viva tirado

Love this song. Performed by Gerald Wilson. Not much of a video



It should be noted that his complete Pacific recordings are coming out in June.

comedy gold

This is hilarious. The non-hipsters don't know what happened. And the hipsters aren't quite sure if they can support the band anymore. But I can relate. I haven't got a clue who Antebellum are.

http://whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com/

jazz photos

Nice set of jazz photos from 1938-1948 being released by The Library of Congress. The photographer is William Gottlieb and the location is NY and DC. Click the picture for a link to all the photos.

small world

Here's an interesting story I just learned.  Elizabeth Fraser who sang for The Cocteau Twins covered a song called "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley.  In many ways her cover of the song is what made the song so famous and what has given it longevity.  Buckley died at a young age in 1975 from a massive drug overdose.  Ms. Fraser was 12 at the time.  Ms Fraser ends up dating his son Jeff Buckley, also a musician.  They recorded a song together.  They break up.  While she is recording "Silent Spring" for the Massive Attack collective, a song loosely about Jeff, he dies in a drowning incident in Memphis.

you spelled god wrong

Fascinating. "Elevator to the Gallows" or the original "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud" is now available on Netflix. Even better it's available for streaming via Watch Instantly. It's a Louis Malle film from the 50s. One of the French "New Wave" or nouvelle vague directors that's on my list of directors to run through their back catalog of films at some point (I'm currently going through Goddard). He is probably best known to my generation for his film "Au revoir les enfants". Interestingly Malle earned his chops as a cameraman for Jacques Cousteau. Ascenseur was his first feature film.

While the film is quite good, it is the soundtrack by Miles Davis that is the real treasure. It was recorded at Le Poste Parisien Studio on December 4-5, 1957 as Davis was disbanding his first great quintet (drug issues). And much like Kind of Blue was later created, it was recorded without any rehearsal or any kind of preparation other than some chord progressions. For example "Sur L'Autoroute" has the chord progression from "Sweet Georgia Brown". They just improvised the entire soundtrack with a few takes for each song while watching the movie on a screen in front of them. In fact some believe this was the very first example of this kind of improvisational recording approach. As one might guess, or perhaps not, each take is distinctive and not entirely like the previous one.

The music has an overwhelming melancholy feel to it. Some with better ears claim the sound from the horn is like no other recording from Davis. This is because part of Davis' lip kept sticking to the mouthpiece but he kept playing.

while he was playing, a tiny piece of skin from his lip got loose and stuck in the mouthpiece of his instrument. Miles gladly accepted this strange new element, in the literary sense of the word an 'unheard heard-of' musical effect, in quite the same way as those painters who often owe the plastic quality of their coat of paint to mere chance or coincidence. - Boris Vian

The soundtrack is available and contains both the clean takes as well as the final versions used in the movie where an echo effect is added to create an even more haunting sound. Both the movie and the soundtrack are worth your time.

There's a nice preview here:


And a clip from the movie here. It's not hard to see why Jeanne Moreau became famous after this role. I hear she's a good actress too.

roller disco

So as alluded to in a previous post I did in fact pick up Goldfrapp's Head First album. And along with her other work it helps cement her as pretty much the most interesting woman in music today (in my opinion). A musical chameleon. A intellectual version of Lady Gaga. Not to mention she's crazy good looking. The remarkable thing about Head First is it is a total tongue-in-cheek riff on 1980s era peppy music sung exclusively by women. Think Pat Benetar, ABBA, Irene Cara, Melissa Manchester, Laura Branigan, Olivia Newton John, Kim Carnes, Giorgio Moroder, etc. In fact it's got a decidedly "Jane Fonda workout video" vibe to it - leg warmers, jump suits, Top Gun, frosted blonde hair, Footloose.  Not the type of raw material that promising albums are made from. So tongue-in-cheek that it's hard to tell she's joking. I guess even I'm not sure she's joking.  It could be a love letter to her early influences.

But here's the thing. It doesn't matter. These songs are really good. I mean really good. This is probably her most interesting album to date.

You can view some songs below  (last two are unembeddable and a pre-rolled ad before the video).



here
and here

new music

Has music been sucking lately or is it just me? I haven't been inspired to buy anything in a long time. This is ironic because I'm almost exclusively using Pandora now and it seems like that service should be better than most at identifying new bands. Nothing. I got nothing. I've been making the rounds too. Somewhat less frequently. Pitchfork, NME, etc. Nothing. Absolutely nothing exciting.

Until today. I was filing through the Top 2010 albums (so far) on Amazon. Initially it was depressing. I went through everything and found nothing that inspiring. Sure I could pick up the new Goldfrapp. She's always good. But I have all her stuff and I'm looking for something new. Yea I know the new album is a change for her. But still. Okay I'll pick it up.

Anyway. I get through the whole list and nothing. Then I'm back tracking through the albums and realized I missed one.

The Drums


Now it's a little derivative. Obvious influences from The Smiths and The Cure and The Beach Boys (Does all modern music stem from Pet Sounds? I think so.) Plus maybe some Ocean Blue and the vocals have a bit of a Pet Shop Boys quality to them. But it has a weird combination of being more haunting and more silly than those bands. I can't quite explain it. Try this one on for size. And by the way do they look really young? Holy shit. And they're from Brooklyn. Bonus. And its $5.


