Largehearted Boy

LHB Weekly Wrap-Up - February 11th

A list of the past week's Largehearted Boy features:

Book Notes: (authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates to their book)

Dan Chaon for his short story collection Stay Awake
Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral for their novel Chopsticks
Josh Bazell for his novel Wild Thing
Katie Ward for her novel Girl Reading

Contests:

Win Tupelo Hassman's debut novel Girlchild and a $100 Threadless Gift Certificate

Weekly New Book Recommendations:

Atomic Books Comics Preview (recommended new comics and graphic novels)
Largehearted Word (recommended new books)

New Music Recommendations:

Try It Before You Buy It (full album streams and mp3s from this week's music releases)
The Week's Interesting Music Releases

New DVD recommendations:

The Week's Interesting DVD Releases

And of course, the daily music and news posts:

Daily Downloads (10 free and legal mp3 downloads every day, plus links to free live recordings online)
Shorties (news & links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

also at Largehearted Boy:

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
52 Books, 52 Weeks
Antiheroines
Atomic Books Comics Preview
Book Notes
Book Reviews
Contests / Giveaways
Daily Downloads
Largehearted Word
Lists
music & DVD release lists
musician/author Interviews
Note Books
Soundtracked
Try It Before You Buy It
Why Obama

Contest - Win Tupelo Hassman's Novel Girlchild and a $100 Threadless Gift Certificate

Reading a debut novel is sometimes the literary equivalent of falling in love. Tupelo Hassman's debut Girlchild is published on Tuesday (Valentine's Day), and is a dark and captivating tale told by an unforgettable precocious narrator that promises to be one of the year's best works of fiction.

To enter, name your favorite debut book or album in the comments. My favorite debut novel is Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

One winner, chosen randomly from the commenters, will receive the following prizes:

Tupelo Hassman's debut novel Girlchild

A $100 Threadless gift certificate to buy book-related t-shirts like A Voyage of Discovery, A Book Lover, November Was a Good Month, Brainy Rainbow, or Word!, music-related t-shirts like The Official Guide to Music, Boom Box, Sound of the Dark, or anything else.

The winner will be chosen randomly at midnight ET Friday evening (February 17th).

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous and ongoing contests at Largehearted Boy

2011 Year-End Online Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
52 Books, 52 Weeks (my yearly reading series)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (highlights of the week's new comics)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Daily Downloads (daily free and legal music downloads)
guest book reviews
Largehearted Word (highlights of the week's book releases)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Shorties (daily links from the worlds of music, literature, and pop culture)

Shorties (Jeff Mangum, Zach Braff on Playwriting, and more)

Songs for the Asking offers mp3 downloads of Jeff Mangum's recent Brooklyn and New Haven performances.

The Arts Desk interviews Zach Braff about playwriting.

Did you have any templates for writing a play?

I had the unity of time and the idea of incorporating these short flashbacks which everyone tried to get me to cut in New York. Pretty much everyone who gave me notes on the play asked me to cut things but I'm so glad I didn't just like I'm so glad I didn't address any of the notes I got on Garden State because they were a huge success and they really work.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette delves into the meaning behind political candidates' public playlists and song choices.

The Oregonian profiles author Patrick DeWitt.

Album of the Year is aggregating reviews for 2012 releases.

Flavorwire excerpts five recipes from The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors.

Talk of the Nation discusses science of audio, and how perceptions can change the sound experience when listening to music.

At the Guardian, Lars Iyer lists the top 10 "frenemies" in literature.

Tablet profiles Brooklyn's feminist rock collective Permanent Wave.

The brainchild of former Titus Andronicus guitarist Amy Klein, Permanent Wave is three things in one: a "combination between activism, a show-booking entity, and a production company," says Sophie Weiner, who's involved in all three. A feminist rock collective, or call it what you want; its bands are not the kinds of acts that you are likely to see at the Grammys anytime soon.

Dave Isay talks to Weekend Edition about his new book, All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps.

RIP, Whitney Houston.

Amazon MP3 has 100 digital albums on sale for $5.

Follow me on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

List of Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists
List of Online Year-End 2011 Music Lists

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
Atomic Books Comics Preview (the week's best new comics & graphic novels)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (the week's best new books)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists

Daily Downloads (Alabama Shakes and NOMO)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Every Sunday Daily Downloads shares a selection of live performances by a single artist over the course of their career.

The Alabama Shakes are one of the most buzzed about new indie acts, and the band drops its debut album Boys & Girls on April 10th.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:

NOMO: LaundroMatinee session [mp3]
search for more Sharon Van Etten posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

List of 2011 Year-End Online Music Lists
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD and DVD release lists

Shorties (Eisley, Nathan Englander, and more)

Paste is streaming Eisley's new EP Deep Space (out February 14th).

Financial Times interviews author Nathan Englander .

How would you earn your living if you had to give up writing?

I’d be a psychologist. I’m really interested in people – although at this point I'm more interested in making them up.

The Chicago Sun-Times is polling readers for the city's "all-star band" lineup.

Author Peter Straub talks to FEAR.net about optioning his books for film.

"Being optioned is not the Holy Grail, you know, not really. For a struggling writer, the first and most important goal should be the creation of a good work of fiction, a novel many, many people will want to read and reread, to experience and think about and remember for a long time to come. I mean, that's what we're supposed to be doing, trying to do anyhow. Screenwriting is a secondary occupation."

