Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Pearl Jam’ Category

Grantland Quarterly, Number 10 (2014)

Posted in 30 Seconds to Mars, Advice, Alex Pappademas, Andrew Sharp, Andy Greenwald, Andy Kaufman, Barack Obama, Baseball, Basketball, Bill Russell, Bill Simmons, Books about music, Books about writers, Boxing, Breaking Bad, Brian Phillips, Bryan Curtis, Charles P. Pierce, Chess, Chris Ryan, Chuck Klosterman, Connor Barwin, Counting Crows, Culture Shock, Daniel Kellison, Dave McKenna, Death, Emily Yoshida, Essays, Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes, Football, Fruitvale, Grand Theft Auto V, Grantland, Harris Wittels, History, Hockey, Jason Fagone, Kanye West, Karina Longworth, Kirk Goldsberry, Lady Gaga, LeBron James, Lou Reed, Mark Lisanti, McSweeney's, Miley Cyrus, Molly Lambert, Myst, Nirvana, Nostalgia, Patricia Lee, Pearl Jam, Peyton Manning, Rafe Bartholomew, Rany Jazayerli, Rembert Browne, Robert Mays, Sean Fennessey, Shane Ryan, Sinéad O'Connor, Soccer, Surfing, Tennis, The Eagles, The O.C., The Office, The X Files, Thomas Golianopoulos, Univore, Violence, Wrestling, Zach Lowe on September 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

10SOUNDTRACK: FATHER JOHN MISTY-Fear Fun (2012).

fjmI can’t get over how much I’ve been enjoying this album for the last two years.  Father John Misty is J Tillman from Fleet Foxes.

This disc is a gentle folk album with vaguely country leanings.  The arrangements are spare and yet the verses and choruses are so great to sing along to. “Funtimes in Babylon” has this infectious chorus: “I would like to abuse my lungs, smoke everything in sight with every girl I’ve ever loved.  Ride around the wreckage on a horse knee deep in mud.  Look out, Hollywood, here I come.”  “Nancy from Now On” has a great propulsive chorus with oohs and tinkling bells and pianos and Misty’s engaging falsetto.

I was introduced to this album by “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” which opens with the super catchy line, “Jeeeeesus Christ, girl.”  I love the big crashing drum sound he has here.  “I’m Writing a Novel” is a fun romp, with the great line “I’m writing a novel because it’s never been done before.”  “O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me” introduces a great organ sound.  It’s a full song at only 2 and a half minutes.

“Misty’s Nightmares 1 & 2” opens with a slide guitar and turns into a stomping song with more Ooohs and a great chorus.  “Only Son of the Ladiesman” has a great chorus with the fun couple: “I’m a steady hand, I’m a Dodgers fan.”  “This is Sally Hatchet” has cool guitar blasts and a great bridge.

“Well You Can Do It Without Me” is a countrified 2 minute stomper.  “Tee Pees 1-12” is a big stompin’ honkey tonk song with fiddles and slide guitar.  The disc ends with “Everyman Needs a Companion” a slow ballad with a great piano melody and a fun to sing along with verse and chorus.

I love the lyrics on this album, especially the song “Now I’m Learning to Love the War” a slow ballad with a great story:

Try not to think so much about
The truly staggering amount of oil that it takes to make a record
All the shipping, the vinyl, the cellophane lining, the high gloss
The tape and the gear

Try not to become too consumed
With what’s a criminal volume of oil that it takes to paint a portrait
The acrylic, the varnish, aluminum tubes filled with latex
The solvents and dye

Lets just call this what it is
The gentler side of mankind’s death wish
When it’s my time to go
Gonna leave behind things that won’t decompose

In addition to all of the great music on here, the CD packaging is fantastic with that great cover, done in a cardboard gatefold sleeve including two huge books full of words and drawings and lyrics and everything.  I’m really looking forward to his next release.

[READ: September 14, 2014] Grantland #10

Despite my being in the middle of reading several other things, I was looking for a short article to read the other night and grabbed my Grantland 10.  And, of course, once I started, I couldn’t stop. I put everything else on hold and blasted through this issue.

