May 3, 2012
Shorties (Best Memoirs About Mothers, Mike Watt's Photography, and more)
Flavorwire lists 10 of the best memoirs about mothers.
Sound of the City interviews Mike Watt about his forthcoming photography book, the fIREHOSE reunion, and playing Stooges covers.
PopMatters excerpts the first chapter from Rob Jovanovic's book Seeing the Light: Inside the Velvet Underground.
At Moonshot, Mira Ptacin offers tips on how to run your own literary series.
Misconstrue looks back at 10 amazing Portland bands.
The Santa Barbara Independent profiles the band Cuddle Magic.
What do you get when you mix six classically trained musicians together in a pop band? If you're lucky, something resembling Cuddle Magic. Derived during its players' collective stint at the New England Conservatory of Music, the band combines an ambitious mix of chamber orchestrations, lo-fi folk ruminations, and experimental pop flourishes, resulting in a sound that falls somewhere in between Joanna Newsom's harp-fueled songbook and twee-minded acts like The Moldy Peaches and Castanets.
Bookworm interviews Peter Behrens about his new novel, The O'Briens.
PopMatters lists the top 10 most notable career suicide albums.
The 6th Floor excerpts from Tom Gauld's graphic novel Goliath.
The WQXR Blog examines the changing role of the music critic in a digital age.
Flavorwire lists 10 beautiful literary boxed sets.
BBC Wales Music lists examples of the unexpected dangers of playing live music.
Neil Gaiman interviews Stephen King.
The A.V. Club interviews Jack White about his new album Blunderbuss.
The Chicago Tribune interviews Anne Rice about her latest novel, The Wolf Gift.
Paste recommends 12 North Carolina bands you should listen to now.
LitFactor is a new website that facilitates joining authors with agents.
The Guardian is streaming both versions of the reissued Loveless album by My Bloody Valentine.
Tablet shares tips on how "not" to read aloud to kids.
Win a DVD of James Franco's Hart Crane biopic The Broken Tower and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's Largehearted Boy contest.
Amazon MP3
Follow me on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, 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)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (the week's best new books)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
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May 3, 2012
Daily Downloads (Here We Go Magic, Mission of Burma, 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:
Bremen: free and legal Bremen album [mp3]
search for more Bremen posts at Largehearted Boy
Edmund II: "Riptide" [mp3] from Floating Monk (out June 26th)
search for more Edmund II posts at Largehearted Boy
Here We Go Magic: "How Do I Know" [mp3] from A Different Ship (out May 8th)
Here We Go Magic: "Make Up Your Mind" [mp3] from A Different Ship (out May 8th)
search for more Here We Go Magic posts at Largehearted Boy
Mission of Burma: "Dust Devil" [mp3] from Unsound (out July 10th)
search for more Mission of Burma posts at Largehearted Boy
Nikki Lane: "Sleep for You" [mp3] from Walk of Shame
search for more Nikki Lane posts at Largehearted Boy
Soso: "I Never Thought You'd Come In Summer" [mp3] from That Time I Dug So Deep I Ended Up In China
search for more Soso posts at Largehearted Boy
Tiger High: "Why Oh Why" [mp3] from Myth is This
search for more Tiger High posts at Largehearted Boy
Virals: "Gloria" [mp3] from Coming Up with the Sun (out May 7th)
Virals: "Coming Up with the Sun" [mp3] from Coming Up with the Sun (out May 7th)
search for more Virals posts at Largehearted Boy
Free and legal live performances at other websites:
Acid Mothers Temple: 2012-04-30, Brooklyn [mp3]
search for more Acid Mothers Temple posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
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)
weekly music & DVD release lists
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
May 2, 2012
Book Notes - Simon Mawer "Trapeze"
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, David Peace, Myla Goldberg, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.
Originally published as The Girl Who Fell From The Sky in the UK, Simon Mawer's novel Trapeze is a thrilling example of literary historical fiction.
