Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Review Jag
Nick Hornby's Songbook came out early last year. It was published by those internet rascals @ McSweeney's, which means there was quality and surprise within the book. You can re-read..well, I can re-read Songbook multiple times and still marvel at his method of reviewing songs that stuck with him. If you buy the hardback version, you get a cd with some (but not all, drat!) of the songs that he writes about in the book. The reviews have minimal connection with the album from which they were culled. Some of the songs he chose to write about may be a surprise; they were not exactly critic's favorites. What brought so much enjoyment to reading (and re-reading) the book was the totally subjective way Hornby went about it. There were no apologies as to his choices or his reasons for picking them. These songs were important to him at various stages in his life. They meant more to him than the singers or songwriters perhaps intended...but isn't that usually the case with that lifesong you have bouncing around in your head?
There are even quirky illustrations from Canadian artist Marcel Dzama included (just to make sure the book passes muster with the CRTC)
With the cd and the book, you can escape to that special room in your house and be taken away on short or long trips. There are riffs on 31 songs. You can wallow in them all at once or just a soupcon a day.
What brought this book back to mind were daily visits to WhiskyPrajer. For the past 15 days, he has been drib 'n drabbing his own personal Top Ten Chuckle-Head songs. Letting out his opinions slowly, giving you time to mull over his choices and add a comment or two. Like Hornby, he was not reviewing the songs based on some critical artistic standard. Rather, the key concept was (in his words)based on listening to , "the music from the glory of my adolescence and young adulthood – punk, heavy metal, grunge – and the one thought that keeps recurring is, “Some of this stuff sure could stand an injection of humor.”.
So, if you don't want to fork over $26 for a Hornby, take a trip over to WhiskyPrajer. You may be persuaded that this kind of reviewing style is interesting. You may be tempted to add Songbook to your Wish List. You may be doing the right thing for your soul.
Nick Hornby's Songbook came out early last year. It was published by those internet rascals @ McSweeney's, which means there was quality and surprise within the book. You can re-read..well, I can re-read Songbook multiple times and still marvel at his method of reviewing songs that stuck with him. If you buy the hardback version, you get a cd with some (but not all, drat!) of the songs that he writes about in the book. The reviews have minimal connection with the album from which they were culled. Some of the songs he chose to write about may be a surprise; they were not exactly critic's favorites. What brought so much enjoyment to reading (and re-reading) the book was the totally subjective way Hornby went about it. There were no apologies as to his choices or his reasons for picking them. These songs were important to him at various stages in his life. They meant more to him than the singers or songwriters perhaps intended...but isn't that usually the case with that lifesong you have bouncing around in your head?
There are even quirky illustrations from Canadian artist Marcel Dzama included (just to make sure the book passes muster with the CRTC)
With the cd and the book, you can escape to that special room in your house and be taken away on short or long trips. There are riffs on 31 songs. You can wallow in them all at once or just a soupcon a day.
What brought this book back to mind were daily visits to WhiskyPrajer. For the past 15 days, he has been drib 'n drabbing his own personal Top Ten Chuckle-Head songs. Letting out his opinions slowly, giving you time to mull over his choices and add a comment or two. Like Hornby, he was not reviewing the songs based on some critical artistic standard. Rather, the key concept was (in his words)based on listening to , "the music from the glory of my adolescence and young adulthood – punk, heavy metal, grunge – and the one thought that keeps recurring is, “Some of this stuff sure could stand an injection of humor.”.
So, if you don't want to fork over $26 for a Hornby, take a trip over to WhiskyPrajer. You may be persuaded that this kind of reviewing style is interesting. You may be tempted to add Songbook to your Wish List. You may be doing the right thing for your soul.
Comments:
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Wow - heady stuff, being mentioned in the same sentence as Nick Hornby! Thanks, and let me just add that the money spent on the Hornby book is exceptional aesthetic value: songs, pictures, words ... the whole enchilada for less than a day at the movies.
On a side-note: I wonder, DV, if you play The Name Of This Band disc one more often than disc two? I tend to play it at a ratio of 4:1. I'd estimate my ratio of plays per disc sits close to 4:1. I'm not sure why, but I suspect Stop Making Sense sealed the fate of the band, and froze "disc 2" into permanent "intermediate" status. Your thoughts?
On a side-note: I wonder, DV, if you play The Name Of This Band disc one more often than disc two? I tend to play it at a ratio of 4:1. I'd estimate my ratio of plays per disc sits close to 4:1. I'm not sure why, but I suspect Stop Making Sense sealed the fate of the band, and froze "disc 2" into permanent "intermediate" status. Your thoughts?
WP, an interesting point! I agree with you...to a degree. I’m not sure if I play Disk One more often than Disk Two, if I’m counting disks. However, if I (anal retentively) count the songs that I listen to from the album, the 1:1 ratio of Disk One ot Disk Two changes to 3:1 (3.166667:1 if I really want to reflect my condition). So, I’m closer to your 4:1 ratio than the 1:1 that I presumed I was at. I tend to listen to the 1977-1979 cd straight through. With the 1980-1981 cd, I tend to skip over 5-6 of the songs.
However,
I do listen to both cd’s roughly the same amount of times. The main reason is Tina Weymouth. I confess that she has a permanent residence in the noggin. Unfortunately, her marriage to Chris Frantz and my own long term marriage has made any deep relationship with Ms. Weymouth impossible. Tears I do shed…
But, that’s another story.
On listening to the TNOTBITH cd, what with all of the extra tracks, what amazes me is how great the musicians are. You know the words and lyrics were always of high caliber. How distinctive, how great is Jerry Harrison’s guitar playing? How dead-on and driving is Chris Frantz’s drum-playing? And then there’s Tina Weymouth. I listen to Disk Two mainly because of her. Her bass playing is simple and compact. She plays, like most of the other band members, with a strong sense of humour. And you know that she’s doing that in-place dancing that she demonstrates on the film, “Stop Making Sense”. Somewhat dopey, somewhat cute, very enthralling. Her bass takes center stage on “Born Under Punches” especially, but also along with “Warning Sign”, “Stay Hungry”, and the first 1-2 minutes of “Once in a Lifetime”, I get to hear her distinctive playing and think of what could have been (in an alternative universe).
Thanks for pointing out my obsession to me; I thought it was safely under wraps.
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However,
I do listen to both cd’s roughly the same amount of times. The main reason is Tina Weymouth. I confess that she has a permanent residence in the noggin. Unfortunately, her marriage to Chris Frantz and my own long term marriage has made any deep relationship with Ms. Weymouth impossible. Tears I do shed…
But, that’s another story.
On listening to the TNOTBITH cd, what with all of the extra tracks, what amazes me is how great the musicians are. You know the words and lyrics were always of high caliber. How distinctive, how great is Jerry Harrison’s guitar playing? How dead-on and driving is Chris Frantz’s drum-playing? And then there’s Tina Weymouth. I listen to Disk Two mainly because of her. Her bass playing is simple and compact. She plays, like most of the other band members, with a strong sense of humour. And you know that she’s doing that in-place dancing that she demonstrates on the film, “Stop Making Sense”. Somewhat dopey, somewhat cute, very enthralling. Her bass takes center stage on “Born Under Punches” especially, but also along with “Warning Sign”, “Stay Hungry”, and the first 1-2 minutes of “Once in a Lifetime”, I get to hear her distinctive playing and think of what could have been (in an alternative universe).
Thanks for pointing out my obsession to me; I thought it was safely under wraps.
<< Home Verging on Pertinence Just some more disposable thoughts clogging up the hinterlands
