The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: Books

The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/blogs/lineout/ Seattle's #1 Weekly Newspaper. Covering Seattle news, politics, music, film, and arts; plus movie times, club calendars, restaurant listings, forums, blogs, and Savage Love. en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger Editor) webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sun, 19 May 2013 22:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Bordering on the Ridiculous: A Book on Traveling Musicians' Travails http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/23/bordering-on-the-ridiculous-a-book-on-traveling-musicians-travails http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/23/bordering-on-the-ridiculous-a-book-on-traveling-musicians-travails Dave Segal <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:312px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/ff0f/1366744721-dyhatd_outside_final.jpg" alt="dyhatd_outside_final.jpg" title="" width="300" height="226" /></div></p> <p><em><a href="http://www.vitriolrecords.bigcartel.com/product/kevin-stewart-panko-justin-smith-do-you-have-anything-to-declare-book-vit032">Do You Have Anything to Declare?</a></em> is a compendium of musicians' anecdotes about crossing borders while on tour. Music journalist <strong>Kevin Stewart-Panko</strong> and Vitriol Records owner <strong>Justin Smith</strong> conducted interviews with 75 bands and solo artists, including <strong>Dillinger Escape Plan, Fear Factory, Atheist, Zoroaster, Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates/Disfear/etc.), Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Jucifer, Aaron Turner (Isis)</strong>, and <strong>Rich Hoak (Brutal Truth)</strong>. So much bullshit is encountered and endured at these stations, so it's pretty certain there'll be some hugely entertaining and maddening stories—and maybe some substantial <em>schadenfreude</em> sandwiches—to digest. </p> <p>If you ask me, <em>Stranger</em>/Line Out contributors <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Author?oid=4640359">Lars Finberg</a> (<strong>The Intelligence, Thee Oh Sees</strong>) and <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/brian-cook/Author?oid=583131">Brian Cook</a> (<strong>Russian Circles</strong>) should be in this thing. Read more about <em>Do You Have Anything to Declare?</em> <a href="http://www.vitriolrecords.bigcartel.com/product/kevin-stewart-panko-justin-smith-do-you-have-anything-to-declare-book-vit032">here</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/23/bordering-on-the-ridiculous-a-book-on-traveling-musicians-travails#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16570135&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/23/bordering-on-the-ridiculous-a-book-on-traveling-musicians-travails?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16570135&id=comments 0 Bordering on the Ridiculous: A Book on Traveling Musicians' Travails Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:20:24 -0700 The Stranger The Homosexual Agenda: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Tuck Rides Again, Jake Shears's Amazing Ass http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/29/the-homosexual-agenda-mattilda-bernstein-sycamore-tuck-rides-again-jake-shearss-amazing-ass http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/29/the-homosexual-agenda-mattilda-bernstein-sycamore-tuck-rides-again-jake-shearss-amazing-ass Adrian Ryan <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:212px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/9aca/1364576754-url.jpeg" alt="url.jpeg" title="" width="200" height="281" /></div><u>FRIDAY 3/29</u></p> <p><strong>MEETING MATTILDA</strong></p> <p>We are so busy this weekend! (Start chugging that Gatorade now, lady, or your liver is gonna petrify.) I think it's a nice idea to ease our way into it early with something calmer and lower-octane than we're generally accustomed to: How about a <strong>lovely book reading</strong>? How charming! How pointy-headed! How sexishly booky! A little literary prefunk to titillate our fagbrainz, starring a lovely new transplant from San Francisco who I'm just dying for you to meet: <strong>Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore</strong>, author of such winsome titles as Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? and Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity. Mattilda is a <strong>gender-fucking tower of pure pulsing purple fabulous</strong>, and tonight she will read from her newest work, <em>The End of San Francisco</em>, which they are calling "part memoir, part elegy." Mattilda is a thrilling addition to our queer little pond. I can't wait! (Neither can you!) <em>Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free, all ages.</em></p> <p><u><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-homosexual-agenda/Content?oid=16346633">Continue reading »</a></u></p> Homo Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/29/the-homosexual-agenda-mattilda-bernstein-sycamore-tuck-rides-again-jake-shearss-amazing-ass?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16372474&id=comments 0 The Homosexual Agenda: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Tuck Rides Again, Jake Shears's Amazing Ass Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:15:43 -0700 The Stranger Punk Iconoclast Richard Hell Gets Autobiographical @ the Rendezvous http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous Dave Segal <p>Punk-rock catalyst/poet <a href="http://www.richardhell.com/">Richard Hell</a> will be reading from his excellent autobiography <em><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Dreamed-Was-Very-Clean-Tramp-Richard-Hell/?isbn=9780062190833">I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp</a></em> and discussing it with local music scholar/critic/occasional <em>Stranger</em> freelancer <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Author?oid=118746">Chris Estey</a> at the Rendezvous tonight at 7. (Read Estey’s review of the book <a href="http://blog.kexp.org/2013/03/20/scribes-sounding-off-richard-hells-dream-and-interview-in-seattle-321/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scribes-sounding-off-richard-hells-dream-and-interview-in-seattle-321">here</a>.) </p> <p>A member of important NYC groups like <strong>the Neon Boys, Television, the Heartbreakers</strong>, and <strong>the Voidoids</strong>, the Kentucky-bred Hell (real name: <strong>Richard Meyers</strong>; current age: 63) ran away from a Delaware boarding school to New York City, where he met up with his fellow delinquent pal <strong>Tom Miller</strong> (later <strong>Verlaine</strong>) and they schemed and dreamed their way to literary and musical notoriety. Hell’s haphazardly spiky haircut and safety-pinned, torn and frayed T-shirts as well as his preternaturally cool demeanor and whip-smart lyrics planted fertile ideas in the mind of <strong>Malcolm McLaren</strong>, which led to the conception of <strong>the Sex Pistols</strong>. </p> <p>Hell’s memoir also serves as a sharply observed portrait of New York’s world-historical music-biz actions during the ’70s, from the perspective of an impecunious poet/musician working at indie book and video shops. He also dishes some dirt on <strong>the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie</strong>, and other key figures of NYC’s late-’70s/early-'80s musical milieu. In the process, Hell’s famous formulation, the <strong>“Blank Generation,”</strong> comes off as paradoxically rich. (He also has a fantastic way with describing the effects of the drugs he used.) </p> <p>Hell paves his Destiny Street with vivid, arresting prose, unspooling incisive observations and anecdotes up through 1984, two years after the release of the album of that name, at which point his musical career was effectively over. An epilogue depicting a chance meeting with Verlaine—several years estranged from Hell—looking at books in a dollar bin is incredibly touching—healing, even. </p> <p>More info on tonight’s event <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Event?event=16178710">here</a>.