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Archive for the ‘New Yorker’ Category

David Foster Wallace–possible excerpts from The Pale King: [“Three Fragments from a Longer Thing” (2000); “Good People” (New Yorker, February 5, 2007); “The Compliance Branch” (Harper’s, February 2008); “Wiggle Room” and “Irrelevant Bob” (New Yorker, March 9, 2009)]

Posted in Boredom, David Foster Wallace, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Harper's, Infinite Summer, Karen Green, New Yorker, Pregnancy, Short Story, Tindersticks, Work on November 7, 2009| 2 Comments »

paleSOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Live at the Botanique, 9th-12 May 2001 (2001).

This is called an “official bootleg.”  It must be very rare as I can’t even find a picture of it online.  My friend Lar must have gotten it for me, as I have never seen the band live and it was (apparently) only available at their shows.  Or maybe I got it online during the tour?  Whatever the case, it’s a great live selection of their later songs.

It’s a cool collection of songs from shows over the course of three days.  It’s also interesting that the track listing is five songs from one gig, then three from the final gig and two from the middle one.  The band sounds great (the live setting always suits them). On this disc, Paula Frazer sings the duet of “Buried Bones” and there are some nice backing vocals from Gina Foster and Viki St. James on the last two tracks.

It’s a rather mellow set list, but the crowd certainly enjoys it.  And, as this is something of a greatest hits (of the more recent tracks), I could listen to it all day.

There appears to have been only one other “Official Bootleg”: Coliseu Dos Recreios De Lisboa – October 30th 2001.  But I’ve never seen it.

[READ: October 25, 2009] “Three Fragments from a Longer Thing,” “Good People,” “The Compliance Branch,” “Wiggle Room” and “Irrelevant Bob”

These are the last pieces of uncollected David Foster Wallace fiction that I had left to read.  I saved this for last because, well, they are supposedly parts of the soon to be released The Pale King.  Some of these pieces are definitely from The Pale King (it states so in the magazine  openings).  A couple are possible contenders for The Pale King, but we won’t know until the book comes out (sometime in 2010, I’m led to believe).  I had read some of these pieces before but it is much more satisfying to read them together.

The strange thing for me about these pieces is that when I read the New Yorker titles initially, there was no indication that the pieces were excerpts.  They treated them as short stories (even giving them titles).  So, when you read them, they feel like something is missing (namely 900 more pages).  And in many respects, I think that’s bad for the author.  Sure its good to get the work out there, but when a story feels unfinished, it leaves a bad taste in the readers’ mouth. (more…)

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Javier Marías–“While the Women Are Sleeping” (New Yorker, November 2, 2009)

Posted in Demons, Foreign Books, Funny (strange), Javier Marias, Marriage (Happy), New Yorker, Sex, Short Story, Summer, Tindersticks, Violence on November 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

nySOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Simple Pleasure (1999).

tinderTindersticks changed a bit with this disc.  And it’s evident from the moment the opening track kicks in: “Can We Start Again” is the most upbeat (musically) song they’ve ever done.  (Even if lyrically it’s not exactly puppies and rainbows).  And it is a truly magnificent song.  The next track, “If You’re Looking for a Way Out” has Staples singing so emotionally, his voice almost seems to break.”

As the disc proceeds, new aspects of the Tindersticks come into view.  The biggest change is an influx of soul stylings.  Staples actually croons from time to time; but the two biggest soul aspects are the groovy keyboards (not unheard of on previous discs, but very prominent here) and some gorgeous female backing vocals.  Indeed, “From the Inside” is propulsive instrumental with very 60s-sounding organ.

“If She’s Torn” sounds like a beautiful long-lost soul song, especially with the delicate keyboard notes that sprinkle down as the songs ends.  The final two tracks “I Know That Loving” and “CF GF” prominently feature the backing vocalists and they end the disc on a glorious note.

This disc is considerably shorter than their previous ones.  It seems like rather than making an epic mood piece, they settled down to make a more simple soul, almost pop record (although surely not pop by conventional standards).

