Books and music go together, or at least Tattered Cover and our local indie music gurus at
Twist and Shout think so. So we've decided to "borrow a cup of sugar" from each other from time to time, meaning we're sharing some of each other's reviews from our blogs (theirs is called
Twisted Spork ). Here's some of their faves:
Tom Waits--
Glitter and Doom LiveTake a moment to ponder
Tom Waits' career. From his beginnings as a cult star performing an almost burlesque interpretation of modern beat poetry, he has slowly and ineffably moved to a consistently more artful, personal and modern sound, all the while refining (with the help of his writing partner, Wife, Kathleen Brennan) his songwriting away from tales of a drunken carny-like existence on the edges of hipster society to the thoughtful insights of a dedicated and caring family man and artist. His music is groundbreaking on so many levels. He is one of the few artists I can think of whose work not only defies time and categorization, but continues to define the forward movement of modern sound. He is alone in his previous accomplishments and equally alone in his ability to invent the future. I have not met an artist, musician or generally cool person who doesn’t like Tom Waits. At the same time, I have met very few non-music nuts who even know who he is. He has not penetrated modern consciousness except as a catalyst or seed for others to grow from, offering up a model for the artistic ideal. Because of this, new releases by Waits are greeted with an increasing fervor by those in the know. One can always be assured an unexpected and gratifying experience.
His latest is sure to be no exception. The musical soundscape is stunning throughout this document of Waits’ latest tour which focused almost exclusively on his last four or five releases. Shifting from sly jazzy shuffles to industrial skrapes and explosions and back again at the drop of a hat, the sonic ground beneath Waits’ feet never gathers moss. Much of the sound is seemingly new. How in this wide wide world of copycats and sampling does someone come up with something that sounds like it has never been done before? Partially by using found instruments and an array of electronic vocal treatments, but also by shrugging off the conventional strictures of all popular music and just creating. Lots of artists “just create” freely in what has been called The Avant Garde, unfortunately most of it comes out sounding like cacophonous shit instead of the poetry of Tom Waits.
Vocally, Waits has taken what might have been thought of as a liability-his gargling with barbed-wire and rat poison rasp of a voice- and turned it into the most interesting part of the show. He inhabits several distinctive personae during the course of a performance, alternately barking like some deranged street corner preacher, to roaring like an electronic beast from a Orwellian nightmare, to the pained croon of some injured beast in the distance. Each is also matched by a physical manifestation. I saw Waits early in his career when his act basically consisted of him sitting at the piano and winning the audience over with the strength of his imagery. Somewhere along the line, he developed into an unbelievably physical performer, presenting an onstage demeanor that falls between circus barker and Tourette’s victim. A Tom Waits concert is unlike any other experience, and it is one of the few generally interesting and exciting shows left to see.
As a bonus this album comes with a second disc called “Tom Tales” that will be instantly recognizable and welcomed by anyone who has seen Waits perform. Between songs he tends to launch into dissertations and rambling speeches about the things that occupy his mind. Often little known facts from the back pages of obscure referentiania, these observations are always entertaining, and sometimes quite enlightening. It is another facet of the man, the artist, the enigma: Tom Waits. -- Paul Epstein
Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins--Let It RockWith the possible exception of his work with
David Grisman, this first iteration of
The Jerry Garcia Band was totally unique because it is the only time he had a musical foil who matched his own peerless skill; That person was
Nicky Hopkins. Garcia, like all stars, tended to play with people less accomplished than himself. This is not by design, but rather the natural reality that few were as good as him. In Nicky Hopkins he found another world-class player with whom to share the burden of soloing. Hopkins proved to be a short-lived (less than a year in the band) but potent dueling partner for Garcia. The shows Jerry did with Nicky Hopkins don’t sound like any other in his career due to the slow, baroque deliberateness of Hopkins’ playing. On each song Garcia generously opens the door widely for Hopkins to solo. Like Garcia’s own playing, Hopkins shows a wealth of influences and stylistic ability that at times is hilariously anglophile in comparison with Jerry’s more Americana leanings. The result is a concert where the musician’s sheer enjoyment of each other’s playing is clearly audible. For his part, Garcia is in fine voice, singing sweet and high on songs like “It’s Too Late,” a gorgeous “I’ll Take A Melody” and an extended “Ain’t No Use.” The highlight is the 19 minute version of
The Rolling Stones' “Let’s Spend The Night Together” that takes a bunch of detours before landing and giving way to Hopkins' signature song “Edward The Mad Shirt Grinder” which he originally recorded as a member of
Quicksilver Messenger Service. As Garcia plays a slide guitar part that is totally unlike his usual style, one can hear not only why this pairing was so interesting, but why it was doomed as well. There just wasn’t enough room for two stars of such definitive yet divergent styles of playing. -- Paul Epstein
Nirvana--BleachHistory has been weird to
Nirvana. At the time there seemed to be universal consensus that this was one of the great rock bands, but since, and maybe because of Kurt Cobain’s senseless, violent death there has been a lot of rewriting and denying history. Hopefully, the release of this special 20th Anniversary edition of
Bleach (is it possible?) will settle the argument.
