McSweeney’s #7

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Sabotage (1975).
Sabotage seems to be somewhat forgotten (maybe because of the creepy cover art 0f Ozzy in a kimono and fascinating platform shoes, Bill Ward in red tights with a codpiece (and visible underwear on the back cover), and Geezer and Tony’s mustaches).
But this album rocks pretty hard and heavy.
“Hole in the Sky” [...]

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Helen Simpson–”Diary of an Interesting Year” (New Yorker, December 21 & 28, 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: The Believer July/August 2009 Music Issue Compilation CD: “Fantastic and Spectacular” (2009).

After the globe-spanning CD in last year’s issue, the 2009 Believer CD returns to the dominant musical style of the first few.  This disc is a collection of unreleased, acoustic songs from the editors’ favorite singer-songwriters.
And, wow, check out the bands that are [...]

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Ian Shaughnessy & Mike Holmes–Shenanigans (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: The Believer July/August 2008 Music Issue Compilation CD: The Volatile But Symbiotic Relationship of Mabel and Anabel (2008).
The previous Believer CD expanded the palette of music by introducing a lot of hard-edged bands.  But this CD smashes any complaints about one-dimensionality.  It is designed around a concept of “world” music which they have designated [...]

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Ben Schott–Schott’s Miscellany 2009: An Almanac (2008)

SOUNDTRACK: The Believer June/July 2007 Music Issue Compilation CD: Cue the Bugle Turbulent (2007).
The 2007 Believer disc smashes the mold of folkie songs that they have established with the previous discs in the series.  The theme for this disc is that there’s no theme, although the liner notes give this amusing story:

one decaffeinated copy editor [...]

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Terry Pratchett–Unseen Academicals (2009)

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-Vol. 4 (1972).
When I was younger I liked this Sabbath album a lot more than I do now.  There are some absolutely stellar tracks on here, but most of the songs are a rather peculiar for Black Sabbath.  It showcases ballad-y nature that Ozzy would have for some of his biggest hits twenty [...]

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Albert Innaurato–Gemini (1978) & The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie (1978)

SOUNDTRACK: KATE BUSH-Hounds of Love (1985).
I have a very specific memory of the first time I heard the song  “Hounds of Love.”  I was in high school and the Wilderness Adventure Club was heading towards whatever destination we were going to (funny I can’t remember the destination, but I recall the car trip there).  The [...]

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Douglas Coupland Souvenir of Canada (2002), Souvenir of Canada 2 (2004) & Souvenir of Canada [the movie] (2006)

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-The Hungry Saw (2008).
It was the releases of this Tindersticks disc (their first in 5 years) on the venerable Constellation Records (in North America) that inspired my trip through their back catalog. I was completely surprised to see them released on Constellation, as the band doesn’t exactly fit with the label’s stereotypical style (although, [...]

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John Uri Lloyd–Etidorhpa; or, The End of Earth: The History of a Mysterious Being and the Account of a Remarkable Journey (1895)

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-Waiting for the Moon (2003).
This Tindersticks disc shows a bit of a departure for them.  Two of the first three songs are not sung by Stuart Staples (which is nice for diversity, but it is shocking to hear the first sung words on a Tindersticks disc be in the relatively high register of Dickon).  [...]

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Lee Henderson–”Long Live Annie B.” (The Walrus, October, 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: THE TREWS-House of Ill Fame (2003).

After listening to the new Trews disc, I popped in their first disc.  Mostly because I thought their first one sounded rawer.  And it does.
House of Ill Fame has the same rock feel as the new one does, but it also feels a lot more garagey.  It rocks harder, [...]

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Zsuzsi Gartner-”Summer of the Flesh Eater” (The Walrus, September 2009)

SOUNDTRACK: NEKO CASE-Middle Cyclone (2009).
I first learned of Neko Case through The New Pornographers.  Their song “Letter from an Occupant” blew me away.  But when I’d investigated her solo work, I learned she was more of a country singer than anything else.  Reviewers said that Middle Cyclone broke from that mold a little into more [...]

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