This was the first Tindersticks disc I bought and it remains one of my favorites.

[READ: October 29, 2009] “While the Women Are Sleeping”

I have not read any Marías before.  And I was delighted by the multifaceted nature of this story.

It begins rather lightly with a man and his wife people-watching on a beach.  He needs glasses but, as this is the beach, he doesn’t wear them (no facial tan lines!).  So, he squints at people until, through some fascinating physics, he looks through his wife’s straw hat and is able to see much better.  (The image of a man with a straw hat held to his face is quite amusing).

After relaxing and spying for a few days, a new couple appears on the beach.  She is stunningly beautiful and is pretty much always naked on the lounger (this is Europe after all).  Her boyfriend is a considerably older, overweight, balding man.  He spends his entire time on the beach filming her, every inch of her, while she rests/sleeps/checks for blemishes. (more…)

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Chris Ware–“Unmasked” (New Yorker, November 2, 2009)

Posted in Chris Ware, Demons, Graphic Novel, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Sex, Tindersticks on November 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

nySOUNDTRACK: TINDERTSICKS-“curtains” (1997).

curtains“Rented Rooms” from Curtains is another one of my favorite songs. It is dark yet sensual at the same time: “We had to go find somewhere else more… you know.”  The disc itself works similarly to their first two discs.  It’s not as long, and is a little less dynamic.  But it is still unmistakably Tindertsicks.

The album has a lot more strings on it (not that it didn’t have strings before, but they feature more prominently here).  And they add a new dimension of tension and intensity to the proceedings. “Don’t Look Don’t ” has sections that sound like a scary action movie. “Desperate Man” returns to that gorgeous flamenco-tinged music that they played with on the first disc.

And “Fast One” has crazy demented strings as the song chugs along quite fast.  “Bearsuit” is a whimsical (!) look at sex.

“Buried Bones” is a gorgeous duet.  (Female singers complement Staples’ voice so well).  While “(Tonight) Are You Trying to Fall in Love Again” is another great uptempo string-filled song.  The disc ends with a trio of great tracks.  The beautiful “I Was Your Man” the sinister (I’ve never heard a band make a piano sound so sinister) “Bathtime” and the closer, “Walking”

The reissue comes with a bonus disc of alternate versions of songs from the disc (and some that didn’t make it). Yet another version of “For Those…”  It also has two versions of “Rented Rooms” (the orchestral version is quite fascinating). “Paco’s Theme” is a great instrumental. “Shadow” has that flamenco thing in spades as well.  Probably the best addition is “A Marriage Made in Heaven” a beautiful duet with Isabella Rossellini.

Curtains is something of a transitional record for Tinderstciks, and it’s not quite as awesome as the first two, but it is full of top notch songs.

[READ: October 29, 2009] “Unmasked”

I’ve enjoyed Chris Ware’s work  for years.  His cartoons are meticulous, fascinatingly detailed, often with crazily-sized boxes and sometimes hard-to-follow linear styles.  They are almost universally sad.  And I can’t get enough of them.

This one is the first I can remember in a long time that focuses on adult-adult relationships.  That’s not precisely true, as many of his stories deal with familial themes and the problems of growing up.  But, and perhaps that’s because this was a shorter piece (I’m more familiar with his longer multi-character-filled stories, the main characters are a woman and her mother.  (Her daughter is with them, and her husband is working). (more…)

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Ian Frazier–“Fanshawe” (New Yorker, November 2, 2009)

Posted in Canadian Music, Funny (ha ha), Ian Frazier, Kathleen Edwards, Neko Case, New Yorker, Short Story, The Tragically Hip, The Trews, Woody Allen on November 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

nySOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Asking for Flowers (2008).

flowersI first heard of Kathleen Edwards because of her duet with John Doe on “The Golden State.”  I thought her voice was great and I wanted to hear more.  I picked this album because it was her newest.

My first impression was mild.  I thought initially, great, I’ve gotten yet another Canadian country singer.  And yet, as with Neko Case, there’s something about Canadian country-tinged music that I really like (I’m not a fan of U.S. country, by and large).  And so, while there are trapping of country music on this disc (slide guitar is scattered throughout), after the third or fourth listen, something clicked and I fell hard for this disc.