And so all of my loves and hates are the same with this issue.  I never know how anything they talk about nearly a year ago turned out, which stinks.  And yet I get so wrapped up in the writing that I don’t care.  I’m not sure what it is about the writing for Grantland that i enjoy so much.  It is casual but knowledgeable.  Often funny but not obnoxiously silly. And I suppose that now I feel like I’m in on all of the secret stuff they talk about so I’m part of the club.  I fear that if I were to ever go to the website I would get sucked into a black hole and never emerge.

I often wonder how they choose what goes into the book.  This issue has some new writers and the surprising absence of some regulars.  I wonder what went on there.  And as always, the book could use some editing and maybe actually listing the urls of the links that were once in the online version.  But I think I’m talking to deaf ears on that one.

This issue covers October-December 2013 (that’s ten-twelve months ago!  Some of this stuff feels ancient!)

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Tom Bissell–“Escanaba’s Magic Hour: Movies, robot deer, and the American small town” (Harper’s, September 2000)

Posted in Acting, Boredom, Culture Shock, Drinking, Escanaba in Da Moonlight, Essays, Harper's, Hunting, Jeff Daniels, Michigan, Pearl Jam, Phish, Tom Bissell on November 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

sep2000SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Rift (1993).

riftRift has a kind of story to it (albeit it’s not a real concept album) and you can tell by the full cover (see the bottom) that the story is complex–thank you gatefold sleeves).  The album starts with “Rift” a fast guitar spiral that opens with a harmony vocals on the opening lyric and then a call and response between I believe, Page and Trey as they each take a line of the verse—it’s a cool and surprising opening.

“Fast Enough for You” is a slow country-tinged song (with slide guitar).  This is the first song of their early records that I really don’t know that well.  So it must not get played very much.  It’s a pretty song.  “Lengthwise” is a cute little a capella song (with snoring and clock ticking) which I think about whenever I am alone in a bed: “When you’re there I sleep lengthwise and when you’re gone I sleep diagonal in my bed.”

“Maze” is one of my favorite Phish songs and it sounds great here.  I love the bomp bomp at the end of the verses and the fugue vocals at the end of the song.  This version is fantastic.  “Sparkle” also features fugue and barbershop type vocals (with Mike’s deep voice added in) in a funny silly roping song.  It’s another highlight.  “Horn” has a great opening guitar line (that reminds me of Pearl Jam for some reason).  I’ve always enjoyed this one.  It sounds great here (because you can actually hear what the harmony voices are saying (something you usually can’t in the live setting).  “The Wedge” is a mid tempo song that sounds different from their live versions.

“My Friend My Friend” is a pretty dark song (“My friend, my friend he;s got a knife”) but the opening is a beautiful instrumental with lovely guitar sequences until at 2:30 when the piano takes over and the song becomes slightly menacing.  “Weigh” is a weird song that I rather like.  It’s very piano heavy and very boppy despite the crazy lyrics:  “I’d like to cut your head off to weight it, whaddya say?  5 pounds, 6 pounds, 7 pounds.”  “All Things Reconsidered” a nice NPR joke.  This is a 2 and a half minute instrumental of guitar and keyboards that sort of plays with the NPR “All Things Considered” music.

“Mound” starts with some wonderful out of time signature riffing—4/4 drums and bass and then super fast guitars that don’t quite match until the drums and bass then catch up.  It’s hard to believe that that unusual opening leads to the big catchy bouncy chorus: “And it’s time, time, time for the last rewind.”  “It’s Ice” is a little slower here than live but I kind of like it in this slightly slower version (you can really hear the riffs).  This is another song with fugue-like vocals (they do all of their vocal tricks very well).  “The Horse’ begins as a beautiful Spanish style guitar piece and morphs into a simple acoustic song (it’s al of 90 seconds) which bleeds into “Silent in the Morning,” another highlight from their live shows and a standout here.

Rift might just be my favorite Phish album.

