largehearted boy: a boy, a girl, and his radio

June 17, 2013

Daily Downloads (Dreamboat, Byzantium, and more)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Boxelders: free and legal Crow/Dandelion EP [mp3]

Byzantium: free and legal Byzantium EP Sampler single [mp3]

Dreamboat: free and legal Dreamboat EP [mp3]

Friendly Savages: free and legal O, Joshua! EP [mp3]

Jadea Kelly: free and legal Clover EP [mp3]

Judah and the Lion: free and legal Sweet Tennessee EP [mp3]

Logan Daniel Garza: free and legal Alpine Summer album [mp3]

Rivers and Robots: free and legal Rivers and Robots EP [mp3]

Seabird: free and legal Wind and Whisper Sampler album [mp3]

Various Artists: free and legal Bearcut Summer Sampler EP [mp3]

Free and legal live performances at other websites:

Dave Marr: 2013-06-08, Athens [mp3]

search for more free and legal music downloads at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
covers collections
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Shorties (daily music, books, and pop culture news and links)
Soundtracked (composers and directors discuss their film's soundtrack)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from the week's CD releases)

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

June 16, 2013

Largehearted Boy Weekly Wrap-Up - June 16th, 2013

A list of the past week's Largehearted Boy features:

Book Notes: (authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates to their book)

Andrew Vachss for his novel Aftershock
Anton DiSclafani for her novel The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
Craig Nova for his novel All the Dead Yale Men
Jaimee Garbacik for her book Gender and Sexuality For Beginners
Joshua Isard for his novel Conquistador of the Useless
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara for her short story collection Damn Love
Maris Wicks for her graphic novel Primates
Travis Nichols for his novel The More you Ignore Me

Contests:

Win Hilary Mantel's novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's contest at Largehearted Boy.

Cover Song Collections:

12 Replacements cover songs

Weekly New Book Recommendations:

Atomic Books Comics Preview (recommended new comics and graphic novels)
Largehearted Word (recommended new books)
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week (recommended new books, magazines, and comics)

New Music Recommendations:

The Week's Interesting Music Releases

New DVD recommendations:

The Week's Interesting DVD Releases

And of course, the daily music and news posts:

Daily Downloads (10 free and legal mp3 downloads every day, plus links to free live recordings online)
Shorties (news & links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

also at Largehearted Boy:

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
Antiheroines
Atomic Books Comics Preview
Book Notes
Contests / Giveaways
Daily Downloads
Largehearted Word
Lists
music & DVD release lists
musician/author Interviews
Note Books
Soundtracked
Try It Before You Buy It

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Contest - Win Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies and Wolf Hall and a $100 Threadless Gift Certificate

Summer reading season is upon us, and one of the books I am anxious to finally read is Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies, her sequel to Wolf Hall.

For a chance at winning these books book and a $100 Threadless gift certificate, leave a comment with the book you are most looking forward to reading this summer.

One winner, chosen randomly from the commenters, will receive the following prizes:

Hilary Mantel's novel Bring Up the Bodies
Hilary Mantel's novel Wolf Hall

A $100 Threadless gift certificate to buy book-related t-shirts like Storytellers, The Best Channels Since 1465, Fahrenheit 451, Brainy Rainbow, or Word!, and music-related t-shirts like Death Note, Funkalicious, Music Snob, or anything else that catches your fancy.

If you have already have these books or it they don't interest you, I am happy to substitute a second $100 Threadless gift certificate.

The winner will be chosen randomly at midnight ET Friday evening (June 21st).

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous and ongoing contests at Largehearted Boy

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
Atomic Books Comics Preview (highlights of the week's new comics)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Daily Downloads (daily free and legal music downloads)
Largehearted Word (highlights of the week's book releases)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Shorties (daily links from the worlds of music, literature, and pop culture)

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Shorties (Neil Gaiman's Weird London, The Beastles: A Beatles and Beastie Boys Mashup Album, and more)

Neil Gaiman takes a tour of weird London on the Guardian Books podcast.

The Beastles mashes up the Beatles and the Beastie Boys on the Ill Submarine album.

Time Out London lists its 20 best albums of the year so far.

The Guardian profiles author NoViolet Bulawayo.

"Let no one be fooled by the fact that we may write in English, for we intend to do unheard of things with it," said Chinua Achebe, an inspiration for NoViolet Bulawayo, who uses words potently, blending brutality and lyricism in her unflinching, bittersweet story of displacement, We Need New Names. Her narrator, the young girl Darling, and her friends have lost their homes and now live in Paradise, a Zimbabwean shanty, where they steal guavas, witness violent racial tensions, and dream of escape. "I wanted to tell a story that was urgent, that came from the bone," she explains.