So as I'm going through The Drum's back catalog on YouTube and frantically downloading everything, I stumble upon,

Washed Out


Great name. It fits the music. Here's a funny blurb from Wikipedia,

Washed Out is the stage name of musician Ernest Greene. In June 2009, Greene moved back home to the rural town of Perry, Georgia and started producing songs in his bedroom studio[1]. He soon won the favor of a number of influential music bloggers after they found his music on his MySpace page.

Welcome to modern music marketing folks. He's like a modern day Aphex Twin. They're calling this Chillwave which I think is a good name for the genre. And it obviously has shoegaze as a precursor. Other chillwave bands I haven't listened to include Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi, Millionyoung, Teen Daze, Memory Tapes, Collarbones, Night Bus, Blackbird Blackbird, Small Black, and Nite Jewel. I'm on it. Here's Washed Out. You'll get the sense initially that it's a slow R&B song from the 80s. Or maybe George Michael is going to start singing. But as soon as the vocals come in you'll be thinking Slowdive or Pink Floyd (the David Gilmore stuff). It's really good.


And most importantly. Both bands have put out solid albums. Every song a winner.

skareligious

Add ska to the growing list of musical genres that don't go with religion.  But I admit I did like the bit where he sings about how Jesus is his friend.



The Marilyn Manson cover isn't bad though.


And everything sounds better with a banging donk on it.

new music

When I was in undergrad I spent a lot of my time discovering new music from the soundtracks being played in retail stores.  Often I would hound the people working to help me discover what song I was listening to.  In many cases the people working there were the ones who chose the songs so it was easy to find out who the bands were.  Certain stores always seemed to play really good music and I picked up a lot of new bands that way.  So many songs in fact that I ended up becoming good friends with many of these people.  And in turn I ended up consolidating much of this music onto mixtapes that I then distributed to these same stores.  There was a time when I must have been servicing over 40 stores in the Minneapolis area.  And often I would walk into a store to have my tapes playing.  If I was smart I could have turned this into a business.

Music discovery for me is still one of the most exciting and frustrating experiences.  Well actually it was.  The first iPhone app I ever installed, and the one that continues to get regular use, is the Shazam app which can sample any song playing and tell who it is.  A complete revelation for a music junkie like myself.  Pure magic.  Pixie dust and all that.

At some point I realized I was going to be loading up on tons of music this way.  So what I decided is that I would wait until some time in the future and consolidate all the songs into one mixtape.  Actually it became a playlist.  This is the 21st century after all.  What the hell is a tape?  Tonight I spent a few hours downloading and setting up the playlist on my Sonos system.  In the interest of distributing some of this music like I did before I'll get into what was on my playlist.

But I also learned a couple things along the way.

1. I don't think it can be said that I like a few musical genres.  The list of songs is all over the place.
2. I own far too much music. So much that I forget what I already have. There are quite a few songs that were tagged in Shazam that I already own.
3. Some songs are difficult to remember because it doesn't seem possible it could come from the artist who performs it.  Got To Give It Up by Marvin Gaye is this very song.  I tagged it 4 (four!) times. And when I heard it at a party recently I tagged it for a 5th time.  I also then asked everyone who it was and no one knew.  When I told them it was Marvin Gaye there was disbelief.
4. As much as I'd like to deny it I do like some popular music and cheesy stuff.
5. I'm so removed from popular culture that I have to refer to my wife's laughs (scoffs?) to know if something I like is a top 40 hit.  I just have no clue if these are well known tunes or not.

Song List

You can listen to most of the songs here.

