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I’ve been reading a lot lately, more so than usual. My reading goes through topical spurts where I read nothing but a particular genre or author. In line with that, I’ve had this long-standing goal to read as much existentialist literature as possible. I’m not clear as to the deep-seated reasons why I have this goal. I do know that I enjoy these authors immensely and relate to many of the philosophical concepts addressed in their works. The entire works of Kafka and Camus are behind me and a significant dent has been made in Hesse and Sartre. That’s why I was so pleased to come across the work of Naguib Mahfouz in Harvard Bookstore last summer. Mahfouz was an Egyptian author who published over 40 novels and other works from 1932-2005. His Wikipedia entry is here. Two excellent novels by Mahfouz are “The Thief and the Dogs” and “Autumn Quail.” Much of his writing deals with politics, particularly the Egyptian monarchy and revolution. These two works (both written in the early 1960s) are classics of existentialist literature, both with the changing Egyptian political situation as a major plot element. Although Mahfouz was a devout Muslim, he was not afraid to critique Islam or address atheistic subject matter. In 1994, 5 years and 1 day after he won the Nobel Prize for literature he was attacked and stabbed in the neck by two extremists, but survived. “The Thief and the Dogs” is the story of a Marxist named Said, who is released from prison and seeks revenge when betrayed by his wife and best friend. Said works through the conflicts he has with the changes in Egyptian politics that occurred while he was incarcerated and his all-encompassing desire to kill the mother of his daughter for her betrayal. This novel is both beautiful and ugly, and fascinating yet disturbing. Other works by Mahfouz that have existentialist themes are “The Beggar” and “Miramar”An excerpt from The Thief and the Dogs can be found here.
1.4.5. is from Syracuse, New York and features Paul Armstrong from seminal powerpop band Flashcubes of “Christi Girl” fame. Christi Girl was released in 1978 on the Northside label. The “Pink Invasion” 12 inch from 1981 is the first thing 1.4.5. ever released, followed by the Rhythm n' Booze 10 track LP released in 1988. The band is still together and performed live in Boston last year. I was lucky enough to find 2 copies of this record in San Diego during the same week of 2000. Great loud and rockin' tunes that hold up to anything from the golden powerpop era. Another great blog “Crud Crud” posted these songs a while back but the links don’t work anymore. Check out the Flashcubes web site here. They have a CD of new material available.
Track Listing:
She Couldn't Say No
Lets Groove
Mom & Dad
Sorry Wrong #
1.4.5. is the logical progression. Damn right!
Pink Invasion rar fileUPDATE! Saw 1.4.5. perform at P.A.'s Lounge in Somerville last November during the International Pop Overthrow festival. The set was amazing! Loud and tight with great vocals by Paul. They've still got the harmony thing down after all these years. I was mildly disappointed that Christi Girl wasn't on the set. I know it's not a 1.4.5. song, but come on guys, it's a GREAT song! Despite this omission, the set was superb with blistering versions of all four "Pink Invasion" songs and two or three others. A short and sweet set directly aimed at the heart of any true rock n roll fan. I hope they make it back to Boston for the next IPO.
Like many of you, I was saddened to hear that the Long Blondes cease to exist and even sadder to hear that their reason for disbanding was that wonderful lead guitarist Dorian Cox suffered a non life-threatening stroke in June 2008. What even made it stranger for me was that I had just seen them play a blistering live set at the Great Scott in Allston, MA in late May or early June (I forget exactly when). The show was fantastic with a huge crowd in attendance. It was my first time seeing them and I was impressed with Kate Jackson's singing and the entire band. I was really getting into the more dance oriented songs on the new (at the time) album "Couples" .
