September 3, 2010

Music for (Labor Day) Weekends: Moon Duo, Sharon Van Etten, TV Buddahs

Posted by Jason Diamond

As we pointed out the other day, we’re putting on a show at Knitting Factory with our buddies from Sacred Bones Records.  Moon Duo (pictured above) is headlining, and they are awesome.  It’s like if you took Suicide and made them peace loving Krautrockers, this is the end result.

Listen: Moon Duo – “Dead West”
I thought Sharon Van Etten’s 2009 album, When I was in Love, was a perfect example of somebody picking up where Chan Marshall decided to leave off when she got lazy and started doing only covers.  I’m pretty sure her next album, Epic, will not only fail to be a great follow up, but will hopefully do a good job of living up to the title of the record.

Listen: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”

Oh, hello TV Buddahs.  Your Israeli born (currently residing in Germany) brand of proto punk that sounds like early Television demos is a very welcomed thing.  You are fantastic and I love you.  Please don’t ever change.

Listen: TV Buddahs – “Fun Girls”

September 3, 2010

Why is it so Hard for Us to Sell Our Books?

Posted by Juliet Linderman

I am a pack rat. I keep everything–t-shirts that no longer fit but remind me of that one show I went to when I was 14; notebooks from classes I took freshman year of college when I still thought I was going to be an oceanographer; valentines from middle school boyfriends. More than those things, though, and like so many people, I collect books. Even ones I didn’t particularly like, I find it difficult to get rid of them. Many of my books serve as markers of milestones and important moments in my life. The experience of reading certain texts are indicative of where I was–and who I was–while reading them. My books, in many ways, are physical reflections and manifestations of my memories. Like so many objects, they are triggers. For example: I’m not a huge Kundera fan, but I will never forget reading the Unbearable Lightness of Being when I was 18; or when my roommate gave me an old, worn out copy of Moby Dick that she’d found at a thrift store on the day of our college graduation; or the hours I spent with James Joyce’s Dubliners in my University’s mammoth library while I was preparing for my colloquium; or the distinct difficulty of carrying Robert Caro’s epic 1,000+ page Powerbroker in my backpack to read on the subway, when I was just beginning to discover my interest in geography and politics. Those texts will always be important to me, but the books themselves–complete with my illegible notes, dog-eared pages, graphite smudges and coffee stains, are significant, too. Over at the Christian Science Monitor, Mark Gottleib talks about his own experiences hoarding and storing, and eventually selling, his books.

September 3, 2010

Travel Like Rachel Shukert

(Via The Forward)

September 2, 2010

Dick Watching: Cutting In

Posted By Juliet Linderman

Hey Dick fans! We’re back with some luscious dick-related links for your perusal and viewing pleasure. Enjoy: We know you will.

1.       Some guy in Delray Beach, Florida has got a whale of a tale to tell you! Or, actually he’s just got a whale tail….that he illegally lopped off of a Pygmy Sperm Whale that washed up on the beach this morning. According to a witness, the dude sliced off the poor whale’s tail with a pocket knife and made off with it, allegedly to “make soup.”  According to the CBS 12 news article, “It’s not clear why the whale washed up on the beach,” so if that’s the part of the story you find strange, I’ve got no answers for you. The article also states that, “A witness told CBS 12 that he saw a man cutting the tail off of the whale who told him the tail was the tastiest part.” So, dear dick-lovers, the lesson here appears to be: If you come across a talking whale who has mysteriously washed up on the beach, you’re not allowed to take his tail, even if he told you that it tastes delicious.

2.       Thar She Blows! Australia legit blew up–as in, exploded–a sick whale today, after it got stuck near Albany’s Princess Harbour. The 12-ton whale was unable to free itself so DEC opted for a “controlled implosion to the whale’s cranium.” Brutal. Also: Disgusting. Please, nobody swim near Princess Harbour for a few days.

3. The Baltimore Sun includes our beloved tome in a list of books to read while you’re marooned in your house due to Hurricane Earl, describing it as “The classic whaling/quest novel, cited by many but read by few.” Whatever.

