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Archive for the ‘Sex’ Category

Neal Pollack–The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature (2000)

Posted in Adventure, Airlines, Books about writers, Death, Demons, Dip-in Books, Drinking, Drugs, Essays, Eyes Wide Shut, Funny (ha ha), Henry Louis Gates, James Joyce, LGBTQ, McSweeney's, Neal Pollack, Oprah, Racism, Sex, Smarty Pants, Sonic Youth, Threats, Toni Morrison, Violence on August 3, 2009| 1 Comment »

nealSOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Made in USA (1986 released in 1995).

usaThe liner notes explain a lot of what was behind this disc.  The then largely unknown Sonic Youth was asked to score a cool indie film, which later became a less cool more mainstream film and ultimately went straight to video.

The CD is mostly background music, but it is notable for how mainstream it sounds (for Sonic Youth in the mid-80s) and for how bad it sounds–like it was recorded in a can.

It’s mostly completely listenable soundtrack mood music.  It’s nothing to rush out and buy, especially if you like the noisier SY stuff, but, and this is something of a shock, its sounds quite nice, almost ambient at times.

If you’re interested in this sort of thing, it’s worth noting that “Secret Girl” from EVOL appears in a slightly different form (twice actually).

[READ: July 29, 2009] The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature

This is the first book published by McSweeney’s Books.  And it is indeed handsome, with a nice yellow ribbon for marking your page.

And so, who is Neal Pollack?  Well, as you all know, Neal Pollack is the greatest living writer today.  He has been writing for decades and has written some of the most important books, and the most important articles that anyone has ever read. His book on life as an African America has not only impressed Oprah, but it has inspired Toni Morrison and Henry Louis Gates.

And, as you can see from the back of the book, everyone from Hunter S. Thompson to Normal Mailer sings his praises. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Slaughterhouse Five or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty Dance with Death (1969)

Posted in Death, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), History, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage (Happy), Military, Nazis, Prison, Record Labels, Sex, Slaughterhouse Five, Smarty Pants, Sonic Youth, War on July 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

s5SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Bad Moon Rising (1985).

Abadmoonnother Sonic Youth record, another record label.  Bad Moon Rising is a pretty big leap from Confusion is Sex, in that there are actual songs.  Well, that’s not fair, what I mean is that the songs have structure like proper songs do. In fact, “Death Valley ’69” (with vocals by Lydia Lunch) is quite catchy!

Indeed, the band doesn’t shy away from catchy at all.  The opening track, “Intro” is a pretty one-minute guitar piece.  And it’s followed by “Brave Men Run (In My Family)” a catchy (!) song sung by Kim.  The third track “Society is a Hole” returns to the stark tracks of yore, with Thurston’s despairing vocals, but it introduces guitar harmonics, a key SY staple in songs to come.

And if you like ” I Love Her All the Time,” and who doesn’t, check out this footage from a 1991 concert (complete with Thurston using drumsticks on his guitar).

Despite these signs of lightening up, there are some pretty heavy sounds on this disc.  “I’m Insane” and “Justice is Might” sounds kind of like you might think they would based on their titles.

The band has definitely gotten control over the noise they want to make; it doesn’t seem to be enveloping them, (like it envelopes the listener), it’s more at their beck and call.  We’re not quite to the levels that prime SY will sound, but it’s pretty darn close.

And songs from the attached Flower EP are okay, but “Flower” is especially good. It has a cool “Love the power of women” spoken piece from Kim that foreshadows some of her really fantastic songs to come.

And just to be difficult, they end the disc with the one-minute “Echo Canyon” which is just as it sounds,an echoic noisefest.

[READ: July 16, 2009] Slaughterhouse Five.

What is worse?  Reading a book and not remembering a single thing about it, or not reading a book but convincing yourself that you have?  I am stuck with this dilemma as I realize that one of the two options applies to me and Slaughterhouse Five.

I was certain that I read Slaughterhouse Five.  In fact, I was certain that I knew exactly when I read it (my junior year of college on Super Bowl Sunday, when I blew off the Super Bowl party to read the book).  I realize now that it must have been some other book (but what could it have been?) as I had no recollection of Slaughterhouse Five.  At all.  Even though the cover of my mass market paperback  (which I can’t find online anywhere) was completely familiar and there’s even a dog eared page or two.  Huh.