While listening, especially on the more rocking songs, I kept thinking of The Tragically Hip.  And while I would not in any way say she sounds like the Hip, there is something about her sensibility, lyrically and tonally, that I think is very Hip-like.  She sings with great passion about moderately esoteric things and about Canadiana (referencing Gretsky in one song, titling another song “Oh Canada”).  And as The Hip have recently released a more folky album, the two could probably share a coffeehouse stage quite easily.

Edwards’ voice is beautiful.  But it wasn’t until I really started hearing her lyrics that it made the songs that much more intense.

“The Cheapest Key” is a rollicking song (that reminds me of The Hip in many ways).  Especially the lyrics: “A is for all the times I bit my tongue / B is for bullshit and you fed me some.”  And while I think the whole disc is great, it’s the trifecta of “I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory,” “Oil Man’s War” and “Sure as Shit” that makes this album amazing.  Lyrically, musically, passionately, they’re simply awesome.  Individually, each song is great, but together, the rocking humor of “Dough” followed by the moving sadness of “Oil Man’s War” and the mildly vulgar wit of “Sure as Shit” show such depth in just three songs.

She also pulls out a really powerful song in “Oh Canada.”  I recently wagged my finger at The Trews for being too preachy on their song “Gun Control,” Edwards tackles a similar subject by going in a different direction and by making poetry, not preachery: ” It’s not the year of the gun / We don’t say it out loud / There are no headlines / When a black girl dies / It’s not the lack of a sense / It’s called ambivalence.”

The final song, “Goodnight California” has a chord progression that sounds somewhat familiar, and yet the vocal line she lays on top of it is different, just off enough to be really enchanting.  And even though it is a slow moody piece, it has a fairly scorching harmonica (!) solo.

I’m delighted to see that she has other discs out because I can’t wait to hear more from her.

[READ: October 29, 2009] “Fanshawe”

This Shouts & Murmurs piece was really funny.  It was easily the funniest one I have read in a long time.  It reminded me a lot of early funny Woody Allen pieces (especially when he mentions what the mother died from).

The story is about Fanshawe.  He has just the one name (and comes from a long line of people named simply, Fanshawe.  (more…)

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Christine Schutt-“Prosperous Friends” (Harper’s, November 2009)

Posted in Christine Schutt, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Short Story, The Sopranos, Tindersticks, Unlikable main character on October 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »

harperSOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS: Tindersticks [the black and white one] (1995).

tinderThis second album (often called II, but according to the band, is called Tindertsticks) continues the coolness of the first disc.  But this disc seems to have a few more “singles” (or what could have been singles) on it.  “A Night In” has a great slow building, string filled chorus that reaches tremendous heights.  Staples’ voice sounds even better, too.  A bit fuller, a bit less hesitant.

It also features the gorgeous, vibe-fueled, spoken word tale called “My Sister.”  And then there’s the fantastic, monumental “Tiny Tears.”  (It was featured in a Sopranos episode (Season One, Episode 12: “Isabella”) perfectly, and I was delighted to hear it. (I’m not the only one who thinks it was perfect, see here]).  It begins as a quiet piece with the fantastic opening lyrics:

You’ve been lying in bed for a week now
Wondering how long it’ll take
You haven’t spoke, or looked at her in all that time
It’s the easiest line you could break
She’s been going round her business as usual
Always with that melancholy smile
But you were too busy looking into yourself
To see those tiny tears in her eyes.

And of course, it builds into a string filled melancholy ballad.  Beautiful.  Another great track, “Talk to Me” gets so intense as the song progresses (dissonant strings and horns cranked to ten), that it’s almost scary.  This is followed by the contrite and very mellow “No More Affairs.”  Oh, and then comes the stunning duet “Travelling Light” which is sheer beauty.

I also really enjoy the two instrumentals “Vertrauen II” and “Vertrauen III” for their creepy atmospherics and theremin use.

