Cultural Conversations: Wheat’s Summer Reading List
The following was written by Wheat. Their record White Ink Black Ink (buy) is out now. They’ll be playing Great Scott tomorrow (Saturday, August 31st) with Bon Savants and XYZ Affair. I think you should all go, really. Many many thanks to Wheat for being so eager to put together this summer reading lists of sorts. Enjoy!
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Reading:
Well, the reading thing right now is super boiled down, ‘cause I’m spending so much time either doing band related stuff like working on videos, practicing for shows, answering emails…. Blah, blah, blah…..
I do manage to get reading in however, ‘cause if I didn’t I think I’d shit it my pants or worse. Let’s face it, one of the best things to do while moving bowels the proper way (on a toilet) is to read.
So, I’m reading the New Yorker magazine a bunch. It’s sorta old school, but I love the writing. Very calming in a way, and the short magazine vibe of the articles allows me to actually tackle them. Every now and again there’s something in there that’s about rock/pop music, and I hate to say it, but they’re usually real head scratchers. I just never seem to get what their music writers are actually trying to say about what they’re writing about. Maybe it’s me…..
Also – I’m re-reading for the 3rd time: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, by David Foster Wallace. As everyone probably knows, this guy took is life fairly recently.. This, of course, has nothing to do with the greatness of this book, but does shed light possibly onto the depths of the human experience this guy trafficked in. don’t know….
But here’s a brief quote – the opening paragraph from the story, “the depressed person,” from said book:
The depressed person was in terrible and unceasing emotional pain, and the impossibility of sharing or articulating this pain was itself a component of the pain and a contributing factor in its essential horror.
Now – I’m actually fairly far from being in that state (I’m richly blessed – not with material things, but with people who love me, and all that), but I have, on many an occasion, felt the dull pain of the dark places to which a person’s mind can go to.
But, you know, hell – the comics in the New Yorker will make you laugh your ass off some time. let’s focus on that.
Listening:
Good grief – it’s so all over the map, but here are a few that are for me rad and recent – in no particular order:
- Dan Deacon – Bromst: super beautiful sounds. Guided by Voices meets Aphex Twin if you can believe that.
- Wavves – Wavvves: the opposite, kinda, of the above – this is trashy and wacky. But, you know, not really… melody and structure are really pretty straightforward. Don’t know – maybe I’ll hate this one next month.
- Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes: they’re playing the Newport Folk Festival this summer. It’s funny…. It is folk, but so much more. It’s kinda more like early Yes to me than anything else. Just done more acoustic. Dreamy and fun though.
- Alice Cooper (yeah – him) - Billion Dollar Babies: A friend of mine who worked for Ryko distribution sent me this ‘cause I told him my mom had the lp. Well – by far his best. Beautiful, groovin’, rockin’ – crazy melodies.
Watching:
I almost watch no t.v. – and, very rarely get to go to the movies. So, I watch videos usually. Which is not bad, ‘cause some are super beautiful. And, when they’re simple and human like this one from Bonnie “Prince” Billy, you gotta smile big!
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