The first thing I want to say about the book is, having read all of the novels that Vonnegut wrote before S5 was a real boon to reading it because so many of the characters from the other books appear in this one!  More on that in a moment.

The book is also about the air attack that obliterated Dresden, Germany.

Amazingly, and this is common knowledge after you read the book, Vonnegut was in Dresden at the time of the air attack.  (more…)

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Wallace Shawn–“Is Sex Interesting?” (Harper’s, August 2009)

Posted in Essays, Funny (ha ha), Harper's, My Dinner with Andre, Romance, Sex, Smarty Pants, Sonic Youth, Swans, The Princess Bride, Toy Story, Wallace Shawn on July 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

harpersaugSOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Confusion is Sex (1983).

confusionOn the Sonic Death album, a collection of live recordings from 1981-83, Thurston mentions that they are touring with the Swans, a New York City doom and gloom band of thunderous proportions.  [This was before the Swans put out their first album, an incredibly slow, bass heavy bombastic disc of nihilism.  I can only imagine how raw they were BEFORE that one.]  Anyhow, that explains somewhat why this disc sounds like it does…if they were a part of a scene with the Swans, then their music would naturally be all about notes, not necessarily music.

There’s a lot of slow, brooding pieces on this disc.  The bass is heavy and rather ponderous, and the vocals are pretty scary.  Although the inclusion of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” is an interesting cover choice.  The guitars are angular and quite harsh.  “Confusion is Next” is a stark song sung by Thurston and “Making the Nature Scene” is a similarly stark song sung by Kim.  These two tracks show that the disc is not all one style.  But the overall theme is consistent all the way through.

Later on, Sonic Youth would sound angry but it was often directed at something.  On this one they just sound angry.  Confusion is Sex is an interesting stepping stone to some really amazing Sonic Youth discs that will appear shortly. You can tell that they’re in there somewhere!

The remastered disc adds the Kill YR Idols EP which is more of the same.  But the live recording of “Shaking Hell” just goes to show how freaking scary a SY show must have been back then.  It also confirms anyone’s suspicion that the scariest member of the band was definitely Kim Gordon!

[READ: July 18, 2009] “Is Sex Interesting?”

Wallace Shawn is best known for a lot of things.  He was the “Inconceivable” guy in The Princess Bride, he is the voice of Rex in the Toy Story films, and he is the star and writer of My Dinner with Andre (among many other things).

I enjoyed My Dinner with Andre, both reading and watching it, and I rather enjoy reading what Wallace Shawn has to write.  So, I was pretty excited to read this which comes from a collection of essays called Writing About Sex.

vazziniI can’t help but hear his voice when I read his words, which makes it sound even funnier.

He writes that he is a sixty-four year-old man, and people seem to think that he is too old to be writing about sex (which he has been doing since he was 14).   And yet he (still)  thinks that sex is interesting to write about.  And he wonders why. (more…)

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Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen Adventures (Issues 1-5)

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Music, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jim Massey, John Layman, Military, Outer Space, Robbi Rodriguez, Rush, Sci-fi, Scott Chantler, Sex, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, Tom Peyer, Violence, Wikipedia on July 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

tekSOUNDTRACK: RUSH-Retrospective 3 (2009).

retro 3This disc filled a hole that the public had been really clamoring for: a collection of the most popular songs by Rush from the 1990s until today.  [cue crickets chirping]. Okay so this period isn’t exactly the best selling Rush era, and many people probably didn’t even know that they were still around (they weren’t for a while, but then they came back with an amazing vengeance).

Back in the 1980s I was a huge Rush fan. They were hands down my favorite band. I don’t like them any less than I used to, I just like a lot of other bands more now.  And yet this era of Rush’s music has some of my favorite of their songs, and they’re pretty much all here.

Disc One is a selection of tracks and Disc Two is a DVD of all of their videos. Perhaps the most interesting thing to me is that if you compare the videos track list to the audio tracklist, they don’t jibe as much as you might think.  This leads me to believe that the band doesn’t think that their original singles were the best songs from the discs (and I agree, I think the track listing of the CD is much stronger than that of the videos).

Presto is one of my favorite discs of this era, as are their two most recent releases Vapor Trails and Snakes and Arrows.  Test for Echo, on the other hand is one of my least favorite discs of theirs.  The last time I listened to it I thought it was pretty terrible (and yet I am very surprised to see how well liked it is by Rush fans in general).  Nevertheless, all of these discs are well represented here.

