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Archive for the ‘Funny (ha ha)’ Category

David Foster Wallace–[Week 3] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Allstonians, Big Books, Books about writers, Boredom, Boston, MA, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Drinking, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Infinite Summer, James Joyce, Morrissey, Pearl Jam, Postmoderism, Prison, R.E.M., Racism, Religion, Russell Brand, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Suicide, The Smiths, WYYY 109 FM: The Largest Whole Prime on the FM Band on July 10, 2009| 2 Comments »

jesySOUNDTRACK: MORRISSEY-Years of Refusal (2009).

years ofI’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…)

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Periodical: The Believer

Posted in 18th Century, 19th Century, Amy Sedaris, Anachronisms, Art, Book Reviews, Books about music, Books about writers, Bret Easton Ellis, BritLit, Charles Burns, Christian Bok, Consumerism, Daniel Handler, David Foster Wallace, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Geoff Nicholson, Greil Marcus, Haruki Murakami, Jean-Luc Godard, Judd Apatow, Mary Williams, McSweeney's, Music, Nathaniel West, Nick Hornby, Paul Collins, Poetry, Rick Moody, Scientists, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Technology, The Believer, Tony Millionaire, Wikipedia, Will Self, Zadie Smith on July 8, 2009| 1 Comment »

believerA few years ago I was visiting my friend Roman.  He asked me if I read The Believer.  I told him I hadn’t heard of it.  He silently reproved me, knowing that it would be right up my alley and being quite displeased that I wasn’t keeping up with the hip.  I was very impressed with what I saw.

The Believer is put out through McSweeney’s.  It seems to have filled in for the non-fiction niche that McSweeney’s slowly removed from its pages.

And since then, I have become a devoted follower.  At some point (probably around issue ten or eleven) I decided that I was going to read every word in every issue.  And so, (this was pre-kids) when I went to an ALA conference with Sarah, I spent a lot of the down time reading all of the back issues’ articles that I hadn’t read.

Since then, I have read every issue cover to cover.  The thing that I love about the magazine (in addition to all of the stuff that I would normally like about it) is that every article is so well written that even if I don’t care about the subject, I know I’ll be interested for the duration of the piece.  Whether or not I will go on to read anything else about the person or topic is neither here nor there, but when I’m in the moment I’m really hooked. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 2] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Big Books, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Hawaii Five-0, Hüsker Dü, Hill Street Blues, Infinite Summer, Meta, Postmoderism, Set at School, Suicide, Technology, The Who on July 2, 2009| 7 Comments »

jestSOUNDTRACK: HÜSKER DÜ-Zen Arcade (1984).

zen arcadeWhen I was younger and more amused by things like this, it amused me that Hüsker Dü’s first three records were a live album an EP and a double album.  They just couldn’t put out a regular old LP?

It also amused me that they put out a song on this disc that was almost as long as their EP and was even almost as long as their Live record.  Such was the difference of Zen Arcade.

In reading about it lately I have learned that it is sort of a concept album (Someone even called it the Quadrophenia of 80s punk).  I gather I simply never paid enough attention to the lyrics to realize that (although it does explain “Hare Krshna”).  There’s also a lot of talk about how influential this disc was.  That may also be true, although I can’t say for sure.

Perhaps the most notable thing is how the disc is not just straight punk. Up to this point the Hüskers had released fast, straight ahead punk.  Distorted guitar and often screaming vocals.  And indeed, Zen Arcade starts off that way “Something I Learned Today” is a classic Hüsker Dü pop punk song.  It’s got a cool opening bassline and super distorted guitars, and yet its got a sing along chorus.  And “Never Talking to You Again” continues Grant Hart’s streak of great catchy punk.  This one includes acoustic guitar, though, just to break things up a bit.  It’s with Track 5 “Dreams Reoccurring” that you know things are going to be very different this time around.  This 2 minute song is full of reversed guitars sounds and all kinds of weird tape mixing.  It’s quite trippy and unlike anything else that the band had done.

