Last CD you bought/ Book you read (3 Viewers)

Ben Myers The Book ofFuck was a real mosh-pit of a book -- loved the punk/rock-n-roll ethos.
The Class of '49 by Don Carpenter was fantastic too -- like the Dubliners only in Portland, or like The Last Picture Show of the Pacific Northwest. Once again, it shocks me that he's basically unknown. I would now LOVE to see the un-produced screenplay Carpenter did for Buk's Post Office -- I definitely think he could've got a lot of it right!
 
Off the back of Skygazer's recommendation on here I read The Hundred Year Old Man.... It's a modern day crime caper alongside the protagonist's accidental involvement in some of the most significant events of the 20th Century. I enjoyed it even if it felt a bit too self-conscious at times. It's also completely daft but it's all the better for it.
Another recent one is Rosie Hogarth by the excellent (and now back in print) Alexander Baron, who I've mentioned on here before (I think). It's not as good as The Lowlife or From the City, From the Plough but not many books I've read are and it's still well worth checking out.
Someone else on here told me to read Sam Pink so I picked up a copy of Person. I loved the style of it and the way you get inside the main character's head. The recurring line "It feels like practice" conveyed the sense of detachment from events that we all get in certain situations. Or maybe that's just me. It just lacked a bit of substance though. I wanted it to keep going. Good stuff though, all the same.
Finally, I've just finished Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle, which I must have been meaning to read for about 15 years. It's a nostalgic look at childhood that manages to have enough emotional depth to prevent it being just another look at school days from a bygone era.
 
Anyone else read the set of 10 Swedish crime novels with Detective Martin Beck; written in the 60's by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall? initially a right pain getting your tongue around all the Swedish name places etc, (you fall in love with the dour, grumpy Beck despite yourself) a bit heavy on the marxist stuff at times, (but it is the 60's) best read in chronological order. Also Sicilian crime novels by Andreas Camilleri starring Inspector Montalbano; totally sexist, non pc, but funny.
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Reading it as well. Read "Rosanna" and the 4th one. Just got the 2nd and now am dedicated to reading the rest in order. Martin Beck is a great real character. The books are full of real characters
 
Read the rest of them in order if you can, the characters really unfold as you go along, I think they were very influential in their realism and what came after in the crime novel genre.I was really sad to get to the end of them.
But loving the other ones posted too, set in Sicily by Andrea Camilleri, - try them afterwards, the descriptions of the place and the food alone is worth it, never mind the humour in them (which is great). I read one while away on holiday this week.
 
Steppin' Razor: The Life of Peter Tosh

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Tosh was an uncompromising motherfucker, which made him a polarizing figure (Jamaican police tried to beat him to death for his outspokenness, but he survived) and limited his chances of "success" in the music business.

No one used a wah pedal like Tosh! Listen to his Equal Rights album for a master class in reggae rhythm guitar and flat out, timeless rebel music.

Often overlooked and destined to forever be in the shadow of his more famous Wailers band mate, this is the first serious bio that's been written about Tosh. And it may well be the last, but it shouldn't be.

I don't want no peace
I need equal rights and justice
 
great live stuff -
Wow, that's quite the culture shock: Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Weber, Beethoven, Brahms, and oh yeah, Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. Rather Like a Lawrence Welk show featuring Myron Floren, Librace, and Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra.

Tosh was an uncompromising motherfucker, which made him a polarizing figure (Jamaican police tried to beat him to death for his outspokenness, but he survived) and limited his chances of "success" in the music business.
I had a girlfriend in the late '80s who was into reggae and got me into the genre (we had a very good club in New London, CT; the El and Gee Club (or was it L&G, I dunno) which brought in some good acts). I asked her about which Marley I should listen to and she said something to the effect of - listen to any and all Marley, but if you want to really understand reggae, listen to Tosh. She wasn't wrong.
 
Tosh was my entree to Jamaican roots reggae. His later records had a more commercial sound that critics constantly bashed him for, but he used to ask (paraphrasing) "Why does the shit-stem want to limit my music to a few instruments? Reggae should be played with orchestras so people in suits and ties can hear the truth."
 
I can't say enough about this book. It was published in the UK last year and just came out in the US from Hogarth (Random House). She got a great front page review in the NYT Review of Books (!) and I heard her interviewed on NPR. Jenni is also a great lady in general. She comes from the small press as a poet and short story writer (I published a book of 2 short stories of hers last year) and the press is well deserved. A great book.

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Just bought "Dandy In The Underworld" by Sebastian Horsley. Comes highly praised by Tony O'Niell, author of the awesome "Down and Out in Murder Mile"
 
Latest record that's come into the house here...

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It's not exactly a new release, and it's a hodge podge (as these box set things tend to be), but it's a god damn magnificent hodge podge.

