largehearted boy: a boy, a girl, and his radio

May 9, 2008

Book Notes - Tao Lin ("Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy")

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that is in some way relevant to their recently published books.

Tao Lin returns with his fourth Book Notes essay, this time for his second poetry collection, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. These poems are deceptively simple and draw the reader in with their depictions of ennui and loneliness, always with a sense of humor and gentle humanity that breathes them to life.

Jeffrey Brown wrote of the book:

"Tao Lin's poetry passes by slacker-era irony and self-indulgent formalism to dig up something deeper and more human, even when that something seems on first reading to merely be depressed hamsters."

In his own words, here is Tao Lin's Book Notes essay for his latest poetry collection, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy:

I wrote Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy while on tour with my band “ “Spanish Rilo Kiley” in Taiwan and Japan. I played drums and my friend played keyboard and “sang.” Taiwan has a 24-hour mall and we lived there for four days. I slept inside a circular display of clothing. Just kidding, our band has not toured Taiwan or Japan. Taiwan has places where people pay money to sit indoors fishing from a small concrete “pond” and then grill the fish that they catch and eat it while still fishing. People do this “for something to do” like people in America might take walks inside shopping malls or go on deep sea fishing trips. Some of these places in Taiwan have giant shrimp instead of fish. Some of the places do not use bait or reel, you hold a pole and move it around until the hook goes into a fish’s scales then you “pull,” or “yank,” the fish out of the water. I have done this before, when I was ten or eleven. It was like a video game. I wouldn’t do it today.

I feel good when I look at an album or book and see that someone was selective about what to include. I think this means I “value excellence” or something. But I don't feel bad when I see that someone has “put a lot of shit” together into a book or album. I think it’s “funny.” “Either way is okay with me somehow.” I just put an entire sentence inside quote marks and it was not a quotation. When I start using quotation marks for single words or phrases I feel the urge to put everything in quotation marks. I think it’s because I become aware that the words and ideas already “exist” as possibilities and therefore I am, sort of, “quoting” no matter what I type—the sentences are not really “mine.” This might be “Zen” of me. It felt good to put an entire sentence in quotation marks. I felt calm and detached. I edited Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in a lot of places including in my bedroom in Florida. I remember editing it in Florida. I “laid out” every page on the floor in order, separated into four sections, and thought about it for three weeks or something, staring at it from different angles moving pages around and writing things on it. I listened to “emotional and sincere yet quiet, catchy, pleasant, and unobtrusive” music during this period of editing, I think it was mostly Rilo Kiley and Neva Dinova (songs off their split with Bright Eyes). I tried to be very selective in what I put into Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

At some point in my life I want to publish a book where I “just put all my shit into it” in a random order. People will probably like that because it will include my “screwing around” stories and poems and people like my “screwing around” things according to what I have read on the internet. Taiwan seems to me like “someone just put all their shit into it.” Japan seems to me like the “selective” version of Taiwan. I have been to both places and like them both.

I don’t know what to type about Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. I tried to type some things about it but then typed those other things. Here are some songs I like that can be listened to on the internet and why I like them.

“Dual Monotone Thoughts” – The Stupid Stupid Henchmen

I like the lyrics, I feel they are “original” and “exciting.”

“Members Only” – The Mad Conductor

I like the piano and lyrics.

“The Devil and my Family” – The Devil is Electric

I like the lyrics and the girl’s harmonies.

“Oh, Susquehanna” – Defiance, Ohio

I like the drums and the girl’s voice.

“I Grow Like a Plant” – Erin Tobey

I like her voice.

Those songs are not related to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. I had not listened to any of these songs when I “wrote” Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. The song I listened to most while working on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy might be “Studying Stones” by Ani Difranco. It was on the computer I was using. I didn’t listen to Ani Difranco before that or after that except a year later sometimes I searched that song on Youtube because I missed that period of my life a little and wanted to listen to the song to be reminded of how I felt during that time. I don’t think I have more things to say about Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or music right now. I think those songs I listed above would make a “nice, varied” mixed CD. I was “selective” with it. It had more songs at first but I deleted them. I was going to type an essay of all lies, saying things about “Spanish Rilo Kiley” touring Taiwan and Japan and how I wrote Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on banana leaves in reaction to the coconut merchants “deep in the mountains of rural Taiwan,” or something, but I felt stupid and “bad” and changed things to not have any lies.

