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Archive for the ‘McSweeney’s’ Category

Rebecca Lindenberg–Love, An Index (2012)

Posted in Alice Cooper, All Songs Considered, Craig Arnold, Death, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), House of Love, Kurt Vile, McSweeney's, Meat Puppets, Neil Young, Poetry, Rebecca Lindenberg, Short Books on April 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

loveindeSOUNDTRACK: KURT VILE-“Wakin on a Pretty Day” (2013).

Kurt Vile_CVR-31981badf76ce6680de293138b7fbf1807fe323f-s1I don’t really know that much about Kurt Vile.  I’ve been hearing about him for a while. I assumed his name was a kind of joke–like he was a comical metal guy, maybe like Alice Cooper.   That appears to be far from the truth.  I also wasn’t sure if he was well-known outside of the Philly area, but I do know that NPR has championed him for a while.

Well, he has a new album out and since NPR was streaming it, what better time to hear what the long- haired dude is all about.

There is much talk bout his voice (NPR says: There’s something about Kurt Vile’s voice that transcends whatever comes out of his mouth.).  But the whole time I listened to this song (which was a while, as it is over 9 minutes long), I kept thinking that he sounds just like the guy from House of Love, an underrated band here in the States. (He sounds even more like him in Kv Crimes”) It’s not necessarily a bad thing to sound like someone else (often times it can’t be helped I suppose), but it is a little distracting to me.

So this song is kind of groovy.  I like it musically more than vocally (there’s so many “Yeah…yeah yeah yeahs” that I lost the point of the song).  But the music is really good, including Vile’s lengthy guitar solos.  Interestingly, I was kind of bored by the song after about 45 seconds, but by 8 minutes I was really grooving it.  Subsequent listens have made me like it more, it has a kind of Neil Young or maybe Meat Puppets vibe.

My head says there’s really nothing special about this guy and yet after more and more listens, there’s something that draws me to him.  Weird.

[READ: April 2, 2013] Love, An Index

The back of Lindenberg’s book explains that the man she loved, poet Craig Arnold, disappeared in a volcano while traveling in Japan.  For such a very specific kind of event, I don’t think I would have gotten anything quite like that from these poems.  Indeed, for a book that is so specifically created about this man, there’s very little sense of the exact nature of the loss.  In some ways that’s good, it could have been a very maudlin, ungraceful collection of poems if she explicitly talked about volcanoes, but at the same time, the feeling of loss that comes across is less about death and more about abandonment (I would have presumed that the guy had left her).

I really enjoyed these poems even though I have a  really hard time accepting the bulk of these, in particular the thirty-four page title poem, as poetry.

“Love, An Index” is thirty-four pages and it is an index.  Literally, she lists words alphabetically and writes a little “definition” for each one.  There are arbitrary line breaks in the definitions but in no way does it feel like a poem.  Even the individual entries are not very poetic.  Like “Compromise, I will get up early with you/so long as you’ve made coffee.”  Okay, so that’s funny/sweet, but it’s not a poem.  But then what it is?  Yes, it is part of a greater whole and removing part of it diminishes that whole.  But again, what is the whole?  Genre defying I suppose.  Which is cool.  And despite my criticism, I really enjoyed this index.  There were personal notes that I would have no idea about, there were commonplace ideas that are familiar to all.  There’s also a ton of quotes from other poets.  And it all works together to create a beautiful portrait of a relationship. (more…)

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Allan Peterson–Fragile Acts (2012)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Allan Peterson, Atoms for Peace, Flea, McSweeney's, Poetry, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Short Books, Thom Yorke on April 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

fragile SOUNDTRACK: ATOMS FOR PEACE-“What the Eyeballs Did” (2013)

afpThis is a secret track that you can download from the Atoms for Peace website (well some people can, I don’t seem to be able to) or you can listen to it on NPR.

Atoms for Peace is Thom York’s band (with Flea from RHCP on bass). This song sounds a lot like Radiohead.  So much so that it could easily be a Radiohead song (one of those newer more electronic ones).  The bass is cool and while Flea does a great job playing it, it sees like it should be a little dull for him to play a rather repetitive bit over and over.

And yet the song works very well in the electronic, claustrophobic way that Yorke has.

I love just about anything that Yorke and Co do, and I like this as well, it just doesn’t seem all that much different–why not use Flea for all of his manic intensity?