Long Blondes released the "Singles" album in October 2008, shortly after the break up announcement. I was excited and anyone who has done any research will know, the CD singles and 45s that have the non-album b-sides are pretty hard to track down. When I heard that this compilation would include rare b-sides, I was stoked. Unfortunately, its not comprehensive, missing quite a few great songs. It's still a good buy though, because it does have some rare tracks worth hearing. Particularly good are "Autonomy Boy" and "Appropriation." For those unfamiliar with it, here's the track listing:
Better yet, support the band and buy it here.
- "New Idols",
- "Long Blonde"
- "Autonomy Boy"
- "Giddy Stratospheres"
- "Polly"
- "Darts"
- "Appropriation By Any Other Name"
- "My Heart Is Out Of Bounds"
- "Lust In The Movies"
- "Separated by Motorways" (Demo)
- "Big Infatuation"
- "Peterborough"
Songs left off "Singles"
Whippet Fancier
Unbearable Lightness Of Building
Never To Be Repeated
I'm Coping
Fullwood Babylon
Five Ways To End It
Christmas Is Cancelled
All Bar One Girls
I have never heard "Last Night On Northgate Street" " Platitudes" or "Who Are You To Her." If you have these for sale or trade, please contact me. And yeah, I know some of these have been posted before, but never together like this.
WELCOME! Just what the world needs, another music based blog. I know they're are thousands of them, but I'll try to keep this one fresh by focusing on rare music that has not yet been posted on the Internet. Hopefully, music that one or two people have been searching for or curious about for years and this will be their opportunity to hear it and learn a little about it. (If you read my next post you'll realize I've already violated this self-imposed rule!) I'm gonna try to be different and mix up the posts with stuff about literature, art, cinema, live performance, comedy, food and drink, hobbies...
A not too short list of what you'll find here: Punk, Post-punk, Garage, Indie, Dub, Old Soul, Rock N Roll and a very small bit of Heavy Metal. Foreign Film, Film Noir, Exploitation Film, Documentary. Gig Reviews, Art Exhibits, Gallery Openings, Public Installations, Stand-up Comedy, Road Trips. Various ramblings (hopefully not boring)
Initially there will be a focus on music. I have a backlog of stuff I've been wanting to see on the Internet, but to no avail. That's partly why I finally said fuck it, I'll do it myself. If I post something you can find elsewhere please let me know. The Internet has enough junk and I don't want to be part of the problem (or am I already!)
Thanks for reading. Hope you like what I post or at least find it thought provoking.
I’ve been reading a lot lately, more so than usual. My reading goes through topical spurts where I read nothing but a particular genre or author. In line with that, I’ve had this long-standing goal to read as much existentialist literature as possible. I’m not clear as to the deep-seated reasons why I have this goal. I do know that I enjoy these authors immensely and relate to many of the philosophical concepts addressed in their works. The entire works of Kafka and Camus are behind me and a significant dent has been made in Hesse and Sartre. That’s why I was so pleased to come across the work of Naguib Mahfouz in Harvard Bookstore last summer. Mahfouz was an Egyptian author who published over 40 novels and other works from 1932-2005. His Wikipedia entry is here. Two excellent novels by Mahfouz are “The Thief and the Dogs” and “Autumn Quail.” Much of his writing deals with politics, particularly the Egyptian monarchy and revolution. These two works (both written in the early 1960s) are classics of existentialist literature, both with the changing Egyptian political situation as a major plot element. Although Mahfouz was a devout Muslim, he was not afraid to critique Islam or address atheistic subject matter. In 1994, 5 years and 1 day after he won the Nobel Prize for literature he was attacked and stabbed in the neck by two extremists, but survived. “The Thief and the Dogs” is the story of a Marxist named Said, who is released from prison and seeks revenge when betrayed by his wife and best friend. Said works through the conflicts he has with the changes in Egyptian politics that occurred while he was incarcerated and his all-encompassing desire to kill the mother of his daughter for her betrayal. This novel is both beautiful and ugly, and fascinating yet disturbing. Other works by Mahfouz that have existentialist themes are “The Beggar” and “Miramar”
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