Tao Lin and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy links:

Tao Lin's Book Notes essay for his novel, Eeeee Eee Eeee
Tao Lin's Book Notes essay for his short story collection, Bed
Tao Lin's Book Notes essay for you are a little bit happier than I am

the author's blog
the author's myspace page
the author's Wikipedia entry
excerpt from the book

reviews of the book

Art Nouveau interview with the author
Bat Segundo Show interview with the author
Publisher's Weekly interview with the author
litpark interview with the author
other interviews with the author
Tao Lin's poetry online
Tao Lin's stories online

also at Largehearted Boy:

Previous Book Notes submissions (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
directors and actors discuss their film's soundtracks
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2008 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2007 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2006 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2005 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2004 Edition)

tags: books music poetry chronicfatigue peggymunson

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May 9, 2008

Shorties

Popmatters examines the music praising US presidential candidate Barack Obama that is popping up around the world.

The puppy dogs of America have aged seven or eight years since the exhaustingly long Democratic primary opened for business, and in that time a niche artform has blossomed in the black diaspora: the Barack Obama Praise Song. The rhythms and melodies range from Jamaican Reggae to Kenyan Benga, but that pulse of a people’s collective hopes racing into the ether is unmistakably familiar: “Yes, We Can” sounds the same in Luo as it does in English. By the time Puerto Rico puts a wrap to this extended season of American Political Theater with its June 3rd primary, some globe-trotting multi-cultural record label—say, Putumayo or Mango—should have the goods for a compilation titled “Obama-mania: World Music Edition.”

Wilco's John Stirratt talks to Lawrence.com.

“It’s been an amazing culmination to have this band appear after so many years and be the best live version of the band,” Stirratt says. “I’d like to make records that we feel are even better than the previous one. The goal is to make the next record really surprising. ... But I’m proud of every record. I’m proud looking back.”

New Music Strategies lists what should (and shouldn't) be on a musician's MySpace page.

Minnesota Public Radio's The Current features Tokyo Police Club with an interview and in-studio performance.

Drowned in Sound interviews Dave Longstreth of the Dirty Projectors.

Doubleday has set up a YouTube channel of videos for Chuck Palahniuk's new novel, Snuff.

The San Francisco Bay Times profiles Heloise and the Savoir Faire.

While drawing comparisons to The B-52s and Blondie, whose Debbie Harry has named the group her favorite new band and lends vocals to two tracks, Heloise & The Savoir Faire are now gaining avid fans across the country.

The Washington Post's Express profiles the Cave Singers.

Pretty Girls Make Graves' fans may be puzzled by the traditional, Dylan- and Guthrie-esque stylings of the project, but The Cave Singers are no hackneyed tribute: The band's organic, coolly wistful Americana is intricate enough to garner broad appeal — and the members' rock pasts suggest a receptive audience far wider than a stale folk niche.

The Oregonian interviews Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie.

Yeah, it's kind of amazing you guys have hit the decade mark. Did you ever think it would last this long?

Absolutely not, in no way. I only really realized that I was in a band and this is what I do like two years ago, I think, maybe three or four years ago. Not that long ago. It always felt like I was supposed to be doing something else, and I'm not (laughs). I guess this is what I do. That's great. I've finally accepted it, it's all cool; this is what I do.

The San Francisco Chronicle reminisces about gonzo author Hunter S. Thompson.

The Guardian examines Krautrock.

"They were breaking down what rock music was meant to be and dismantling it from a West German point of view," says Jim Backhouse, co-presenter of Resonance FM's weekly Kosmische Krautrock show. "But not like Frank Zappa, cynically taking rock music apart just to dismiss it as silly frippery. They did it with a genuine sense of awe and wonder. When they put it back together again, it was with the absolute joy of doing it for its own sake. That's why it still sounds so exciting."

Happy belated birthday, Thomas Pynchon.

Velocity Weekly interviews Sloane Crosley about her essay collection, I Was Told There'd Be Cake.

My favorite piece in the book is one that tells the story of your semi-willing participation in a bridal party. I love the way it blends humor and insight. Do you find that a lot of your insights about life come from observing the absurdity in situations?

Sure. I think what's funny is, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The funny story, or feeling that that story is a source of meaning or insight? Hopefully there's insight or some sort of core of meaning to all of the essays.

The Mental Floss blog lists 4 must-read books for aspiring writers.

Music-map offers visual relationships between musical artists.