It’s another stellar collection from Tindertsicks.  And another triumph of atmospheric music.  And, frankly, it’s just as well that they gave this disc the same name as the first as they are practically a continuous cycle of awesomeness.

This disc was reissued with the previously hard to find “Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre 12.3.95.”

[READ: October 19, 2009] “Prosperous Friends”

This story of a disaffected married couple didn’t really appeal to me at first.  The characters (especially the wife) seemed very caustic but there hadn’t been enough setup or explanation for the causticity.  When they visit his old (girl?)friend, the four people have an uncomfortable meal together.  I also had a but of trouble keeping the two men straight: Ted and Ben are a little too similar as names. (more…)

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George Saunders–“Victory Lap” (New Yorker, October 5, 2009)

Posted in Funny (ha ha), George Saunders, New Yorker, Placebo, Q, Short Story, Violence on October 22, 2009| 1 Comment »

oct5SOUNDTRACK: PLACEBO-Battle for the Sun (2009).

battlesunI’ve been a fan of Placebo since their first disc came out (I had to hunt it down after reading a great review in Q magazine).  Imagine my surprise when they took off with their next album and the huge single “Every You Every Me.”

Battle for the Sun is their sixth album and things haven’t changed too dramatically for them (except that they don’t have any huge singles anymore).  This album experiments with a few different styles (including a few places where it almost sounds like pop metal influences are creeping in). There’s even horns on a couple of the songs.  They don’t add a lot to the tracks, but they also don’t really detract from them either.

But even with these modifications, their sound remains hard guitar driven alt-rock with a touch of glam and the ever present love it or hate it vocals of Brian Molko.  Molko has a fascinating way with lyrics.  So on “Battle for the Sun” we have fascinating parts where he sings a word 7 times at the end of certain lines: “I, I, I, I, I will brush of all the dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt.”  And this will either drive you insane or you will accept it as part of the song.

As with past Placebo records, I have enjoyed this one quite a bit.  There’s always something catchy coming forth, and even if Malko’s lyrics aren’t the most original (“no one here gets out alive” (!)),  his delivery is wonderfully arch/angry/sexy depending on his needs.

The album overall isn’t as grand as Without You I’m Nothing, but if you like Placebo, Battle for the Sun won’t disappoint.  If you’re not a fan, it’s not going to change your mind about them.

[READ: October 15, 2009] “Victory Lap”

This is, hands down, one of my favorite short stories of the year.  The story takes some major sharp turns to get where it winds up, and it is very intense at the same time.

It opens with this hilarious look at soon-to-be-15 Alison Pope.  And if the story had stayed just with her it would have been fantastic anyhow.  Alison is in her own head: as she walks down the stairs of her house, she dismisses suitors on either side, speaking garbled French and mocking their word choices (“Had he said small package?”).  But when she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she sees a baby deer in the woods (of her living room).  And when she speaks to it, it answers (in the voice of her younger sister).  The section is full of {actions} and is charming and very funny.  Saunders captured this character perfectly, and as I said, I could have read about her for pages and pages. (more…)

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Julian Barnes–“Complicity” (New Yorker, October 19, 2009)

Posted in Jill Sobule, Julian Barnes, New Yorker, Record Labels, Romance, Short Story on October 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

ny19SOUNDTRACK: JILL SOBULE-Underdog Victorious (2004).

sobuleAfter ordering California Years, I saw that she had released this disc, Underdog Victorious, which I had never heard of.  Then I found it used for pretty cheap.  The most exciting thing about the disc is that there’s a crossword puzzle (that is largely about Jill herself) done by Will Shortz on the inside back cover!

And the music is really good too.  It’s a solid collection of sarcastic rockers and earnest tales of mild woe.  The short track “Under the Disco Ball” (a sarcastic look at homophobes) seems like it would be an ideal song to start any show.  I can see the disco ball spinning as she sings the final lines, “They have a scheme, they have a plan, to take the children of our land and turn them into stylists and women who play golf.”  And then she could bust into the rocking title track which features a delightful sing along chorus.

