Jonathan Franzen–”Breakup Stories” (New Yorker, November 8, 2004)

SOUNDTRACK: LORDI-”Hard Rock Hallelujah” (2006). When browsing the Wikipedia entry on Gwar, I learned that the Finnish band Lordi (of whom I’d never heard) won the 2006 Eurovision song contest with what is essentially a Gwar-lite stage show. Unlike Gwar, this Lordi song is extremely catchy and easy to digest (as all Eurovision songs tend [...]

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David Foster Wallace–Consider the Lobster [audio book] (2005)

[LISTENED TO: November 18, 2010] Consider the Lobster This was the final audio book that DFW read.  As with Brief Interviews, this is a collection of selected, unedited essays [actually it says "Text slightly edited for audio, with changes approved by the author."  I don't know these essays verbatim, but it seems like the changes [...]

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Colm Tóibín–”Christmas Pudding” (November 22, 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: TYLER THE CREATOR-”Bastard” & “AssMilk” (2010). This is the third and final rapper from Odd Future that I’m going to listen to. In his New Yorker article, Sasha Frere-Jones mentions Tyler’s song “Bastard” as being noteworthy for its content (an anti-father screed).  It’s a somber song played over a rather nice but dark piano [...]

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Judith Thurman–”Turbot” (New Yorker, November 22, 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: MELLOWHYPE-”Loco” (2010). I was going to review “Earl” by Earl Sweatshirt (who I keep wanting to call Earl Sandwich).  I didn’t think much of it but I wrote a few paragraphs.  Then WordPress lost my post and I didn’t want to listen to the song again, so I switched to Mellowhype. I was confused [...]

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Aleksandar Hemon–”Borscht” (New Yorker, November 22, 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: DOMO GENESIS-”Super Market” (2010). The other band that Sasha Frere-Jones mentions in the New Yorker article is Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All a ten-member collective from L.A.  They have released a slew of albums (all available for free on their website), but none are released under that collective name.  This song seems [...]

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Allegra Goodman–”Linzer Torte” (New Yorker, November 22, 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: DAS RACIST-”You Oughta Know” (2010). Since “Combination” was a such an odd and obvious novelty song I thought I’d try the other song by Das Racist that was mentioned in the New Yorker article.  ”You Oughta Know” samples Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out” extensively (and is the only music in the song).  I rather like [...]

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David Bezmozgis–”Pickled Cabbage” (New Yorker, November 22, 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: DAS RACIST-”Combination PIzza Hut and Taco Bell” (2010). This issue of the New Yorker featured an article from Sasha Frere-Jones about two underground rap sensations.  One of them is Das Racist.  I’d heard of them especially regarding this “hit,” but I hadn’t actually heard the song until now. This song is pretty much exclusively [...]

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Jonathan Franzen–”The Listener” (New Yorker, October 6, 2003)

SOUNDTRACK: fIREHOSE-”Sometimes” (1988). This single for the fantastic fIREHOSE song “Sometimes” is an okay EP worth tracking down if you’re a fIREHOSE fan or even if you’re not too familiar with them. “Sometimes” is a great mix of loud guitars in the verse and soft guitar picking in the chorus.  It’s wonderfully catchy and has [...]

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Wells Tower–”Under the God Gun” (Harper’s, January 2006)

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Unplugged (1992). The video of this nearly twenty year old concert came with the remastered version of Ten.  I hadn’t had a chance to watch it until now.  While watching I was pretty certain that I had seen the show either when it aired or sometime right after.  Some of the scenes, maybe from [...]

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Consider David Foster Wallace [essays 4-6] (2010)

SOUNDTRACK: LETTERS TO CLEO-”Cruel to be Kind” (1999). I’ve liked Letters to Cleo since I first heard them back on WFNX radio in Boston.  And since I had a dog named Cleo and their album was called Aurora Gory Alice, how could I not love them? This cover of Nick Lowe’s song comes pretty close to [...]

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