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Archive for the ‘Magazines’ Category

David Foster Wallace–“All That” (New Yorker, December 14, 2009)

Posted in David Foster Wallace, New Yorker, Nostalgia, Short Story on December 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1974).

Henry Rollins, on Think Tank talks about the “el niño” storms from several years back.  And he says that el niño means “little boy,” but the damage the storms did means they should have called it something scary and powerful like “The First Four Black Sabbath Albums.”  I have to say that leaving out this fifth album is a great disservice to the power of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” opens the disc kicking and screaming with a wonderfully raw guitar riff.  Strangely, for such a powerful opening, it then segues into a very gentle almost loungey section (which hilariously, is the section where he screams “You bastard!”).  But when we hit three minutes, the song really catches fire.  The heavy pounding riff, the screaming vocals, the end of this song is astounding.  And it explains why this song is covered so much (Anthrax, The Cardiagns).

“A National Acrobat” follows with another great riff.  As the song progresses, the bridge section, rather than going more ballady turns a bit more psychedelic with some cool effects on the guitars, yet it maintains the heaviness of that great riff.  It ends with a rip-roaring guitar solo and speeding end.

“Fluff” has always been one of my favorite acoustic numbers.  It’s a very delicate acoustic guitar picking piece that builds in complexity as pianos are added over it.

“Sabbra Cadabra” is another great, fast rocker with a clever name.  This one is a love song, which seems weird, but it works.  Of course, here’s where the real weirdness kicks in: Rick Wakeman (yes, that Rick Wakeman) plays synths and pianos in the middle section.  What is totally fascinating about this, though, is that this keyboard-heavy section is not a ballad, it’s heavy guitar with a piano solo or psychedelic-wash feel.  It doesn’t detract from the heaviness of the song, but it introduces a weird almost Jethro Tull element to the proceedings.  It’s pretty cool.

The second side sees the band experimenting even more.

“Killing Yourself to Live” is  decent B-side rocker, that’s mostly a chance for Tony Iommi to play some wicked solos.  It also has several different parts to it (Sabbath is totally a prog rock band, eh?) and ends with a heavy boogie rock section.

After the fierce ending of “Killing,” we get another cameo from Rick Wakeman, who plays the bizarro-wah-wah’d keyboard intro of “Who Are You?”  This is probably the closest to a ballad that this album produces.  It’s slow, is propelled entirely by keyboards, features virtually no guitar or bass and has a delightfully pompous middle section with martial drumming and piano.  But the keybaords are thankfully weird enough to prevent this from turning into another crossover attempt.  And the lyrics are kind of dark and twisted .

“Looking for Today” brings the guitars back with what is probably a classic Sabbath sounding track.  It’s not amazing, but it’s a solid rocker that drifts into a crazy middle section chock full of acoustic guitars and, wait for it, flutes!  It ends with an upbeat coda that sounds not unlike some of the songs Ozzy would make on his later solo records.

“Spiral Architect” is a string laden track that gets a little  bogged down by the strings towards the end.  It has a cool weird riff that opens the song but by the end it’s almost entirely strings (and the heaviness is pretty much gone).  I’ve always liked this album so this doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the song, but I have to assume that metal fans were a bit disappointed by this.

So Black Sabbath, despite being the godfathers of heavy metal were actually quite experimental in their day.  Even if the cover depicts a writhing figure on a bed that is labeled 666!

[READ: December 7, 2009] “All That”

I was delighted to get the email from The New Yorker today which notified me that this new issue had fiction from DFW!  What a nice surprise.  The problem is that it’s going to be maddening deciding whether this is an excerpt from The Pale King or some other unfinished piece or what.  [UPDATE: This did not make it into The Pale King].

I’ve learned from previous DFW pieces in The New Yorker not to assume that this is a short story.  Which is good.  Because as a short story it doesn’t have a very solid resolution.  However, I think it is one of his best pieces of (short) fiction in quite a while.