Queen guitarist & astrophysicist Brian May talks to NPR's All Things Considered about his book, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe.

NPR's All Things Considered offers a "great unknowns" music showcase this week.

IGN reviews the music in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

Publishers Weekly's Notes from the Bookroom blog is looking for book reviewers.

The 2008 Coachella music downloads page has been updated with a lossless download of Justice's performance.

also at Largehearted Boy:

2007 online music lists
Daily Downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
this week's CD releases

tags: music books popculture indie news

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Bittorrent Brunch (The Hold Steady, Radiohead, and more)

Today's free and legal recordings of live shows, rarities, and demos available via bittorrent:

British Sea Power: 2008-05-06, Carrboro [flac]*
other British Sea Power posts at Largehearted Boy

Bruce Springsteen: 2008-05-07, Red Bank [flac]*
other Bruce Springsteen posts at Largehearted Boy

Built to Spill: 2008-02-24, San Francisco [flac]*
other Built to Spill posts at Largehearted Boy

Drive-By Truckers: 2008-05-06, Pontiac [flac]
other Drive-By Truckers posts at Largehearted Boy

The Hold Steady: 2008-04-11, Milwaukee [flac]*
other Hold Steady posts at Largehearted Boy

Jeff Tweedy: 2008-01-12, Barrington [flac]*
other Jeff Tweedy posts at Largehearted Boy

Kathleen Edwards: 2008-04-10, New York [flac]*
other Kathleen Edwards posts at Largehearted Boy

Radiohead: 2008-05-06, Tampa [flac]*
Radiohead: 1992-2007 ,The Radiohead Live Hub CollectionVvol. 04 Kid A Live (live compilation) [flac]*
other Radiohead posts at Largehearted Boy

Ryan Adams: The Suicide Handbook live compilation [flac]*
other Ryan Adams posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Bittorrent Brunch entries

2008 SXSW music downloads and streams
2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival downloads
2007 Lollapalooza downloads
2007 Bonnaroo downloads
2007 Coachella music downloads

previous music festival downloads

tags: music download flac bittorrent bittorrents torrents

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Daily Downloads (Matmos, Billy Bragg, and more)

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Billy Bragg: "I Keep Faith" [mp3] from Mr. Love & Justice
other Billy Bragg music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

The Histories: several tracks [mp3]
other Histories music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Longwave: one new track [mp3]
other Longwave music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Matmos: "Rainbow Flag" [mp3] from Supreme Balloon
other Matmos music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Music Go Music: "Light of Love" [mp3] from Light of Love (out May 20th)
other Music Go Music music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Robyn: "Cobrastyle" [mp3] from Robyn
other Robyn music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Rumspringa: "Gold Mine" [mp3] from Rumspringa EP (out June 24th)
other Rumspringa music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Sarandon: "Massive Haircut" [mp3] from Kill Twee Pop!
other Sarandon music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Thomas Feiner and Anywhen: "The Siren Song" [mp3] from The Opiates (out June 9th)
other Thomas Feiner music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Women: "Black Rice" [mp3] from Women (out July 8th)
other Women music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

2008 SXSW music downloads and streams

previous Daily Downloads
music festival downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD releases

tags: music download indie mp3

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

May 8, 2008

Book Notes - Sloane Crosley ("I Was Told There'd Be Cake")

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that is in some way relevant to their recently published books.

Sloane Crosley's essay collection I Was Told There’d Be Cake has been compared to the works of David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell, but the similarity I see most is to Dorothy Parker. Crosley's unique and surprisingly strong narrative voice makes this debut collection stand out from the rest of the year's nonfiction. Clever, funny, and skillfully told, I Was Told There’d Be Cake is hopefully the first book of many for this talented author.

The Los Angeles Times wrote of the collection:

"The essays in this exquisite collection, Crosley’s first, spin around a young woman's growing up and her first experiences in a big city, New York, as it happens. The voice feels a little like Nora Ephron's, a little like Dorothy Parker’s and David Sedaris’, although Crosley has a spry wistfulness that's very much her own."

In her own words, here is Sloane Crosley's Book Notes essay for her book, I Was Told There'd Be Cake:

My book is called I Was Told There’d Be Cake and it’s about rodeo clowns. Rodeo clowns are the only true clowns that we have as a culture. Because they are either inherently sad – both in their own private melancholy and the way in which the word “sad” is sarcastically used as a behavioral judgment -- or they hold in them the probable potential for sadness because they’re going to get violently bucked off a moving beast. “Sad clown” is a redundancy. There’s some statistic – I don’t know where it is, but I’m sure you can find it on the internet – about clowns being, like, the eight scariest thing there is after “dentists,” “blood,” and “Nazi memorabilia.” And the rodeo clown makes no bones about that. He knows his place in the world and in the pen. He knows that as a source of fear in women, children, and little people of both sexes, his only hope of defining himself is to straddle a full-grown male bull with horns the size of human femurs. In this way, the rodeo clown tackles the deepest parts of his soul and he does it with a bright nose/outlook and a silly hat. It’s happy clown vs. sad clown, kind of like Spy vs. Spy or the Archibald MacLeish play J.B. without all the theological references or deeper meaning of any kind. I Was Told There’d Be Cake very much about mirrors this dichotomy of going through a life that is often tough by making the best of it. It is about the light at the end in the darkness and that is also what the rodeo clown is about. It’s his (or her!) m.o. As an example, I will tell you that the most famous rodeo clown in history is called “Flint Rasmussen,” a name which sounds very much like the result of mixing one’s first pet and first street name to produce one’s porn star name. And what’s more funny-but-actually-a-little-sad than PORN? I Was Told There’d Be Cake? I don’t flatter myself. But I will say this: some of us are bulls and some of us are reading this. But inside each of us is a very tiny rodeo clown. And if our inner rodeo clown had a soundtrack is would be this:

“Fairytale of New York,” by The Pogues

I defy you to listen to this song and not want to mainline Guinness, get stupid, and hop on a raging bull. If you’ve never heard it, it has the joy of a genuine surprise imbedded in it and I can’t think of many songs that truly transform like that, both in the actual notes and the way they make you feel. It’s sweet and romantic and prickly all at once.

“Fuck and Run,” by Liz Phair

“I can feel it in my bones, I’m gonna spend another year alone.” While my book does not harp on being single, I certainly was single for a good portion of it. Specifically the portion where I’m, like, 9. But beyond that as well. This line has always gotten to me. As if I’d been unconsciously holding my breath until this song came along and told me to stop doing because it does what every song should do: makes you feel like you’re commiserating. Actually, the “Cassettes Won’t Listen” version is even better.

“Don’t Need A Reason,” by Beth Orton

Seems wrong to explain a song called “Don’t Need A Reason” so I won’t. I’ll just say that this album is perhaps the only one I have ever purchased strictly from a review. It must have been 1997 and I read a review in the back of Surface* magazine, got in my car, drove to the store and bought it.

“Something Pretty” by Patrick Park

Definitely starts off sounding like something you’d find stuck on a semi-abandoned jukebox (rodeo clowns unite!) but then turns into something pretty soulful. Not so awesome for writing humor but in truth, the music that best chimes with “humor” is generally stuff you’d want to dance to and it’s hard to dance and write. Logistically.

“Under My Thumb,” by The Rolling Stones

Was this on The Big Chill soundtrack? If not, why? It always reminds me of The Big Chill. Then again, so does Kevin Costner for the exact same reason. It’s also just a fantastic song. I don’t mean to deprive it of any classic great song qualities by saying this but it’s a bit like tofu. A song that will pick up whatever mood you’re in and play to it.

“Me & Mr. Jones,” by Amy Winehouse

Winehouse? Total rodeo clown. She’s “sad” in all the appropriate ways and her soulful music, though annoyingly popular and poppy, is pretty great to listen to if you pretend you know nothing about her. Very much like that dirty wallpaper that looks like a harmless French Country side pattern, but upon closer examination is actually a bunch of peasants making out and doing drugs.

“All Along the Watchtower,” by Bob Dylan

This song always makes me feel like I’m in a movie montage on someone writing, especially if I’m on my laptop and in a specific corner of my apartment. Plus, I know it so well (as does everyone in the English-speaking world) that the lyrics can actually fade away and the melody is strangely motivating because of the way it builds.

“A Girl Like You,” by Edwyn Collins

If this song were an animal, it’d be a slutty viper. That’s really all there is to it.