And speaking of their videos, I have to say that Rush has some of the w(and every one was directed by someone different it seems) they’re just terrible.  They always seem to have a “plot” of some sort, yet it is elliptical and lacking in specifics.  It frequently involves a teenaged boy, often shirtless, in some kind of peril.  The only parts I like are the band scenes, because it’s fun to see a) Alex’s hair b) Geddy’s hair and c) Neil’s scowl.

One of the major selling points of this disc is that the two tracks from Vapor Trails are remixed.  Anyone who knows Rush knows that their releases are definitive.  You don’t get remixes or even B-sides out of this band.  So for them to release a different version of these songs is pretty amazing.  I wonder what’s up with that.  Research suggests that the band was never happy with the quality of Vapor Trails, and there are rumblings that they’d like to remix the whole disc.  I hope they do, as these sound great.

But the real selling point is the bonus video: a live interview/recording from The Colbert Report.  As I mention below, I simply don’t watch the Report as often as I ought, so I had no idea the band was even on.  I wish that Colbert had let them speak a little bit more, even if the fawning and funny questions are really great and show what a sense of humor the band has (as does the “cheering fans” that Alex has on his board).  And “Tom Sawyer” (which, I get as it’s their hugest song, but really they had to play a song that’s 27 years old?) sounds great.  And they clearly have fun with it.

If you’re on the fence about getting this disc, those two items should convince you to pick it up.

[READ: June 30, 2009] Tek Jansen

I enjoy the Colbert Report.  Quite a lot.  And yet, I don’t watch it very often.  I find the idea of committing to a daily show (like The Daily Show) is just impractical.  And so, even though Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are queued up on my TiVo, I rarely have the time to watch them.

And so, it was news to me that Colbert had the character of Tek Jansen on his show. I heard about this series via Oni (who publishes it, and all good comics).  I also just learned, (thanks Wikipedia) that there are animated shorts of this character which I must track down.  In fact, heck, for the hilarious background of the origin of this comic, just read this. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #5 [Timothy McSweeney’s Small Trembling Thing That You Hold in Your Hand and Pet Slowly with Your Dirty Fingers/Timothy McSweeney’s Small Box Half-Full of Shiny Gems and Itching/Timothy McSweeney is Staring Like That, Why Does He Keep Staring?/Timothy McSweeney’s Fervent Hope That Things Build from Here and Stay Good for You and Those You Love/Sometimes Not Believing How Great This All Is/Ted Koppel’s Very Very Special Thing] (2000)

Posted in 6500, Alastair Reed, Ann Cummins, Ben Greenman, Ben Marcus, Bible, Bob Mould, Books about writers, Camera Obscura, Chad Willenborg, Colleen Werthmann, Consuetudinary, Consumerism, Courtney Eldridge, Daniel O'Mara, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Donald Barthelme, Dreams, Dystopia, Elizabeth Klemm, Essays, Flash Fiction, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Grant Hart, Hüsker Dü, J. Robert Lennon, Jason Ockert, Joshua Bearman, Joshuah Bearman, Lawrence Weschler, Lydia Davis, Marcus Aurelius, Marie Curie, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Meta, Minnesota, Neurotics, Newsweek, Outer Space, Paul Collins, Paul Maliszewski, Rodney Rothman, Sarah Vowell, Sex, Short Story, Steven Barthelme, Susan Minot, Ted Koppel, The Day the Earth Stood Still, This American Life, Uganda, Unlikable main character, Unreliable narrator, Violence, Wikipedia, Work on July 1, 2009| 3 Comments »

back coverSOUNDTRACK: HÜSKER DÜ-Metal Circus EP (1983).

HuskerDuMetalCircusAfter 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.

What strikes me as odd in retrospect is that I think of Bob Mould as one of alternative rock’s poppier songwriters.  And yet when you listen to this disc the two poppiest (which is a relative term to be sure) tracks are by Grant Hart.

The first two tracks are fast and furious.  But what separates them from 4 x 4 hardcore is, mostly Greg Norton’s bass.  He’s all over the place.  There’s also some diversity within the songs themselves (a little guitar squeal in “Deadly Skies”).

“It’s Not Funny Anymore” (Hart’s song) is surprisingly upbeat (with guitar harmonics) and is not quite as noisy (although it’s still pretty noisy, and is not going on the radio anytime soon).

The next two track are more of Mould’s screamy hardcore.

The longest song (4 and a half minutes) is also by Hart. “Diane” is a creepy song about abduction and murder (yet with something of a  singalong chorus).  I actually know the Therapy? version better because I had listened to that disc a lot when it came out.  But the Hüsker’s version is even creepier.  Wikipedia says it is about a real incident (which makes it less creepy than if Hart has made it up, I suppose).

It ends with Mould’s least hardcore song, although the guitar solo is pretty insane.

And then it’s over.  7 songs in twenty minutes.  That’s nearly half as many as on Land Speed Record.  You can see the songs changing already.  Just wait till the next disc!

[READ: June 29, 2009] McSweeney’s #5

McSweeney’s #5 plays with cover ideas again.  On this one, frontthe cover idea is actual different covers and slipcovers.  The book is hardcover, with three different cover designs.  It also has 4 different slipcover designs. The colophon explains that if one wanted one could have requested for free) each of the cover designs because they did not intend to make people buy multiple issues.  Click on the covers to see them enlarged on flickr (all images are copyright McSweeney’s).

This is the Koppel front cover.

I will quote from the McSweeney’s site their description of the covers:

As many of you know, the new issue of our print version is out, and by now is in most stores. This issue is a hardcover book, and features four different dust jackets. One dust jacket has on it a man who seems to be suffering from terrible skin lesions. The second cover looks very much like the cover of Issue No. 1, with the addition of a medical drawing of a severed arm. The third cover is blank, with all of its images hiding on the back. Hiding from the bad people. The last cover is just red. Or, if you will, simply red.

In addition, under each dust jacket is a different cover. One features pictures of Ted Koppel. One features new work by Susan Minot. And a third features a variation on the second cover, described above, though this version is legible only with aid of mirror. This inner cover also is featured under the red dust jacket.

I was quite surprised when I took the slipcover off mine, (more…)

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Jospeh Boyden–“The True Sorrows of Calamity Jane” (The Walrus, July/August 2009) [Summer Fiction Issue, Genre: Western]

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Joseph Boyden, Moxy Fruvous, R.E.M., Sex, The Walrus, Violence, Western on June 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrusjuly SOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-You Will Go to The Moon (1997).

moonMoxy Früvous’ fourth disc is their most well-rounded. It runs a full gamut of styles from pop to silly to ragga and a capella.

“Michigan Militia” begins the disc with a banjo-fueled rap about well, the Michigan Militia. It is topical, (meaning dated, although I suppose they are still around) and takes a pointed look at right-wingers. “Get in the Car” is upbeat and poppy, an R.E.M.-type alterna-rock song. “Ive Gotta Get a Message to You” is a Bee Gees cover! And it is as catchy as the Bee Gees can be (although far less disco-y).

“Lazlo’s Career” is a smooth folksy acoustic track with fun interstitial bits.
There’s some mellow tracks in the middle, until “No No Raja” breaks out some cool middle eastern sounds. “The Incredible Medicine Show” is a great psychedelic-Beastlesesque song about plastic surgery and other quick fixes. Catchy and pointed.

Meanwhile, “Your New Boyfriend” is fast paced and great (“Your new boyfriends a bit…of a right wing shit”). “Kick in the Ass” is hilarious barbershop (with drums) song about people who deserve a kick in the ass (telemarketers calling during supper, that guy who wrote the book about the bell curve). “Boo Time” is a jazzy fast paced bit of nonsense.

“Love Set Fire” would be the closest to “The Drinking Song” or “Gulf War Song” (from Bargainville), but doesn’t quite reach the majesty of those masterpieces. And finally, the title track is a full a capella treat about futuristic life on the moon.

There’s a funny thread on Amazon reviews about this disc being anti-American.  Yet really the only people who should be offended by “Michigan Militia” is the Michigan Militia.  It’s not anti-USA it’s anti-creepy-right-wing-separatists.  Plus, listen to all of the US fans singing along to it on Live Noise.

[READ: June 24, 2009] “The True Sorrows of Calamity Jane”

This story is the final of the four stories in The Walrus‘ Summer Fiction Issue.  This one is described as a Western, although it’s only a Western in that it is set in the West and concerns Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok.  Now, I don’t know a single thing about these two characters, historically.