The Guardian profiles the hip-hop project of Portishead's Geoff Barrow.

The Millions compares the U.S. and U.K. covers of The Morning News Tournament of Books contenders.

Coming in April: a 17-DVD Grateful Dead live box set, All the Years Combine.

The Chimerist is a Tumblr devoted to iPads written by Maud Newton and Laura Miller.

World Cafe is streaming a live performance by singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten.

Portlandia gets a book deal.

Amazon MP3 has 100 digital albums on sale for $5.

Follow me on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

List of Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists
List of Online Year-End 2011 Music Lists

Daily Downloads (The National, The Alabama Shakes, and more)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

The Alabama Shakes: 2012-01-13, Athens [mp3,ogg,flac]
The Alabama Shakes: "Boys and Girls" [mp3]
search for more Alabama Shakes posts at Largehearted Boy

Jon Langford: 2011-04-15, Toronto [mp3,ogg,flac]
Jon Langford: "Streets of Your Town (Go-Betweens cover)" [mp3]
search for more Jon Langford posts at Largehearted Boy

Josh Ritter: 2010-08-07, Tarrytown [mp3,ogg,flac]
Josh Ritter: "Mexican Home (John Prine cover)" [mp3]
search for more Josh Ritter posts at Largehearted Boy

Low: 2011-09-15, Vancouver [mp3,ogg,flac]
Low: "Witches" [mp3]
search for more Low posts at Largehearted Boy

Megafaun: 2012-01-28, Durham [mp3,ogg,flac]
Megafaun: "Isadora" [mp3]
search for more Megafaun posts at Largehearted Boy

The National: 2011-11-12, Melbourne [mp3,ogg,flac]
The National: "Sorrow" [mp3]
search for more The National posts at Largehearted Boy

Nicole Atkins: 2008-05-02, Amsterdam [mp3,ogg,flac]
Nicole Atkins: "The Way It Is" [mp3]
search for more Nicole Atkins posts at Largehearted Boy

Summer Hymns: 2009-06-07, Athens [mp3,ogg,flac]
Summer Hymns: "Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan cover)" [mp3]
search for more Summer Hymns posts at Largehearted Boy

Vic Chesnutt: 2008-02-13, Amsterdam [mp3,ogg,flac]
Vic Chesnutt: "Fodder on Her Wings (Nina Simone cover)" [mp3]
search for more Vic Chesnutt posts at Largehearted Boy

The Walkmen: 2011-11-19, Brisbane [mp3,ogg,flac]
The Walkmen: "All Hands and the Cook" [mp3]
search for more Walkmen posts at Largehearted Boy

Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:

Food Will Win the War: 2011-01-11, Brooklyn [mp3]
search for more Food Will Win the War posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

List of 2011 Year-End Online Music Lists
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD and DVD release lists

Book Notes - Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral - "Chopsticks"

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

Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Kevin Brockmeier, George Pelecanos, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, David Peace, Myla Goldberg, and many others.

Chopsticks is a breathtaking YA novel, a groundbreaking exercise in visual storytelling. The book tells its tales through illustrations and photos, while the app and online components add videos and music. Both the printed and digital offerings serve up an extremely intimate peek at two young people's relationship.

The Los Angeles Times wrote of the book:

""Chopsticks" is a collaboration between author Jessica Anthony and designer Rodrigo Corral, the creative director of Farrar, Straus & Giroux who came up with the covers for bestsellers by Chuck Palahniuk, Jay-Z and others. It isn't the first novel for young adults to exploit the Web in conjunction with print storytelling, but it is elaborately inventive and compelling."

Stream a Spotify playlist of these tunes. If you don't have Spotify yet, sign up for the free service.

In their own words, here is Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral's Book Notes music playlist for their novel, Chopsticks:

Chopsticks is a multimedia novel which questions the truth of objects, sounds, and images. From the start, neither of us wanted to employ multimedias merely for the sake of it; instead, we wanted to use music and images that would actually do the work of textual narrative. We spent several months combing through music websites, iTunes, Youtube videos and selected pieces which, whether sonically or lyrically, helped to reveal story. We also recruited help writing and recording original arrangements from music producer Jonathan Wyman. The outcome is a book which collages a variety of visual, textual and musical narratives.

The music in Chopsticks ranges from Beethoven to The Lawrence Welk Show to The Rolling Stones to a veritable buffet of Argentinean rock music. (Also, there are a number of contemporary songs which, once contextualized in the novel, create a kind of nostalgia for the Aughts.) While there are over forty pieces of music played or referenced in Chopsticks, here are our strongest influences:

"Tiny Lustre," by Seekonk, from the album For Barbara Lee (2003)

In 2003, Jess heard the now-defunct band Seekonk (key members currently belong to a group called Plains) perform "Tiny Lustre" in a bar in Somerville, Mass., to a riveted crowd. The song is about being stung by a jellyfish, and sounds like some kind of underwater dream.