“Ain’t Nothing But a Heartache,” by The Flirtations

This song is weirdly hard to find. I had it on a mix but lost the mix and then I tried to find it on i-tunes and i-tunes gave me the run-around, eventually forcing me to download this kind of techno “I should have been left at the Limelight” version. Which upset me, but which I listened to anyway, the way you’ll listen to a decent song when you’re driving somewhere desolate and it’s the first thing to come through the static that’s not talk radio. But then – hurrah! – I found the mix so it’s back and I could never imagine growing sick of it. The sadder it gets upon multiple listens, the more it makes you smile to yourself.

Sloane Crosley and I Was Told There'd Be Cake links:

the author's website
the author's MySpace page
the author's Wikipedia entry
the book's video trailer
the book's page at the publisher
excerpt from the book

Bookforum review
Christian Science Monitor review
Forbes review
Los Angeles Times review
New York Observer review
Newsday review
San Francisco Chronicle review
Seattle Times review
Stop Smiling review
Time Out New York review
Velocity Weekly review

Authors@Google video of the author's reading
Bostonist interview with the author
Entertainment Weekly profile of the author
KQED feature on the author
Minneapolis Star Tribune review
New York Observer profile of the author
The Phoenix interview with the author
Radar interview with the author
San Francisco Chronicle profile of the author
USA Today profile of the author

also at Largehearted Boy:

tags: books music nonfiction memoir sloanecrosley

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Shorties

The University of Wisconsin's Daily Cardinal lists an assortment of study break songs.

The Georgia Strait profiles El Perro del Mar's Sarah Assbring.

Assbring acknowledges that El Perro del Mar seems tailor-made for May days when the world seems colour-saturated with tulips and daffodils. With From the Valley to the Stars, though, she had something bigger in mind.

“I understand how you could place the albums in totally different seasons,” she says. “With this one [Valley], though, I think I’d rather have it placed in a space where there are no seasons. The triggering idea for the album was that time when you’re flying and you get just above the clouds and realize that the sun is always shining.”

MP3.com interviews singer-songwriter Sera Cahoone.

The Chicago Reader profiles Sybris.

The album Sybris recorded at Pachyderm, Into the Trees (Absolutely Kosher), is more modest than the legendary albums from the studio, but the tunes wouldn’t sound out of place on a mix tape next to Nirvana or early PJ Harvey. Sybris’s jumbo guitar tones and uncomplicated songwriting style have a lot in common with the unflashy 90s indie rock that most of the band came of age listening to. “We weren’t trying to be more grunge or anything,” says Naumann, and Mullenhour cuts in to explain: “The grunge is in us,” she says.

The Georgia Straight profiles Lykke Li.

“It’s pleasant to have all this hype on blogs, but it’s going to be gone tomorrow,” she suggests. “What happens if the Internet crashes—is my career over? I’d much rather be like Edith Piaf, just singing on the streets for years and then reaching out to people.”

Eye Weekly also interviews Li.

Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend talks to the Telegraph.

When he was a child, his parents would play him British music by the Beatles, the Specials and Ian Dury, as well as Talking Heads records. "It made me realise that music is a fusion of elements. Even Ian Dury has an African influence here and there." But the influence is there to complement the group's sound, not to define it. As Talking Heads' David Byrne wrote in his web journal last year: "They're not a 'world music' act by any stretch; these styles of playing are all just out there now, to be used when appropriate."

TIME readers interview author Toni Morrison.

In the Washington Post, Jonathan yardley reconsiders John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.

Why is it that the work of this earnest but artless writer continues to enjoy such astonishing popularity? It's not hard to understand why his books are widely assigned in middle and high school English classes; they are easy to read, they are honest in their portrayal of working-class Americans, they passionately support basic American values and principles even when they criticize particulars of American life. Whatever their literary shortcomings, they have an integrity to which young readers respond.

Cartoonist Art Spiegelman talks to the Georgia Strait about the state of popular culture.

“Class distinction is not entirely gone. For instance, Barack Obama is being painted as too highbrow—‘Hey, this guy reads and thinks. Yuck!’ In the art world, yeah, there has been a kind of strange interweaving of what used to be called high art and low. In a way, Harold & Kumar Go to Abu Ghraib, or whatever it’s called, may now be as pungent a political statement as Errol Morris’s new documentary.”

The New York Daily News examines the benefits of soundtrack albums to television shows.

Still, since soundtracks mostly license existing music and thus are cheap to produce, selling even 10,000 or 20,000 copies can make the release a success.

For shows such as "Six Feet Under," "Felicity" and "General Hospital," a CD is almost like part of the promotion budget - an "added-value" item tailored for core fans.