Bleach shows Nirvana in the formative, explosive, pre-superstardom years, when they were clawing their way to the top with such other local contemporaries as Mudhoney and Tad. Cobain was not yet writing with the melodic sophistication he would find on Nevermind, and Jack Endino’s sludgy production creates a very different effect than Butch Vig would get with his crystalline rock perfection but the raw substance of Cobain’s greatness is right there to be heard. Songs like “Blew,” Negative Creep,” “Love Buzz” and the brilliant “About A Girl” show what a powerful songwriter Cobain was, and would become. The greatest strength of the band at this early stage was their rock and roll power. They could punish the audience with their three man attack like nobody’s business, and if you want proof, listen to the twelve song live show that is included in this edition of the album. Obviously playing to a local, partisan crowd the band just rockets out of the gates delivering one slab of hard rock after another and leaving the audience and the modern listener screaming for more. Nirvana was capable of an almost nuclear fury in concert and this show offers ample evidence of that fact. The fat booklet included with this release does not waste any time with wordy explanations of the times or the band, it just has a bunch of photos that show a group of kids - not grown-up men, just kids, living the rock dream. It is touching. Hopefully this excellent package will trigger a reassessment of Nirvana and they will once again be understood as the defining group of their era.
Paul Epstein
The Doors--Live in New YorkThrough their reissue company “Bright Midnight”
The Doors have been pretty aggressive about releasing concert recordings. Many of them have come from the 1970 tour, which was recorded in its entirety for the album that would eventually be released as
Absolutely Live. In the last few years they have released three or four of the shows from this tour in their separately, and what it has revealed about this most misunderstood of bands is that they were both unpredictable, and capable of reaching the highest heights in concert. Each show on the tour is very different from the others and the greatness of the show was usually determined by Jim Morrison’s general level of sobriety. His drunkenness did not guarantee either a great or a terrible show, it just guaranteed that the focus of the show would be Jim’s state of mind. Like some Rock and Roll Rorschach , the Doors reflected the times and the seething angst of their audience on a nightly basis. Sometimes it was brilliant, sometimes drunken foolery, but it was always interesting. On this 6 CD release the four shows the Doors played at The Felt Forum in NYC are presented in their entirety. Each night feels very different as the band runs through various covers- “Little Red Rooster,” ‘Money,” “Crawling King Snake,” “Back Door Man” and even “Gloria” and mix it with their artiest material-“The End,” When The Music’s Over,” Celebration Of The Lizard,” “Ship Of Fools” etc. and present the audience with something memorable every night. If you are already a Doors fan this will be a most welcome batch of new experiences, and if you are not, you may find yourself understanding why Rock concerts used to be considered scary, revolutionary experiences.
Paul Epstein
Tattered Cover's own computer genius Mike Pham gives Daemon five stars and high praise, saying "This is a fast pace book. I think it has done to web surfing what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean and Matrix did for wanting to learn kung-fu. I recommend people to visit wikipedia when a tech term comes up and you are not familiar with. The author really planned well and expressed the subtlety of these tech terms and their usages."
These high tech thrills should help chase away the February chills )and maybe make you watch your computer a little more closely...)!