As we near the middle of the disc, “Whats Going on Inside My Head” and “Masochism World” are absolute punk vocal shredders (so you know they’re not really going soft).  As the disc ends, “Turn on the News” plays around with recorded Newscasts, not a new concept, but new for them.  And then, of course, the final track, “Reoccurring Dreams,” a reprise of “Dreams Reoccurring” that goes on for 13 minutes of squalling feedback and demented solos (with a cool, if disconcerting, guitar motif).

One of my favorite facts about the disc is that it was all recorded in one take (except for, as the liner notes point out, 2 tracks that started too fast) and there were no overdubs.  It was mastered just as quickly so that the whole thing to about 85 hours to make.  It’s amazing that anything done that quickly can be that good.  But such is the case of this disc.  There’s a clunker or two in the mix, but how could there not be with all that energy bouncing around?

[READ: Week of June 29, 2009] Infinite Jest (to page 151)

After Reading the Infinite Summer site, I see that I got at least one thing wrong.  Mario is in fact not Hal’s younger brother, but is Hal’s older, but not oldest, brother.

I ordered 2 copies of IJ for our library since we did not have any (!).  I’ve been sneaking peeks in the second copy which has the above cover.  And an intro by Dave Eggers, which I enjoyed.

Also, when I dropped my old copy, a whole bunch of small squares of paper fell out: notes that I took the first time through.  I started to look at them but it revealed too much so I stopped.  I’m going to try and read this as purely as possible.

So, surprisingly (or perhaps un-) new characters are coming fast and furious in week two, (up to page 151). (more…)

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McSweeney’s #5 [Timothy McSweeney’s Small Trembling Thing That You Hold in Your Hand and Pet Slowly with Your Dirty Fingers/Timothy McSweeney’s Small Box Half-Full of Shiny Gems and Itching/Timothy McSweeney is Staring Like That, Why Does He Keep Staring?/Timothy McSweeney’s Fervent Hope That Things Build from Here and Stay Good for You and Those You Love/Sometimes Not Believing How Great This All Is/Ted Koppel’s Very Very Special Thing] (2000)

Posted in 6500, Alastair Reed, Ann Cummins, Ben Greenman, Ben Marcus, Bible, Bob Mould, Books about writers, Camera Obscura, Chad Willenborg, Colleen Werthmann, Consuetudinary, Consumerism, Courtney Eldridge, Daniel O'Mara, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Donald Barthelme, Dreams, Dystopia, Elizabeth Klemm, Essays, Flash Fiction, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Grant Hart, Hüsker Dü, J. Robert Lennon, Jason Ockert, Joshua Bearman, Joshuah Bearman, Lawrence Weschler, Lydia Davis, Marcus Aurelius, Marie Curie, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Meta, Minnesota, Neurotics, Newsweek, Outer Space, Paul Collins, Paul Maliszewski, Rodney Rothman, Sarah Vowell, Sex, Short Story, Steven Barthelme, Susan Minot, Ted Koppel, The Day the Earth Stood Still, This American Life, Uganda, Unlikable main character, Unreliable narrator, Violence, Wikipedia, Work on July 1, 2009| 3 Comments »

back coverSOUNDTRACK: HÜSKER DÜ-Metal Circus EP (1983).

HuskerDuMetalCircusAfter the insane hardcore mess of Land Speed Record, this EP is a bit of a change.  It’s still pretty hardcore, but now you can tell that the noisiness of the guitar is deliberate.  Bob Mould is playing around with multiple layers of feedback and distortion to create a wall of noise that sometimes hides, sometime accentuates the overall sound.

What strikes me as odd in retrospect is that I think of Bob Mould as one of alternative rock’s poppier songwriters.  And yet when you listen to this disc the two poppiest (which is a relative term to be sure) tracks are by Grant Hart.

The first two tracks are fast and furious.  But what separates them from 4 x 4 hardcore is, mostly Greg Norton’s bass.  He’s all over the place.  There’s also some diversity within the songs themselves (a little guitar squeal in “Deadly Skies”).