Stereogum lists Josh Homme (and his bands') albums from worst to best.

Salon and The Atlantic Wire weigh in on Jonathan Franzen's letter to the New York Times about sexism in the literary and theater worlds.

In The Atlantic, Colin Fleming makes the case for 1963 as the year that defined the Beatles.

The Vancouver Sun offers a literary tour of Paris and Rouen.

Hypebot lists four music industry myths that indie musicians need to unlearn.

Flavorwire shares a list of 10 experimental comic books.

The Twin Cities Daily Planet shares advice for new musical artists.

Weekend Edition interviews Sahar Delijani about her new novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree.

Live stream video from Bonnaroo today at Yahoo.

All Things Considered interviews Rebecca Solnit, The Faraway Nearby.

"It's all in the telling," she says. "Stories are compasses and architecture; we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of the world that spreads in all directions like arctic tundra or sea ice."

The Guardian interviews Curtis Sittenfeld about her new novel, Sisterland.

Your characters, especially your female characters, are all the more realistic for sometimes acting in unexpected or unlikable ways. Do you ever come under pressure to make them more "sympathetic" to the ordinary reader?

I don't think my editors would say it that bluntly but I think they might say: "Why has she made some of the choices she has?" Both sisters are complicated, both are a combination of likable and unlikable and I think my American editor pushed me a little more to justify that.

That's another thing that can be talked about differently with men or women in fiction. Likability comes up a lot more with female characters. Men can be homicidal [in fiction] and that's fine. A woman picks up her child late from school and people think she's a bad mother.

Amazon MP3 offers 100 albums on sale for $5 each.
Amazon MP3 offers over 2,400 albums on sale for $3.99.
Amazon MP3 offers over 1,300 albums for sale for $2.99.
Amazon MP3 offers over 400 jazz albums on sale for $1.78.
Amazon MP3 offers over 55,000 free and legal mp3s.

Follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
Atomic Books Comics Preview (the week's best new comics & graphic novels)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (the week's best new books)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Daily Downloads (12 Replacements Covers and more)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Every Sunday, Largehearted Boy shares a collection of cover songs.

Today's songs were all originally written and performed by the Replacements.

Check out the entire list of cover song posts at Largehearted Boy.

Free and legal live performances at other websites:

Tele Novella: 2013-05-22, Los Angeles [mp3]

search for more free and legal music downloads at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
covers collections
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

June 15, 2013

Shorties (Neil Gaiman on His New Novel, John Vanderslice on His New Album, and more)

Weekend Edition interviews Neil Gaiman about his new short story collection The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Read an excerpt from the book.

John Vanderslice talks to The Record about the inspiration behind his new album, Dagger Beach.

The Los Angeles Review of Books interviews Colum McCann about his new novel, TransAtlantic.

Stereogum lists the 10 best Magnetic Fields songs.

The New York Times interviews Jeannette Walls about her reading habits.

BBC News reports that singer-songwriters PJ Harvey and Adele were awarded MBE's by the queen.

NPR Books recommends science fiction and fantasy books for summer reading.

James Lavelle of Mo' Wax Records talks trip-hop with the Guardian.

Biographile interviews Melville House publisher Dennis johnson.

Kim Deal has quit the Pixies.

The Airship pairs cheeses with their literary counterparts.

New York Magazine profiles Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac.

Flavorwire recommends 15 books for last-minute Father's day gifts.

Follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Daily Downloads (Robyn Hitchcock, Low, and more)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Alejandro Escovedo: 2013-06-004, Austin [mp3,ogg,flac]
Alejandro Escovedo: "Like a Hurricane (Bob Dylan cover)" [mp3]

Chuck Prophet: 2012-10-07, Philadelphia [mp3,ogg,flac]
Chuck Prophet: "Willie Mays Is Up at Bat" [mp3]

Dawes: 2013-03-25, New York [mp3,ogg,flac]
Dawes: "Just My Luck" [mp3]

Deer Tick: 2013-06-07, Hunter [mp3,ogg,flac]
Deer Tick: "Can't Hardly Wait (Replacements cover)" [mp3]

Explosions in the Sky: 2002-09-06, Tilburg [mp3,ogg,flac]
Explosions in the Sky: "Once More to the Afterlife" [mp3]

Low: 2013-03-29, Denver [mp3,ogg,flac]
Low: "Clarence White" [mp3]

Mogwai: 2011-03-29, Berlin [mp3,ogg,flac]
Mogwai: "Death Rays" [mp3]

Patterson Hood: 2013-06-08, Franklin [mp3,ogg,flac]
Patterson Hood: "I Understand Now" [mp3]

Robyn Hitchcock: 2013-06-04, Seattle [mp3,ogg,flac]
Robyn Hitchcock: "Kingdom of Love" [mp3]
Robyn Hitchcock: 2009-04-09, Washington [mp3,ogg,flac]
Robyn Hitchcock: "Goodnight Oslo" [mp3]

Free and legal live performances at other websites:

Kylesa: Violitionist session [mp3]

search for more free and legal music downloads at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
covers collections
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

June 14, 2013

Book Notes - Andrew Vachss "Aftershock"

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.

Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Kevin Brockmeier, George Pelecanos, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Myla Goldberg, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.

Andrew Vachss impresses again with his new, dark and compelling thriller Aftershock.

Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:

"[C]ompelling first in a new thriller series ... [R]eaders will stick with the story, and the series, because the steadfast, relentless Dell, with his uncompromising morality, commands attention."

Stream a Spotify playlist of these tunes. If you don't have Spotify yet, sign up for the free service.

In his own words, here is Andrew Vachss's Book Notes music playlist for his novel, Aftershock:

I'm always listening to music–although not necessarily via a recording. When I'm writing, when I'm doing anything really. Thanks to this little “souvenir” of malaria that apparently will be with me for life–tinnitus. Music helps–dead silence is unbearable, but with a multi-tasking (or overloaded) brain, it doesn’t intrude much.

There are songs I know well, songs I've had inside me for a long time. Some of those songs were playing when I wrote my newest novel, Aftershock. It's the start of a new crime series. Why another series after 18 Burke novels? Well, if you want depth of character like I was able to do with Burke, it needs to be a series, needs to be layered over time. You can't write a 500 page intro. Also, you can't keep creating totally new protagonists if you are always writing in the first person. I can't write in a woman’s voice ... some do this perfectly, I can’t even come close. I'm not interested in “research”–too much of my life has heard that music on an Agenda organ. I write what I know. And I've been thinking for a long time about the way that mercenaries are viewed. Movies aren’t a good reference for most things, unless they’re made from non-fiction books by that vanishing breed–the journalist whose only God is Truth. But if you’re going to research mercenaries-and-motivations, look up Simon Mann.

So my playlist. I don't want to give away too much about Dell, the 1st-person narrator of the new series, but it's kind of a map of his life. There’s a philosophy that maintains people are “useless” unless they possess certain useable skills–you’re useless if you can’t be used. Mercenaries fall into that category. We assume that their life is their choice, but that’s as intelligent as any “they’re all alike” statement would be. But let's say you believe you’re useless. What then? You want to connect with someone else, you want to feel something. That's brutally hard for some of people, and the outcome isn’t always a good one.

Dell, that's him. Dolly? Maybe a beautiful nurse he encountered when he woke up in a field hospital in the Congo. Or maybe just what he’d fever-dreamed. Dell can’t trust his memory ... hell, he doesn’t even have a memory before age nine or ten. Retrograde amnesia, they told him in that “clinic” in Belgium, the one he walked away from and merged with the darkness outside its sterile walls.

But Dell’s dream of Dolly is the first time in his life that he's ever had a mission that someone else hasn't given to him. What would someone like Dell be had it not been for Dolly? Probably dead–spin the wheel enough times and the ball lands on zero. Dell never sought death, but his interest in life wasn’t very high.

So what happens when someone like Dell decides to help solve a crime? Well, it wouldn’t be with that noir staple, the “friend on the force.” Dell has been an outlaw for all his life, and he’s not about to change sides. And that's what Aftershock is about.

"Born in Chicago" (The Paul Butterfield Blues Band)

This is Butterfield’s signature song, leading an incredible group that included guitar genius Mike Bloomfield. They both died young, while Elvin Bishop just kept rolling. Butterfield was born and raised in Hyde Park, not in the juke joints of Chicago. A born musician, he could have played the flute in any classical orchestra. He knew the truth of his life, and learned the truth of life a short distance from his home. So the lyrics (Nick Gravenites) has his father telling him, “Son, you had better get yourself a gun.” Dell has no past, but he and Butterfield are alike in that they each saw only one way open to them. In “Born in Chicago,” the singer has two friends, and neither makes it past the age of 21. Neither did the only two friends Dell made.

“The blues are all right, if there’s someone left to play the game.
But all my friends are going, people ... and things just don’t seem the same.”

Butterfield died young. He didn’t understand what the blues musicians he idolized knew from birth ... those first-class seats on planes are going to be back seats on the ‘Hound soon enough. And drugs only numb the pain, they don’t cure it.

