Mix Bag #1: Elbow, Books on the Music Industry, and Games to Waste Time and Sharpen Your Mind

Mix Bag is a weekly feature that brings together a random collection of media and highlights why it all matters to you.

Mix Bag #1: Elbow, Books on the Music Industry, and Games to Waste Time and Sharpen Your Mind

Since this is our very first Mix Bag here at There There Kid, we'd like to explain the purpose for this weekly feature. As you may know, There There Kid distinguishes itself from other entertainment related blogs by attempting to connect otherwise disparate works of art or media through central themes. Since there's so much going on out there, Mix Bag is our opportunity to just throw everything we find interesting out there, allowing you to find something new or make your own connections. So, this first Mix Bag might be a little rough, but as we get going, we hope it will develop into an important event on its own.

Let's get started...

The first thing of interest involves music, and there are (finally!) some interesting albums coming out this year. First, Elbow have finally released their third studio album, The Seldom Seen Kid. It's been four years since we've seen this band release new material, so this is nice to see. The thing is, the album's only out in the UK, and won't be released in the US until April 22. However, I have a copy of the album in hand, so expect a review soon (trust me, it's good). Cloud Cult will release their latest, titled Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes), on April 8. Plus, there's been a lot of buzz surrounding R.E.M.'s latest Accelerate , which comes out tomorrow. Will Michael Stipe and crew actually wow us, or will Accelerate be as stale as its predecessors? We'll know soon enough. Other interesting new releases include Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks' latest Real Emotional Trash -- which is much more upbeat than the albums that came before it, even if some of the tracks (especially the title track) feel a little stale -- Destroyer's Trouble In Dreams, She & Him's Volume 1 (which has actress Zoey Deschanel on vocals), Spoon's Don't You Evah EP, and the good albums just keep coming. Which is great, because 2008 started off with a lot of disappointment.

On the jazz front, I've had a chance to listen to Dave Douglas & Keystone's Moonshine, and it's a great album, albeit a little weird (but I like weird).

Speaking of all of this great music, I can't help but notice how a majority of it comes from indie label acts. Is there a reason why all of this great music comes from indie labels, while the major labels eat each other whole? According to Dan Kennedy's latest memoir Rock On, the reason is because the music industry is still completely oblivious to what people in the 21st Century still want. Ever since that whole Napster debacle, the RIAA has imploded on itself, causing the rise in indie labels that snatch up the good acts before the "man" gets them. Just take a look at that little Radiohead experiment, or the recent move by well established artists to the Starbucks label. According to the New York Times Book Review, Kennedy "doesn’t expound on the music industry’s decline; instead, he simply lays out reams of damning evidence," and although that seems fairly obvious, Rock On is here to hilariously confirm our worst fears and further the music lover's move to indie.

All of this music industry talk reminded me that Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins is suing his former record label, Virgin Records, for using the band's music in an advertising campaign the band did not approve. We'll see how that one turns out.

In other books news, Owen Shears' Resistance is a novel that, like Phillip Roth's The Plot Against America, revises the history surrounding World War II and Nazi Germany. Shears' novel has the British losing against the Germans in the D-Day invasions, and as German forces attempt to establish themselves, a secret movement against the Germans forms in Britain. I haven't yet read this, but there's supposedly a love story thrown in there as well. Also, I've just discovered Stephanie McMillan, an excellent graphic novelist and comic writer. Blogcritics.org has an interview with Stephanie McMillan up on their site right now, where she explains how she connects comics to the larger good of society: "I think many people want more art that challenges the status quo, and they appreciate it when they find it." True True.

Even if art isn't specifically challenging the status quo, can't it at least challenge the mind? According to the makers of Guest House, there are games that are challenging, yet seem simple on the surface. Of course that seems kind of obvious, until you've played Guest House, then you'll understand that this game is much more complex than it seems. What seems like a simple flash game turns into a real difficult challenge that moves from the surreal to the sublime.

There's so much more we have to cover, but for now, that's it. Next week, we'll dig through a couple more CD's, take a look at some new books, do some critiquing of the media, and find some new time wasters.

Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke and the Endless War in Iraq

Out of all the major upsets, tragedies, and failures America has experienced in this new century, none will be as damaging to American morale as our current war in Iraq. We've just marked two major milestones in Iraq--five years of direct conflict and war, and four thousand troop deaths--and yet, the powers that be, those taking on the unenviable task of trying to fix this mess, have not improved conditions for the Iraqi people or for America's safety and standing in the world.

And yet, we knew it was inevitable. We knew that our relationship with the Middle East was contentious and multi-layered, and that a military occupation of a nation that did not provoke or attack us would stir up resentment and anger in that region. We may never recover from these fractured relationships, much less win militarily.

Those who warned against war in 2003 had their patriotism questioned and their voices silenced, and now that their fears of the worst have come true, they now seem to represent the mainstream opinion. Yet, the Bush administration and Republican Presidential nominee John McCain continue to support this war without an end, and their poll numbers continue to fall.

