I saw Grizzly Bear play with Beach House last night at the church on 26th and St. Paul. The church itself is a great venue, especially for a show like this, the ambiance and the great stained glass add to the relaxed pace of both bands’ music. I had the opportunity to see Grizzly Bear last year, at Sonar, when then opened for TV On The Radio, and even though this time they struggled with a number of technical difficulties throughout the shows (levels, monitors, etc) I think this show was my favorite. Not only does Grizzly Bear seem more put together, they seem to have spent some time developing their sound. Listening to Yellow House, their newest album, afterwards, I’m impressed with the difference in quality. For one, their entrances and exits feel a little less forced. It might just be seeing them live, but their ability to listen to each other and play as one – their songs are sort of meandering, and there are a bunch of times where entrances are dependent on a lot of cooperation – has strengthened since last year. Beach House, who opened for Grizzly Bear, was also great. They played mostly new songs off their upcoming album, which was really impressive. I like their debut album, Beach House, but it wasn’t something I had spent much time with before the show. Since last night, however, I’ve been listening to it pretty much constantly. Beach House is a local Baltimore band, which I didn’t know about, but it made it even better to see them in their hometown. They’re a band that I think has a lot of potential, and it’ll be really interesting to see what happens to them in the future.

I just got my hands on Beirut’s new album, The Flying Club Cup, and am thoroughly impressed. The band has gone from klezmer/slavic/indie to some sort of fusion that feels both fluid and all their own. I’ve really gotten the sense from this album that the band has figured out what they want their own sound to be. Still a mix of lackadaisical lyrics and echolalic horns, the band’s development won’t leave fans of their previous album Gulag Orkestra and the EP Lon Gisland disappointed. While all the songs on the album are worth talking about, the two that I am most impressed with currently are “Forks And Knives (La Fete)” and “In The Mausoleum.” The former is an interesting departure for Beirut. Filled with their regular six-eight/klezmer rhythms, this song includes a sort of melodic quality that’s reminiscent of musical theatre pop. “In The Mausoleum” is an almost purely instrumental song, with a great 6/4 (or if you’re my roommate, 2/4 with a triplet feel) rhythm that carries you through the whole song. The meat of the song is a great violin solo which is a great counterpoint to the lead singers often intelligible (but for that reason even better) melodies.

http://www.beirutband.com/

The first book I’ve read by Haruki Murakami, Kafka On The Shore, proved to be a very different read for me. Filled with what can be called magical realism (although that’s not doing it justice), Kafka On The Shore tells the story of a 15 year-old youth who runs away from home to avoid what he believes to be his destiny. Murakami’s prose is a mix of what feels like folktelling, magical realism and minimalism, creating a stark but at times vibrant read. I had some trouble getting into the story, mainly because of the writing style, but once I was within the plot I was drawn in and couldn’t put it down.

The novel is split into two parts: the first part follows Kafka Tamura, the 15 year-old boy, and the second follows Satoru Nakata, a mentally handicapped senior citizen who spends his days finding lost cats. Slowly as the plot moves along their two stories become intertwined, and although they never really interact with one another their fates are tied so closely that what one person does has an extreme effect on the other. Through their attempts to discover just what it is that they are supposed to do, both characters meet others who either help or hinder them on their quest. As much a story of individual struggles as group struggles, the stories are inspiring.

I think my favorite part of the story are the dialogs Murakami creates. The characters are one-of-a-kind, and even minor characters, such as Oshima, a transsexual librarian, are given wonderful monologues which help to shed light on the two main characters. My personal favorite dialog takes place between Oshima and two women from a small feminist organization, who come to Oshima’s library to rate its usability and friendliness to women. In what follows, Oshima – who appears on the surface to be a man – reveals that he in fact is a transsexual woman, and engages the two feminists in a discussion of what should be the goals of such an organization. It’s little moments like this one that really show Murakami’s ability to write from different perspectives accurately, and its something I really got into.

Overall, the book was a mixed success for me. I really loved the conversations, and the elements of folktale and mythology that I found throughout the book. However, there were moments towards the beginning and the very end which felt like too much of a stretch for me. For instance, the book focuses around an Oedipal complex which is somewhat interesting, but really strange. It was a turn I didn’t really expect, and I wasn’t completely impressed with the way it panned out. However, the other parts of the novel out-shined these weak moments, and so it was still a very fun read. I’d be interested to read another book by him, and see what that one is like. If you’re looking for something that’s a little bit different from an average novel, Kafka On The Shore might be the book for you.

