SOUNDTRACK: MOGWAI-Ten Rapid (1997).
The release of this disc hot on the heels of Young Team rather confused me, especially when trying to keep track of which discs were “real” and which ones were compilations. This one is a compilation. It’s subtitled: (Collected Recordings 1996–1997). And the fact that it has ten songs on it tells you just how much they released in those two years. (It appears that they released 4 or 5 singles, although all the songs don’t seem to appear on Ten Rapid, and there seems to be a song or two unaccounted for. Wikipedia also suggests that some of the songs were re-recorded for Ten Rapid. Gosh, what’s a completist to do?). And given all that they released back then, it’s also a surprise at how short this collection is (just over 30 minutes).
The amazing thing is how much the disc sounds like a complete recording and not a collection of singles. It is mostly Mogwai’s slower, quieter pieces, and the overall tone is one of “mood” rather than “songs.” And, for those of us who thin of Mogwai as a really loud band, the prominent use of glockenspiel comes as something of a surprise (as does the quiet singing on two of the tracks).
The opener “Summer” is not the same as “Summer [Priority Version]” on Young Team. This one is a beautiful track with glockenspiel while the YT version is much heavier and darker. “Helicon 2” (also known as “New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 2”), is a wonderful track with an interesting riff and texture. On a recent live disc, it was expanded greatly. “Angels vs Aliens” and “Tuner” are the two tracks with vocals. They’re both rather quiet and kind of soothing.
“I am Not Batman” is mostly washes rather than a riff based song. “Ithica 27ϕ9” is one of their best early songs. It’s also the one track here that really experiments with sound dynamics. It opens with a beautiful melody that swirls around for a bit. Then the loud guitars come screaming out until it returns to that melody (and all in under 3 minutes).
The final track “End” is an entirely backwards recordings. Wikipedia says that it is “Helicon 2” backwards, and I’ll take their word for it.
[READ: March 8, 2011] Donald
This book is a speculative piece of fiction that answers the question: what would happen if Donald Rumsfeld was sent to Guantanamo Prison. Note also that the cover is a parody of the cover of Rumsfeld’s own memoir (released around the same time).
The main character is clearly Rumsfeld, although he is never mentioned by his full name, always “Donald.” But his description and his biography make it obvious that it is him. There is a Note at the end of the book which states that the information about Donald is as accurate as possible.
First we see Donald in a library, presumably working on his memoirs. He is accosted by a young kid who asks him questions. Donald is annoyed by the kid and more or less blows him off. Donald then has a fancy dinner with his wife and “Ed and Peggy” (two people who I can’t place historically).
That evening, masked people break into Donald’s home and haul him off to a prison (he is bound and his head is covered so he doesn’t know where). The rest of the book sees him taken from one prison to the next, tortured in various ways (nothing too graphic, most of the torture consists of thinks like disrupting sleep, keeping the temperature really hot or really cold, and asking him lots and lots of questions, sometimes for 20 hours at a time. There is no physical torture (again, it’s not graphic). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-The Fearless Freaks 1986-2006 (2006).
This is an assemblage of ten recordings from twenty years of The Flaming Lips. It’s something of a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, but it’s more of a collection of rare and unavailable tracks. Most of the tracks are live, and, since I’m not a big collector of unreleased works, they were all new to me.
SOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-Everything to Everyone (2003) & Barenaked for the Holidays (2004).
Everything to Everyone. I was pretty down on this album when it first came out. I remember being rather disappointed in it because BNL had, gasp, matured somewhat, and were making more “serious,” less “wacky” songs. To me, the whole CD was somewhat flat. But, after a recent listen (possibly the first time in 4 years) and expecting the worst, I was pleasantly surprised by the record.
Barenaked for the Holidays. This has become one of my favorite Christmas/holiday records (and it’s a good time of year to be writing about it.) It ranks up there with Brave Combo’s It’s Christmas, Man, 
South Park’s Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics, 
Sufjan Steven’s great boxed set Presents Songs for Christmas, 
and Brian Wilson’s What I Really Want for Christmas, 
which has also quickly jumped to the top of my Xmas list.
SOUNDTRACK: GUIDED BY VOICES-Universal Truths and Cycles (2002).
I Just Read About That... 