[READ: April 1, 2013] Fragile Acts

After yesterday’s poetry book, I wasn’t quite prepared for this one.  Zubair Ahmed is a young writer (a wunderkind as he is described).  Allan Peterson is a much older writer.  He is retired and has clearly had a lot more experiences from which to draw.  I also found his poems to be much more profound and lyrical, much more beautiful and evocative.

Yes, it could be because his poems are longer (that’s a terrible quality to judge a poem by, and it’s certainly not always true, but those shorty ones do tend to lack a bit of substance).  Of course, the poems that were really long (he had three that were multi-part and multi-page) didn’t hold together all that well for me.  So length doesn’t have much to do with it.

Many of these poems were amazing and they really reminded me of what good poetry can do.  Poetry that is not just a sentence with line breaks, poetry that doesn’t call out to be read in a sing-song voice.  To the point: poetry that sings on its own. (more…)

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Zubair Ahmed–City of Rivers (2012)

Posted in Death, John Keats, McSweeney's, Poetry, Poets, Short Books, Sigur Rós, Zubair Ahmed on April 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

cityofrivers_cover_FINALstickerSOUNDTRACK: SIGUR RÓS-“Brennisteinn” (2013).

Wsigurhat is that sound?  Low end electronic…noise?  Coming from a Sigur Rós song?  Typically you get a band in the ether, but here’s the band with loud pounding drums and almost glitchy music.  Of course, Jonsi’s voice tells you you’ve got Sigur Rós.  And yet, he’s not singing in his otherworldly falsetto–it seems like an almost human voice.

There’s a very distinctive chorus which is actually catchy in an almost poppy way.  And then, after four minutes, the Sigur Rós of old comes in–Jonsi’s voice soars, and the music reaches for the heavens (but with drums and some crazy sound effects) added in.

And then it grows haunting as the song slows down and distant horns come swelling in, keeping that soundtrack feel that the band does so well.  The video is creepy/cool interspersed with the band playing live.  I love watching them make the sounds they make (there’s a bowed guitar at some point).  I really like this a lot, and can’t wait for the rest of the album.

[READ: March 30, 2013] City of Rivers

I have said before that I don’t really like poetry.  It makes me feel stupid.  This is mostly because I have taken poetry classes and I know what good poetry should be, and yet I see so much poetry published which I think is not very good.  And yet, if it has been published, doesn’t that mean it’s good?  Have I missed something?

I’m not a total old school poetry boor, I don’t need my poetry to be in iambic pentameter, nor does it even need to rhyme, and yet sometimes a lot of contemporary poetry seems like a sentence, not really a poem.  I also suspect that the ascendance of flash fiction has made the ascendance of this flash poetry acceptable too.  Don’t get me wrong, I know a haiku is short as well, but there are lots of constrictions to haiku, whereas some free verse short poems really lack in the substance department.

I am also nonobjective about poetry because of all of the poetry slams that I have witnessed in college and since, in which basically anything is  poem if you e-nun-ci-ate it interestingly (something I doubt Keats was doing).

In an attempt to appreciate new poetry more, I decided to get a few books from the McSweeney’s poetry series. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #14: Timothy McSweeney’s at War for the Forseeable Future and He’s Never Been So Scared (Early Fall 2004)

Posted in A.G. Pasquella, Alex Lifeson, Brent Hoff, Chris Adrian, Chris Bachelder, Claire Light, Cocteau Twins, Death, Deftones, Denis Johnson, Essays, Jessica Anthony, Jim Shepard, Jonathan Ames, Joshuah Bearman, Kate Braverman, Lawrence Weschler, Logan's Run, Malinda McCollum, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Military, Nick Hornby, Omnivore, Ryan Boudinot, Sarah Vowell, Sex, Short Story, Susan Straight, T.C. Boyle, The Muppet Show, The New York Times Magazine, Travel, Unlikable main character, Violence, Wells Tower on March 12, 2013| 1 Comment »

14

SOUNDTRACK: DEFTONES-Diamond Eyes (2010).

diamondBefore releasing Diamond Eyes, Deftones had two band crises. The first was that they didn’t really seem to like each other anymore.  The previous album was fraught with tension and they barely toured.  After deciding that they wanted to remain as a band, they were invigorated and made an album called Eros.  But during the recording, bassist Chi Cheng was in a car accident and was in a coma.  As of yet he has not fully recovered.  So they shelved Eros, hired a temporary bass player Sergio Vega and set about recording Diamond Eyes.  And for whatever reason, it proved to be one of their best releases so far.