I don’t want to spend time speculating about where this piece belongs or even comparing it to the other excerpts from The Pale King.  But I can certainly see this character fitting in to a much longer narrative (and I rather hope that he is in The Pale King).

But enough of that. (more…)

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David Sedaris–“Loggerheads” (New Yorker, December 7, 2009)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Collecting, David Sedaris, Death, John Darnielle, New Yorker, Ozzy Osbourne, Short Story, The Mountain Goats, Tony Iommi, Travel, Unlikable main character on December 5, 2009| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Master of Reality (1971).

This album seems to have directly inspired more bands than any other Sabbath record.  There’s the band Masters of Reality (who I’ve never heard) and there’s the 1,000 Homo DJ’s EP and blistering cover for “Supernaut.”

This is one of my favorite Sabbath discs, even though, or maybe because there aren’t as many hits on it.  The story goes that since Tony Iommi had his fingertips cut off (!) he had to downtune his guitar so the strings would be looser and therefore less painful to play.  As such, this disc introduces a sort of “classic” Sabbath sludgy sound.  But even though this album doesn’t get a the airplay of Paranoid any metal fan knows a few of these songs.  “Sweet Leaf,” for instance, is quite well known.  It also makes me laugh because it is so clearly pro-drug (after all those anti-drug songs on the first two discs).  And of course, it opens with that great echoing cough (which I now assume is from someone toking up).

“After Forever” is one of those great Sabbath songs where Geezer Butler’s bass fills stand out throughout the bridges.  It also features one of Tony Iommi’s strangely “happy” sounding opening chords  The song itself is pretty dark but the chords are so upbeat!  The song has a lyric that I found shocking as a kid: “would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope, do you think he’s a fool?”  And of course, the guitar solo flies wildly around your head from one speaker to the other.

“Embryo” is a strange middle eastern sounding 30 second instrumental that segues into the awesome “Children of the Grave.”  It’s one of those Sabbath songs that sounds menacing all the way through.  There’s a weird clicking sound in the verses that I assume is Geezer Butler’s de-tuned, incredibly loose bass strings slapping the fretboard.  And, of course, it ends with a wonderfully warped ghostly guitar feedback sounds and the whispered “Ch ch ch ch children.”

The second half of the disc is quite different from the first.  “Orchid” is a delightful 90 second acoustic guitar workout.  And it segues into “Lord of This World” a real rock and roll sounding song (featuring some great Ozzy screaming).  “Solitude” is like “Planet Caravan” from Paranoid, in that it’s a slow, trippy psychedelic sense (is it possible that Sabbath didn’t know that they were a metal band?).

Finally comes “Into the Void.”  This was one of the first songs I’d ever learned on guitar.  My guitar teacher liked the down-tuned low E string aspect of it, and I still enjoy playing it today.

As my friend Andrew pointed out the other day, John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats has written a 33 1/3 book about Master of Reality.  While I haven’t read it yet, Darnielle is pretty cool, so I assume it’s a great read if you like this disc.

[READ: November 30, 2009] “Loggerheads”

Not every David Sedaris piece is funny.  We know he’s not a comedian, per se, although he is certainly a humorous writer.  We also know that some Sedaris pieces are kind of disgusting.  He tends to delight in the grotesque.  However, in this piece he combines the disgusting with the non-humorous to create a very unsatisfying piece. (more…)

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Kate Clanchy–“The Not-Dead and the Saved” (Prospect, December 2009)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Boredom, Cancer as plot device, Death, Kate Clanchy, Ozzy Osbourne, Prospect, Short Story, Suicide, Tony Iommi, V.S. Pritchett on December 4, 2009| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Paranoid (1970).

Black Sabbath’s second album is certainly their most famous.  I mean, it features “Iron Man,” the first song everyone learns to play on the guitar.

But the whole first side of the disc is pretty famous.  “War Pigs” is a wonderful anti-war song.  “Paranoid” was their first big hit, and I read recently that it was a last minute addition to the album.  And it’s really short, too!

