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Archive for the ‘Books about writers’ Category

Roy Blount Jr.–Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof: Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory

Posted in 180-G's, Books about writers, Carl Kasell, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Digression, Dip-in Books, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Les Claypool, Negativland, Peter Sagal, Poetry, Political Humor, Primus, Roberto Bolaño, Roy Blount Jr., Set at School, Set in New Jersey!, Smarty Pants, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, WRSU 88.7 FM--New Brunswick, NJ on May 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

juiceSOUNDTRACK: WRSU 89.7 FM.

wrsuComing straight out of Rutgers University in New Brunswick (my grad school alma mater), this was the first station that I happened upon while I was scanning the lower numbers on the radio station.

The brief set that I heard was amazing.

I heard the end of a song that I didn’t know, but which I found very intriguing. It was followed by Les Claypool’s new track “Mushroom Men” (which was wonderful) and then the 180-Gs doing an a capella rendition of Negativland’s “Christianity is Stupid.” I had heard about this band but never heard one of their recordings.  First, if you’ve never heard Negativland, then you’re missing out.  They are a surreal band of audio collagists, playing with sounds and samples and all kinds of weird things.  To have an a capella rendition of a five minute song, the bulk of which is a spoken loudspeakered voice saying “Christianity is Stupid” goes beyond bizarre into the sublime. I have tuned to this station from time to time and each DJ plays his or her own weird and often wonderful thing. What a great experience.

[READ: May 14, 2009] Alphabet Juice

My mother-in-law gave me this book for Christmas because she heard about it on NPR and thought I’d like it. And boy was she right.

waitI hadn’t heard of this book, although actually I’m sure I had–but I ignored it.  Roy Blount Jr is on Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, NPR’s news quiz, almost every week.   We love the show because it is funny and it tests your awareness of what’s going on in the world (both serious and ridiculous).  And we try our best to get our kids to let us listen to it each week.  (more…)

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McSweeney’s #3 [Timothy McSweeney’s Windfall Republic] (Late Summer, Early Fall 1999)

Posted in Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Ana Marie Cox, Books about writers, Brent Hoff, Cancer as plot device, Colleen Werthmann, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, David Letterman, David Mamet, David Steinhardt, Essays, Flash Fiction, Fresh Step, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gary Greenberg, Glengarry Glen Ross, Holidays, J. Robert Lennon, John Warner, Jonathan Lethem, Ken Foster, Komar and Melamid, Lawrence Weschler, Lucy Thomas, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Meta, Might, NYPD Blue, Oddities, Outer Space, Partisan Review, Paul Collins, Paul Maliszewski, Pearl Jam, Political Humor, Rick Moody, Sarah Vowell, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Steven Amick, Suicide, Supernatural, T.Z. Parsa, Threats, Tom Tomorrow, TRL, Unabomber, Violence, Wikipedia, Zev Borow on May 13, 2009| 1 Comment »

mcsweeneys3SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Riot Act (2002).

riotactThis album seems to get overshadowed by the anti-George Bush track “Bu$hleaguer.” Evidently many people were turned off by this track, and that may have had an impact on sales. Of course, I’m sure many other people were introduced to the band by this song, too. Regardless, the rest of the album shouldn’t be judged by this track, as it is rather unusual.

This disc is the first one to feature a dedicated keyboardist, “Boom” Gaspar.  He’s present on all of the live discs from this concert tour, and it is quite disconcerting the first time you hear the audience yell “Boooooooooooom” when he comes out.  But he plays a mean organ solo.

“Can’t Keep” opens the disc sounding unlike other PJ tracks.  It has a vibe like Led Zeppelin III–almost a world-acoustic feel.  “Save You” rocks out with the classic chorus, “And fuck me if I say something you don’t wanna hear.  And fuck me if you only hear what you wanna hear.  Fuck me if I care.”  A great fast song with a cool bassline.  “Love Boat Captain” feature Boom Gaspar’s first contribution to a song: lots of organ.  It’s a rather touching song, a gentle piece, except for a center part which rocks out. “Cropduster” features a delicate chorus after a skittery verse.  If you are familiar with Matt Cameron’s contributions to the band, you’ll not be surprised by the unusual sound of this song.