In Chopsticks, there is a repeated motif of sea-life: seahorses, jellyfish, along with a variety of underwater beasts which could exist only in our imaginations. In the App, we see Glory’s mother hanging a picture of a large octopus in her childhood bedroom, an image which triggers Glory’s obsession with these creatures, and with the ocean. She feels a conscious longing for it, but also fears it, though she does not know why. The lyrics to Tiny Lustre reveal how danger can romance us, beckon us closer:

Man-o-war down to the shore
I saw your tiny lustre
Man-o-war down to the waters
Where your millions cluster

"Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, 1st Movement," by Sergei Prokofiev

The original inspiration for the character of Gloria "Glory" Fleming came from the film The Competition (1980), to which there are several nods in Chopsticks. In the film, Amy Irving plays a young pianist who is a finalist alongside her lover (played by Richard Dreyfuss) in a fierce piano competition. The tension over who will win builds between them until the day the competition arrives, and Irving’s character sits down to perform. As soon as she begins to play, she realizes that her piano is out of tune. She is given a new piano, and at the last second, chooses to change her concerto. She performs this piece, one of the most difficult Prokofiev compositions, his third piano concerto in C major, and to the chagrin of her boyfriend, wins.

Another composition of Prokofiev’s, "Suggestion (Obsession) Diabolique," is performed by Glory at Carnegie Hall in the novel, and the piece which Richard Dreyfuss’ character performs in The Competition, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5, op. 73 in E-flat Major (otherwise known as the "Emporer" concerto), is performed by Glory at the Kennedy Center.

"Un Canto a Galicia," by Julio Iglesias, from the album Un Canto a Galicia (1972)

Using the images of Julio Iglesias’ record albums created a mini-drama for us. We originally selected Iglesias to be the musician whom Francisco’s mother listens to constantly, annoying Frank (a lover of rock music) to no end. But after the book was completed, Penguin informed us that Mr. Iglesias’ handlers would not allow us to use the images unless we were willing to spend an extravagant sum.

For a few days, there was real panic as we fretted over who might serve as a quality replacement. We flirted with Gloria Estefan, Sergio Mendes—but there was an unparalleled blend of timeliness and emotional oversaturation in the music of Julio Iglesias. Simply put, this was the music that we could imagine Frank’s mother listening to. Then our editor at Penguin, Ben Schrank, called with some amazing news. Somehow, Julio Iglesias had heard about Chopsticks, and asked to see the book. He read it, and contacted his handlers. Permission was granted.

We selected "Un Canto A Galicia" for Largehearted Boy not only because it is a song which is directly referenced in Chopsticks, but also because the lyrics are an ode to home—specifically, the home which Glory has not felt since she lost her mother in a motorcycle accident in 2000:

Un canto a Galicia
Que es mi tierra madre…

A song to Galicia
Which is my motherland.

"La Balsa," by Los Gatos, from the album La Balsa (1967)

Compiling Frank’s mix of Argentinean rock music took quite a bit of research, as there were a huge number of groups to listen to: from the Sixties with Los Shakers, Manal, Almendra and Los Beatniks, up through the Seventies with Billy Bond, Vivencia, Sui Generis, Pastoral, Soluna, Serú Girán and Vox Dei, to the Eighties with Sumo, Soda Stereo, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, and Los Twist. In the end, we came up with a list of music which hopefully pays homage to this era known as "Rock Nacional."

Los Gatos was one of the first Argentinean rock groups to sing in Spanish. Frank includes them on his mix to Glory primarily because he is a young artist who thinks it’s cool to listen to dated music and wants to impress her—but he also wants to introduce her to the rock of Argentina, and help her feel closer to his country. The lyrical sub-text adds considerable narrative weight when you know that the song is about building a raft to drift into madness.

"1234," by Feist, from the album The Reminder (2007)

At one point in the novel, Frank and Glory have fallen for each other and are sitting together a couch watching Feist perform this song on The David Letterman Show. The song is about remembering the fierce and ephemeral love we all felt as teenagers, and Glory and Frank are there, right in the moment.

"Dandelion," by The Rolling Stones, from the album Through the Past Darkly (1967)

When Frank moves in next door to Glory, he is asked by his mother (via a note in his pencil box) to mow the dandelions in the back yard. The dandelions, worn by Glory in a crown, given to her in a gift box, and surrounding her in one of Frank’s paintings become another motif in Chopsticks. By the end of the novel, the loss of Frank and Glory’s love for each other is manifested in the white heads of dying dandelions. In a poem to her, Frank echoes something Glory’s mother wrote in the family photo album when he writes:

Love is wild
And when it is cut
Returns again, stronger
Whether you want it to or not

"Back In Your Head," by Tegan and Sara, from the album The Con (2007)

A few of the musical selections in Chopsticks foreshadow the truth about Glory’s world, and the events to come. This is one. Tegan and Sara are twins, and there’s a mirroring effect to their appearance in the video which is slightly unsettling. You see them playing the piano and drums, and staring matter-of-factly at an audience full of masked people who are dressed in creepy black, white and red clothes. On the far wall in the video, you can see "1234," echoing the Feist song, which appears earlier.

"Bachelorette," Björk, from the album Homogenic (1997)

The lyrics of this song capture the reality of the relationship between Frank andGlory unlike any other in the book:

 I'm a whisper in water 
Secret for you to hear 
You are the one who grows distant 
When I beckon you near  

But we felt the video was especially vital to Chopsticks. In it, Björk plays the character of a young girl who finds a book buried in the ground: "But all the pages were blank/And to my surprise/It started writing itself." The book continues writing itself, is published, and becomes wildly successful. But the story of how the book was written continues as the character must read from the book, and as variations of the book are adapted for stage and screen. The writing of the story becomes the story itself, again and again, until, like an M.C. Escher image, the meaning overlaps. Finally, nature takes over, reclaiming the story, returning it to the place where it began: underground. Thus, the video is a meta-commentary on the nature of writing and publishing—which, with its integration into a multimedia novel, is in itself a kind of meta-commentary.

"Chopsticks Waltz," by Euphemia Allen (traditional)

Our final song of course is "Chopsticks," which is played or referenced in the novel over twenty times. In 1877, a sixteen-year-old British girl named Euphemia Allen adapted the song from a Russian piece called "Tati-Tati," which begins, like "Chopsticks," in F & G. Over the past century, there have been innumerable references to the song in popular culture. It was played by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, is sampled at the end of the introduction to the cartoon The Jetsons, and was often performed by Liberace. It was referenced in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. We felt that "Chopsticks," as pervasive as it is annoying, was the right fit for a young pianist on the brink of madness.

Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral and Chopsticks links:

video trailer for the book

Book Addiction review
The Daily Campus review
Entertainment Weekly review
Kirkus Reviews review
Los Angeles Times review
PadGadget review
Touch and Go review
Vol. 1 Brooklyn review

also at Largehearted Boy:

other Book Notes playlists (authors create music playlists for their book)

List of Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists
List of 2011 Year-End Online Music Lists

100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
52 Books, 52 Weeks (weekly book reviews)
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly comics highlights)
Daily Downloads (free and legal daily mp3 downloads)
guest book reviews
Largehearted Word (weekly new book highlights)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Shorties (daily music, literature, and pop culture links)
Soundtracked (composers and directors discuss their film's soundtracks)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from the week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists

Shorties (Composite Sketches of Literary Characters, Alan Parsons on Digital Music, and more)

The Composites is a Tumblr that uses police composite sketch software to draw literary characters.

CE Pro interviews producer and musician Alan Parsons about digital music.

Jewcy interviews Ben Marcus about his new novel, The Flame Alphabet.

In terms of style, this seems to be the least experimental of your books. This is a book with almost a classical narrative arc. How did you make this choice?

Well, I found it essential that one person tell it. As opposed to my earlier books which used different narrators, or unseen or removed omniscient narrators, here, I felt very compelled that this wasn't supposed to be told that way, that it needed to be a story of one person, and that is why it has the look and feel of a more traditional narrative. Additionally, I felt that I wanted to have a lot of momentum to move along as quickly as possible so that in a certain sense the hurdles to the believability of the idea wouldn’t settle in, because the conceit would put too much pressure and leave the reader scratching their head. So the ruse was to keep changing and moving things so that people wouldn't stop and think about.

On sale for $3.99 today at Amazon MP3: Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More album.

The Chicago Sun-Times interviews dan Chaon about his new story collection, Stay Awake.

Q. You've written two novels. How are they different from writing short stories?

A. You have to create a character who is going to have a transformational experience over a long period of time. You’re also creating a more complex and solidly grounded world in a novel, whereas stories can have more unexplored edges, and those can be particularly powerful. A short story is kind of like a photograph, but you can get the sense of something happening beyond the edges of the photo. And that can have a lot of mysterious power.

Bear McCreary talks to io9 about the physics behind science fiction film and television scores.

Queerty recommends seven queer indie bands you should be listening to.

The Outlet interviews author Emma Straub.

Shelf Awareness also profiles Straub.

Hypebot interviews cellist Zoe Keating about subcultures, social media, and staying D.I.Y.

Your musical niche is seems very specific and yet your audience is quite broad. To what do you attribute that to? Would that have been possible pre-internet?

It's been noted many times before that the internet allows niches and subcultures to flourish, and I think I'm just a part of that trend. My music appeals to certain discerning and curious people and the internet helps us find each other.

Read the title story from Krys Lee's new collection Drifting House at Granta.

?uestlove of The Roots talks to Co. Create about the current state of the music industry.

The Geeks's Guide to the Galaxy interviews author William Gibson.

Guardian readers recommend Valentine's day songs.

Maine Crime Writers interviews Elizabeth Hand about her forthcoming novel, Available Dark.

Much of Available Dark takes place in Helsinki and Iceland. How aware were you of the whole Scandinavian crime novel craze when you were writing the book and how did it influence what you were doing?

To this day, I've never read or seen any of the Stieg Larsson stories. After Generation Loss came out, readers started telling me how it reminded them of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Most people said they liked my book better because it left out the boring parts — Elmore Leonard’s 10th Rule in action! I eventually tried reading the first Larsson book but I just couldn't get into it. The movies sound like they’re better, and one of these days I'll watch them.

Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn plays a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR Music.

The Riverfront Times interviews Finn.

DC Women Kicking Ass interviews Batwoman artist Amy Reeder.

The Other Paper interviews Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg about the band's new album, Animal Joy.

Why was it important to you to make something that was more tethered and emotionally immediate?

I thought we'd gone as far as we could in this airy, spacious, washes-of-sound direction. I wanted to make something you could dance to, or at least shuffle around to, a bit more. I wanted to make a record that could appeal to your body as much as your head.

Monkey See explains why the Charles Dickens bicentennial hype matters.

Fresh Air reviews and excerpts from Tupelo Hassman's debut novel, Girlchild.

Win Sharon Van Etten's new album Tramp and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's Largehearted Boy contest.

Amazon MP3 has 100 digital albums on sale for $5.