The next track, “Planet Caravan” is, in context, insane.  It is an incredibly slow, meandering track.  Back in the day, we used to skip this track all the time.  But since then I’ve grown to appreciate this trippy psychedelic song.  It feels a bit long, especially when you want to rock out, but it’s still pretty interesting.

And then there’s “Iron Man,” and, well, there’s nothing much to say about it that hasn’t been said elsewhere.   Except of course that it rocks!

Side Two was pretty unlistened to before CDs made it all one side.  “Electric Funeral” is a major downer about nuclear war, but it has an amazing opening riff with a wonderfully wah-wahed guitar.  “Hand of Doom” begins slowly with what’s more or less just bass and vocals.  And then guitars blare forth like sirens leading to some cool heavy sections.  About half way through it turns into this fast rocking song and becomes yet another anti-drug song.  This anti-drug stance is rather surprising given what lies in store in the not too distant future.

“Rat Salad” is a short instrumental.  It’s one half extended guitar solo with the second half comprising a drum solo.  Despite that, the riff of the song is pretty awesome.  The final track is the wonderfully named “Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots.”  The opening is another cool riff with lots of drums that melds in to a wonderfully heavy, bad-assed song (“a fairy with boots dancing with a dwarf”).  It ends the album very well.

For a record that’s nearly 40 years old, it’s still remarkably heavy and it set a great standard for heavy metal.

[READ: November 29, 2009] “The Not-Dead and the Saved”

This was a sad story about a woman with a dying child.  The child is older (late teens) and he has been coping with this issue for all of his life.  Consequently, he is cynical and more than a little bitter.

It’s hard for me to be critical of the story seeing as how it won the VS Pritchett Memorial Prize.  However, I didn’t find the story all that compelling. I think it was the completely detached narrator (third person distant, I would say) or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, I just couldn’t connect to it.

[UPDATE:  December 15, 2009.  The story also just won the National Short Story Award.  Maybe I need to re-read it]. (more…)

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Don DeLillo–“Midnight in Dostoevsky” (New Yorker, November 30, 2009)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Contests, Don DeLillo, Mystery, New Yorker, Set at School, Short Story, Universities on December 3, 2009| 4 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Black Sabbath (1970).

I’ve talked about Black Sabbath quite a bit, so why not take a look at their records directly?

One of the fun surprises about their first disc is the stereo mix (although it was 1970, so maybe one shouldn’t be surprised).  Guitar in one ear, bass in the other and sometimes only a guitar solo in one ear with nothing else going on!  The other surprise is that even though Tony Iommi’s guitar is on fire and he has huge lengthy guitar solos (the one in “Warning” is like 8 minutes long), the other members, especially the drums, really come to the fore.

What can one says about the title track?  The opening thunderstorm (with creepy bell tolling) sets the mood perfectly and then the killer riff kicks in and Ozzy Osbourne’s weird, loud, somewhat whiny and frighteningly frightened voice asks “What is this that stands before me?”  It’s a slow song, especially for one that spawned a genre of fast heavy metal, but it sense of ominousness is tangible.

“The Wizard” undermines everything you think you know about heavy metal since it begins with a harmonica.  However, it is a pretty creepy harmonica, and the melody is certainly spooky.  What’s so fascinating about the song is the drums.  While the whole band plays the somewhat odd riff, the drums have a huge place of prominence in the song, with little snare drum solos after each line (and a prominent cowbell at one point).  There are some wild guitar solos, but you wouldn’t be crazy thinking that this was the  drummer’s band.

The next song is listed as four songs: “Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B.”  “Wasp” is a short, fairly upbeat instrumental, but “Behind the Wall of Sleep” is where the words kick in.  It’s a pretty explicitly anti-drug song (“turns your body to a corpse”).  And I’m fairly certain there are two vocal tracks, one in each ear.  “Bassically” is the wild bass solo (again, taking away the dominance from the lead guitar). Which leads to “N.I.B”., one of the great, classic Sabbath songs.  An awesome bass riff that propels the song to its climax of “My name is Lucifer please take my hand.”  Although it also features a strangely plaintive refrain of “Your love for me has just got to be real.”

