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December 6, 2009
Shorties (Regina Spektor, Pelican, and more)
WXPN's World Cafe interviews singer-songwriter Regina Spektor.
The Chicago Sun-Times profiles Pelican.
From its start in 2001, the hard-hitting Chicago quartet Pelican has never fit neatly into any pigeonhole: It's too metal to really be part of the Wicker Park post-rock scene, and too methodical to be part of the raw metal underground.
"I think it's really just drawing a few people from every niche," says Trevor de Brauw, who formed the band with fellow guitarist Laurent Schroeder and the sibling rhythm section of bassist Bryan and drummer Larry Herweg. "We never worried about that, because we were never careerists when we got into it. Pelican was just a side project from another hardcore band we were doing, and it just sort of picked up momentum."
Leeds Music Scene interviews singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson.
The New York Post profiles "rock star yoga" leader Alanna Kaivalya.
Consequence of Sound profiles Nashville's venerable Ryman Auditorium.
The Seattle Times and Miami Herald review Ha Jin's new story collection, A Good Fall.
Stereomood streams music based on your mood or activity.
Daytrotter has an iPhone app, you can stream all the in-studio sessions.
The Observer thinks this Christmas may be the cultural turning point for writing and reading.
This Christmas may well mark the moment when the Nintendo idea of writing – and reading – takes precedence over the DeLillo idea of it. The growth in sales of the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader – which can store thousands of texts, classic and otherwise, and which may eventually provide digital access to every book ever written – suggests that we are at an iPod moment: books, in particular novels, may well be about to face the fate of records and CDs. In America, Google is currently fighting a multi-million dollar lawsuit for the rights to 10m digital editions of books – a suit being countered by the French and German governments among others – which if successful will grant it a virtual monopoly over distribution of the digital word. This prompts a couple of questions: is reading from a screen the same experience as reading from a page? And further, is writing for a digital medium the same thing as writing for print?
As its 30th anniversary nears, the legacy of the Clash's London Calling album is reconsidered by The Quietus.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
online "best of 2009" book lists
online "best of 2009" music lists
Online Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Book Lists
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie
