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Archive for the ‘Roddy Doyle’ Category

David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Deborah Ellis, Nick Hornby, Margo Lanagan, Gregory Maguire, Ruth Ozeki, Linda Sue Park, Tim Wynne-Jones–Click: One Novel Ten Authors (2007)

Posted in Beach House, Boredom, Boxing, Cocteau Twins, David Almond, Death, Deborah Ellis, Eoin Colfer, Gregory Maguire, Linda Sue Park, Margo Lanagan, My Bloody Valentine, Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Ruth Ozeki, Tim Wynne-Jones, Travel, War on February 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

clickSOUNDTRACK: BEACH HOUSE-Teen Dream (2010).

teendreamI didn’t know Beach House until this album got huge raves in end of the year lists.  I decided to investigate it and I was really pleasantly surprised by the album’s Cocteau Twins meets My Bloody valentine feel.  I have recently read that their first two albums were not quite as big and full and orchestral as this album, which meant that this one marked a recording (but not necessarily song stylistic) change for the band.  Part of me wants to hear what the earlier, more homemade version of the band sounds like, and yet I like the full almost orchestrated feel of this album so much that I can’t imagine going back to a less big sound.

The album opens with a delicately reverbed guitar riff—it feels warm and summery and then the angelic voices kick in and the ahhhs launch the song into the stratosphere.  And it pretty much stays there for the whole album.  There’s virtually no bass and only the slightest hints of drums (time-keeping measures rather than percussion).  Well, okay, “Better Times” has drums but even they are mild.  Victoria Legrand’s voice just soars, sometimes in staccato bursts, but mostly in otherworldly seeming falsetto (with occasion moments when she sounds kind of masculine and yet still angelic–it’s an amazing range).  There’s mostly reverbed guitars but on some tracks like “Used to Be” there are keyboards as well.  They’re even more prevalent (and more 80s sounding) on “Lover of Mine.”

Despite the sameness of the songs, the album doesn’t feel like one song repeated over.  The melodies are unique and the composition of the songs really shows a lot of diversity within a format.  Like “10 Mile Stereo” which has a faster pace than the other but still maintains that ethereal vibe.  Or “Real Love” which introduces a piano into the mix, and the song feels a little less ethereal, but only a little.  The album is also not too long.  It’s like a wonderful blast of summer.

The CD comes with a DVD with videos for each song, although I have not watched them yet.

[READ: February 11, 2013] Click

I discovered this story because it was listed in Roddy Doyle’s bibliography on Wikipedia.  I’m somewhat surprised that I’d never heard of it as I know so many of the authors that were involved (indeed, several of them are involved in the 39 Clues, another multiple author series).  This book is billed as a YA book and I guess it is as many of the sections are about teenagers, but some characters grow old and there’s some talk of the bombing of Hiroshima which may be a bit intense (there’s no pictures and no detailed descriptions, but still…).  It is a quick read though, so I guess it can qualify as YA.

The story is about a photographer named Gee (real name George Keane) and how he impacted so many lives.  In the first story/chapter (each chapter is like a short story that contributes to the overall picture and each one of these is written by someone different), written by Linda Sue Park, we learn that Gee has just died.  He left his granddaughter Maggie (who I came to think of as the “main” character, even though she doesn’t appear in every story) a box with seven compartments.  In each compartment was a shell with a clue, suggesting that she should take all of the shells back to where they came from–a subtle encouragement to travel the world.  But Maggie is utterly distressed by Gee’s death and she can’t get off the couch where she used to spend time with him.  Eventually her parents offer to take her to one of those locations–Japan–getting her life started at last. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–Her Mother’s Face (2012)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Babies, Children's Books, Death, Dublin, Ireland, Fiona Apple, Freya Blackwood, Irish Writer, Roddy Doyle, Short Books on February 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

hermotherSOUNDTRACK: FIONA APPLE-The Idler Wheel is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do [bonus DVD] (2012).

idlerThe deluxe package of The Idler Wheel comes with a bonus DVD.  It also comes with a ton of idle scratchings from Fiona–lyrics, artwork (which is weird but good), postcards and all manner of things.  I wasn’t particularly interested in that stuff, although I am pleasantly surprised by her drawing skills.  Mostly I wanted to check out the DVD.