“Diamond Eyes” opens with a heavy down-tuned guitar–very abrasive–until the chorus come in and it’s their most beautiful ones yet–with soaring keyboards and  harmonies.  And then the heavy guitars come back–it’s what Deftones do so well–beauty and ugly together.  Stephen Carpenter really shines, as always.  “Royal” is a fast song with a great harmonizing chorus.  “Cmnd/Ctrl” has a shocking low riff that explodes into a  bright chorus.  “You’ve Seen the Butcher” has guitars that seem almost untuned as the song starts.  But it morphs into a kind of sexy butt-shaking chorus.  And Abe Cunningham’s drums are, of course, fantastic.

“Beauty School” is the first that doesn’t really start out heavy, it’s a got a gentle guitar intro and the first song where Vega’s bass is really prominent as a separate instrument and it creates a beautiful alternative song–great vocals throughout.  “Prince” brings in a lot of new textures to the album, including a clanging guitar sound and a great screamed chorus. “Rocket Skates” is one of my favorite songs on the record, it has a classic metal riff and the great screamed-beyond-comprehension chorus of Guns, Razors Knives and a weird little whoooo that ends the chorus.

“Sextape” is a surprisingly gentle song, opening with an echoed guitar riff and one of Chino’s most gentle choruses.  “976-Evil” has an echoey guitar and voices not unlike the Cocteau Twins.  “This Place is Death” has another great alt rock feel–a big song with bright guitars and dark lyrics.  I haven’t really mentioned Frank Delgado on keyboards and samples.  He’s been with the band since White Pony, and I feel like his presence was made notable on a few songs here and there.  But it seems like on this disc he really comes to the fore, adding new textures and sounds to the album which really fill it out.

[READ: March 12, 2013] McSweeney’s #14

After the colorful extravaganza of the Comics Issue of McSweeney’s #13, this book settles down into something more somber  The book is softcover and all white.  The cover depicts a cartoon of George Bush with both legs blown off and the caption, “I Am So, So Sorry.”  On the spine in small print: “We’re praying as fast as we can.”  It is the most context-full cover they’ve done yet and, nearly a decade away it seems like a rather mean cover, but if I remember correctly at the time it seemed apt and delicious, especially in light of the upcoming election.

Yet despite the overtly political cover, the content inside is not political or even thematic (although it is pretty dark stuff).  Nevertheless, the table of contents gives us a small joke when it says “To help you know which stories to read first, we have indicated with either a * or a † those that deserve special consideration from you, the reader.  If you see either a * or a †, do not miss that story.”  Of course every story has either a * or a † but they cleverly did not put any kind of pattern to the symbols.

The colophon explains that when they were in Ireland, they met an actual Timothy McSweeney.  He had been given a copy of Issue #3 and then promptly forgot about the magazine.  But when McSweeney’s was in Galway to do a reading at the Galway Arts Festival, Timothy (Ted) McSweeney traveled from Dublin to check it out (not a short trip).  This also resulted in a letter from Mr McSweeney which is actually quite funny.

There are also illustrations in the book, although they are small illustrations and are placed on the title of each piece in the book.  All of the illustrations are old, mostly coming from the 1800s, although one dates back to 1670.  They illustrations are all technical scientific ones and don’t have anything to do with the stories. (more…)

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S. S. Taylor–The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Japandroids, Katherine Roy, McSweeney's, S.S. Taylor, Steampunk, Tom Petty, Travel, YA Books, Yuck! on February 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

expedSOUNDTRACK: JAPANDROIDS-Celebration Rock (2012).

japan2So, the cover looks the same and there’s still only two of them and there are also 8 songs and it’s also 35 minutes long.  I guess the Japandroids second album is going to be more of the same.  Well, yes and no.

Their debut was a surprise success (which actually prevented them from breaking up) and they seem to take the successes of that album–big choruses and sing along sections to even more glorious heights.  The songs are still poppy and super catchy and they’ve removed some of the noise that was on the first album.  Of course at the heart of the album is still two guys playing kinda sloppy, poppy punk with loudly yelled lyrics–not exactly a formula for pop success, but not too far away from it either.