“It’s Not Funny Anymore” (Hart’s song) is surprisingly upbeat (with guitar harmonics) and is not quite as noisy (although it’s still pretty noisy, and is not going on the radio anytime soon).

The next two track are more of Mould’s screamy hardcore.

The longest song (4 and a half minutes) is also by Hart. “Diane” is a creepy song about abduction and murder (yet with something of a  singalong chorus).  I actually know the Therapy? version better because I had listened to that disc a lot when it came out.  But the Hüsker’s version is even creepier.  Wikipedia says it is about a real incident (which makes it less creepy than if Hart has made it up, I suppose).

It ends with Mould’s least hardcore song, although the guitar solo is pretty insane.

And then it’s over.  7 songs in twenty minutes.  That’s nearly half as many as on Land Speed Record.  You can see the songs changing already.  Just wait till the next disc!

[READ: June 29, 2009] McSweeney’s #5

McSweeney’s #5 plays with cover ideas again.  On this one, frontthe cover idea is actual different covers and slipcovers.  The book is hardcover, with three different cover designs.  It also has 4 different slipcover designs. The colophon explains that if one wanted one could have requested for free) each of the cover designs because they did not intend to make people buy multiple issues.  Click on the covers to see them enlarged on flickr (all images are copyright McSweeney’s).

This is the Koppel front cover.

I will quote from the McSweeney’s site their description of the covers:

As many of you know, the new issue of our print version is out, and by now is in most stores. This issue is a hardcover book, and features four different dust jackets. One dust jacket has on it a man who seems to be suffering from terrible skin lesions. The second cover looks very much like the cover of Issue No. 1, with the addition of a medical drawing of a severed arm. The third cover is blank, with all of its images hiding on the back. Hiding from the bad people. The last cover is just red. Or, if you will, simply red.

In addition, under each dust jacket is a different cover. One features pictures of Ted Koppel. One features new work by Susan Minot. And a third features a variation on the second cover, described above, though this version is legible only with aid of mirror. This inner cover also is featured under the red dust jacket.

I was quite surprised when I took the slipcover off mine, (more…)

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Rivka Galchen–“Real Estate” (The Walrus, July/August 2009) [Summer Fiction Issue, Genre: Haunting]

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Gordon Lightfoot, Moxy Fruvous, Political Humor, Rivka Galchen, Short Story, Supernatural, The Walrus on June 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrusjuly SOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS–The “b” album (1996).

bAfter the somberness of Wood, Moxy Früvous no doubt had to get some nonsense out of their system.  And this collection of “b” sides is full of nonsense.  It is funny and silly and smart and sassy and I think it winds up being many people’s favorite discs, despite being only about 20 minutes long.

It’s a bit silly and possibly dated (allmusic chides the Rush Limbaugh song (“The Greatest Man in America”) for being dated, although scarily here we are 12 years later and he’s back.  And the song is still spot on.

So we have ten songs, and they’re all great.  “I Love My Boss” is an a capella ditty about well, loving your boss.  I mentioned “Johnny Saucep’n” as the reason I got into MF in the first place. Man what a great song, a near-acapella beauty with an unreasonable list of foodstuffs (try this as fast as you can:

Basil endive parmesan shrimp live
Lobster hamster worchester muenster
Caviar radiccio snow pea scampi
Roquefort meat squirt blue beef red alert
Pork hocs side flank cantaloupe/sheep shanks Provolone flatbread goat’s head soup
Gruyere cheese angelhair please
And a vichyssoise and a cabbage and a crawfish claw.

How anyone can keep it straight, sing it fast and make it sound so good is beyond me. “Ash Hash” is a humorous look at smoking a bit too much hash. “Gord’s Gold” was the one song I didn’t like on this disc, until I got the Gordon Lightfoot album and realized that this is a kind of twisted tribute to GL.

“Big Fish ” is a fantastic song (and more or less the only “real” song on the disc, although the childlike voices singing the chorus are a bit silly); a pointed song about growing up conservative. “Jenny Washington” is a silly song about outrageous talk shows. “The Kids Song” has a lot of fun with rhymes and the idea that kids can help with our problems (since they are the future):

Is there something you like? (squirt-gunning my dog!)
Is there something you hate? (when my turtle ate my gerbil)
Is it fun to take a bath (no…sometimes…yes)
Should Quebec separate?