"Goin’ Down Slow" (Canned Heat)

One of a thousand versions of this song, but the only one with Blind Owl Wilson adding his magic. He died young, too ... as did lead singer, Big Bob Hite. The lyrics have morphed into personal versions: a man who once had money and friends, and now has neither; a man dying of disease, waiting for his last visitor; a man whose sins have caught up with him, and tries to smuggle a letter of of jail asking his mother to forgive him ... no matter: he’s going to watch himself die. And that's what Dell was doing before he met Dolly. He saw this one little chance to be a person, and he went all-in. If he failed, he died ... and he was OK with that. It's not as if mercenaries had retirement communities.

"Stranger in a Strange Land" (The Charlie Musselwhite Blues Band)

Dell's permanent state–he was a man who searched all his life, and when he (to his amazement) found his dream could be true, what he did to keep it alive made a lot of other people dead. This is a song that personifies the Chicago Blues. It's intrusive and hard; it has to be. It’s designed to cut through a club where getting audience attention is no easy trick.

"Goin’ Back Home" (Son Seals)

That was something Dell could never do, something he finally accepted—you can't go back to a place you never knew. Son Seals was Chicago blues legend. And a friend. Hell, he “opened” for me at Barbara’s (when it was still on Wells Street) for me when I did one of my infamous “readings,” and jammed the place ... even the bouncer from the nearby strip club came over. You know about Doc Pomus? Well, he was a blues musician too. He was born Jerome Felder in Brooklyn in 1925.But just like Jewish boxers (see, e.g., Barney “Ross”), he changed his name so as not to embarrass his family. Doc hated the humans that I go after in my real work. That's how I knew him. The man had such personal charm that waitresses would fight over who got to work our table. No photo will ever convey this, but, if you saw it in action, you'd never doubt it. I wrote a tribute to Doc in my 1990 novel, Blossom:

“It took the front man a while to make it to the microphone. He had a chest big enough to play solitaire on, a head the size of a basketball, thick long hair swept back from his forehead in crashing waves. He was standing on metal crutches, the kind that angle about halfway up. A massive upper body on useless legs.”

Doc had had polio as a child. This scene happens in a bar where Doc holds the whole place captive. I wrote the song Doc sings there:

“The man on crutches came through the music like a fist punching through a door, his cobalt voice nailing the crowd.”

I've done you wrong
So many times
Treated you cruel
Played with your mind
I know you're leaving
And I'll miss your loving touch
But won't you listen just one more time?
Woman, don't you owe me that much?

I drank and I gambled
But you always let me come home
Yes, I drank and I gambled
But you always let me come home
You always forgave me
Till you heard that little girl on the phone

“A woman in the crowd screamed something up at the stage. The singer bowed in her direction and went back to work.”

I lost my job, even went to jail
And you always stayed by my side
When I lost my job, and I went to jail
You always stood up, right by my side
But you saw me with that other woman
You swore your love had died
First you said you'd kill her
And then you changed your mind
Yeah, you said you'd take her young life
But then you changed your mind
You threw my clothes in the street
And told me to stay with my own kind

“He hit us with verse after verse, telling his story. Telling the truth. When he got to the end of the road, he had us with him.”

I need you for my woman
I need you for my wife
You know I need you, woman
Lord knows I need my wife
But if you won't send an answer
I guess I don't need my life

And that song, my tribute to Doc, is one that Son Seals recorded. You can listen to him sing it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DG5Hw7JTgbWA

Those lines spoke to Dell. And of him.

"Crazy" (Patsy Cline)

Patsy Cline was not a good-looking woman. But nobody in a C&W bar says that. You don’t say that. Patsy expressed such longing and such pain. Dell would have loved to feel that pain. But he had nobody. Unless he counted the fever-dream of Dolly. This, Patsy’s “Crazy,” is how Dell thought of himself, every time that dream invaded his reality. For the longest time, he couldn’t even be sure she was real.

"God Bless The Child" (Judy Henske)

The truth that marked Dell's life. Dell knows damn well he wasn't a blessed child so he this song sings his song. But he never stopped him from reaching into the darkness for what he knew had to be there ... somewhere.

"Walking This Big Road By Myself" (Lightin' Hopkins)

Billy Bizor's harp work brought this truth of Dell's life to life. Without Bizor, there's no lyric that can express such need. Most people don't know who he is though. He wouldn't leave Texas for some reason.