The disc is pretty unmistakably from the Japandroids–the duo is still loud and fast with distorted guitars and vocals.  But there is a lot more melody here.  The guitar riff that opens the album on “The Nights of Wine and Rose” is simple, but it sounds like a new edge for the band.  “Fire’s Highway” has a guitar sound not unlike Tom Petty until again the propulsive drums (and guitar) follows along.  But there’s a lot more space to breathe on this song–it takes some of the punk edge off (although again the chorus is fast) and those backing Oh ohs bring it to a catchy conclusion).  And check out the “Oh Yeah, Alright” section of  “Evils’s Sway,” another Tom Pettyish nod to major catchiness.

“For the Love of Ivy” is a cover and it very distinctly does not sound like a Japandroids song (which sounds obvious, and yet it’s fascinating that it fits with the album but doesn’t sound like anything else they’ve done).  It’s followed by “Adrealine Nightshift” a song that adds a kind of classic rock anthemic feel–a very different kind of anthemic feel than the other songs–to the mix.  “Younger Us” is a powerful rocker that gets more and more chaotic as it goes along–but it starts from such a poppy place that it’s a great ride to take.  “The House That Heaven Built” has a kind of Arcade Fire feel to it (ironic given the disparity of band members), but it’s got that same big vibe and lots of oh oh oh ohs.  The guitars start fast and don’t let up.

The final track, “Continuous Thunder” sounds like a slightly different band–the vocals are cleaner and the drums are more martial and less frenetic–although the guitar is still continuous and by the end the pace is simply breakneck.

So yes, this is a poppier version of their debut (and a successful one at that).  If one still cared about bands selling out one might suggest that that’s what’s happening here, but it’s still a far cry from a pop album.

[READ: February 11, 2013] The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon

This is the first book in the McSweeney’s McMullens collection that is written for young adults.  And while the writing isn’t perfect (there were a number of sentences that I found a little awkward), the story is wonderful and very captivating.

The book is set in a parallel universe or a distant dystopian future.  The protagonists live in a borderline-wilderness state.  There is little money for food, there is no electricity and no modern technology.  But the big difference in this book is that there are places that have yet to be explored.  New worlds, new territories that are not on the map.  So it must be a new world?  No, because the protagonists venture to Philadelphia and Arizona.  So, perhaps this is set way in the future after the deterioration, when maps proved to be unreliable?  It’s never exactly explained, and does it really matter?  No, not really.

The protagonists are three kids: Zander, the oldest , M.K., the youngest and only girl who is a whiz with tools and tinkering and Kit, the middle child and narrator.  Kit is the smart one, able to read his father’s maps and make smart decisions based on given information.  Their mother is long gone (mothers always fair so poorly in adventure stories) and their father has recently disappeared.  He was on an exploratory mission and has been reported killed.

However, government officials did not approve of their father’s recent actions and had him stripped of his ranking as an explorer (could they be fabricating his death as well?  Or at least the cause of his death?  With the government acting in a very dictatorial fashion, anything is possible, especially since they have eyes everywhere.

The story gets underway when Kit, who is out buying food at the market  is grabbed by a tattooed man.  The man knows who Kit is and presses a book on him, saying his father wanted him to have it.  He tells Kit to be careful and runs off.  Kit puts the book in his backpack and heads home, with his mind reeling.

When he gets home, government officials are at their house.  The kids are lucky–since they are technically orphans, they should be removed from their home, but for some reason, the government has not taken them away yet.  But they ask if Kit or any of them has been approached by a man with a tattoo.  Kit lies, and the men eventually leave.

This sets in motion a series of events that lead the kids to realize that their father has half of a map of Drowned Man’s Canyon in Arizona.  The kids believe that their father wants them to find the treasure there.  But how could they possibly find it?  They can’t travel unnoticed, they have practically no money and they’re not even really sure what they are looking for.  Well, that is the story, now isn’t it? (more…)

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McSweeney’s #13 (2006)

Posted in Adrian Tomine, Africa, Alex Robinson, Alison Bechdel, All Songs Considered, Anarchy, Ander Nilson, Archer Prewitt, Art Spiegelman, Ben Katchor, Books about music, Books about writers, Boredom, Bud Fischer, Bust, Canadian Content, Charles Burns, Charles Schulz, Chester Brown, Chip Kidd, Chris Ware, Collecting, Comic Strips, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Culture Shock, Daniel Clowes, David Collier, David Heatley, David Lasky, Death, Debbie Dreschler, Depression, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Essays, Esther Pearl Watson, Excerpt, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gary Panter, Ghosts, Gilbert Hernandez, Gilbert Shelton, Glen David Gold, Graphic Novel, History, HOB, Huh?, Ira Glass, Ivan Brunetti, Jaime Hernandez, Jeffrey Brown, Jesse Reklaw, Joe Matt, Joe Sacco, Joel Priddy, John McLenan, John Porcellino, John Updike, John Woodring, Jonathan Bennett, Julie Doucet, Justin Hall, Kaz, Kim Deitch, Kurt Wolfgang, LGBTQ, Lilli Carré, Lloyd Dangle, Louis Reil, Lynda Barry, Malachi B. Cohen, Mark Beyer, Mark Newgarden, Marriage Trouble, Masturbation, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Michael Chabon, Military, Milt Gross, Oddities, Olivia Schanzer, Parts & Labor, Philip Guston, R. Crumb, Rebecca Dart, Richard McGuire, Richard Sala, Rodolphe Töpffer, Ron Rege, S. Kierkegaard, Seth Tobocman, Sex, Short Story, Sonic Youth, Supernatural, Surreal, Tim Samuelson, Tom Hart, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), War, William Faulkner, World Cafe Live on January 29, 2013| 1 Comment »

13SOUNDTRACK: PARTS & LABOR-Stay Afraid (2006).

partslaborParts & Labor have changed t heir style over the years going from noisemakers who have a melody to being melodious noisemakers.  This album is one of their earlier releases when noise dominated.  Right from the opening you know the album is going to be a challenge.  The first song has pounding drums (electronics that sound like bagpipes) and heavy distorted shouty vocals.  By the end of the songs there is squealing feedback, punk speed drums and screaming distorted vocals (complete with space sound effects).  It’s an aggressive opening for sure.  Song two opens with a long low rumbling and then “Drastic Measures” proves to be another fast-paced song.

“A Pleasant Stay” is 5 minutes long (most of the rest of the album’s songs are about 3 minutes).  It continues in this fast framework, although it has a bit more open moments of just drums or just vocals.  The way the band plays with feedback in the last minute or so of the song  very cool.

“New Buildings” has a hardcore beat with a guitar part that sounds sped up.  “Death” is a thumping song (the drums are very loud on this disc), while “Timeline” is two minutes of squealing guitars.  “Stay Afraid” has a false start (although who knows why–how do these guys know if the feedback sounds are what  they wanted anyhow?).  The song ends with 30 seconds of sheer noise).  The album ends with the 5 minute “Changing of the Guard” a song not unlike the rest of the album–noisy with loud drumming and more noise.

The album is certainly challenging, it’s abrasive and off putting, but there;s surprising pleasures and melodies amidst the chaos.   Indeed, after a listen or two you start to really look forward to the hooks.  If you like this sort of thing, this album s a joy.  It’s also quite brief, so it never overstays its welcome.

[READ: April 15, 2011] McSweeney’s #13

I have been looking forward to reading this issue for quite some time.  Indeed, as soon as I received it I wanted to put aside time for it.  It only took eight years.  For this is the fabled comics issue.  Or as the cover puts it: Included with this paper: a free 264 page hardcover.  Because the cover is a fold-out poster–a gorgeous broadside done by Chris Ware called “God.”  And as with all Chris Ware stories, this is about life, the universe and everything.  On the flip side of the (seriously, really beautiful with gold foil and everything) Ware comic are the contributors’ list and a large drawing that is credited to LHOOQ which is the name of Marcel Duchamp’s art piece in which he put a mustache on the Mona Lisa.  It’s a kind of composite of the history of famous faces in art all done in a series of concentric squares.  It’s quite cool.

