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Archive for the ‘Magazines’ Category

Salman Rushdie–“The Shelter of the World” (New Yorker, February 25, 2008)

Posted in Gruff Rhys, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Salman Rushdie, Short Story, Super Furry Animals, Supernatural on March 15, 2008| Leave a Comment »

tomine.jpgSOUNDTRACK: GRUFF RHYS-Candylion (2006).

candy1.jpgI’ve mentioned before that I really like Super Furry Animals. This is the lead singer’s solo album. It sounds very similar to an SFA album, although it’s a little less bizarre, a little less indulgent (which somehow seems odd for a solo album, but whatever.) Overall, it sounds somewhat more mellow, but it’s not exactly a mellow affair. The title song is a pretty little ballad. However, the album also has some great, if not rocking, then certainly rollicking songs that are great to sing along to like “Cycle of Violence” and “Now That the Feeling is Gone.” There’s lots of la la’s and Whooos! to add to the exictemnet.

And, even better, there are two songs in Welsh: “Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru” (that’s most of the lyrics, and it means “Drive”) and “Ffwydruad yn y Ffurfafen” which is just fun to imagine how to pronoucet. So, overall it sounds not unlike any other SFA album,

There is one thing though, the last song is a near 15 minute epic story called “Skylon!” It tells the tale of a mundane flight that turns into a near plane crash. There’s an actress on board as well and a bomb, and, well frankly, between Gruff’s accent and the meandering nature of the song, I’m not exactly sure what’s happening. And yet I like and learn more of the song with each listen.

I accept that this record will never be a big seller, except maybe in Wales, but you can do your part by ordering it and enjoying all of the coolness that is Gruff.

[READ: Feb 29, 2008] “The Shelter of the World.”

When the Satantic Verses came out, I was in college, and was somewhat friendly with an Indian guy (who two years later turned out to be the best friend of my then roommate…small world? Nope, small campus.) Anyhow I was talking to him about the hoopla and the fatwa and, he, very smugly, I felt, told me that I would never understand the book because it was very Indian, and an American like myself simply couldn’t get what was going on. I was rather offended by this, (and I’m sure I remember it being much more insulting than it actually was). But, when I finally read the Satanic Verses a few years after that, it turns out he was completely right. I had no idea what was going on in that book. And even though I may someday try again, I’m still pretty sure I won’t get it. That didn’t stop me from reading and enjoying Rushdie’s other books. However, I haven’t read much by him lately. So, when I saw this story in the New Yorker I thought I’d give it a go. (more…)

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Tom Perrotta–The Abstinence Teacher (2007)

Posted in Election, Guns n' Roses, Marriage Trouble, Nick Hornby, Pearl Jam, Politicians, Religion, Set at School, Set in New Jersey!, Singles, The Believer, Tom Perotta, Tom Petty on January 23, 2008| Leave a Comment »

abstinence.jpgSOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Live at the Gorge 05/06 (2007).

gorge.jpgPROLOGUE: When Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction came out, it galvanized the three friends I had with the most disparate musical tastes. I knew an indie rock guy, a metalhead, and an industrial/goth guy, and all three of them loved Appetite for Destruction. It was the only record that they all agreed on. I thought the same would happen with Pearl Jam’s Ten. But, the goth guy didn’t think it was dark and sleazy enough (like GnR) and the indie guy found it too commercial. And, actually, I only talk to one of the three of them these days anyhow.

I’m usually pretty cynical about celebrities. And, I know well enough that rock stars who say “We love you” and “Hello, Cleveland” are, at best, pandering to us. And yet, there are some who seem sincere enough to be believed.

Eddie Vedder is one of those sincere fellows. Ever since Pearl Jam took on Ticketmaster, they seemed to be using their fame and influence for the good of the common man (or at least the common fan). Since then they have donated to various charities, thrown their support behind a (in hindsight, bad) politician (Ralph Nader, a guy whose idealism I supported, but whose reality was less than ideal), and tried their best to muckrake against the current administration. So, when he thanks the audience for letting him share music with them, when he says he’s genuinely glad to be there, and when he acts moved by the show, it all seems genuine. Again, maybe he’s a good actor (although I just watched Singles, for the first time in many years, and Eddie and some of the other PJ guys are in it, and he’s not exactly a scene stealer) but I believe him.

This is all a long set-up to review this recent live collection. It’s a collection of three shows: one set is 3 CDs the other two are 2 CDs each. The first show is from 2005 and the second and third are their tour-ending shows of 2006. All of these shows were performed at The Gorge amphitheater outside of Seattle. From the talking that Eddie does, the Gorge sounds like a great place to see a show, and it sounds like there is camping on the grounds. I only wish they included photos of the show, as I’d love to see it.

The 2005 show starts out with a disc of acoustic songs. The band appears to be in unplugged mode, chilling out before letting ‘er rip in the second half of the show. As with most of their shows, the set list is long and varied. Their shows often clock in at over two hours, with a break at about the midway point. There is a decent selection of tracks from throughout their career, as well as a couple of covers. The notable aspect of this show is that Tom Petty is performing on the following night, and Vedder vows to keep him awake all night. He gets the crowd to chant “Hello Tom, Come down, Tom,” which, sadly Tom never does. But Vedder does a rendition of “I Won’t Back Down.”

The two 2006 shows are back to back two nights in a row. It sounds as if people camped out overnight. And there is some good-natured banter between Vedder and the crowd. What is especially interesting to me about this two-night event is that they play 61 songs over the course of the two nights and the only ones they repeat are “Alive,” “Corduroy,” “Even Flow,” “Given to Fly,” “Life Wasted,” “Severed Hand,” “World Wide Suicide,” and “Yellow Ledbetter.” It’s quite apparent that the band knew there would be lots of folks for both shows and they designed a nicely diverse set list for both nights.

There’s also an interesting shout out to the previous year’s show. On the last night he mentions the Tom Petty taunting from last year, and a large portion of the audience begins the “Hello, Tom. Come down, Tom.” chant.

If you’ve been a big fan of Pearl Jam (as I am) you probably have this. But if you’ve been a mild fan of Pearl Jam over the years, this is a great set to get. You’ll get all of the hits, you’ll get a bunch of songs you’re unfamiliar with, and you’ll get a band playing at its peak. The live renditions of their songs are typically fast and furious. There’s also a lot of room for improvisation. And, it’s a chance to see the lighter side of such a “serious” band. A lot of people used to like Pearl Jam but feel their works since Ten have gone steadily downhill. I disagree, but I think that’s because listening to the live versions of the songs makes you appreciate them even more. So, check it out, it’s well worth it.

[READ: January 8, 2008] The Abstinence Teacher.

My first book finished in 2008! And, I can only hope that this is a good portent for future books this year. Wow, this book was great!

(more…)

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Mark Dunn–Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable (2001)

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Dystopia, Epistolary Novel, Guns n' Roses, Lipogram, Mark Dunn, Oulipo, Pangram, Short Books, Wired on December 28, 2007| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-Barenaked Ladies Are Me (2006) & Barenaked Ladies Are Men (2007).

Barenaked Ladies decided to forgo a major label altogether and just use Nettwerk as a distributor. They called their own self publishing “label” Desperation Records. [There was a fascinating article in Wired way back when this was happening, which made me want to get their CD, and it’s still online here.] The details are sketchy to me now, but it seemed like they thought they could make it on their own, and Nettwerk seemed pretty innovative as well. So, they released two albums in the span of about five months, and the results are below.

areme.jpgBarenaked Ladies Are Me. As I said, I was excited that BNL were basically doing the whole thing themselves, and wouldn’t have any label pressure to release the next big thing. So, I was a bit disappointed at first that the album stayed in the same “mature” vein as Everything to Everyone. There’s nothing crazily exciting on the CD except for the last song “Wind It Up,” which is the rockingest thing they’ve done in years.

The one song that really stuck out for me though, was “Bank Job” a really catchy Ed Robertson sung song about, of all things, a botched bank job.  It is funny without being silly, and it is so catchy! The song gets stuck in my head for days and days.

