Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Babymouse: Puppy Love [#8] (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-”Meow Meow Lullaby” (2004). On the For the Kids Too! compilation, Nada Surf have a wonderful song called “Meow Meow Lullaby.”  It’s got a beautiful melody and is a really adorable song.  Lyrically it is very simple: “I am just a kitten, hardly fit my mittens, much too small I figure, one day I’ll be bigger.”  [...]

Read Full Post »

Sarah Selecky–”This Cake is for the Party” (The Walrus, November 2011)

SOUNDTRACK: QUEENSRŸCHE-Rage for Order (1985). Thinks looked to be very different for Queensrÿche on Rage for Order.  I mean, look at them.  On the back of The Warning they were leather-clad hellions.  On Rage, they are quite the dandys (man, I wanted Geoff Tate’s coat!).   This would be the first of many times that they confounded [...]

Read Full Post »

Ricky Jay–Celebrations of Curious Characters (2011)

SOUNDTRACK: QUEENSRŸCHE-The Warning (1984). Queensrÿche fulfilled the promise of their debut EP with this album.  It takes the blueprint of the EP and expands it wonderfully.  They introduce some cool low vocal chants to compliment Tate’s soaring alto (like on “En Force”), they also introduce some wonderful effects and riffs and scales (also on ”En Force”).  There’s also [...]

Read Full Post »

George Saunders–”Tenth of December” (New Yorker, October 31, 2011)

SOUNDTRACK: QUEENSRŸCHE-Queensrÿche EP (1983). Back in high school, I spent many a night listening to M-m-m-m-metal Shop on the radio.  When I first heard “Queen of the Reich” I was blown away.  It was heavy, with blistering guitars and, amazingly, that Voice.  Many is the argument that my friends had about just how great Geoff (Jee-oph) Tate’s [...]

Read Full Post »

Anthony Myint & Karen Leibowitz–Mission Street Food: Reciped and Ideas from an Improbable Restuarant (2011)

SOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-Plays Covers on World Cafe (May 13, 2010). I didn’t even know that Nada Surf had released a covers album (sometimes things slip through the cracks), but when NPR previewed their new song, I learned that they played some covers for World Cafe (not downloadable, sadly) to promote the album.  So I’m going [...]

Read Full Post »

David Sedaris–”Memory Laps” (New Yorker, October 24, 2011)

SOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-”When I Was Young” (2011). This is a new song from Nada Surf’s new album (due out in January 2012).  Nada Surf aren’t changing much from their tried and true sense of pop hooks, but this is a slower, statelier song (with strings!).  It features a challenging-to-sing-along-with chorus (“I wonder what was that world I [...]

Read Full Post »

Arno Camenisch–”Sez Ner” (Harper’s, November 2011)

SOUNDTRACK: YEASAYER-Odd Blood (2010). Sometimes albums have a single that is nothing like the rest of the album.  So you buy the album and hate everything but that one song.  This album is almost the exact opposite.  It opens with a song that is so odd–noisy and with massively manipulated vocals, that you would never [...]

Read Full Post »

Roberto Bolaño–Between Parentheses: Essays, Articles and Speeches 1998-2003 (2011)

SOUNDTRACK: PUBLIC ENEMY-Fear of a Black Planet (1990). NPR recently broadcast a PE show from the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival.  I didn’t know that PE was still touring, so that was a surprise to me.  The show was largely a celebration of Fear of a Black Planet, which meant that I had to go back and [...]

Read Full Post »

Rebecca Evanhoe–”Snake” (Harper’s, November 2011)

SOUNDTRACK: SISKIYOU-Siskiyou (2010). Siskiyou is a fascinating band whose debut album was released on Constellation last year.  The main guy in Siskiyou is Eric Huebert, who was drummer for the Great Lake Swimmers.  He quit the band and moved to an organic farm in British Columbia. And while farming he created this album (which is named for the [...]

Read Full Post »

Jonathan Lethem–”To Catch a Beat” (New Yorker, October 10, 2011)

SOUNDTRACK: KISS-Gene Simmons (1978). Even all these year later I feel like there is something very “polished” about this album.  It feels different from the others for an intangible reason.  I like it quite a bit,and yet it doesn’t sound like a record from a demon with blood leaking out of his mouth.  Maybe it’s the [...]

Read Full Post »