“Wicked World” comes in a little preachy and kind of out of place.  But mostly because it’s got a strangely jazzy feel. It’s not out of the ordinary in concept, it’s just a little less subtle than some of the other tracks.

“A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning” is the ending trio of tracks (14 minutes in all) that are really hard to distinguish.  “A Bit of Finger” is a very short acoustic guitar solo (I assume, I mean, the “Sleeping Village” lyrics kick in pretty quickly). But I love that there’s a Jew’s harp in the background.  Then there’s a crazily long guitar solo.  Or, should I say there are two guitar solos: a different one in each ear.  I think that the solo is part of “Warning” (it’s the same melody after all) but who can tell.  “Warning” is another fantastic Sabbath song.  The bass line is great and Ozzy sings one of his oddly plaintive songs of loss: (“the feelings were a little bit too strong”).  But the middle section is an astonishingly long guitar solo, or should I say solos. This solo even stops at one point and he comes out with a whole new melody/solo after that.  And then another solo.  Most of the soloing is in the right ear, which leaves the left ear struggling in vain to hear what’s going on (it’s fun to listen with just the left ear phone in).  With about a minute to go, the song proper returns.  It’s pretty bizarre.  And maybe that’s when Tony Iommi’s ego was placated.

Despite this being one of the first really heavy albums, it still retains a bluesy/jam feel to it.  The songs are long, there’s wild freewheeling guitar solos, and the sound itself isn’t a constant bludgeoning (like later heavy metal), it comes in bursts, which somehow makes it more ominous!

It’s really tremendous.

[READ: November 27, 2009] “Midnight in Dostoevsky”

Although I don’t know where this story is set exactly, I can totally picture the scene.  And I am superimposing it directly onto a location from where I went to college.  I realize that’s totally wrong, but I couldn’t resist.  This story had very weird overtones to me and actually inspired me to want to write a story that has apparently been percolating in my head for years.  We’ll see about that.

Anyhow, as for the story itself, I confirmed my suspicion that DeLillo doesn’t write short stories too often.  According to his Wikipedia site, he wrote one short story in 2002, another in 2007 and then this one.

DeLillo is a postmodern master, which leads one to think that his stories will be convoluted and difficult.  But this story is pretty straightforward.  Two college kids, walking around on a cold winter day spot an old man walking toward them.  They create a backstory for the man and, in the end, attempt to confirm or deny what they have concocted.  Fairly straightforward.

But as with any great story, the real action happens in the characters’ heads, or in this case, in the narrator’s mind and his spoken dialogue with his compatriot. (more…)

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Donald Barthelme–Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts (1968)

Posted in Books about writers, Boredom, Demons, Donald Barthelme, Funny (strange), Harper's, History, Kate Bush, Language, Marriage Trouble, Military, Neurotics, Political Humor, Short Story, Smarty Pants, War on December 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KATE BUSH-Aerial (2005).

This was Kate’s first release in 12 years!  There’s a part of me that would expect unparalleled genius to emerge from a 12 year hiatus, but realistically, what we get is a more mature and confident singer, and songs that sound very much like Kate Bush songs. There’s not a lot of experimentation, although there is a song cycle (two in fact) to hold the disc together.

The first disc (for there are two, totaling about 80 minutes) is listed as “A Sea of Honey”

It opens with “King of the Mountain” a great upbeat single.  Next is “Pi” a fascinating song in which Kate sings out the decimal places of Pi (3.14…).  It’s airy and ethereal, and pretty neat.  “Bertie” is an adorable ode to what I assume is her son. It’s a very sweet love song to a child.

“Mrs Bartolozzi” opens with a piano sequence that sounds very uncomfortably close to a Phil Collins.  And, later in the sings she sings a “sloshy sloshy” part which is pretty odd.  But despite all of this, the song is closest to the Kate of old.