[READ: October 23, 2013] “Escanaba’s Magic Hour”

Once I found out that Tom Bissell had written a number of articles in Harper’s I decided to read them all, especially since some of them already appeared in his book Magic Hours.  This was his first piece for Harper’s and it is the one I remembered most from the book.  So I enjoyed reading it again.

I’m also glad I read the Harper’s version because although I don’t think it varies from the book version at all (and I’m not willing to check), it had pictures from the movie and from Escanaba, which brought a bit more reality to the article.

So, what’s this about a movie?

Well, this article is about Jeff Daniels making a movie in Escanaba, Michigan called Escanaba in da Moonlight (which I haven’t seen, but as I said after reading this the first time, I now feel invested enough in it to want to watch it–reviews are mixed).  And it sounds kind of interesting.  I also really enjoyed the comment that Daniels’ appeal “has something to do with the fact that many men, if asked to cast their lives without undue conceit, might settle on Jeff Daniels to play themselves.” (more…)

Read Full Post »

Pearl Jam interviews (and new album)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Carrie Brownstein, Danny Clinch, Funny (ha ha), Judd Apatow, Kiss, Mark Richards, Pearl Jam, Political Humor, Short Films, Steve Gleason, The Who, Van Halen on October 15, 2013| 1 Comment »

[WATCHED: October 11, 2013] Pearl Jam interviews

lightning bowlToday is the release date for Pearl jam’s new album, Lightning Bolt. I have heard two songs from it (the fast and furious “Mind Your Manners” and the gorgeous “Sirens”) and I’m quite excited to hear the whole thing.  For the release of the album, Pearl Jam has decided to do some interviews.  But not with the usual suspects.  Rather, they have done four exclusive interviews with surfer Mark Richards, NFL player Steve Gleason, all around awesome lady Carrie Brownstein and director Judd Apatow.

The Mark Richards interview is available in excerpted form here.  I’m not sure how long the whole interview is.  But from the edited down video, we see that he interviewed all five of them for a bit (and then Stone, Jeff and Mike) and then Eddie.  A surfer seems like a reasonable person t ask them about their music and they clearly feel very comfortable with him.  (The video above is about 5 minutes). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Rebecca Makkai–“Other Types of Poison” (Harper’s, July 2013)

Posted in Biography, Birds, Books about writers, Death, Eddie Vedder, Essays, Harper's, Marriage Trouble, Memoirs, Pearl Jam, War on July 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-“Mind Your Manners” (2013).

mannersAfter Eddie Vedder released an album of ukulele songs, it seemed like perhaps he was putting aside his heavier ways.  Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

This new song (album out in October) plays up their faster side, with short fast chords (think “Spin the Black Circle”).  It starts out heavy, and when the verse proper starts the band really kicks in.  The chords are heavy, but the bridge is fairly light and breezy.

The end features some chanted vocals (seldom used by Pearl Jam but effective here).  But to me the real standout moment comes from Mike McCready’s solo.  It is noisy and weird–he seems to be experimenting with all kinds of sounds in these 20 seconds or so.  It’s unexpected from him and very interesting.

I do not like how the song ends, which seems almost abrupt by accident.  Perhaps the released version gets cut off a few seconds early.  Nevertheless, I’m pretty excited about the new album (and tour).

[READ: July 11, 2013] “Other Types of Poison”

This is credited as memoir.  It is three short “stories.”  All of which I enjoyed immensely–but especially the first.

The first is called The Ink.  In this tale, Makkai’s  ancestors were hiding out in a little lake house when soldiers came to the door.  I loved that no one can remember the details of whether the soldiers were German or Russian or if that even mattered.  The important part is that the soldiers hung around and made themselves at home.  (The old lady was too old and scary to try anything with and the boy was too young).

Then they ran out of booze and one of the soldiers, noticing an inkwell, said he would drink that.  The inkwell was a gift to the boy, because the old woman was a writer.  And although the cost was dear, the soldier drank the whole thing.  Then he stumbled out of the house, face completely blackened.  From then on, the old woman claimed that had she killed a soldier with ink.