So the DVD is actually a five song concert excerpt from SXSW filmed by NPR.  I have to assume that the show was more than these five songs (because there are breaks in the video and because there’s no way she would do just five songs).  Also, the NPR page for the show says she played a few different songs from Idler Wheel.  There’s audio for the show on the site (three of the five songs) which kind of makes the DVD extraneous, except that you get to watch her perform.

When Fiona was younger there was much talk of her videos being too sexualized.  And I suppose “Criminal” fit that bill.  As such, she has become something of a visual artist by virtue of her body.  I’d always thought that she was too skinny, but she seems even more so now.  And yet for all the waifiness of her (are you still a waif when you’re 35?), her voice is till strong and powerful and she can belt the hell out of a song (perhaps with a little too much forced vibrato at times).

She seems a little at a loss when she’s in that awkward frontwoman space (my guitarist is playing a rocking solo–what do I do?).  She dances somewhat (which NPR describes as confidently but I read as awkwardly, huh).

In this live setting the songs take on a new, looser feel.  As I mentioned, the guitarist  really lets loose (and he sounds great–there’s even one moment when Fiona walks over to the piano and leans on it to watch the guitarist jam).  The band sounds great together and yes Fiona sounds great too.

I actually saw Fiona live in Boston on the tour for her debut album.  Unfortunately, the place was mobbed with tweeny girls (was that her target market?) who screamed and shrieked through the whole set.  It was one of the worst shows I’d ever seen, through no fault of the performer, who I honestly don’t remember at all.  I’ll bet without the devoted screamers the show would have been as interesting as this one seems like it was.

Tracks on the DVD include “Fast As You Can,” “A Mistake,” “Anything We Want,” “Sleep To Dream” and “Every Single Night.”  On the NPR page you can hear “Fast As You Can,” “A Mistake,” and “Every Single Night” as well as “Extraordinary Machine” (on which she hits some amazing high notes!).  There’s no “Sleep to Dream” (which has a very different style than on the record–I almost didn’t recognize it) or “Anything We Want” which sounds great live, especially since she (presumably) plays the introductory percussion (which I assume is looped?) on some strange object.  This was the first time most of us had heard “Every Single Night” and I remember thinking it sounded good but so uncomplicated that I was worried that the album would be a little…flat.  Boy was I wrong.  And now hearing it again, I can hear just how subtle and complex the song is.

[READ: January 28, 2013] Her Mother’s Face

This was Roddy Doyle’s first picture book (you can see that once I found out that he had written children’s books I had to get them all from the library).  I read this after Greyhound of Girl, and assumed that it was a slimmed down version of Greyhound.  But now that I see that this came first I’m inclined to believe that this book was the inspiration for Greyhound.

Many of the basic details are the same as Greyhound–a girl whose mother died when she was three years old; a ghost visits her and gives her solace.  That may not seem like a lot of similarity but in terms of plot that’s really all both books have (it’s the details that really make both stories).

But they are very different books meant for different audiences.  Face is a picture book and the illustrations by Freya Blackwood are simply gorgeous.  Really they are quite mesmerizing in their beauty.  I read it to myself and decided that it’s not really meant for my kids.  Neither of them are really old enough to get it (and the death of the mom at age three might lead to more questions than I need to answer at the moment).

It’s wordy for a picture book and it doesn’t have much of Doyle’s humor in it.  This is serious book. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–The Giggler Treatment (2000)

Posted in Babies, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Nicholson Baker, Poo, Roddy Doyle, Scrubs, Short Books, Trilogy, Yuck! on January 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

gigglerSOUNDTRACK: SCRUBS-“Everything Comes Down to Poo” (2007).

Iscrubsn season 7 of Scrubs, they created a musical episode (trendy yes, but pretty much always funny) called “My Musical.”  One of the highlights was the song “Everything Comes Down to Poo” in which Turk and JD sing to a patient that they need a stool sample.  The song is full of a ton of different terms for poo and where it comes out (and it’s all rated PG).