Booklist wrote of the book:
"Much-lauded British author Mawer vividly describes the deprivations in a war occupied country and its once-vibrant capital and provides testimony to the courage of countless members of the French Resistance. But this is primarily a masterfully crafted homage to the 53 extraordinary women of the French section of the SOE on whose actual exploits the novel is based. With its lyrical yet spare prose and heart-pounding climax, this is a compelling historical thriller of the highest order."
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 Simon Mawer's Book Notes music playlist for his novel, Trapeze:
My new novel, called Trapeze, will be published in May and tells the story of a women agent of the British Special Operations Executive who is trained as an agent and parachuted into occupied France to work with the resistance. It is set entirely in 1943, so has wartime music in the background although only one song is mentioned by name. Let's start with that:
"Puisque vous partez en voyage" – Jean Sablon & Mireille
A wonderful bitter-sweet French dialogue between him and her as she leaves on a train journey, their first separation since getting together. First sung by Jean Sablon and Mireille in 1935, it's this recording that is played in Trapeze – while Special Operations Executive agents are awaiting their parachute drop into occupied France in 1943. A more recent version was recorded by Françoise Hardy, along with her husband Jacques Dutronc, in her 2000 album Clair Obscur. Curiously in this recording the man and woman roles are reversed – this time he's leaving. When I was a young teenager I was more passionately in love with Françoise Hardy than it is possible to imagine. These things happen. Eventually you get grown up enough to admit to them.
"Je Tire Ma Révérance" – Jean Sablon
Another French one. Why is it they have all the best songs? It means "I take my leave" or "I bow out" and it was popular among the men and women of the French Section of SOE. In fact it is used in the one piece of film – a short documentary about the training and mission of two SOE agents – that exists from those days. It was also my parents' song when they were courting. Those were the days. What options do you have nowadays?
"Nuages" – Django Reinhardt
The ultimate cool, first recorded in Paris in 1940, with the Quintette du Hot Club de France, Stephane Grapelli on the violin and Django playing guitar in his inimitable fashion. Following an accident at the age of eighteen he only had proper use of the first two fingers of his left hand and yet he played the guitar like an angel – or perhaps a demon.
"J'Attendrais" – by any number of people
One of the great classics coming from just before the war. "I will wait" – and people in France in 1940 had a lot of waiting to do. First sung by Rina Ketty in 1938 and Jean Sablon shortly after, it also got the Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grapelli treatment. You can pick this version up on film, on YouTube. Amazing stuff.
"Il n'y a plus d'après" – Juliette Gréco
During the war Juliette Gréco worked for the Resistance and, along with her mother and older sister, was imprisoned at the notorious Fresnes prison outside Paris. Her mother and sister were both deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp but Juliette, a mere 15 years old, was deemed too young to be of significance and was simply released onto the streets of Paris. She gravitated to the Left Bank where this song is set and where much of Trapeze takes place. After the war Gréco became the icon of Left Bank existentialism and a muse of Jean-Paul Satre. She also had an intense love affair with visiting jazzman Miles Davis. Not only did Juliette Gréco survive the Gestapo, she has survived everything else that life could thrown at her and is still recording at the age of 85!
"That Lovely Weekend" – Dorothy Carless with Geraldo and his Orchestra. Also recorded by Vera Lynn.
Sentiment isn't what it used to be. The Second World War was an extraordinary time for redefining social relationships and this song from 1942 seems to sum it all up. Although it was a big hit the BBC banned its broadcast over the radio. Why? Well, she's thanking him for the two days they spent together before he goes off to war. It's pretty clear that they sleep together – "then breakfast next morning, just we two alone" – but there is no indication that they are married. That's what Auntie BBC didn't like. It couldn't possibly be seen conniving at an illicit relationship and so the ban was imposed. Innocent times or hypocrisy? Or just one part of society not yet caught up with another? Of course that kind of thing didn't end with the war – remember that a change in words was required when the Rolling Stones first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show: "Let's Spend The Night Together" had to become "Let's Spend Some Time Together" to Mick Jagger's obvious disgust as he was singing it. That was in 1967.