This is Moxy’s silliest side. Not for all, but certainly for me.

[READ: June 24, 2009] “Real Estate”

The third story in The Walrus’ Summer Fiction Issue is listed as the haunting genre (as opposed to a horror story) and that makes a lot of sense.  The story is not scary; it is about a woman who lives with ghosts.

She moves into an apartment that is owned by a relative but is going to be sold.  It is largely empty and she is staying there to keep an eye on it and show it when it needs showing.

She soon realizes that there is someone else in the building.  She hears him walking around but never sees him.  She also has the bizarre sensation of thinking she has food in the fridge but when she looks it is invariably something else.  This seems to happen most often with string cheese. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 1] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Big Books, Boston, MA, Canadian Content, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Drugs, Dystopia, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Hüsker Dü, Infinite Summer, Minnesota, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Suicide, Unreliable narrator on June 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

jestSOUNDTRACK: HÜSKER DÜ-Land Speed Record (1982).

landspeedMentioning 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.

It is an amazing blast of hardcore punk.

It is poorly recorded, stupidly fast and impossible to follow.  The CD is divided into two track (sides one and two) despite the 17 songs.  Most of the songs are simple, balls-out screaming punk.  In fact, it’s surprising how much you can tell it is Hüsker Dü given how shouty Bob Mould sounds.

In truth, it’s not entirely impossible to follow one song to the next (there are times when you can hear the choruses (“Guns at My School” and “Do the Bee” stand out).  But really it’s a pretty shocking discovery for anyone familiar with their alterna-pop that would come later.

The one real highlight is the final song, “Data Control.” It slows the pace and adds some mood (although it’s not that easy to discern).  But it contains a great deal of depth (for this album) and suggests that maybe the Hüskers were going to be more than a simple hardcore band.

The funniest part is that after the 25 minutes or so of noise, Bob Mould says, “we’ll be back for another set.”

[READ: Week of June 22, 2009] Infinite Jest [78 pages + endnotes]

So as I said, I’m going to be doing this Infinite Summer thing, reading 75 or so pages every week.  I haven’t figured out what I’m going to say each week, just some observations and characters to help keep things straight.  But there will be spoilers, so be warned.

Having read this before certainly helps put some context on things, even if I don’t remember a lot of the book.  But, for instance, it helps to know ahead of time that the “Year” chapter headings have been subsidized.  However, I don’t remember the chronology of them at this point.  See below, footnote endnote for more on the chronology.

The characters:   (as of page 78): (more…)

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Stephen Marche–“The Crow Procedure” (The Walrus, July/August 2009) [Summer Fiction Issue, Genre: Science Fiction]

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Funny (ha ha), Kids Corner, Moxy Fruvous, Stephen Marche, The Walrus, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on June 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrusjulySOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-Bargainville (1993).

moxyI first heard Moxy Früvous on an NPR weekend morning show. They performed “Johnny Saucep’n” (a tongue twisting a capella marvel) live and it blew my mind.  And, lest I forget, these 4 guys do AMAZING a capella. Amazing. Their harmonies are simply magnificent. I immediately went out and got whatever their latest album was (Live Noise, I expect). And I worked my way back from there.

Bargainville is the band’s first disc. It is youthful and silly and is a good mix of their folky sound and their silly songs. Comparisons to Barenaked Ladies abound as they are both Canadian and “funny”. The Früvous funny is more witty than silly, although silliness definitively crops up.

I think of Früvous as one of my favorite bands because, without question, they have written some of my favorite songs. And yet, not every song is a favorite.  But even the ones that don’t blow you away are solid and good.

I don’t have anything bad to say about this disc. In fact, it’s a great disc to put on with friends, and pick out the occasional great couplet. But I’m not certain that the disc will blow you away.

