Now With More Thao

Look outside your window.  If you're in Amherst, you will see: rain / wet leaves / gray / probably more rain.  If you are not in Amherst, I hope you see something nicer: kittens? / a baby? / woodsmoke from the neighbor's chimney?

Here also is something nicer to see: Thao Nguyen put out an album last month, and I almost missed it, but I didn't.  And it's great!  A departure from last year's plucky We Brave Beestings And All, Thao's Know Better Learn Faster funnels her powerhouse voice into a wistful, angry, clapping, brass-fed, strings-driven manifesto.  It's nice to hear her collaborating with other musicians on some tracks (I think I hear Sister Suvi on background vocals on "Body"), as well as branching out into probing and honest ballads ("The Give," "Oh. No.").

For a listen, head over to Stereogum, where you can download the title track for free!

For a gander, check out an old video (my favorite of the ones they've made so far):

Why didn't anyone stop me?

Clearly this was a terrible idea. I'm enjoying reading The Odyssey (again) about 50x more than I am slogging through the first chapter of Ulysses (again). And I'm itching to get back to my stacks...still haven't touched Rivka Galchen's Atmospheric Disturbances or the short story collections from Lauren Groff and Pasha Malla that I've been waiting to read since last semester. Listening to Chris Bachelder read some new stories a few weeks ago also made me want to finally sit down and finish U.S.!, but, alas, I have lent out my copy for the summer. Really what I'm finding is that, one week in, I am already losing heart in my battle to conquer Ulysses once and for all.

When the great Nick Hornby was still writing for The Believer, he scoffed (good naturedly?) at the idea that we should read books because "we're supposed to" or because they're classics or because other people talk about them, and we want to join in the conversation. I believe his opinion was something along the lines of: forcing yourself to read a book when you don't want to just because you think you should be reading it is not only unpleasant, but you don't actually get that much out of it anyway.

I find myself sort of trapped in the middle ground of the two arguments Hornby represented in that piece: need to finish Ulysses for school; don't want to do it because it's summer; will most assuredly not have time in the fall.

I am very, very tempted, à la the Nick Hornby school of reading, to put U down again to get to all the fun stuff I've been stockpiling. I'm just afraid I won't pick it back up...

***

In other news, I'm back from Pennsylvania with new running shoes and fresh laundry. Home is beautiful as always, but getting slightly more depressed as the recession kicks in. Saw both sisters--one is pulling more money as a waitress than I might this whole summer, the other is fresh back from Penland, where she made and sold some fantastic pieces for charity. She's really settling into her own as an artist, I think.

***

As promised, some summer music suggestions:

For running and other frantic activities, including driving:

Passion Pit, Manners
Columbia (2009)

With particular favorite tracks being "Moth's Wings" and "Little Secrets."




Miike Snow, Miike Snow
Downtown (2009)

The single, "Animal," may still be my favorite track off the album, which fizzes in and out of a solid listen.




For all-around good pop sensibility:

Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca
Domino (2009)

Amazing.





Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
Interscope (2009)

Still one of my favorite bands. A departure from the (for whatever personal reason/disposition) earth-shattering Show Your Bones, but still solid.



For best new Beirut/Arcade Fire hybrid and/or lost-at-birth sibling:

Fanfarlo, Reservoir
self-released (2009)

Category says it all. Still enjoyable.





For writing endeavors:

Elvis Perkins, Ash Wednesday
XL (2007)

Dear god, please skip "May Day," if you know what's good for you.




Jeff Hanson, Madam Owl
Kill Rock Stars (2008)

Poor Jeff Hanson. Hopefully in Dead Rock Stars heaven.

Let's go find summer.

Yes, Heidi Swanson, yes let's.

So far, summer has been alternately lazy and hectic. Roller coasters and concerts jostle with libraries and placement tests. My CSA share is yielding all the lettuce I could ever dream of. And delicious strawberries almost better than the occasional ice cream cone. I tore right through Jedediah Berry's The Manual of Detection last weekend and am excited to start working at Small Beer Press with Jed and Gavin and Kelly (and fellow interns!).


So far, I've seen Thao Nguyen rock The Iron Horse and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists blow up the Easthampton High School gym (an interesting change in venue, for sure). Missed what was probably an amazing TMSR show in Boston, but am looking forward to their new album, due out July 14. Bowerbirds are playing Northampton in a few weeks, and though I don't think anything can top when they played an opening set for Bon Iver last summer in Philadelphia, I'm planning on heading over. Slightly weirded out by the death of Michael Jackson, but John Richards's amazing kickoff to The Morning Show yesterday celebrated the spirit of a pop genius in exactly the right way. The whole first hour of that show was top-notch, and if you feel like you need a summertime pick-me-up, you can stream the show over at KEXP.org.

Headed to the home region for the 4th of July weekend. Starting Ulysses as of July 1. These are probably bad concurrent moves to make. If I fall behind, I suppose there's always the new (and beautifully drawn) Ulysses SEEN project by Throwaway Horse to keep me motivated.

Tonight: final reading of the Juniper Summer Institute: Chris Bachelder, Arisa White, and Matthew Zapruder (oh my).

To come: playlists!