Personal note – I actually knew the writer of "That Lovely Weekend." Moira Heath was wife of British bandleader Ted Heath and mother of a school friend of mine. I stayed with them when Ted was still alive, although sadly he was very ill at the time having suffered a stroke when he was only 62. I remember talking with Moira about the song, probably at about the same time the Stones were having their argument with Ed Sullivan. The irony was that the words of the song came from a little poem she had written… to her husband. So the two lovers in the song were in fact married after all. Good old BBC.
"In The Mood" – Glen Miller and the American Band of the AEF
Of course the background – and foreground – music to the whole of the war was big band swing. And for British audiences this reached its apogee when Captain Glenn Miller came to Britain in 1944 with his band of the Allied Expeditionary Force (aka the band of the Army Air Force). "In The Mood" was the Glenn Miller signature tune but it was covered by many outfits, including the Royal Air Force's own dance band, the Squadronaires.
"Why Don't You Do Right" – Norma Egstrom with the Benny Goodman Orchestra
My favourite of them all, both as band and singer. The wonderful Peggy Lee, doing it right as only she could. The flavour of the forties distilled into one beautiful woman.
"When the Lights Come on Again" – Vera Lynn
And to finish up, Vera Lynn yearning for the moment when it would all be over. In Trapeze we don't make it through to the moment when the lights come on again, but it was what everyone was living for even though millions never saw it. Dame Vera is still going strong at the age of 94. What is it about women singers of the last war? In 2009 she even made it to number 1 in the British album charts with a "very best of" selection. There are songs of her that still reduce me to tears – the "White Cliffs of Dover," and "We'll Meet Again." Sad, isn't it?
Simon Mawer and Trapeze links:
the author's website
the author's Wikipedia entry
The Daily Beast review
David Kinchen review
Killin' Time Reading review
Publishers Weekly review
The Diane Rehm Show interview with the author
Interview Magazine interview with the author
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Book Notes playlists (authors create music playlists for their book)
my 11 favorite Book Notes playlists
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
52 Books, 52 Weeks (weekly book reviews)
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
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Atomic Books Comics Preview - May 2nd, 2012
In the weekly Atomic Books Comics Preview, Benn Ray highlights notable new comics and graphic novels.
Benn Ray is the owner of Atomic Books, an independent bookstore in Baltimore. The Mobtown Shank is his blog, and his comic Said What? is syndicated weekly in the Baltimore Sun's B-Paper.
Atomic Books has been named one of Bizarre Magazine's 51 geekiest places on the planet, as well as one of Flavorwire's 10 greatest comic and graphic novel stores in America.
Animal Man Volume 1: The Hunt
by Jeff Lemire / Travel Foreman / Jeff Huett / John Paul Leon
So DC's New 52 has been going on for long enough for the comics to start being collected into trades. One of the best revamps is Jeff Lemire's take on Animal Man. Check out what you've missed - in this case an interesting mesh of horror and superhero.
Baby's in Black: Astrid Kirchherr, Stuart Sutcliffe, and The Beatles in Hamburg
by Arne Bellstorf
This graphic novel looks at the early years of the Beatles, when Stuart Sutcliffe was in the band and then left for love and art. Based on a true story, and lushly illustrated.
Fallen Words
by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
When people ask me about Tatsumi's work, I usually describe him as the Charles Bukowski of the literary manga movement. Here is a collection of eight stories, each illustrating his profound understanding of the human condition.
Kiki De Montparnasse
by Jose-Luis Bocquet / Catel Muller
De Monteparnasse was Man Ray's partner. This biography not only beautifully tells the story of a truly emancipated woman, it also wonderfully captures the bohemian 20s.
Spirit World
by Jack Kirby
When comics legend Kirby left Marvel and went to DC, he created these strange occult comics before creating the famous Fourth World pantheon. A bizarre obscurity from a comics legend.