Did they date?  Beats me.  But in this story they did. And the narrator is the offspring of Calamity Jane (but not Wild Bill).  (more…)

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McSweeney’s #31

Posted in Anachronisms, Barzum, Biji, Bill Cotter, Books about writers, Charlie Chaplin, Consuetudinary, Corporate skewering, David Thomson, Death, Digression, Douglas Coupland, Duan Chengshi, Dystopia, End of the World, Ernest Hemingway, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Barr McCutcheon, Graustarkian Romance, History, James Hannaham, Jessica Anthony, John Brandon, John Cusack, Joy Williams, Legendary Saga, Mary Miller, McSweeney's, Meta, Miguel de Unamuno, Minnesota, Nicolas Chorier, Nivola, Oddities, Orson Welles, Pantoum, Plato, Poetry, Religion, Say Anything, Senryū, Sex, Shelley Jackson, Short Story, Sight & Sound, Smarty Pants, Socratic Dialogue, Supernatural, Susan Sontag, The Replacements, Threats, Violence, Virginia Woolf, Virginity (Loss of), War, Whore Dialogue, Will Sheff on June 12, 2009| 2 Comments »

31SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Hootenanny (1983).

hootThis is the second full length from The Replacements.  For a band that just released two punk albums (one’s an EP), naming your new one Hootenanny is pretty ballsy.  As is the fact that the first track sounds like, well, a hootenanny (even if it is making fun of hootenannies.)

However, the rest of the album doesn’t sound like hootenannies at all.  In fact, the rest of the album is all over the place.  I don’t want to read into album covers too much, but the design has all 16 titles in separate boxes in different colors.  It suggests a little bit of stylistic diversity inside.

Just see for yourself:  “Run It” is a one minute blast of some of the punkiest stuff they’ve done. (It’s about running a red light).  Meanwhile, “Color Me Impressed” marks the second great alt-rock anthem (after “Go”) that Westerberg has put on record.  “Willpower” is a sort of spooky ambient meandering piece that, at over 4 minutes is their longest piece yet.  “Take Me to The Hospital” is a punky/sloppy guitar song.  “Mr Whirly” is sort of an update of the Beatles’ “Oh Darlin.'”  “Within Your Reach” is technically the longest Replacements song to date.  It starts with a cool flangy guitar sound that swirls around a fairly mellow vocal track (this song was featured in the end of Say Anything.  John Cusack cranks the song up past the red line).  “Buck Hill” is an (almost) instrumental.  “Lovelines” is a spoken word reading of personals ads over a bluesy backing track.  “You Lose” is the first song that sounds like another one…a sort of hardcore song.  “Hayday” is a fast rocker like their first album.  And it ends with “Treatment Bound” a sloppy acoustic number that sounds like it was recorded in a tin can.

As you can see, this album is all over the place, and almost every song sounds like they may not make it through to the end.  Yet, despite all of the genres represented, the band sounds cohesive.  The disc just sounds like a band playing all the kinds of music that they like, and the fact that there are a couple of really lasting songs on the disc makes it sound like more than just a bar band.

I feel as though not too many people even know of this disc (it was the last one I bought by them, as I couldn’t find it for the longest time).  But in reading reviews, I see that people seem to really love this disc.  I enjoyed it, and, like other ‘Mats discs, it’s certainly fun, but I don’t listen to it all that often.

[READ: June 9, 2009] McSweeney’s #31

The latest issue of McSweeney’s has a totally new concept (for this journal, anyhow):  They resurrect old, defunct writing styles and ask contemporary writers to try their hands at them. I had heard of only two of these defunct styles, so it was interesting to see how many forms of writing there were that had, more or less, disappeared.

Physically, the issue looks like a high school yearbook.  It’s that same shape, with the gilded cover and the name of the (school) on the spine.

Attached to the inside back cover is McSweeney’s Summertime Sampler. As far as I know this is the first time they have included a sampler of multiple upcoming works.  There are three books sampled in the booklet: Bill Cotter’s Fever Chart; Jessica Anthony’s The Convalescent & James Hannaham’s God Says No. I enjoyed all three of the pieces.  Fever Chart has stayed with me the most so far.  I can still feel how cold that apartment was.  The Convalescent begin a little slow, but I was hooked by the end of the excerpt. And God Says No has me very uncomfortable; I’m looking forward to finishing that one.