The disc opens with a couple of more gentle songs.  The self deprecating “Freshman” (she lives like a freshman), and “Jetpack” which is a nice romantic story about what she would do is she had a jetpack.  And then the single “Cinnamon Park” which should have been huge.  It’s catchy, it’s clever, it seems like it’s going to have a curse but it doesn’t.  It’s great!

“Joey” is a tribute to a faded actress (but I can’t decide if she’s real or not). And “Angel/?” is probably the most vulgar song she’s recorded.  It’s very funny.  And the last two mellow songs end the disc quite nicely.  There’s even a bonus untitled song about getting pulled over which rocks rather hard (for her) and is quite funny.

It’s a shame that Sobule had such a hard time with record labels because she is a preeminent singer-songwriter, and she should have a bigger fanbase.  (Although since she raised $75,000 in just a couple months for her California Years CD, I gather her fanbase is big enough, thank you.)

[READ: October 15, 2009] “Complicity”

This story was written in a really interesting way.  It deals with sensation, primarily touch, and the narrator treats tactile sensation, even his own, as something that is almost disconnected from himself.  And he reflects back on different situations where touch has been very significant to him.

He begins by remembering that when he was a boy with hiccups, his mother would slip a cold key down his back.  And he can still feel this sensation as an adult (although he’s not sure if it’s a valid cure for hiccups).

And then he talks about the game where you (and others) close your eyes and touch things and try to guess what the object is (pay particular attention to peeled lychees).  And this game seems to be a foundation for his upcoming date with a woman he met at a party.  While talking to the woman’s mother, he surreptitiously hands the woman a cigarette and a pack of matches behind the mother’s back.  This entirely tactile experience (touching fingertips, feeling the matches removed, etc.) stayed with him. (more…)

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Marisa Silver–“Temporary” (New Yorker, September 28, 2009)

Posted in Canadian Music, Clues, Constellation Records, Marisa Silver, Mercury Rev, New Yorker, Sex, Short Story, The Flaming Lips, Work on October 4, 2009| 2 Comments »

928

SOUNDTRACK: CLUES-Clues [CST057] (2009).

cluesThis is another of my favorite recent Constellation Records CDs.  Clues remind me of Mercury Rev, if they had remained a more indie/underpolished band instead of their more recent orchestrated pop.  The lead singer sounds a but like Jonathan Donahue (and sometimes Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips) and the band in general plays the sort of unusual pop that these bands have made common.

Every song on this disc is a winner.  It’s even hard for me to pick a favorite, although track number 8 “Cave Mouth” (I have no idea what the songs are about lyrically) is just fantastic: great musical riffs, great breaks, infectiously catchy melody, and yet the whole thing feels just a hair off balance.  It’s sublime.  And the rest of the disc works in a similar way: things are a little off kilter, but that make you listen even harder to find out what’s going on.

The best example of this is the last song: “Let’s Get Strong.”  The song is a pretty, simple piano ballad.  It’s very catchy and quite pretty.  But a few measures into the song, you become convinced that the piano is out of tune.  And as you listen attentively, you can’t decide what’s going on that makes the song sound off.  And by the end, you’re hooked.

Clues is definitely a quirky band.  And yet they are not offputting.  They’re just following their own muses.  And we’re all the better for it.

[READ: September 28, 2009] “Temporary”

This story concerns two women living in Los Angeles. They met when they were both applying for a temp position.  Shelly, the more outgoing of the two invited Vivian to live with her in her new place. The rent is cheap.  The only problem is that it’s a room in a factory, and technically it’s illegal, so if the police ever come they will be evicted on the spot.

And so, the title really conveys the lives that these women lead.

While Shelly’s back story is not really divulged, we learn a bit about Vivian and her upbringing.  When she was young her mother became very ill. They assumed she wouldn’t make it, but, amazingly she pulled through. This incident of more or less self sufficiency led Vivian to lead a rather sensible life, growing up faster than she probably should have.   As such, she is constantly surprised by Shelly’s behavior and lifestyle.

