Largehearted Boy

Today's Updates to the Year-End "Best of 2008" Books & Music Lists (January 9th, 2009)

Today's additions to the "best of 2008" books and music lists (keep up with daily additions at the update archive page):

"Best of 2008" Books Lists additions:

Chick Lit Teens (top books)
Dayton Public Library (most popular books)
Granta (authors' books of the year)
Largehearted Boy (favorite graphic novels)
Mobtown Shank: Joseph Rybandt (comics)
Mobtown Shank: Pat Coleman (best comic series)
The Observer (top novels)
Poison From A Pen (top books)
Real Vail (best books)
San Francisco Bay Times (best fiction)
Smithsonian Magazine (notable books for children)
Virginia Quarterly Review (top poetry books)

"Best of 2008" Music Lists additions:

Atypical Spirituality (favorite albums)
Bits of Nonsense (best albums)
Bootie (best mashups)
Certified Banger (top UK albums)
Columbia Free Times (top songs)
Country Standard Time (best albums)
different is dangerous (best singles)
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (favorite local songs)
Heavy Metal Power (top heavy metal albums)
hideouslywrinkled (best albums)
Hyperbole (songs)
It Started With A Mixx (top albums)
Junkmedia (favorite albums)
Kelly's Alter Ego (favorite albums)
Kilkenny Advertiser (albums)
Life Without Limits (albums)
Malden Observer (albums)
Metal-Rules (top heavy metal abums)
Ohmpark (top albums)
Poison From A Pen (top songs)
PopMatters (best music writing)
The Renewed Imagination (favorite albums)
Rocktimists: UK Pop Critics (albums)
RudiPg MusicManic (top albums)
Spacelab Music News (top albums)
THEPOPFIX (best albums)
Top 13 Albums Project (albums)
The World According to Garff (favorite albums)
xtra.com (best gay albums)
yesfm (best albums)
Yung Drew's Hip-Hop Music (top hip-hop/rap albums)

also at Largehearted Boy:

daily updates to the 2008 year-end "best of 2008" books & music lists

2008 Online Year-end Book Lists
2008 Online Year-end Music Lists
2007 Online Year-end Music Lists
2006 Online Year-end Music Lists
other lists
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
directors and actors discuss their film's soundtracks
52 Books, 52 Weeks

tags: books literature list lists indie 2008 fiction nonfiction music

Book Notes - Michael Shilling ("Rock Bottom")

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

Rock Bottom is the rare rock novel that creatively blends black humor and realism. Michael Schilling's background as a touring rock musician keeps the book realistic, and his tales of the Blood Orphans on the road brim with vitality and unforgettable characters.

In his own words, here is Michael Shilling's Book Notes essay for his novel, Rock Bottom:

Rock Bottom concerns the last day of a band called Blood Orphans, tooling around Amsterdam with their manager before they play their final show, and trying to figure out how the hell everything went so utterly wrong. I was in a band called The Long Winters that toured a lot (and still does), and, like the guys in Blood Orphans, I know a thing or two about realizing that your dearly-held and utterly unrealistic rock-and-roll dream is over, and that you better figure out what you learned from it lest it haunt the rest of your days. The main difference is that Blood Orphans' story is entertaining (I hope), and full of way more escapades (I'm sure). These are some songs and albums that informed the book's creation.

"Kickstart My Heart," Motley Crue: When I was in college, Motley Crue put out Dr. Feelgood. It didn't sound like other Crue records, because it was really good. It kicked ass, actually, and everyone I knew, who, like me, were in a perpetual genuflect to the holy trinity of The Cure, New Order, and Depeche Mode, had to grudgingly agree. The best song was "Kickstart My Heart," which proved that a little production and a lot less alcohol could turn a bunch of posers into a fine combination of Kiss, Sweet, and Van Halen. Nowadays I never try to defend Motley Crue, because I never try to defend the Spin Doctors, or Bailey's Irish Cream, or Arby's Beef N' Cheddar. Certain tastes are indefensible, and that's just fine.