I love Makkai’s ending: She says she doesn’t of the details are correct, but “If this were your family legacy—this ridiculous assertion of the might and violence o ink , this blatant and beautiful falsehood—could you change it? Would you dare?” (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jeff Alexander and Tom Bissell–Speak, Commentary: The Big Little Book of Fake DVD Commentaries, Wherein Well-Known Pundits Make Impassioned Remarks About Classic Science-Fiction Films. It’s a Gas! (2003)

Posted in Aliens, Anachronisms, Brad, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Jeff Alexander, Lord of the Rings, McSweeney's, Pearl Jam, Planet of the Apes, Political Humor, Religion, Short Books, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stone Gossard, Tom Bissell, Violence, War on June 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

speakSOUNDTRACK: STONE GOSSARD-“I Need Something Different” (2013).

stonegossardmoonlanderStone Gossard is the rhythm guitarist for Pearl jam.  He’s also one of their major songwriters.  He has one or two songs that he sings with the band.  This is a solo effort which indicates that he might be a heavier influence on the band.

Stone Gossard last released a solo album 12 years ago.  There’s a new Pearl Jam album in progress and Stone’s other band Brad put out an album not too long ago, so why not release a solo album?

I don’t know how much Gossard does on this song, but I rather imagine he plays everything (the solo is fine but not amazing and the drums are solid but don’t really standout).  And while that sounds dismissive, it’s not meant to be.  Gossard creates a solid sound of simple rock.

The guitars are loud and bouncy.  Stone’s voice is rough and workmanlike—there’s a reason he’s not a lead singer.  But his voice works great for this aggressive slice of rock.

The riff is continuous and non stop, while he sings I need something different.  And then at the mid way part the keyboards start—perhaps this is the something different.  The keys break the propulsion with a poppiness that you wouldn’t expect in the song.

Then the song returns to its original style.  It’s not a terribly original song, but it would be a fun bar anthem.

[READ: June 10, 2013] Speak, Commentary

When this book first came out I was pretty delighted.  What a funny concept—overblown writers and political pundits do DVD commentary about films they had nothing to do with.  It seemed like it would be very funny indeed.

And here’s the thing.  It is. For a few pages. But each one of these things feels as long as the actual movie they are commenting on.  Alexander and Bissell have done their research—they know what these figures will say.  And say.  And say.

As I said the premise is awesome, check out these wonderful combinations:

  • NOAM CHOMSKY & HOWARD ZINN on The Fellowship of the Ring
    ANN COULTER & DINESH D’SOUZA on Aliens
  • TERRY DWIBBLE & STEVEN McCRAY on Start Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  • JERRY FALWELL & PAT ROBERTSON on Planet of the Apes (1968)
    WILLIAM BENNETT & DICK CHENEY on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[Terry Dwibble & Steven McCray are (presumably) fictional characters—die hard Trekkies who are thrilled to be able to add this commentary and, frankly, this is the best one of these pieces.]

I think part of the problem with the book is the sequencing.  The first piece is incredibly dry.  I recall reading this when I first got it.  I don’t know if I read all the way through Chomsky and Zinn.  And I know I didn’t make it through all of the second one (Coulter and D’Souza)—my d0g eared page failure still lingers to this day.

But I finished this time. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Terry Moore–Rachel Rising 5-7 (2012)

Posted in Bob Mould, Death, Graphic Novel, Pearl Jam, Supernatural, Terry Moore, The English Beat, Violence, Yuck! on November 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE ENGLISH BEAT Live at KEXP , March 8, 2007 (2007).

Afebkexpter enjoying the 2010 Bumbershoot concert I found this earlier in-studio show from The English Beat.  It’s amusing that it’s longer than the Bumbershoot concert (they play three of the same songs and eight in total).  This set introduces a few less “famous” tracks, like “Hands Off She’s Mine” and “Ranking Full Stop.”  They also play a “new” song called “Said We Would Never Die,” a sweet ballad in which he sounds a bit like Bob Mould singing.