“How to be Invisible” has some really cool choral effects (and is a very neat concept lyrically).  It also features a very nice guitar line that sneaks out of the musical tapestry from time to time.  “Joanni” rocks in Kate’s inimitable way (and it’s about Joan of Arc).  It has also got some fun and funny parts the reflect the Kate of old (screaming vocals way down in the mix and “Mmm Hmms” that are kind of silly).  The disc ends with the gorgeous ballad “A Coral Room.”

The second disc “A Sky of Honey” is more of a complete song cycle (It starts with a Prelude AND a Prologue).  There’s a couple of short songs (90 seconds each) thrown in the middle.  My favorite is the final track, “Aerial” which has a cool dance rhythm (that seems so unlike Kate) which propels the song almost magically.

Overall, this disc doesn’t overwhelm me as much as say Hounds of Love, but it’s a really solid disc and I’ve found myself listening to and enjoying it a lot over the last few weeks.  It’s nice to have Kate back.  I wonder how long it will be for her next disc.

[READ: November 27, 2009] Unspeakable Practices Unnatural Acts

After reading (the incomplete) “The Balloon” (see the post), I decided to give the entire collection a spin.  I didn’t really enjoy the short stories I had read in Harper’s, but I did enjoy “The Balloon,” so I thought it would be worth investigating Barthleme (a little) further.

This collection is a mix of utterly absurdist stories (many of which seem to have multiple vantage points that I found rather difficult to keep track of ).  One of the most noteworthy things about the collection is that it seems to me to be very topical circa 1968.  And I think I’m missing a lot of what is happening in the stories.   I’ll cite examples below, but oftentimes I assume that I’m just not getting something that I should be getting (more…)

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Steven Millhauser–“Mermaid Fever” (Harper’s, December 2009)

Posted in Harper's, Short Story, Steven Millhauser, Supernatural, The Cardigans on November 30, 2009| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE CARDIGANS-Best of (2008).

I’ve been a huge fan of the Cardigans since their first U.S. single “Carnival”.  I was living in Boston and I vividly remember the first time I heard it on the radio.  It was bubbly and treacly and then about halfway through it turned into something fantastic.

And that’s how I’ve felt about them ever since.  They obviously hit the big time with “Lovefool” and then became something of a one hit wonder band (in the US, although not in Europe).  Which is a shame because they’ve written some amazing songs.

I just learned about this Best of (not released in the US). It’s got 22 tracks on disc one including all of their international hits and a few surprises.  Disc Two features a ton of B-sides and other fun things.  I have a lot of these tracks from when I was a singles collector, but it’s a lot more fun to have them in one place.  And, I stopped collecting singles quite a few years ago, so it’s nice to have these newer B-side too.

But perhaps the most fun part of this collection is the liner notes.  You get a band’s eye view of all of the songs–where they recorded them, what worked and what didn’t and even what it’s like to have unexpected enormous success (for a short period of time).

I’ve seen the Cardigans live about three times.  Their live shows bring out a whole new layer that is not apparent on their discs (except for their Black Sabbath covers).  They can be a pretty heavy, rocking band.  On the last tour I saw, Nina came out in leather pants and they opened with a cover of “Iron Man.”  It was pretty intense.  Don’t judge by their adorable looks, they’re a solid band, and this is a great place to delve into more than the hit.

[READ: November 30, 2009] “Mermaid Fever”

This story has a fairly simple premise: a mermaid washes up dead on a beach.  The town where she was found claims her as their own.  They display her in a museum and everyone from miles around comes to see her.  Mermaid fever sweeps the town.

