Posts Tagged New Yorker
Um OK: Salinger & the 1940 Census
As recently noted by the New Yorker blog, Jen Carlson over at the Gothamist has discovered that (partially inspired by the release of personal details of 1940 Census) some folks have cobbled together small details about a pre-recluse J.D. Salinger. An odd way to go, but still interesting to check out on some level.
I am more intrigued by the potential for generic, non-celebrity research:
“Kate Stober at the NYPL tells us it’s ‘more than just a research tool, we’ll be helping New Yorkers create a social history map of buildings and neighborhoods in the five boroughs. When you find an address, the tool pins it to both a 1940 map and a contemporary map, so you can see how the area has changed.’ “
Mike Doughty on Yes and Also Yes
Posted by admin in Music, Uncategorized on August 24, 2011
Article first published as Interview: Musician Mike Doughty on Yes and Also Yes on Blogcritics.
Mike Doughty (be sure to click the pic for a closer look at the Clayton Moore portrait behind him)
My appreciation of Mike Doughty‘s music started much later than most fans, as I first became aware of his work with his 2005 album, Haughty Melodic. When I found he had a new album, Yes and Also Yes, set for release on August 30, I immediately set up an email interview to find out what was in store for fans of his work. If you’ve never seen Doughty live, take a spin around YouTube for a bit and you quickly will realize that you should see him live as soon as possible. To best frame the album in proper context, I quote Doughty himself: “I recorded it in a studio in Koreatown, Manhattan, from July ’10 to April ’11. Produced by Pat Dillett. Notable musicians included my trusty factotum Andrew ‘Scrap’ Livingston on bass, and the pianist Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman, who basically plays with everybody who’s groovy (Justin Bond, Antony and the Johnsons, Glen Hansard, The National, David Byrne, Yoko Ono). I’m releasing it on my own label, Snack Bar, through Megaforce. I split with Dave Matthews’ label ATO so I could run my own shop and have more control, business-wise.”
I had a chance to listen to the album in preparation for this interview, and I was pleased to find there’s not a bad cut among any of the 14 songs. One song that I hope will garner a lot of attention is “Holiday”, a Christmas duet with singer/songwriter great Rosanne Cash. About Cash, Doughty said: “ I did a show with her, and she said, onstage, ‘I feel nervous playing my new songs, because Mike Doughty is here, and he’s such a great songwriter.’ That blew my mind.” Honestly, to borrow a phrase from Doughty, their duet blows my mind. I am the kind of person that hates hearing Christmas music anytime other than December. But this song has such an amazing hook (as most of Doughty’s songs do), I ended up playing it seven times in a row the first time I heard it. The whole album pulled me in just as much and it was a pleasure to interview Doughty. We also get to discuss another recent Doughty musical project, Dubious Luxury, released earlier this month. My thanks to Doughty for his time and thoughts, as well as Rob Moore for facilitating the interview.
You’re an artist who clearly loves to play live. In developing Yes and Also Yes, how much did you play some of these songs before an audience prior to entering the studio? And did any of the cuts change drastically from how it was initially conceived compared to the final version?
I’ve been playing a lot of comedy shows, around Brooklyn and Manhattan, as a musical guest, and I played “Na Na Nothing”, and “Day By Day By” at nearly every one of them, plus, maybe, “27 Jennifers”. If I play something a lot, before or after recording it, the phrasing will change ever so slightly, so there’ll be a cumulative evolution that I barely notice, unless I listen to a five-year-old version, and then it’s kind of startling. So, I don’t really know.
Stephen Battaglio on David Susskind Biography
Posted by admin in episodic TV, Film, talk show on March 16, 2011
David Susskind: A Televised Life
Very rarely a great interview opportunity lands in my comments section. Such was the case when Stephen Battaglio, author of David Susskind: A Televised Life, posted a comment in a recent Susskind post of mine. From there, I contacted Battaglio and he agreed to do an email interview about the book (here’s its official description): “David Susskind was the first TV producer to become a TV star. His freewheeling discussion program, Open End, later known as The David Susskind Show, brought the turbulent issues of the 1960s and the wild and often wacky social trends of the 1970s into the nation’s living rooms at a time when viewing choices were scant. Susskind grilled everyone from a Mafia hit man to transsexuals to a famously hilarious Mel Brooks. His legendary interview with Nikita Khrushchev at the height of the Cold War inflamed both the political and media establishments and would have made his name if nothing else did … David Susskind: A Televised Life is as much a chronicle of a glamorous time in the entertainment industry as it is a biography of one of its most colorful, important and influential players.” My thanks to Battaglio for an immensely enjoyable and insightful discussion about Susskind.
Tim O’Shea: This book grew out of a piece you wrote for the NY Times back in 2001, what motivated you to grow it into a book?
Stephen Battaglio: I had wanted to write a book about the history of television. When I researched the story about Susskind, I realized that he was a great vehicle to tell the story of the medium in its early years. What I didn’t realize until I researched the book, was that his personal story was so dramatic. I think it will surprise readers who thought they knew him.
Great Ideas: New Yorker Calls for First-Person Anecdotes about JD Salinger
Posted by admin in biography, Literature on February 10, 2011
I love the New Yorker for their constant intellectual curiosity. Consider Richard Brody‘s flagging of Macy Halford’s suggestion regarding J.D. Salinger.
“Reading [Blair] Fuller’s piece [in Paris Review Daily], it occurred to me that a general call for first-person anecdotes about Salinger should be issued, and the sooner the better. It has been reported that an authorized biography will probably never be allowed, and as noble an effort as an unauthorized biography may be, I think I’d prefer to hold in my hand a collection of personal remembrances like Fuller’s—each one a pearl, no digging required. Or maybe the Paris Review could be convinced to apply the George Plimpton Oral Biography treatment to Salinger’s life (like this wonderful one of Truman Capote): “J.D. Salinger: In Which Various Goddam Hot-shots and Phonies Recall his Strange and Wonderful Career.”
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/02/a-night-with-jerry.html#ixzz1Dd75NIuE
The New Yorker Reassures Me
Posted by admin in Film, Music, Uncategorized on February 6, 2008
I don’t know about you, but the Britney Spears 24/7 channels are getting to me. Fortunately, I can turn the TV off.
But in an election year, at a time when we have actual stories of consequence being ignored for more “interesting” celebrity news, I seek the rationale and reassurance of traditional media outlets.
My local library has The New Yorker among its periodical holdings. And to make things even better, this particular library system allows you to check the magazines out. Tonight I found myself reading David Denby’s essay on the films of Otto Preminger from the January 14, 2008, issue.
To help ward off the legions of TMZs that seem to be doubling in size every day, The New Yorker is of help in many other ways. In addition to the magazine, The New Yorker offers online content, blogs and even audio confort in the form of podcasts. For example, a click here will offer listeners “The New Yorker’s poetry editor, Paul Muldoon, [as he] talks with Matt Dellinger about rock and roll and the state of poetry.”
If I can always find forms of media that engage me, rather than seemingly killing off brain cells as a victim of poor taste pop culture, I’ll be fine. At least that’s what I tell myself.
Tumblring with Tim- Insufferable returned with a new arc today at... April 4, 2013Insufferable returned with a new arc today at Thrillbent—and artist Peter Krause spoke with me about it. […]
- Love how artist Peter Krause and colorist Nolan Woodard pulled... April 4, 2013Love how artist Peter Krause and colorist Nolan Woodard pulled off this art as screen reflection in this panel of Insufferable. […]
- Insufferable returned with a new arc today at... April 4, 2013
Recent Comments