Italo Calvino–Two Cosmicomics (Harper’s, May 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Yield (1998) This Pearl Jam disc is something of a return to form after the experimentation of No Code.  Part of me feels bad that they experimented less, because I do enjoy a band’s wild side, and yet these songs are uniformly fantastic, and they include some of my favorites by Pearl Jam. [...]

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Craig Boyko–”The Intruder” (The Walrus, May 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-No Code (1996). I’d always sort of liked this disc because of its principles–I believed that the title came about because there is no barcode on the disc.  Pearl Jam is always tilting at some windmill or another, and I can support that. I’ve also learned that this is PJ’s least popular and [...]

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Pierdomenico Baccalario–Ulysses Moore series, books 1-4

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Vitalogy (1994). I always think of this as the “weird” Pearl Jam disc.  Mostly that’s because the contents are certainly weird (in that it’s made up like an old book, including excerpts from the book in the liner notes).  But also because it has some of Pearl Jam’s strangest songs on it, especially [...]

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The Book of Other People [edited by Zadie Smith] (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Vs. (1993). Ten was a solid record, and although it had diversity within it, overall the sound was pretty consistent.  On Vs., Pearl Jam mixed it up sonically and otherwise. It opens with “Go,” a track that rocks harder than anything on Ten but which retains a great Pearl Jam chorus.  “Animal” is [...]

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Helen Humphries–”The Whole Story” (The Walrus, April 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Ten [remixed] (2009). Pearl Jam reissued Ten this year with a new mix by Brendan O’Brien, the producer who has mixed the bulk of their catalog.  So, this gives everyone a chance to hear what it would have sounded like if it were released after Vs., or something like that. The great news [...]

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Chris Adrian–”A Tiny Feast” (New Yorker, April 20, 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Ten (1991). For me, Nirvana was the band that brought the 1990′s into alternative-rock-land.  But, it was Pearl Jam that brought hard rocking music back to the masses. Like everyone I know, I loved Ten.  But I gradually lost excitement about Pearl Jam over their next couple of records. Then something interesting happened; [...]

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Periodical: Esquire

I don’t recall why I started getting Esquire. I think it was because I got some kind of discount magazine subscription card. And since Sarah gets lots of women’s magazines, I thought I’d try a men’s one. I’ve been quite delighted with it since I subscribed. And one thing that I like about it is [...]

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Colm Tóibín–”The Color of Shadows” (New Yorker, April 13, 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: DEPECHE MODE-Black Celebration (1986). Since the previous entry was all about The Smiths, I include Depeche Mode in this entry as the other big album that influenced my appreciation for college rock (or just British music, apparently). My friend Garry, in addition to playing me The Smiths, also played me Black Celebration.  At the [...]

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Oisín McGann–Daylight Runner [Small Minded Giants] (2006)

SOUNDTRACK: THE SMITHS-The Queen Is Dead (1986). Years ago, when I was a young metal head, my friend Garry expanded my musical palette by introducing me to a lot of college rock (or whatever it was called back then).  The album that had the most impact on me back then was this one, The Queen [...]

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Art Spiegelman–Be A Nose (2009)

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-UFOs At the Zoo [DVD] (2007). I’m not going to review the musical portion of the DVD per se…you can download the MP3s with the DVD, and I intend to give the music a good listen once I get it converted to CD.  So, this is a review of the movie itself [...]

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