"Setting Sun," The Chemical Brothers: There's a deleted scene in Rock Bottom in which Darlo, to test out Adam, takes him to a strip club. Adam gets hoodwinked into a private show, and then falls asleep, aka Gets a Napdance. Anyone who's had a napdance (you know who you are) can attest to their cost, and the upset of the stripper who gave you said napdance when you claim that you never meant to fall asleep, and that you don't have the $500 she's waiting for. Anyway, the stripper in the book refers to a napdance as a "setting sun," because, well, I love that song, and heard it once or twice in strip clubs, and it kind of makes sense that she would call it that. Doesn't it? You can probably see why this scene got cut early on, but it was awfully fun to write.

"Moonchild," King Crimson: You meet girls on the road. If you're in a band like Blood Orphans, they're bona fide groupies who make Pamela Des Barres proud. But in the band I was in, we met English majors, thespians, and a-social misfits with Insane Clown Posse tattoos on their elbows, young ladies who actually had read The Corrections and Beloved and/or had strong opinions on whether or not a third political party was viable in this country. Also a lot of them made their own clothes and probably have a presence on Etsy. "Moonchild," a tasty nugget of flaky white magic prog rock, encapsulates the wobbly-yet-tender moves of these music-obsessed waifs.

"Highway To Hell," AC/DC: My favorite song about touring, because Bon Scott's "Who me?" delivery has no room for self-reflection. He's just psyched. Of course, touring is at times extremely lonely and dislocating, but spokesmen for this side of the experience such as The Stones ("Moonlight Mile"), Rush ("Limelight") and Motley Crue ("Home Sweet Home") are, respectively, unconvincing, precious, and just plain stupid. You wouldn't want to listen to any of them in a van. Who needs a reminder that the life they're chosen to lead is full of alienation and misery?

"Children of the Grave," Black Sabbath: I recently came across a YouTube video of Sabbath from 1974, playing this song in front of a squillion people somewhere in southern California. The band is bopping around like a bunch of muppets, the sunlight is mellow and full, and everyone is in the right place at the right time. It's just an utterly amazing scene of rock-and-roll glory in which every sacrifice was worth it, and shows quite clearly why musicians spend half their lives in shitty vans on ugly interstates with people they probably don't like very much, running down this very dream.

Ágætis byrjun, Sigur Ros: This was the album The Long Winters listened to while driving on an abandoned stretch of Interstate 80 in South Dakota during a snowstorm. The Interstate was closed, but reality often got the back of the hand in our van, so we snuck on to soon find ourselves gliding on black ice. In the dark. At low visibility. I'd never heard of black ice: the joke was on me. This Sigur Ros album happened to be on the stereo, which turned the experience into something wondrous and frightening, as opposed to just frightening. Thanks to John Roderick, aka Mr. Vinegar, for getting us out alive. John, you may be as ornery as a pack of hornets, but you are one hell of a motor vehicle operator.

"Oh, Comely," Neutral Milk Hotel: No matter how jaded, miserable, and otherwise dead inside touring makes people (even the rich and famous ones), putting on Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea almost instantaneously disintegrates all that affectation and sorrow like water poured on cotton candy. In Rock Bottom, Adam, soft soul that he is, suggest that they listen to In the Aeroplane as a break from the AC/DC and Zeppelin, to which Darlo says, "Neutral Milk Hotel? What the f*ck's a Neutral Milk Hotel?" Anyway, this record helped me – and numerous other van dwellers over the past ten years, I'm sure – get through the rougher stretches of road life.

"The Long Run," The Eagles: In another deleted scene from the book, Blood Orphans try to learn "The Long Run" at sound check, because Darlo and Joey, for a couple of minutes, finally agree with Adam that the band needs to "shake things up, dude, and not be so predictable. I mean how hard could it be to learn an Eagles song?" Hard, it turns out. Don Henley and Co. may not be The Beach Boys, but they can sing pretty damn good, which Shane finds out real quick, throwing a temper tantrum when he can't hit any of the notes, high or low. Darlo nixes the whole idea, because "I don't agree with what that faggot Henley says anyway; I don't worry a lot or hurry a lot." And yes, I do love the Eagles.

"One," U2: The Long Winters spent much time arguing over the merits of U2, and Bono in particular. "One" was a real source of contention. Some of us – myself included – thought it was the best song McCartney never wrote, and others of us wished it would get banned from the airwaves for being – and I am paraphrasing here – the most morally bankrupt song in a morally bankrupt career. I listened to it a lot when writing Rock Bottom.