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TDT19fU3a9I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16310941&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books Tonight History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/03/21/punk-iconoclast-richard-hell-gets-autobiographical-the-rendezvous?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16310941&id=comments 1 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:08:51 -0700 The Stranger Cosey Fanni Tutti’s Songs to Strip By http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/24/cosey-fanni-tuttis-songs-to-strip-by http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/24/cosey-fanni-tuttis-songs-to-strip-by Dave Segal <p>In addition to playing guitar for <strong>COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle</strong>, and later Chris & Cosey and other TG/C&C spinoff projects, <a href="http://www.coseyfannitutti.com/">Cosey Fanni Tutti</a> (Christine Newby) worked as an erotic dancer during the '70s. In <strong>Drew Daniel</strong>’s <a href="http://33third.blogspot.com/2008/01/20-jazz-funk-greats.html">33 1/3 book</a> on Throbbing Gristle’s classic 1979 LP <em>20 Jazz Funk Greats</em> (which I’m currently reading and enjoying), Tutti lists the songs she preferred moving to while removing her clothes. No matter your stance on stripping, the selections are fascinating. She even breaks it down to which songs accompanied which routines.</p> <blockquote><p>PVC outfit: “Hard Working Man” – <strong>Captain Beefheart</strong>, “Heaven” – <strong>Pere Ubu</strong><br />School girl outfit: “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” – <strong>Ian Dury and the Blockheads</strong>, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” – <strong>Crystal Gayle</strong><br />Pink satin shorts etc.: “Easy” – <strong>Commodores</strong><br />Some topless dance tracks: “Native New Yorker” – <strong>Odyssey</strong>, “Instant Replay” – <strong>Dan Hartman</strong>, “Lady Maramalade” – <strong>Labelle</strong>, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” – <strong>Sylvester</strong>, “Disco Inferno” – <strong>The Trammps</strong></p></blockquote> <p>Now you know. </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jYS0nVZZh6A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/24/cosey-fanni-tuttis-songs-to-strip-by#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15828240&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Dancing Books Lists http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/24/cosey-fanni-tuttis-songs-to-strip-by?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15828240&id=comments 2 Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:54:26 -0800 The Stranger Speaking of Black Sabbath... http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/09/speaking-of-black-sabbath http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/09/speaking-of-black-sabbath Emily Nokes <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2312/1357776738-photo_1.jpg" alt="Not stickers." title="Not stickers. " width="500" height="669" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Not stickers. </li></ul></div></p> <p>Yeah yeah about<a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/09/best-sabbath-coverever"> adorable Germans covering Black Sabbath</a>, Nipper. Because there's FINALLY an unauthorized <a href="http://black-sabbath-fans.deviantart.com/gallery/12474044">Black Sabbath</a> "rockography" that is mostly just pictures (the dregs of public domain, to be sure) and 25 point type! You can read it in four minutes! </p> <p><strong>Review</strong>: At first I thought it was a book of Black Sabbath stickers. Unfortunately it's not, but the amount of unrelated clip-art on each page is stunning. </p> <p><strong>Hot Tip</strong>: The author has compiled other "books" on Aerosmith, the Clash, and the Rolling Stones. All with equally trippy covers. Great gift idea.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/09/speaking-of-black-sabbath#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15709840&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/09/speaking-of-black-sabbath?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15709840&id=comments 2 Speaking of Black Sabbath... Not stickers. Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:54:42 -0800 The Stranger Pat Thomas' Listen, Whitey! Racks Up Accolades in TIME and SPIN http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/19/pat-thomas-listen-whitey-racks-up-accolades-in-time-and-spin http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/19/pat-thomas-listen-whitey-racks-up-accolades-in-time-and-spin Dave Segal <p>Former Seattle author/A&R man <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/white-mans-book-does-justice-to-black-power-music/Content?oid=12745243">Pat Thomas</a>' book <em><a href="http://www.fantagraphics.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=2094&category_id=711&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=62">Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975</a></em> (<a href="http://www.fantagraphics.com/">Fantagraphics</a>) and its and accompanying compilation on <strong>Light in the Attic</strong>—<em><a href="http://lightintheattic.net/releases/685-listen-whitey-the-sounds-of-black-power-1967-1974">Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967-1974</a></em>—have earned positions on some important publications' year-end lists. <em><a href="http://entertainment.time.com/2012/12/04/top-10-albums/slide/various-artists-listen-whitey-the-sounds-of-black-power-1967-74/">TIME</a></em> placed the album at #7 in its 2012 list and <em><a href="http://www.spin.com/articles/best-music-books-2012">SPIN</a></em> ranked the book at #4 in its round-up of music-oriented tomes. Thomas vividly and accessibly places the subject into historical context and displays acute curatorship on the LITA LP. The accolades are well-deserved.</p> <p><em>SPIN</em>'s list and a clip about the LITA comp after the jump.