Follow me on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

List of Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists
List of Online Year-End 2011 Music Lists

Daily Downloads (Murder By Death, Woodsman, and more)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Amy Ray: free and legal NoiseTrade Sampler album [mp3]
search for more Amy Ray posts at Largehearted Boy

Barna Howard: "Promise, I Won't Laugh" [mp3] from Barna Howard (out February 21st)
search for more Tongue posts at Largehearted Boy

The Bodies Obtained: free and legal Who Knows Who's Right album [mp3]
search for more Bodies Obtained posts at Largehearted Boy

Caveman: "Old Friend" [mp3] from CoCo Beware (out March 27th)
search for more Caveman posts at Largehearted Boy

Cygnets: "Teenager" [mp3] from Dark Days (out Match 6th)
search for more Cygnets posts at Largehearted Boy

Horse Feathers: "Drain You" [mp3]
search for more Horse Feathers posts at Largehearted Boy

Inspired & the Sleep: "What I Want and What I Need" [mp3] from the compilation I Love You & Stuff
search for more Inspired & the Sleep posts at Largehearted Boy

Lightouts: "The Cure for Shyness" [mp3] from The Cure for Shyness
search for more Lightouts posts at Largehearted Boy

Stars in Coma: "Paint My Picture on the Thick Shell" [mp3] from Midnight Puzzle (out february 27th)
search for more Stars in Coma posts at Largehearted Boy

Woodsman: "Supernal Radionics" [mp3] from Humdrum / Indoor Days EPs
search for more Woodsman posts at Largehearted Boy

Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:

Murder By Death: Epitonic Saki session [mp3]
search for more Murder By Death posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

List of 2011 Year-End Online Music Lists
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD and DVD release lists

Book Notes - Josh Bazell - "Wild Thing"

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

Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Kevin Brockmeier, George Pelecanos, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, David Peace, Myla Goldberg, and many others.

Josh Bazell's debut Beat the Reaper was one of my favorite novels of 2009, and its sequel Wild Thingis also impressive. Fast-paced, violent, odd, and clever, this book definitely lives up to its title.

Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:

"Bazell expertly blends action, farce, and political satire, and his wide-ranging imagination bodes well for the future of the series."

Stream a Spotify playlist of these tunes. If you don't have Spotify yet, sign up for the free service.

In his own words, here is Josh Bazell's Book Notes music playlist for his novel, Wild Thing:

1. If you need to be revved up. Redd Kross, Phaseshifter / Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Far East Suite / Metric, Fantasies/ Dvorak, Slavonic Dances, with Alfred Scholz conducting the Slovic Philharmonic.

Phaseshifter is the musical version of every writer's third-worst nightmare: the masterpiece you can never repeat. Every writer's second-worst nightmare: no masterpiece in the first place. Every writer's worst nightmare: the day when the only people who can make money from books are piracy sites and amazon.com.

Far East Suite never gets old. I recently met Rudy Lawless, the drummer, on the subway (he was carrying a high-hat, so I asked him what the best exit was for the Brooklyn Academy of Music and we started talking -- I love New York) and he told me he knew Ellington and Strayhorn and that Far East Suite is almost all Strayhorn. So now I when I talk about it I say "by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn" instead of just "by Duke Ellington." I'm not quite ready to go full Strayhorn.

Metric has a fear of being boring that it seems to me all writers should cultivate. (Son Volt and Sleeper Agent are other bands that have it; Sleeper Agent's Celebrasion is particularly hyperactive and hook-laden in a good way.) Plus, just about everyone can benefit from a reminder that if you stumble you'll be eaten alive.

The liner notes to the Scholz Slavonic Dances, which is the best version of the symphony I've heard, quotes a contemporary review as saying it was like an injection of monkey glands into the drawing rooms of Europe. Subsequent research has shown that injecting monkey glands into drawing rooms affects only the smell of the drawing rooms, but I agree with the sentiment.

2. If you need be revved down. Cowboy Junkies, The Trinity Session / Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball / Ben Lee, Breathing Tornadoes.

How many times have I listened to The Trinity Sessions? On how many formats, yo. If you somehow don't have this album, you'd best fix that.

Althought Emmylou Harris is one of the worst people on Earth to get caught trying to sing like, this album is indispensible.

Ben Lee is just good.

3. If you need to feel like you're losing your mind. Jimi Hendrix, Winterland (Reissue).

You know how every ten years you decide that the record reviews in Rolling Stone magazine can't possibly be as bad as you remember, so you buy something on their recommendation? For me this time around it was Winterland (Reissue). Rolling Stone says "The four-CD box Winterland is culled from six Jimi Hendrix Experience shows at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, recorded over three days in October 1968," and gives it five stars. Done: I love Hendrix.

What would have been nice, or at least professional, for the reviewer to have mentioned is that while the four discs do have significant differences, they're all variations of the same set list. That's right: in 36 tracks, "Hey Joe," "Foxy Lady," and "Lover Man" show up three times each, and "Purple Haze" and "Red House" show up four times each. (Not all of the tracks were recorded at Winterland, either, but I don't give a shit about that.) If you listen to all four discs on some kind of shuffle mode, songs you think you're familiar with will suddenly go in directions in you weren't expecting or else just end, making you feel insane. What's worse, Hendrix's playing on all four discs is so perfect, and the things he says between songs and in the accompanying interview so charming, that you won't be able to stop listening to the fucking thing.

4. If you need to be reminded of Europe. Various.

I recently moved back to the U.S. after a couple of years of living and working in Spain, so I find myself listening to lot of music I listened to there. Some of it is by bands I'd never heard of before, like Mesh (try Fragmente), or Sono ("All Those City Lights"), but a lot of it is bands that just don't get played as often or as deeply in the U.S., like the Cure (The Cure), Nick Cave (Let Love In), Jens Lekmann (Oh You're So Silent, Jens) or Pulp (Different Class).
Your results may vary.

5. If you need to listen to some Rolling Stones. Which sometimes you do.

My favorite 22 Rolling Stones songs, test marketed on various dogs and then presented chronologically:

From Out of Our Heads: "Play With Fire."
From Let it Bleed: "Gimme Shelter."
From Black and Blue: "Hot Stuff" and "Fool to Cry."
From Some Girls: "Miss You," "Just My Imagination," "Some Girls," "Before They Make Me Run," "Beast of Burden," "Shattered."
From Emotional Rescue: "Dance (Pt 1)," "Send it to Me," "Down in the Hole," "Indian Girl," "Emotional Rescue," "She's So Cold," and "All About You."
From Tattoo You: "Worried About You," "Tops," "Heaven," "No Use in Crying," "Waiting on a Friend."

6. If you need to seem deeper than you are. Alan Hovhaness, Music of Alan Hovhaness, conducted by Rudolph Werthen.

I only listen to this album when I'm trying to impress someone with how esoteric my taste in music is. But every time I do I remember how much I like it.

Josh Bazell and Wild Thing links:

the author's website
excerpt from the book

Kirkus Reviews review
Publishers Weekly review
Rhapsody in Books review

Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay by the author for Beat the Reaper
Lit Reactor interview with the author
Mulholland Books interview with the author
National Post guest posts by the author
The Nook Blog guest post by the author

also at Largehearted Boy:

other Book Notes playlists (authors create music playlists for their book)

List of Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists
List of 2011 Year-End Online Music Lists

Shorties (Top Emo Songs of All Time, Valentine's Gifts for Comics Fans, and more)

On the Download lists the top 100 emo songs of all time.

Hero Complex shares a Valentine's gift guide for comics fans.

The Telegraph interviews Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag and Portlandia.

The Guardian's children's books blog offers a love in literature quiz.

Louisville.com interviews Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers about storytelling in song.

The Hooded Utilitarian interviews cartoonist Marguerite Dabaie about her graphic memoir, The Hookah Girl and Other True Stories.

Nerve lists the 50 greatest love songs of all time.

Bookworm interviews author Wayne Koestenbaum.

Rolling Stone is streaming the first new Luscious Jackson song in over a decade.

The Story Prize has listed its 2011 outstanding and notable short story collections.

Stream Wilco's Austin City Limits performance.

The Telegraph profiles the self-published crime writer who has sold 250,000 e-books in the past six months.

At the Ardent Music Blog, Michael J. Epstein shares a playlist of bands named after books or short stories.

The Howling Fantods lists six David Foster Wallace-related books due in 2012. (via)

The Guardian interviews Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields.

You said your new single Andrew in Drag is autobiographical – in what way?

I write a lot of songs about unrequited love because I'm very, very familiar with unrequited love, both as a lyrical theme and coincidentally in my own life – which is a good thing because it provides lots of material.

20 Essential Novels for Jewish Studies Students

On sale for $3.99 at Amazon MP3: Crooked Fingers' latest album, Breaks in the Armor.

Deceptive Cadence finds commonality among the songwriting of Henry Purcell, Leonard Cohen, and Nick Drake.

Fresh Air interviews poet Donald hall.

Win Sharon Van Etten's new album Tramp and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's Largehearted Boy contest.

Amazon MP3 has 100 digital albums on sale for $5.

Follow me on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.

also at Largehearted Boy:

previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)

List of Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists
List of Online Year-End 2011 Music Lists

Daily Downloads (Ceremony, Gardens & Villa, and more)

Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet.

Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:

Baby Eagle & the Proud Mothers: "Brave Women" [mp3] from Bone Soldiers (out March 6th)
search for more Baby Eagle posts at Largehearted Boy

Ceremony: "Hysteria" [mp3] from Zoo (out March 6th)
search for more Ceremony posts at Largehearted Boy

Gardens & Villa: "Orange Blossom" [mp3] from Gardens & Villa
search for more Gardens & Villa posts at Largehearted Boy

Inca Gold: "Atom" [mp3] from Inca Gold III
search for more Inca Gold posts at Largehearted Boy

Jonathan Segel: "(Ever and) Always" [mp3] from All Attractions (out March 6th)
search for more Jonathan Segel posts at Largehearted Boy

Lux: "The Window" [mp3] from We Are Not the Same
search for more Lux posts at Largehearted Boy

The Quiet Americans: "Selia" [mp3] from Medicine EP
search for more Quiet Americans posts at Largehearted Boy

Sean Bones: "Here Now" [mp3]
search for more Sean Bones posts at Largehearted Boy

The Sexy Accident: free and legal You're Not Alone EP [mp3]
search for more Sexy Accident posts at Largehearted Boy

Teeth & Tongue: "Unfamiliar Skirts" [mp3]
search for more Teeth & Tongue posts at Largehearted Boy

Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:

Blouse: 2012-01-31, Brooklyn [mp3]
search for more Blouse posts at Largehearted Boy

also at Largehearted Boy:

other daily free and legal mp3 downloads
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads

List of 2011 Year-End Online Music Lists
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD and DVD release lists

Book Notes - Katie Ward - "Girl Reading"

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

Previous contributors include Bret Easton Ellis, Kate Christensen, Kevin Brockmeier, George Pelecanos, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, David Peace, Myla Goldberg, and many others.

Katie Ward's Girl Reading is an ambitious and cleverly executed debut novel, the stories of seven portraits of women reading through the ages woven into a cohesive narrative.

The Guardian wrote of the novel:

"This debut should appeal to a wide but discerning readership. Not for Katie Ward the coming-of-age first novel starring a barely disguised over-sensitive heroine airing her resentments: Girl Reading reads as though its author is five books down. She has plunged straight into a series of difficult challenges, her handling of time and place accomplished with authority, skill and knowledge. If the basic idea is simple, reminiscent of the classic writing class exercise in which students are made to produce a tale inspired by an art postcard, the result is a complex showcase for Ward’s talents."

Stream a Spotify playlist of these tunes. If you don't have Spotify yet, sign up for the free service.

In her own words, here is Katie Ward's Book Notes music playlist for her novel, Girl Reading:

Girl Reading is a novel in 7 chapters, each chapter with a contained story set in a different historical period. It starts in medieval Italy and it develops through to the present day, and beyond. And each chapter is about a work of art, a painting or a photograph of a woman reading a book.

Chapter 1: 'Suite No.4 in D Minor, HWV 437, Sarabande' by GF Handel

This orchestral interpretation of a piece for harpsichord sets the mood beautifully for the first chapter of Girl Reading. In the medieval city state of Siena, the cathedral commissions a new altarpiece depicting the Virgin Mary. The chosen painter is the bad tempered maestro Simone Martini, and the reluctant sitter is Laura, a foundling child with problems of her own.

Handel compositions are synonymous with grandeur and this chapter is as much about institutional posturing as anything else; and yet Handel was also involved with London's Foundling Hospital and would have felt deep compassion for Laura's dilemma.

Chapter 2: 'Beggin' by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

The groove and lyric in 'Beggin' speaks of male sexual frustration dressed up as romantic feeling. A key character in Chapter 2 of Girl Reading is the Dutch painter, Elinga. He's a contemporary of Rembrandt, and harbours sexual desires for his maidservant – who does not reciprocate. The lyric of the song goes: 'Put your loving hand out, Baby'; in the book she 'hurries away, knocking past his open, insulting hand.'

Chapter 3: 'Angel' by Aretha Franklin

This record isn't only about a broken heart, but also the support and friendship between two women. 'Come by when you can, I've got something that I want to say' is a plea for help. 'Gotta find me an angel' is the repeated wish.

The premise of Chapter 3 is a countess coping with grief, and how an artist, Angelica Kauffman, helps her to overcome it by finishing the portrait of her dead lover.

The 'angel' here could mean several things: the protective spirit of the deceased; the potential for new love to be found within this lifetime; and the friends who come to our aid in times of distress – in this case, a paintress who was nicknamed 'Miss Angel' by Joshua Reynolds.

Chapter 4: 'My Vision' by Jakatta & Seal

'Tonight magical things are going to happen' says a mysterious voice on this record. Is this a promise of genuine magic, or just crowd-pleasing theatrical bunkum?

The middle chapter of Girl Reading is set in Victorian times. Being Victorian must have been terribly confusing, as cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs were inexorably mixed with illusion, parlour tricks and hoaxes. 'Real' and 'artificial' were indistinguishable to most people.

The chapter concerns twin sisters: one twin is a photographer; the other is a spiritualist medium. Both professions would have seemed impossible and marvellous to Victorian eyes, and both professions are about the inexplicable creation of images out of darkness. As Seal sings so persuasively, 'Can you see my vision...?'

Chapter 5: 'Sunday Girl' by Blondie

Chapter 5 takes place during the Great War and is mainly told from the point of view of 15-year-old Gwen. She's well-meaning, awkward and hopelessly in love with Laurence, a post-Impressionist painter and conscientious objector. That Laurence is ten years older than Gwen is surely a barrier she can overcome? The real difficulty is the appearance of a sensuous and glamorous rival.

The song goes: 'Hey, I saw your guy with a different girl, looks like he's in another world, run and hide Sunday Girl'; the book goes: 'Running off to cry in private seems like the appropriate gesture ... so Gwen does.'

Chapter 6: 'Halo' by Beyoncé

This is the chapter of Girl Reading set in the present day. Like Beyoncé, the lead character, Jeannine Okoro, is intelligent, independent, beautiful and ambitious. Unlike Beyoncé however, Jeannine feels isolated and displaced. It begins to dawn on her that she might be in the wrong job, the wrong relationship, that she might never fulfil her potential. How much of this is a result of lingering prejudice in the modern world? And how much of it is down to her own bad judgement?

Jeannine would know the song 'Halo', and hearing it would be a bitter-sweet experience: she'd believe absolutely that walls can come 'tumbling down' but feel cynical about the idea that being with a man can help her to achieve her goals.

Chapter 7: 'Hidden Place' by Björk

The last chapter of Girl Reading is set in the year 2060, and the extraordinary musical landscapes created by Björk on her album Vespertine suit it very well.

In this future, we live our lives with one foot in the physical world and one foot in the virtual world called Mesh. All original paintings and sculpture are hidden away from the public, who now have to make do with digital reproductions. Nearly all books are electronic too. In an age ruled by immersive technology, Sincerity Yabuki has invented something called the Sibil, and her research is coveted by governments around the world.

