SOUNDTRACK: THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-Live at KEXP July 23, 2008 (2008).
The Airborne Toxic Event’s “Sometime Around Midnight” was huge back in 2009. It seemed to be on the radio every time I turned it on. The ATE put out a new album in 2011, although I didn’t hear much from it.
This show was recorded in 2008, about a year after their debut (with that song on it) album came out. The set features four songs from the debut. This was the second time that the band appeared on KEXP (the first time they played three different songs from the debut and “Innocence” which I guess must have been their planned single?).
The band sounds very good live, as a poppy yet downbeat alternative band. I could see a number of these songs having been huge. It’s interesting to me that the DJ, who didn’t seem to know the band yet, says that “Sometime Around Midnight” could be on a soundtrack. The fact that he singled that song out is either prescient or they were already pushing that one. Although as I say, they played “Innocence” in both sets so I assume that was supposed to be the breakthrough.
Anyhow, I’m not a huge convert to the band, but this was an enjoyable set. And the band seem like nice guys.
[READ: October 17, 2012] “The Semplica-Girl Diaries”
One never really knows what to expect from George Saunders. This story is a diary. And it started off being very irritating to me because of the voice he chose to write the diary in. “Having just turned forty, have resolved to embark on grand project of writing every day in this new black book just got at OfficeMax.” I hate this clipped way of speaking/writing and I don’t believe anyone would use it. And it never lets up.
The other thing that bugged me about the narrator was that he is supposedly writing the diary for future historians to dig up and discover things about whenever this takes place. And I know that this is a funny trope and that many people imagine that their stuff will be discovered as historical artifacts. And it’s kind of funny in that he wonders “Will future people know, for example, about sound of airplanes going over at night, since airplanes by that time passé? Will future people know sometimes cats fought in night? Because by that time some chemical invented to make cats not fight?” For who hasn’t wondered about what will be around in the future. But these examples (which are preposterous) set a tone which does not match the rest of the story. And that whole future generation trope gets discarded after a few entries. I’m not sure if that’s another joke because he explains things like cars and books but not what Semplica Girls are, but I found it very disjointed.
So the first (obvious) joke is that he says he will write for 20 minutes a day and he misses the very next day. But we learn the situation that the diarist is in–he and his family are in trouble financially. Their car bumper has fallen off, they have huge debt, and their daughter’s birthday is approaching. They had just gone to the daughter’s friend’s house where opulence and grandeur are the norm. This immediately makes the narrator uncomfortable. This is also the first sighting of the SG in the yard. (more…)
[cue music]:
SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5 FM & WRXP 101.9 FM.
The CD player in my car died. I have been listening to the radio these last few days. At first I was a little 
excited at the thought of listening to these stations that I so recently discovered. But let me say, when working outside in the yard, you don’t mind what the stations are playing as much as you do when confined in a car.
I had read this short book about six months ago, but decided to read it again before posting on it. The second time through was a much more satisfying read for some reason.
SOUNDTRACK: AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-“Sometime Around Midnight” (2009).
I’ve been hearing this song on the radio a lot lately (WRFF especially seems to play it a lot). But they never said who it was! I liked it, but I was sure it sounded like an old song. Ack, but what was it? I kept coming up with a band called Dear Mr. President. And then I heard the truth. It was the Airborne Toxic Event.
30,000 views may not be a milestone for many blogs. But, for a blog like this which was intended mostly as a record of what I’ve read, the fact that I’ve had 30,000 views is pretty exciting. And it seems appropriate to let you, the readers know what you the other readers have been reading here. So, here is the top ten most read posts on I Just Read About That… with a director’s commentary tacked on.