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VVNSQpaVBBU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <blockquote><p>SPIN's 10 Best Music Books of 2012</p> <p>1. RJ Smith - The One: The Life and Times of James Brown (Gotham)<br />2. Elijah Wald - The Dozens: A History of Rap's Mama (Oxford University Press)<br />3. Jonathan Lethem - Talking Heads' Fear of Music (33 1/3) (Continuum)<br /><strong>4. Pat Thomas - Listen, Whitey!: The Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 (Fantagraphics)</strong><br />5. Gil Scott-Heron - The Last Holiday: A Memoir (Grove Press)<br />6. Peter Criss - Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of KISS (Scribner)<br />7. Natalie Hopkinson - Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City (Duke University Press)<br />8. Sylvie Simmons - I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen (Ecco)<br />9. Bob Gluck - You'll Know When You Get There: Herbie Hancock and the Mwandishi Band (University of Chicago Press)<br />10. Preston Lauterbach - The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock'n'Roll (W.W. Norton & Company)</p></blockquote> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/19/pat-thomas-listen-whitey-racks-up-accolades-in-time-and-spin#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15572457&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/19/pat-thomas-listen-whitey-racks-up-accolades-in-time-and-spin?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15572457&id=comments 2 Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:41:20 -0800 The Stranger Iggy Pop on Two of His Favorite Albums http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/26/iggy-pop-on-two-of-his-favorite-albums http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/26/iggy-pop-on-two-of-his-favorite-albums Dave Segal <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:312px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/7bc8/1353969942-101bookproductshot_new.jpg" alt="101bookProductShot_new.jpg" title="" width="300" height="358" /></div></p> <p><strong>Jeff Gold</strong>'s <em><a href="http://101essentialrecords.com/">101 Essential Rock Records/The Golden Age of Vinyl From the Beatles to the Sex Pistols</a></em> is another one of those Baby Boomer-oriented round-ups of the best rock albums, but this one comes with a twist: It has essays from musicians on their favorite LPs from the time period outlined in the title. The book's publisher has made a chapter by <strong><a href="http://www.iggypop.com/">Iggy Pop</a></strong> available for media, and it's interesting enough to share with you here. Iggy reminisces about the impact <strong>Them</strong>'s <em>The Angry Young Them</em> and the <strong>Mothers of Invention</strong>’s <em>Freak Out!</em> made on his own music and includes some fascinating anecdotes about the Mothers' <strong>Frank Zappa</strong>. Also, I did not know that Mr. Pop was into <strong>Robert Ashley</strong> and <strong>Harry Partch</strong>. (It should be noted that "America Drinks and Goes Home” is not on <em>Freak Out!</em>, as Iggy writes, but rather on <em>Absolutely Free</em>.)</p> <p>Read Iggy's excerpt after the cut. Check out the 101 albums included in the book <a href="http://101essentialrecords.com/">here</a>. Notice how the <strong>13th Floor Elevators</strong>' best album, <em>Easter Everywhere</em>, and <strong>the Byrds</strong>' best album, <em>Notorious Byrd Brothers</em>, and <strong>Tim Buckley</strong>'s best album, <em>Starsailor</em>, aren't included, or anything by <strong>Neu!</strong>? Plus dozens of other nits you can pick (that Fleetwood Mac album is titled <em>Rumours</em>, not <em>Rumors</em>), because you have nothing better to do.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5e-fU0eyVUg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>Iggy Pop on “The Angry Young Them” and The Mothers Of Invention’s “Freak Out !”</p> <p>I bought my first record in 1960; I was 13. I had $1 of my own money and I bought “Red River Rock,” an album by Johnny and The Hurricanes, at the Woolworth's in the first mall opened in southern Michigan</p> <p>I found out about music and groups from my friend in junior high school, Jim McLaughlin. He had a guitar and amp, because his dad was a ham radio nut. He played me his Ray Charles records, and Elvis too. We formed a duo for the school talent show; I called it the Megaton 2. We played “What I’d Say,” and “Let There Be Drums,” which was a record I owned by Sandy Nelson. Later Jim and I started The Iguanas. </p> <p>The radio in Detroit wasn't that great, but nowhere near as bad as it is now. You could hear the Beatles, Stones, Ronnettes, Wailers, Booker T, early Motown, Jackie Wilson, the Kinks, and other good stuff on CKLW, the Detroit AM station, but you had to be patient and listen to lots of shit like Peter and Gordon, Freddie and the Dreamers, Leslie Gore, Frankie Avalon, etc. to hear what you liked. When I later got a job at a record store, it really opened up my knowledge of music. The other people who worked there were experts in classical music, avant-garde, R&B and blues as well as rock, and I took it all in. The store was loosely organized, so when I wanted to hear a record, I just opened it up and played it right there. </p> <p>I probably first heard “Gloria” by Them. When I bought the album it was the American version of “The Angry Young Them,” the same album, but with a hideous ugly orange cover, and it just said “Them.” Now I have a vinyl copy of the original. It still blows my mind. I would listen over and over and over to <strong>“Mystic Eyes,” and “One Two Brown Eyes.” Those two cuts really influenced my ideas of what The Stooges could be.</strong></p> <p>At about that time I was listening to all the good English groups plus Bob Dylan plus anything that came from San Francisco plus Love, plus tons of garage rock. Them was by far the most experimental, but also had <strong>a kind of doomed quality that I liked</strong>, because I could see that these guys weren't cute, didn't know how to dress and did not have a commercial touch except for the one hit, “Gloria.” “Gloria” at the time was completely inescapable all over the U of M (University of Michigan) campus and at any club, anywhere with live music. Every band covered it including my own. I think the liner notes were really pathetic. What a great example of a repressed, apologetic, neurotic show-biz bullshitter. I never saw Them, but I saw Van play once at the Troubadour in LA. It was around the time of “Moondance.” He was very stern, and the group members all looked ill. He was so cool, the best thing he did was pick up a chair with one hand and wave it over his head while he screamed. I saw him do the same thing on TV on “American Bandstand.” I guess it was his one stage move. I've always wondered where he got it. The way Van's voice ripped through the mic. and the simple arrangements and spirit of experiment was a huge deal for me. I still listen to the record in the early mornings and when I want to get worked up. </p> <p>The first time I heard “Freak Out” by the Mothers of Invention was on headphones, smoking an early joint in my drug career, at the house of SRC, a Michigan band of the 60's. That night I kind of knew they were asking (Stooges guitarist) Ron (Asheton) to leave our group and join up with them, so I was hanging around to see what was going to happen. Rather than waste my time, I saw a copy of “Freak Out” and listened to it on the phones. I thought it was very, very funny. I particularly loved “Help, I'm a Rock,” “America Drinks and Goes Home,” “Who Are The Brain Police” and the cameo of Suzie Creamcheese. I had already seen the Fugs live on stage, with Tuli Kupferberg changing costumes out of a large bag in a humorous way, so I was somewhat prepared. I liked the Mothers’ conceptualism and humor, although the music didn't really do much for me. <strong>My own experiments were more influenced by Bob Ashley, Harry Partch, and Berlioz.</strong></p> <p>The first time I saw The Mothers I was opening for them; it was the second or third gig the Stooges had ever done, so I remembered us more than them. I think playing with them so early in our career pushed me to be weirder faster, and also to be stranger to look at, earlier than I would have been otherwise. That night I did my first stage dive. I knew the Mothers were on after us and I didn't want people to forget about us. </p> <p>Years later I got to know Frank a little bit, and he was very decent to me. We went out for a burger once in Berlin, to a bright lit cheap and greasy joint with David Bowie. That was pretty funny and unusual. Frank was kind of a wry person, and as he made clear in his film “200 Motels,” he had a certain ambivalence about English rock stars. I went along with Frank later that night and kept him company for a while at the Hilton hotel, until his Berlin girlfriend showed up. For no exact reason, I remember feeling that Frank was a very lonely cat. He was all alone, and the suite was so dark and cold. The girl who came over later was kind of a troubled type, but I think he enjoyed the company and that was about it. Earlier that night at his show, Frank played one of his incredibly long guitar solos while his hired lead guitarist, Adrian Belew, had to wait his turn. That was the moment when David basically hired Adrian away for his own next projects, in a conversation behind the PA stack. I thought that was pretty funny.</p> <p>Earlier in my life, when the Stooges went to LA in 1970 to record “Fun House,” we were staying at the Tropicana Motel. I walked up the hill to (legendary Hollywood coffee shop) Ben Franks to get something to eat, and there, sitting at the counter expressionless, with his hair and mustache and weird beard, was Frank Zappa. What a vision. I might as well have seen Aristotle. I was very impressed.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/26/iggy-pop-on-two-of-his-favorite-albums#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15380840&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/26/iggy-pop-on-two-of-his-favorite-albums?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15380840&id=comments 0 Iggy Pop on Two of His Favorite Albums Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:47:13 -0800 The Stranger Charles Manson, To Marilyn Manson + Damien Echols in Seattle http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/charles-manson-to-marilyn-manson-damien-echols-in-seattle http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/charles-manson-to-marilyn-manson-damien-echols-in-seattle Kelly O <p><em>Check out this letter ole' Charlie recently mailed to Marilyn:</em></p> <blockquote><p>To Marilyn Manson –</p> <p>It’s taken me a long time to get there from where I could touch M. Manson. Now I got a card to play – you may look into my non-profit, ATWA, and give Manson what you think he’s got coming for Air, Trees, Water, and you. Or I will pay Manson what you think Manson got coming – the music has make Manson into Abraxas Devil, and I’m SURE you would want some of what I got from what I got. It’s a far out balance. Beyond good and bad, right, wrong. What you don’t do is what I will do – what you did a sing-along, and let it roll and said how you saved me a lot of steps – I don’t need, it’s not a need or a want. Couped – coup. Ghost dancers slay together and you’re just in my grave Sunstroker Corona-coronas-coronae – you seen me from under with it all standing on me. That’s 2 dump trucks – doing the same as CMF 000007</p> <p>- Charles Manson</p> <p><em>Postcard, August 2012</em></blockquote><div style="text-align:center;"></div></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="320" height="215" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BhE-F8Zw-3o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.mansondirect.com/tommanson.html">See a picture of the postcard on MansonDirect.com</a></div></p> <p><br /><strong>On a vaguely related note</strong>—<a href="http://damienechols.com/">Damien Echols,</a> who was wrongly convicted and sent to prison (sitting on death row for 18+ years because a bunch of crazy-heads and rednecks were scared of him 'cause he vaguely looked like Marilyn Manson when he was a teenager) is reading from his new book <em>Life After Death</em> at Seattle's Town Hall tomorrow, Friday the 28th.<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/books/life-after-death-by-damien-echols.html"> I read the book, and it is beautiful and incredible.</a> The Town Hall event is $5 and starts at 7:30 pm.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/charles-manson-to-marilyn-manson-damien-echols-in-seattle#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14871516&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books Upcoming http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/charles-manson-to-marilyn-manson-damien-echols-in-seattle?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14871516&id=comments 9 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:54:59 -0700 The Stranger Quentin Rowan Is Very, Very Sorry He Wrote an Awesome Mash-Up Novel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/04/quentin-rowan-is-very-very-sorry-he-wrote-an-awesome-mash-up-novel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/04/quentin-rowan-is-very-very-sorry-he-wrote-an-awesome-mash-up-novel Joseph Staten <p>1. Yesterday, writer <strong>Quentin Rowan</strong> spoke at a Words & Ideas talk titled <em>Remix, Theft or Plagiarism?</em> Kirby Ferguson, who made the wonderful web series <a href="http://vimeo.com/14912890">Everything Is a Remix</a>, was supposed to talk too, but he wasn't there. One in five people made a <strong>painfully noisy exit</strong> from the theater when this news was announced.</p> <p>2. There are two schools of thought around "remix culture" nowadays—pro-remix and anti-remix. Pro-remix folks want artists to draw from everything and everywhere, and not apologize. Anti-remix thinks pro-remix is <strong>full of shit</strong>.</p> <p>3. In 2011, Quentin Rowan wrote a spy novel called <em>Assassin of Secrets</em>. Within months of its release, internet sleuths discovered that it had been composed <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/02/13/120213fa_fact_widdicombe">almost entirely from quotations of passages from other spy novels</a>. People freaked out, the publisher recalled the book, and Rowan's world was temporarily fucked.</p> <p>4. Before its publication, <em>Assassin of Secrets</em> was widely praised by a number of critics and authors. Spy novelist Jeremy Duns called it an "<strong>instant classic</strong>."