SOUNDTRACK: THE SALTEENS-“Frequency” (2010).
I immediately enjoyed the poppy sensibilities of The Salteens. And I knew I’d want to listen to them on CBC Radio 3 again. There are quite a few tracks available online there.
This one comes from their new EP, Moths. A little research shows that they’ve actually been around for quite awhile and even appeared on Yo Gabba Gabba! (early 21st century’s badge of coolness). It is very poppy, features male/female duet vocals and is immensely catchy.
It’s so catchy, in fact that I played their CBC radio songs over and over. While I liked some better than others (I wasn’t too keen on “Sunnyside Street”), their twee pop was so joyful that I found myself singing along. They are definitely twee, but not treacly, and in that respect that are very indie sounding (like a less bummed out Death Cab for Cutie or an early Cardigans).
Their arrangements are always pretty simple, but they range from guitars to keyboard to horns (“Nice Day” is almost all drums with the simplest piano and occasional horns). And it contains the humorous couplet: “I know you think that I’m gay, but I just play the part”
[READ: July 5, 2010] “Lenny Hearts Eunice”
I’ve really enjoyed Shteyngart’s novels, so I was pleased to see him included in 20 Under 40. This short story is set in another of his future dystopia, complete with a shlubby main character.
It opens with the obvious (yet very satisfying in this case) technique of a diary entry. This works really well because the narrator is so strong (not physically) and quirky. Lenny begins this diary because he is in love with Eunice Park, a young Korean woman with whom he shared a moment (and later an intimacy). And he intends to win her over.
Lenny is a Research Coordinator of the Post-Human Services Division of the Staatling-Wapachung Corporation, a corporation bent on making everyone (especially its employees) immortal. Of course, since Lenny is an older, out of shape nebbish, who has just spent a year in Rome gorging on carbs, his future looks bleak. Rome is where he met Eunice by the way. (more…)
For me, QMS have always been mythical–like a unicorn or a gryphon–I had no real proof that they existed, but I have seen glimpses. I think that this record, along with Steely Dan’s Aja and all of the records of Lee “Scratch” Perry were on every first page of every Columbia House ad and catalog ever. And yet, I had never heard them or known anyone who listened to them.
NDTRACK: JOHN PRINE-“New Train” & “Ain’t Hurtin’ Nobody” (1995).
We’re staying at a beach house for the 4th of July. There’s John Prine on the iPod. I’ve never heard him before, although I have of course heard of him.
SOUNDTRACK: SELF-“Trunk Fulla Amps” (2000). 
I bought an album by Self many years ago. They had since released several other discs, but I hadn’t heard any of them. Then, they came out with this fantastic and very vulgar song. It reeks of one-hit wonder status and yet it is super catchy (and rather funny).
This week’s New Yorker contains a list of the 20 authors under age 40 that they predict we’ll be talking about for years to come. Their criteria:
I Just Read About That... 