• The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition.  Oh you have to listen to this one.  Who in God's name do these guys sound like?  It's maddening.  Arggghhh!  The guitar has U2 written all over it.  But the vocals are something else.  Ocean Blue?  Icicleworks? [Update:  I think it's a blend of When in Rome, Big Country, Dream Academy, and Icicleworks.]
• Timbaland - Apologize.  Song number one that I would have never even ventured a listen to.  Even I know this must be popular.  Even I have heard of this guy.
• Metric - Help I'm Alive. Boy this is a great song.  Shades of Ladytron and Pixies.
• Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up.  Great song with a more danceable groove than most of his stuff.
• Ulrich Schnauss - Wherever You Are.  I already owned this double album.  My defense is electronica can be tough to identify sometimes.
• Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.  I've never really liked their music but this one caught my ear apparently.  Listening to it now it doesn't seem that great.  I'll give it some more time.
• MGMT - Kids.  I love this song.  I might have to check out the whole album.  Brooklyn Boys with a sound like a mix of The Knife and Peter, Bjorn, and John.
• Muse - Resistance.  Total cheese.  Epic cheese in fact.  But if you are going to do cheese, at least do it epically.
• The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow.  My wife laughed as this one came on.  Not a band I would give the time of day.  But this song has some of the appeal that a Pump Up the Volume had by M/A/R/R/S.  It's a great stripped down rhythmic song.
• Kevin Rudolf - Let It Rock.  My wife laughed at this one too.  Apparently it's popular.  I can see that.  It's a bit fluffy but it has a great chorus and the guys voice is interesting.
• The Bravery - Slow Poison.  This band does 80s music better than most 80s bands.  They picked up where The Cure has fallen down.  And in some ways do it better than The Cure.  Think The Killers with a bit of The Smiths and U2.  Or maybe it should be The U2 given those other band names.
• Thievery Corporation - Revolution Solution.  The best thing Perry Farrrell has done since the last Janes Addiction album.  He does vocals on the song in case you are confused.
• Tegan and Sara - Hell.  I know nothing about this band and I can't think of anyone they sound like and they are not terribly distinctive.  It's just a good driving, hi-tempo rock sound.
• Phoenix - 1901.  When I bought their first album it almost bordered on too cheesy.  They've actually matured quite a bit since that first album.  But they still have their catchy hooks and melodies.
• Miike Snow - Animal.  This is my favorite song of the whole list.  The singer is a dead ringer for Peter Gabriel and there is a touch of Kate Bush too (not surprisingly since she's kind of like Peter Gabriel).  And they've done something strange with the audio and when it's on it sounds like my wife is singing along to the song.  It's wild.  I keep looking over at my wife to make sure she isn't actually singing.  Buy this song!!
• The Swell Season - The Rain.  Folk music with a polish.  It's nothing too special.  Just a nice, well put together song.
• Georgie Fame - Yeh Yeh.  I used to hear this song when I was little.  It's sung by a famous English singer but it's actually a Latin soul number.  Georgie obviously, being English, takes most of the soul out but makes it poppier.
• Escape - Rupert Holmes.  Admit it.  You have no idea what this song is do you?  No friggin idea. Let me give you a hint.  The Pina Colada song.  Know you now.
• Muse - Knights of Cydonia.  Quite frankly hours of trying to master this song on Guitar Hero has made me like this song.  More epic cheese.
• Muse - Uprising.  I heard this a lot out in San Fran.  It's amazing how this band can walk the line of cheese and epicness so well.  I mean it's just almost on the verge of being too much of one or the other.  But they always hold it together.  Mean tightrope walkers, these guys are.
• Ladytron - Tomorrow.  Already owned this album and love the band.  This is a great song.
• Broadcast - Before We Begin.  This is the most remarkable song of the bunch.  It's just otherworldly and should be in a David Lynch movie.  It's just a stunning piece of work.  So simple and fragile and modern and antique.  If you told me this was made by a French 60's band who were way ahead of their time I would say, "Yes!" And you know what?  Who else is a French 60's band way ahead of their time.  If you said Stereolab you get 10 points.  And sure enough Broadcast was on Stereolab's label.  Awesome.
• The Lovemakers - Dance.  Electropop out of Oakland.  These guys are seriously channelling Alphaville and Human League.
• Metronomy - Heartbreaker.  Award for the weirdest song.  In my head this is being sung by a black buy from London.  The guy is white and from Devon of all places.  I get cognitive dissonance in my head from this song and I love it.
• Green Day - 21 Guns.  I sort of like Green Day but I think this song is one of their better ones.
• Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street.  Ohhhhhhhhh yea baby.  You might recognize this one from Jackie Brown.  Good NY soul.  This one kicks.
• Just Jack - No Time.  I know nothing about this guy.  Clever catchy dance music from England.
• Coldplay - Lovers in Japan.  I just love the opening.  I would rather the first 10 seconds just loop for 10 minutes.  The rest of the song is okay but way way too U2-ish.  Aren't they embarrassed to put out something this cloned?
• Duffy - Mercy.  Think Amy Winehouse without the crack cocaine.
• The Apples in Stereo - Energy.  Folky "I'm happy with the world" kind of ditty.
• Neko Case - Hold On.  Her best song by far.  She can be a bit annoying when she's not tamed by The New Pornographers.  But this one is good.
• The Gap Band - Outstanding.  Yeah baby.  Ohh yea.
• Mary Jane Girls - All Night Long.  This is actually a really tight song.  And whoever is playing bass is kicking it.  The whole song rides on the bass.  I knew who this band was from the 80s (Rick James proteges) but I don't think I had ever heard one of their songs.
• Marvin Gaye - I Want You.  Marvin's kicking it on this list.  Two times.  This is just remarkably clever music.  If you really listen to all the sounds and instruments it intensely complex.

bluenote video redux

For anyone with a love of Bluenote's Reid Miles era graphic design, check this out.  It's awesome.  I highly recommend clicking through to Vimeo to see it in full HD glory.


Hi-Fi from bante on Vimeo.

"if i were an excitable guy this would upset me to no end"

Nothing makes you feel quite as old, nostalgic, and sad as when icons from your childhood die. Especially people who you grew up with who were at the height of their youth and talent. This week Bruce Allen (lower right) from The Suburbs died at the age of 54. Not a name recognizable to most people. Note "The Suburbs" is capitalized. It was a band. They never made it big. Not by a long shot. Not for want of trying or talent. But there is a small subsection of people who grew up in Minnesota during the 80s that still listen to their music today.

They were for most of their fans the first reason to listen to music at all. That was my story. Never understanding the appeal of music on the radio, I passed off music as something that wasn't for me. Until a friend played Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, and The Suburbs. While the first two were unaccessible to me, The Suburbs were a local band. And they played all ages shows. They were a unusual blend of punk and pop and strange imagery and lyrics (much like The Pixies before The Pixies) and utterly mind blowing live concerts. And they had a logo (designed by Bruce Allen).

I'll never forget my first show. It was at a dinner theatre near the old Twins stadium. The name escapes me. It was one of these fancy places that catered to dying old stars and clientele who got 'dressed up' for their once a year "big" evening. Sequined and sparkly dresses de riguer for the women and suits, dusty from years of neglect, for men. This is where it all went terribly wrong. Back then a blend of punk and pop was deadly left of center. The fan base was decidedly not mainstream.

As about 6 high school friends and I sat down in our front row, red fake leather booth with a nice tableclothed table from which to sip cokes, the show started. There was a dance floor gap between the stage and seating. Designed primarily for people to shake their booty to Lawrence Welk. This space was immediately appropriated by pretty much everyone on the first level and become a mosh pit. I'm not sure they were called that back then and I had never see one before.

I then turned around to see how many people were left seated behind us only to notice that in the upper levels people were furiously tying coats together. They then began rapelling down the overhang so they too could jump in the pit. As I turned back I realized there were two people dancing on our table. And in fact every other table in the theatre. This lasted for about 1 minute because every table promptly cracked off it's support from the weight. Remarkably the theatres hired hands hauled away the tables quickly and without a protest. I was sure the cops would be filing through the theatre at any second.

The first song, I forget which, ended and at that point all but 2 of my friends just got up and left. Not even saying a word. They just left. It was too much for them. The rest of the show was more reserved from the crowd but the band took up the job of being crazy. Particularly one of the two lead singers who at every show seemed to be in a trance/stoned state. The one stunt I recall is him scaling 4 huge speakers stacked on top of one another. So high he could touch the ceiling of the stage as he sang; the speakers wavering back and forth in a manner that seemed to defy physics. After the show ended 3 people were passed out on the floor, overdosed. Ambulances awaited them outside as we all filed out.

I was clearly not in suburban Minnesota any more. This was an entirely new experience. Something I didn't know existed in the world. My universe expanded a little. Which was a hopeful feeling if anyone has lived in the suburbs or watched Dazed & Confused. And for that they'll always have a place in my heart. RIP Bruce.

mark hollis

Before I review this album I should point out that Mark Hollis was the frontman to Talk Talk. If you’re old enough, that band name may ring a bell and it may even elicit some fond memories. Some history is in order. Talk Talk first struck it big with the song 'Talk Talk' from the album "The Party's Over". Easy to remember. It was a decidedly New Wave / New Romantic affair. I remember liking the song a lot when it came out but it’s a bit fluffy in retrospect. Unfortunately I couldn't find a video of it online.

The band then morphed very subtly. The band lost their keyboardist and gained a new one. Tim Friese-Greene. He was to become a confidante to Hollis and they wrote songs and lyrics together. The band released the "It’s My Life" album. The band still had some very New Wave-y songs but they were becoming a little more mature. Songs like the popular 'It’s My Life' seemed a step up in sophistication. Duran Duran’s “The Reflex” and Tears For Fears’ “Shout” came out the same month however and helped keep the band framed as a New Wave band.



Their next album "The Colour of Spring" came out in 1986. And it was a more solid attempt to move away from New Wave and into something that was more their own. Musically I think the important thing that Greene and Hollis did on this album was start using a little more space in their songs. Miles Davis always said what you don’t play is as important as what you do play and left a lot of space between notes in his music. This increased space isn't obvious in the album but it's there. They would expand the use of this technique to a level that would eventually cause them career suicide but critical acclaim. The gem of the album was 'Life's What You Make It'.



Colour did well. Well enough to allow them some leeway in terms of the freedom they could take on their next album. In 1988 Spirit of Eden was released. I wouldn’t listen to this album until 4 years after it came out. I had moved on from New Wave. What I didn’t realize was that Talk Talk had as well. In a major way. Spirit of Eden is unrecognizable to a previous fan of Talk Talk. Completely unrecognizable. Except for Hollis' beautiful voice which suits the music on Eden much more than their previous albums. Obvious melodies and any pop or New Wave influences are completely gone. The transition was similar to the band Japan and the later albums by its lead singer, David Sylvian.

What you have is something incorporating jazz improvisation, ambient influences, some rock, folk maybe, and even classical themes. And it makes use of huge space. It’s a stripped down sound. It is a tough album to like initially. It certainly defies classification although critics would dub it post-rock. I would never have given it a second or third spin had I not read an utterly drooling, raving review in NME along with a fascination with the album cover (sometimes you can judge a book by its cover). But after a few rotations it was constantly on in our lab in grad school. The whole album seems made with the utmost precision and care. Every sound seems thought out. The fingers coming off strings are as impactful as the notes.

The standout track was 'I Believe in You'; a song about heroin addiction. Fake video below.



The band followed up with Laughing Stock which amazingly improved on the sound. In fact it bookends Spirit of Eden well. They are sisters. Even the artwork is similar. The two albums are probably in my top 5. Perhaps even #1 and #2 if I was honest with myself. Both albums surprisingly did okay on the charts even though they are really inaccessible to a pop audience and were probably purchased on the strength of their previous work. They are both exquisite, exquisite pieces of music.

Ascension Day


And unfortunately they represent the end of Talk Talk. At the end Talk Talk was effectively a 2 man band – Hollis and Greene. Hollis went on to form Heligoland and I’ve never been able to score one of his albums. Hollis went on to do one solo album named Mark Hollis.

Mark Hollis is an obvious continuation of Laughing Stock & Spirit of Eden. It is a different piece of work than those two however. It is an even more stripped down piece of work. Take the lyrics for the 5th song

Uniform
Dream cites freedom
Avow
Relent
Such suffering
Few certain

And here I lay

The inconsequential sounds of someone leaning into the microphone, a finger scratching over a fret, or a breath almost take center stage here. A harmonica is not so much played as lightly breathed into. As Hollis has said, "Before you play two notes learn how to play one note—and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it."

It is more classical in spots than jazz even though it comes off as less composed. It's more improvisational though. An Ornette Coleman or Evan Parker voice rather than Miles however.

And most importantly Mark Hollis is a beaten down man. The last two Talk Talk albums expressed some hope even though the overall tone was one of sadness. Whereas those albums were more like a small ray of light coming through some storm clouds, this album is all storm clouds.

The one aspect missing for me that leaves this album slightly less wanting than the previous two albums is the mostly absent guitar used in a punctuated manner. This was a critical tool previously. For all the space, the impact of a highly distorted guitar used sparingly added some shock to the system. That isn't here. And to be frank, I miss it.

christopher delaurenti

There's a nice piece in the New York Times on Seattlite Christopher DeLaurenti who takes sound recordings from orchestra intermissions and WTO protests and turns them into experimental electronic/ambient music.

For Mr. DeLaurenti, 39, a Seattle-based “sound artist” and composer, the noises were art. Now, out of more than 50 hours of recording, he has compiled a CD of greatest hits. It is called “Favorite Intermissions: Music Before and Between Beethoven, Stravinsky, Holst,” the latest entry in humankind’s search for art in unexpected nooks.

Try out Let Me Tell You About Tiger Tiger for a taste.

bookmarks

Guide to Reading DeLillo. Caveat - some claim this is a bad set of suggestions.

Who would have guessed. Wrestling fans are very emotional. "It's still real to me dammit."

The horrors of Chinese footbinding made a little more tangible.

The next Beastie Boy album is supposed to be instrumentals and the video to "Off The Grid" is up on their blog. It's reminiscent of Ill Communication era stuff which was when, for me at least, they peaked. Nice website and blog btw.

birdland and cedar walton

The wife and daughter were out of town last weekend and I decided to make a solo run to Birdland, one of the premier jazz clubs in New York. Piano player Cedar Walton was playing. Not an easily recognizable name in jazz but he has played with most of the old timers like Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Kenney Dorham, and Art Blakey. He even recorded on Coltrane's Giant Steps album. Definitely someone to catch now as all these legends are either dead or on their last legs.

They played a nice set. I'm not a huge piano fan because the amount of 'attack' it can deliver is limited compared to a drum or horn. It's decibel range is narrow. But Walton did something interesting things. He's quite clever. The stand out player ironically was not Cedar Walton though but his drummer, Joe Farnsworth, who not only looked like an accountant but dressed like one too. A wolf in sheep's clothing this guy was.

The club itself was also of interest to me. Birdland is obviously named after Charlie "Bird" Parker. But in reality the myth of Birdland is sort of dead. The original club, which started in 1949 with Parker headlining shows is no more, closing in 1965. The current version of the club, while accommodating and intimate is something of a touristy affair. The food and drinks are good, the acoustics excellent, but it lacks any character. I enjoyed the show but I was hoping for something more memorable. I will go back for the right band though.

year in review

There's no denying it. I consume a lot of media. Especially for someone who doesn't watch broadcast or cable TV. As an exercise in futility, I kept track of what I watched, read, and heard in 2006. This started because my one goal for the year was to read 24 books.


Books:

Well 24 books in a year isn't too hard apparently. I cleared 34. Hitting 24 wasn't a sure thing in my mind. Not with a baby playing havoc with my schedule. But it really wasn't hard. My 20 minutes commute to and from work on the subway afforded me most of the time necessary to hit this goal. I can't say I really enjoyed hitting this goal because there were times I wanted to just take a break. But I have this terrible fetish with purchasing books and then never reading them. I really wanted to clean out the shelf of unread material this year. In fact I have more than 24 unread books and so there are still some more to go. But I'll tackle those another year.

My new goal for 2007 is to focus on a few authors. The ones I have in mind for 2007 are David Mitchell, Kazuo Ishiguro, Charles Buckowski, and Iain Banks.

Here are the books I read this year:

Chapterhouse Dune- Frank Herbert - Review here
The Eyes of Heisenberg- Frank Herbert
The Green Brain - Frank Herbert
The Dosadi Experiment- Frank Herbert
It's quite strange to read Mr. Herbert's non-Dune books. Until now, I'd never read anything else. Rather than Herbert stamping a brand on Dune, Dune has stamped a brand on Herbert. These books are unmistakably Dune-ish in quality but they have nothing to do with Dune. The themes are similar - ecology, genetics, politics. But it takes a while to get your head around the fact that Muad Dib isn't going to appear. They are all like test-runs for the Dune series. I will restate something I've said before. No one does violence like Mr. Herbert. It is awe inspiring, jaw dropping, and riveting stuff.

The Big Sleep- Raymond Chandler - Review here

White Jazz: A Novel - James Ellroy
Blood on the Moon- James Ellroy
Because the Night- James Ellroy
Killer on the Road- James Ellroy
There are two James Ellroy's. The one who wrote up to White Jazz and the one that wrote after. White Jazz is the separation point. Before White Jazz I like Ellroy. After White Jazz I can barely comprehend Ellroy. White Jazz itself is written by the bastard love child of both Ellroy's. Blood on the Moon and Because the Night are standard pre-White Jazz novels. The good Elroy. Well good in the sense that it is understandable. Having read most of his work I can probably close the book on Ellroy. I loved all his earlier works but I get the sense that reading one more, seedy L.A. crime novel won't add anything. There's only so many books of a certain style that an author can put out. This is probably why Ellroy changed his style so significantly. Killer on the Road is the one outlier. He takes the perspective of the killer. He's awfully good at being a bad guy. It's a bit chilling.

The Man Who Knew Too Much- David Leavitt - Review here

The Name of the Rose- Umberto Eco
Clever story. A whodunnit set in ancient times in a monastery. Not as impressive as I expected. While Eco is clearly a well read chap, I'm not sure the digressions really helped the story.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling
Pretty much what you'd expect. Rowling holds my attention for one simple reason. She doesn't feel the need to end chapters in cliff hangers that get resolved two chapters ahead (yes I am
indeed referring to crap like the Da Vinci Code). Thank you for not treating me like a moron.

The Egyptologist- Arthur Phillips
As long as you don't read this book expecting the Da Vinci Code (as some have suggested) this is a beautiful little read about the extent one's mind can suffer delusions. When I read the reviews stating that this was no Da Vinci Code I both knew it would be good and that I shouldn't go into the story with preconceptions. The book adles along and you aren't sure if it has something to do with Egypt, a murder mystery, or some period piece. I won't say if it is one of those or not. I will say that I found the ending utterly devastating. One of the best books I read this year.

Slaughterhouse-Five- Kurt Vonnegut
Written in the tone of a kid, this book doesn't quite have the impact it probably did back when it was written. Aren't we all now kind of aware that war is grim, bloody, and bleak? For me it was more interesting to read because of the literary devices he employs. They are everywhere. And they are unusual. It's no wonder kids read this in English class.

Dark Sun- Richard Rhodes - Review here

D Day - Stephen Ambrose
Make no mistake. This guy sucks as a historian and a writer. It's woefully lopsided and incomplete in it's presentation. I have no idea where the praise comes from. Nevertheless I felt the need to gain an understanding about this event beyond my "Saving Private Ryan opening sequence" knowledge. And I did gain that at least.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!- Richard Feynman
What Do You Care What Other People Think?- Richard Feynman
Taken together I've always found these two works as the antidote to pretentiousness. I make sure to read them every decade or so to reground myself. He's also such a clear writer that if he wasn't a Nobel prize winner you'd think he was simpleminded. This also teaches me to make sure when I write with the goal of clarity, write like an idiot.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World- Haruki Murakami
As you can tell from the title, this is part Franz Kafka, part Raymond Chandler, and part Lewis Carrol. And it is very good. He's on my list of authors to revisit.

Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Clearly this man needs an editor. Actually Russians in general need editors. What is it with Russians and long works (see Tarkovsky & Tolstoy)? Even the names are long. The main character here is Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov. There's a gem of a story in here if the extraneous stuff was removed. And while this is clearly a precursor to the French existentialists, it's basically christian existentialism. Just saying that out loud freaks me out. My main motivation for reading this however is simple - It seems like a tremendous amount of modern art references this work. I watched Matchpoint after reading the book and that entire movie is based on Crime and Punishment. I figured it was important to understand the book. I'm glad I read it.

The Devil in the White City- Erik Larson
The writing is a bit annoying but the story of Chicago's world exposition and Chicago's version of Jack the Ripper really tell the story of how different America was back at the turn of last century. However there is one big problem. The two stories just aren't that intertwined. Not because he didn't do a good job of intertwining them, but because they just aren't that related. This is problematic when it's the key foundation for your book.

Deep Down Things- Bruce Schumm - Review here

Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides
I kind of suspected going into this book that it was going to be chick lit. I noticed the book numerous times on the subway and the ratio of female readers to male readers was 100%:0%. Plus it won the Pulitzer. The Pulitzer to me is the lamest of book awards. It almost guarantees I won't like the book. I mean Gone With The Wind won for crying out loud. Nevertheless, in between most of the annoyingness that probably got him the prize, there were some very nice moments of writing. He's got a unique playful style of writing that keeps this book from getting too serious about itself. I would pick up his next book.

The Motorcycle Diaries- Che Guevara - Review here

Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast- Bill Richardson
Gentle social humor. You know,like when an old lady says something offcolor. Cute and giggly. It's well written and he has a knack for carefully turned phrases. But I don't really know why I picked this book up in the first place. Recommended for my mom.

The Day I Turned Uncool - Dan Zevin.
I read a page in the bookstore before I bought this book years ago. I couldn't stop laughing. I don't recall ripping out that page but I didn't laugh once while I read the entire book. I guess what is funny changes over time. Basically awful. Recommended for someone going through a mid-life crisis.

A Scanner Darkly- Philip K. Dick
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch- Philip K. Dick
The Divine Invasion- Philip K. Dick
Let me first make a general comment about Dick that I've learned. You can read Dick one of two ways. One, as if it were serious science fiction. Two, as if it were pure humor. The second approach works better. Dick can write a sentence to be both interpreted as serious and as comedy. Now when I read Dick I have a lot more fun than when I read him in a serious tone. Take for instance the premise of Divine Invasion. God has been exiled from Earth to a distant planet. How does a 'second coming' succeed in the face of a totalitarian and technological state. Serious or hilarious depending on how you read it. I chose hilarious.