There are some outstanding tracks on here. “River Valley” is a beautiful acoustic track about saving the river alley and its drinking water. “Stuck in the 90s” is catchy as all get out” “Fell in Love” is a great song full of sweeping vocal moments. “The Lazy Boy” is another one of those great a capella moments that amazes. Its also a very silly song with references to Charlie’s Angels (the blonde one, the third one).  In fact this whole section of the disc is fantastic. “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors” is an amazing track about, well, books and authors. What’s not to like. See how many authors you recognize! It’s also amazing how catchy one can be with literary rhymes (Who’s pounding the ouzo? Mario Puzo).

“The Drinking Song” is one of their more serious songs and it is terrific. Substance, sadness, superb  And, amazingly moving. “King of Spain” is silliness beyond belief. And yet, seeing this song live is a treat and a half. Plus how many songs get to rhyme “zamboni?” The disc ends with “Gulf War Song” an a capella song that is quite serious and very passionate.  A fantastic ending to this disc.

Future discs would be a bit more serious, but this is a great start.

Oh and if anyone has a copy of the Indie Tape they’d like to copy for me, I’d love to get “Green Eggs N’ Ham,” which I hear on the radio from time to time but have never seen anywhere.  Thanks Kids Corner for playing this track on WXPN in Philadelphia!

[READ: June 23, 2009] “The Crow Procedure”

This issue of The Walrus is the Summer Fiction Issue.  It seems to be dedicated to “genres” specifically.  Each story is devoted to a genre (and there’s even a genre fiction contest this issue).  This first one is science fiction.

The twist seems to be that although the stories are in genres, they move beyond what we normally consider genre fiction. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; or, Pearls Before Swine (1965)

Posted in Corporate skewering, Drinking, Funny (ha ha), Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, Minnesota, Political Humor, Smarty Pants, Surf Punks, The Replacements on June 17, 2009| 4 Comments »

rosewaterSOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Pleased to Meet Me (1987).

pleasedMy friend Al introduced me to the Replacements with this disc way back in 1987.  He was so in love with the song “Alex Chilton” that he must have played it all summer.  And for me, this album is the soundtrack to our summer house at LBI (along with the Surf Punks’ My Beach).  As such, this is my favorite Replacements album.  Whether or not I would feel that way objectively, I can’t say.  But to me this disc is perfect, even without Bob Stinson (blasphemy I know!)

And I have to say that even without Stinson, there’s a lot of screaming guitar solos on this disc, presumably from Paul Westerberg, as I can’t find anyone else who they’re attributed to).  I’m only surprised by this because I thought of Westerberg as more of a rhythm guitarist.

It’s even hard for me to describe this record because it’s so a part of me.  “I.O.U” is a fast and furious opener.  “Alex Chilton,” has everything, rocking guitars, mellow bits and hooks galore.  “I Don’t Know” is a sloppy song, and yet it is a polished kind of sloppy, like they are trying to recreate their wild days.  And yet, it works–the opening drunken laughter and crashing noises, the call and response of disinterested “I dunno” after each line.  hey seemingly get lost during the chorus, but manage to pull it all together, of are pretty perfect.  Even the horns (!) really work on this track. “Nightclub Jitters” is a jazzy, slow song, it sounds a bit out of place, yet it foreshadows Westerberg’s slower pieces.  “The Ledge” is a catchy song about suicide (!).  Whoo hoo, but it’s a really powerful track.

“Nevermind” is a poppy little” number with a catchy chorus (of course they all have catchy choruses).  “”Shootin’ Dirty Pool is a dark and dirty track and “Red Red Wine” is a fun shout along.  “Skyway” is the tender song.  An acoustic guitar ballad that fits nicely on the disc after the raucousness of the last few tracks.  And of course, “Can’t Hardly Wait” is a fantastic closer.

There’s not a bad track on the disc, and I could listen to it over and over and over.  And heck, it’s barely over 30 minutes long.

[READ: June11, 2009] God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

In Palm Sunday Vonnegut rates this book as one of his best, so I was pretty excited to read it.