When they play “Save It for Later,” they introduce the song with a verse from Pearl Jam’s “Better Man,” which must be a nod to Pearl Jam’s constant placement of “Save It for Later” in the jam session at the end of “Better Man” when they play it live.  The song ends with a lengthy sax solo.

Overall, this set is slightly less enjoyable for me than the Bumbershoot one.  The band adds a bit more jam into the set–the songs are longer and a bit more mellow feeling, which doesn’t work for ska.  But they all sound good and Dave Wakeling is very funny in his chats with the DJ.  He talks about his guitar being in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and the history of the ska movement.  How labels felt burnt that they missed the Sex Pistols and wanted to get whatever the next trend was.  This was interesting in that he talks about reggae and punk bands playing together on the same bill (before the skinheads went racist) and how the mellow reggae and the fast punk kept the dancefloor full if they alternated.  He also says that when they introduced the Beat Girl, it made the boys in the audience stop getting into  fights with each other and try to impress the girls.

As they head into their final song (“Tenderness”) Dave notes that “the first 27 years are the hardest.”  Hear if he’s right.

[READ: January 31, 2012] Rachel Rising 5-7

I have finally gotten around to reading some more Rachel Rising (it’s only been ten months), and I see that there are already several new issues out (I should get a subscription).

As I mentioned in the end of my review of the first four books, Terry Moore has gone to a really dark place with this series.  By the end of Book 7, my mouth was left agape, because I never thought that Terry would go quite so dark!

I like the way that Book 5 is more or less split in half with the first half being all about Rachel trying to fit back in with her friends (Jet reminds her of their pinkie swear to tell the truth about everything).  And yet there’s also Dr Siemen who states matter of factly (at the dinner table) that Rachel is the Angel of Death.

The second half of the book involves the little girl (she’s so cute with her pigtails).  A foster family is coming to take her for the night while the authorities try to figure out what happened to her house and family.  Moore goes dark right away with the man of the foster family showing his true colors, but the girl will have none of it.  And there’s a scene in an elevator which happens in movies, and yet in real life, I’ve never heard of an elevator door that doesn’t open when something gets stuck in it. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Joseph Boyden–“Kikwaakew” (The Walrus, July/August 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Culture Shock, Joseph Boyden, King's X, Native Americans, Pearl Jam, Short Story, The Walrus, Tres Mts. on July 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TRES MTS.-Three Mountains (2011).

Tres Mts. are a side project that features dUg Pinnick from King’s X and Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam.  It also features Mike McCready from Pearl Jam on some solos (and he played live with them as well).  The drummer is from the Fastbacks, but I don’t know the Fastbacks.

To me this sounds like a King’s X project–dUg is just to powerful a presence to not dominate.  And of course there is some heavy off-beat stuff, just like King’s X.  The biggest differences are the lack of harmonies and the more screaming guitar solos.  And yet it also sounds a lot like a Pearl Jam record–Ament writes most of the songs and his Pearl Jam instincts are in full force.

Overall the disc plays with different sounds–some hard fast rockers a few slow soulful numbers and some big choruses.

“My Baby” is a fast blast of rock–one might even say dUg fronting a Pearl Jam song (Mike McCready plays a wailing solo).  “Oh Lord” has some really dissonant chords on it, it shows the noncommercial side of the band.  I really like it, although I gather it’s not a favorite of others.  “God Told Me” sounds a bit more like King’s X’s slower ballads with gentle vocals.  “Makes Me Feel” is a meandering, atmospheric song with subdued vocals and tribal drums–Pearl Jam makes songs like this although it’s unusual for King’s X.  dUg does the whispery vocals really well.

“Holes in the Road” is just a straight out rocker–pretty much a classic rock song.  “In the Middle” and “Life” are gentle ballads.  I get “Life” stuck in my head quite a lot.  “Afrosheena” is a beautiful soulful song–dUg’s voice soars through the chorus–it really highlights what a great voice he has.  “She’s My New Song” has more of that classic rock feel–guitar solos after every verse.  This song feels like it could be thirty years old, it’s great.