"Daylight" on a rainy day

Between the gloomy weather and struggling through research for work today (a book-length scholarly study on the cultural importance of tea in Victorian England), I was in need of motivation from the new-ish Matt and Kim single, "Daylight." Their new album Grand is poppy as ever, but I enjoy their new stuff much more than tracks like "Yea Yeah," which seems less complex and flat in comparison to their latest efforts. I must admit, though, that I enjoyed the continued theme of food fights in this video, though Matt and Kim seem to have downgraded, trading a cardboard cut-out kitchen for a garbage dumpster...



Is anyone else not surprised that Matt threw out his back and had to cancel tour dates this spring?

Dear Jalapeño. It's springtime.

I tend to make playlists when the seasons change, though mainly during winter and spring. This winter I was obsessed with every single Bon Iver song I could get my hands on. And with Nina Kinert, who gave me some alternatives for my need to listen to "Peach Plum Pear" at moments of transition.

Now that the weather is crazy, wavering between late fall and early summer and wreaking havoc on my sinuses, I'm pulling out songs that always always remind me of springtime: Arcade Fire's "No Cars Go," as cheesy as it may seem, is a big spring song for me--I first heard the EP version several years ago while I was living in England, and I listened to it on my long walks into town from my flat, everything shrouded in mist and drizzle. I prefer the momentum in the newer version, though I don't know if it will fit into "Dear Jalapeño." Arcade Fire tends to overpower everything else in mixes.

The Most Serene Republic's song "Phages," is pretty much the song I put on as soon as the sun comes out. Renewal! New beginnings! I am pretty much desperate to see them again in concert.

All this talk of playlists and music because I'm going to the Margot & the Nuclear So & Sos show next week with Gale and Jess--I'm excited for the first taste of live music since last semester. I like Margot, I do, despite the fact that I think they milk the melancholy in their songs. I think I am more looking forward to being against the stage and trying to hear what the person next to me is saying.

"Dear Jalapeño" because I went to a Zach Schomburg and Emily Kendall Frey reading last week, and Emily read a slew of her "Dear Jalapeño" poems. I like the idea of tying poems together through the repeated use of one phrase, with the aim of changing the meaning of the phrase itself and how we think about it in relation to other lines (at least I think this is what's going on here). Gale and I talked about how "jalapeño" becomes an endearment: her word was "tender." You can read some poems with tender "Dear Jalapeños" in them at La Petite Zine here.

Zach Schomburg read new poems from his MS "Scary, No Scary," and I liked them, of course. I almost liked my friend Ben's introduction of Zach Schomburg even better, though. A kind of amazement about the brain that gave us The Man Suit, which made me realize I could be writing very different kinds of poems. You can read some new Zach Schomburg over at Typo.

And now...a bad spring playlist:

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Dear Jalapeño--it's springtime (in the works)
1. The Changeling (Get Guilty) / A.C. Newman / Get Guilty
2. Fitz and the Dizzyspells / Andrew Bird / Noble Beast
3. Nightlife / The Muslims / The Muslims
4. Blindness / Metric / Fantasies
5. Zero / Yeah Yeah Yeahs / It's Blitz!
6. Take Me to the Riot / Stars / In Our Bedroom After the War
7. LES Artistes (XXXchange Remix) / Santogold
8. Phages / The Most Serene Republic / Phages
9. Swimming Pools / Thao Nguyen & The Get Down Stay Down / We Brave Beestings & All
10. Only Pieces / Here We Go Magic / Here We Go Magic
11. Dance Dance Dance / Lykke Li / Little Bit EP
12. Take on Me / A.C. Newman / Cheesy Starbucks compilation

{Edit: also, apparently I can't spell but I do know how to use a tilda. Who let me into grad school, anyway?}

Those who can't write, edit--

Okay, so I don't actually believe this. But right now I don't have the space to create--my current mental capacity is full: of theory, half-baked research ideas, response papers, books read and unread (these unread books cause massive amounts of anxiety. Like Anne Lamott's fear of being run over by a truck before she can fix that shitty first draft. All the books peering down at me from my carrel shelf represent, by proxy, some unfinished opus. I don't even know which direction the pickup truck is coming from.)

To help calm anxieties of non-productivity (both creative and academic), I've been trying to lend a helping hand to some small, and fledgling, presses here. Despite all my worry-wort talk, I am very happy and very excited to be helping with two (two!) exciting projects:

Pocket Myths is a zine series dedicated to exploring and re-writing mythological characters. Perspectives and narratives are queered, cool art is made. And I get to help my friend Andrea make these very beautiful publications. The next one is "Dionysus," and it's coming out maybe in late April or early May. I think we still need submissions, so don't be shy.

Jellyfish Magazine is a new online poetry publication founded by my friend Gale. And guess what? I am an editor! Oh, boy am I psyched. I am completely humbled by Gale's generosity and incredibly pleased to be part of this team. So run to your computers! Send us your poems!

**

In completely unrelated news, you can now stream the entirety of Neko Case's new album, Middle Cyclone, at NPR. It's fantastic and will help you create poems to send to Pocket Myths and Jellyfish. And if you send poems, I promise to cut back on the self-aggrandizing posts with Neko Case references. At least a little.

(don't you just love her?)