“I Am Mine” starts a section of three great songs. This one is acousticy and uplifting.  “Thumbing My Way” is a pretty PJ ballad.  Then “You Are” has a really funky wah wahed sound on almost the whole song.  Three great tracks in a row.

Not that “Get Right” is bad.  It just doesn’t quite fit the mood of the previous three.  Rather, this is a punk blast that feels more than a little off-kilter (another Cameron track, of course).   “Help Help” begins the really weird section of the disc with this peculiar song (catchy chorus though).  It’s followed by “Bu$hleaguer” a spoken word rant, with an abstract chorus.  The chanting aspect is interesting, th0ugh.  “Arc” is a short chant, no doubt reflecting Eddie’s duet with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

“1/2 Full” returns to the “proper” songs with this sloppy jam.  The verses are quiet but the choruses rock.  “All or None” is another mellow disc ender, this one has some good subtle drumming that really propels this jazzy song.

At this point in Pearl Jam’s career, we get yet another solid effort.  You more or less know what to expect on their releases although there’s always a surprise.

[READ: May 7, 2009] McSweeney’s #3

This is the third volume of McSweeney’s print journal.  This one, like the first two, is a white, softcover edition.  If you click on the cover above it will take you to the flickr page with a larger picture.

[UPDATE: September 25, 2009]

It has just come to my attention that David Foster Wallace DOES have a  piece in this magazine.  (See my comment on the Notes from the authors).  His piece runs on the spine of the book and is called:
“Another Example of the Porousness of Various Borders (VI): Projected but not Improbable Transcript of Author’s Parents’ Marriage End, 1971” (which is also available in his book Brief Interviews with Hideous Men under the title “Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (VI)”).

The piece itself is almost shorter than the whole title and is basically a funny argument about which parent would get the double-wide trailer and which parent would get him.  Pretty funny stuff, and even funnier for being on the spine.

Okay, back to the issue.

[end UPDATE]

The opening colophon on this one explains the price increase (from $8 to $10).  It’s because this is a longer issue, it has color plates (foldouts!) and because of a sad but amusing anecdote of a lost bag with $2,000 cash.
There’s also notes about some stories (the Hoff & Steinhardt pieces are true) and an apology of sorts for running a story about the Unabomber.

And an actual (presumably) envelope sent from the titular Timothy McSweeney, as a way of verifying the authenticity of the title of the journal.

The final page of the colophon shows a sample of how long it will take for them to respond to submissions (which should not be funny fake news).  And it ends with a half a dozen or so random questions, which they do answer: ARE THE RIVERS THAT FLOW FROM HOT SPRINGS HOT? They are often very warm.  DO THEY GIVE OFF STEAM? Yes, and they smell vaguely of sulfur. MARTIN VAN BUREN: He had a certain charm.  etc.

LETTERS PAGE:

JONATHAN LETHEM
Ride with Jonatahn Lethem and the Mad Brooklynite as he narrates Manhattan’s superiority complex when it comes to the other boros.  Funny stuff. (more…)

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Helen Humphries–“The Whole Story” (The Walrus, April 2009)

Posted in Books about writers, Canadian Content, Helen Humphries, Pearl Jam, Short Story, The Walrus on April 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrus-409SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Ten [remixed] (2009).

ten1Pearl Jam reissued Ten this year with a new mix by Brendan O’Brien, the producer who has mixed the bulk of their catalog.  So, this gives everyone a chance to hear what it would have sounded like if it were released after Vs., or something like that.

The great news is that he barely changed anything on the record.  In fact it still sounds fantastic and rocks just as hard as the original.  Really there are two notable differences: the guitars sound a lot cleaner (word is that the band has been displeased with how much reverb was on the original recording).  And cleaning up the reverb has the same effect as if you had a copy of the tape and listened to it 100 times and then bought a new copy…everything sounds clear and bright and amazing.

