Unpaid Endorsements
I'm getting ready for a vacation, and the plane ride is going to be 900 hours long, so what better excuse to shop for new CDs and books, oui? There are a million things at my apartment I could read/listen to, but something about going on a trip makes me want to buy all new stuff. I even bought a new Walkman! No, I haven't yet begun the inevitable lemming descent (band name) in to the Apple Store for an iPod. I'm keepin' it real, playa! The problem with me is that even though I ostensibly bought these items for the vacation, I don't have the patience to wait until the trip, so I've already listened to/read some of what I bought. Wanna hear it? Here it go:
Ears:
Explosions in the Sky
Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever
Heady title, no doubt. And normally, I run like the wind whenever I hear something described as "prog rock" or "post rock." Had I not heard some of their stuff already, this definitely wasn't an album I would have bought on a whim. I have to give mad props to Peter Berg, director of the movie "Friday Night Lights," for turning me on to this Texas band. The movie was meh, but the soundtrack was fantastic— especially the EITS compositions. "Atmospheric" is what critics use when they can't come across the words to express how the music really made them feel; in this case, it works. The music sounds like early morning when you've been out too late, like walking home by yourself after breaking up with someone, like making a difficult decision that you knew was inevitable. In other words, it sounds like the promise of starting over. Musically, EITS sound like My Bloody Valentine, Calexico, some Ry Cooder, a dash of Built to Spill, a bit of Friends of Dean Martinez, and a lil' hint of Sunny Day Real Estate.
Mazzy Star
So Tonight That I Might See
That I didn't already own this album amazes me. It's one of those situations where you've heard something so much that you think you do own it. Yes, this album sounds, at times, like so much bad teenage poetry. I don't care, though. Listening to it makes me think of the old, tattered mansions along Millionaire's Row, where I grew up. Or, the old, tattered mansions along Abercorn and Bull streets in Savannah. It also sounds like the Marais, the Cloisters, and the moors. But then girlfriend goes and covers an Arthur Lee song ("Five String Serenade") and you're like, "Thank Jesus. It was getting perilously close to Emily the Strange up in this mug." Maybe they also sound a little like the Velvet Underground and Nico? Whatever it is, I'm so glad I finally bought this record. It's like hearing from a long lost friend.
Eyes:
Craig Thompson, Blankets
As it happens, this book is prohibitively large for traveling; thus, I felt perfectly justified in having read it straight away. I got it on Thursday, and was finished by Saturday afternoon. I couldn't put it down. I haven't felt that way about a book since The Corrections. This guy Craig managed to convey in drawings what I want to convey in words. This is, above all, a book about feelings—about love, loss, hurt, anger and pain, and yet it never becomes cloying. It's earnest. It's doesn't get crushed under the admittedly weighty story. It must have been so difficult for him to write about religion and love and his disillusionment with both. It's never easy to write about embarrassments we've had. It's harder still to write about happiness we've experienced. I think the main reason this works as well as it does is because of the insanely detailed drawings. He doesn't need to write the feelings because we can see them. If you like Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve series, I think you will like this. I don't have anything else to compare it with because the world of comics (sorry, graphic novels) still verges a little too much on "my Cleric put a Butterfly Choker on your Ork and he just lost 10 hit points" for my taste.
So now I don't know what to read on the plane! I don't want anything too deep dish, but I want it to be engaging. What should I get? I like stories about people and relationships. Hate historical novels. Any ideas?
Ears:
Explosions in the Sky
Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever
Heady title, no doubt. And normally, I run like the wind whenever I hear something described as "prog rock" or "post rock." Had I not heard some of their stuff already, this definitely wasn't an album I would have bought on a whim. I have to give mad props to Peter Berg, director of the movie "Friday Night Lights," for turning me on to this Texas band. The movie was meh, but the soundtrack was fantastic— especially the EITS compositions. "Atmospheric" is what critics use when they can't come across the words to express how the music really made them feel; in this case, it works. The music sounds like early morning when you've been out too late, like walking home by yourself after breaking up with someone, like making a difficult decision that you knew was inevitable. In other words, it sounds like the promise of starting over. Musically, EITS sound like My Bloody Valentine, Calexico, some Ry Cooder, a dash of Built to Spill, a bit of Friends of Dean Martinez, and a lil' hint of Sunny Day Real Estate.
Mazzy Star
So Tonight That I Might See
That I didn't already own this album amazes me. It's one of those situations where you've heard something so much that you think you do own it. Yes, this album sounds, at times, like so much bad teenage poetry. I don't care, though. Listening to it makes me think of the old, tattered mansions along Millionaire's Row, where I grew up. Or, the old, tattered mansions along Abercorn and Bull streets in Savannah. It also sounds like the Marais, the Cloisters, and the moors. But then girlfriend goes and covers an Arthur Lee song ("Five String Serenade") and you're like, "Thank Jesus. It was getting perilously close to Emily the Strange up in this mug." Maybe they also sound a little like the Velvet Underground and Nico? Whatever it is, I'm so glad I finally bought this record. It's like hearing from a long lost friend.
Eyes:
Craig Thompson, Blankets
As it happens, this book is prohibitively large for traveling; thus, I felt perfectly justified in having read it straight away. I got it on Thursday, and was finished by Saturday afternoon. I couldn't put it down. I haven't felt that way about a book since The Corrections. This guy Craig managed to convey in drawings what I want to convey in words. This is, above all, a book about feelings—about love, loss, hurt, anger and pain, and yet it never becomes cloying. It's earnest. It's doesn't get crushed under the admittedly weighty story. It must have been so difficult for him to write about religion and love and his disillusionment with both. It's never easy to write about embarrassments we've had. It's harder still to write about happiness we've experienced. I think the main reason this works as well as it does is because of the insanely detailed drawings. He doesn't need to write the feelings because we can see them. If you like Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve series, I think you will like this. I don't have anything else to compare it with because the world of comics (sorry, graphic novels) still verges a little too much on "my Cleric put a Butterfly Choker on your Ork and he just lost 10 hit points" for my taste.
So now I don't know what to read on the plane! I don't want anything too deep dish, but I want it to be engaging. What should I get? I like stories about people and relationships. Hate historical novels. Any ideas?
posted by Iseult at 5:21 PM
1 Comments:
How about Up In the Old Hotel?
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