It’s very funny and quite clever, given the subject.  Who doesn’t love seeing a chorus of doctors and nurses high kicking down a hospital corridor singing “Everything comes down to poo.”

Enjoy:

[READ: January 30, 2013] The Giggler Treatment

Who knew that Roddy Doyle, humorist of Barrytown and very serious chronicler of women’s pain would write an outrageously silly children’s book about dog poo?  I don’t know what prompted him to write this book (he has written several children’s books since), but he manages the chapter book format with aplomb and a slight (hilarious) disrespect for the genre.

So The Giggler Treatment is structured in a manner not unlike Nicholson Baker’s early novels in that pretty much all of the action takes place over the span of about a minute.  Mister Mack is about to step in a huge pile of dog poo.  And  the story flashes around to different pieces of information as we watch with bated breath for his shoe to inch its way closer to fate.

Mister Mack is a decent bloke, a good father, a hardworking biscuit taster (a different biscuit every day from the factory where he works).  [Incidentally, I assume that these details are extra for the American edition, but Doyle includes a warning that explains that biscuits are what they call cookies in Ireland. There’s also a hilarious glossary which translate rudies, bums, knickers and other things for young U.S readers.]  Mister Mack is on his way to work, but is distracted by a talking seagull (who hates fish) and while his head is turned his foot is headed right Rover’s poo. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–A Greyhound of a Girl (2012)

Posted in Babies, Big Bang Boom, Children's Books, Death, Dublin, Ireland, Irish Writer, Roddy Doyle, Short Books on January 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

greyhoundSOUNDTRACK: BIG BANG BOOM-“Hippie Mom” (2012).

big bangThis song is a loving tribute to crunchy, loving hippie moms (“granola making yoga taking,”  “I love to watch her twirl and sing.  She loves me more than anything.”)  While the song definitely teases some of the clichés of a hippie mom, it is a sweet, happy song.

It’s got a kind of rockabilly sound that makes you want to tap your feet and sing along.  I’d not hear of Big Bang Boom before, but I need to hear more from them.

[READ: January 28, 2013] A Greyhound of a Girl

After reading Doyle’s story in McSweeney’s recently I checked out to see what he had been up to.  I had no idea he had written a series of children’s books.  And this one was the most recent (and the library had it!), so I had to see what Mr Doyle could do for kids.

Well, this is an extremely heartwarming and sad story about four generations of Irish women.  It’s delightfully simple with very few characters.  And for that, it packs a wallop.

Mary is a twelve-year-old girl living in Dublin.  She has two brothers, who don’t really enter the story but I mention them since their names are Killer and Dommo.  Mary’s best friend, Ava, has just moved away and she is devastated.  On the way home from school–the way she usually walks with Ava, an old woman–well, she’s actually young, like a young adult, but she is dressed old and talks like her granny–asks about her gran.  Her gran, Emer, is in the hospital.  She’s very old and is clearly not long for the world.

Mary tells her mother, Scarlett, about the old woman and how the old woman seemed to know her gran.  She’d said her name was Tansey.  Scarlett is taken aback.  She explains that Emer’s mother was named Tansey, and isn’t that a weird coincidence.  Then, we flashback and learn the history of this family.  Tansey died when Emer was but  three years old.  Tansey’s mother helped to raise Emer and her baby brother with their father.  Later, Emer gave birth to Scarlett, and 12 years ago Scarlett had Mary.  We learn about the farm that Emer grew up on and how she hated the greyhounds that her father raised for racing–they were too skinny and pointy. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #12 [Unpublished, Unknown &\Or Unbelievable] (2003)