The lyrics of 'Hidden Place' are about the yearning for physical contact: 'Now I have been slightly shy, and I can smell a pinch of hope / To almost have allowed one's fingers to stroke / The fingers I was given to touch with, but careful, careful / There lies my passion.' Sincerity's existence, though visually miraculous, is almost devoid of the sensation of touch. She lives apart from her partner and daughter, maintaining these relationships via her avatar.

In addition, the backing vocals on 'Hidden Place' have an unearthly siren-like beauty, as though they are calling you into the unknown ... likewise, Sincerity is magnetically drawn towards the Sibil and ever further away from home.
For the reader of the novel, the 6 previous chapters have been pointing to this moment.

Katie Ward and Girl Reading links:

the author's website

Book Snob review
Booklist review
Cosmopolitan review
The Daily Beast review
Guardian review
Harriet Devine's Blog review
Kirkus Reviews review
Lloyd Shepherd review
Punkadiddle review
Secluded Charm review

East Anglian Daily Times profile of the author
IP1 interview with the author
Writers Read guest post by the author

also at Largehearted Boy:

other Book Notes playlists (authors create music playlists for their book)

List of Online "Best Books of 2011" Lists
List of 2011 Year-End Online Music Lists

Atomic Books Comics Preview - February 8th, 2012

In the weekly Atomic Books Comics Preview, Benn Ray highlights notable new comics and graphic novels.

Benn Ray is the owner of Atomic Books, an independent bookstore in Baltimore. The Mobtown Shank is his blog, and his comic Said What? is syndicated weekly in the Baltimore Sun's B-Paper.

Atomic Books has been named one of Bizarre Magazine's 51 geekiest places on the planet, as well as one of Flavorwire's 10 greatest comic and graphic novel stores in America.

Every Man Is My Enemy
by Skinner

This book collects the mural and installation art work of Sacramento artist Skinner. The result is a gorgeous heavy metal, Dungeons & Dragons, psychedelic acid trip.

Galactic Breakdown #4
by Keenan Marshall Keller

The newest installment in the stunning, weirdo underground comic. It reads like a psychedelic '80s video game designed by Gary Panter with a killer punk rock soundtrack.

The Life and Death of Fritz the Cat
by R. Crumb

For the first time in hardcover, the epic saga of one of Robert Crumb's most famous characters - so famous, in fact, that Crumb had to kill him.

We Can't Get Up
by Dina Kelberman

This colorful mini by Dina Kelberman is sort of the comics equivalent of a collection of outtakes and b-sides. Except with Dina, her b-sides are better than most people's a-sides. It includes stories she's done for a couple anthologies I've edited, an overheard conversation for a weekly comic strip I do, and some other excellent work. It's a great introduction to the charm that is Dina Kelberman.

Young Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby's 1940s-50s Romance Comics
by Jack Kirby / Joe Simon / Michel Gagne (editor)

Before they became famous for all those superheroes, these two legends of comics helped define the hugely popular, at the time, romance comic genre. This book brings together some of the best work in an overlooked and under-appreciated genre.

Questions, concerns, comments or gripes – e-mail benn@atomicbooks.com. If there’s a comic I should know about, send it my way at Atomic, c/o Atomic Books 3620 Falls Rd., Baltimore, MD 21211.

Atomic Books & Benn Ray links:

Atomic Books website
Atomic Books on Twitter
Atomic Books on Facebook
Benn Ray's blog (The Mobtown Shank)
Benn Ray's comic, Said What?

also at Largehearted Boy:

other Atomic Books Comics Preview lists (weekly new comics & graphic novel highlights)

the list of online "best books of 2011" lists

52 Books, 52 Weeks
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
Largehearted Word (weekly new book highlights)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)

Largehearted WORD Books of the Week - February 8th, 2012

In the Largehearted Word series, the staff of Brooklyn's WORD bookstore highlights several new books released this week.

WORD is an independent neighborhood bookstore in Greenpoint, the northernmost neighborhood of Brooklyn, that will celebrate its fifth anniversary in March 2012. Our primary goal is to be whatever our community needs us to be, which currently means carrying a lot of paperback fiction (especially classics), cookbooks, board books, and absurdly cute cards and stationery. In addition, we're fiends for a good event, from the classic author reading and Q&A to potlucks and a basketball league (and anything set in a bar). We're a small operation, just 1000 square feet and four people, but we read too much, so it all works out. If a weekly dose of WORD here isn't enough for you, follow us on Twitter: @wordbrooklyn.

WORD also hosts the monthly Largehearted Lit reading series, featuring authors who participated in this blog's Book Notes series and musical guests.

Vaclav and Lena
by Haley Tanner

One of Jenn's favorite debut novels of 2011, now in paperback.

A Widow's Story
by Joyce Carol Oates

One of Stephanie's favorite memoirs of 2011, now in paperback.

History of a Pleasure Seeker
by Richard Mason

A brand new novel from the acclaimed author of The Drowning People, sure to bring out your inner hedonist.

The Monster Returns
by Peter McCarty

What to do when a monster comes back? Throw him a surprise party, naturally.

WORD Brooklyn links:

WORD website
WORD blog
WORD on Twitter
WORD's Facebook page
WORD's Flickr photos

also at Largehearted Boy:

other Largehearted Word Books of the Week (weekly new book highlights)

List of online "best of 2011" book lists

52 Books, 52 Weeks (my yearly reading project)
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly comics & graphic novel highlights)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)