As for the rest of the record, once I started listening a few times, and now having listened to it again for the first time in a while, it’s a very solid outing. Again, “Bank Job” and “Wind It Up” are the two tracks that really stand out, but the rest are solid, well-crafted songs. And, here I pay my respects to Kevin Hearn and Jim Creeggan. Usually I don’t enjoy their songs as much, but (and maybe it’s because they don’t sing them themselves) “Sound of Your Voice” is an up tempo singalong, “Everything Had Changed” is a pretty, mellow ballad, and “Peterborough and the Kawarthas” is a pretty, slow song, that really gets into your brain. These are real highlights of the record. Oh and what is Peterborough and the Kawarthas? Why not see for yourself.

So, I give the BNL Are Me a big thumbs up.

aremen.jpgBarenaked Ladies Are Men. Five months after Are Me, came this follow up. The packaging and styling of the disc is very similar to the other one (as you can see by the covers). I wasn’t even sure that it was a new record. Well, it turns out that these are more songs from the same recording session. And, rather than releasing a double album, they did a Use Your Illusion I and II type of thing (there, how many reviews of BNL refer to GNR?)

The problem, such as it is, is twofold: there are really too many songs on this record. Are Me had 13, and this one has 16, which may just be 3 too many. The other is that several of the songs sound like other songs, both from Are Me and from Are Men. There are at least two songs that start out with the same vocal melody line as “Bank Job,” and they’re both sung by Ed Robertson. And the very first song, “Serendipity” sounds an awful lot like one of the songs on Are Me. Fortunately, the songs are catchy, and removed from Are Me, Are Men is probably just as strong a collection. But really 29 songs is a bit much.

The allmusic review suggests that this one is a bit more rocking and diverse than Are Me, and that’s true. The first 8 or 9 songs show a nice breadth of style and feeling. I still think the record runs a bit too long, but overall these two records together are a very good sign of future things from BNL.

And good luck to them and their Desperation “label.”

[READ: December 27, 2007] Ella Minnow Pea.

Sarah read this book over the summer, I think. I sounded great, so I put it in my Amazon “order later” cart, and promptly forgot about it. (This was before I used any kind of reasonable system for keeping track of books). Anyhow, I stumbled upon it while placing holiday orders, and decided to check it out. And, hurrah, our library had it! (more…)

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Lawrence Weschler–Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences (2006)

Posted in Consumerism, Dystopia, Funny (strange), Lawrence Weschler, McSweeney's, New Yorker, Paul Quarrington, Rheostatics, Technology on December 8, 2007| 5 Comments »

everything.jpgSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Whale Music [Soundtrack] (1994) & Music Inspired by the Group of 7 (1995).

As I understand it, The Rheostatics read a great book by Paul Quarrington called Whale Music whalebook.jpg and then decided to name their new album Whale Music. (The follow up to Melville…they definitely have a nautical theme in their early records). Their awesome song “Claire,” is co-written by Quarrinton (I think some of the lyrics for the song were in the book). So, a few years go by, and a movie is made of Whale Music (which is basically a fictionalized story of a Brian Wilson-esque musical genius-recluse).

Obviously, “Claire” is going to be in the movie (there’s a character named Clarie, you see), so why not just have the Rheos do the entire soundtrack? Thus, the Rheos now have TWO records called Whale Music. Fascinating, no?

whale.jpgWhale Music [Soundtrack] (1994)
The soundtrack is very soundtracky–largely instrumental mood pieces, and two slightly different takes on ‘Claire’. Overall while it’s really dynamite to listen to, especially while reading, it’s really for Rheos diehards. (more…)

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Roddy Doyle–“The Dog” (New Yorker, November 5, 2007)

Posted in Foreign Books, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Roddy Doyle, Short Story, The Go! Team on November 7, 2007| Leave a Comment »

ny115.jpgSOUNDTRACK: THE GO! TEAM-Thunder, Lightning , Strike (2004).

goteam.jpgThe Go! Team have a new album out and so I dug out their first to see if I liked it enough to check out the new one. This first one is such a weird album. It feels intensely like what I would call a joke album. There are cheesy horns, crazy samples of cheerleaders cheering, and hooks hooks hooks! It all sounds like the soundtrack to the best 70s action TV show that never existed. And yet the whole thing works so well. It is just so damned catchy. I listened to it about 3 times today and never got sick of it.

I can’t really imagine how you would follow it up…more of the same would be lame, but where could you possibly go from there? I’ll definitely be looking into it.

