Books May 2011

The Black Ice Score by Richard Stark (Parker book 11)

Parker is back and this time the job has come to him. First he is warned off a job that he has no knowledge of, then he is offered the job and well you get the idea. I have to be honest, while I enjoyed The Black Ice Score, I can’t say it was one of my favorites. It’s got an interesting premise in that Parker is drawn into the job, and that he breaks his rule by working with armatures. I liked the book, but there was something missing from the zing of the world of Parker, it’s like the Mourner in that it deals with elements for developing nations politics (third world to all you not up on the latest PC lingo) which Westlake was good at, but as far as I can tell was never mastered by Stark. That said, it’s a solid read that is well worth it for Parker fans, and anyone out there that is looking for a softer entry to the Parker novels might find this one along with the afore mentioned The Mourner a entry point into the series.

33 1/3 Let It Be by Colin Meloy

See my FFB review HERE.

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott

I liked it; I will post a more in depth review when it comes closer to publication time.

33 1/3 Let’s Talk about Love by Carl Wilson

I know, I know, Celine Dion, right. I don’t like her music; I tried to listen to this album, but never got though more than 2 of the songs at a time. The book on the other hand is compulsively readable with is history of where Dion came from and it’s look at taste, the economics of mass popularity and the reality of how as we age, maybe it’s not worth the time to decry middle of the road comfort food music.

Lawrence Block book of the Month: Make Out With Murder

This was my first Chip Harrison novel and I found it very fun and enjoyable. There was a Meta element in that it was presented as the novel that Chip had written about his time as an assistant to a Detective who has a fixation on fictional Detectives. Block name checks; Chandler, A.C. Doyle, Michael Innes, the MacDonalds and of course Richard Stark. It was a breezy read and I think I have one more in the series coming up this year.

Stark House Press novel of the Month: The Three-Way Spilt by Gil Brewer

While taking a group of drunk tourists out on his boat Jack Holland get’s a lucky break and discovers the wreck of an centuries old ship off the coast of Florida. Knowing what this discovery means Jack keeps the discovery quite, only telling his girl Sally and his drinking buddy, a former salvage man, who knows the history of ships in the area and has the expertise to help Jack dive the wreck. … and then his estranged father shows up and that’s where things start to go wrong.

Three Way Split is a full blown Noir adventure that had me thinking of John D MacDonald and his Travis Magee books and just a bit of the adventure stories of Clive Cussler. I enjoyed the story overall, but felt the ending was a little rushed and that Brewer had been more interested in the archeology and search for the story of the discovered ship. With only a hand full of Brewer’s work currently in print, another volume from Stark House, a Hard Case Crime and a pair of reprints from The New Pulp Press, this is one of the few places you are going to find his work and it’s well worth owning.

33 1/3: The Gilded Palace of Sin by Bob Proehl

Another solid entry in the 33 1/3 series, telling the story of Gram Parsons, the Flying Burrito Brother, and the start of what has become known as Alt Country today. It’s a history lesson, not only of the music and the band, but the context of the time and place, of flawed young men with a vision and sound in mind. While not as personal as the Let it Be entry or as thought provoking on the bigger subject of taste as the Let’s Talk About Love book, this one still holds it’s own as a book that should be on the shelf of everyone who cares about what we call Alt Country today.

The Sour Lemon Score by Richard Stark (Parker book 12)

This time around we get Parker on the trail of a member of his crew who has tried to kill all the members of the crew. This is a minor mirror take on The Hunter. It’s a fast paced and action driven story, that while not the best Parker book is a solid read. It’s easy to see where the charges of Stark repeating plots can be leveled, but at the same time, Crime novels pretty much follow a simple plot through line, bad stuff happens and people are in trouble. All that said I liked it, I liked Parker having to pick up and work on the fly after a jobs goes wrong in the crew end. I recommend the book, and am looking forward to the next Parker installment. I would also not this was the 12^th Parker book, which is the dead center of the series with only 4 more of the first era of Parker books remaining.

FFB: Let It Be by Colin Meloy

This weeks Friday’s Forgotten Book is the 16^th entry in the33 1/3 Series of books, which reflects on the album Let it Be by The Replacements

I first heard of The Replacements in High School, when my locker mate and writing sparing partner Shawn Dykehouse thrust and article for the Communicator (our weekly high school news paper) and told me to sign it. He wanted a co-author for an, and to help me with a little needed credit. I don’t recall anything about the article other than it praised The Replacements as the best band of the ending decade. In college I had a TA who was teaching some ridiculous integrated general ED class that I got friendly with, we were on the same wave length somehow, and I recall him telling me about The ‘Mat’s as he called them, still I didn’t bite… it was only later, when I was residing in their home town of Minneapolis –Saint Paul that I got hip.