</p> <p>4. Quentin Rowan feels <strong>very, very bad</strong> that he deceived a lot of people with his novel. He believes what he did was wrong. He did it because the pressure he put on himself to be a "great writer" became too much to bear. He didn't think he could "do it on his own."</p> <p>6. There's not much difference, formally, between <em>Assassin of Secrets</em> and, say, <strong>any Girl Talk album</strong>. The reason Girl Talk was praised and Rowan pilloried is that Girl Talk was unabashedly remixing, while Rowan was hopeful that no one would find him out. <br /> <br />7. People today seem to be fine with musicians sampling, and making remixes, and making mash-ups. Writers? <strong>Not so much</strong>.</p> <p>8. Quentin Rowan is very lovable. He seems shy, and smart, and SO NERDY. He made that grating I-need-to-clear-my-throat sound as he breathed in and out, characteristic of every nerd portrayed in a film ever. He made me feel really bad for him. He seems like a sweet and genuine person. He's working on a screenplay for a espionage-esque film, for a production company in New York that approached him after the scandal. They told him that pulling details from previous works and rearranging them is basically "what <strong>most screenwriters do anyway.</strong>"</p> <p>9. Quentin Rowan's next book, which is plagiarism-free, is coming out next week. It's a confessional memoir called <em>Never Say Goodbye</em>, which chronicles his ascent to literary micro-stardom, and his subsequent fall.</p> <p>10. I wish Quentin Rowan would own <em>Assassin of Secrets</em> for what it was—a brilliant satire of the spy genre, a work of pastiche, a comment on the structures of genre itself. But he doesn't see it this way—he sees it as a personal failure. And I wish that that little detail didn't make <strong>all the difference in the world</strong>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/04/quentin-rowan-is-very-very-sorry-he-wrote-an-awesome-mash-up-novel#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14649983&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books Bumbershoot http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/04/quentin-rowan-is-very-very-sorry-he-wrote-an-awesome-mash-up-novel?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14649983&id=comments 4 Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:04:50 -0700 The Stranger ESP EP and ESP-Disk http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/27/esp-ep-and-esp-disk http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/27/esp-ep-and-esp-disk Kathy Fennessy <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:262px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/4c88/1346071595-esp.jpg" alt="esp.jpg" title="" width="250" height="166" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">The band/Force Field PR</li><li class="imageCaption">L.A. three-piece ESP</li></ul></div> I don't tend to plan these things out, but on Saturday I decided to listen to the new EP from this LA trio at the same time I was reading <a href="http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type&id=851&fulltext=1&media">an article</a> about the adventurous NYC label <strong>ESP-Disk</strong> in the <em>Los Angeles Review of Books</em> (Jesse Jarnow builds his piece around a review of Jason Weiss's <em>Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk, the Most Outrageous Record Label in America</em>). </p> <p>During the label's heyday, founder Bernard Stollman released records from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Ra-Magic/dp/B0006U3UBK">Sun Ra</a>, <strong>the Fugs</strong>, <strong>the Godz</strong>, and other envelope-pushing artists. Says <a href="http://kbcs.fm/site/PageServer/?pagename=dutevsky&printer_friendly=1">David Utevsky</a>, host of KCBS's "Straight No Chaser" (a show he originated at KCMU*), "I cherish my ESP LPs, which helped introduce me to free jazz." I'm right there with him, though I've got some catching up to do (<em>The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One</em> is an enduring favorite). </p> <p>I didn't notice a connection between the label and this electronic outfit, but the shared acronym caught my eye, even if the ESP part of ESP-Disk stood for Esperanto, with which Stollman was obsessed, and not Extra Sensory Perception.</p> <p><small>* I took over the show for a few months after he left the station in 1991. </small></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/a902/1346084206-always_in_trouble.jpg" alt="always_in_trouble.jpg" title="" width="400" height="575" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Wesleyan University Press</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>That said, <strong>ESP</strong> singer/keyboardist Aska Matsumiya doesn't necessarily appear to be singing in English. I mean, I think she is, but it's hard to make out any lyrics. Matsumiya's band mates include her brother Seiya (keyboards, electronics) and Bobby Evans (drums, electronics). On these six tracks, they come on like a more dance-oriented <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2011/11/16/exotic-sounds-of-young-magic-and-martin-denny">Young Magic</a>, while Aska's stream-of-consciousness sighs recall a more out-there <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/02/03/benefit-album-with-broadcast-four-tet">Kazu Makino</a>—or a less elfin Björk. On the dusky, swirling track "Dark Panda," they even bring <strong>Mike Oldfield</strong>, circa "Tubular Bells," to mind. </p> <p><iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F52350079&show_artwork=true"></iframe></p> <p>Mostly, I like the way they bridge the gap between synth rock and space rock. <strong>ESP</strong> eschews guitars, but there's a psychedelic spirit wending its way through their work, which includes a remix EP of the track "627" (Hecuba, Dreamers, and Lucky Dragons) and an upcoming split 10" with <a href="http://store.oh-wow.com/item.html/1274146">UFO</a>. They may not sound like an <strong>ESP-Disk</strong> act, but I wouldn't be surprised if they own a Sun Ra record or two. </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="475" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TgINSOxtZMA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><em>ESP self-releases</em> ESP <em>on Aug 28. Always in Trouble is out now on Wesleyan Press.</em></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/27/esp-ep-and-esp-disk#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14579408&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books Upcoming History http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/27/esp-ep-and-esp-disk?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14579408&id=comments 0 ESP EP and ESP-Disk ESP Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:49:08 -0700 The Stranger David Byrne Explains How Music Works http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/20/david-byrne-explains-how-music-works http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/20/david-byrne-explains-how-music-works Dave Segal <p>Former <strong>Talking Heads</strong> frontman, ace <strong>Brian Eno</strong> collaborator, and quirky filmmaker <a href="http://journal.davidbyrne.com/">David Byrne</a> has written a book titled <em><a href="https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/how-music-works">How Music Works</a></em> for <strong>McSweeney's</strong> (out Sept. 12). An excerpt from the press release reveals the gist.