The Complete Talamaroo
by Alabaster
This handmade book collects all all 3 of Alabaster's Talamaroo comics into a wholly adorable, limited edition book.
Trubble Club #5
by various
This newspaper comic is actually pretty cool. Each strip in the paper has a panel done by a different comic artist, sort of making it up as they go along, jam/exquisite corpse-style. In the hands of lesser talents, this sort of thing often results in little more than a gratuitous exercise - but here, the results are a collection of truly fascinating strips, each more enjoyable than the last. Featuring work by Nate Beaty, Laura Park, Rachel Niffenegger, Lilli Carré, Corinne Mucha, Jeffrey Brown, Craig Thompson, and many more.
Questions, concerns, comments or gripes – e-mail benn@atomicbooks.com. If there’s a comic I should know about, send it my way at Atomic, c/o Atomic Books 3620 Falls Rd., Baltimore, MD 21211.
Atomic Books & Benn Ray links:
Atomic Books website
Atomic Books on Twitter
Atomic Books on Facebook
Benn Ray's blog (The Mobtown Shank)
Benn Ray's comic, Said What?
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Atomic Books Comics Preview lists (weekly new comics & graphic novel highlights)
the list of online "best books of 2011" lists
52 Books, 52 Weeks
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
Largehearted Word (weekly new book highlights)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
Largehearted WORD Books of the Week - May 2nd, 2012
In the Largehearted Word series, the staff of Brooklyn's WORD bookstore highlights several new books released this week.
WORD is an independent neighborhood bookstore in Greenpoint, the northernmost neighborhood of Brooklyn, that recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Our primary goal is to be whatever our community needs us to be, which currently means carrying a lot of paperback fiction (especially classics), cookbooks, board books, and absurdly cute cards and stationery. In addition, we're fiends for a good event, from the classic author reading and Q&A to potlucks and a basketball league (and anything set in a bar). We're a small operation, just 1000 square feet and four people, but we read too much, so it all works out. If a weekly dose of WORD here isn't enough for you, follow us on Twitter: @wordbrooklyn.
WORD also hosts the monthly Largehearted Lit reading series, featuring authors who participated in this blog's Book Notes series and musical guests.
Bitterblue
by Kristin Cashore
Molly, Stephanie, and Jenn are all fighting for the honor of writing the shelftalker for Cashore's newest. She's writing some of the most kick-ass heroines in the YA field, and this third book (following Graceling and Fire) has everything we wanted and more.
The Passage of Power
by Robert Caro
For presidential biography junkies (yeah, we know you're out there), the master of doorstopper nonfiction has a new book on LBJ. A limited number of signed copies are available!
Are You My Mother?
by Alison Bechdel
We'll read anything Bechdel writes/draws, and her newest is a layered and fascinating look at her mother and their relationship.
We, the Drowned
by Carsten Jensen
Our favorite tale of Danish sailors is out in paperback! So glad they kept the gorgeous cover.
WORD Brooklyn links:
WORD website
WORD blog
WORD on Twitter
WORD's Facebook page
WORD's Flickr photos
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Largehearted Word Books of the Week (weekly new book highlights)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (my yearly reading project)
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly comics & graphic novel highlights)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
Shorties (Bill Clinton Reviews Robert Caro's new LBJ Biography, Mike Doughty's May Playlist, and more)
Former president Bill Clinton reviews Robert Caro's The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson in the New York Times.
Electric Literature presents a May playlist by singer-songwriter Mike Doughty.
Soundcheck examines the evolution of dancing in the mosh pit.
At South of Houston, Lisa Brackmanm explains how a crime writer takes vacations.
To celebrate Woody Guthrie's centennial, Smithsonian Folkways is releasing the box set Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection, which includes a 150-page large-format book and 3 CDs.
Alex Johnson talks to The Picture Show about his new book, Bookshelf.