“Utah” is probably my favorite track on the disc–it’s funny (“she moved to Utah…with the mailman”), it’s fast (the opening riff is great), it’s got stop and start sections and a little dissonance, all in under 3 minutes!  “Break” is a slow ballad that opens like a Pearl Jam ballad–a beautiful slow guitar intro.  The final proper song is “Mystery” a noisy rocker with dissonant chords and interesting guitar sounds.  The bridge is very King’s X.

The disc ends with “Shes My New Reprise” which is an instrumental (mostly) jam of “She’s My New Song” that gets super fast at the end (with bongos!).  It’s a great fun ending to a great fun record.

These three (four) guys hit all the right strides on this record.

[READ: July 13, 2012] “Kikwaakew”

Sometimes it’s fun to read a story about something that is completely unfamiliar to you.  In this case, this is a story about a Cree man trapping animals in the snow.  Xavier, who has only one leg (!), is away from his sons looking for the animals he has trapped.  Xavier has had a hard life.  His wife died giving birth two his twin boys, and he has to work very hard during the winter to have sustenance for the year.

Before this journey his Aunt Niska came and told him she would use her shake tent and offer prayers.  He knows that she is trying to tell him something from far away–possibly that something bad is coming.  He can just tell, from the way something seems to be watching him.

This was a fascinating look at  trapping–how he baits his traps but has to snowshoe (with the prosthetic keg) out to check them all.  He hopes to find a fisher (I had never even heard of this animal) which is like a giant weasel, whose pelt will give them enough money for the rest of the year.  He knows there is a fisher around, and he is trying his best to catch it, only to find that something has taken his bait and destroyed the traps. (more…)

Read Full Post »

James Breig–“Department of Deportment: Stances and Dances Made the Eighteenth-Century Man–and Woman” (Colonial Williamsburg: The Journal of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Winter 2012)

Posted in 18th Century, 19th Century, Colonial Williamsburg, Essays, History, James Breig, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Ryan Adams, Superchunk on April 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RYAN ADAMS-“Like a Fool” from Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers (2009).

I don’t particularly like Ryan Adams’ songs, so I was surprised how much I liked this cover of a Superchunk song.  The cover has an interesting vibe, a kind of Pearl Jam (in the guitars) meets Radiohead (in the vocals) sound.  It’s not too different from the original, although, as with many of these covers, I like the recording quality better.  I know I love my lo-fi world, and I love Superchunk but these newer versions just sound better.

Adams has a good voice, and he adds just enough orchestration to make the song a wee bit more interesting than the original.

[READ: March 15, 2012] “Department of Deportment: Stances and Dances Made the Eighteenth-Century Man–and Woman”

This article was intriguing but wasn’t quite about what I wanted it to be about.  Also, what was weird about this article–not so much with the others in the magazine so far, is that the photographs look simply too modern.  Usually for period pieces there is a hint of aging done to the film.  Obviously for the magazine they want the best possible quality photo, but it just looks really…fake?  Obviously modern people in old homes and dress.

The other thing that is odd to me about this article is that it begins with the idea that the reader doesn’t know what deportment means, or  that we misunderstand its meaning.  The true meaning–upright behavior and moral uprightness–doesn’t seem that hard to grasp.

However, despite these criticisms the article has some interesting history to impart.  The idea was that Gentlemen and Ladies were educated and would act with honor.  And part of that honor was the way one stood and acted.  Thus, Gentlemen had to maintain deportment.  Etiquette books also taught how to treat people of equal–and lower–standing.  Some people tried to appear gentlemanly by quickly learning deportment–but rules were complex and fakers were easily caught.  And those who were caught were punished by being thrown out of  a party or by public ridicule. (more…)

Read Full Post »

A Quarter of a Million!

