Saturday, November 22, 2008
Holy Shit #12: Junot Diaz + Samuel R. Delany
and
Monday, November 24th
SPECIAL NIGHT! With Junot Diaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) and Samuel R. Delany (Dhalgren, Dark Reflections).
@ Solas Bar
232 E. 9th Street
(between 3rd and 2nd Aves)
7:30PM sharp
I've been waiting for these two literary heavyweights to do a reading/talk together for a while now. This is my My Bloody Valentine reunion show. Junot I've met before at The New Yorker Festival last year and he was mad cool, hilarious, erudite and great. But, Delany is who I've wanted to meet for 8 years since I first read a dog-eared used copy of his 1975 mammoth post-apocalyptic genius novel, Dhalgren. Holy shit, I can't wait.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Maru the Cat
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
6 records/6 bands #2
I first started this weekly/monthly/annual list to just show love to some jams and records. They're flawed, gorgeously imperfect, but all offer concrete hope into a psychedelic and complicated future. Hope you dig and please buy these artists' work as no one lives off of good wishes. Cabrones. Oh, and the above image is by two of my favorite artists: Gary Panter and Charles Burns.
In no particular order:
1)
Brooklyn weirdos are back with their new record of synth madness and structural illogical chewing mouths!
2)
Juana Molina gives me hope in the entire female singer/songwriter world. Her previous records have always been breathy, soft folk-y matters with itty-bitty electronics. Un Dia uses faster rhythms, more instruments and odder lyrics to make this one of my favorite albums of November 11, 2008.
3)
Women didn't really play in conjunto, Norteño or ranchera music when I was growing up. Hyper-macho, the music was always about women, not by them. But, I ran across a great, ghostly track on a damn PBS website from Carmen y Laura, a duo of sisters led by their brother, the accordionist Armando Marroquín. Its a traditional love song called "Se Me Fue Mi Amor" ("My Love Has Left Me") about a man that went off to the war and their afraid they'll never see again. It is in no way relevant to our times. Listen to the song here For some terrible reason, I think you might need Real Player.
4)
Oh, yes:
5)
DJ /Rupture + Andy Moor (of the Ex) have put out a brilliant recording of them busting out tunes live in the studio. Patches is Andy Moor doing what he does best: coat a track with wrinkly guitars and open-hearted feedback. Jace uses turntables like birdcages. Listen to a track and buy the album here.
6)
El Guincho is not a Spanish Panda Bear, he's a cosmic ethnomusicologist from Zanzibar. I've been super-feeling this track off of Alegranza, which has been dope for over a year now. Too bad I missed him at Union Pool earlier this year. Just listen:
Related: August's 6 Records/Bands Feature here.
Roberto Bolaño vs. Esteban King
Bolaño and Stephen King. Ten beers later, if they could have talked to each other, what would they have said?
Both books, one a masterpiece that Jonathan Lethem wrote about for this week's NY Times Book Review and the other--well, Stephen King's new collection of short stories.
Momofuku Organic Robot Juice Explosion
David Chang & brilliant fucking co. have just come out with a bakery/milk bar. Deep fried poached egg?? Dulce de leche cake, weird soft serve flavored stuff--I'm crawling into my own mouth and waiting. MMMMMMMMM.
Friday, November 07, 2008
November 4th
America, America, America
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
History?
Sunday, October 26, 2008
MP3: Tijuana No! "Pobre Frida"
I was seventeen when I started to listen to Latin rock. Punk was something I only superficially knew about--The Dead Kennedys, The Clash, The Germs, etc--but Spanish-language stuff hit closer to home. The politics were raw, the music inculcating folk music from different places Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. From that, Tijuana No! was a headbutt to the groin for me. Anarchist politics rubbed elbows with sluggish ska (oh, man), filthy punk and little melodies that exploded through singer Luis Güereña's vocals. "Pobre Frida" is from 1994's Transgresores de La Ley, a scruffy record that I equally loved with Contra Revolución Avenue. The cover of the latter symbolized plenty of my own political and artistic beliefs to this day: scrambled, multifarious, complicated and cartoon-filled. I'm trying to carry that energy to this damn novel I'm writing that won't leave me alone.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
MP3: Prints "Yippy"
I've been meaning to post this one for a few months now. Sunny California duo Prints are like a more soulful Hot Chip--white R&B is the new shit for this year and maybe next, too. I like it. Hecuba is from California as well but far more psychedelic and weird. Is something new happening there? Hecuba were here for CMJ but I missed their Cake Shop show. Bummer.
