The Daily Sabbatical
Music, Books, and Assorted Maunderings

I used to think that people who wore earplugs at shows should just stay home. Not anymore. I should have known when earplugs were being handed out at the door of the My Bloody Valentine show last night that they were meant to be used. I have never, never been to a louder show (and that includes an ear-blistering Dinasaur Jr. show in the early 90s). MBV ripped into about a 15 minute sonic rush at the end of their set, during which people close to the stage reported heat coming from the speakers (which were massive) and I could literally feel air blowing through my hair like the Memorex man. It was an amazing show, I have no regrets, but my ears… Read More

A friend of mine once said that England and America are separated by a common language.  While not entirely sure what this means, I'm often surprised at how much the predominant sensibilities of the two countries differ.  We both have our forms of The Office, sure, and who doesn't love Hogwarts, but it is startling how many things fail to translate even though no actual translation needs to be done.  The works of Penelope Fitzgerald might be an example.  This woman had two books shortlisted for the Booker… Read More

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Researchers have found that patients who played the computer game Tetris soon after a trauma suffered less emotional scarring as a result.  The Tetris patients were significantly less likely to experience flashbacks, for example, in the week following the traumatic event. No evidence, so far, that playing Grand Theft Auto… Read More

Several years ago I was so excited about these guys.  Liela Moss has such a cool, through the cigarette fog voice, and the band seemed to have the Velvet Undergroung drive down pat.  They never really lived up to the potential their first two eps showed, however, and the new(ish) album only disappoints further.  I mean, all the pieces are there, and some of the songs still have the right energy, but most of the time The DS just comes off sounding like a poor man's Metric. Without a doubt these guys sound best when… Read More

Top tens from New Yorker critics that cover dance, theatre, classical-music recordings and movies.  As always, Anthony Lane provides the most entertaining analysis.
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If you have nightmares where you are pursued along the wharf with calliope music fluting your doom in the background, this album probably isn't for you.  If you like the idea of Danny Elfman collaborating with The Clientele, however, listen up.  Misophone is a production of two guys from Bristol who are apparently cranking out songs left and right.  This is supposedly their thirteenth (or fourteenth?) album, though its only the second I find evidence of.  Whatever.  These guys have a flair for the… Read More

I, for one, am not at all surprised that Shadow Country by Peter Mathiessen has won the National Book Award.  It is one of the grandest pieces of fiction published in this country in the last decade.  Like another book on that short list, Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Country is a true American novel.  It centers around the life, death and legacy of Edgar Watson who is the sort of morally compromised pioneer that has no doubt always been at the edge of new frontiers.  The novel is at once a detailed portrait of… Read More

Between illness, an emergency trip to Nashville, and a tenure case, I've gotten completely backed up on work.  I'll hopefully have my head above water soon. Meanwhile, Texans, vote early...vote Obama. Read More

Paris Hilton saw McCain's attack ad where he uses her image and calls Obama a celebrity so she decided to make a video of her own. See you at the debate, bitches.

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