The bookshelves that Johnson has found add another dimension to the whole archaeology of books and their place in the home. The fact that so much creativity and thought has gone into thinking about a "home" for books shows that our love affair with books is far from over. "Books are part of who we are," says Johnson.
Amanda Palmer has raised over $350,000 in two days on Kickstarter for her new album, book, and tour.
Flavorwire recommends must-read books published in May.
Frequency lists its five favorite websites to discover and download electronic dance music.
China Daily interviews Ha Jin about his novel Nanjing Requiem.
Drowned in Sound interviews Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi.
Fresh Air reviews Nell Freudenberger's new novel The Newlyweds and also offers an excerpt from the book.
Win a DVD of James Franco's Hart Crane biopic The Broken Tower and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's Largehearted Boy contest.
Amazon MP3
Follow me on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, 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)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (the week's best new books)
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 (Anna Ternheim, Emily Jane White, 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:
Anna Ternheim: "Walking Aimlessly (with Will Oldham)" [mp3] from The Night Visitor (out June 5th)
search for more Anna Ternheim posts at Largehearted Boy
Butchers and Bakers: "Victory March" [mp3] from Count On, Count On (out June 12th)
search for more Butchers and Bakers posts at Largehearted Boy
Debo Band: "Asha Gedawo" [mp3] from Debo Band (out July 10th)
search for more Debo Band posts at Largehearted Boy
Emily Jane White: "Requiem Waltz" [mp3] from Ode To Sentience (out June 12th)
search for more Emily Jane White posts at Largehearted Boy
Filligar: free and legal 14-track The Nerve album [mp3]
search for more Filligar posts at Largehearted Boy
Howth: "Only Right Turns" [mp3] from Newkirk
search for more Howth posts at Largehearted Boy
Siddhartha: "Diamond Dust" [mp3] from If It Die
search for more Siddhartha posts at Largehearted Boy
Sophie Auster: "Wicked Word" [mp3]
search for more Sophie Auster posts at Largehearted Boy
The Stanleys: "Always" [mp3 from Always EP
search for more Stanleys posts at Largehearted Boy
Thieving Irons: "Poison" [mp3] from Behold, This Dreamer! (out June 5th)
search for more Thieving Irons posts at Largehearted Boy
Free and legal live performances at other websites:
Noveller: 2012-04-19, Brooklyn [mp3]
search for more Noveller posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
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)
weekly music & DVD release lists
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
May 1, 2012
Book Notes - Brandon W. Jones "All Woman and Springtime"
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, David Peace, Myla Goldberg, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.
Brandon W. Jones' novel All Woman and Springtime is a bold and graphic debut about two orphans who escape the totalitarian regime of North Korea only to be plunged into the sex trade of South Korea and the United States.
Library Journal wrote of the book:
"Impossible to put down, this work is important reading for anyone who cares about the power of literature to engage the world and speak its often frightening truths."
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 Brandon W. Jones' Book Notes music playlist for his debut novel, All Woman and Springtime:
It turns out that coming up with a playlist to represent my novel was not as straightforward as I had initially thought it would be. Right away I came up against challenges with how to approach the task: Should I try to match the mood of the novel, or the cultural specificity of the work? Should I take a serious approach, or allow myself to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek? Should I stick with pop-culture standards, or include songs from my obscure musical predilections? As I combed through my CD collection looking for inspiration, I thumbed over such titles as 17th Century French Harpsichord Music, Renaissance en Provence, Lamenti Barocchi (Baroque Lamentations), El Duende Flamenco, Infernal Violins, Guitar Music of the Americas, Music of the Crusades, Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares (commonly known as the Bulgarian Women's Choir), and let's not forget the perennial favorite, Zither Magic by Wilfried Scharf. All wonderful music, to be sure, but not very relevant to my book.