Posted in Clash of the Gods, Craig Ferguson, David Foster Wallace, Futurama, James Joyce, Jonathan Franzen, Paul Debraski, Pearl Jam, Pierdomenico Baccalario, Roberto Bolaño, Terry Moore, The Simpsons, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! on January 22, 2012| 4 Comments »

I’ve more or less stopped counting milestones on this site.  But today I hit a quarter of a million views.  Sure, some site get that traffic in a day, but it’s not bad for a site that’s all about the books I’ve read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And since I’m at 250,000, here’s a snapshot of my most popular posts: (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jonathan Frazen–“Perchance to Dream: In the Age of Images, A Reason to Write Novels” (Harper’s, April 1996)

Posted in Austin City Limits, Big Books, Biography, Books about writers, David Foster Wallace, Don DeLillo, Essays, Harper's, J.D. Salinger, James Baldwin, Jeffrey Eugenides, John Cheever, Jonathan Franzen, Late Late Show, Marriage Trouble, Memoirs, Michael Chabon, New Yorker, Paula Fox, Pearl Jam, Philip Roth, Rick Moody, Shirley Brice Heath, Thomas Pynchon, War, William Dean Howells on December 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Austin City Limits (2009).

Pearl Jam records (and sells) most of their shows and they occasionally videotape them as well.  But they don’t do TV all that much (excepting the recent Late Late Show episodes).  There seemed to be something special, or at least different, about Pearl Jam on Austin City Limits.  Think of it almost like Unplugged Updated.

It opens slow with Eddie on an acoustic guitar and strings behind him.  In fact, the whole set seems less heavy than many of their sets.  But that’s not to say that the band doesn’t rock out, because they do.

The first six songs of the set come from Backspacer.   And then they bust out “Army Reserve” (which makes sense given who is in the audience, see below).  Then there’s a wonderfully raucous version of “Do the Evolution” (one of my favorite PJ songs).

After that riotous track, they bring the strings out for one more song.  It’s a rather funny little joke because it’s just the strings and Eddie on acoustic guitar playing “Lukin,” the 80-second song that is so fast you can barely hear the words.

For an extra treat, touring mate Ben Harper comes out to play slide guitar on “Red Mosquito” (which is always a treat).  And the set ends with an amazing version of “Porch” with a super long guitar solo in which Mike McCready really shows off his chops.  There’s even a moment where Mike and Stone are riffing off each other, classic rock style.
The set ends the Eddie talking about playing for the wounded veterans in the audience and how it was quite moving for him given all they have done for us.  Over the closing credits you see the band mingling with the veterans (including a guy who has lost a leg).  It’s all surprisingly touching for a rock show.

[READ: November 20, 2011] “Perchance to Dream”

A while back I read all of the Jonathan Franzen articles that were published in The New Yorker.  I thought I had read everything he’d published until I realized I had forgotten to read this piece (possibly his most famous) that was published in Harper’s.  It fits in well with this weekend’s theme because it was mentioned in Evan Hughes’ article that I talked about yesterday and because David Foster Wallace is mentioned in it.

As with most of Franzen’s non-fiction, it’s not easy to write about critically unless I want to argue with him, which I don’t necessarily want to do.  So instead, I’ll try to summarize.  Of course, this is a long and somewhat difficult article, so let’s see what we can do with it.

The first surreal thing is when you see the byline: “Jonathan Franzen is the author of two novels, The Twenty-Seventh City and Strong Motion, and is writing a third.”  It’s hard to imagine he got a huge article in Harper’s before he wrote The Corrections.

The second surreal thing comes in the text: It opens with “The country was preparing for war ecstatically, whipped on by William Safire (for whom Saddam Hussein was ‘this generation’s Hitler’) and George Bush, whose approval stood at 89 percent.”  And it is only a few paragraphs later when he mentions Patriot missiles that it clicked that this was written in 1996 and not 2001 and that he was talking about the 1991 Iraq invasion.  He mentions this as a prelude, saying that he was trying to sequester himself in order to start writing again.

Then he talks about Paula Fox’s novel Desperate Characters as a benchmark in terms of insight and personal conflict, even if it is so crazily outdated (that someone would throw an inkwell!).   He talks about this book quite a bit. I’m, not sure I found it compelling enough to want to read, but it’s always interesting to hear a fan write about a book I’ve never heard of.  He will return to this book throughout the essay. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »