SOUNDTRACK: MORRISSEY-Years of Refusal (2009).
I’ve been a fan of The Smiths for years. And I think that Morrissey’s debut, Viva Hate, is on par with much of the Smiths’ catalogue. Over the years his output has been mixed, but with Years of Refusal he comes fighting back with a really solid disc. The disc is so good that if one had no idea of who he was, one could easily get into it with no preconceived notions of Morrissey, The Smiths or any of that glorious past.
From the start, the disc rocks out. That’s right, Morrissey totally rocks, with a real attitude. “Something is Squeezing My Skull,” in addition to being quite funny, has one of Moz’s most loudly sung choruses in like, forever. The martial beat of “Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed” showcases Moz’s “political” songwriting without ever losing its catchiness. “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” is a pretty classic Morrissey song, complete with a simple picking guitar riff.
“All You Need Is Me” has some great squeaky guitars and recalls Morrissey’s own “I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me”), while “When Last I Spoke to Carol” has a Mexican feel, which is different for him. And “That’s How People Grow Up,” the single, has one of those classic Morrissey lines in which he subverts expectations with a left-field word choice: “So yes there are things worse in life than never being someone’s sweetie.”
The end of the album is full of longer songs which tends to skew the rollicking feel of the disc. (In the first 8 songs only 3 are over 3 minutes while the last 4 songs are each over 4 minutes). Nevertheless, “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore” is a wonderfully caustic song and the album closer, “I’m OK By Myself” is just fantastic, and I find myself singing “I don’t need you, or your morality” because they way he sings it gets stuck in my head for days.
There’s also a bonus disc which includes an interview with Russel Brand which is very funny indeed.
Welcome back Morrissey. Well done, sir.
[READ: Week of July 6, 2009] Infinite Jest (to page 227).
While looking for this cover of Infinite Jest (the one that I most associate with the book even though I never owned a copy with this cover), I noticed that Powell’s Books is selling a first edition hardcover copy of IJ for $450. The copy that I am currently reading is also a first edition hardcover. If anyone wants to send me like $400 for it, just let me know!
On my Week Two post, I had a comment that criticized me for giving out spoilers. While I disagree, I will preface this and future posts by saying that I will certainly be discussing what has happened in the week’s read (including footnotes endnotes and future footnotes endnotes if they are referred to in current footnotes endnotes), I will not intentionally reveal any spoilers.
On to Week 3 of Infinite Summer. And at this point I not only feel good about the book, I feel somewhat refreshed. This whole week’s worth of reading has been fairly easy and often very funny. We’re past the initial shock that you’re running a marathon, and are into that 3rd or 4th mile where you just start to feel good and enjoy the scenery. I also hate to admit this, but I really want to peek ahead into the next week’s reading. But no, I am going to pace myself!
I also have a question for faithful readers who are actually trying to map the location of the book. I lived in Brighton, MA, very close to Boston College as well as in a location nearer to Allston, MA. I have a vague sense of exactly where Enfield is supposed to be located, but if anyone has used the details in the book to map out where Enfield would be, do pass it along (someone has probably created a Google Map for it, but I haven’t actually checked).
This week’s reading had a lot of lengthy sections that focused on one person/issue for multiple pages which is either great or terrible depending on how you like this book broken up. And TA DA! The Chronology is spelled out very clearly! (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: HÜSKER DÜ-Land Speed Record (1982).
Mentioning Hüsker Dü during the Replacements reviews made me bust out their records too. Land Speed Record was their first release, and it always amazed me that their first record was a live record.
I’m a fan of David Foster Wallace. I read Infinite Jest when it came out (1996) and loved it. I still vividly recall scenes from the book even 13 years later. However, I’m a very different person and a very different reader now. And I wondered if I would get more out of the book reading it as an older, hopefully [DFW would hate that usage] wiser person (and certainly a second read could only help with this incredibly dense book).
SOUNDTRACK: Dungen-4 (2008).
Vill du tala svensk?
SOUNDTRACK: MORPHINE-Like Swimming (1997).
Morphine was always a pretty weird band. They were very different even in a climate when alternative was the norm.
SOUNDTRACK: TEENAGE FANCLUB-Bandwagonesque (1991).
SOUNDTRACK: MONSTER MAGNET-4 Way Diablo (2007).
My friend Matt and I saw Monster Magnet open for Aerosmith in Scranton, Pa many many moons ago. We had never heard of them, but were really impressed by their set. I especially enjoyed the song he introduced as “I Know Life’s a Bummer, Baby, But That’s Got Precious Little to Do with Me.” (Fact is, I was sold by the title alone). This song would of course be “Bummer” from the Powertrip album. That album became the soundtrack of our summer.
SOUNDTRACK: NIRVANA: With the Lights Out (2004).
It probably sounds like an urban myth to say that Nirvana was a catalyst for new music way back then. But I can recall when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was first on the radio, and I was living in a region of the country (hey Office fans, it was Scranton, PA) that was devoid of anything interesting on the radio; it was like a flash of light: there is interesting music out there, somewhere. So, yup, Nirvana was a great moment for me.