I was surprised that while reading it that I didn’t fully enjoy it as much as I wanted to.  However, once I finished it, upon reflection, it was a very substantial book, and it will stay with me for a while.  I think that’s because the book deals with really heavy topics: wealth, greed, humanity, love.  And even though it is funny, it’s not as wacky as his other books.  In fact the opening chapters are practically genealogical, and you don’t really realize that the action has started until you’re in the throws of it.

Before I get to the plot, though, I’m going to mention the first appearance of Kilgore Trout, author of science fiction of dubious morality. (more…)

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Jonathan Lethem–“Ana’s Apartment” (New Yorker, May 25, 2009)

Posted in Consumerism, Demons, Drinking, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Jonathan Lethem, Kiss, Minnesota, New Yorker, Short Story, The Replacements, Tom Waits on June 13, 2009| 1 Comment »

CV1_TNY_05_25_09.inddSOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Let It Be (1984).

letitbeThis is the final album the Replacements made before they moved to the majors.  This disc represents the culmination of their pre-major label sound and is one of my favorite “college albums” of the era.

The disc retains a lot of their sloppy/punk sound of the time, but the songwriting moves forward a little further.  Westerberg wrote some timeless anthems for this disc (“I Will Dare,” “Unsatisfied”).   But, they also sprinkle the disc with silly tracks…not filler exactly…more like balance.  This keeps the disc from being too ponderous.

“I Will Dare” opens the disc. It is bouncy and poppy with an irresistible chorus.   But the bulk of the album is faster and more rocking.  Unlike on their their first two discs, however, the songs run a little bit longer, and they don’t attempt the hardcore feel quite as much.

In fact, there are a few songs that are quite clearly ballads.  “Androgynous” is a piano ballad (!) that could have easily been written by Tom Waits.  “Unsatisfied” is another ballad, although this one has more instrumentation.  Nevertheless, the feeling of yearning is palpable in Westerberg’s voice.  Finally, “Answering Machine” is another flanged-guitar filled song about romance in the age of modern technology (circa 1984).

These relatively light (musically, not emotionally) songs are balanced out quite nicely by the pair of punk/nonsense songs: “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out” and “Gary’s Got a Boner.”  They add some (more) levity to the disc.  As well as some rocking guitars.

But perhaps the most surprising song is the cover of Kiss’ “Black Diamond.”  It is surprisingly faithful to the original, (at a time when Kiss was not even ironically cool) and it rocks just as hard.

This album showcases the diverse aspects of The Replacements perfectly.  While some people say their next album Tim is their masterpiece, I am more inclined to go with Let It Be.  And, for some reason, I really like the cover.

[READ: June 10, 2009] Ana’s Apartment

This short story sees the return of Perkus Tooth, who I first encountered in Lethem’s story in The Book of Other People.  In this story, Perkus has had it.   He is tired of his life and of his lifestyle.  He wakes from a party at an obscene hour and walks home in 2 feet of snow.  He learns that his building is shut down; he can’t get his stuff, he can’t even change his clothes.

He wanders around, freezing, until he remembers that his friend Biller told him of a place that Perkus could crash.  When Perkus arrives, Biller tells him he can crash in Ana’s apartment.  Ana’s not there, but she won’t mind a roommate. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #31

Posted in Anachronisms, Barzum, Biji, Bill Cotter, Books about writers, Charlie Chaplin, Consuetudinary, Corporate skewering, David Thomson, Death, Digression, Douglas Coupland, Duan Chengshi, Dystopia, End of the World, Ernest Hemingway, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Barr McCutcheon, Graustarkian Romance, History, James Hannaham, Jessica Anthony, John Brandon, John Cusack, Joy Williams, Legendary Saga, Mary Miller, McSweeney's, Meta, Miguel de Unamuno, Minnesota, Nicolas Chorier, Nivola, Oddities, Orson Welles, Pantoum, Plato, Poetry, Religion, Say Anything, Senryū, Sex, Shelley Jackson, Short Story, Sight & Sound, Smarty Pants, Socratic Dialogue, Supernatural, Susan Sontag, The Replacements, Threats, Violence, Virginia Woolf, Virginity (Loss of), War, Whore Dialogue, Will Sheff on June 12, 2009| 2 Comments »

31SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Hootenanny (1983).

hootThis is the second full length from The Replacements.  For a band that just released two punk albums (one’s an EP), naming your new one Hootenanny is pretty ballsy.  As is the fact that the first track sounds like, well, a hootenanny (even if it is making fun of hootenannies.)