</p> <blockquote><p>He explains how profoundly music is shaped by its time and place, and how the advent of recording technology forever changed our relationship to playing, performing, and listening to music. Acting as historian and anthropologist, raconteur and social scientist, he searches for patterns—and tells us how they have affected his own work over the years with Talking Heads and his many collaborators. Touching on the joy, physics, and the business of making music, he also shows how it is inextricably linked to its cultural and physical context. His range is panoptic, taking us from La Scala to African villages, from his teenage reel-to-reel recordings to his latest work in a home music studio. How Music Works is a brainy, irresistible adventure and an impassioned argument about music's liberating, life-affirming power.</p></blockquote> <p>Byrne will be performing with <strong>St. Vincent</strong> Wed. Oct. 17 at <a href="http://www.cityartsfest.com/">City Arts Fest</a> at the <strong>Fifth Avenue Theatre</strong>. </p> <p><small>Please listen to one of the greatest albums ever after the cut.</small></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rONasb9H24Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/20/david-byrne-explains-how-music-works#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14510813&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/08/20/david-byrne-explains-how-music-works?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14510813&id=comments 0 Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:12:12 -0700 The Stranger Bookstore Stops Playing Parliament Because White Woman Complains About "Racist" Music http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/31/bookstore-stops-playing-parliament-because-white-woman-complains-about-racist-music http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/31/bookstore-stops-playing-parliament-because-white-woman-complains-about-racist-music Paul Constant <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="350" height="197" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7LoHdNo4RYE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>Natalie Hopkinson, the author of <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780822352112">a book about go-go music and Washington DC</a>, was about to do a reading at DC independent bookstore <a href="http://www.politics-prose.com/">Politics & Prose</a>. She even made a mix CD for the store to play before and during her reading. <strong>That's where the trouble began</strong>. <a href="http://www.nataliehopkinson.com/2012/07/30/go-go-live-banned-in-chevy-chase/">On her blog, she writes</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>A few minutes before my reading, store employee Marshall popped in my CD. Not 30 seconds into my go-go playlist, <strong>a white woman went to the cashier to complain</strong>. The song in question wasn’t even a go-go song. It was Parliament’s 1970s funk classic “Chocolate City”—a song that took on a moniker that was being used by Washingtonians celebrating the city’s first elected mayor, a black man named Walter Washington:</p> <blockquote><p>What’s happening, C.C. They still call in the White House, but that’s a temporary condition…</p></blockquote> <p>The blonde woman marched straight to the cashier, who referred her to the owner of Politics & Prose. <strong>She said the music was “racist”</strong> and demanded they stop playing it.</p> <p>I am so very sad to report that the store <strong>actually complied</strong>.</p></blockquote> <p>That's incredibly disappointing to hear. <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/books-without-borders/Content?oid=9322294">When I worked at Borders many years ago</a>, a manager allowed an old white woman to return a gospel CD she had bought there because she was disgusted to find that <strong>black people were singing on the CD</strong>. I'm as disappointed in Politics & Prose now as I was disappointed in Borders then. When a white customer starts to complain about the racial persecution they're suffering, I think it's okay for bookstores to say that they don't want that customer's business anyway. Politics & Prose, <a href="http://politicsprose.tumblr.com/post/28421783465/go-go-live-statement-from-p-p-owners">on their blog</a>, say that they regret stopping the song. They say <a href="http://politicsprose.tumblr.com/post/28421783465/go-go-live-statement-from-p-p-owners">the playlist was allowed to play after the reading</a>, and that they are against censorship. Although apparently, they don't care enough about "allow[ing] one person’s point of view to silence a group discussion" to argue the point to a customer's face.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/31/bookstore-stops-playing-parliament-because-white-woman-complains-about-racist-music#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14328898&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books ??!! http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/31/bookstore-stops-playing-parliament-because-white-woman-complains-about-racist-music?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14328898&id=comments 16 Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:21:16 -0700 The Stranger Love Rock Revolution at Elliot Bay Book Co. http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/21/love-rock-revolution-at-elliot-bay-book-co http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/21/love-rock-revolution-at-elliot-bay-book-co Kathy Fennessy <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/6348/1342840858-love_rock3.jpg" alt="love_rock3.jpg" title="" width="475" height="388" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div><br /><small><em>The K revolution is exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre.</em> <br />—founder Calvin Johnson's label motto</small></p> <p>Last Wednesday, <em>City Arts</em> editor-at-large <strong>Mark Baumgarten</strong> read from his new book, <em>Love Rock Revolution: K Records and the Rise of Independent Music</em>, at Elliot Bay Book Co. (Mark was my editor when I wrote for <em>Seattle Sound</em>, precursor to <em>City Arts</em>). After the reading, Tomten's <strong>Brian Noyeswatkins</strong> played a couple of songs. Then Mark took questions from the audience and signed copies of his book. </p> <p><em>More pictures, commentary, and other stuff below.</em></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/eb73/1342840746-love_rock.jpg" alt="love_rock.jpg" title="" width="475" height="389" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>The passage Mark read recounted Beat Happening's 1984 Japanese tour, one of the first things the Olympia trio ever did, and part of guitarist Bret Lunsford's impetus for joining the group (singer/songwriter Calvin Johnson promised the trip if Bret joined, an offer the fellow Evergreen student found too enticing too resist). </p> <p>Mark also talked about the brain injury Johnson suffered in 2003 while on tour with <strong>Old Time Relijun</strong>. In March, I wrote about <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/03/10/calvin-johnson-and-friends-at-the-nwff">a Calvin appearance</a> at the Northwest Film Forum</a>; near as I can tell, he's fully recovered from the accident. </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/07/21/1342889718-beat_happening.jpg" alt="My Beat Happening singles collection" title="My Beat Happening singles collection" width="475" height="375" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption">My Beat Happening singles collection</li></ul></div></p> <p>I thought I owned a copy of Beat Happening's Japanese cassette, <em><strong>Three Tea Breakfast</strong></em>, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I guess I never picked it up, and it doesn't really matter, since their self-titled debut now includes the five songs. </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="475" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8YiWF5RULIc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;">From 1985's <em><strong>Beat Happening</strong></em> (with drummer Heather Lewis on vocals). </div> </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/07/21/1342891874-beat_happening2.jpg" alt="Dean Wareham covers Beat Happenings Indian Summer" title="Dean Wareham covers Beat Happenings Indian Summer" width="475" height="361" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption">Single from Mike McGonigal's <em>Chemical Imbalance</em> (issue #7, 1989)</li></ul></div></p> <p>Relevant tracks: Beat Happening's "Foggy Eyes" and Dean Wareham's Beat Happening cover, "Indian Summer" (I'm also fond of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PpNHcECx6c">Spectrum version</a>). </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/07/20/1342841059-love_rock2.jpg" alt="love_rock2.jpg" title="" width="475" height="371" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>Brian played two <strong>Beat Happening</strong> songs, including "Foggy Eyes." They were quite lovely. If you haven't heard Tomten's first full-length, <em><strong>Wednesday's Children</strong></em>, I'd recommend it, and I know for sure that <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/19/tomtens-wednesdays-children-is-released-today">Mike Nipper would, too</a>. In fact, Mike's name came up in our discussion after the reading, since he occasionally shares his <strong>Value Village</strong> finds on Line Out, and Brian used to work at the same Capitol Hill outlet (below <em>The Stranger</em> offices). He said it was not a good experience. </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/36bf/1342840969-love_rock4.jpg" alt="love_rock4.jpg" title="" width="475" height="388" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><em>Love Rock Revolution: K Records and the Rise of Independent Music</i> is out now on Sasquatch Books, Tomten's Ta Ta Dana EP and Wednesdays Children are out now on Flat Field Records (disclosure: I'm friends with label publicist Chris Estey).</em></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/21/love-rock-revolution-at-elliot-bay-book-co#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14237837&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/21/love-rock-revolution-at-elliot-bay-book-co?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14237837&id=comments 0 Love Rock Revolution at Elliot Bay Book Co. K.C. Fennessy Sat, 21 Jul 2012 08:49:49 -0700 The Stranger The Source Book Signing @ Wall of Sound June 7 http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/06/the-source-book-signing-wall-of-sound-june-7 http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/06/the-source-book-signing-wall-of-sound-june-7 Dave Segal <p>In advance of the June 8 and 10 SIFF screening of <em>The Source</em>, <strong>Isis Aquarian</strong> (co-author of the book <em>The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and The Source Family</em>) and <strong>Jodi Wille</strong> (co-director of the film) will appear at <a href="http://www.wosound.com/">Wall of Sound</a> Thurs. June 7 at 6 pm for a book/record signing and meet and greet. </p> <p><em>The Source</em> documents the wild, peaceful, and organic-cooking activities of spiritual guru <strong>Father Yod</strong> (aka <strong>Jim Baker</strong>) and his young followers, including the far-out band of psychedelic disciples, <strong><a href="http://www.yahowha13.com/">Ya Ho Wah 13</a></strong>. Drag City recently issued <em><a href="http://www.dragcity.com/products/the-thought-adjusters">The Thought Adjusters</a></em>, a double LP of previously unreleased jams by the Source Family's sonic sojourners. </p> <p>Below is The Stranger Suggests blurb for the <em><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/MovieTimes?show=siff&film=13577369">The Source</a></em> film:</p> <blockquote><p>Hippies, a judo-killer bank robber who becomes a spiritual leader, people with names like Orbit Aquarian, celebrities—what’s not to like? The Source Family was an early-1970s Southern California commune that formed around Jim Baker, later known as Father Yod. He started a vegetarian organic restaurant on Sunset Boulevard that morphed into a community of attractive young people who saw Baker as their father. As this documentary notes, they transformed sex, drugs, and rock and roll into a genuine religious formation. (Harvard Exit, 807 E Roy St, thestranger.com/siff, 11:30 am, $8) GILLIAN ANDERSON</p></blockquote> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/423198241034967/">More info on the Wall of Sound in-store appearance here</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/06/the-source-book-signing-wall-of-sound-june-7#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13865812&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books Upcoming http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/06/the-source-book-signing-wall-of-sound-june-7?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13865812&id=comments 0 Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:10:00 -0700 The Stranger Michaelangelo Matos on Chic's "Good Times" http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/05/michaelangelo-matos-on-chics-good-times http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/05/michaelangelo-matos-on-chics-good-times Dave Segal <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:212px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/5e0a/1338937243-chic_matos_rev.jpg" alt="Chic_Matos_REV.jpg" title="" width="200" height="320" /></div></p> <p><em>Stranger</em> freelancer <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Author?oid=1708">Michaelangelo Matos</a> has written an essay on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTusMLs9SJE">Chic’s 1979 classic “Good Times”</a> titled <em><a href="http://www.rhino.com/article/we-wont-settle-less-chic-the-end-disco">We Won't Settle for Less: Chic at the End of Disco</a></em>. The piece is part of <a href="http://www.rhino.com/article/single-notes">Rhino’s Single Notes</a> series about individual songs, designed for Kindle and iBooks. </p> <p>You can hear Matos expound about the crucial orchestral-disco song, which became a slick building block in several hiphop tracks and the inspiration for <strong>Queen</strong>’s 1980 hit <strong>“Another One Bites the Dust,”</strong> in the video after cut.