I just finished The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, and I must say, although I struggled with the novel at some points, the end of the book won me over. Peter Orner creates, through one to two page sections, an entire environment for the reader to enter. Set in Goas, a small school on a failed farm in Namibia, the reader very quickly becomes familiar with the feeling of drought, mixed-political agendas, and the desperation of a few teachers who know they’ll never leave there. The novel itself focuses on Larry Kaplanski, a white volunteer who comes to teach standard six history, and his experiences with the rest of the faculty and school staff. Soon after Kaplanski arrives at Goas, a female teacher, named Mavala Shikongo, returns from a mysterious disappearance with a one and a half year old child name Tomo. Already the focus of the male teachers attention, Mavala’s return only serves to further develop their fantasies of what Mavala is like.

The style of the novel is very interesting. Each chapter is a self-contained entity not more than a few pages long. Originally, this was a little difficult to get into, because I found it hard to keep the characters straight, and the point of view shifts between the sections, which makes it even more difficult. However, once I was in the thick of the novel and had a better grip on who was who, and then I started to really like the style. It made me able to see how even small events effected everyone in the small town. Because there isn’t much going on, and gossip travels fast, even the smallest event can hold everyone’s attention.

Within the story, there is also an element of the political history of Namibia, and how the wars in the past have effected everyone at the school, from the students who dream of being soldiers to the adults who have to live with the decisions they made. The subtlety of the interactions are at times haunting, and very powerful. Orner’s writing ability is clearly displayed in this novel, and I would love to read something else by him. He makes a lot of use of pure description, which allows you to see what he is talking about. It’s a little difficult at times, because he uses a lot of incomplete sentences, but once you are used to the descriptions they start to feel seamless with the rest of the text.

By far the end of the novel was my favorite part. Looking back on it it’s as if the novel was a slow build up to a powerful punch, which left me only wanting more. The more time and energy you put into this book the more you get out. Also, because of the sections, it makes it a really easy book to read slowly, or in small doses. I read the last 150 pages or so in 10-15 page doses right before going to bed. If you look at one book of the ones I’ve reviewed so far, I hope it is this one.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress tells the story of one Chinese city-youth during the early seventies sent to the countryside for re-education. Living in the village at the top of a mountain called “The Phoenix of the Sky,” the city-youth soon discovers a hidden collection of Western books translated into Chinese. In what follows, the unnamed youth, along with his close friend Luo and Luo’s girlfriend, the little Chinese seamstress, are forced to keep their secret from the village headmasters, for fear of never being allowed to return home. The story is a quick read and is very well told. The language used by Dai Sijie is simple and pristine. I read this novel while on my road trip, and it proved to be a great fit for it. Balzac was a novel I could pick up and put down whenever, and was short enough that I finished it just when I arrived at St. Louis. The plot is interesting, and gives a great glimpse into what re-education in China was like under Mao. The author, Dai Sijie, was “re-educated” himself during the ’70s. Although the story is not focused very much on the politics of the time period, you get a sense of what it must’ve been like to live through, especially for those people who would’ve been termed “political dissidents.”

The only problem I had with this short novel was the ending; it felt a little misdirected, or what can better be described as anti-climactic. I guess what my issue with it centered on is the role the little Chinese seamstress played in the novel. For the most part she was a secondary character, but then the story ends as if she were the main character. Most of the people I talked to about the novel didn’t seem to have as much of an issue with the ending, so maybe it’s just a personal thing. Either way, the novel is a quick read, and the story itself is fascinating enough that the ending doesn’t really take away from it.

Written in the late 80’s, the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie has been the source of an amazing amount of controversy. My own reason for originally picking up this book is my interest in how controversial it was, I didn’t know much about it beyond that. What I was most impressed with, after finishing the book, was not Rushdie’s ability to stir people up, but instead his writing style; it was unlike anything I had ever read before. Rushdie has a sensitivity for language that is original and impressive, he knows how to write prose that sounds like poetry and is quite remarkable. It took me a while to warm up to his writing, but past 100 pages or so, I found myself unable to put the book down; Salman Rushdie’s storytelling ability is one of the most engaging I have read lately.

The story focuses on two characters, Saladin and Gibreel, who at the start of the novel fall to Earth from an exploding commercial airliner. They survive their fall to discover that they have changed: Gibreel loses his chronic halitosis and gains a bright halo of light, while Saladin grows horns, a tail, and his legs become like that of a goat. What follows is a story of good vs. evil, and as time goes on both Gibreel and Saladin become confused as to their role in the fight. The novel is a beautiful story which follows the two characters down to the bottom and back up. In the end, the demons both characters believe they are fighting turn inward, and the characters realize that if they cannot overcome their own personal limitations, they won’t survive.

There are two other parts to this story, which are what generated more of the controversy behind the book. The first part follows the life of Muhammed (in the book known as Mahound), focusing on the part of his life which is referred to as the “satanic verses”, which were supposedly thrown out of the Qu’ran. The name was coined by historian Sir William Muir; if you want to find out about the “real” satanic verses, go here. The third part of the story follows a pilgrimage of a poor village to Mecca, and their own struggle with the arduous journey. Both sections add a lot to the main plot of Saladin and Gibreel, deepening each characters personal struggle with good and evil.