This clean up allows you to hear a lot of the subtleties that were lost in the original mix: acoustic guitars and some bass parts come through, as does Eddie’s vocal track.  And that’s another feature of the remix: Eddie’s vocals are very clear.  Some of those lyrics where you never quite understood what he was saying are now clear, and his voice is closer in the mix, like he’s in the room with you.

There’s a few other minor changes, mostly in the end of songs, where one aspect is louder than it used to be.  Or, for instance the harmonic notes in the beginning and end of “Jeremy” are a little quieter.

All in all, there’s nothing revolutionary about this mix, it just makes the disc sound better.  I listened to the disc several times this weekend, and I really enjoyed it.

[READ: April 14, 2009] “The Whole Story”

This is a brief story about writer’s block.  The narrator is spending time in an artists’ colony as a way to be away from the world and finish her novel.

As the writers’s block and procrastination sets in, she finds new ways to not write her novel: playing piano, drawing swans, wandering around the grounds.  It is only when she actively helps some of the other artists, that she feels that she herself is no longer broken.

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Periodical: Esquire

Posted in Authors, Barry Sonnenfeld, Books about music, Books about writers, Chuck Klosterman, Dudes, Esquire, Film & TV, Food, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Military, Music, Politicians, Religion, Sex, Short Story, Technology, Video Games, Violence on April 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

esquireI don’t recall why I started getting Esquire. I think it was because I got some kind of discount magazine subscription card. And since Sarah gets lots of women’s magazines, I thought I’d try a men’s one.

I’ve been quite delighted with it since I subscribed. And one thing that I like about it is that I don’t feel compelled to read everything in it. I enjoy the letters, although my favorite part of the letters page is the “Context-free highlight from a letter we won’t be running” which always contains a random sentence or two from a letter. This sentence is always weird and it’s awesome to imagine what the rest of the letter contained. An example: “Our prime minister is pretty harmless, but he licks his lips a lot when he speaks.”

As the Man at His Best section starts, I enjoy “The Vocabulary” which defines the words they will introducing in the section. And of course this section has The Rules, a randomly selected number assigned to a rule that should be followed. Example: “Rule No. 815: Of the clocks in the house, the coffeemaker is the least likley to be accurate.”

This section also contains the usual line-up of media reviews: books, music, film and TV. These are all short and sometimes I agree and sometimes I don’t, and that’s fine. Usually the books and movies they like are too “butch” for my taste, and that’s a general note about the magazine that I’ll get to shortly.  But the music section tends to introduce me to stuff I don’t already know.

There’s also stuff about food and drink, and I always want to try the food advice, because it’s mostly about foods I try to make, but I never save the pages so I always forget the clever suggestions. (more…)

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A.M. Homes–This Book Will Save Your Life (2006)

Posted in A.M. Homes, Books about writers, Canadian Music, Constellation Records, Consumerism, Donuts, Drinking, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Lullabye Arkestra, Marriage Trouble, Neurotics, Sun Ra, The White Stripes, Unreliable narrator on April 8, 2009| 1 Comment »

homesSOUNDTRACK: LULLABYE ARKESTRA-Ampgrave [CST044] (2006).

ampgraveI’m not sure what’s up with the spelling of Arkestra (Sun Ra tribute, perhaps?), but “Lullabye” is certainly a misnomer.  “Ampgrave” on the other hand is a pretty good summary of the music on this record.

The band is basically a drum and bass duo.  And yet, they are so much more.  The bass runs the show, with the bass lines being loud and furious.  There are also several guests who provide horns, organ, violin and my favorite addition: “screaming.”  This complete package makes for a loud, bruising, soulful unholy mess.  And it’s really fun.

The disc won’t appeal to everyone. The opening track “Unite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” is where the “screaming” really comes to the fore, and will certainly scare off the weak-hearted.  Which is a shame, as track 2 mellows out with some good soulful tunes (albeit utterly distorted, let’s not forget). There’s some other weird and wonderful tracks.  “Y’Make Me Shake” is a great rocking track with excellent horns to provide nice moments of melody.

The disc ends with a great one-two punch of “Bulldozer of Love” and the wonderfully titled “Ass Worship” two noisy, chaotic tracks that find a killer melody under all that distortion.