Scanner Darkly is the best book I've read by Dick. If you've taken drugs or been around people who take drugs, you will relate to this both hilarious and sad tale of drug addiction. The paranoid scene where the main characters worry that someone has bugged their home out-Hunter Thompsons Hunter Thompson when it comes to pure drug induced paranoia. That scene alone is priceless and had me in stitches.

The last two books are part of Dick's religious phase later in his writing career. He has his typical form of playing with reality. These two books though are even more inpenetrable than his others. Not in a bad way mind you. You learn to let go almost in the same way you have to let go of Marushita. The resulting trip is amazing. I appreciate Dick more, the more I read him.

Morality Play- Barry Unsworth
This is one quirky book. It's set in medieval times at the dawn of the modern world. It is also a whodunnit that brings back memories of The Name of the Rose. It's well written and I think it was shorted for the Booker Award but it didn't make a lasting impression.

Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe- Leon Lederman
I'm about 50/50 on picking out great science books. This belongs in the ho-hum category.

Audrey Hepburn's Neck- Alan Brown
Another book I'm not sure I know why I bought. But it's an oddly moving story. The main character, a Japanese college grad and comic book artist has a set of parents who don't talk to him, a gay friend who makes him slightly uncomfortable, and a girlfriend who defines psycho. For anyone who has had a psycho girlfriend this book will bring back horrible memories. The story ends by answering all the lingering questions in a deeply moving way.

Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics- Simon Blackburn
A philosophical treatise on the creation of ethics. It's very well written and very interesting. If you've never been able to read a philosophy book yet are interested in philosophy, give this one a shot.

Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer- Steven Millhauser
Again another ho-hum book. This book won a lot of praise. And there are a lot of good things. The writing is great. He reminds me of a modern day Camus. But there's just no payoff at the end. I kept expecting a satisfying conclusion that never emerged.

An Artist of the Floating World- Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro is one of those authors I just like. He could write complete garbage and I would like it. This is one of his earlier works and deals with Japan and its transition from pre-WWII to post-WWII. It's a gentle story with ungentle themes. Classic Ishiguro. It's not as well fleshed out as his later stories but you can see the beginnings of a great writer here.


Comics

It's funny. In May I pretty much stopped buying comics. While my 24 books in a year goal tied up much of my time, it was really the expense to consumption time ratio that did me in. A decent graphic novel costs $15 or so but takes a couple of hours to get through. It's just doesn't make economic sense. I will continue to buy comics but only standout, major TPBs. I don't see how this industry can survive.

Avengers Disassembled HC -Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch
New Avengers Vol 1 - Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch
New Avengers Vol 2 - Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch
New Avengers Vol 3 - Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch
Marvels - Kurt Busiek
Fables Vol 1 - Bill Willingham
Fables Vol 2 - Bill Willingham
Fables Vol 3 - Bill Willingham
The World's Greatest Superheroes - Paul Dini, Alex Ross
Kingdom Come - Mark Waid, Alex Ross
Infinite Crisis
Batman: Dark Victory - Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale
Batman: Haunted Knight - Jeph Loeb, Time Sale
Batman: War Games - Act 1 - Ed Brubaker
Batman: War Games - Act 2
Batman: War Games - Act 3 - Ed Brubaker


Music:

I consumed a lot of music this year. Actually I bought more than I consumed. I still haven't listened to some of this. A lot of this was an attempt to backfill my catalog. A lot of these are albums I have on vinyl and I wanted them in digital format. I've put (++) by some of the standouts.