It was Bastards of Young, it was Left of the Dial, and then it was I will Dare. All of this is to say that of the half dozen or so installments of the 33 1/3 series that I have read so far this one has been the most engaging, the most enlighten, and the best. It’s that Colin Meloy (yes of the Decembrists) hits home for me, a couple of years younger than me, he writes of a time that was part of my youth, part of my reality. He hits the teenage themes that I knew, he talks about books that I read, and a world that I knew, and he doesn’t let some lengthy catalog of recording sessions and time spent writing songs fill his pages. Instead he talks about how it related to him, at the time that it did.

He ends the book talking about his first visit to the 400 Bar in Saint Paul, in May of 2003 and seeing all the ‘Mat’s stuff on the wall. That was only months after my first visit to the same place, November of 2002, the first week in town, my brother and I staying at an extended stay looking for a place to live so that we could go out and find work. The Swedish group The Soundtrack of Our Lives played the 400 Bar and we dutifully went to check them out. I don’t recall the photos on the wall, only that TSTOOLs were awesome and that I met a girl, her name now long forgotten, who I never saw again, but left me feeling like MSP was going to be a good place to be… and it was for a while…. As was the trip down memory lane that is Let It Be.

More Friday Forgotten books can be found at Patti Abbotts blog HERE.

Books Sept 2010

Another month down and a this time I managed to get through 5 books....

Lady Killer by Ed McBain
Lady Killer is the 7th of the 87th Precinct novels. It's a classic set up for a cop drama, early in the day a note is delivered to the front desk saying that someone is going to kill a lady at 8pm. The cast of
87th Precinct detectives have until 8pm to track down a killer, a lady and figure out what's going on-- or if the whole thing is a hoax. It might seem like a cliche today and it might have even been when the book was published in 1958, but McBain knows just how to play it. As with all of the early 87th Precinct books, it's also a hoot to see how limited and different the world of big city policing was over 50 years ago, and strange to realize how similar it is to what we have today.

33 1/3: Big Star Radio City by Bruce Eaton
The 33 1/3 books are a neat idea, slim volumes about 100 pages long about a single album. I have read a couple and they have all been enjoyable. This one covers the history and recording of the second album by the 70s Power Pop band Big Star. I don't know that I took away any insights about the album or band, but I understand the context of the events aroundthe album better now. I picked the book up becaue Big Star has long been one of those cult bands who I like a song here and there by, but overall they tend to not leave an impression on me. I was also looking for something more about the evolution of the Power Pop sound and movement (was there even one?). Over all another excellent
entry in the 33 1/3 collection. Now if I could just get my motivation up to write my 33 1/3 style book on the Screaming Trees album Dust.

Burglars can't be choosers by Lawrence Block
This was the first of the Bernie Rhodenbarr books. I had read a couple of the books in the series when I was in high school and college but have managed to collect most of the Rhodenbarr books in the last couple of years. The set up of this one is pretty straight forward. Bernie is hired to retrieve a a blue box from an upscale apartment, only to run into the police and a dead body... in that order. Bernie finds himself needing to figure out who killed the victim to keep himself out of the clink for murder. I liked it a lot, and hope to read the next book in the sequence soon.

Blackmailer by George Axelrod
This was my Hard Case Crime book for the month, and honestly it was ok. That's it, just ok. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading, but it felt a little lite and a little---- just there. The plot involves well, Blackmail, and the last book written by a well respect literary author who has died recently.

On the Run by John D MacDonald
From 1963-- On the Run is the story of... can you guess? Yeah a guy who has been on the run. His grandfather is dying and wants to see him and his brother one last time. I liked the travel stuff, and the set up of the crime elements, but the psychological and psycho-sexual stuff were fairly boring. It's been noted that the MacDonald view of women is archaic at best.

Thoughts, Comments, recommendations?

Screaming Trees Dust proposal

I have gotten a kick out of reading other's rejected proposals and figured that someone might like to see mine.

Thoghts, comments, spare change.

-Eric

The Screaming Trees

Dust

A Grunge Requiem

On June 25^th, 1996 the Screaming Trees released their final album, Dust. It had been four years since their previous album Sweet Oblivion had hit shelves and they had seen their world turned inside out, their community shoot to international prominence and acclaim and then spiral into chaos. They had been in the trenches, they had lost friends, they had seen into the deep dark depths of their generation and they had made it to the end of the grunge era. Andy Wood was gone, Kurt Cobain was gone. Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden had hit their zenith as commercial powers, and either becoming a cult only act, imploded or faded away.

The grunge revolution, renamed Alternative had been commoditized and processed, the labels, radio, promoters had gotten their hands into the pie, and their machine had figured out how to manufacture and market it for mass consumption. The confidence men running the record industry were also getting ready to launch a new wave of hyper poppy disco on a new generation who were more than happy to let take the money and walk away.

Knowingly or unknowingly the Screaming Trees offered up their last recorded document as a requiem for their scene, their city, and their friends and for the era. Part eulogy, part history, part meditation, Dust stands at not only the last record of that scene that matters, but as one of the last classics of the first era of alternative rock era as a mainstream concern. This is the story that I want to tell. The story of not only the record, the band, and the scene, but of Generation X and its first real foray into the mainstream of American pop culture as a voice, mostly saying something isn't right and isn't as it seems.