I hate to use the White Stripes as a frame of reference because it’s kind of lazy, but they are a two-piece playing soulful, distorted rock.  But the White Stripes are practically bubblegum pop when it compares to the racket these guys make.  It’s a lot of fun, if you like your fun noisy.

[READ: March 31, 2009] This Book Will Save Your Life

While it didn’t save my life, I enjoyed this book very very much.

This book follows the life of Richard Novak.  As the book starts, Richard seems like a type A workaholic who is too consumed with his work and routine to really enjoy anything.  When he gets an inexplicable yet frightening pain, he calls 911 and is taken to the hospital.   And this rather mundane opening leads to a hugely complicated back-story and a hugely complicated fore-story (?) in which all aspects of Richard’s life meet in a house in Malibu.

For, you see, Richard was something of an asshole.  Richard’s ex-wife, is another Type A personality who is as absorbed in her work as he is in his.  When he is offered a job in California, requiring him to leave New York, his wife said, go if you want to.  And he did, leaving his wife and his son Ben (seven at the time) with minimal contact and, eventually, little participation in his son’s life. (more…)

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Tessa Hadley–“She’s the One” (New Yorker, March 23, 2009)

Posted in 21 Jump Street, Bon Jovi, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Dear Mr President, New Yorker, Pearl Jam, Ratt, Robbie Robertson, Short Story, Suicide, Tessa Hadley on April 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_3_23_09_09.inddSOUNDTRACK: DEAR MR. PRESIDENT-Dear Mr President (1988).

dearSo, I mentioned these guys in a previous post about The Airborne Toxic Event.  I said maybe I’d listen to the disc again (it’s been at least ten, maybe fifteen years since I listened to it).  Sarah walked in and said it sounded like Bon Jovi, which may or may not be true.

The band is a weird amalgam of things.  They look like Ratt, almost exactly like Ratt, in fact.  And yet musically they are all over the place.  The opening, rather cool, track is “Hey Daddy Have You Ever Been Arrested?”  It starts slow with the singer’s weird, sort of whiney, but almost bitterly angry voice reciting some lines over bass.  A distorted guitar comes in and the chorus rocks out.  There”s some heavier stuff as the song ends, including a rocking solo.

What’s most notable about the song, and the disc though is the lyrics.  Certainly not the first or even the most “political” band, but for the supposed genre they are in, lyrically they are thoughtful if not thought provoking.  And, even with doses of humor, they’re a lot more than a sex drugs and rock n roll band.

But after that first track the album diversifies.  “Fate” is a ballad, with the singer’s hesitant voice opening the track.  “Love and Violence” sounds like a late 80s metal song, but with a twist: the singer’s voice is just off-kilter enough to keep it interesting.  Meanwhile “Where is the Love?” is positively funk-filled, with a slapping bass line and big horns.  And then there’s “Flesh & Blood” which has something of a smooth jazz trumpet solo as it winds down.  It also seems to get more mellow as the track progresses.  Keep a mental note about this song title.

As the disc continues, things get really weird: horns start featuring in the songs with more and more frequency.  And at one point there’s something of a disco vibe.  There’s even a song about wanting to dance like Fred Astaire. (full of sizzling keyboard blasts!).

“Reality” is  slow ballad with era-appropriate keyboard splashes in the chorus.  And “Fatal Desire” sounds not unlike a Pearl Jam track (except for the vocals of course). The last three tracks on the disc have their track number in red (the others are in white) which leads me to think that maybe they were bonus tracks?  They include an 8 minute song “Get It Together” that sounds like it could be a background soundtrack to a 80s show like 21 Jump Street, especially the atmospheric guitar washes.  This disc ends with a weird little 1 and a half minute thing called “Who Killed Santa Claus?”

Whats amazing is that even with the internet’s omnipotence, there is virtually no information about this album, or even the band, anywhere.  Nor what happened to them (I discovered that two of the members played on other bands’ records).  You can’t even find anything about their other band name.  For some reason, the powers that be didn’t like the name Dear Mr President, and they had to change the band’s name to Flesh & Blood.  They released the album as Dead White and Blue.  I’ve never actually seen that disc though.

