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August 23, 2007
Shorties
Aesop Rock lists some of his favorite things for Pitchfork.
Singer-songwriter Mark Olson talks to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about writing his latest album, The Salvation Blues.
see also: Olson's Largehearted Boy Note Books essay
The Columbus Dispatch points out the newly updated Ohio Literary Map.
A joint project of the Ohioana Library Association, the Ohio Center for the Book in Cleveland and the State Library of Ohio, the map features 90 writers from many of the state's 88 counties.
Wilco guitarist Nels Cline talks to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“Now I can contribute whatever I can to the Wilco sound and have these delightful concert experiences, and also enjoy the much more cushy standard of touring. I'm not getting any younger, so the old man is digging the Wilco tour bus! It's a lot easier than being in a van, which is what I use for my own gigs. And I can get pretty wild on stage with Wilco and get away with it. It really is the best of both worlds for me.”
The A.V. Club interviews author William Gibson.
AVC: You've continued to set your books in kind of a noirish world. When you walk through real life, do you see the world that way? In terms of dark shadows, shadowy figures and things like that?
WG: I think there's quite a bit of that around. I don't much live my life as if I was living in a Raymond Chandler novel, which is probably a good thing. [Laughs.] But there are moments when—depending on what neighborhood I'm in, or what city I'm in, or what channel on television I'm watching—my eyes get really wide and I go, "Chandler wasn't even close. This shit is truly dire." We live in pretty extreme times. Some pretty dark stuff.
Conde Nast's Traveler's The Materialist blog lists books for travelers.
The A.V. Club interviews Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff.
AVC: You've said the reason why there are so many pop-culture references on The Stage Names is that you wanted it to have a more modern feel than Black Sheep Boy. Do you typically begin a record with a general guideline like that in mind?
WS: It's just something I intuitively do. If I'm working on a set of songs, and thinking about putting them together in a collection, I start to think about what they have in common. Either on purpose or without meaning to, I shape them all in the same kind of way, because I'd rather the album feel like a galaxy of things that all have to do with each other. I do that with sonic elements, too—it's a matter of each record having its own specific identity.
WXPN's World Cafe features in-studio performances and interviews with one actor-turned -musician (Minnie Driver) and two musicians-turned-actors (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova).
Deputydog lists 13 of the worst accents in film.
Poppytalk points out that artist Leigh Wells has some amazing original illustrations available at her Etsy shop.
At the Huffington Post, Matt Budd reviews the new Imperial Teen album, The Hair, The TV, The Baby & The Band.
They are back after five years with a great collection of well-crafted pop songs that make you want to jump out of your seat and dance. Their songs are a perfect blend of female and male harmonies with each member taking turns on lead vocals. The songs are so much fun. The first single (per their website) is "Shim Sham" and it reminds me a bit of the B52s or better yet maybe The Mama's And The Papa's -- it's as if Fred Schneider and Mama Cass had four spunky, talented kids.
Boise Weekly reviews John Vanderslice's new album, Emerald City.
Emerald City is a gorgeously produced album with all the purity and surface innocence of a dandelion. It is strangely familiar and yet foreign. Just when things seem to be going the way of most pop songs, Vanderslice shows a new wrinkle.
The Charleston City Paper recounts the city's recent literary history.
ShackNews features the setlist for the video game, Rock Band.
At Blogging for a Good Book, the Williamsburg Regional Library staff recommends a book every day.
WFMU's Beware of the Blog lists the most inexplicably nude album covers.
e-strategy.com's Internet Marketing Blog examines the growing importance of mp3 blogs to music fans.
Southern Shelter is sharing mp3 downloads of Daniel Johnston's performance (backed by Casper and the Cookies) from this year's Athens Popfest.
Click Five guitarist Joe Guese lists "music you should hear"
also at Largehearted Boy:
2007 Lollapalooza downloads
this week's CD releases