I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, Richard and Linda Thompson: The scene in Rock Bottom where Darlo finds his dad and his underworld buddies in the process of gang-raping a young girl, and then proceeds to help her escape through violent means, was the single most important scene in the book for me, and the hardest to write. I wanted the scene to be harrowing but I didn't want to put a gloss on the prose because that seemed like a subtle way of glorifying the event. In imagining the chamber-folk of I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight playing in the background, on some old turntable in the corner, I was able (I hope) to rattle my imagination into writing a scene that didn't inadvertently celebrate the scene's darkness as I might have if, say, Massive Attack or other "sexy" music was playing. In fact, the end result was even creepier, and truer to what I imagined the scene to be, than I thought possible.

Michael Shilling and Rock Bottom links:

the author's blog
the book's teaser website
the book's page at the publisher
Facebook group for the book
Goodreads page for the book

Book Launch Cafe review
Emerging Writers Network review
Hipster Book Club review
Lit Mob review

Hachette Book Group radio interview with the author

also at Largehearted Boy:

Previous Book Notes submissions (authors create playlists for their book)
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Why Obama (musicians and authors explain their support of the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2008 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2007 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2006 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2005 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2004 Edition)

tags: books music fiction literature novel

Shorties (Vivian Girls, Larkin Grimm, and more)

LaundroMatinee features in-studio mp3s and video by the Vivian Girls, whose self-titled debut album appeared on many "best of 2008" music lists, including my own.

With Steven Spielberg starting a film about Tintin, BBC News examines the cult surrounding this comic book character.

CNN interviews Nina Persson about fronting the Cardigans and her solo project, A Camp.

CNN: How is A Camp different from The Cardigans?

Nina Persson: It's hard to say what makes it different because I'm still doing the same thing -- I'm still writing songs and singing them -- but it feels like it's a bigger freedom because I am in charge in A Camp. I like both. Both serve good purposes. I like to be in the collective, being part of the machinery, but I also really enjoy being dictator.

BBC News offers an A to Z profile of Motown Records.

The Telegraph visits the Los Angeles of legendary writer Raymond Chandler.

The Wall Street Journal interviews Janice Y.K. Lee about her debut novel, The Piano Teacher.

The Telegraph lists "the next small things" in music for 2009.

The Boston Globe profiles singer-songwriter Larkin Grimm.

Grimm's music gets saddled with all sorts of labels - most often freak-folk or, as she has described it, "experimental old-time Southern music" - but essentially it's the soundtrack to the circus in her head. She writes what she knows: spirituality, a deep commitment to mysticism, and the healing powers of art.

SXSW has started listing participating bands for 2008's edition.

The New York Daily News profiles Bettye Lavette.

Lavette may headline The Blender Theater Sunday, but she took the longest possible route to get there. While the singer recorded her first album 37 years ago, she didn't start getting the attention she deserves until only three years back, at the seasoned age of 60, making her soul's answer to Grandma Moses.

The Biblio Files lists its favorite Canadian authors.

The Guardian's music blog examines the actual effect of the "long tail" on the music industry.

BBC News' Sound of 2009 lists 15 musical artists to watch this year.

Daytrotter's Friday session features in-studio mp3s by Half-Handed Cloud.

IGN lists 9 videogame soundtracks that are available as free and legal mp3 downloads.

At the Mobtown Shank I list my favorite graphic novels of the year.

Metro Santa Cruz ponders how the Obama presidency will affect hip-hop music.

The Washington Times lists the top 5 musicians influenced by the late Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton.

The Independent reviews Roberto Bolano's 2666.

Roberto Bolaño's 2666 is a difficult experience to shake off; it lingers in the unconscious like a sizzling psychotropic for days or weeks after reading. It is a novel both prodigious in scope and profound in implication, but a book ablaze with the furious passion of its own composition. At times, it reads like a race against death. At others, you can only wonder at the reach and raw intelligence of the writing.

The Walrus interviews Shaun Tan about his latest book, Tales from Outer Suburbia.

THE WALRUS: It seems like you’re creating a new genre. Where is all of this heading?

Shaun Tan: Not really anywhere in particular. I don’t have that kind of manifesto. I don’t have a vision. I’m following my nose and dealing with one project at a time. I have some sense of the culture around me but it’s not very developed or informed. It’s kind of scattered. I draw a little bit of knowledge from what’s happening in literary fiction, what’s happening in science fiction, what’s happening in children’s books, what’s happening in the fine art world, what’s happening in mainstream illustration. Also, what’s happening in Australia, which is, you know, my immediate neighbourhood, is an influence. I wouldn’t really have much of a clue about illustration trends in the United States.

Guardian readers recommend songs about myths and legends.

PopMatters offers its "best music scribing" awards for 2008.

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted lists the top 10 music blogs to read in 2009.

io9 lists ten of the "kinkiest science fiction books you'll ever read."

The A.V. Club interviews Jay Reatard.

also at Largehearted Boy:

Online "best of 2008" music lists
Online "best of 2008" book 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 news

Daily Downloads (Ryan McGrath, Western Civ, and more)

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

The D'Urbervilles: "Hot Tip" [mp3] from We Are The Hunters
other D'Urbervilles posts at Largehearted Boy

Deer Tick: "Still Crazy After All These Years (Paul Simon cover)" [mp3]
other Deer Tick posts at Largehearted Boy

Hunters, Run!: "I Didn't Mean To Hold You Personally Responsible" [mp3] from EP1
other Hunters, Run! posts at Largehearted Boy

Murder Mystery: "The World" [mp3]
other Murder Mystery posts at Largehearted Boy

Ryan Adams: 2008-12-17, New York [mp3,ogg,flac]
"Go Easy" [mp3]
other Ryan Adams posts at Largehearted Boy

Ryan McGrath: "Way West" [mp3] from In My Own Company
Ryan McGrath: "Run" [mp3] from In My Own Company
other Ryan McGrath posts at Largehearted Boy

The Weight: "Closer than a Friend" [mp3] from Are Men (out March 10th)
other Weight posts at Largehearted Boy

Western Civ: "Capitol Steps" [mp3] from Shower The People You Love With Gold (out February 24th)
Western Civ: "I Am a Waterfall" [mp3] from Shower The People You Love With Gold (out February 24th)'
other Western Civ posts at Largehearted Boy

Today's free and legal recordings of live shows, rarities, and demos available via bittorrent:

Bob Dylan: 1989-07-15, Old Orchard Beach [flac]*
Bob Dylan: 1974-01-07, Philadelphia [flac]*
other Bob Dylan posts at Largehearted Boy

Golden Palominos: 1986-01-08, Boston [flac]*
other Golden Palominos posts at Largehearted Boy

Lucero: 2008-12-31, Memphis [flac]
other Lucero posts at Largehearted Boy

Mountain Goats: 2008-12-05, Sydney [flac]*
other Mountain Goats posts at Largehearted Boy

Stooges: 2008-08-07, Toronto [flac]*
other Stooges posts at Largehearted Boy

The Smiths: 1985-05-14, Rome [flac]*
other Smiths posts at Largehearted Boy

Uncle Tupelo: 1993-12-03, Tupelo [flac]*
other Uncle Tupelo posts at Largehearted Boy

White Stripes: 2001-11-21, London [flac]*
other White Stripes posts at Largehearted Boy

*registration required

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous mp3 and bittorrent downloads

2008 Lollapalooza downloads
2008 Bonnaroo downloads
2008 Coachella music downloads
2008 SXSW music downloads and streams
other music festival downloads

Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD release lists

tags: music download indie mp3 bittorrent

Book Notes - Dobby Gibson ("Skirmish")

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

I first heard about Dobby Gibson while reading this list of the top ten modern books of poetry. Polar immediately captivated me with its wintry theme and clever abstractions.

Skirmish is Gibson's follow-up volume to Polar, and collects short poems, all titled "Fortune."

Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:

"A noirish current runs through Gibson's second collection, which finds fascination in dark, abandoned urban or suburban spaces and unsolvable everyday mysteries: “There's a street beneath this street, a city beneath this city,/ inhabited by empty tunnels/ built for trains that never arrived.” These mostly short, free verse poems hum with gloomy humor and the mood of pregnant anticipation one finds in a Paul Auster novel."

