Many things to report over here, including what looks to be a successful Kickstarter campaign for the 2012 edition of Best Music Writing. But many other things are in progress (including this reading, which all of you should check out), and so instead I’ll leave you with a link to this Porcelain Raft interview that … Continue reading
Me @ Volume 1- Coming Soon to a Lower East Side Near You*
- Afternoon Bites: Chris Andrews on translation, Hot Lit Mags, James Sturm on Jack Kirby, and more
- Notes on Quentin Rowan, Yeti, and Bits of Spy Novels
- Reviewed: “Sister Stop Breathing” by Chiara Barzini
- Afternoon Bites: William S. Burroughs in pop culture, “Angelmaker” gets a trailer , 90s hardcore and Skrillex, and more
Author Archives: Tobias
January 31, 2012, Author: , Leave a comment
Porcelain Raft, Best Music Writing, Sara Levine, and more
Categories: criticism, MusicMany years ago, I ended up directing a video for a Seattle band called Crystal Skulls. (If you’re not familiar with the band in question and your tastes in music run towards pop with smart, occasionally biting lyrics, you could do far worse than checking out one of their two albums.) It was an interesting … Continue reading
January 19, 2012, Author: , Leave a comment
In Which a Kickstarter Campaign Is Undertaken
Categories: BooksSo: to be filed under “long-in-the-works projects,” Daphne Carr and I are starting an independent press. The first title will be the next installment of the Best Music Writing series. There’s presently a fundraising campaign afoot. You will, I’m sure, be hearing more about the press in question in the weeks and months to come.
January 19, 2012, Author: , Leave a comment
In Which Music Is Written About (part two: profane punk edition)
Categories: Music, ReviewA couple of months ago, my friends Diehard were playing an afternoon CMJ show. The band following them had a less-than-enticing name: Diarrhea Planet. A couple of the folks from Diehard advised me to stick around, and I’m glad that I did: DP’s sound recalled a number of irreverent, anthemic punk bands I enjoyed listening … Continue reading
January 17, 2012, Author: , Leave a comment
In Which Music Is Written About (part one: alt-country edition)
Categories: MusicWith 2012 on us, I’ve begun contributing to The L Magazine. Most recently (as I write this, though I should have another piece up before long), I wrote about Scud Mountain Boys’ recent show at the Bowery Ballroom.
When I first started thinking about doing a zine in the mid-90s, two of the zines that inspired me most were Rumpshaker and Anti-Matter*. And pretty much since late last month, I’ve intended to use that as a point to link pieces by the editors of each: Eric Weiss’s interview with Carrie Whitney on the … Continue reading
I’m re-reading Jonathan Lethem’s Chronic City for one of the book groups I’m in, and I figured it might make sense to delve into Kevin Avery’s biography of Paul Nelson, Everything Is An Afterthought. (Robert Christgau points out in his review of Avery’s book that Nelson was the inspiration for Chronic City‘s Perkus Tooth.) So … Continue reading
Another Christmas finds me in scenic New Jersey, along with family, beagles, and a pair of Krampuses hanging from the tree. My reading material: Stephen King’s 11/22/63 (shades of years ago, where I’m pretty sure Needful Things was my Christmastime reading.) Here’s hoping the holiday season finds you well.
Two more 2011 lists for your consideration, both at Vol.1: my favorite 2011 books read in 2011, and my favorite non-2011 books read in 2011. In-depth thoughts on both are at the links, but here are the lists: -2011- Dana Spiotta, Stone Arabia (Scribner) David Foster Wallace, The Pale King (Little, Brown and Company) Vanessa Veselka, Zazen (Red Lemonade) Justin … Continue reading
As promised: here are a few more year-end lists from me. At Vol.1, I’ve listed some of my favorite writing about music for the year. And at Big Other, I talk about some of my favorite live music of 2011.
I hadn’t realized that a pair of Three Mile Pilot albums had been reissued on vinyl by Hi-Speed Soul until I found myself browsing through the “T” section at Generation earlier this week. And now I know, and have duly purchased Chief Assassin of the Sinister. I also picked up Temporary Residence’s Bitch Magnet collection … Continue reading
So hey, the year 2011 is nearing its end, which tends to mean that it’s time to muse on the year’s artistic offerings in concise form. In other words: there will be year-end lists. And so: here are a few of mine, with more to come. (I’ll have a couple of pieces up at Vol.1 … Continue reading
December 6, 2011, Author: , Leave a comment
New Fiction at Joyland: “An Old Songwriter’s Trick”
Categories: Fiction, MeAt Joyland, I have a new short story up, titled “An Old Songwriter’s Trick.” This is how it begins: The week Owen left New York was one of sweltering humidity reaching down to enrapture us, swaddle us, leave us all reaching for insufficient comfort. We assumed Owen was alone in the task of loading a … Continue reading
I’ve been a fan of the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson since around the time I heard his 2004 album Virðulegu Forsetar, a magnificent work that slowly unfolds from burgeoning drone to expansive bliss. And more recently, I’ve been listening semi-obsessively to a piece called “The Cause of Labour is the Hope of the World,” which comes from his … Continue reading
While in New Jersey over the weekend, I ran a 5K. (I’m #225, which — oddly enough — is the number of the house I grew up in.) Here’s what I looked like before running it: The upside: this was my first time running as part of a larger group, and I didn’t panic/lose my … Continue reading