But after some searching around, I found one article about the band.  It answers some questions, like about their name change.  And evidently I have one of the few copies of the original disc.  Huh.  And to think that I bought it on a whim back in college when I bought bands without knowing anything about them.

So, for all of your Dear Mr. President needs, check out this article.  There’s even two downloads, too!

[READ: March 27, 2009] “She’s the One”

This story is one of the few stories I’ve read that is about writing and writers in which the main character isn’t a writer.  Ally works at a writer’s workshop as the secretary.  She encounters all kinds of writers, but in this particular term, she encounters a Canadian woman with short, white hair named Hilda.  Hilda is in her late fifties, has lived a pretty full life, and since most of her faimily is in England, she has settled down there too.

Ally runs into Hilda at the supermarket and casually asks how her novel is going. Hilda is very guarded and quite rude, until a few minutes later when she apologizes and takes a keen interest in Ally and her life.  Ally, caught off guard, reveals a family secret that she never feels comfortable talking about.  And, she soon finds comfort in this off-putting stranger’s cozy cottage.

Ally also learns more details about Hilda’s novel, and her fascinating family story about a Canadian folk singer’s impact on all of their lives.

I really enjoyed this story both for its unconventional look at writers, and for its interesting dealing with family crises.  A very strong story.  Although I have a quibble.  Ally and her coworkers can only think of one Canadian folksinger: Robbie Robertson.  Now, I realize that I’m a Canuckophile and all but, come on.  At least include Neil Young in the list.

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David Sedaris–“Author? Author” (New Yorker, March 30, 2009 )

Posted in Books about writers, Canadian Content, Consumerism, David Sedaris, Funny (ha ha), Neurotics, New Yorker, Short Story, WRFF 104.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on March 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »

newyorker2SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5 FM.

1045I stumbled upon this station by accident one day.  I was working outside, trying to tune in a radio station, and, although I was near a classic rock station from New York, I heard a very cool alternative song.  So, I tuned in this staticky station and later learned that I was listening to 104.5, WRFF out of Philadelphia.

It’s weird to me that these “90’s” stations are popping up, and that it’s a retro sound, but then, there is a market for those of us Lollapaloozers.  This station plays a great selection of 90’s rock, with an occasional dip into the 80s and of course, new music by any of these bands.  They don’t go too heavy, although they’re not afraid to really rock out.

Now if only I could get that signal a wee bit clearer.

[READ: March 26, 2009] “Author? Author”

This was a very short, but very funny piece about Sedaris’ book tours.  He started and ended this tour in a Costco…and trying to picture Sedaris in a Costco is about as funny as anything he wrote about.  Having said that, the bit about condoms and strawberries with optional olive oil had me laughing all day.

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David Foster Wallace–“Wiggle Room” & D.T. Max “The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s struggle to surpass Infinite Jest (New Yorker, March 9, 2009)

Posted in Big Books, Books about writers, Boredom, Corporate skewering, D.T. Max, David Foster Wallace, Demons, Love, New Yorker, Rush, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Suicide, Work on March 6, 2009| 1 Comment »

newyorkerSOUNDTRACK: LOVE-Da Capo (1967).

dacapoA few years ago, my friend John gave me Love’s Forever Changes. I’ve enjoyed that disc very much and decided to get some other Love music.  I chose Da Capo (their second album, and the one just prior to Forever Changes) for two reasons.  One: Rush did a cover of “Seven and Seven Is” on their Flashback CD and two: there’s an 18 minute song on it, and I love me an eighteen minute song.

The first side is a bunch of shorter songs; each one is quite charming. In fact, “Orange Skies” is so sweet, complete with flute solo, that you can pretty much hear Arthur Lee smiling all the way through it.  The song is borderline cheesy, and yet I can’t help but find myself walking around singing “orange skies, carnivals and cotton candy and you….and I love you too.”

“Stephanie Knows Too” is kind of angular with a weird jazzy interlude.  And “Que Vida” is just a poppy little number that is fun and interesting.  It fits well with “The Castle,” another stop/start song that has a beautiful guitar melody at the opening.  The side ends with a classic psychedelic track “She Comes in Colors.”