Disc: 1
1. Purple Haze (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
2. Killing Floor (Live: Olympia Theater, Paris, France, October 18, 1966) (Previously Unreleased Recording)
3. Hey Joe (Live: Olympia Theater, Paris, France, October 18, 1966) (Previously Unreleased Recording)
4. Foxey Lady (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
5. Highway Chile (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
6. Hey Joe (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
7. Title #3 (Previously Unreleased Recording)
8. Third Stone From the Sun (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
9. Taking Care of No Business (Previously Unreleased Recording)
10. Here He Comes (Lover Man) (Previously Unreleased Recording)
11. Burning of the Midnight Lamp (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
12. If Six Was Nine (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
13. Rock Me Baby (Live: Monterey International Pop Festival, June 18, 1967) (Previously Unreleased Alternate Mix)
14. Like A Rolling Stone (Live: Monterey International Pop Festival, June 18, 1967) (Previously Unreleased Alternate Mix)
Disc: 2
1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Live: Stockholm, Sweden, September 5, 1967)
2. Burning Of The Midnight Lamp (Live: Stockholm, Sweden, September 5, 1967)
3. Little Wing (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
4. Little Miss Lover (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
5. The Wind Cries Mary (Live: Olympia Theater, Paris, France, October 9, 1967) (Previously Unreleased Recording)
6. Catfish Blues (Live: Olympia Theater, Paris, France, October 9, 1967) (Previously Unreleased Recording)
7. Bold As Love (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
8. Sweet Angel (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
9. Fire (Live: Clark University, Worcester, Ma. March 15, 1968)
10. Somewhere (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
11. (Have You Ever Been To) Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
12. Gypsy Eyes (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
13. Room Full Of Mirrors (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
14. Gloria (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
15. It's Too Bad (Previously Unreleased Recording)
16. Star Spangled Banner (Studio Recording)
Disc: 3
1. Stone Free (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
2. Spanish Castle Magic (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
3. Hear My Train A Comin' (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
4. Room Full of Mirrors (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
5. I Don't Live Today (Live: Los Angeles Forum, Ca., April 26, 1969) (Previously Unreleased Original Mix)
6. Little Wing (Live: Royal Albert Hall, London, February 24, 1969)
7. Red House (Live: San Diego Sports Arena, Ca., May 25, 1969)
8. Purple Haze (Live: San Diego Sports Arena, Ca., May 25, 1969) (Previously Unreleased Original Mix)
9. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (Live: Royal Albert Hall, London, February 24, 1969)
10. Izabella (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
Disc: 4
1. Message To Love (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
2. Earth Blues (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
3. Astro Man (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
4. Country Blues (Previously Unreleased Recording)
5. Freedom (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
6. Johnny B. Goode (Live: Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, Ca., May 30, 1970)
7. Lover Man (Previously Unreleased Recording)
8. Blue Suede Shoes (Live: Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, Ca., May 30, 1970)
9. Cherokee Mist (Previously Unreleased Recording)
10. Come Down Hard On Me (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
11. Hey Baby/In From The Storm (Live: Maui, Hawaii July 30, 1970) (Previously Unreleased Recording)
12. Ezy Ryder (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
13. Night Flying Bird (Previously Unreleased Alternate Recording)
14. All Along The Watchtower (Live: Isle Of Wight, England, August 30, 1970) (Previously Unreleased Alternate Mix)
15. In From The Storm (Live: Isle Of Wight, England, August 30, 1970) (Previously Unreleased Alternate Mix)
16. Slow Blues (Previously Unreleased Recording)
 
I've got some versions of the same songs by Hendrix on a Hendrix BBC album that Castle Communications brought out ages ago:
http://www.discogs.com/Jimi-Hendrix-Radio-One/release/1341739
The version of Killing Floor is amazing. Little Wing is one of my favourite songs ever as well. Not that I'm opposed to his harder stuff but a lot of his ballad-type stuff (if you could call that) is just fantastic. Hendrix has a bit of a connection with Newcastle through Chas Chandler and played in the city a few times. http://www.hendrixnortheast.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/hendrix/newcastle.htm
My uncle saw him at the Club A GoGo.
 
I somehow neglected this thread for a year or so. Since Jan. 2013, I have read:

"Let The Great World Spin" - Colum McCann. One of those multi-thread narratives woven around a single event - Philip Pettit's tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974. McCann is a capable writer with a deep affinity for his flawed characters (much like Denis Johnson). In fact, two of these characters here I have found to be unforgettable. And I can't say that for too many novels I've read recently.

"The Yellow Birds" - Kevin Powers. A fictional war novel set in Iraq 2004 by a U.S. Army combat veteran who spent his G.I. college money (and then some) on an MFA in Poetry. That's all you need to know. Now go read it.

"Angels" - Denis Johnson. His first novel. Unbelievably involving and funny and wrenching and other-worldly. Everything you've heard about Johnson is present here. Hipsters will tell you to start with "Jesus' Son" to discover Johnson's talents but I say begin here.

"Vampires In The Lemon Grove" - Karen Russell. A collection of short stories that I enjoyed even more than "Swamplandia!", her Pulitzer-nominated novel of 2011. She creates weird little worlds of dreams, humor, wonder, and fear. Not exactly sci-fi or horror, she can still unsettle you. And yet she will walk you through beautifully constructed passages like this (from the title story)

Because I love her, my hunger pangs have gradually mellowed into a comfortable despair. Sometimes I think of us as two holes cleaved together, two twin hungers. Our bellies growl at each other like companionable dogs. I love the sound, assuring me we're equals in our thirst. We bump our fangs and feel like we're coming up against the same hard truth.

Best of all, Russell is only 32 and has years and years of story-telling to go...
 
Set in a rundown New York in the mid-70's, the novel explores a year of heroin abuse and "diet pill" popping. "Requiem For A Dream" by Hubert Selby Jr. Very good, as is the movie by Daron Aronofsky.
 
I would like to read The Lost Weekend - I loved Billy Wilder's film with Ray Milland, although it didn't come across as a run down area, if I am remembering it correctly.

I read Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night on the back of seeing the film and preferred it. It was probably on of the first things I read that dealt with the more taboo subject (both in life as well as literature) of female addiction/denial, ditto - Tennessee William's A Streetcar named Desire.
May not have read them, but for the films.
 
I preferred reading the play, I felt more for Mary (the mother of the family) in the play than I did watching the film - Katherine Hepburn isn't one of my favourite actresses - I admire her as a woman, but for me there was a coldness or stiffness to her performances, don't know why.
 
Haven't bought music in well over 10 years. Except for vinyl. Think the last record I bought was Pink Floyd's 'Animals'.

I'm reading 'Lord of the Flies' and 'Mike Tyson's Autobiography'.
 

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