As for #31 itself:

The Fugitive Genres Recaptured (or Old Forms Unearthed) include: pantoums, biji, whore dialogues, Graustarkian romances, nivolas, senryū, Socratic dialogues, consuetudinaries, and legendary sagas.  Each genre has an excerpt of an original writing in that style.  Following the sample is the modern take on it.  And, in the margins are notes in red giving context for what the author is doing.  I assume these notes are written by the author of the piece, but it doesn’t say.

I’m going to give a brief synopsis of the genre, but I’m not going to critique either the old piece or whether the new piece fits into the genre exactly (suffice it to say that they all do their job very well). (more…)

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Craig Raine–“Love Affair with Secondaries” (New Yorker, June 1, 2009)

Posted in Art Brut, Cancer as plot device, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Craig Raine, Frank Black, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Pixies, Rage Against the Machine, Russia, Sex, The Big Bang Theory, The Replacements, Violence on June 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

newyorker jun1SOUNDTRACK: ART BRUT-Art Brut vs. Satan (2009).

art brutI’ve mentioned Art Brut before. I enjoy their talky/punk style. This, their new album, is produced by Frank Black of Pixies fame.  I can’t honestly say that I see a real difference in production values, but I don’t usually notice things like that.

What I did notice is that Art Brut are branching out a little bit from just having  Eddie Argos dramatically reciting his lyrics. On “What a Rush” there’s a group chorus of “Parents, please lock up your daughters.”  And on “Summer Job” there’s a “woah ho o oh” singalong bit from a different band member as well as a sung chorus.  But aside from that they are still the same Art Brut.

The focus of Argos’ rants this time seems to be very music-centered.  “Slap Dash for No Cash” describes the kind of recording style he likes (and which was presumably used on this disc).  Meanwhile, “The Replacements” is all about his shock at only just now discovering this awesome band (and his further shock that they are almost old enough to be his parents). And, of course, there’s the ever present concern of an indie band disliking and being disliked by the mainstream: “How am I supposed to sleep at night when no one likes the music we write? The record buying public, we hate them: This is Art Brut vs. Satan”

Argos’ lyrics also return inevitably to love and sex and drinking (not necessarily in that order) with “Alcoholics Unanimous” and “Mysterious Bruises.”

There’s also a song that absolutely must be used in a future episode of The Big Bang Theory (are you listening Chuck Lorre?): “DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake.”  Can you not see the perfect setup: the song is playing in the background, and as the woman that Leonard falls for leaves the comic book shop, the soundtrack breaks to the line: “I’m in love with a girl in my comic shop.  She’s a girl who likes comics. She probably gets that a lot.”

Many of their songs are funny, but to me they don’t come across as a joke band.  And despite Argos’ great delivery and witty lyrics, it’s the music that really sells the album.  You don’t notice at at first, but it’s what makes these songs more than just novelties.  The guitar solos and opening riffs are really memorable, and when the songs start, the punk guitar blasts are really catchy.

My one gripe is that on some songs, Argos repeats the same line.  A LOT.  So on “Mysterious Bruises,” a song I like, by then end I don’t want to hear him say that he’s had one Zirtec and two Advil again and again.  And that is the one pitfall that Art Brut can stumble into once in a while.  For most bands, a chorus that is sung many times can be catchy and fun to sing along to.  Art Brut’s spoken lyrics are fun to hear, and might be fun to shout along with in a concert, but hearing him repeat himself can be tedious when there’s no melody (I find this true of Rage Against the Machine as well, as Zach de la Rocha is the king of repetition.  The king of repetition.  The king of repetition.) Fortunately Argos doesn’t do it all that often.  And the album stands up to multiple listens.

[READ: May 27, 2009] “Love Affair with Secondaries”

This story, set in Moscow, concerns a man, his wife, and his mistress.  The man, Piotr, recently had some tests done to see if he inherited a familial cancer.  With this hanging over his head, he tries to prove to himself how alive he is by sleeping with his mistress Agnieszka.