The only oddball of the side is, paradoxically, the single “Seven and Seven Is.” It’s a fast rocking number with the fascinating chorus of “Oop ip ip Oop ip ip, yeah!”  Perhaps the only line that’s stranger is “If I don’t start crying it’s because I have got no eyes.” And this was the single?  Clearly Arthur Lee liked his psychedelia.

Then we move to the 18 minute gem.  Well, in fact, “Revelation” (the first song ever to take up an entire side of an album) is something of a disappointment to me.  It is basically a jam that sounds like it was done in one take, although since Arthur Lee was a taskmaster I doubt very much that it was one take.

It’s starts promisingly enough with a rapid harpsichord intro, but it moves into a fairly mundane jam session. There’s a great line from a Paul F. Tompkins skit, in which he says that jazz is just music of solos: “everybody gets one, it’s not like regular music where only the best dude gets one, in jazz everybody gets one.”

And that’s the case with this song.  The solos go: guitar, harmonica, vocals (Arthur Lee improvising some pretty lame segments (Mostly about how he feels good), and let me tell you, he’s no Jim Morrison when it comes to this sort of thing), another guitar solo, a clarinet solo (!), then a bass solo and finally a drum solo, rounded all out with a harpsichord outro that mimics the beginning.  The problem is that none of the solos (excepting the guitar) is particularly noteworthy, and it’s not recorded especially well.  It’s all rather flat.  In particular the sing along part, where Lee is screaming and whatnot, it’s just not convincing, especially since the band doesn’t seem all that excited about the proceedings.  I got tired of it at after about 5 minutes (although the opening of the clarinet solo which sounds an awful ot like a flock of geese is pretty cool).  It’s a shame really, because I wanted to like this track a lot.  Nevertheless, it hasn’t put me off of Love.

[READ: March 3, 2009] “Wiggle Room”

This week’s New Yorker featured not only a story by David Foster Wallace but also a sort of biography/obituary of him.  D.T. Max, a name straight out of Wallace’s imagination, writes a moving and depressing epilogue to the story of DFW.  (It’s available here) The main thrust of the article is that DFW had a hard time writing fiction after Infinite Jest, but that he had been working on a new book (which, although unfinished, is due to be published sometime this year). (more…)

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Karl Shaw–5 People Who Died During Sex: And 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists (2007)

Posted in Books about music, Books about writers, Contests, Dip-in Books, Drinking, Food, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Karl Shaw, Oddities, Political Humor, Religion, Sex, Smarty Pants, Suicide, The Flaming Lips, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), Yuck! on March 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

5SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell (2003).

ego1This was the second EP that came from the Yoshimi disc.  This disc contains four original tracks and three remixes.

I’m never entirely sure who these remixes are for.  I have a number of singles where there’s a 7 or 8 minute remix of a track.  And  I suppose they could be played on a dancefloor (it worked for Tori Amos after all) but really, few dance hall goers want to hear The Flaming Lips and few Lips fan are out boogeying it up (and for that matter, when you’re out boogeying it up, the Lips aren’t really want you want to hear anyhow (and really no one has been boogeying it up since 1976 anyhow)).  And, frankly it takes a pretty inspired remixer to do anything other than just sample a line from a song and put it on a fast 4/4 beat anyway.

So really, we’re here for the four originals.  And, as with the Fight Test EP, the songs retain that sense of Yoshimi through and through (even though these are new songs and not outtakes from the session).  “The Assassination of the Sun” and “Sunship Balloons” are two striking songs right out of the Yoshimi playbook.  “Assassination” is piano heavy and “Sunship” has a spoken word intro about love and space.

“I’m A Fly In A Sunbeam (Following The Funeral Procession Of A Stranger)” is an instrumental with a lengthy horn section (!).  It borders on a jazz piece but never loses it’s Lipsiness.  “A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn’t So)” is a spare track, although its Christmas message of happiness is always welcomed (and is a vast improvement over their “White Christmas”).