"I Don't Know What You Got" (Little Richard)

If Dell could express his feelings in music, this would be his song for Dolly–I don’t know what you got ... but it’s got me. Dolly does in fact turn out to be real and she changes Dell's life. And her own. Drastically. A life with a man like Dell isn't anything you know about until you’re in it. He was a killer-for-hire; she was a battlefield nurse in places where there no “neutral” is recognized. But about this song. Some people might remember that Little Richard quit after Sputnik–some say he interpreted that as a sign from God that rock-n-roll was evil. But preaching didn’t do it for him, and he came back. There's a 15 year old Jimi Hendrix on guitar in this song. Listen and you'll forget everything you thought you knew about Little Richard.

"My True Love" (Jack Scott)

Another song that says what Dell feels for Dolly. But Jack Scott was no average rock-n-roller. I saw him perform a million years ago. He'd do three sets of 100 push-ups before going on stage. He was one of the first rock guys to segue into blues. Going in the opposite direction from the way most people think of music evolving. But actually lots of musicians went from rock to blues. The other side of this single is “Leroy's Back in Jail Again.” The sax man on that cut sent me a fan letter. From prison. I get a lot of letters from prison. Some good, some not so good.

"It Hurts Me Too" (Elmore James)

Eric Clapton didn't write that. Sorry. This song is as powerful a tribute to empathy–the mercenary's worst enemy–as there is. Dell had never felt somebody else’s feelings before Dolly. That’s why she’s worth his life. Or yours, if it comes to that.

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" (Fats Domino)

This isn't Blueberry Hill. Fats was a blues musician who stood at the crossroads of a thousand different kinds of music. New Orleans has a great piano tradition, Champion Jack Dupree among a long list. But Fat's phrasing is what set him apart. Just so clear and true. This song is pretty much Dell: simple and limited, but very clear, and totally true. All Dell wanted to do was hold Dolly's hand. Wherever they walked. And when Dolly chooses to help a teen-aged soft-ball star who shot and killed a fellow student at her high school, Dell’s going to walk alongside her there, holding her hand or a pistol ... but with Dolly. And that’s all he ever wanted.

"Rainin’ in My Heart" (Slim Harpo)

Weather may change, but only within a climate. It’s always raining in Dell’s heart. And, somewhere inside him, he knows that he has to change climates to find the piece of himself he’s never known. Slim Harpo didn’t live long, but he lasted long enough to pull the Louisiana Swamp Blues into the public’s consciousness. Until Dolly, it wasn’t just raining in Dell’s part, but only the pain he lived with proved he had one.

"Pledging My Love" (Johnny Ace)

Johnny Ace allegedly killed himself playing Russian Roulette. Dell knew the truth of that game, and the truth of who played it. While a Legionnaire, he knew those who saw roulette as a test ... and a pastime. It figures into Aftershock because the song itself matches Dell's pledge to Dolly word-for-word.

"Nadine" (Dion)

Doc Pomus wrote a lot of Dion's songs but Chuck Berry wrote this one–and, yeah, he was a bluesman who went the other way. This song is about the chase, the search. “Honey, is that you?” It reverberates the reality for Dell–if you can just keep moving long enough, you will get there.

Andrew Vachss and Aftershock links:

the author's website
the author's Wikipedia entry

Publishers Weekly review

also at Largehearted Boy:

Book Notes (2012 - ) (authors create music playlists for their book)
Book Notes (2005 - 2011) (authors create music playlists for their book)
my 11 favorite Book Notes playlist essays

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly comics highlights)
Daily Downloads (free and legal daily mp3 downloads)
guest book reviews
Largehearted Word (weekly new book highlights)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Shorties (daily music, literature, and pop culture links)
Soundtracked (composers and directors discuss their film's soundtracks)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from the week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Book Notes - Maris Wicks "Primates"

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.

Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Kevin Brockmeier, George Pelecanos, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Myla Goldberg, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.

Jim Ottaviani follows up his acclaimed graphic novel biography of Richard Feynman with Primates, a creative look at the lives of three of the 20th century's most renowned primatologists. The lives of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas are vibrantly illustrated by Maris Wicks in this informative, enjoyable, and (to the younger set) inspiring book.

School Library Journal wrote of the book:

"The story of how each of these women loved primates and lived among them to study their behavior is compelling, and might inspire a whole new generation of scientists to follow in their footsteps."

Stream a Spotify playlist of these tunes. If you don't have Spotify yet, sign up for the free service.

In her own words, here is Maris Wicks's Book Notes music playlist for her graphic novel, Primates:

Illustrating Primates had many stages: reading the script, creating rough sketches of each page (aka "thumbnails), penciling, inking, and coloring. Most of the time, I listened to music (or podcasts - more about that later). Similar to Jim, I can't listen to music (or anything) during the writing process, and although I did not write Primates, translating the script to comics is a very similar thought process. So the thumbnails for Primates were done in silence. But the pencils, inks and color? Turn it on and TURN IT UP! Here's a selection of songs that I listened to, or songs that I actually sang to myself, while working on Primates. When I tired of music, I turned to science-y podcasts. It was like extra-curricular research for the book, while at the same time, completely entertaining.