The book was a great summer read. It’s length and style made it a fun book to read on the beach and on the train to work. If you’re looking for something that’s a bit of a commitment, but worth the pay off, try The Satanic Verses.

The second novel by author Gary Stheyngart, Absurdistan is a testament to the author’s ability to write. The novel takes place in the fictional country of Absurdistan, which allows Shteyngart the freedom to develop a new world in which to look back at our own. Gripping, the story is filled with comic narrative and funny excerpts, but the farther the reader gets in the novel the more developed and intriguing the story becomes. What starts out as a silly novel about an over-weight Russian trying to get a Belgium passport to come to America, turns into a surprising critique of American foreign policy, and how information can be lost and misused by the government, the media, and even the people whom the information is hurting the most.

Misha Vainberg, the son of a wealthy mob boss in Russia, finds himself in the middle of a civil war when he goes to Absurdistan seeking a Belgium passport. A man who has never had to work a day in his life, Misha has a unique perspective on what he finds in Absurdistan. His naivety, while bringing him into further danger, also allows him to ask questions that see right through the lies that are being fed to him. Haliburton, two warring tribes, and the American Express Rapid Reaction Force are all engaged in a battle to manipulate and use the country of Absurdistan for their own benefits. As the country descends into a violent and destructive civil war, Misha witnesses first hand how individual interests can bring out the worst in people.

The novel’s extremely well written, with a style that’s refreshing and something I haven’t found anywhere else. The narrator has a self-deprecating humor which is both hilarious and also difficult to read. Of the people I’ve talked to who’ve read the book, a few have said that they couldn’t get past the humor. Personally, I found it to be O.K., but this is also the first book I’ve read by Shteyngart. His first novel, Russian Debutante’s Handbook, I’m told has a very similar sort of style, so I don’t know if I would’ve felt the same way having read that book first.

Shteyngart’s humor doesn’t stop with Misha, and in fact he even makes fun of himself. Throughout the novel references are made to Jerry Shteynfarb, a professor of writing who ends up dating Misha’s American girlfriend, Rouenna. There are several sections about Shteynfarb which are very witty, and add some depth to the text.

Overall I’d say Absurdistan is a very good read, and a lot of fun. If you’re looking for something that is both very funny and has some substance to it, I would certainly recommend this book!

Just Announced: The Octopus Project has announced a new album, Hello, Avalanche. Known for mixing electronic sounds and fun beats, The Octopus Project is best defined as “Lap-Rock” or Laptop Rock – that is, it sounds like a lot of it might’ve been put together on a laptop. This definition shouldn’t sound like a negative thing, The Octopus Project has done a wonderful job creating musical textures which can’t be found elsewhere. If you’re interested, I wrote a review of their previous album, One Ten Hundred Thousand Million, you can check it out here. Hello, Avalanche will be available October 9th.

You can hear a song off the album, “I Saw The Bright Shinies,” here.

http://www.theoctopusproject.com/

TOUR DATES:

08/17 – Huntsville, AL @ Bottle Tree *
08/18 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt *
08/19 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 *
08/20 – Greensboro, NC @ Two Art Chicks
08/21 – Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel +
08/22 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar +
08/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar +
08/24 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom +
08/25 – Boston, MA @ Middle East +
08/26 – Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod’s +
08/27 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe +
08/28 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace +
08/29 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Andy Warhol Museum +
08/30 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop +
08/31 – Chicago, IL @ Abbey Theatre +
09/01 – Minneapolis, MN @ Entry +
09/03 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey +
09/04 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom +
09/06 – San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s +
09/07 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey +
09/08 – San Diego, CA @ Beauty Bar
09/13 – Chicago, IL @ Metro #
09/14 – Madison, WI @ Barrymore #
09/15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre #
09/16 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue #
09/18 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick #
09/19 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop #
09/21 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar #
09/12 – Providence, RI @ Living Room #
09/23 – Boston, MA @ Middle East #
09/25 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse #
09/26 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground #
10/04 – Houston, TX @ Numbers
10/05 – Baton Rouge, LA @ TBA
10/06 – New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues
10/07 – Tallahassee, FL @ TBA
10/08 – Orlando, FL @ Back Booth
10/09 – West Palm Beach, FL @ City Limits
10/10 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbit’s
10/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
10/12 – Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
10/13 – Charlotte, NC @ Milestone
10/14 – Durham, NC @ Duke University
10/15 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottbar
10/16 – Washington, DC@ Rock and Roll Hotel
10/17 – Philadelphia, PA @ John Brenda’s
10/18 – New York, NY @ High Line Ballroom %
10/20 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott %
10/21 – Montreal, PQ @ La Sala Rosa %
10/22 – Toronto, ONT @ Sneaky Dee’s %
10/23 – Buffalo, NY @ Soundlab %
10/24 – Pittsburgh, PA @ TBA %
10/25 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop %
10/26 – Chicago, IL @ Abbey Theater ^^
10/27 – Chicago, IL @ Abbey Theater ^^
10/28 – Milwaukee, WI @ TBA
10/29 – Minneapolis, MN @ Entry
10/30 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
10/31 – Oklahoma City @ Opolis
11/02 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
11/03 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
11/05 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
11/06 – Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
11/07 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
11/08 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill
11/09 – Visalia, CA @ Howie’s
11/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy
11/11 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
11/12 – Tucson, AZ @ Plush
11/12 – Phoenix, AZ @ Modified
11/14 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
11/15 – Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s ~
11/16 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s ~