Popmatters interviews Mark Kozelek.

In an op-ed piece, the Guardian examines the controversy surrounding Justice's new music video.

It is easy to look at Justice's video and think of the character's actions as repugnant. However, aside from the actions of few angry casseurs, acts of political rebellion are vital and deeply formative. They are, like May 1968, emblematic of the French left's deep-seated conviction that it is OK to say "no" and demand more from a government that is failing its youth.

The Guardian profiles Spice Girl cum author Geri Halliwell.

"I feel like I've hung up my hotpants now," she said. "I'll always try and be honest about myself. I've finished as a solo artist. Right now I just feel really comfortable writing books."

Shakespeare + Zombies = Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (watch the trailer).

SketchTheatre has created a video for the Aesop Rock remix of the Mountain Goats song, "Lovecraft in Brooklyn."

Kelley Deal of the Breeders talks to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about recording with Steve Albini.

"He's such a character," Deal says of the acerbic and opinionated Albini.

"He records in analog. You bring equipment in, he sets up the mikes and you go and you play. The audio that he gets is incredible, and the studio that he has — he's a great person to work with."

Los Angeles CityBeat reviews Michael Chabon's collection of essays, Maps and Legends.

Maps and Legends is a treasure trove of intriguing and revealing looks at where Chabon goes to make up his worlds and how he tells his fables of the reconstruction.

The Telegraph profiles former Jam frontman Paul Weller, who turns 50 this month.

Weller's career can be divided into three distinct chapters. There were his years with the Jam, Mod-revivalists who emerged from the convulsions of punk to become one of the most successful British bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, with 18 consecutive top-40 singles. Then there was the Style Council - a different musical direction, soul-jazz (and a different haircut), who again enjoyed a run of success until petering out in the late 1980s. Weller's career seemed to be all but over; then came his remarkable renaissance as a solo artist in the 1990s, when he was acclaimed as the 'Modfather' of Britpop, lauded as one of Britain's finest songwriters and garlanded with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Brits in 2006.

Galleycat chats with Michael Chabon and Richard Ford about genre in fiction.

"I don't know why it's such a big deal," Ford said of the genre-straddling, to which Chabon replied, "The people it matters the least to are the ones who are doing it. In so many other artistic mediums, it's not weird at all." He cites the career of filmmaker Robert Altman, who went from war comedy to private eye story to western (to take just one short segment) with ease. "The fact that he was working in all those genres—that's standard operating procedure in Hollywood."

The Futurist features in-studio mp3s from Matt Pond PA's recent WOXY Lounge Act performance.

Cracked lists the creepiest comic book characters of all time.

Minnesota Public Radio's The Current features the Black Kids with an in-studio performance and an interview.

The 2008 Coachella music downloads page has been updated with bittorrent downloads of the shows by the Black Kids and Death Cab for Cutie.

also at Largehearted Boy:

2007 online music lists
Daily Downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
this week's CD releases

tags: music books popculture indie news

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Bittorrent Brunch (Jeff Tweedy, Drive-By Truckers, and more)

Today's free and legal recordings of live shows, rarities, and demos available via bittorrent:

Drive-By Truckers: 2008-05-04, Grand Rapids [flac]
Drive-By Truckers: 2008-05-03, Chicago [flac]
Drive-By Truckers: 2008-05-02, Indianapolis [flac]
other Drive-By Truckers posts at Largehearted Boy

Glossary: 2008-05-04, Grand Rapids [flac]
other Glossary posts at Largehearted Boy

Jeff Tweedy: 2008-04-05, Winnetka [flac]
other Jeff Tweedy posts at Largehearted Boy

Kathleen Edwards: 2008-05-01, Milwaukee [flac]*
other Kathleen Edwards posts at Largehearted Boy

The Nels Cline Singers: 2004-02-26, Petaluma [flac]*
other Nels Cline Singers posts at Largehearted Boy

Portishead: 2008-04-11 [pal dvd]*
other Portishead posts at Largehearted Boy

Raconteurs: 2008-05-03, Austin [flac]*
other Raconteurs posts at Largehearted Boy

Stephen Malkmus: 2008-04-26, Coachella [flac]*
other Stephen Malkmus posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Bittorrent Brunch entries

2008 SXSW music downloads and streams
2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival downloads
2007 Lollapalooza downloads
2007 Bonnaroo downloads
2007 Coachella music downloads

previous music festival downloads

tags: music download flac bittorrent bittorrents torrents

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Daily Downloads (Tilly and the Wall, Jason Anderson, and more)