So, yes, this issue is all about comics.  There are a couple of essays, a couple of biographical sketches by Ware of artists that I assume many people don’t know and there’s a few unpublished pieces by famous mainstream artists.  But the bulk of the book is comprised of underground (and some who are not so underground anymore) artists showing of their goods.  It’s amazing how divergent the styles are for subject matter that is (for the most part) pretty similar: woe is me!  Angst fills these pages.  Whether it is the biographical angst of famous artists by Brunetti or the angst of not getting the girl (most of the others) or the angst of life (the remaining ones), there’s not a lot of joy here. Although there is a lot of humor.  A couple of these comics made it into the Best American Comics 2006.

There’s no letters this issue, which makes sense as the whole thing is Chris Ware’s baby.  But there are two special tiny books that fit nearly into the fold that the oversized cover makes.  There’s also two introductions.  One by Ira Glass (and yes I’d rather hear him say it but what can you do).  And the other by Ware.  Ware has advocated for underground comics forever and it’s cool that he has a forum for his ideas here.  I’m not sure I’ve ever read prose from him before. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #12 [Unpublished, Unknown &\Or Unbelievable] (2003)

Posted in Aimee Bender, Aleksandar Hemon, Alicia Erian, All Songs Considered, Andrea Deszo, Andy Lamey, Ann Cummins, Ashley Warlick, Ben Ehrenreich, Boredom, Chad Simpson, Darin Strauss, David Ebershoff, Dean Wareham, Death, Douglas Coupland, Drinking, Drugs, Emma Forrest, Essays, Excerpt, Frank Ocean, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gabe Hudson, Glen David Gold, Henry Bean, History, J. Malcolm Garcia, J. Robert Lennon, James Boice, Jennifer Egan, Jess Walter, Jessica Francis Kane, Jill Bialosky, John Henry Fleming, Jonathan Lethem, Judy Budnitz, Julie Orringer, Katie Roiphe, Laird Hunt, Letters, Marc Nesbitt, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Myla Goldberg, Native Americans, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Peter Orner, Prince, Rachel Sherman, Racism, Rene Nuijens, Rhett Miller, Rick Moody, Robots, Roddy Doyle, Ryan Boudinot, Salvador Plascencia, Sarah Raymont, Set at School, Sex, Shann Ray, Short Story, Sibylla Brodzinsky, Stacey Richter, Steve Almond, Steve Stiefel, Steven Millhauser, Tara June Winch, Travel, Valerie Sutton, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), War, Wythe Marschall on December 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »

12SOUNDTRACK: FRANK OCEAN-“Bad Religion” (2012).

frankoI didn’t know anything about Frank Ocean until I started looking at all of the  Best Albums of 2012 lists.  He was on everyone’s list and was pretty near the top of all of them.  So it was time to check him out.

It  turns out that he’s affiliated with the Odd Future collective, whom I’ve talked about in the past.  But he’s also been on a lot of big name records.  Channel Orange is his debut album (that’s not a mixtape) and the big surprise seems to be that this song (which he sang live on Jimmy Fallon) is about a male lover.  And I guess that’s progress.

So Ocean sings a slow R&B style, and I have to say his voice reminds me of Prince a lot.  Which is a good thing.  I really like this song.    It has gospelly keyboards (but in that Purple Rain kinda way).  And a really aching vocal line.  It’s really effective and it’s really simple.  And I think that’s what I liked best about this song and others that I’ve heard–he’s really understated.  Crazy, I know.

Now I do not like R&B, it’s one of the few genres that I just don;t get.  And yet there’s something about this album (the tracks I’ve listened to) that is really compelling.  It’s not awash in over the top R&B trappings, and it doesn’t try too hard.  It’s just Frank  (not his real name) and his voice over some simple beats.  A friend of mine recently said that all of a sudden she “got” this album, and  I think I may have to get it as well.

[READ: December 30, 2012] McSweeney’s #12

At the beginning of 2012, I said I’d read all of my old McSweeney’s issues this year.  I didn’t.  Indeed, I put it off for quite a while for no especial reason.  Now as the year draws to an end, I’m annoyed that I didn’t read them all, but it’s not like I read nothing.  Nevertheless, I managed to read a few in the last month and am delighted that I finished this one just under the wire.  For those keeping track, the only issues left are 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 10, 38, (which I misplaced but have found again) and 42, which just arrived today.  My new plan in to have those first four read by Easter.  We’ll see.