[READ: November 5, 2007] “The Dog.”

My initial exposure to Roddy Doyle was through his early, funny stories (Woody Allen shout out, there). And as he continues writing, his stories get darker and darker. Not mean spirited or sadistic, just kind of sad and fate-filled. While I do miss the funny Roddy, this newer side writes so precisely and so beautifully that it’s hard to complain. (more…)

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Paul Theroux–“Mr Bones” (New Yorker, September 17, 2007)

Posted in Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Paul Theroux, Short Story, Swans on November 6, 2007| Leave a Comment »

ny917.jpgSOUNDTRACK: SWANS-Omniscience (1992).

swans.jpgWhen I was in college, I really liked the Swans. They were noisy as all get out, and were at the forefront of an industrial style that has since become mainstream. But at the time they were pretty scary.

I particularly liked Children of God, a great album split between noisy M. Gira songs and pretty, soft Jarboe songs. Shortly after this record they released a very soft record called The Burning World with a totally mellow cover of “Can’t Find My Way Home.”

I had sort of stopped listening to them sometime after college, and then my friend Lar got into them and found out that I had a bunch of their older, then out-of-print, records, so we started sharing them. I got back into them and was able to fill out my collection of Swans works, all except Omniscience. He made me a copy of it and I liked it, and I just found a used one for myself.

Omniscience is a live record which came towards the end of their career. And the amazing thing is how beautiful the record is, for the most part. There are still some noisy, bass-heavy parts, but Swans had changed so drastically from the noisy band of yore that Omniscience is practically atmospheric in feel.  There are some interesting samples of dialogue that are simply weird and arbitrary, but they do set a mood for the show.  But compared to say, Public Castration is a Good Idea, it’s soothing.

[READ: October 15, 2007] “Mr. Bones.”

This is the second story by Theroux that I have read. (The first one was in the New Yorker a few months ago, and is being released in a new collection of his shortly). I’d heard the name of Theroux over and over, but wasn’t really familiar with his work. The other story was set in India, as I’m led to believe much of his stuff is. So, this one came as quite a surprise. (more…)

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Benjamin Percy–“So Far from Anything” (Esquire, Oct 2007)

Posted in Adventure, Benjamin Percy, Esquire, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Short Story, The Cars on October 11, 2007| Leave a Comment »

esquire.jpgSOUNDTRACK: THE CARS-Greatest Hits (2002).

cars.jpgFor the longest time I didn’t like The Cars. I got really sick of them, especially around the time of “You Might Think.” I guess I was watching a lot of MTV, because I just couldn’t seem to get Rik Ocasek’s face out of my head (your sympathy is appreciated). Anyhow, Sarah had said something about getting their Greatest Hits; so we did. And I’m glad.

The first ten or so songs on this thing are really great, it’s practically their entire first album, and it’s a bounty of new-wave delights from just before they got really commercial. Of course, the commercial songs are also here, but after all of these years, the commercial songs sound pretty good too. For me the best thing about the record is that it conatins “Moving in Stereo” the song that will make any red blooded young lad of around my age immediately envision Phoebe Cates climbing out of a swimming pool and…. Doesn’t anybody fucking knock anymore?

[READ: October 10, 2007] “So Far from Anything.”

This story has a gimmick. Although it is a publishing gimmick and not a story gimmick. The gimmick according to Esquire is this: The story is such a page turner, that we are going to print it along the bottom of every page of the magazine (about fifteen words per page). (more…)

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Alice Munro–“Fiction” (Harper’s, August 2007)

Posted in Alice Munro, Antony and the Johnsons, Bjork, Canadian Content, Digression, Harper's, Marriage Trouble, Short Story, The Sugarcubes on September 17, 2007| Leave a Comment »

harpers.gifSOUNDTRACK: BJORK-Volta (2007).

volta.jpgOkay, so Bjork is from Mars. Volta is her newest album. I’ve been a fan of Bjork since the Sugarcubes, way back when. I’ve also really enjoyed her solo recordings. I used to get all of her singles and videos and things, but in recent years she seems to have released a new full length reissue of a concert or remastered disc on a monthly basis. So, I had to go cold turkey.