4. In weirder news: In Japan, two Greenpeace activists may face an 18-month jail sentence after stealing a box of salted whale meat:
“Suzuki walked into the facility on April 16, 2008 and took a 23-kilogram (50-pound) box labelled     “cardboard and vinyl”. In a local hotel room, he and Sato opened it before a running video camera. “It was as if I had discovered parts of a corpse,” Suzuki, 43, said at their trial, held in the same city. The box contained 10 salted pieces of “unesu”, cuts from the whale’s throat, underneath plastic and clothing.” Apparently, Greenpeace claims that the “Tokyo Two” did steal, and did tresspass, but they did so in order to expose the industry as guilty of using whales killed in the name of science for commercial use.

5. Over at the Faster Times, Michael Shapiro’s got an interview with Greenpeace co-founder Paul Watson of the Sea Shephard Conservation Society.

6. Greenpeace again, but this time they’ve joined forces with a Netherlands-based video game developer to create a video game based on confrontations between Greenpeace and Japanese whaling ships, ‘non-violently,’ of course:

“The simulator… reinforces our commitment to peaceful direct action….”

I think this awesome. But honestly this video game is probably really boring. I’m not big on violence, but really? No touching?

“If you ram a whaler, for instance, your game is over.”

September 2, 2010

Franz Kafka and a Mystical Hasid Walk Into a Bar…


Posted by Jason Diamond

If you care equally about Hasids and things that are Kafkaesque, then Burnt Books (Nextbook) is pretty much the greatest book to ever come out.

September 2, 2010

Ranking: Interpersonal Billboard Top 100, Week of September 1st

Posted by Nick Curley

The only criteria for the list below was that I had to hear the song in full over the last seven days, and that it had to at least on some level captivate me.  They are numbered from best to worst for your convenience.  Please enjoy.

  1. The Embarrassment, “Celebrity Art Party”.  One of my favorite songs ever, I listen to it often and am always surprised by how fast and purdy the guitar lick is.  YouTube is the progressive cultural development of the last decade.
  2. Guided by Voices, “My Valuable Hunting Knife”.  There is always a GBV song-of-the-moment, and lately this is it.  I am truly floored by how much the riff buzzes: this sounds like it was recorded in a soup can and is all the better for it.  Important to note the Alien Lanes version is the keeper, not the weird cleaned up take from the Tigerbomb EP from which they made a weird video aping the Breeders and Dinosaur Jr.
  3. T. Rex, “Children of the Revolution”. Keep reading →

September 1, 2010

Vol. 1 Brooklyn and Sacred Bones Present: Moon Duo & Crystal Stilts, 9/17

On September 17th, Vol. 1 Brooklyn and Sacred Bones Records will bring you a night of mind blowing sonic love.  Moon Duo (from San Francisco, members of Wooden Shjips), Crystal Stilts and Messages (members of Psychic Ills).

One night only.

September 1, 2010

Appreciation for Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast

Posted by Jason Diamond

I listen to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast religiously. The last time I tried to do anything religiously, I found myself on a plane headed towards Israel with a bunch of Hasids asking if I wanted to make a mitzvah as I attempted not to vomit from the turbulence.

I don’t do religion well, but I make sure to download Maron’s weekly podcast as soon as it becomes available. Comedians are (usually) bright people. They are also usually very interesting conversationalists, and Maron does a fantastic job of having smart talks with comedians that doesn’t make me think that it’s just a pissing contest of one liners, or people trying out material. Keep reading →

September 1, 2010

Morning Read: Tao Lin’s “Audrey” from “Shoplifting from American Apparel”

Over at Thought Catalog, an excerpt from Tao Lin’s story from the upcoming anthology Coming & Crying.

A quick glance over the story comes up with the following: “vaguely zombie,” “666,”  “Mario 64,” “Rick Moody,” and more.

August 31, 2010

Six Degrees of Paris Review

Adam Wilson reads his “Love Letter to Elvis Costello” at our Greatest 3-Minute Record Review event then Adam Wilson publishes said letter over at The Paris Review blog.  Coincidence?  Absolutely not.  But we like to think so.