So Issue #12 returns to a number of different fun ideas.  The cover:  It’s a paperback, but you can manipulate the front and back covers to make a very cool 3-D effect (by looking through two eyeholes) with a hippo.  The colophon/editor’s note is also back.  Someone had complained that he missed the small print ramble in the beginning of the book and so it is back, with the writer (Eggers? Horowitz?) sitting in Wales, in a B&B, and hating it.  It’s very funny and a welcome return.

As the title suggests, all of the stories here are from unpublished authors.  They debate about what exactly unpublished means, and come down on the side of not well known.  And so that’s what we have here, first time (for the mos part) stories.  And Roddy Doyle.

There are some other interesting things in this issue.  The pages come in four colors–each for a different section.  The Letters/Intro page [white], the main stories [pink], the Roddy Doyle piece (he’s not unpublished after all so he gets his own section) [gray] and the twenty minute stories [yellow].  There’s also photographs (with captions) of Yuri Gagarin.  And a series of drawing that introduce each story called “Dancewriting”–a stick figure on a five-lined staff.  They’re interesting but hard to fathom fully.

LETTERS (more…)

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Grantland Quarterly, Number 4 (2012)

Posted in Alex Pappademas, Amos Barshad, Anachronisms, Andy Greenwald, Aziz Ansari, Baseball, Basketball, Beastie Boys, Biking, Bill Barnwell, Bill Simmons, Books about music, Books about writers, Boxing, Brian Phillips, Bryan Curtis, Carles, Charles P. Pierce, Charlie Pierce, Chris Connelly, Chris Ryan, Chuck Klosterman, Contests, Creed, Cycling, Daniel Kellison, Dave McKenna, David Hill, David Jacoby, David Shoemaker, Drugs, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Essays, Football, Girls, Grantland, Harris Wittels, Hockey, Hua Hsu, James Brown, Jamie Allen, Jason Oberg, Jay Caspian Kang, Jay-Z, Jeff Chang, Jonathan Abrams, Katie Baker, Ken Dryden, Louisa Thomas, Mad Men, Mark Lisanti, Mark Titus, McSweeney's, Molly Lambert, Nickelback, Olympics, Peter Orner, Prince, Public Image Ltd, Racism, Rafe Bartholomew, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Religion, Rembert Browne, Sexism, Shane Ryan, Short Story, Sixto Rodriguez, Smarty Pants, Soccer, Table Tennis, Tara Ariano, Tennis, Tess Lynch, The Sopranos, Van Halen, Violence, Wesley Morris, Wright Thompson, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA, Zombies on December 27, 2012| 1 Comment »

grantladn4SOUNDTRACK: PUBLIC IMAGE LTD-“Poptones” and “Careering” on American Bandstand (1980).

abThe Dick Clark article below alerted me to this bizarre gem–PiL “playing” on American Bandstand.   The article talks about John Lydon ignoring the lip synch, climbing into the audience and generally disregarding the show’s script. The video suggests something sightly less sinister (although maybe for 1980 it was outrageous–do you really cross Dick Clark?).

Dick Clark himself announces the band nicely, and then the crazy off-kilter bass and simple guitar of “Poptones” kick in.   Lydon runs into the bleachers with the kids (most of whom are dressed in New Wave finery not unlike Lydon).  They shriek with glee when he comes nearby (do any of them know who he is?  I have no idea).  When Lydon’s spoken rambling come in a little later you can’t help but wonder what the hell they are doing on AB.

Then, Lydon starts grabbing people from the audience and pushing them towards the stage–something I believe was unheard of on AB.  The fans dance around to the impossible-to-dance-to “Poptones.”  The song ends and Dick asks John if he wants the kids out there for song two.  Yes, song Two!  He does and John faux lip synchs through “Careering,” avoiding cameras at all costs and dancing with the kids–one of the most egalitarian performances I can think of from Lydon.

And listen for Dick asking Jah Wobble his name (reply THE Jah Wobble) and him saying, nice to meet you Wobble.  What a surreal moment–wonder what Dick thought of it.

Enjoy it here:

 

[READ: December 28, 2012] Grantland 4

Grantland continues to impress me with these books (and no, I have not yet visited the website).  My subscription ran out with this issue and I have resubscribed–although I take major issue with the $20 shipping and handling fee.  I even wrote to them to complain and they wrote back saying that the books are heavy.  Which is true, but not $5/bk heavy.  The good news is that they sent me a $10 off coupon so the shipping is only half as painful now.