Then Volta came out. I saw a live performance of two of the songs on Saturday Night Live, and they were pretty different, even for her. It seems like Bjork has had a unifying sound on each of the last few albums. On Volta, it is a horn section. This is a more organic sound than some of her recent electronic releases. And, overall, I find that it doesn’t work all that well for her.

Bjork’s voice is, and I mean no disrespect because I love her voice, but it has many similar qualities to a horn. It is loud, she can hold notes for a long time, and it can often be quite brash. And, she is an alto, which many of the horns are too. So, I find that her voice blends in too much with the music. Whereas on previous records, her voice really stood out. There’s a similar problem in the duet with the ubiquitous Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons). Their voices are so similar, that any sense of conflict or drama is really lost. (I’m not mocking Antony’s voice. It is quite sublime on his own records, but I feel that it doesn’t do much for “Dull Flame of Desire,” even though the song itself is great.)

(more…)

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Jancee Dunn–But Enough About Me: How a Small-Town Girl Went from Shag Carpet to the Red Carpet OR But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl’s Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous [prepub] (2006)

Posted in Essays, Jancee Dunn, Memoirs, Rolling Stone, Rush, Set in New Jersey!, Team America: World Police on September 10, 2007| Leave a Comment »

but-enough.jpgSOUNDTRACK: RUSH-Snakes and Arrows (2007).

snakes.jpg

I’ve been a Rush fan since Moving Pictures, back in 1980. Some of my 8th grade classmates had made a parody of the song “Tom Sawyer” called “Father Sawyer,” (hilarious Catholic school humor!) and I thought it was funny, and that’s how I learned about Rush. In high school, my best friend was a big Rush fan as well; and then in college, my best friend and eventual roommate was a huge Rush fan too. After college, there was no one for me to hang out and talk Rush with (aside from these old friends, of course, but I wasn’t seeing them every day anymore), so I still bought the albums, but I wasn’t quite the maniac I was back in the day.

Rush went on hiatus for a few years. They came back with the fabulous, rocking Vapor Trails, and followed that up with an excellent concert tour. They seemed revitalized. And their latest, Snakes and Arrows, continues in this strong, rocking format. (more…)

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George Saunders–In Persuasion Nation (2006)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dystopia, Esquire, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, Harper's, Luther Wright & The Wrongs, McSweeney's, New Yorker, Pink Floyd, Robson Arms, Sarah Harmer on August 31, 2007| 1 Comment »

persuasion.jpgSOUNDTRACK: LUTHER WRIGHT AND THE WRONGS-Rebuild the Wall (2001).

wright.jpgI first heard Luther Wright on an episode of Robson Arms, a weird, funny show on CTV in Canada. They were playing “Broken Fucking Heart” a fabulous country-punk song. So, I had to find out more about this guy, and it turns out he did a country-punk, but mostly country, version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. It was with much trepidation that I dared into this most unusual of covers, because I don’t really care for country, particularly, shudder, new country. But, wow am I glad I did.

It’s hard to know even where to start, but it is amazing how well the songs translate into a country motif. I’ve loved Pink Floyd’s The Wall ever since it came out. I have very fond memories of reading the lyrics on the record sleeve when I bought it back in 1979, sitting in the back of my mom’s car as she drove myself and my aunt back from the mall. And, I have a fond memory of the resurgence that it had for me in college when evidently every angsty boy in my dorm felt the need to play it ritually.

I was prepared for the worst, but I never had any regrets of this cover version. I’ve even played it to friends who’ve thought it was really good as well. It all sounds like a joke, but the musicianship is top-notch (Sarah Harmer is back with great backing vocals), and the appreciation of the original is evident from the start. I encourage you to track down this album if you like the original. Give Luther some of your cash!

[READ: August 20, 2007] In Persuasion Nation.

This completes my recent spate of books that I read about somewhere, and can’t remember where. I maintain that it was in The Week by a former Simpsons’ writer, but I have to wait about a month before that issue gets online so I can confirm it (boo!). At any rate, I was led to believe that this was going to be a book of funny essays. And, well, it’s not. It skewers contemporary society, and it has moments that are definitely funny in a hmmmm, sort of way, but laugh-out-loud funny this is not. (more…)

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