In his own words, here is Dobby Gibson's Book Notes essay for his poetry collection, Skirmish:

I discovered I loved poetry around the same time I discovered I loved indie rock, if that term even means anything any more. If Frank O’Hara and D. Boon (to take two examples) share a lesson for me, it’s that you don’t need a reason to make art other than to delight your friends. In fact, one of them can do the cover art. (It helps if your friends are Grace Hartigan or Raymond Pettibon, of course.) You don’t even have to know how to play your instrument — at least, not in a traditional way. Figuring out how to make art can be one of the great subjects of your art. “I didn't know that you had to learn to play,” Ornette Coleman once said. “I thought you had to play to play.”

A Skirmish playlist:

“Sleep Talking,” Ornette Coleman

It’s inspiring that someone his age can still be this expeditionary with a plastic saxophone.

“Lose Big,” Eef Barzelay

The poem “Ode to Unconventional Beauty” in Skirmish is about as slyly pop cultural as I get, something Eef Barzley does frequently. The poem begins with an image of Lauren Hutton. I read somewhere that when Lauren Hutton first started modeling, Eileen Ford forced her to plug the gap between her front teeth with morticians’ wax. It wasn’t until she defied Ford and embraced her signature gap-toothed smile that her career took off.

“Speedbumps,” Luna

Dean Wareham is an American treasure. He writes incredibly addictive pop melodies with lyrics that move lightning-fast from wryness to pathos, with lots of inventive images. He also wears great shirts. Someone told me he gets them at Paul Smith. I want to meet him someday so I can ask him.

“Steps to Miles,” Hayden

I stole the title of the album that carries this song for one of the poems in Skirmish, “Skyscraper National Park.” Don’t ask a poet for royalties, Hayden. There aren’t any.

“Little Fury Things,” Dinosaur Jr.

The guitars on this record sound as if they’re being recorded inside an evacuated space station using a Speak & Spell. I wish I could make a poem sound like that.

“I Will Dare,” The Replacements

This one’s for you, Minneapolis, a great city for writers and artists. We have Graywolf Press, the Walker Art Center, supportive grants and foundations, lots of book-lovers — and First Avenue. We also have December-February, when there is nothing to do but write poems or start a band.

“The Biz,” The Sea and Cake

The guitar solo on this song is an exquisite disaster. I’ve seen Sam Prekop play it live a dozen times, and he never quite recaptures the beauty of the original mistakes. Prekop, who is also a painter, was generous enough to agree to provide the cover art for my first book, but other circumstances prevented it from happening. I still haven’t gotten over that disappointment.

“Company Calls,” Death Cab for Cutie

I have a friend named The Gooch. Ben Gibbard is his cuz. About a year ago, The Gooch, Ben and I took a 20-mile bike ride here in Minneapolis. Ben rode my rusty 1987 Miyata, which is like pedaling a Zamboni. At the 18-mile mark, Ben casually revealed that the bike’s shifter was broken and he had been wedging his thumb into the shift levers to keep the bike in gear, even though he had lost feeling in his hand. That tells you everything you need to know about Ben Gibbard — great guy. One of those Coldplay drama queens wouldn’t have made it to the end of the block on that Miyata.

“Trains Across the Sea,” The Silver Jews

At least four of David Berman’s records are staples for me. I might not listen to them for a few months, but I just come back hungrier. His book of poetry, Actual Air, is one of the best first books of poetry published in the past decade.

“Snowin’ on Raton,” Townes Van Zandt

I have another friend named Hoss. A little over a decade ago, we were drunk in Nashville. Or we thought we were drunk — until Townes Van Zandt walked into the bar and redefined the chemical state itself. He was so drunk his eyes were like coin slots. He tapped someone he knew on the shoulder. He didn’t even have to say anything. His face said, “I am suffering, and I need you to take care of me.” They quickly left. I’m still haunted by this scene. Hoss and I went home — embarrassed at our childish selves. Van Zandt died about a year later. This song is from At My Window, which is not generally considered one of his great records, but I love its quiet beauty.

“No More Shoes,” Stephen Malkmus

Pavement was a huge influence on me in my 20s. I was disappointed by Malkmus’ first solo record, and for a while, I was worried he was going to start cranking out forgettable mediocrities like the once-great Paul Westerberg. But his last 2-3 records have been terrific. He’s getting more interesting. For this album, “Face the Truth,” he just went down into his basement with a microphone and got his weird on. I’ll bet he has a closet full of amazing demos.