* = w/ Cinemechanica
+ = w/ Stereo Total
# = w/ Aesop Rock
% = w/ Enon
^^ = w/ Appleseed Cast, Enon
~ = w/ Horse+Donkey, Cue

Chronicle of a Death Foretold is the second novel I’ve read by Garbiel Garcia Marquez. The first, probably obviously, being 100 Years of Solitude. This novel takes on a different style than the 100 Years, and reads almost like a detective novel in reverse. That is, you know who did the crime, and you are watching the victim live out what happens. The story is about the death of a man, and about the people who could’ve stopped it and didn’t. The ending is horribly tragic, because you read what is inevitable, even though the whole novel is filled with people who could’ve stopped it. Through the plot the book touches on the responsibility of the individual, and how when people ignore that responsibility things that don’t have to happen do.

The novel spends time with most of the people in the town, and like Buendia in 100 Years, the reader feels like they’ve entered into the town, understanding the subtle connections that people share, allowing for rumors and town-secrets to spread even in pre-dawn hours. The day after a large celebration for a wedding, most of the characters in Chronicle of a Death Foretold spent the night out, celebrating. Within several hours, however, the motivation and the foretelling of the murder is discovered, and the townsfolk feel like they can only watch and see what happens.

It’s a very short read, a novella for sure but almost more of a long short story. Again its a wonderful highlight of Garcia Marquez’s style. He has this ability to write in the humidity and the flora to his stories. Reading them, you get the sense that you are among the towns people, standing and watching what happens to the poor man. It’s a great book to read after 100 Years as well because there are a few references to the novel, although a reader wouldn’t miss anything by not reading it beforehand.

Stephen Dixon’s latest novel, End of I, is more of a collection of short stories than a novel. Written in sections which feel almost like snapshots of different points during the main character, I.’s, life, Dixon gives the reader an extremely personal insight into the title character’s mind. Each section shows a different aspect of I., and Dixon does well in his attempt to be fair-minded about the character; he’s very good at staying away from the sentimentality that can often overpower such a character-portrait. I actually had the chance to study under Dixon at Johns Hopkins last year, and since then have gotten some good exposure to his writing style. His knack for obsessive and neurotic characters is clearly present in I.’s floundering, best seen in the section titled Daughter, which consists almost only of I.’s fearful thoughts about what his daughter does when she goes out at night.

Much of what drives End of I is Dixon’s energized writing style. Long paragraphs filled with thoughts, dialog and description, makes the reader feel entranced, almost anxious. I think it would be fair to say that reading End of I is physically draining. Having only read Dixon’s short stories before, and never a novel, I was amazed not that he didn’t run out of steam after a full-length novel (his short stories hold the same kind of energy as End of I), but that it felt like he could go on indefinitely.

At his retirement reading (at Hopkins), John T. Irwin told a story about when he used to work for Johns Hopkins Press, and had contacted Dixon about writing a collection of short stories for the press (I think the collection is titled, 14 Stories). He asked Dixon to send in about 15-20 short stories, which Irwin would then pick the best from, to give Dixon a sense of what sorts of stories Irwin wanted for the collection. Well, Dixon obliged, and when Irwin told him which stories he liked, Dixon sent the press 15-20 more stories. Irwin read through these new stories and selected something like four more, and told Dixon again to write some more stories, thinking that probably this time he would receive only 5 – 10 new stories. Instead, he received 15-20 more. Irwin said, “I shudder to think how much longer Dixon could’ve continue to crank out story after story.” This kind of tenacity is what gives End of I its captivating power.

I’m very interested to read Frog and Interstate, the two novels that Dixon is best known for (both were nominated for the National Book Award). If they are anything like End of I, I’m sure they’ll be both energizing and engrossing, with both tragic and warm-hearted moments that are extremely memorable. Unfortunately, I don’t have the book in front of me, so I can’t talk about the particular sections of the book. But trust me, if you pick up End of I you won’t be disappointed.