The Daily Sabbatical
Music, Books, and Assorted Maunderings

This album has absolutely knocked my shit out. I've enjoyed previous Made Out of Babies efforts as a sort of a loud novelty, admiring their punk commitment, but I was unprepared for The Ruiner. Reminiscent of Silverfish, Daisy Chainsaw, and some of the Amphetamine Reptile bands of the 90s, MOB comes in with a pummeling bass and layers of guitar sounds that make me want to punch holes in my walls. Julie Christmas, the band's vocalist, sounds like a damaged Bjork screaming (right on pitch, mind you) over the band's screwy hooks and… Read More

There's something about the feel of the New York Review Book Classics that assures you of a good read. The paper is of a thick textured stock, the covers are beautifully designed--I particularly like the fact that the inside of the covers is colored to match the palette on the outside--and the introductions are written by people who actually matter. There are so many little known treasures in this series--it's like the Criterion Collection of paperbacks--that one wants to just own them all. Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick… Read More

I just learned that Kate Bush turns 50 today.  That freaks me out.  It's like finding out that Tinkerbell is an octogenarian.  Read More

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This is very cool. Play this, then play it again, and again as many times as you want, and the same sequence of notes will sound to you as if it is a scale with an ever ascending pitch. I have yet to read a very good explanation of this effect, but my guess is that there are multiple harmonics in each tone, and which one your ear attends to depends on context. Regardless,it's neat.