When Vivian landed the temp job, Shelly gave up her job hunt.  And yet Shelly always seems to be able to make the rent with no trouble.  She also has a habit of giving Vivian anything that Vivian complemented her on (which makes Vivian uncomfortable).  Shelly also walks around the apartment in loose robes, and tends to leave her “boyfriends” lying around the same way she leaves her extra cash lying around.

It’s Vivian’s temp job that provides the emotional heart of the story.  She works at an adoption agency transcibing the interviews of prospective adoptees.  One couple in particular grabs her attention.  The man seems like a bully and the wife seem too deferential to be healthy.  Since she listens to their tapes over and over for transcription purposes, she gets the man’s voice ingrained into her head.  It is inevitible that she will encounter these voices in real life, but the where and how are too good to spoil.

The main plot ends before the story ends.  The ending is a coda that ties the whole story together.  It feels extraneous at first and yet upon reflection it works very nicely to wrap up the story.

This was the first story I’ve read by Marisa Silver, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

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Periodical: The Week

Posted in Airlines, Art, Authors, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Books about music, Books about writers, Boredom, Canadian Content, Children's Books, Comedians, Comic Strips, Consumerism, Contests, Death, Esquire, Essays, Film & TV, Free Speech, History, LGBTQ, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Military, Morality, Music, Natural Disasters, Neurotics, New Yorker, Oddities, Outer Space, Political Humor, Prison, Racism, Radar, Religion, Research, Robots, Russia, Salon.com, Sex, Sports Illustrated, Suicide, Technology, The Week, Violence, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, War, WMDs on September 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

weekI’m not sure how I first learned about The Week. I think I received a trial issue in the mail. But after just one or two issues we were hooked.  The Week is a comprehensive newsweekly, although it offers virtually no original reporting.  It collates news stories and offers opinions from a variety of sources: newspapers, online magazines, political journals etc. And it provides opinions from across the political spectrum.

Each issue has the same set up (although they recently had an image makeover: a new cover design and some unexpected font changes in a few sections, which I suppose does lend to an easier read).

Each issue starts with The main stories… …and how they were covered. The first article is a look at whatever major story captivated the editorials that week.  (The growing gloom in Afghanistan).  And in a general sense of what you get for long articles (the long articles are about 3/4 of a page) You get WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT THE EDITORIALS SAID, and WHAT THE COLUMNISTS SAID.  The What Happened section is a paragraph or two summary of the story.  The editorials offer a one or two sentence summary from sources like USA Today, L.A. Times and The Financial Times, while The Columnists are from The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Time.com, for example. (more…)

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David Sedaris–“Laugh Kookaburra” (New Yorker, August 24, 2009)

Posted in David Sedaris, Death Cab For Cutie, Essays, Funny (ha ha), New Yorker, Short Story, Tokyo Police Club on August 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »

nyorkerSOUNDTRACK:TOKYO POLICE CLUB-“Smith” EP (2007).

tpcThe Smith EP contains 4 songs.  The first two tracks are bouncy energy filled tracks, like on A Lesson in Crime.  But the third track “A Lesson in Crime” sounds very distinctly mellow-Death Cab for Cutie-like.  And it gives the whole EP a slightly more mellow feel.

Track 4, the remix (of “Be Good”) doesn’t change it too much, but makes it more dancey.

Not an essential addition to the TPC fan club, but it’s certainly a good collection of songs.  It’s also got some video content (“Cheer It On,” “Citizens of Tomorrow” and “Nature of the Experiment”) which does increase its value to fans.

[READ: August 19, 2009]  “Laugh Kookaburra”

This David Sedaris piece didn’t make me laugh as much as some of his other ones.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  There are scenes with his sister where they are singing in bed together and their father comes up and yells at them.  Quite funny.  Especially David’s  reaction:

If I had children and they stayed up late, singing a song about a bird, I believe I would find it charming. “I knew I had those two for a reason,” I think I’d say to myself. I might go so far as to secretly record them, and submit the tape in a My Kids Are Cuter Than Yours competition. (more…)

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