Terry Pratchett–Making Money (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: NIRVANA-Sliver: The Best of the Box (2005).
So, my $1.50 copy of this came in today and I listened to the three unavailable tracks. The first was a track called “Spank Thru,” which was totally new to me. The other two were demos of: “Sappy” (also known as “Verse Chorus Verse” on the NoAlternative compilation) [...]

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Dave Eggers & Deb Olin Unferth & Sarah Manguso–One Hundred and Forty-Five Stories in a Small Box (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: MOTHERHEAD BUG-Zambodia (1993).
Motherhead Bug is the creation of David Ouimet. David was my boss at Tower Records way back when. He has been in some other influential NYC bands like Swans and Cop Shoot Cop, and he’s worked with Foetus as well. He has since moved on to bigger and better things, including doing [...]

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Pseudonymous Bosch–The Name of This Book is Secret (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS-The Distant Future EP (2007).
We really enjoyed the Flight of the Conchords series on HBO. Although the stories weren’t always great, the music and music videos were hilarious. Probably better than the show itself was the live special that they showed on HBO before they aired the series. Their comedy/music [...]

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What I learned… (16) [Misled]

I am probably the only person in America to see this book:
and get excited because I thought it was about Ben Elton. It didn’t even cross my mind that it would be about Elton John (nevermind that it doesn’t LOOK like Ben Elton, I only saw the title…plus he has sunglasses [...]

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Michael Erard–Um… Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: DUNGEN-Tio Bitar (2007).
This record, released in 2007, was uncovered in a vault dating back to 1970. Or so it sounds. In fact, this is a fascinating release from a Scandinavian band, or more precisely, guy, Gustav Ejstes. He has meticulously worked to make this record sound as if it was recorded in the early [...]

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Russell Ash and Brian Lake–Bizarre Books: A Compendium of Classic Oddities [original title: Fish Who Answer the Telephone and Other Bizarre Books] (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: NIRVANA-Sliver: The Best of the Box (2005).
After reviewing the box set With the Lights Out, I saw that the greedheads at Geffen released Sliver, The Best of the Box, which included stuff that was, inexplicably, NOT in the box. I think 4 tracks not available elsewhere are included. So, I’ve just discovered that I [...]

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Michael Bell (editor)–Scouts in Bondage And Other Violations of Literary Propriety [UK subtitle is "And Other Books from an Innocent Age"]

SOUNDTRACK: NIRVANA: With the Lights Out (2004).
It probably sounds like an urban myth to say that Nirvana was a catalyst for new music way back then. But I can recall when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was first on the radio, and I was living in a region of the country (hey Office fans, it was [...]

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The Pope–How to Dress for Every Occasion [Illustrated by Sarah "Pinkie" Bennett] (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: Big Bad Love [Soundtrack] (2002).
Somehow, I came upon a free copy of this CD. I hadn’t really listened to it at all, save for the Tom Waits songs (which turned up on Orphans anyhow). But I listened to it the other day and it’s a really good collection of unorthodox/noisy blues. I’m not a [...]

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Michael J. Nelson–Mike Nelson’s Movie Megacheese (2000)

SOUNDTRACK: SPOON-Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007).
This record was heralded as the greatest thing ever when it was released. Every review I read tried to outdo the other reviews with praise for this record. I can be swayed by reviews, especially if everyone is in consensus of a CD. And, I had put Spoon on [...]

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Lemony Snicket–The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: THE HOUSEMARTINS-Live at the BBC (2006).
I found out about the Housemartins after enjoying the Beautiful South, and since they only released two albums, it was easy to get into them quickly. This is a collection of live tracks from the BBC, some have an audience and some do not. What is most striking about [...]

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