David Sedaris–”Author? Author” (New Yorker, March 30, 2009 )

SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5 FM. I stumbled upon this station by accident one day.  I was working outside, trying to tune in a radio station, and, although I was near a classic rock station from New York, I heard a very cool alternative song.  So, I tuned in this staticky station and later learned that I [...]

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Joseph O’Neill-”The World of Cheese” (Harper’s, February 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: BAND OF HORSES-Cease to Begin (2008). Our friends Eugenie and Jarret introduced us to Band of Horses.  We liked the first one so much we couldn’t wait for the release of this follow up.  And it doesn’t disappoint. The songs are so poppy that it’s shocking to me that they’re not everywhere (of course, [...]

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Erik P. Kraft–Miracle Wimp (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: QUATTE.F- “I’m So Glad” from My Space (2009). Quatte.f is a patron at my library.  He had asked me to help him transfer some photos and eventually to help him upload his demo song to his MySpace page.  He told me that he was in a local group of some sort–I don’t recall who [...]

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José Da Fonesca & Pedro Carolino–English as She is Spoke: The New Guide of the Conversation, in Portuguese and English, in Two Parts [THE COLLINS LIBRARY No. 1] (1855)

SOUNDTRACK: ISLANDS-Arm’s Way (2008). I enjoyed Islands’ first album (and, in a weirder way, their earlier band The Unicorns).  This album seems to have made a lot of 2008 Top Ten or at least Top Fifty lists. What’s so strange about the whole affair is that I absolutely love the first 8 songs on this [...]

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Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black–The Spiderwick Chronicles [Books 1-5] (2003-2004)

SOUNDTRACK: FLAMING LIPS-She Don’t Use Jelly (1993). This single contains three B-Sides:  “Translucent Egg” is something of an instrumental version of “She Don’t Use Jelly.”  It uses the same opening guitar riff, but it changes a few things along the way.  The highlights though are the other two tracks: variants from Transmissions from the Satellite [...]

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Amy Fusselman-The Pharmacist’s Mate (2001)

SOUNDTRACK: MOGWAI-The Hawk is Howling (2008). I’ve been a fan of Mogwai since I first heard of them back in 1997 with their Young Team debut.  They have progressed their sonic explorations of instrumentals into unimagined complexity and sonic booms. I don’t think anyone walks around humming the melodies of Mogwai songs, but as soon [...]

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Sheila Heti–The Middle Stories (2002)

SOUNDTRACK: COLDPLAY Prospekt’s March EP (2008). This EP was released hot on the heels on Viva La Vida. So hot, in fact, that since our copy of Viva was lost, I listened to this EP first. If you absolutely love Viva La Vida, and wish it were longer, than this EP is perfect for you.  [...]

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Edmonton Folk Festival 2009 (Part II)

I don’t have any news to add about the Festival yet; however, I just learned that I could add a map to my blog post, so, here’s a map to the Festival. I was also looking at the lineup for last year’s Festival, and although there’s only a few artists signed up for this year [...]

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Kurt Vonnegut–Mother Night (1961)

SOUNDTRACK: COLDPLAY-Viva la Vida(2008). I have a very vivid memory of listening to Coldplay for the first time.  I was driving a very annoying person to her revolting house in upstate New York.  I was delighted to be getting her out of my life, and I was listening to Coldplay’s first album, Parachutes.  I knew [...]

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Joyce Carol Oates–”Pumpkin Head” (New Yorker, January 12, 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: SANDRO PERRI-Plays Polmo Polpo (2006). This EP has Sandro Perri, mastermind behind Polmo Polpo, playing previously released songs by Polmo Polpo.  Why? You may ask.  To rework them entirely, of course.  The original pieces were electronic and very textured, creatively designed that you almost forget there are songs underneath. And so Perri has brought [...]

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