My novel follows two orphan girls as they are whisked out of their lives in North Korea and into the sex trade, first in South Korea and then in the United States. It is a deeply emotional tale that is both dramatic and epic in nature. If I imagine All Woman and Springtime as a film, then I imagine the soundtrack to be an original score of mostly solo cello, or cello and flute duets, repeatedly returning to a simple, haunting theme. This imaginary score would be reminiscent of Korean folk melodies, probably relying heavily on pentatonic structure. But this is perhaps a bit too heady for the assignment at hand. Below is my attempt at devising a playlist that is both entertaining and revealing of the book.
As everything in North Korea must begin with a patriotic song or preamble, it seemed appropriate to begin my playlist with one as well. To understand North Korea, one must first understand the extensive propaganda structure that serves as the fabric of agreed-upon reality in that country. To survive in North Korea, one must readily agree to forgo critical thinking wherever it conflicts with the official state-vetted story. Being unconvincing in one's display of belief, sometimes in the absurd, is enough to land a person, and three generations of their family, in a forced labor camp. Propaganda songs like this one are constantly piped into factories and homes on State provided radios, which can be turned down but never turned off––they lack the switch with which to do so!
2. Theme to the movie Boy Commander, played by Kang Eunju
This amazing and tightly choreographed display by a child prodigy in North Korea has deep undertones of North Korean Communist idealism. Her playing is nearly flawless, her technique is perfect, her phrasing of the music is just as it should be, and specifically devoid of indulgent personal interpretation and self-aggrandizing flourish. Childhood innocence is a beloved theme of the North Koreans, and Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are often depicted among children. My main characters are still essentially children at the beginning of the novel, which is, in its way, a coming of age story. This song represents this time of innocence and idealism.
3. "Glory Box" – Portishead
A central character in the first part of my book is a woman who sees herself "…on the cusp of middle age," who is disillusioned by her inability to reconcile the truth she witnesses every day with the propaganda fed to her by the State. The fuel of her character is a deep longing to be seen for who she is, and to make human connection with a "kindred outlaw." She finds herself fantasizing about a young man; and as the song says so achingly, she "…just want[s] to be a woman…"
3. "The Nearness of You" – Norah Jones
All Woman and Springtime is, in part, about the friendship of Gi and Il-sun, who have spent their formative years growing up together in an orphanage. In a naïve way, Gi craves more from their friendship, though she does not have a definition of what she wants that "more" to be. All she knows is that she comes alive in the presence of Il-sun, which is a feeling captured by this song.
4. "Bad to the Bone" – George Thorogood
Another important character in the first part of my book is a young man who deals in illicit goods. He has created himself as a caricature "bad boy," complete with tough posturing and wearing his clothes "…in careful disarray…" This song captures the legend-in-his-own-mind quality of the character.
5. Theme song from Flower Girl, a popular North Korean opera and movie
As with all State approved media, "Flower Girl" is about revolutionary struggle and communist ideals. The flower selling girl is a symbol of filial piety and revolutionary spirit, but is also a euphemism for a prostitute. The most important secondary character of my novel, Cho, is a "flower selling girl" who, ironically, became so out of filial piety in effort to feed her family. Her struggle is to reclaim her lost innocence.
6. "It Ain't Necessarily So" – written by George and Ira Gershwin, as performed by Finley Quaye
Though this song is about not taking the stories from the Bible as literal truth, it seems an appropriate song to represent the process my characters go through in learning that the worldview they have been fed by the State is based on lies. I simply love the Finley Quaye version of the song.
7. "The Man Who Sold the World" – written by David Bowie, as performed by Nirvana
In my novel I explore, to some degree, the psychology of the people who perpetrate the abuses my main characters endure. One such character is Mr. Choy, who has built an empire of prostitution and pornography. In the book, we see how he has justified to himself what he does. His life is run by greed and profit, and "The Man Who Sold the World" is a fitting title for him. I specify the Nirvana version of the song because Mr. Choy has ties to Seattle, and Kurt Cobain's voice gives the song a wonderfully gritty quality that suits the character.
