SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 7: J’accuse Ted Hughes/Agnès B Musique (2008).
The first side of the disc (for it was only released on vinyl) is a ballsy blast of music. Ballsy because it was the opening track of their live set at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2000. And who opens up their set at a festival that features bands like Super Furry Animals, Sigur Rós, and Stereolab (basically a who’s who in awesome Brit-rock) with this 22 minute shriek of noise?
The set was so derisively received that the cover of the NME (hilariously reproduced on the cover of the LP) stated “Goodbye 20th Century, Goodbye Talent.”
The noise is palpable: squeals and squalls and all manner of feedback. Kim even gets a strange little spoken word section in the middle. I would think fans might have enjoyed it for 5, maybe even 10 minutes, but by 23 it’s pretty numbing. The rest of the set included instrumentals from the not yet released NYC Ghosts and Flowers. It almost seems like the set was payback for the invitation.
The B-side is an 18 minute “soundtrack” of sorts. Agnes B. is a French clothing designer and yet somehow the music feels like it could be for some scary kids’ movie. It has a number of creepy elements to it. I kept picturing people sneaking around a little cottage.
The liner notes are written in Arpitan, a steadily-declining-in-use language spoken mostly in Italy and Switzerland.
Not for the faint of heart (or the vinylphobic).
[READ: August 31, 2009] Four Letter Word
I read about this book in The Walrus and then I ordered it from Amazon.ca as it doesn’t seem to be available in the US.
The book is a collection of “love letters.” What is so very interesting about the collection is the varied nature of the letters themselves. It’s not just: “I love you XOXO” (of course). There are letters to mothers, stepmothers, mountains, and the Earth itself. There are letters of love, lust, anger and respect.
I was most attracted to the book by the great list of authors, some of whom I read religiously and many others whom I just really like (and of course a bunch who I’ve never heard of).
It’s hard to review a collection of short stories that is as varied as this, especially when the pieces are this short (as most of them are). And, I guess technically, they aren’t even short stories. They are just letters. I would never base my opinion of these authors from this work. Although some of the authors that I know well definitely retain their signature style. There were only one or two letters that I didn’t enjoy, but for the most part the entire collection is very good. And if you like any of these authors, it’s worth checking out.
I’m going to list all of the authors, mention who the letter is to, and any other salient features (without trying to give anything away–several letters have a surprise in them)! (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: GARBAGE-Garbage (1995).
I was thinking about how IJ reminds me so specifically of a place and time (I instantly think of the apartment I was in when I started reading it). And there are also some discs that I was crazy about at the time too.
It is incredible serendipity that I did the JOI filmography during this week as this week’s readings actually count on knowing a bit about it. And since I had just reevaluated it, I was aware of a thing or two during Hal’s viewing scene.
Week 10 starts off seeming like a lot of nothing is happening. There’s a few post-Event scenarios. Until we get to November 14th, and a whole lot goes on. A whole lot! 
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century (1999). 
This SYR recording consists of Sonic Youth’s interpretations of 20th century composers’ works. Some of the composers are obscure, but a few are more or less household names: John Cage, Yoko Ono, maybe Steve Reich. I knew a few of these composers from Kronos Quartet, but for the most part the pieces are all new to me. Since I don’t know the original pieces I have no idea how faithful they are.
It took me going to Seattle to learn about 
ten. For reasons known only to my head, I was convinced that Sasha was a black woman. Little did I realize that he is not. And that he was in a band that I have a CD of called Ui. He is an excellent resource for all things music, whether I like the artist he’s talking about or not. Some entries are 
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star (1994).
“Bull in the Heather” is one of my favorite Sonic Youth songs. I love everything about it (even if I haven’t got a clue what it’s about): the simple opening, the switch to harmonics, and, my favorite part, the drum break that leads to the chorus (who ever heard of getting a drum break stuck in your head?).
every IJ book jacket/promotional material designed in a sort of cloud motif. Well, in the section we lean that Uncle Charles’ office is decked out in an unsettling cloud wallpaper (which is coincidentally the same wallpaper as Hal’s dentist). It has only appeared briefly so far, so it seems odd that it would take on such an iconic feel. But we’ll see if it comes back.
SOUNDTRACK: RALPH’S WORLD-Peggy’s Pie Parlor (2003).
When my son Clark was born, Sarah and I made a conscious effort to find music for him (really for us) that wasn’t, well, Raffi. Not that there’s anything wrong with Raffi per se, but well, he’s kind of annoying.
After 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.
SOUNDTRACK–THE REPLACEMENTS–All Shook Down (1990).
And here we come to the end of the recorded history of the Replacements. 7 albums (and an EP). 4 and a half hours of recorded music. And a steady maturation from drunken punks to elder statesmen. Or really statesman (Paul Westerberg at the ripe old age of 31!). All of the reviews state that this was originally designed as a Westerberg solo album, and that the band barely played together on it at all. And it shows.
SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Pleased to Meet Me (1987).
My 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!)
SOUNDTRACK: CONSTANTINES-Kensington Heights (2008).
The Constantines hail from Guelph, Ontario. And I’m mostly pointing that out because I wanted to write the word Guelph. While I know there are funny sounding or fun to say towns in America, I’m quite fond of many of the Canadian ones: Guelph, Moose Jaw, Regina.
I Just Read About That... 