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Archive for the ‘Dudes’ Category

A.M. Homes–“Brother on Sunday” (New Yorker, March 2, 2009)

Posted in A.M. Homes, David Foster Wallace, Drinking, Marriage Trouble, Matt Pinfield, Mott the Hoople, New Yorker, Short Story, Supergrass on March 12, 2009| Leave a Comment »

ny32SOUNDTRACK: SUPERGRASS-Diamond Hoo Ha (2008).

diamondI’ve enjoyed Supergrass since they were young whipper-snappers on their first album I Should Coco.  It was a mix of fast catchy pop about being young and foolish.   I was even more impressed with the expanded sounds on their follow-up In It for the Money.

Their last few albums haven’t excited me as much, (hard to believe they’ve only released six) but I heard an interview with them and Matt Pinfield, and it convinced me that this one was going to be great.

I was a little disappointed at first.  The disc wasn’t quite as all over the place as Money was, in fact the first five songs were pretty straight ahead rockers (and much more rocking than their past songs would indicate).  But after listening a few times, I’ve really started to get into it.

The disc is split in half.  The first five songs are such simple, basic rockers that I was initially bored by them.  They weren’t bad per se, they just seemed too simple.  After several listens however, I’ve found them to be delightfully catchy, heavy pop rock gems.  And that the simplicity is deceptive.  They sound like long lost 70s riff rock highlights.  The title track with its oddball break of “Bite Me” was once played on Chuck (the latest TV show which is the arbiter of cool music).

The second half comes in with “The Return of Inspiration…” (which may not be the best song title to put halfway through your record, especially when the second half sounds so much different than the first).  This half is much more in keeping with Supergrass’ sillier side.

We get some funk charged stuff (“Rough Knuckles”) and some overt pop ala Mott the Hoople (“Ghost of a Friend”).  Outright silliness even rears its head (the opening of “Whiskey and Green Tea” is a march/chant complete with crazy horns), which morphs into a solid rocker).

Because their first two albums are so great, I’m not sure I can really compare this to them, but Diamond Hoo Ha has many great, fun moments; it is definitely a high point of their catalog.

[READ: March4, 2009] “Brother on Sunday”

I have read a number of works by A.M. Homes, and I really enjoyed her.  I haven’t seen anything by her in quite some time for whatever reason, so it was good to see her back.  Because of The End of Alice (concerning a pedophile) I think of her as being something of  a grisly/controversial writer (she is also tied somewhat to David Foster Wallace since The End of Alice and Infinite Jest were two very talked about books in 1996).  But after reading this piece and realizing that it was similar in tone/theme to her book  Music for Torching, I realized that she is more an observer of bad behavior, not just grisly behavior. (more…)

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Adam Gopnik–“The Real Work” (New Yorker, March 17, 2008)

Posted in Adam Gopnik, Alex Stone, Arrested Development, Bullshit!, Essays, Harper's, Illusion, Led Zeppelin, Magic, Magicians, Matt Pinfield, New Yorker, Paul Quarrington, Penn & Teller, Pink Floyd, Plasmatics, Radio, Set in New Jersey!, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, WRXP 101.9 FM--New York on August 13, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: WRXP, 101.9 FM, New York City (45 days later).

The past two weeks I have been listening to this station more because I have been doing work in the garage (building a chicken coop).  Without going into my neurotic music listening, I’ll just say that I listen to the radio rather than CDs when I do noisy work.  And so, WRXP.

I haven’t listened that much since my last post, but the most dramatic difference to me is that they seem to have real commercials now.  Wal-Mart seemed to be advertised a lot, and there were one or two other name brand items (with effective ads obviously).  They still have all of those weird ads for services rather than products (in fact if you need full term life insurance, just listen in for 20 minutes and you’ll hear that one).  But I guess they must be doing well if the real companies are showing up.

They still play way too many commercials.  But heck, that’s commercial radio for you.

They also seem to rely a lot on a few bands that surprise me: Dave Matthews in particular.  I’m not a big fan of his, so I’m surprised to hear him so much; however, overall I think their selection is quite good.  They seem to be off Pink Floyd and on to Zeppelin now, which, frankly would be a neat idea for this station: pick a classic rock artist that you will overplay for a week, and then move on.   What a cool thing: you could do all kinds of back catalog stuff, and less popular songs and then, just as people got sick of them, switch to someone else, and repeat.  Genius!

Anyhow, the other thing I wanted to mention is that the only person with any credibility to ever be on MTV, Matt Pinfield, is a morning DJ on the station.  He and his co-jock do a bit too much DJ banter for my liking, but mostly he’s just a dude who loves music and will tell you more or less fascinating stories about whoever he’s going to play, and then play good stuff.  I heard a fun interview with Supergrass the other morning, which was good.  Pinfield also knows his music enough to ask good questions and still be fun.

Hilariously, he also committed the hilarious gaffe that I used to commit in high school: pronouncing the Police album: “Outlandos DE Amoor” rather than the more accurate Outlandos Damoor (surely he must know that by NOW).  (Like pronouncing the Plasmatics album COOP DE AY-TAT, rather then Coo DAY TAH (I’m guilty of that too).  And, I found out that he grew up in East Brunswick, NJ, merely a few miles from where I now work.  So, Matt, if you ever used the North Brunswick Library, well, you should come back and see how nice we look now.

[READ: August 13, 2008] “The Real Work”

This piece was recommended by two people who commented on my post about Alex Stone in Harper‘s Magazine. They both said that this was a far better, far more appreciative article about magic.  And they were right.  I won’t really compare it to Stone’s except to say that Stone’s piece (whatever his credibility may be) was designed as a suspenseful tale following the events and the winner of “The Magic Olympics.” He also gave away some secrets to some of the tricks he did and saw there.

Gopnik’s piece is more of a loving appreciation for magicians and their work. (more…)

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