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MO7OM1B0XGQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/05/michaelangelo-matos-on-chics-good-times#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13858951&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/05/michaelangelo-matos-on-chics-good-times?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13858951&id=comments 0 Michaelangelo Matos on Chic's "Good Times" Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:02:56 -0700 The Stranger Some Band Bios I Passed On http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/14/some-band-bios-i-passed-on http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/14/some-band-bios-i-passed-on Bree McKenna <p>I love reading artist bios...these ones at the Central public library downtown briefly caught my interest, and then I passed:</p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:136px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/afd1/1336763804-katy.jpg" alt="Katy Perry" title="Katy Perry" width="124" height="166" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Katy Perry</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:136px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/aa9c/1336763281-amygrant.jpg" alt="Amy Grant" title="Amy Grant" width="124" height="166" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Amy Grant</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:136px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/05/11/1336764058-lisa.jpg" alt="Lisa Left Eye Lopes" title="Lisa Left Eye Lopes" width="124" height="166" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:136px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/05/11/1336764149-sheryl.jpg" alt="Sheryl Crow" title="Sheryl Crow" width="124" height="166" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Sheryl Crow</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:136px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/05/11/1336764234-phish.jpg" alt="Phish" title="Phish" width="124" height="166" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Phish</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:136px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/05/11/1336764300-limp.jpg" alt="Limp Bizkit" title="Limp Bizkit" width="124" height="166" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Limp Bizkit</li></ul></div><br /><BR clear=all><br /> Amy Grant's seemed like it was not scandalous enough, just lots about her winning Dove Awards (that's like the Christian Grammys!) I'm not sure Katy Perry has done enough interesting stuff to merit a bio, but I do kind of regret not getting the Phish book because I read this <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/04/in-your-eyes-phish-and-rob/">interview with a Phish fan by Jeremy Larson</a> a few weeks ago and think the culture is more interesting than the music. </p> <p><div class="blogImageLeft" style="width:362px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/05/11/1336765760-danny_the_street.jpg" alt="Danny the Street" title="Danny the Street" width="350" height="350" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Danny the Street</li></ul></div><br />Also, when I was checking out better stuff my librarian was the handsome frontman from <a href="http://dannythestreet.bandcamp.com/"> Danny the Street</a> and I ended up going to his show at the Comet the next day. It was darker and more rockin' than his old band <a href="http://noddy.bandcamp.com/">Noddy</a>, and plus the new artwork has a collage homage to Live Through This by beloved Tacoma artist <a href="http://ericdidit.com/index.php/category/art/">Eric Olson</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/14/some-band-bios-i-passed-on#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13627562&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/14/some-band-bios-i-passed-on?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13627562&id=comments 0 Some Band Bios I Passed On Amy Grant Mon, 14 May 2012 09:13:46 -0700 The Stranger Head's Up! Julian Cope to Issue The Copendium http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/08/heads-up-julian-cope-to-issue-the-copendium http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/08/heads-up-julian-cope-to-issue-the-copendium Dave Segal <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:292px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/1f54/1336502384-large_placeholder02_jpg_280x450_q85.jpg" alt="large_placeholder02_jpg_280x450_q85.jpg" title="" width="280" height="440" /></div></p> <p>The music book I’m most looking forward to this year costs £120, god damn it: Julian Cope’s <em><a href="http://www.faber.co.uk/work/copendium/9780571281930/">Copendium</a></em>. (It had better come with a triple CD of tracks critiqued therein, is all I can say.) Slated for Nov. 1 publication, <em>Copendium</em> collects the former <strong>Teardrop Explodes</strong>/current <strong>Brain Donor</strong> frontman’s reviews of albums from genres such as krautrock, post punk, doom metal, jazz, spoken word, and more. The book is a canon-shaping exercise you should take seriously.</p> <p>You can get an inkling of Cope’s style from the great man’s posts on his <a href="http://www.headheritage.co.uk/">Head Heritage</a> website. Cope combines great musical taste with a flamboyant, febrile writing style and a palpable enthusiasm that make you want to hear the music he’s describing posthaste. Here’s a sample from a recent <a href="http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/early-soft-machine">review</a> of <em>Early Soft Machine: 1966-1968</em>:</p> <blockquote><p>His hair receding by his early 20s, with buck-teeth and ugly as sin, Hugh Hopper nevertheless wrote poetic and desperately aching, lonely songs that the R&B obsessed Wyatt could deliver with heart-rending sincerity. In stark comparison to Hopper, the occasionally face-painted Kevin Ayers was a beautiful and beguiling psychedelicized Hans Christian Andersen figure, a Pie-eyed Piper with a flair for writing archetypally great Sandozian pop songs (check out ‘We Know What You Mean’ and ‘She’s Gone’ included herein), or intoning, nay, doxologizing lead vocals in a register deeper than Lee Marvin, and deploying – from his archaic-looking Gibson EB2 – a Molto-munting semi-acoustic bass sound even more radical than that of Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Cassady’s always-overloden (and equally archaic-looking [even to us back then, U-kiddies]) Epiphone semi-acoustic.</p></blockquote> <p>HELL yeah! Cope is one of the rare music critics at whom you want to throw devil horns after reading him. </p> <p><a href="http://www.faber.co.uk/work/copendium/9780571281930/">More info on <em>Copendium</em> here.</a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/08/heads-up-julian-cope-to-issue-the-copendium#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13595281&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/05/08/heads-up-julian-cope-to-issue-the-copendium?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=13595281&id=comments 1 Head's Up! Julian Cope to Issue <i>The Copendium</i> Tue, 08 May 2012 11:40:45 -0700 The Stranger