Posted in Aimee Bender, Aleksandar Hemon, Alicia Erian, All Songs Considered, Andrea Deszo, Andy Lamey, Ann Cummins, Ashley Warlick, Ben Ehrenreich, Boredom, Chad Simpson, Darin Strauss, David Ebershoff, Dean Wareham, Death, Douglas Coupland, Drinking, Drugs, Emma Forrest, Essays, Excerpt, Frank Ocean, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gabe Hudson, Glen David Gold, Henry Bean, History, J. Malcolm Garcia, J. Robert Lennon, James Boice, Jennifer Egan, Jess Walter, Jessica Francis Kane, Jill Bialosky, John Henry Fleming, Jonathan Lethem, Judy Budnitz, Julie Orringer, Katie Roiphe, Laird Hunt, Letters, Marc Nesbitt, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Myla Goldberg, Native Americans, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Peter Orner, Prince, Rachel Sherman, Racism, Rene Nuijens, Rhett Miller, Rick Moody, Robots, Roddy Doyle, Ryan Boudinot, Salvador Plascencia, Sarah Raymont, Set at School, Sex, Shann Ray, Short Story, Sibylla Brodzinsky, Stacey Richter, Steve Almond, Steve Stiefel, Steven Millhauser, Tara June Winch, Travel, Valerie Sutton, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), War, Wythe Marschall on December 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »

12SOUNDTRACK: FRANK OCEAN-“Bad Religion” (2012).

frankoI didn’t know anything about Frank Ocean until I started looking at all of the  Best Albums of 2012 lists.  He was on everyone’s list and was pretty near the top of all of them.  So it was time to check him out.

It  turns out that he’s affiliated with the Odd Future collective, whom I’ve talked about in the past.  But he’s also been on a lot of big name records.  Channel Orange is his debut album (that’s not a mixtape) and the big surprise seems to be that this song (which he sang live on Jimmy Fallon) is about a male lover.  And I guess that’s progress.

So Ocean sings a slow R&B style, and I have to say his voice reminds me of Prince a lot.  Which is a good thing.  I really like this song.    It has gospelly keyboards (but in that Purple Rain kinda way).  And a really aching vocal line.  It’s really effective and it’s really simple.  And I think that’s what I liked best about this song and others that I’ve heard–he’s really understated.  Crazy, I know.

Now I do not like R&B, it’s one of the few genres that I just don;t get.  And yet there’s something about this album (the tracks I’ve listened to) that is really compelling.  It’s not awash in over the top R&B trappings, and it doesn’t try too hard.  It’s just Frank  (not his real name) and his voice over some simple beats.  A friend of mine recently said that all of a sudden she “got” this album, and  I think I may have to get it as well.

[READ: December 30, 2012] McSweeney’s #12

At the beginning of 2012, I said I’d read all of my old McSweeney’s issues this year.  I didn’t.  Indeed, I put it off for quite a while for no especial reason.  Now as the year draws to an end, I’m annoyed that I didn’t read them all, but it’s not like I read nothing.  Nevertheless, I managed to read a few in the last month and am delighted that I finished this one just under the wire.  For those keeping track, the only issues left are 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 10, 38, (which I misplaced but have found again) and 42, which just arrived today.  My new plan in to have those first four read by Easter.  We’ll see.

So Issue #12 returns to a number of different fun ideas.  The cover:  It’s a paperback, but you can manipulate the front and back covers to make a very cool 3-D effect (by looking through two eyeholes) with a hippo.  The colophon/editor’s note is also back.  Someone had complained that he missed the small print ramble in the beginning of the book and so it is back, with the writer (Eggers? Horowitz?) sitting in Wales, in a B&B, and hating it.  It’s very funny and a welcome return.

As the title suggests, all of the stories here are from unpublished authors.  They debate about what exactly unpublished means, and come down on the side of not well known.  And so that’s what we have here, first time (for the mos part) stories.  And Roddy Doyle.

There are some other interesting things in this issue.  The pages come in four colors–each for a different section.  The Letters/Intro page [white], the main stories [pink], the Roddy Doyle piece (he’s not unpublished after all so he gets his own section) [gray] and the twenty minute stories [yellow].  There’s also photographs (with captions) of Yuri Gagarin.  And a series of drawing that introduce each story called “Dancewriting”–a stick figure on a five-lined staff.  They’re interesting but hard to fathom fully.