Andrew Bird
- Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
Aphex Twin
- Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Arvo Part
- Moscow Virtuosi
Badly Drawn Boy
- About a Boy
- The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Band of Horses
- Everything All the Time ++
Barry Adamson
- King of Nothing Hill
- Oedipus Schmoedipus
- As Above, So Below
- Stranger on the Sofa
The Beach Boys
- Smile (unreleased 1966)
Belle & Sebastian
- The Life Pursuit ++
Bizet
- Bizet: Carmen
Black Dog
- Spanners
Boards of Canada
- The Campfire Headphase ++
- Trans Canada Highway
Bobby Hutcherson
- Dialogue
Bola
- Fyuti ++
Boozoo Bajou
- Dust My Broom
Brad Mehldau
- Introducing Brad Mehldau
- The Art of the Trio, Vol. 2 ++
- The Art Of The Trio, Vol. 4
- Art of the Trio, Vol. 5
The Bravery
- The Bravery
Brahms, Johannes
- Brahms: Complete Trios
Original Soundtrack
- Broken Flowers ++
Brothomstates
- Claro
Charles Mingus
- Mingus Ah Um
Cocteau Twins
- Milk And Kisses
- Four-Calendar Cafe
David Sylvian
- Approaching Silence
David Bowie
- Scary Monsters
- Space Oddity
- The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
- Aladdin Sane
Decemberists
- The Crane Wife
Depeche Mode
- B-Sides & Instrumentals
- Ultra
- Songs of Faith and Devotion
- Violator
Dexter Gordon
- The Panther!
- Our Man in Paris ++
- Go!
- Dexter Digs In
DJ Shadow
- Endtroducing... (Deluxe Edition)
Donald Byrd
- Byrd in Hand
- With Strings
Eric Dolphy
- Out to Lunch ++
The Fixx
- Phantoms
- Reach the Beach
Flock of Seagulls
- A Flock of Seagulls
- Story of a Young Heart
Gary Numan
- Pure
- Jagged
Global Communication
- Remotion
- A Theory of Evolution
Goldfrapp
- Supernature
Grant Green
- Live at Club Mozambique
Green Day
- American Idiot
Vince Guaraldi
- A Charlie Brown Christmas ++
Guillemots
- Through the Windowpane
Herbie Hancock
- Inventions & Dimensions
- Empyrean Isles
- Maiden Voyage ++
- My Point of View
The Hold Steady
- Separation Sunday ++
Horace Silver Quintet
- The Cape Verdean Blues ++
- Silver's Serenade
- Song for My Father
- The Jody Grind
Iggy Pop
- The Idiot
Jackie McLean
- Let Freedom Ring
Joe Henderson
- Inner Urge
John Coltrane
- My Favorite Things
- One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note
- Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall ++
Kasabian
- Empire
Keane
- Under the Iron Sea ++
- Hopes and Fears ++
Koop
- Waltz for Koop
Ladytron
- Witching Hour ++
Lee Morgan
- The Cooker
Lou Donaldson
- Natural Soul
- The Midnight Creeper
Lush
- Split
Massive Attack
- Blue Lines
- Mezzanine
- Protection
- No Protection: Massive Attack Vs. Mad Professor
M83
- Before the Dawn Heals Us
Morrissey
- Bona Drag ++
- Kill Uncle
- Maladjusted
- Ringleader Of The Tormentors
- Southpaw Grammar
- You Are the Quarry
- Your Arsenal
Mozart
- Mozart: Great Piano Concertos
- Mozart: The Great Piano Concertos, Vol. 1
Mouse on Mars
- Vulvaland
- Agit Itter It It ++
My Morning Jacket
- Z ++
The New Pornographers
- Mass Romantic
- Electric Version
Orff
- Carmina Burana
Ornette Coleman
- The Shape of Jazz to Come
Peter, Bjorn, & John
- Writer's Block ++
Pixies
- Doolittle
- Surfer Rosa/Come on Pilgrim
The Police
- Outlandos d'Amour
- Regatta De Blanc
Red House Painters
- Ocean Beach
The Replacements
- Let It Be
Royksopp
- The Understanding
Schubert
- String Quartet in D Minor (Death & The Maiden)
Scritti Politti
- White Bread Black Beer
Shostakovich
- Symphony 11: The Year 1905
Sigur Rós
- Takk...
- Ágætis Byrjun
- ( )
Sonny Rollins
- Saxophone Colossus
Spoon
- Girls Can Tell
Stereolab
- Mars Audiac Quintet
- Margerine Eclipse (Review) ++
- Sound-Dust
- Dots and Loops
- Oscillons from the Anti-Sun
- Fab Four Suture
- Instant 0 in the Universe
Sufjan Stevens
- Illinois
Thom Yorke
- The Eraser
Ulrich Schnauss
- Far Away Trains Passing By
Various Artists
- Verve Remixed
- Verve Remixed, Vol. 2
The Verve
- A Northern Soul
Wagon Christ
- Musipal
Wayne Shorter
- The All Seeing Eye
Ween
- Chocolate and Cheese (Review) ++
Wolf Parade
- Apologies to the Queen Mary
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Fever To Tell


Movies:
Interestingly I only went to 2 movies in the movie theatre this year. In one case I was instantly reminded of how much I hate going to the movie theatre - noisy, 30 minutes of commercials before the movie starts, and ridiculously expensive. The second was a good experience because it was in the legendary Ziegfeld Theatre which is right next door to where I work. Beautiful digital picture and epic sound system. Worth every penny.

I've put (++) by the best movies I saw. 2046 was the most crushing disappointment. Just an awful movie. And Last Days about Kurt Cobain was the only unwatchable movie. I lasted 25 minutes before turning it off.

Sideways
Shaolin Soccer
2046
Lemony Snicket (Review)
The Constant Gardner
Hated (Review)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky
Team America
The Machinist
Batman Begins
Land of the Dead
King Kong
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Dirty Pretty Things
War of the Worlds
The Butterfly Effect
Sin City
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Bus 174 (Review) (++)
Capote (++)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Name of the Rose
The Aristocrats
Fantastic Four
Comic Book Heroes Unmasked
Crash
THX 1138: Director's Cut
THX 1138 Bonus Materials (++)
Serenity
Soylent Green
King Tut: The Face of Tutankhamun
Grizzly Man
Bukowski: Born Into This (++)
Bill Hicks
Night & Fog
The Alien Saga (++)
East of Eden
The Searchers
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Solaris (Tarkovsky edition)
Syriana
Short Cuts
Murderball
Munich
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Wedding Crashers
School of Rock
Last Days
The Spaghetti West
The Seventh Seal
Andrei Rublev (Review) (++)
V For Vendetta
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Game 6
Matchpoint
Barry Lyndon
Downtown 81
The Thomas Crowne Affair (1968)
North by Northwest
Charade
The Day of the Jackal
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Killing
Death Race 2000
Broken Flowers
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
The Polar Express
Withnail & I (++)
Beach Boys: An American Band
Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys
Last Days
Downfall
Look At Me
Casino Royale (++)
Seven Up / 7 Plus Seven (++)
21 Up
28 Up
35 Up
42 Up
49 Up
Corpse Bride
The Illusionist
Talladega Nights
Invincible
Mirrormask
Cars
A Scanner Darkly
Miami Vice