What was interesting about the story, beyond the supernatural premise, was the amount of detail Millhauser threw in.  Everyone is familiar with when some kind of fever sweeps a town, but with the mermaid, it took on far more unrealistic proportions.  Perfect for humor but also for the underlying message.  So, it was fun to see the way everyone started dressing like a mermaid: bathing suits that taper down like a tail. But it was also interesting to hear people complaining about how dehumanizing this new trend became. (more…)

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Periodical: Prospect (update)

Posted in Art, Books about music, Books about writers, Brian Wilson, Essays, History, Political Humor, Prospect, Racism, Research, Violence, War on November 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I received my second issue of Prospect magazine just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I’m pleased to say that this issue not only confirmed my suspicions of the magazine, it actually impressed me a little bit more.  And it sort of made me wish I had done something similar with all the magazines:  do a write up and then see how the latest issue compares (but I won’t).

I’m not going to go into extravagant detail with this issue, since I just wrote about the previous issue, but I wanted to mention the article that I was not only fascinated by, but that made me wonder why I had to cross the Atlantic to read about them. (more…)

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Periodical: McSweeney’s

Posted in A.M. Homes, Art, Books about music, Books about writers, BritLit, Consumerism, Contests, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Essays, Fables, Fantasy, Flash Fiction, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, Graustarkian Romance, Hollow Earth, Irish Writer, Joyce Carol Oates, Language, Legendary Saga, McSweeney's, Meta, Michael Chabon, Music, Postmoderism, Roddy Doyle, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Socratic Dialogue, Stephen King, Suicide, The Believer, The Collins Library, They Might Be Giants, Wholphin, Whore Dialogue, Word usage on November 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »

17Many many years ago, I discovered Might magazine.  It was a funny, silly magazine that spoofed everything (but had a serious backbone, too).  (You can order back issues here).  And so, I subscribed around issue 13.  When the magazine folded (with issue 16–and you can read a little bit about that in the intro to Shiny Adidas Track Suits) it somehow morphed into McSweeney‘s, and much of the creative team behind Might went with them.

The early volumes (1-5 are reviewed in these pages, and the rest will come one of these days) are a more literary enterprise than Might was.  There’s still a lot of the same humor (and a lot of silliness), but there are also lengthy non-fiction pieces.  The big difference is that McSweeney’s was bound as a softcover book rather than as a magazine. And, I guess technically it is called Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern as opposed to Timothy McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. (more…)

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JR Walsh–“An Insurrection” (Esquire, November 2009)

Posted in Boredom, Consumerism, Contests, Corporate skewering, Esquire, Kate Bush, Marriage Trouble, Short Story, Threats on November 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

esquireSOUNDTRACK: KATE BUSH-Aspects of the Sensual World (1989).

This was the first CD single that I can remember acquiring.  I got it from the radio station at school, and I felt like I was in on a big secret having all of these bonus tracks.

There are five songs on this disc.  The original “The Sensual World” and an instrumental version of the song.  The three bonus songs are pretty rocking songs that fit nicely with this era of Kate’s output.  “Be Kind to My Mistakes” sounds like it should be a sweet ballad, but no, it’s all percussion-heavy and fun.  And “I’m Still Waiting” is even more intense, with some of Kate’s over the top vocals added in.

The final track, “Ken” is the theme song to The Comic Strip Presents short film The GLC.  It’s a wonderful theme song, even if the film is a parody.  It’s got a singalong “da da da” chorus and fist pumping backing vocals and all sorts of fun things.  You can see the “preview” for the film along with Kate’s song, on YouTube.

This disc is something of a trifle compared to her full CDs, but it’s an easier way to get these tracks than buying This Woman’s Work!  When The Sensual World came out I assumed that Kate cut off all her hair (judging by the cover), but this cover belies that.  I wonder which one is a wig.

[READ: November 13, 2009] “An Insurrection”

This story won the Esquire fiction contest.  I fully intended to submit a story to this contest, but, well, I forgot.  I didn’t write a word for it (although I did spend a few days thinking about what I would write about).  If I had won the contest, I would of course have wanted people to read my story, so I felt it was the least I could do to read the winner’s story.

And I’m a little mixed about it.