8. "La Vie en Rose" – Edith Piaf
Another perpetrator in my book is Mrs. Cha, who runs a brothel for an organized crime ring in Seattle. She feels stuck in her life, and finds herself wistfully pining for an imaginary alternate path her life could have taken: She had been promised a trip to Paris so long ago… The music of Edith Piaf is celebratory of the cabaret; and seeing her life through rose colored glasses, Mrs. Cha can pretend that her life is a cabaret.
9. "Losing My Ground" – Fergie
This is a song about losing one's grip on life: "Who am I now? Where does it end? How did it all begin?" There is a point at which my characters are stuck in what seems to be an endless cycle and feel powerless to escape the situation they are in. The endlessness of it threatens to drive them to madness.
10. "King of Sorrow" – Sade
Not to divulge too much, at the emotional climax of the story my main character, Gi, feels like she is "…crying everyone's tears."
11. "Ophelia" – Natalie Merchant
One (incomplete) way to describe my novel would be: One woman's extraordinary journey to empowerment. The Wikipedia article on Merchant's "Ophelia" has this to say about the song:
"Merchant's Ophelia describes a series of women throughout time—women who dared question the patriarchal status quo and who were often castigated for doing so—and is a cry for women's rights and for more understanding of female archetypes beyond the scope of the "mother" and the "whore", both of which severely limit women and attempt to turn them into little more than chattel."
12. "Life is Sweet" – Natalie Merchant
I don't want to say too much about the ending of my novel, but I feel that this song has a similar kind of uplifting quality and hope in the face of life's suffering.
Brandon W. Jones and All Woman and Springtime links:
author website
excerpt from the book
Nici McKown review
Oprah review
Publishers Weekly review
SheKnows review
Page 69 Test guest post by the author
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Book Notes playlists (authors create music playlists for their book)
my 11 favorite Book Notes playlists
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
52 Books, 52 Weeks (weekly book reviews)
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
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Try It Before You Buy It - May 1st, 2012 Music Releases
Try It Before You Buy It features free and legal mp3 downloads and full album streams from the week's music releases:
Airiel: Kid Games
Airiel: "Flashlight Tag" [mp3]
Alcoholic Faith Mission: Ask Me This
full album stream
Ane Brun: It All Starts With One
Ane Brun: "Do You Remember (with First Aid Kit)" [mp3]
Archie Powell: Great Ideas in Action
full album stream
Continue reading "Try It Before You Buy It - May 1st, 2012 Music Releases"
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Shorties (Johnny Marr, Sissy Spacek's New Memoir, and more)
The A.V. Club interviews former Smiths and Cribs guitarist Johnny Marr about his music career.
Fresh Air interviews Sissy Spacek about her new memoir, My Extraordinary Ordinary Life.
At Beyond the Margins, author Emily Mandel examines the effects of "genre pigeonholing."
Flavorwire creates a literary mixtape for Willy Wonka.
The A.V. Club interviews cartoonist Guy Delisle about his new graphic novel, Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City.
The A.V. Club lists its favorite songs released in April.
At NPR Books, author Nick Dybek recommends John Fowles' novel The Magus.
Paste is streaming the new Sean Bones album, Buzzards Boy (out May 8th).
Vol. 1 Brooklyn interviews Matt Bell about his new novella Cataclysm Baby.
Weird Fiction Review excerpts a story from Brian Evenson's new short fiction collection, Windeye.
At Paste, musicians discuss their first concert t-shirts.
The Los Angeles Review of Books interviews author Jonathan Lethem.
Hospitality plays a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR Music.
South of Houston lists five athletes turned great writers.
Win a DVD of James Franco's Hart Crane biopic The Broken Tower and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's Largehearted Boy contest.