Many times EPs are just a way to tide you over until the next CD comes out.  But this one provides fans with a little more of that Yoshimi bliss before they move to a new sound on At War with the Mystics.

[READ: February 6, 2009] 5 People Who Died During Sex

This was another Christmas book from Sarah.  It is a collection of macabre lists.  Many of the lists also have a paragraph or two of explanation and/or context.

Some of the disgusting lists include:
10 Alternative Uses for Coca Cola [spermicide/windshield washer etc.]
10 Human Recipes [signs of cannibalism]
20 World Eating Records [12 slugs in 2 minutes]
10 Aphrodisiacs [lion testicles]
40 Syphilitics [J.S. Bach] (more…)

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Neal Pollack–Never Mind the Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel (2003)

Posted in Beck, Black Flag, Bob Dylan, Books about music, Books about writers, Creem, David Bowie, Drinking, Funny (ha ha), Iggy Pop, Joan Baez, Judas Priest, Lou Reed, Magicians, Mark Leyner, Meta, Neal Pollack, Ramones, Rolling Stone, Sex, Sex Pistols, Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Unlikable main character, Violence, X on February 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

nevermindSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2003).

yoshimiHow do you follow up the fantastic Soft Bulletin?  If you’re The Flaming Lips, you simultaneously pull back and push forward.  I often thing of Yoshimi as Bulletin part 2 but that’s really not right or fair.  Yoshimi has a more Pink Floyd vibe: it’s quite mellow and folky.  But nothing the Lips do can be completely commercial, so you get things in every song that add immensely to the sound, yet prevent it from complete accessibility.

The opening song “Fight Test” begins with an ominous voice saying “The test begins…  NOW!!” with loud distorted crashes, and yet it quickly turns into one of their most delicate and catchy songs.  The only nod to peculiarity is the watery bass lines that fill the song.  It’s a mystery why this song wasn’t huge.

The next track, “One More Robot” is a delicate song reminiscent of Radiohead with the walking bassline and soft vocals.  This leads to the fabulous title track “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Ropbots Pt 1.”  In which yes, Yoshimi disciplines her body to take on the evil machines.  It’s another shoulda-been single, with strumming acoustic guitar and more of that fabulous fat bass. ” Pt 2,” on the other hand is a noisy cacophonous march depicting the fight.  It includes Yoshimi P-We from the Boredoms and OOIOO adding appropriate shrieks and screams.

Two more delicate songs follow: “In the Morning of the Magicians” is one of their longer songs and is quite mellow.  It also features a very lengthy instrumental section with more of that awesome bass.  “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell” is the most techno sounding song I can think of by the Lips.  It seems like maybe that touring work with Beck influenced them a bit.

“Are You a Hypnotist??” is a little louder and plays with the ascending chord progressions that Wayne does so well.   An uplifting track, with fun, interesting notes thrown in.  “It’s Summertime” has some great rubbery bouncing bass noises in the beginning, and it slowly morphs into a heavenly chorus.

The real highlight is “Do You Realize??”  It’ a song that goes from happy to sad to happy all in the space of a few lines.  But musically it is uplifting, with choruses and swelling orchestration.  I gather this was used for some ads, but I’m just surprised it wasn’t everywhere!

“All We Have is Now” is another delicate song, with gentle verses sung in an impossibly high falsetto.  The chorus is the most interesting part, with great bass notes interrupting the reverie.  The album ends with a gorgeous instrumental “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)” which is an apt title (Pavonis Mons being a volcano of Mars) and it sounds quite interstellar.

What’s most notable about this album is that there’s nothing that stands out as peculiar from the rest of the record (except “Yoshimi Pt 2”). It’s a very  constant record, mellow and comforting.  And yet I’m not going to call it safe, because it’s not.  I don’t know if it made as many critical lists as Bulletin, but I know it sold better, and it seems like a really good place to start for latter days Lips.

[READ: February 18, 2009] Never Mind the Pollacks

After reading several Pollack stories in McSweeney’s I discovered that he had written a novel. This novel.

With an awesome title! Most of the awesomeness is purely luck that his name is Pollack (Never Mind the Debraskis doesn’t have the same ring). (more…)

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