LETTERS (more…)

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Speaking with the Angel (2000)

Posted in Alice Cooper, BLK JCK, Boredom, Carole King, Colin Firth, Dave Eggers, Death, Dreams, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Fishbone, Frank Zappa, Gil Scot-Heron, Giles Smith, Glee, Helen Fielding, Humiliation, Irvine Welsh, John O'Farrell, Melissa Bank, Nick Hornby, Nina Simone, Of Montreal, OutKast, Patrick Marber, Pete Shelley, Politicians, Prince, Prison, Punks, Rob Roy, Robert Harris, Roddy Doyle, Set at School, Short Story, The Buzzcocks, TV on the Radio, Zadie Smith on October 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: The Believer July/August 2010 Music Issue Compilation CD: “We Bumped Our Heads Against the Clouds” (2010).

Of all the Believer music compilations, this is by far my least favorite.  It would be oversimplifying things to say that the music is not for me, but in many respects it is not.  Chuck Lightning, the curator of the project states that this compilation is more or less a look into the state of the union for black artists.  And that invariably means a lot of R&B and songs that might be heard on Glee (I like the show, but I never know any of the music).

Deep Cotton’s “Self!” reminds me of novelty dance hit from the late 80s.  Of Montreal, who I thought sounded totally different from this, offer “Hydra Fancies” which is as catchy a disco anthem as any disco anthem can be.  Roman GianArthur’s “Depraved Valet” is an amazingly falsettoed Prince knock off.  Cody Chestnutt’s “”Come Back Like Spring” is a simple almost acapella ode to spring.  Saul Williams’ oddly titled “B.S. in a Tampon” is a spoken word with acoustic guitar that reminds me of Gil Scot-Heron.  Janelle Monáe’s “Cold War” is the first really catchy song (the la las remind me of Carole King), although  I could do without the overstated “Calinda” part and the extended fade.

The first song I really liked was BLK JCKs “Iietys” which sounded enough like TV on the Radio to be really interesting.  Spree Wilson’s “Chaos” also sounds like TV on the Radio (the more R&B side of the band, although the guitar solo is a dead ringer for “Hotel California.”  Scar’s “Rewind” is the song that should be on Glee.  I want to hate it but it is so damned catchy, I can’t.  Again, those Oh Oh Ohs are too perfect (and the auto0tune of course is unassailable).

Rob Roy’s “Velvet Rope Blues” is my favorite song on the disc by a large distance. It’s a weird rap that reminds me of The Streets, with an awesome sung chorus ala OutKast.  Hollyweed’s “Have You Ever Made Love to a Weirdo” is a trippy, juvenile space rap that is really silly.  Sarah hates it but I kind of like it, as it’s in the spirit of Frank Zappa, (although I hate the sax solo).  Fear & Fancy’ s “Off the Grid” sounds also not unlike OutKast.  And George 2.0′ s “Turn Off the TV” is a anti-TV rap rant (with the somewhat ironic conclusion that you yourself might end up ON the TV).

M.I.A. is probably the biggest name on the disc. “Born Free” is a weird little track of highly distorted vocals over a punk guitar buzzsaw sound.  But her vocals are mixed so loud in the mix that they sound unrelated.  It sounds not unlike a Go! Team track.  This track makes me wonder how she became such a sensation.

Hot Heavy & Bad’s “One” returns to that disco sound in the vocals with some contemporary bass sounds.  It wears out its welcome pretty quickly.  Tendaberry’s “Cold Boy” sounds like a less horn-y Fishbone.  Mother Novella offers one of the few all guitar songs, “Closer 9 1/2” and it’s an okay mid tempo rocker.

The final song is pretty awesome in theory: Nina Simone covering Alice Cooper.  That’s right, Nina Simone covering Alice Cooper.  Sadly I don’t know the Alice Cooper song, so it’s a bit lost on me.

[READ: September 16, 2010] Speaking with the Angel

I bought this volume when it came out (and apparently donated $1 to TreeHouse at the same time).  It’s a collection edited by Nick Hornby (and the cover is designed similarly to the way High Fidelity and even About a Boy were at the time (“the Hornby look,” I suppose).

