Yes I Said Yes I Will Yes

So I finally finished reading The Iluminatus! Trilogy, (it's a long book).  It's clear to me that the two writers, Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson are very clever and well-read individuals, and that they are good writers, without ever really approaching the level of great writers, even by the standards of "genre fiction"  (The book is classified as sci-fi, but that's not really appropriate.  It's more like "slightly psychedelic conspiracy metafiction", but most bookstores are still stubbornly refusing to include that section).  The ideas in the book are fascinating, and the range of allusions and references are impressive, but when I see that the cover boasts "0ver 100,00 copies sold" over thirty or so years, I think that's about right.  It's kind of like an article Chuck Klosterman wrote where he argued that My Bloody Valentine is one of the most perfectly rated groups in music history (as opposed to being overrated or underrated).  It's hard to imagine more than 100 thousand or so people enjoying the book, but of the 100 thousand who do read the book, most of them probably love it.  

Now I'm embarking on something I've been meaning to do for some time- re-reading Ulysses.   I started it last night, and I just finished the first section (the three prologue sections, following Stephen Dedalus around).  The first time around, I didn't actually finish the book (I suppose after I finish this, I should go back and actually finish reading Gravity's Rainbow) but I have confidence that this time I'll get through the whole thing.  I'll let anyone who accidentally arrived here know how it goes.

You No Longer Have Any Excuses

If you haven't seen Night of the Hunter, it has been added to the website Hulu.com, where you can watch it for free on your computer.  This movie is one of the true weird masterpieces of American cinema, featuring Robert Mitchum giving one of the most memorable performances ever captured on film.  A few years ago, I wrote a twenty page paper about the movie for a horror film class.  We were only asked for 8-10 pages.  That should tell you how strongly I feel about this film.  

This Month's eMusic Downloads (August)

-Steve Earle- "Way Down In The Hole".  The theme for the fifth season of The Wire, which I've been watching.  McNulty has lost his damned mind.  

-Steve Earle- Live from Austin City Limits.  In addition to doing the theme for the show, Earle has a recurring part as Bubbles' AA sponsor.  Somehow, this meant that I'm a fan of his music.

-The Hold Steady- Stay Positive.  I keep hearing about how this is the kind of underground/alt rock album that I should be listening to.  So I will.   

- The Cool Kids- The Bake Sale.  They were good live at Rock The Bells, before I had to leave to see De La Soul, so I'm guessing I'll like this.  Keith liked it.

- Joan Baez- "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".  Remember that scene in Don't Look Back where Dylan schools Donovan on how to play this song?  That was so awesome.  From a 2004 live show.

- George Carlin- What Am I Doing In New Jersey?.  I'm all about George Carlin albums that are divided into five or less tracks.  

- Johnny Cash- "Time of the Preacher"

- Whiskeytown- "Faithless Street".  These songs are both from the same compilation, called No Depression.  

- Neutral Milk Hotel- Everything Is EP.  I sometimes think about starting a religion based around Jeff Mangum's teachings.  Then I remember I already did this with Chipper Jones, and to do it twice would be silly.

- Bob Mould- Body of Song.  Bob Mould is a great man.  I'll tell you why.  Besides being part of Husker Du, and Sugar, Mould lived out one of his non-musical dreams by getting a job writing for professional wrestling in the late 90s when he took a break from the music industry.  That in and of itself is awesome.  Unfortunately, the man who gave us the Zen Arcade album was punished by getting a job with WCW while they were in the middle of the most spectacular self-destruction that fake sports have ever seen.  He was fully aware of how terribly wrong his dream went, and managed to get out alive.  I've heard a few interviews with him about his time in hell, and he managed to maintain his sanity, and return to the world of music, which is somehow less destructive than pro wrestling.  This man is a hero.  I can't quite explain why, other than what I just said.  

- Roger McGuinn- "Sugar Baby".  The song "Sugar Baby", which I associate with the great Dock Boggs, is awesome.  It's like secret wisdom or something.  

- Richive Havens- "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".  I loved how Dylan emphasized the bit about "Yonder stands your orphan with his gun/Crying like a fire in the sun" when he was schooling Donovan (who was being referred to as the "Scottish Dylan", which was terribly unfair to Donovan) on how to play this song.  

- Big Country- "In A Big Country" Live.  Shut up.  I like the song, but not enough to pay a dollar for the studio version.  

- The Sound- Thunder Up.  I'm trying to remember how this wound up on my "Save For Later List".  I think they were compared with Echo & The Bunnymen, and I somehow decided that I needed this.

-Little Brother- ...And Justus For All.  A commercial version of a mixtape that was released on the internet last year (I believe it was last year).   

Also, a few weeks ago, my mother and stepfather went on a road trip, and wanted the new David Sedaris audiobook to listen to on the way.  So, I decided that the cheapest way to get this product legally would be to sign up for an eMusic account, and try the free trial for their audiobook service.  This meant that, for the price of one month's subscription to the site, they would get the David Sedaris book, and at half the cost of iTunes.  And as a happy byproduct, I would get a bunch of MP3s from eMusic.  The albums I got are as follows:

-Petra Haden- The Who Sell Out.  A complete cover of one of my third or fourth favorite Who album.  This is brilliant and strange and wonderful.  

- The Pixies- Bossanova.

- The Pixies- Trompe le Monde.

- The Pixies- The Pixies. Also called "The Purple Tape", the band's 1987 demo.

- Spoon- Kill The Moonlight.

- Robyn Hitchcock- Robyn Sings.  An album of Dylan covers.  

So, good times.  And essentially honest, I think, since eMusic did get paid for 30 downloads in addition to the fifty free trial demos, and the free audiobook download.  Essentially honest, yeah.  

Every Concert I've Been To That I Can Remember

My attempt to come up with a list of every act I've seen in concert.  The rock list is pretty complete, I think, although I can't remember the name of the band that opened for Of Montreal.  The hip-hop list is trickier, since most shows have at least three opening acts, and they tend to run together.  Also, I can't begin to remember every act at shows like the 9th Wonder cd release show.  Keith might be able to remember more of the names that I'm forgetting.  

Rock:

Pearl Jam (3 times)

Red Hot Chili Peppers (2 times)

Extreme 

Bon Jovi

4 Non Blondes

Aerosmith

Brother Cain

Van Halen (w/ Sammy Hagar)

The Foo Fighters

Mudhoney

Sonic Youth

Sleater Kinney

The Allman Brothers Band

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Widespread Panic

Driving N Cryin' (I think they were the shitty act that opened for the Who)

The Who

Bon Iver

Wilco

Of Montreal

Weezer

Ozma

Saves The Day

Southern Culture On The Skids

Elliot Smith

Whisky Biscuit

Galactic

Hip-Hop:

Brother Ali (Three Times)

Buck 65 (Twice)

Rakim (Twice)

Murs (Twice)

Del The Funky Homosapien (Twice)

Ghostface Killah (Twice)

Little Brother (Twice)

Bukue One (Twice)

T-Kash

Jean Grae (One or two songs)

Aceyalone

Mos Def

Nas

A Tribe Called Quest

De La Soul

Sage Francis

The Pharcyde

Immortal Technique (But missed most of the act)

Afrika Bambaataa (Briefly, in a DJ set)

Dead Prez

Pharoahe Monch

Psalm One

Wrekonize

Mayday

Redman

Method Man

The GZA

Raekwon

The Cool Kids (Briefly)

El-P

Hangar 18

Slick Rick

Akrobatik

Mr. Lif

Yak Ballz

Slow Suicide Stimulus

Jewbron

Evolewetion

Social Memory Complex

Orgone (Backing Band)

Connie Price and the Keystones (Backing Band)

Rhythm Roots All-Stars (Backing Band)

Torae

Skyzoo

Keisha Shontell

Bernard Dolan (Spoken Word)

Atmosphere

Mac Lethal

Grayskull

Ugly Duckling

The Procussions

KRS-One

Crash

Jozemo (2 or 3 times)

M-1 Platoon (2 or 3 times)

The Away Team

Joe Scudda

Big Daddy Kane (Twice as a special guest)

Amir Suleiman (Spoken word)

Dan Johns

Knobody

Mike Relm

Grieve

Buddy Wakefield (Spoken word)

Percee P

Lifesavas

Luckyiam

Endless Mic

Evidence

L in Japanese (Twice, maybe more.  I see him at most hip hop shows at the cradle, but usually in the audience)

Kaze

The Coup (Once, also saw Boots Riley w/ Galactic)

Kool Keith

Snoop Dogg

Michael Franti (His show wasn't really hip hop, but I associate him with the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy project, even after his live show which lasted around three hours)

Kid Koala

Abstract Rude

Dillon

To the best of my knowledge, only two performers I've seen have since died: Elliot Smith and John Entwistle.  

Jeff Tweedy, ETC.

I meant to write up the Wilco show earlier, but I got distracted by a few things.  It was a good show, and perhaps more importantly, it was a very nice evening weather wise.  The band played two encores, which was awesome.  You can see the full setlist here.  They didn't play most of my favorite Wilco songs- "Either Way", "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", "I Must Be High", "Passenger Side", "Side With The Seeds", but I still had a great time.  The opening act was Bon Iver, who I hadn't heard before.  They were also good.  The crowd was about what I expected for a show in Cary- a mix of young people wearing Modest Mouse t-shirts and middle aged people who probably heard about the band on NPR and own a copy of Summerteeth and who don't go to a lot of rock shows that don't involve a holdover from the sixties or seventies.  A lot of Obama votes, in other words.  I noticed a few people wearing Wilco t-shirts- I never quite understand the people who wear a t-shirt of the act they are going to see.  I saw one guy wearing a Son Volt t-shirt, and tried to decide if that counted, or if that was just awesome.  

What I'm Reading: The Illumantus! Trilogy, which I've been meaing to read for nearly a decade, but always kept putting off.  The book is amazingly strange, and I'm a little worried about how many of the references and allusions that I immediately recognized.  I've always been a big fan of conspiracy theories, without ever subscribing to any of them, and the book is kind of like a Rosetta Stone for paranoia.  

What I'm Watching: The final season of The Wire on DVD (McNulty has lost his damned mind) and filling in the Hitchcock films I had missed up to this point (over the weekend I watched The Trouble With Harry, which is a dark comedy and amazingly strange, and tonight The Wrong Man, which sums up a great deal of Hitchcock's own anxieties.)  And The Venture Bros.  Always The Venture Bros.  

What I'm Listening To: Liz Phair, Wilco, Sage Francis mixtapes, Petra Haden, Nas.  Nothing too interesting at the moment.  I'm curious if I'm about to embark on another obsessive trip through one of the usual suspects (The Beatles, Dylan, Aesop Rock, Buck 65, Nirvana, The Band) or perhaps in a new direction (I've never really binged on The Clash or the Replacements or Tom Waits, and I see all three of those as distinct possibilities).  It seems like it's about time for one of my obsessive spells.  

What I'm Playing: Deus Ex: The Conspiracy on the PS2.  It's an older FPS, originally put out for PCs and then ported to the PS2.  The game is interesting because it gives you several different ways to accomplish your goals.  I generally use the shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later approach, mixed in with some stealth.  

Those Wacky Illuminati Protesters

Google Images has to be, like, the third greatest invention of this century. 

 I like to believe that this person has this sign in their closet, and just takes it to every protest they hear about, under the assumption that whatever there is to complain about, naturally the Illuminati are behind it, and they need to point this out.  When those Packers fan were protesting on Bret Favre's behalf outside of Lambeau Field?  The Illuminati sign was there. (Actually, I already believe that the NFL is an evil cabal with designs on world domination, so that might not be the biggest stretch...)

A playlist I put together about five minutes ago:

1. Buck 65- "Pants on Fire"

2. El-P- "Tasmanian Pain Coaster"

3. Elvis Costello- "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"

4. Leonard Cohen- "I'm Your Man"

5. Liz Phair- "Ant In Alaska"

6. Nas- "Made U Look" (9th Wonder remix)

7. Neil Young- "El Dorado"

8. Pavement- "Conduit For Sale!"

9. The Pixies- "Here Comes Your Man" (Demo version)

10. Radiohead- "I Might Be Wrong"

11. The Replacements- "Can't Hardly Wait"

12. The Stones- "I Just Want To See His Face"

13. Wilco- "Ashes of American Flags"

14. Sage Francis- "Can I Kick It? Freestyle"

15. Bob Dylan- "Blind Willie McTell"

16. Beck- "Modern Guilt"

17. The Traveling Wilburys- "Tweeter And The Monkey Man"

As usual, I have no idea what those 17 songs might or might not say about my mental state at this or any other moment.

Friday night I'm going to see Wilco in Cary.  At one point, there were four of us going, but then people discovered that, through no fault of their own, that they couldn't go.  So I'm the only one.  (Well, I'm assuming that I won't be the only person at the show, but I'll be the only person I know.  Now that I think about it though, it would be pretty cool if I was the only one to show up.  I could probably convince Jeff Tweedy to just do a set of Big Star covers.  He knows he really wants to do that, but feels locked in by this whole Wilco thing.)  But it should still be awesome.  I'll probably write something about it.  

The O5R Book Club

So, last year I remember reading in Entertainment Weekly that Warren Ellis, author of such wonderful comic books as Transmetropolitan and Planetary, had written a prose novel.  I read the review, which seemed more befuddled than anything else, filed away the information that Ellis had written a novel, told one of my friends about it, and then promptly forgot about it.  Perhaps because, outside of Neil Gaiman, I've never read a novel by a comic book writer, probably for the same reason that I've never read a novel by a filmmaker (okay, I've read a collection of short stories by one of the Coen brothers, but that's it).  I know, for example, that Alan Moore, who is the greatest comic book writer alive, has written a novel, but I've never bothered to read it, because I can't imagine it being as good as his comic books (and from what I've read about it, I seem to be right, although I'm sure I'll wind up reading it someday.)  

Like I said, I forgot that the book existed.  Until I was at Barnes and Nobel on Saturday, killing time before going to see The Wackness (good, not great.  I'd say to wait until it is on DVD, but at some point, if you aren't doing anything more important, Ben Kingsley gives a performance that might be worth watching.) and I saw that the novel, Crooked Little Vein, was out in paperback.  Having nothing better to do, I went ahead and picked up the book.  I finished reading Gone Baby Gone, which I would have liked more if I hadn't seen the movie and didn't already know the huge twist that is central to the plot.  I had to take the car I drive into the dealership for an inspection and oil change, so I brought the book with me.  I finished it a few minutes ago.  It's... almost exactly what I expected, which is an odd thing to say about a book that is so weird.  The book is about a private eye, hired by the white house to find the secret "real constitution" that the founding fathers wrote, but that's little more than a MacGuffin.  The book is really about the profound weirdness of modern (or, if I was an asshole, I might write postmodern) America, and how the internet has basically made every bit of weirdness or perversion (and I say that with only some prejudice) into the mainstream, which is the kind of thing that permeates the best parts of Transmetropolitan.  Also, like Transmetropolitan, there are odd references to harpoons.  Just thought I'd throw that in there.  The book is good, especially for a first prose novel, and has a decent chance of becoming a cult phenomenon, but it's hardly essential reading. 

And that's my book report.  

Get Back

After Elvis died, Lester Bangs wrote that we will never agree about anything ever again in the way we agreed about Elvis. It could be added that there will never be a band that is as universally loved as the Beatles. Period. There is no way to argue this statement. That's why when I read that the reason why the documentary Let It Be won't be released to DVD because Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr believe that it presents the band in a negative light, I was pissed. There are bands that do not have to worry about their legacies- The Stones, The Who, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin and Radiohead all come to mind- but even these groups don't compare to the Beatles in regards to how they will be remembered. The Beatles, even nearly 40 years after their break-up, are guaranteed to be loved for as long as people give a shit about music. There is nothing that could happen to change that. So refusing to allow future generations to watch a documentary that was released theatrically because you think it makes you look bad is disgustingly arrogant and misguided. I know that the Beatles break-up was messy. I know the story better than a lot of people who were alive at the time. And it doesn't affect my love for the band at all. If anything, understanding the situation makes me appreciate Abbey Road all the more.

But I kept thinking about the blurb I read (it was on the front page of the site allmusic.com, who credited it to express.co.uk), and it reminded me of what Tim Riley wrote in his book Tell Me Why, which is the best book about the Beatles I've ever read (and I've read a lot of them), and his disappointment in the way the Beatles' catalog has been treated in the 90s and beyond. He was specifically disappointed in the Live at the BBC album, which was only two discs, and left out something like seven hours worth of material that the band did for the Beeb. I own something like 28 official Pearl Jam bootlegs. It's a safe bet that I would pick up nine discs of the Beatles at the BBC. I don't buy many box sets, but I would camp outside of Schoolkids to pick that one up the day it came out. And I'm not the only one. Riley complained about the way that the Anthology sets were edited and produced and released- the amount of stuff that was ignored (and if you read about, for example, the stuff that the band was doing during the Get Back sessions, all of the covers the band was doing in between sniping at one another and angrily glaring at Yoko, then you can understand why he was frustrated). He complained about the Anthology videos- how it shortened videos that the band did, or clips of live, otherwise unreleased performances, and then put narration over the top of them. And he's right- at the very least when they put the thing on DVD, they could have included the full videos. I thought about the fact that Help! only got the big DVD release it deserved last year (although I believe part of that was because of a hold-up with the rights). I think about how disappoint the Love album was. And I guess it shouldn't surprise me that the band is cocking up another important release. But the fact remains that I still love the Beatles in a way that I cannot imagine loving any other band, despite the fact that all of that should be way more damaging to their legacy than watching John and Paul argue.

(At this point, if this blog had actual readers, rather than a few sympathetic friends and family, someone might say, "Rob, you charismatic oracle of pop music minutiae, you idolize Bob Dylan, and his film Eat The Document has never seen the light of day, and although you want to see that way, way more than Let It Be, but I don't see you taking shots at Dylan." To which I would reply, "Ah, yes. But Eat the Document has always only been available as a bootleg, it wasn't released to fucking theaters. Also, Dylan has done a much better job of putting out old stuff than the Beatles (even if releasing 40 rare tracks as part of the complete Dylan collection on iTunes was stupid, as the only people interested in hearing these songs already fucking have every Bob Dylan album, and while we're at it, it wouldn't kill Mr. Zimmerman to put out more of the Bootleg Series than the rather glacial pace that they seem to come out). Besides, Dylan's always going to be, well, Dylan, which means that you can't really expect him to do things the easy way, or the way that would seem to be the most logical to everyone who isn't him. I admit this is something of a double standard, but I don't really care." Then I remember that most of my friends don't care about whether Eat the Document will ever be released, in large part because they've never heard of Eat the Document, and that makes me a little sad.)