I’m not at all certain why there was such emphasis placed on the fact that it was a post- 9/11 scenario.  The jokes about cashing in on people’s insecurities about terrorism were fine but it didn’t really warrant all of the set up about when the story took place. (more…)

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Steven Heighton–“Noughts and Crosses: An unsent reply” (The Walrus, November 2009)

Posted in Canadian Content, Kate Bush, Language, Marriage Trouble, Meta, Romance, Short Story, Steven Heighton, The Walrus on November 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:KATE BUSH-The Sensual World (2009).

It was three years between The Dreaming and Hounds of Love.  And this time it took four years for The Sensual World to come out.  This was the first Kate disc that I bought as it came out.  And I was such a huge fan of Hounds, that I was really quite excited about this release.

Kate has always been fairly forthcoming about sex/sensuality on her songs (even if it was metaphorical, the metaphors weren’t really labored).  So, the fact that she’s putting it all out there is not much of a surprise.  And yet, to me this seems like a much more explicit work than her earlier ones  (an older songwriter perhaps?).

The other thing that strikes me about the album is just how accessible it is.  Unlike her previous discs which featured flourishes and howls, headphone tricks and other show offy tactics (which I totally love), this disc comes across as a songwriter who is more confident in her songs so she doesn’t have to put frills on them.

I have a fndeness for this disc because it was the first one I bought as a fan, but I don’t listen to it all that much.  When I played it again, I had forgotten how much I liked it.  And, yes, I miss all the tricks and cool studio fun on this disc, but the songwriting makes up for it.

The opener “The Sensual World” is, yes, a very sensual song (with the “Mmmmmyessses” every line or so).  The second track, “Love and Anger” is a great, freewheeling Kate track.  The younger Kate would have had crazy wild fun with it, but the more mature Kate plays it fairly straight.  And it really showcases what a great song it is.

As “The Fog” opens, she says, “I’m all grown up now” (and there’s no headphone tricks accompanying it).  That seems to be a statement about the disc itself.  But, just so you know it’s npt a totally safe disc, “The Fog” has a wonderful otherworldly violin running through it.

The one thing that stand out on the disc, though is how rocking it is (relative to Kate, of course).   The guitars on about half of the songs quite loud and raucous.  And Kate is clearly having a lot of fun with the songs.

But there are some mellow songs as well.  “Reaching Out” begins as a delicate piano ballad (although it is full of some wild ethereal backing vocals) but it also builds to a louder chorus and finish.  “Deeper Understanding” is an interesting song in which she sings about a computer (which I thought would sound really dated twenty years later but which doesn’t).

“Never BE Mine” sounds like Kate of old (ah, fretless bass).  While “Rocket’s Tail” showcases the gorgeous sounds of the Bulgarian Choir, who would assist her on many future tracks as well.  The choir seems to take on a lot of the strange vocals that Kate herself used to perform. But they have an oddness of inflection that makes it sound otherworldly.  It also has the unmistakable sounds of a David Gilmour guitar solo.

The highlight has to be “This Woman’s Work.”  When all is said and done, Kate’s voice is what any fan comes back for.  This song is a simple piano based ballad.  Kate’s voice is clean and pure and rather magical.  And the emotional release as the song nears its end is phenomenal.

The Sensual World is an overlooked disc (its regular price on Amazon is $7).  And while it doesn’t have all of the flair and magic of Kate at her wildest records, the stripped down version of Kate is pretty wonderful too.

[READ: November 15, 2009] “Noughts and Crosses”

It took me a few paragraphs to realize what was going on in this story and then I liked it even more.

The story opens with an email.  Several of the words are in bold.  The email, from j to n, is a break-up letter.  It’s sort of generic and doesn’t really reveal all that much.  But the rest of the story is a reply to each of the bolded words of the email.

As n replies (presumably in her head, although it could also be written even if it is never sent) we learn more and more about the two of them and their relationship. The parties involved, the promises told and the little giveaways that show that the relationship was over long before this email (a breakup by email!) was sent. (more…)

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