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Charles Bradley: "Now That I'm Gone" [mp3] from Daptone 7 inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2 (out June 3rd)
other Charles Bradley music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Cineplexx: "Espiral" [mp3] from Picnic (out June 24th)
Cineplexx: "Droga Paliativa" [mp3] from Picnic (out June 24th)
other Cineplexx music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

The Eye The Ear and The Arm: "The One with the Gold Tongue" [mp3] from Paths
other The Eye The Ear and The Arm music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Jason Anderson: "You Already Have" [mp3] from Life Sucks Love Sucks Dose Out
other Jason Anderson music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

The Long Blondes: "Here Comes the Serious Bit" [mp3] from Couples
other Long Blondes music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Mudhoney: "I'm Now" [mp3] from Lucky Ones
Mudhoney: "In 'n' Out of Grace" [mp3] from Superfuzz Bigmuff (remastered with bonus disc)
other Mudhoney music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Rocketship Park: "Seasons" [mp3] from Off and Away
other Rocketship Park music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

Tilly and the Wall: "Cacophony" [mp3] from O (out June 17th)
other Tilly and the Wall music blog posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

2008 SXSW music downloads and streams

previous Daily Downloads
music festival downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD releases

tags: music download indie mp3

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May 7, 2008

Note Books - Michael Carreira (Cryptacize)

The Note Books series features musicians discussing their literary side. Past contributors have included John Darnielle, John Vanderslice, and others.

Cryptacize features Nedelle Torrisi, Chris Cohen (formerly of Deerhoof) and drummer Michael Carreira.

The band's album Dig That Treasure, was released February 19th on Asthmatic Kitty and is as refreshing a debut as I have heard all year. Popmatters captured the essence of the band's music in their review of the disc:

"Cryptacize’s music is disarmingly spare. Although both Cohen and Torrisi sing, they tend to stay out of each other’s way, harmonizing only when necessary. Drummer Michael Carreira provides faint hints of backbeat with an array of nonstandard percussion, employing a restraint and creativity that would make Maureen Tucker nod in approval. Bass is nowhere to be found, and negative space frequently acts like a fourth member of the band. This band knows how to do a lot with a little, though, taking great pains to construct musical backdrops that perfectly match the emotions expressed in their lyrics."

Many thanks to Michael Carreira for sharing some of his recent reading with Largehearted Boy.

In his own words, here is the Note Books entry from Michael Carreira of Cryptacize:

Lone Wolf: Eric Rudolph: Murder, Myth, and the Pursuit of an American Outlaw by Maryanne Vollers

Vollers tells the fascinating tale of Eric Rudolph, the guy who bombed the Atlanta Olympics and several abortion clinics. She covers the whole story; his childhood, a disappointing stint in the military, his running circles around the FBI and ATF as they fruitlessly hunt him, his capture and trial. My favorite part tells of his early survivalist explorations. As a teenager he would often leave school on Friday afternoon and spend the entire weekend in the mountains with little more than a decent knife, returning directly to school on Monday morning in the same clothes but otherwise healthy.

Although Vollers mostly writes Eric Rudolph off as a lunatic religious extremist, she does manage to make you wonder. This is a man who risked everything in order to make the world (in his twisted eyes) better. In a different time or place he could easily be a hero. Don't most of us wish we had the kind of courage to sacrifice everything in service of our own sense of right and wrong?

On the Nature of Things by Titus Lucretius Carus

More than two thousand years ago this Greek really tried to figure things out - a lot of things; sight, hearing, taste, smell, sleep, dreams, love, sex, the seasons, day and night, thunder, lightning, hail, rain, snow, ice, cold, heat, wind, earthquakes, volcanoes, atoms, death, the universe, etc. Considering the vast advancements in scientific knowledge over the past twenty centuries it is hard to believe the number of things he seems to get right. I wonder if two thousand years from now people will be as amazed by our current understanding of ourselves and the natural world.

Imagination in Chess: How to Think Creatively and Avoid Foolish Mistakes by Paata Gaprindashvili

This instructional book contains over 700 diagrams of critical moments from chess games played over the past fifty years. I love this book because it works in so many different ways. It is very useful as a guide for improving your game. The wide variety of problems get your brain seeing big patterns and basic concepts while building the kind of stamina and confidence necessary to be competitive.