I didn’t buy it for Hornby alone, although he does have a story in it, but because it looked like a really promising collection of stories from authors I liked.  And for some reason I didn’t read it until now.  It includes 12 stories, and as the introduction notes, $1 was donated to TreeHouse.org.uk (in the US $1 goes to TreeHouse and another $1 goes to New York Child Learning Institute).  I don’t know if the money still goes there, but you can donate with a form at the back of the book.  (more…)

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McSweeney’s #35

Posted in Audun Mortensen, Ben Greenman, Benjamin Cohen, Dan Kennedy, Dublin, Ireland, Ellie Kemper, Frode Grytten, Gunnhild Øyehaug, Hans Herbjørnsrud, Hilton Als, Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Irish Writer, Jim Stallard, Johan Harstad, John Erik Riley, Kari Dickson, Laila Stien, Liv Irene Myhre, Marriage Trouble, May-Brit Akerholt, McSweeney's, Ole-Petter Arneberg, Pasha Malla, Patrick Crerand, Per Petterson, Political Humor, Rannveig Revhaug, Robert Barnes, Roddy Doyle, Roy Jacobsen, Short Story, Steven Millhauser, Technology, Teddy Wayne, Tor Ulven, Victoria Durnak, Video Games on September 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SONSEED-“Jesus is a Friend of Mine” (1983).

My friend Nick sent me a link to this song.  And he said that it would  have been the theme song to his radio show back in college.  (We went to a Jesuit school, so it could be taken seriously as well).  Of course, knowing him, he absolutely would have played it as his intro music.

Anyhow, I listened to it and enjoyed the video in the spirit of gentle mockery that it was sent.  But I found myself listening to it quit a lot and I have concluded that I now enjoy it irony-free.  And how can that be?

Well, first off, Christian rock generally sucks.  In addition to many other reasons, it’s often played with a style that is inappropriate to the message.   And Gawd, forget the bombast of arena Christian rock bands (who shall remain nameless).

What I like about this song is that a) the musicians are really good. It’s a live song (I assume–they wouldn’t lip synch on  Christian TV show would they?) and they are tight.  Also, the music (ska!) is upbeat, just like the message.  Finally, while lyrically not very clever (most of the lyrics are pretty laughable), they are sincere and not aiming too high.

And, I hate to say, it’s catchy as hell (although I suppose you have to like ska to like it).

Evidently, I’m not the only one to be transfixed by this strange group (and, it seems I’m at least two years late to the party, as there is already a great deal of chatter (and even controversy) about this video).  So, let me be the umpteenth person to post it on his blog.

[READ: September 2, 2010] McSweeney’s 35

This new issue shocked me because I noticed that it was printed in Canada, not Iceland. I’m not sure when this switch occurred, but I feel somewhat saddened for the Icelandic press!

The cover is a (softcover) foldout (with two flaps).  The front shows two people crossing a street, but even more shocking than the Canada thing is the cover itself…something I didn’t notice until I left it out in the car.  The black of the cover (see above) is actually heat sensitive.  When it gets warm, it reveals a secret underworld to the picture.  Very very cool!  I was really confused when I picked up the book and it was no longer black but green with fishes swimming around, and I couldn’t imagine why I ever thought it was black.  Pretty sneaky, sis.

This issue features a newly revised letter column (although “letter” is a subjective term here).  There are four longer stories, and the rest of the book has two sections.  The first is comprised of an awesome photo series of lunch bags (which I will attempt to emulate for my kids when they begin school).  The second is “a Portfolio of Stories from Norway.”  The Norwegian Stories are great, and really show the strength of literature coming from the country. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–“Ash” (New Yorker, May 24, 2010)

Posted in Drinking, Frightened Rabbit, Funny (ha ha), Irish Writer, Marriage Trouble, Natural Disasters, New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Sex, Short Story on May 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FRIGHTENED RABBIT-The Winter of Mixed Drinks (2010).