“Revelation Big Sur,” Mark Kozelek

This song makes me think of San Francisco, which is where I’m going to move after Oprah chooses me for her book club and I become a billionaire poet mogul with a diamond encrusted monocle.

“Plux Quba,” Nuno Canavarro

If I write to music, this is the kind I typically write to: no lyrics to distract me from my own language making, and sounds that are shattered and confusing in some way.

“Teenage Spaceship,” Smog

Bill Callahan is one of my favorite poets.

“Bathysphere,” The Dictionary

This song — this entire noise-rock album, really — is unlistenable. Matt Hart, who is in the band, admits it openly. Matt gave me the profound gift of the title of my book, Skirmish, so he gets the last track on my playlist. Thanks, Matt.

Dobby Gibson and Skirmish links:

the author's website
the author's Wikipedia entry
the book's page at the publisher
Goodreads page for the author
Goodreads page for the book

Minneapolis Observer Quarterly review
Minnesota Public Radio's interview with the author
Publishers Weekly review
Twin Cities Daily Planet review

From the Fishouse poems and readings by the author

also at Largehearted Boy:

Previous Book Notes submissions (authors create playlists for their book)
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Why Obama (musicians and authors explain their support of the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
directors and actors discuss their film's soundtracks
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2008 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2007 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2006 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2005 Edition)
52 Books, 52 Weeks (2004 Edition)

tags: books music literature indie poetry

Shorties

The Portland Mercury reviews Jon Raymond's new short fiction collection, Livability.

These stories stand on their own, but the book as a whole is a welcome addition to the literature of the region. And there's something satisfying about locating these stories within Portland, whether riding the bus from 135th and Stark to the Lloyd Center with a young Russian girl or imagining an overdose in Washington Park. Take this eulogy for what I can only assume is Ozone Records, from Old Joy: "The record store on Burnside had gone out of business and the last albums on the shelves were all by friends of ours."

Yesterday's additions to the "best of 2008" online book lists includes PopMatters' non-fiction books of the year.

Yesterday's additions to the "best of 2008" online music lists include Mobtown Shanks top albums and The 9513's overlooked albums.

Author Jonathan Evison is teaming up with Jamseed to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. For a $20 donation, you receive a personalized snowglobe featuring Evison, a unicorn, a rainbow, and a rabbit.

The Charleston Post and Courier profiles some of the city's vinyl music lovers.

The Daily Beast lists the "thinking man's sex symbols."

The Chicago Reader examines several recently published breast cancer memoirs.

At Locus Magazine, author Cory Doctorow explains how to write amid life's many distractions.

Daytrotter's Thursday session features in-studio mp3s from Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.

The New Yorker features new short fiction, "Pumpkin Head," by Joyce Carol Oates.

Eye Weekly profiles Montreal's AIDS Wolf.

In the mythology of the Montreal music scene, AIDS Wolf are the anti–Arcade Fire. Both bands began in 2003, and soon found themselves at the epicentre of an unlikely musical moment where New York Times coverage and Seattle-esque generalizations about Montreal’s “sound” became de rigeur. That, however, is where the similarities end. With a cacophonous crossbreed of noise-rock and hardcore punk, AIDS Wolf’s bickering guitars, spazz-jazz drumming and screeching female vocals can singe the hairs off of even the most open ears. Consequently, as Arcade Fire rose like a mushroom cloud over Montreal’s indie-rock explosion, AIDS Wolf settled into the cracks and crevices of the scene like radioactive fallout.

Pitchfork reports that Our Band Could Be Your Life author Michael Azerrad will help Bob Mould write his autopbiography.

Wired's The Underwire interviews book designer/author/musician Chip Kidd.

The New York Times reports that iPod docking stations have been installed in the city's newest marriage bureau.

Manhattan’s new marriage bureau, which opens on Monday with a melange of high-tech accouterments, will also feature iPod docking stations so that people can bring their own music. It’s good to see the city becoming tech savvy on this front, adding charm to the old wedding mill. This was not a feature of the old Room 257, unless people brought their own speakers.

The Stranger lists singers who should stop singing.

Woven Hand (David Eugene Edwards) plays a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR.

Minnesota Public Radio interviews Dobby Gibson about his new poetry collection, Skirmish.

LaundroMatinee features in-studio video and mp3s by Sweden's Mary Onettes.

also at Largehearted Boy:

tags: music books popculture indie news