The affair is conducted in his own house, because his wife Basia is out until late most evenings. One day Basia comes home while Agnieszka is still in the house.  As Agnieszka flees the house, Basia hits her with a blunt instrument; Basia later claims that she now has a tumor.  Piotr, wracked with guilt for cheating and for this presumed cancer doesn’t know what to do. (more…)

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Les Claypool–South of the Pumphouse (2006)

Posted in Chuck, Drinking, e.e. cummings, Fishing, Les Claypool, Marriage Trouble, Oysterhead, Phish, Primus, Ra Ra Riot, Racism, Rasputina, Sex, Short Books, The Futureheads, The Who, Vampire Weekend, Violence, Wikipedia on May 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »

pumphouseSOUNDTRACK: RA RA RIOT-The Rhumb Line (2008).

raraI have a hard time describing this album.  It has a lot of ingredients that don’t make sense individually, yet which work very well. I would almost resort to calling them pretentious rock, but that seems so derogatory.  Vampire Weekend falls into this category of highly literate pop too, and we know how much  I love that album!

Ra Ra Riot play catchy indie pop, but their main instruments are cello and violin. And yet they’re not anything like Rasputina’s string-laden goth music.  Rather, they write catchy poppy songs that are punctuated with strings.  I even wanted to say they don’t have a  guitarist, (they do) but I guess that just shows how well his licks meld with the rest of the music. And, indeed, on some tracks, the guitar is up front and wonderful.

They also get labelled pretentious because one of their songs (and one of their catchiest) has lyrics from e.e.cummings, or rather, they use his poem “dying is fine)but Death” as the lyrics for the song “Dying is Fine.”  They also cover Kate Bush.  Now the Futureheads covered Kate Bush a few years ago, so perhaps Kate is the next go-to artist for covers.

Ra Ra Riot wins extra points for covering a fairly unknown, and utterly bizarre song, “Suspeneded in Gaffa.”  This happens to be one of my favorite Kate songs, so I’m a bit critical.  However, they do a very good job of making it a pop song (There’s enough weird stuff in Kate’s version to never give it mainstream acceptance).  And the strings work very well for it.

Ra Ra Riot was also featured on that paragon of good taste: the show Chuck [And since I have mentioned the  music of Chuck on many occasions, I would be remiss if I didn’t send a shout-out to this site which lists all of the songs in Season One–gotta update Season Two fellas].  Chuck played “Can’t You Tell” in a romantic scene, and it worked quite well.

So, after all that, what can I say about the band.  They may be too commercial for some, but I think their combination of strings, intelligent lyrics and good vocals is pretty great.  Incidentally, in case you were wondering, a rhumb line  (or loxodrome) is a line crossing all meridians at the same angle, i.e. a path of constant bearing. Following a rhumb line requires turning the vehicle more and more sharply while approaching the poles (thanks Wikipedia).

[READ: May 26, 2009] South of the Pumphouse

So this book is by Les Claypool, lead singer and bassist of Primus.

Claypool’s lyrics are typically stories, full of weird characters in weird situations.  Oh, and fishing.  Lots of fishing.  And that sums up this book pretty well.

The book is set in El Sobrante, California, a redneck haven that has not progressed along with the rest of the state.  Earl is a fisherman and meth addict.  In that order.  Fishing is Earl’s life.  His father fished every weekend, and Earl and his brother Ed went with him.  Rain or shine. (more…)

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Periodical: The Washington Spectator

Posted in Free Speech, History, LGBTQ, Political Humor, Politicians, Prison, Religion, Sex, The Washington Spectator, Threats, TSA, Utne Reader, Violence, War, WMDs on May 20, 2009| 4 Comments »

Unsurprisngly there are no online images of this periodical which is all text and no pictures.

Unsurprisingly, there are no online images of this periodical which is all text and no pictures.

I don’t even recall where I first heard of The Washington Spectator, or when I even started my subscription (although it is going on at least ten years now). No one else seems to have heard of it, so maybe it’s printed just for me.

The Washington Spectator comes out every two weeks. It is a 4 page (that’s right, four page– it doesn’t even have a staple) newsletter that covers national politics. For the most part, every issue covers one topic.   Usually that topic is, if not ignored, then certainly under-reported in the mainstream press. And each issue is more or less an extended article about that topic.

The most recent issue’s main topic, for instance, is “Republicans Shocked, Shocked, by Partisan Behavior of Democrats.” And yes, this publication is pretty exclusively pro-Democrat.  It’s not even issues-related as much as it is party-related (unless that’s just because the last eight years basically just chronicled the offenses of the Bush White House and the Republican majority). (more…)

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