Drawing on lyrics, articles, reviews and my personal experiences, I want to talk about the reflective elements of this record; along with it's mapping out music of the world of alternative rock from the early days to what it has become. I also want to talk about the journey into roots rock for those who were there, those who survived and those who listened.

My target word count is 30,000 words, broken into three rough sections.

Pre Dust- this section would focus on:

1. a history of the Screaming Trees


2. a history of the grunge scene and their role with in that scene.


3. a time line of the band's history


4. notable events in the scene


5. An overview of the Screaming Trees sound as it developed through:




1. Psychedelic punk


2. Grunge


3. Rootys hard rock

Dust- This would focus on 1996 and be the biggest part of the book covering:

1. the album,


1. It's release


2. The cover art


3. The Songs


4. The singles


5. Radio play


6. Videos


7. Reviews


8. sales


2. Exploring how grunge had been renamed Alternative (just as punk was re-chrisined new wave) and marketed.


3. The coming prominence of the Internet and it's effect on music


4. the Telecom act of 1996


5. The death of MTV as a music channel




1. Headbangers Ball being canceled


2. 120 Minutes floundering and vanishing from the airwaves


3. The Real World/ Road Rules

Post Dust- this would cover what has happened with the album since it was released.

1. The end of the Screaming Trees

2. looking at the record from the lens of 2009

3. Discussion of the albums status and that it is considered by many to be a lost classic of the era

4. The current state of the former members of the Screaming Trees

5. wrap up section

Appendix-

Discography

At this point I have not contacted the former members of the band, but if this proposal was to be moved forward I would do my best to contact some of the members just to ask a couple of general question and see if they are at all interested in talking about the album.

Promotion. In addition to writing about the project on my blog, my mog (which is a music blogging site) and my face book, I am open to talking to the press, participating in radio and podcast interviews on the book. I am not the best at reading in public, but I would love to find a way to DJ at an event (with the Screaming Trees music of course) and/or talk about the book in public discussion.

I would like this book to read like the Minutemen 33 1/3, that is to say, readable, and not overly academic, and with sections that can be read on their own, but also read as a part of the whole. I want to be approachable and thought provoking. Too many of the installments in the series that I have read have been overly techy, or dry, and offered more in the way of the Names/Dates/Places school of history. I am also a big believer in not dragging things out, or padding. I strive to say what I have to say and move on.

No Grunge Requiem: 33 1/3 Proposals Rejection Edition

So I got the e-mail... sorry but your proposal was not selected for the short list... honestly I expected this when I saw the number of entries, the lack of comments mentioning my proposal, and looking back and feeling like what I had submitted wasn't as strong as it could have been.

The good news is that I have committed to writing the book anyway, even if it's going to end up as a writing exercise..... 

I am looking forward to seeing what was selected and hoping that a few of the books that intrigued me get the nod.

anyone who wants to see the short list can check here

33 1/3 proposals announced

Continuum publishing has announced the long list of proposals submitted during their recent open submission call. They had almost 600 submissions and it looks like a pretty diverse selection of titles. I have to say that I was disappointed to see so many recent indie darlings on the list, as I don't think they have come anywhere close to standing the test of time or had enough of an impact on the music world to merit a volume in the series.... yet.... you can take a look at the complete list here. 

 

I did submit a proposal, I'll leave it to you readers to figure out which one, I'll give  you 2 hints, the record is over 10 years old, and I was the only one to submit a proposal for the artist in question. Moggers will get an extra hint in looking for the obvious....

other than mine, the books that I would most like to see from this list are:

Beat Happening – Beat Happening

Blue Oyster Cult – Secret Treaties

The Cramps – Songs the Lord Taught Us

Danzig – Danzig

David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo

Iggy and the Stooges – Raw Power

Jellyfish – Spilt Milk

Johnny Cash – American Recordings

Mike Ness – Cheating at Solitaire

Modern Lovers – Modern Lovers

New York Dolls – New York Dolls

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Tender Prey

Pearl Jam – Ten

Queensryche – Operation Mindcrime

Richard Hell and the Voidoids – Blank Generation

Robert Calvert – Captain Lockheed

Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger

The Stooges – Fun House

Suicide – Suicide

Various Artists – Let Them Eat Jellybeans

Various Artists – O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack

Various Artists – Pebbles, Vol 1

Various Artists – Pulp Fiction: Music from the Motion Picture

Various Artists – Repo Man soundtrack

Various Artists – Reservoir Dogs soundtrack

Various Artists – Singles soundtrack

Warren Zevon – Warren Zevon

Waylon Jennings – Honky Tonk Heroes

Willie Nelson – Stardust

X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents

X – Los Angeles

 

my guess of which ones will get the nod? I think that at least one of the country records, maybe a soundtrack, and very likely one of the Stooges books will get the go ahead, depending on the proposals.... best of luck to everyone one who submitted, and I plan to write mine if it is selected, or even if it isn't...

Their blog is at http://33third.blogspot.com/