I enjoyed Frightened Rabbit’s previous disc ever so much: a twisted blend of rocking folk music and very dark lyrics.  The fact that a number of these songs were used in Chuck was a treat for me.

I’ve never heard their first disc, so I don’t know how much their songwriting changed from disc 1 to disc 2.  But there’s a pretty huge leap from disc 2 to disc 3.

The most notable track has got to be “Swim Until You Can’t See Land.”   And it’s notable for having a really rocking and catchy and undeniable chorus.  They liked it so much, they reprise it later in the disc (with new instrumentation and such) on “Man/Bag of Sand.”

The rest of the disc sounds like Frightened Rabbit, but like the full band version.  There’s just so much music, that it actually distracts a bit from the lyrics (on the previous disc, the lyrics were certainly more of the focus).  There’s even a string arrangement on “Living in Colour.”

And yet despite all of these changes, they never lose what makes FR special: that voice and that outlook.  Although I’m sure I would have enjoyed if this disc was similar to the previous one, I’m always delighted to see a band take some chances and try something different.  And here they did, and it works wonderfully.

[READ: May 19, 2010] “Ash”

On April 14, Iceland’s volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted.  And here, barely a month later, Roddy Doyle has written a story in which that eruption plays a role.  I’m impressed enough that he could get a coherent story written in that short amount of time, but I’m amazed that it was squeezed so quickly into The New Yorker‘s fiction schedule.  Admittedly, I don’t know how The New Yorker does anything, so I don’t know if they had a slot open (doubtful) or if they had to push back other stories (unlikely) or maybe he was slotted to give them something else, and whipped this out instead?  Beats me.  Whatever the reason, I was really surprised to see this here. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #33: The San Francisco Panorama (2009)

Posted in Adrian Tomine, Airlines, Alia Malek, Andrew Sean Greer, Art, Art Spiegelman, Big Star, Book Reviews, Books about music, Books about writers, Brent Hoff, Caddyshack, Canadian Music, Cars, Carson Ellis, Children's Books, China Miéville, Chip Kidd, Chris Adrian, Chris Ware, Comic Strips, Constellation Records, Daniel Handler, Dave Eggers, Deb Olin Unferth, Dicky Murphy, Dip-in Books, Do Make Say Think, Don DeLillo, E.L. Doctorow, Edna O'Brien, Entertainment Weekly, Essays, Flash Fiction, Food, Free Speech, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Geoff Nicholson, George Saunders, Gideon Lewis-Kraus, Greed, Harper's, J. Malcolm Garcia, J.G. Ballard, James Franco, Jessica Abel, Jon Scieszka, Jonathan Safran Foer, Kara Walker, KPOO 89.5--San Francisco, CA, LGBTQ, Mary Williams, Matthew Klam, McSweeney's, Meatballs, Michael Chabon, Miranda July, Mogwai, New Yorker, Newspapers, Nicholson Baker, Prospect, Rachel Maddow, Roddy Doyle, Salman Rushdie, Seth, Seth Fried, Short Story, Sports, Stephen King, The Blues Brothers, The New York Times, The Onion, The Walrus, Tom Bissell, Travel, Universities, Violence, Wajahat Ali, War, Wholphin, William T. Vollmann on January 16, 2010| 8 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: DO MAKE SAY THINK-Other Truths [CST062] (2009).

I’ve always enjoyed Do Make Say Think’s CDs.  They play instrumentals that are always intriguing and which never get dull.

But this CD far exceeds anything they have done so far (and  they’ve done some great work).   There are only four tracks, and they range from 8 to 12 minutes long.  Each track is named for a word in the band’s name: Do, Make, Say, Think.  And each one is a fully realized mini epic.

“Do” sounds like a gorgeous Mogwai track.  While “Make” has wonderfully diverse elements: a cool percussion midsection and a horn-fueled end section that works perfectly with the maniacal drumming.  “Say” is another Mogwai-like exploration, although it is nicely complemented by horns.  It also ends with a slow jazzy section that works in context but is somewhat unexpected. Finally, “Think” closes the disc with a delightful denouement.  It’s the slowest (and shortest) track, and it shows that even slowing down their instrumentals doesn’t make them dull.