"I Am a Paleontologist" by They Might Be Giants, from Here Comes Science

Any of the beginning scenes with Goodall and Leakey on a dig reminded me of this little-kid anthem.

"My Brother the Ape" by They Might Be Giants, from Here Comes Science

A song about evolutionary biology? Yes, PLEASE! The whole Here Comes Science album is awesome, whether you've got science-loving kids, or you're a science-loving grownup.

"Mammal" by They Might Be Giants, from Apollo 18

More TMBG. I love them. Their songs are amazing. I mean, c'mon. This song is about MAMMALS.

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as performed by The Tokens

Ok, at the risk of being a little silly, I've included some jungle-themed songs. I've loved this song since I was a kid, and the visual that it paints in each of it's verses. But yeah. SILLY.

"Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses, from Appetite for Destruction

More silly. I totally picture a Great Ape version of GNR, with Axl Rose as a chimp, Slash as an orangutan, and a big ol' gorilla on drums. Hold on. I might need to draw this...

"Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora, from Living in the Background

Thought I was done with the silly songs? Nope. Get ready to have this song stuck in your head FOREVER.

"Are You Sleeping?" by Harry Nilsson, from The Point!

Not jungle-themed, but a favorite of mine. Especially for the quiet moments of the book.

Here's where I break the rules: because this story was so rooted in science and animals and field work, I supplemented my research with science-themed podcasts. This allowed for me to get into the right head-space for the project (I like A LOT of information for things I'm working on). Radiolab was my preferred method of podcast consumption; here are a few episodes that I find complementary to Primates:

Radiolab, Season 7, Episode 2 "Lucy"
Radiolab, Season 7, Episode 1 "Animal Minds"
Radiolab, Season 3, Episode 3 "Zoos"

Other albums that are not Primates-y, but accompanied me through the illustration process:

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible, The Suburbs
Good Luck - Into Lake Griffy
Love is All - Nine Times That Same Song
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Biomusicology
Islands - Return to the Sea
Menomena - Friend and Foe
Mates of State - Re-arrange Us
Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
BLOW - Paper Television
The Golden Dogs - Big Eye Little Eye
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
The National - The Boxer
Quasi - Featuring 'Birds'
Any and all David Bowie, Morrissey/The Smiths, Guided by Voices, The Magnetic Fields, Elliott Smith and Jonathan Richman

Maris Wicks and Primates links:

the illustrator's blog
excerpt from the book (at Boing Boing)
excerpt from the book (at Tor.com)

Graphic Policy review
Kirkus Reviews review
New York Journal of Books review
New York Times review
Paste review

Comic Book Resources interview with Jim Ottaviani
Whatever guest post by Jim Ottaviani
Wired profile of the illustrator

also at Largehearted Boy:

Book Notes (2012 - ) (authors create music playlists for their book)
Book Notes (2005 - 2011) (authors create music playlists for their book)
my 11 favorite Book Notes playlist essays

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Book Notes - Joshua Isard "Conquistador of the Useless"

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.

Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Kevin Brockmeier, George Pelecanos, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Myla Goldberg, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.

Joshua Isard's novel Conquistador of the Useless is a clever slacker novel filled with magnificently unforgettable flawed characters.

Small Press reviews wrote of the book:

"Anyone who grew up at the tail-end of Generation X will find something to love in this book — the protagonist's angst over drifting, however late, into adulthood, his taste in music, or even his fraught-if-only-because-it's-so-damn-pleasant relationship with his parents. All told, a fine novel about settling down without settling."

Stream a Spotify playlist of these tunes. If you don't have Spotify yet, sign up for the free service.

In his own words, here is Joshua Isard's Book Notes music playlist for his novel, Conquistador of the Useless:

Music is central to my debut novel, Conquistador of the Useless, but more specifically it's music fandom. Nathan, the protagonist, went to high school in the mid 1990s, and is a grunge aficionado who never let go of that culture even into his 30s. When he and his wife buy a house in the suburbs, he befriends the teenage girl next door and is shocked to find that he likes some of the newer bands she listens to. This is one of the catalysts for Nathan's somewhat belated maturation through the novel, wherein he discovers how the world weariness of his youth helps him discover what he really values as an adult.

