the end of the song that really bring out some interesting twists to the song.

[READ: April 16, 2012] “Our Raccoon Year”

I’ve read a few pieces from Paul Theroux, and I’ll say that this piece really surprised me.  While I wouldn’t try to categorize all of Theroux’s writing, I would say that a domestic story about raccoons is one that I would not have expected.

The story opens with the narrator, a young boy, telling us that his Ma decided to go away.  Their Pa explained that she was where she wanted to be “with her friend.”  Given the circumstances, and the fact that Pa was a well-respected citizen (and attorney), Pa was given custody of the narrator and his brother. He was the first man to be given custody of children after a divorce in their region and it only upped people’s opinions of him.

That’s a neat conceit for a story.  So it’s surpising when he says that it also began their “raccoon year” which means it was their year of dealing with raccoons. (more…)

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Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman & Jude Watson–Vespers Rising [The 39 Clues, Book Eleven]

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Music, Death, Fears, Gordon Korman, Greed, History, Jude Watson, Mamma Yamma, Marriage (Happy), Peter Lerangis, Rick Riordan, Sesame Street, Short Books, Short Story, Skiing, Tegan and Sara, Threats, Violence, War on April 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TEGAN AND SARA-“Alligator” on CDC Kids’ Mamma Yamma (2010).

Tegan and Sara take a slightly different approach than the other artists on Mamma Yamma.  Rather than creating a new song, they took their hit “Alligator” and made new words for it (much like many artists have done on Sesame Street).

The melody is exactly the same (which is good, as it’s a really catchy song). But rather than being about a failed relationship, it’s about alligators.

Old lyrics: Run around on me, I’d sooner die without

New lyrics: Run around a tree, skip and jump about

It’s a cute version and the band sounds very good.

I really enjoy these introductions to interesting musicians on kids shows.  I wonder if kids actually like seeing grown up musicians like this.

You can watch it here:

[READ: April 20, 2012] Vespers Rising

I finished The 39 Clues series last year. Or so I thought!  After completing books 1-10, I found out that they were planning a whole new series.  And they began with this transitional book, which they called #11 and which was co-written by four of the prominent authors.

Vespers Rising is actually four short stories that trace the history of the Cahill family and their feud with the Vesper family.  The Vespers were not a part of the first series at all.  In the first series, the 39 Clues were a kind of Amazing Race for Cahill family members.  (I’ll get to some details about the family in a moment).  It was a kind of private race for the prize–which was a life-enhancing serum.  But this book introduces a new villain to the story and explains that the villain has been there all along, just lurking.

Rick Riordan wrote the first story in this book takes us back to the beginning.  In 1507, off the coast of Ireland, Gideon Cahill invented this serum.  He was and alchemist, seeking an antidote for the Black Death which was ravaging Europe.  He was working for Lord Damien Vesper, a man bent on power.  Vesper wasn’t interested in helping people with the Black Death–he had no real value for life–however, he was interested in the results that Gideon might discover. (more…)

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