It’s a fantastic record from start to finish.  This is hands down my favorite Constellation release in quite some time.

[READ: December 2009 – January 13, 2010] McSweeney’s #33.

The ever-evolving McSweeney’s has set out to do the unlikely: they printed Issue #33 as a Sunday Newspaper.  It is called The San Francisco Panorama and, indeed, it is just like a huge Sunday newspaper. It has real news in (it is meant to be current as of December 7, 2009).  As well as a Sports section, a magazine section and even comics!

[DIGRESSION] I stopped reading newspapers quite some time ago.  I worked for one in college and have long been aware that the news is just something to fill the space between ads.  I do like newspapers in theory, and certainly hope they don’t all go away but print issues are a dying breed.  When I think about the waste that accompanies a newspaper, I’m horrified.  Sarah and I even did a Sunday New York Times subscription for a while, but there were half a dozen sections that we would simply discard unopened.  And, realistically that’s understandable.  Given how long it took me  to read all of the Panorama, if you actually tried to read the whole Sunday paper, you’d be finished the following Sunday (or even two Sundays later).

Their lofty goal here was to show what print journalism can still do. And with that I concur heartily.  Even if I don’t read the newspaper, the newspapers as entities are worth saving.  Because it is pretty much only print journalism that finds real, honest to God, worthy news stories.  TV news is a joke.  There is virtually nothing of value on network TV.  Fox News is beyond a joke.  CNBC is sad (although Rachel Maddow is awesome!) and even CNN, the originator of all of this 24 hour news nonsense still can’t fill their airtime with non-sensationalized news.

Obviously, there are some decent internet sites, but for the most part they don’t have the budget to support real news investigation.  You either get sensationalized crap like Drudge or rebroadcasts of real news.

So, print is the last bastion of news.  And you can see that in journalistic pieces in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Walrus, Prospect and, yes, in newspapers.

But enough.  What about THIS newspaper?  Oh and unlike other McSweeney’s reviews I’ve done, there is NO WAY that I am writing a thorough comment on everything in here.  There’s just way too much.  Plus, there are many sections that are just news blurbs.  Larger articles and familiar authors will be addressed, however.  [UPDATE: January 18]: If, however, like Alia Malek below, you bring it to my attention that I’ve left you out (or gotten something wrong!) drop me a line, and I’ll correct things.

There is in fact a Panorama Information Pamphlet which answers a lot of basic questions, like why, how and how often (just this once, they promise!). There’s also a Numbers section which details the size, scope and cost of making this (it shows that with an initial start up, anyone could make a newspaper if they talked enough about what the readers were interested in). (more…)

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Periodical: McSweeney’s

Posted in A.M. Homes, Art, Books about music, Books about writers, BritLit, Consumerism, Contests, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Essays, Fables, Fantasy, Flash Fiction, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, Graustarkian Romance, Hollow Earth, Irish Writer, Joyce Carol Oates, Language, Legendary Saga, McSweeney's, Meta, Michael Chabon, Music, Postmoderism, Roddy Doyle, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Socratic Dialogue, Stephen King, Suicide, The Believer, The Collins Library, They Might Be Giants, Wholphin, Whore Dialogue, Word usage on November 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

17Many many years ago, I discovered Might magazine.  It was a funny, silly magazine that spoofed everything (but had a serious backbone, too).  (You can order back issues here).  And so, I subscribed around issue 13.  When the magazine folded (with issue 16–and you can read a little bit about that in the intro to Shiny Adidas Track Suits) it somehow morphed into McSweeney‘s, and much of the creative team behind Might went with them.

The early volumes (1-5 are reviewed in these pages, and the rest will come one of these days) are a more literary enterprise than Might was.  There’s still a lot of the same humor (and a lot of silliness), but there are also lengthy non-fiction pieces.  The big difference is that McSweeney’s was bound as a softcover book rather than as a magazine. And, I guess technically it is called Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern as opposed to Timothy McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. (more…)

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