The music I've chosen here is a combination of the songs important to my characters, and those important to me. I'm a big fan, and always write with music on. I’ve made a playlist for every major project I’ve ever attempted, and that list has always developed along with the writing. For Conquistador, it began with some of my favorite alternative tracks that would get me into the mood I felt my initial pages should have—but then as the story grew I began adding songs that, for me, represented the characters, and even the book as a whole. The result is 54 songs, each of which has a subtly different meaning for me in the production of this novel. I still remember adding each one over the three years I wrote and edited it, and the reasons, however vague, that I did so.

Below are the best, and most interesting examples.

"Debaser" by Pixies

This is the seminal song of the novel. Pixies arguably spawned 90s alternative and grunge rock as we know it, and for Nathan they kick off his obsession with the genre. On a ride home from school someone plays "Debaser," and Nathan, who’d never connected with the classic rock his parents love, gets addicted to this new sound, which then dominates his high school years. Later on, when he’s married and Pixies get back together, Nathan and his wife go to the reunion tour where they end up spending a lot of time looking at the others in the audience who now have receding hairlines, crows feet, and even toddlers in tow. The music hasn’t changed for him, but he starts to realize that everything else has.

"Son of a Gun" by Nirvana

I really like Nirvana, obviously, but mostly their B-sides and covers. Yes, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is an essential song, but Incesticide has my favorite singles, especially their two covers of The Vaselines: "Molly’s Lips" and "Son of a Gun." I’ve heard various people say that "Teen Spirit" sort of changed their lives, but that always seemed a little ridiculous to me. So I wrote a character, Nathan’s neighbor, Tom, who says just that, and even has a guitar signed by all the members of Nirvana hanging in his home office to remind him. As Tom recounts how the song validated him, Nathan’s not quite sure what to say, so he tells the story of how Kurt Cobain came up with the title of the song because Teen Spirit was a brand of girls deodorant. Tom did not know this, and seems a little gutted. The exchange helps to establish Nathan’s real reason for moving to the suburbs: so he can be alone.

"Let Me In" by R.E.M.

This was the song that always focused me for writing, and stayed at the top of my playlist during the whole composition and editorial process. It’s intense right from the start, pensive, and put me in the mood to write something that is at once accessible and thoughtful (I hope…). The fact that it was written as a tribute to Kurt Cobain, and is part of one of the best albums of the 90s, doesn’t hurt, but I never thought about that when it came on. I thought about my characters and their story. Every single time. I hope I find another song like this for my next project.

"Suburban Home" by Descendents

I always wanted a bit of humor in Nathan’s story, and this song helped me to keep that in mind through the writing process. A satirical piece of punk that says, "I want to be stereotyped, I want to be classified," it reminded me of the irony Nathan and his wife feel as they move into a neighborhood about fifteen minutes away from the ones where they grey up. It could seem like a failure, and their instinct is that it should, but at the core their move is genuinely what they want.

"Titus Andronicus" by Titus Andronicus

If there is a contemporary band that I think those who grew up in the grunge culture would like, it’s Titus Andronicus. With their lo-fi, guitar driven sound, not to mention the humorous audacity of an eponymous name for their first single, they fall right into the style of the best bands of the early 90s. In the novel, the teenage girl Nathan befriends introduces him to bands like this. It helps him to realize that there’s some good music which was produced after his high school years, and that he might be able to handle growing up without losing every value from his youth—only the ones he probably should lose.

"Roots Radical" by Rancid

This is the band that Rayanne, the teenage girl, and Lisa, Nathan’s wife, find they have in common when they first meet. Rancid seems to be one of the bands that's had the most longevity, and I've seen more current teenagers at their shows than those of almost any other 90s band. When I saw them at the Electric Factory in Philly I stood on the balcony—you have to be 21 to get up there—and on the floor were teenagers, looking just like my friends and I must have ten or fifteen years ago when we came here. This seemed like one of the best ways to establish a connection between generations in the novel.

"Schaffino" by At The Drive-In

Jim Ward, the lead singer of At The Drive-In, used to work for Cinco Puntos Press. One of the first email exchanges I had with Lee Byrd, my editor and Cinco Puntos' CEO, was about how the novel made her think about Jim, his band, and how he cut a CD with the poet Bobby Byrd, Lee's husband and co-owner of Cinco Puntos. I hadn't thought of At The Drive-In for years, but once I got involved with CPP I went and downloaded the albums I used to own on CD back in high school. Their first album, Acrobatic Tenement, is incredible, especially "Schaffino," my favorite single, and this reinforced for me that I'd found the right place for my novel.

