In the middle of my salsa and <i>son</i> craze, Iron & Wine's <i>The Shepherd's Dog</i> has come as a surprise. It got me wondering what other albums I might've missed along the way. Lots, I'm sure. If I end up with some spare cash after the holidays, I think I'll take some time to revisit my indie-pop/folk fascination, starting with the following:
Hey, have you guys heard the new Iron & Wine album, <i>The Shepherd's Dog</i>? It's been out for awhile now, but Robert just let me borrow his copy. I don't know what it is about Sam Beam, but his music has a way of getting me all nostalgic for every love I've ever felt. Then I imagine myself older, looking out of some unfamiliar window, a scene dressed in orange and green and blue, warm air, some trees, alone and feeling alright.
B. R. Myers didn't like Denis Johnson's National Book Award winning <I>Tree of Smoke</I> <A HREF="http://www.theatlantic.com:80/doc/200712/vietnam">much</A>.
Stockhausen's death garnered all the attention, but I'd be remiss if I didn't note the passing of Andrew Imbrie on December 5.
Every Tuesday, <I>The Guardian</I> posts John Crace's "Digested Read," which is a parodic review of a book written in the (greatly exaggerated) style of the book itself.
Somebody at <I>The Washington Post</I> had the supremely brilliant idea of having Pulitzer Prize winning literary critic Michael Dirda <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR20071…; <I>The Completely Mad Don Martin</I>.
When I browse through early issues of this magazine, I envy <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/historical/712">J. Gordon Holt</A>. When he <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/711">founded</A> <I>Stereophile</I> in 1962, there were aspects of society that stood as solid as the Rockies overlooking his current Colorado home. Back then a magazine was a thing forever; the main means of serious communication would always be the written word; records would always be LPs...recorded in stereo; the US had a large, prosperous consumer electronics industry; computers were huge mainframes made in the USA by IBM (of course), and required air-conditioned rooms and armies of white-coated attendants; everyone watched three broadcast television networks; once a film left the neighborhood cinema, it was gone forever—or at least until it appeared on the "Late, Late, Late Show." And most importantly, people took for granted that progress in sound reproduction meant improvements in quality.
As easy as it is to communicate electronically, some things are still better done in person. At too-infrequent intervals, I visit <I>Stereophile</I>'s writers, listen to their systems, and basically get them to show'n'tell the components they're reviewing. In this way, if they describe what <I>I'm</I> hearing, I have the confidence to publish their review, even if its findings run counter to accepted wisdom.