Amazon MP3
Follow me on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, 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)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (the week's best new books)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
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Daily Downloads (Adam Arcuragi, Kwesachu, 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:
Age Sex Occupation: "The Day I Ignored Street Signs" [mp3] from This Side of the Fence
search for more Age Sex Occupation posts at Largehearted Boy
Billy and Dolly: "Gold" [mp3] from Dally Bon Idyll (out May 15th)
search for more Billy and Dolly posts at Largehearted Boy
Bobby Conn: "Macaroni" [mp3] from Macaroni
search for more Bobby Conn posts at Largehearted Boy
Dope Body: "Weird Mirror" [mp3] from Natural History (out May 22nd)
search for more Dope Body posts at Largehearted Boy
Kwesachu: free and legal Mixtape Vol. 2 [mp3]
search for more Kwesachu posts at Largehearted Boy
Skyline Pigeons: "Tennessee" [mp3] from House of Mysteries (out June 5th)
Skyline Pigeons: "Lucid" [mp3] from House of Mysteries (out June 5th)
search for more Skyline Pigeons posts at Largehearted Boy
Thieving Irons: "So Long" [mp3] from Behold, This Dreamer! (out June 5th)
search for more Thieving Irons posts at Largehearted Boy
Trails and Ways: "Tereza" [mp3] from Trilingual
search for more Trails and Ways posts at Largehearted Boy
volcano!: "Pinata" [mp3] from Pinata
search for more volcano! posts at Largehearted Boy
Free and legal live performances at other websites:
Adam Arcuragi: Fuel/Friends session [mp3]
search for more Adam Arcuragi posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
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)
weekly music & DVD release lists
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
April 30, 2012
This Week's Interesting Music Releases - May 1st, 2012
Sea of Bees' breakup album Orangefarben is this week's new music highlight.
I can also recommend Father John Misty's Fear Fun, Hope for Agoldensummer's Life Inside the Body, Lower Dens' Nootropics, and Patrick Watson's Adventures in Your Own Backyard .
Two more Bright Eyes vinyl reissues are out this week, Fevers and Mirrors and There Is No Beginning to the Story.
What new releases are you picking up this week? What can you recommend? Have I left anything noteworthy off the list?
This week's interesting music releases:
Airiel: Kid Games EP
Anders Osborne: Black Eye Galaxy
Ane Brun: It All Starts with One
Bobby Conn: Macaroni
The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Aufheben
Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (reissue) [vinyl]
Bright Eyes: Fevers and Mirrors (reissue) [vinyl]
Bright Eyes: There Is No Beginning to the Story (reissue) [vinyl]
Burial: Street Halo / Kindred
Dirty Dozen Brass Band: Twenty Dozen
Dot Hacker: Inhibition
Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury: DROKK
Father John Misty: Fear Fun
George Harrison: Early Takes Volume 1: Music From The Martin Scorsese Picture Living In The Material World
George Harrison: Living In The Material World [dvd]
Girlyman: Supernova
Hope for Agoldensummer: Life Inside the Body
Howth: Newkirk
Jenny Berkel: Here on a Wire
Lee Hazlewood: LHI Years: Singles Nudes & Backsides 1968-71 (remastered)
Light Asylum: Light Asylum
Lower Dens: Nootropics
The Lumineers: The Lumineers
Marilyn Manson: Born Villain
Marriages: Kitsune
Monkees: The Birds, the Bees & The Monkees (reissue)
Norah Jones: Little Broken Hearts
Patrick Watson: Adventures in Your Own Backyard
Pennywise: All or Nothing
Ramona Falls: Prophet
Ravens and Chimes: Holiday Life [vinyl]
Reptar: Body Faucet
Rufus Wainwright: Out of the Game
Santigold: Master of My Make Believe
Sea of Bees: Orangefarben
Spinto Band: Shy Pursuit
The Spring Standards: Yellow//Gold
Swans: The Burning World (reissue)
Todd Snider: Time As We Know It: Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker
Various Artists: Avengers Assemble (soundtrack)
Various Artists: Yes Family Tree
also at Largehearted Boy:
other weekly CD & DVD release lists
100 online sources for free and legal music downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (music from this week's CD releases)
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