"All My Friends Are Insects" by Weezer

You know it's a good time to have kids when your favorite bands are appearing on children's programs to promote their new album. This track from the deluxe version of Hurley, released in 2010, was first played by Weezer on Yo Gabba Gabba, a performance I presume was as much for their kids as for them. Three of the four current members of Weezer have kids, and much of their original fan base does as well (and were probably thrilled to see Weezer on their children's favorite show), so this is a nice song to show where we've all come after the 90s. It's a good song, too, and is first on the playlist I made for my baby daughter.

Joshua Isard and Conquistador of the Useless links:

the author's website

Small Press Reviews review

Lit Bridge essay by the author

also at Largehearted Boy:

Book Notes (2012 - ) (authors create music playlists for their book)
Book Notes (2005 - 2011) (authors create music playlists for their book)
my 11 favorite Book Notes playlist essays

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Shorties (Stereotyping You By Your Favorite Music Festival, Chicago's American Writers Museum, and more)

Flavorwire stereotypes you by your favorite music festival.

The Wall Street Journal talks to proponents of Chicago's proposed American Writers Museum.

The Denver Post profiles the band Parquet Courts.

The New York-by-way-of-Texas quartet deals in talky, jokey, sonically compelling songs that never devolve into parody. Like some punked-up mix of Jonathan Richman and Pavement, it's goofy dude music that actually rocks.

Irish Voice profiles author Colum McCann.

Canada's Polaris Music Prize has named the albums longlisted for the 2013 prize.

Fresh Air interviews Carl Hiassen about his new novel, Bad Monkey.

Guardian Music Blog readers recommend songs about funerals.

The A.V. Club interviews author Judy Blume.

All Songs Considered offers advice to summer music festival attendees.

Flavorwire shares street art-inspired book covers.

Billboard has launched its annual "songs of the summer" chart.

Interview Magazine interviews playwright, poet, and musician Young Jean Lee.

VISCO: How long have you been singing?

LEE: I sang when I was younger in choirs, but I was never really a "singer." I had to take voice lessons for a year to prepare for this show. That's sort of the point of the show: I'm not a glamorous Liza Minnelli type... The idea that I was standing up there—that I wasn't a performer and I wasn't a singer—was what made the show work... The whole point of the show is this thought that I was "special," and should be exempt from all these horrible things. And then the realization that I wasn't was really helpful. The main phrase that came to me was: "Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are to be immune to tragedy? What makes you so special that you should go unscathed?" That was a huge turning point for me. It's that anger that an injustice was done to you that really kills you. That rage can really eat you. It's not an injustice; that's what the world is.

Win Elliott Holt's debut novel You Are One of Them and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's contest at Largehearted Boy.

Follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

Daily Downloads (Mountain Goats, Daughn Gibson, and more)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Daughn Gibson: "The Sound of Law" [mp3] from Me Moan (out July 9th)

Ducky: "Air (Day Version)" [mp3]

Flaamingos: "All I Wanna Do Is Live" [mp3] from Flaamingos (out August 27th)

Grant Olney: "Not from Body" [mp3] from Hypnosis for Happiness (out July 2nd)

Kamara Thomas: "That's No Way to Treat Your Sweet Guitar" [mp3]
Kamara Thomas: "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" [mp3]

Kalyn Rock: "Ceiling Stars" [mp3]

Minks: "Everything's Fine" [mp3] from Tides End (out August 6th)

Mortar and Pestle: "Pristine Dream" [mp3] from Mortar and Pestle

Rare High: free and legal (name your price) Rare High album [mp3]

Free and legal live performances at other websites:

Mountain Goats: 2013-06-05, Hoboken [mp3]

search for more free and legal music downloads at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
covers collections
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us

About LHB

Map

Contact

Search

52 Books 52 Weeks

Largehearted Lists

Syndicate

LHB Erector Set

Archives

June 17, 2013

Daily Downloads (Dreamboat, Byzantium, and more)

June 16, 2013

Largehearted Boy Weekly Wrap-Up - June 16th, 2013

Contest - Win Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies and Wolf Hall and a $100 Threadless Gift Certificate

Shorties (Neil Gaiman's Weird London, The Beastles: A Beatles and Beastie Boys Mashup Album, and more)

Daily Downloads (12 Replacements Covers and more)

June 15, 2013

Shorties (Neil Gaiman on His New Novel, John Vanderslice on His New Album, and more)

Daily Downloads (Robyn Hitchcock, Low, and more)

June 14, 2013

Book Notes - Andrew Vachss "Aftershock"

Book Notes - Maris Wicks "Primates"

Book Notes - Joshua Isard "Conquistador of the Useless"

Shorties (Stereotyping You By Your Favorite Music Festival, Chicago's American Writers Museum, and more)

Daily Downloads (Mountain Goats, Daughn Gibson, and more)

Sponsors


	Web largeheartedboy.com