Daniel Nester Reviews His Friend Eric’s External Hard Drive
Daniel Nester09.16.10
Like Janus, the two-headed Roman god who could see the future and the past, Daniel Nester, author of How to Be Inappropriate, both eulogizes the record stores that appear in his recurring dreams and reviews his friend Eric’s external music hard drive. Bands discussed include San Diego math-rockers Thingy, Terence Trent D’Arby, Gary Numan, David Pajo’s Aerial M, two-tone ska, Sun Ra, Judas Priest, post-Sony Prince, Ultravox and Judy Collins. In a way this is a follow-up to Dutch cut’n’paste pop star Solex’s recent review of her own Pandora station, the music is reviewed not as albums, but in the way we now most frequently experience it—as streaming sound or blocks of data.
“Ice Melter” a short story from “Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls”
Alissa Nutting09.08.10
Alissa Nutting’s collection of short stories Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls was selected Ben Marcus as the winner of the Starcherone Prize for Innovative Fiction. Both funny and experimental, each story in the collection is told by a woman stuck in an unpleasant job, such as zoo keeper, knife thrower, corpse smoker and even the rather unlikely human ant farm. Her story "Ice Melter" is a cocktail of diabetes, heroin chic and social anxiety. The collection is due out on October first.
Book: Camden Joy: Palm Tree 13
Ben Bush09.07.10
I was first introduced to Camden Joy’s writing by The Greatest Album Ever Told, his beautifully letter-pressed screed about Frank Black’s Teenager…
The New Hybridity: “Bird Lovers, Backyard” by Thalia Field and “Floats Horse-floats or Horse-flows” by Leslie Scalapino
Jeff T. Johnson09.06.10
What constitutes hybrid writing? Select from the following list: a) a combining of different literary forms, b) literary collage, c) literary collaboration, d) a compressing and combining of words and phrases. In Bird Lovers, Backyard, Thalia Field applies her hybrid poetry form to a biographical work on Nazi-sympathizing physiologist Konrad Lorenz and a consideration of the last member of the now-extinct dusky seaside sparrow species/sub-species — a bird that lived out its final days in the Walt Disney World Resort. Float Horse-float or Horse-flows is the final work published by Bay Area experimental writer Leslie Scalapino before her death last May. Her friend, collaborator and longtime Fanzine contributor Kevin Killian described her in an obituary in The Bay Citizen as a spiritual writer with a beautiful voice and a great sense of humor.
“It Hatched and It Died” an excerpt from Brand New Berto
Matthew Jent09.01.10
If you drive to a parking lot in Ohio over the Labor Day weekend, you might see this exact story taking place. Matt Jent nails the teenage experience of this spot on the calendar: making a name for yourself at a new school, the thrills of the the backseats of cars, the anxiety and excitement of, gulp, hanging out with older kids. If like me, your heart still dies a little every time you see a "Back to School Sale" sign, Matt Jent’s impeccable pacing and a great ear for dialogue ought to take the edge off. Accompanying illustration provided by Ben Costa, winner of a Xeric Award for his self-published comic book Shi Long Pang.
Repetition with Variation: The Sound of an Electronic Summer — Tobacco “Maniac Meat,” The Books “The Way Out,” Autechre “Move of Ten” and Matmos / So Percussion “Treasure State”
Jeff Rovinelli08.30.10
In Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, Douglas says to his 10-year-old brother Tom: "You realize that every summer we do the same thing over and over. . . like making dandelion wine, like buying new tennis shoes, like shooting off the first firecracker of the year, like making lemonade, like getting slivers in our feet, like picking wild fox grapes. Every year the same things, the same way, no change, no difference. That’s one half of summer, Tom." But the other half of the summer, they soon realize, is things you do for the first time. Jeff Rovinelli of Tiny Mix Tapes takes on four of this summer’s most interesting experimental electronic music albums, looking at the limitations of having an established sound and the possibilities for expanding, altering and incorporating new methods within that.
Enough, enough, enough, enough enough: Perfume Genius’ Unlearning
Claire Donato08.28.10
Often appearing bare-chested in his homemade music videos and promo photos, 26-year-old Mike Hadreas, who performs under the name Perfume Genius, seems to have become something of an internet gay pin-up icon. At the same time, it’s an appropriate image to represent his vulnerable, emotionally volatile songwriting, which has attracted praise from captivating bay area songwriter Xiu Xiu and British band Los Campesinos! Through his music, poet Claire Donato investigates how repetition — in storytelling, memory and melody — can soothe a traumatic past.
Music: Beach Beach Beach Beach Beach Beach
Casey McKinney08.27.10
So before the contrarianly calendared American Labor Day arrives, let’s figure… who was king or queen of the beach this summer? A redemptive LP…
First Ammendment Porn: Free Speech and Free Language
Ben Bush08.18.10
No, not the First Ammendment as it applies to pornography but pornography for those who love the First Ammendment. Read Village Voice columnist…
Tony O’Neill’s Hollywood Frolic
Jim Ruland08.18.10
Sick City is the most recent novel from Tony O’Neill. A master at telling his own story, he has also helped others to tell theirs. He worked on Neon Angel, the memoir of Runaways lead signer Cherie Currie, which was recently adapted into the film starring Dakota Fanning. He also assisted on the New York Times bestseller Hero of the Underground by Jason Peters, an All-American Defensive Tackle and NFL player, about his addiction to heroin and cocaine. Tony O’Neill has had a taste of hard living himself and here offers Jim Ruland a tour of Hollywood’s seedy underbelly. Accompanying photos of O’Neill courtesy of Jim Ruland.