Each group of diagrams is prefaced by a short introduction. The chapter called "Imagination" not only describes the kind of thinking necessary to find the best move but also grapples with some big issues: "We may say that imagination is endangered not by knowledge but by generalization from it, for they entail various subconscious inhibitions. And yet generalizations from knowledge are a human characteristic that is essential to life. How can this contradiction be resolved?" In the pages following Gaprindashvili works out his answer via several dozen chess diagrams.

Also, the sustained concentration necessary to think just a little beyond the fringe of your current abilities can be thrilling. Gaprindashvili manages the difficulty of the problems in such a way to encourage these thrills at every turn.

Cryptacize and Dig That Treasure links:

the band's MySpace page
the band's page at Asthmatic Kitty

Crawdaddy! review
Glide Magazine review
Harp review
Popmatters review
Tiny Mix Tapes review

Cryptacize posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

Previous Note Books submissions (musicians discuss literature)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
Soundtracked (directors discuss their film's soundtracks)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2008 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2007 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2006 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2005 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2004 Edition)

tags: books music literature asthmatickitty cryptacize indie

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Shorties

Parade magazine is polling its readers about the importance of federal funding for public broadcasting.

At the Washington Post's Post-Rock blog, the best Destroyer album is debated.

Epitaph Records has started a blog.

Popmatters examines the art of video game writing.

Lucie Ceccaldi, mother of author Michel Houellebecq, talks to the Guardian about her memoir, The Innocent One.

But now Ceccaldi has emerged from her beach-hut on the French Indian ocean island of La Réunion and today publishes her own memoir answering back. She calls her son an "evil, stupid little bastard" adding that "this individual, who alas came from my womb, is a liar, an imposter, a parasite and above all - above all - a petit arriviste ready to do absolutely anything for money and fame."

"Bertie Wooster Takes a Stand" is a slash fiction cartoon inspired by the work of P.G. Wodehouse.

The Morning News lists a field guide to hipsters.

Cadence Weapon puts his iPod on shuffle for the A.V. Club.

Devendra Banhart, "I Remember"

Rollie Pemberton: This is from his new album, but I don't actually recognize this song at all. I don't know if you do this when you have a new album, but you know how you'll really attach yourself to certain songs, and it'll take you forever to listen to the whole album? I was really into that song "Carmensita." I'd play it whenever I DJed—it was a real banger. That and "The Other Woman" are both totally awesome songs. But I have no idea what this one is. I feel like this is going to happen a lot. I have a lot of stuff on my iPod, and a lot of it, I've never heard even once.

The A.V. Club: I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone DJ Devendra Banhart at a club.

RP: That song's hot as hell, though. It's a special case, because it's like a Latin party banger.

Newcity Chicago lists the city's "music 45," artists who "rock Chicago's music world."

Newcity Chicago profiles DeVotchKa.

Denver quartet DeVotchKa, which takes its name from Burgess’ Nasdat term, meaning "young girl," began its career as a backing band at burlesque shows (they even toured with Dita von Teese), and after a performance at the 2006 Bonnaroo festival were seemingly plucked from nowhere by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris to write the score for their hit yellow-van road flick, "Little Miss Sunshine." The band’s blend of folk music and Eastern European gypsy punk (violins, accordions, organ galore) brings a worldly taste the material—singer Nick Urata’s expressive, smoothly affecting voice spreads across the songs like butter to bread. For "Little Miss Sunshine," it was mostly instrumental—pretty enough, modestly moving, but for "A Mad & Faithful Telling" (ANTI-), DeVotchKa’s new full-length, the elements are in full force and the swirling soundscape could drive you a bit bezoomny.

The National Post's Ampersand blog lists the best musician bloggers.

Publishers Weekly profiles its "comics class of '08," including cartoonists Dash Shaw and Hope Larson.

Minnesota Public Radio interviews Keith Gessen, author of All the Sad Young Literary Men.

Drowned in Sound profiles Bon Iver.

NPR is streaming Lou Reed's April 22nd Washington performance.

The Futurist recaps Cursive's recent WOXY Lounge Acts session with a couple of in-studio mp3s.

The 2008 Coachella music downloads page has been updated with bittorrent downloads of the shows by the Black Kids and Death Cab for Cutie.

also at Largehearted Boy:

2007 online music lists
Daily Downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
this week's CD releases

tags: music books popculture indie news

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