This issue’s endpages were “hypothetical baseball wheel-guides created by JASON OBERG–they were pretty cool and a fun idea.  They look very retro, but use contemporary batters, pitchers and catchers.  I’d like to see them for real.

Each issue makes me like sports a little bit more, but not enough to actually watch  them.

(more…)

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Peter Orner–“Denny Coughlin” (Grantland Quarterly, Number 4, 2012)

Posted in Bad Religion, Boston, MA, Grantland, Hockey, McSweeney's, Peter Orner, Prison, Short Story, Sports, Violence on December 26, 2012| 2 Comments »

grantladn4SOUNDTRACK: BAD RELIGION-“Fuck You” (2012).

badrelIt’s hard to believe that Bad Religion has been around for thirty years and has never written a song called “Fuck You” before.  Typically they write songs with more profound lyrics.  So I guess this is kind of lazy.  But it’s still fun.

Bad Religion write (mostly) blistering punk songs in under three minutes   They have of course written longer songs, but mostly they do these quick tracks.  Despite the blister, Bad Religion also love harmonies and backing vocals–and for a punk band, they are quite melodious.

After all these years, the band still sounds good.  It’s true that it’s kind of hard to tell when certain songs were recorded as a lot of their music sounds similar.  However, on this track I think the middle slower part sounds like it might be a newer, fuller sound.  But still, when you get to the chorus, it’s hard not to recognize that old time Bad Religion.

[READ: December 26, 2012] “Denny Coughlin”

I have come not to expect too much from the fiction in Grantland.  It’s usually a fine story but not much more.  And that’s okay–I don’t think sports stories can be all that original–you either win or lose, right?

This story did things a little differently   It’s about prisoners playing hockey.  I didn’t even catch on that they were prisoners right away–I liked that the story doesn’t spoon feed the details, it just got right to the action.  Anyhow, in a prison in Walpole, MA, the prisoners from Southie would face the guys from Charlestown twice a week in the yard.

There were only two rules.  1) No injuries–if you get hurt, tend to yourself.  The guards are sick of people in the infirmary.  And 2) the ball is in play wherever it goes, even under the bench that the guards sit on.  The guards know to get up if the ball goes there. (more…)

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Mac Barnett–It Happened on a Train [Brixton Brothers Book #3] (2011) [audiobook 2011–Arte Johnson]

Posted in Adventure, Arte Johnson, Audiobooks, Children's Books, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Mac Barnett, McSweeney's, Noir, Spies, Trains, Travel on December 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: December 2012] It Happened on a Train

brixton3After the raging success of Brixton Brothers Books 1 and 2 we were thrilled to get to Book 3.

Twelve-year old Steve Brixton has given up on being a detective.  His hero, the author of the Bailey Brothers mysteries has proven to be a thief and a liar and he wants nothing to do with the man anymore.  So he has bundled all of his Bailey Brothers books–his favorite books in the world–and put them in the trash.

His chum, Dana, is not that upset about the closing of the agency, especially since he has now been dating a girl named Dana (“other Dana” as Steve calls her).  Other Dana has gotten Dana into a book series about wizards and dragons which Steve simply cannot believe.

This 3rd novel proves to adhere well to the title–it does all happen on a train.  Well, most of it anyhow.  The boys have been invited to the Model U.N. meeting in San Diego.  After last book’s fake debate club ruse, Steve’s mother is very suspicious of the Model U.N., especially since no one has ever heard of it.  [It turns out that my school had a model U.N., but most of us had no idea what they did either–imagine my surprise to see that very organization appear in an episode of Community!]  The story checks out and Rick (jerk) takes this as an opportunity to bond with Stevie Brix (what, you don’t get it) by tagging along for the nine-hour train ride.

Before the train ride gets underway, Steve is approached by a surfer dude who is looking for help.  Steve hears the man’s case but tells him that he has retired (a recurring joke).  It took us a while to get to the end of the story and we had all but completely forgotten about this plot point by the time we got to the end.

Anyhow, on the train, Steve winds up talking to a girl, Claire, whose uncle is a private detective.  The girl is nice but thinks it doesn’t make sense that 12-year-old Steve is retired.  Steve is annoyed by her, and has mixed feelings about her.  But he sees that she has left her book behind, so he finds her to give it back.  But she is nowhere to be seen. (more…)

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