However, the rest of the album doesn’t sound like hootenannies at all.  In fact, the rest of the album is all over the place.  I don’t want to read into album covers too much, but the design has all 16 titles in separate boxes in different colors.  It suggests a little bit of stylistic diversity inside.

Just see for yourself:  “Run It” is a one minute blast of some of the punkiest stuff they’ve done. (It’s about running a red light).  Meanwhile, “Color Me Impressed” marks the second great alt-rock anthem (after “Go”) that Westerberg has put on record.  “Willpower” is a sort of spooky ambient meandering piece that, at over 4 minutes is their longest piece yet.  “Take Me to The Hospital” is a punky/sloppy guitar song.  “Mr Whirly” is sort of an update of the Beatles’ “Oh Darlin.'”  “Within Your Reach” is technically the longest Replacements song to date.  It starts with a cool flangy guitar sound that swirls around a fairly mellow vocal track (this song was featured in the end of Say Anything.  John Cusack cranks the song up past the red line).  “Buck Hill” is an (almost) instrumental.  “Lovelines” is a spoken word reading of personals ads over a bluesy backing track.  “You Lose” is the first song that sounds like another one…a sort of hardcore song.  “Hayday” is a fast rocker like their first album.  And it ends with “Treatment Bound” a sloppy acoustic number that sounds like it was recorded in a tin can.

As you can see, this album is all over the place, and almost every song sounds like they may not make it through to the end.  Yet, despite all of the genres represented, the band sounds cohesive.  The disc just sounds like a band playing all the kinds of music that they like, and the fact that there are a couple of really lasting songs on the disc makes it sound like more than just a bar band.

I feel as though not too many people even know of this disc (it was the last one I bought by them, as I couldn’t find it for the longest time).  But in reading reviews, I see that people seem to really love this disc.  I enjoyed it, and, like other ‘Mats discs, it’s certainly fun, but I don’t listen to it all that often.

[READ: June 9, 2009] McSweeney’s #31

The latest issue of McSweeney’s has a totally new concept (for this journal, anyhow):  They resurrect old, defunct writing styles and ask contemporary writers to try their hands at them. I had heard of only two of these defunct styles, so it was interesting to see how many forms of writing there were that had, more or less, disappeared.

Physically, the issue looks like a high school yearbook.  It’s that same shape, with the gilded cover and the name of the (school) on the spine.

Attached to the inside back cover is McSweeney’s Summertime Sampler. As far as I know this is the first time they have included a sampler of multiple upcoming works.  There are three books sampled in the booklet: Bill Cotter’s Fever Chart; Jessica Anthony’s The Convalescent & James Hannaham’s God Says No. I enjoyed all three of the pieces.  Fever Chart has stayed with me the most so far.  I can still feel how cold that apartment was.  The Convalescent begin a little slow, but I was hooked by the end of the excerpt. And God Says No has me very uncomfortable; I’m looking forward to finishing that one.

As for #31 itself:

The Fugitive Genres Recaptured (or Old Forms Unearthed) include: pantoums, biji, whore dialogues, Graustarkian romances, nivolas, senryū, Socratic dialogues, consuetudinaries, and legendary sagas.  Each genre has an excerpt of an original writing in that style.  Following the sample is the modern take on it.  And, in the margins are notes in red giving context for what the author is doing.  I assume these notes are written by the author of the piece, but it doesn’t say.

I’m going to give a brief synopsis of the genre, but I’m not going to critique either the old piece or whether the new piece fits into the genre exactly (suffice it to say that they all do their job very well). (more…)

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