Of course, the War in Iraq is not the first war America has messed up. The obvious one was Vietnam, but there were plenty that came before that, and even the ones that we won had their problems and setbacks. These wars, and the effects they have on an entire population of people, seem to come and go throughout history. Yet nothing seems to change; every other generation or so, we start the pattern of fear, war, remorse, and peace over again and then promise that we'll never do it again.

Denis Johnson's 2007 novel Tree of Smoke speaks to a war-torn generation in the ways that previous war novels have spoken, and all the elements of a classic are built right in. First, Johnson writes of a different era (the Vietnam war), a grand but elusive objective controlled by the mythical powers that be (the CIA's secret operations), and a resolution that leaves our heroes as washed up failures. Like Joseph Heller's World War II novel Catch-22, Johnson's characters are left without a definitive purpose or objective except to stay alive and trust their commanders. The commanders, and those who assume the roles of authority, have their own things going on and no one knows exactly what might happen.

The novel follows several characters that are directly involved with the Vietnam war effort, but mainly focuses on CIA operative William "Skip" Sands and his uncle Colonel Sands ("the colonel") as they attempt to win the war. The colonel is essentially operating a proxy war through the psy-ops division of the CIA, attempting to attack the Vietcong through double agents and their own superstitions. But as the colonel operates in the shadows of the war, he becomes a larger-than-life myth himself. Those around the colonel see him as much more than a mere operations manager, and the colonel begins to lose focus of the war on the ground.

The colonel will eventually die, but his death will remain a mystery that Skip and the colonel's confidant, Sgt. Jimmy Storm, try to understand and figure out. After the war, both Skip and Storm will attempt to discover the truth behind the colonel's disappearance, and their lives will become muddied versions of the lives they led before the war. The end of the war brings with it disillusionment and sacrifice that is far removed from the idealistic beliefs of morality and justice they were taught.

Just as the title suggests, Johnson's characters operate under the false myths that America's might will ultimately win, and that in a war against an inferior nation, America automatically assumes the role of morality and righteousness. These myths, like the tree of smoke, are abstract; they are impressions of the thing itself, just like a tree of smoke isn't actually a tree, but rather, smoke plumes shaped like a tree. Equally, the title shows Johnson's grasp of the intricate complexities of war. "Tree of smoke" is biblical (“'There shall be blood and fire and palm trees of smoke' - from Joel, wasn’t it?” says a Catholic priest in the novel), but it also represents a philosophy of warfare that the colonel embodies, a "sincere goal for the function of intelligence--restoring intelligence-gathering as the main function of intelligence operations, rather than to provide rationalisations for policy." Essentially, the colonel's proxy war in Vietnam is a war of conflicting cultures and myths that fails, and leavs the characters that surround him confused about their purpose in Vietnam.

It's this idea that permeates throughout entire novel. Johnson's fluid prose style, mixed with the grander themes of war and morality, point to our current war in Iraq. They leave open the many questions we now have about the Bush administration's flawed logic that got us into this war in the first place. Just like the colonel's flawed philosophy regarding the "function of intelligence," the Bush administration's flawed philosophy of pre-emptive war has turned out to be a "tree of smoke" in its own right. The "smoke" just happens to be claims of weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein's plans to attack America, and the exploited fears of American's living in a post-9/11 world.

Most Americans see the war in Iraq with much clearer eyes, and a strong majority of Americans believe it's time to withdraw. As the major characters in Tree of Smoke become confused about their role in the Vietnam War, Americans at home doubted the purpose of the war as well. Sound familiar?

Tree of Smoke may use a historical turning point in American history as a way to tell a fictional story, but its story feels more relevant now than ever before. Five years into it, the Iraq war has no major turning point or sense of resolution, leaving Americans uneasy about the future. Denis Johnson knows this, and so do his readers; the myths that shaped our policies in the past continue to shape our policies now, and America will continue the cycle throughout the rest of the century.

Review: Willing by Scott Spencer

Of all the great thinkers of the 20th Century, Sigmund Freud's theories on the inner workings of the mind have affected our perceptions of reality the most. Freud's psychoanalytic theories have become such a prominent aspect of culture--both pop culture as well as critical theory and analysis--that it has shaped how we view our world, and we've all become a little more self-conscious as a result.

In Willing, author Scott Spencer is clearly playing with some psychoanalytic ideas. He follows in the footsteps of authors such as Vladimir Nabokov and Saul Bellow by revealing plot through the skewed lens of his protagonist Avery Jankowsky. Of course, what we are allowed to see is never the full truth, and we must take Avery's experiences at face value.

Willing follows Avery, a 37-year-old Manhattan freelance journalist whose young girlfriend Deirdre cheats on him with her grad school classmate Osip. When Avery finds out about the affair, he falls into a deep funk. Unable to find decent freelance work, his uncle refers him to his longtime friend Lincoln Castle, who hosts (at $135,000 a trip) a world sex tour for wealthy executives. Avery sees a book opportunity, gets a book deal, and embarks on the sex tour to "research" for his book.

Of course, Spencer doesn't let his protagonist off with an easy assignment like that, and Avery faces his own personal demons along the way. Despite declaring himself as "the guy in the stands at the World Series, ...[with] his hand on his heart and his eyes bright with belief," Avery has a past that haunts him. The first sign that something is not all right with Avery is the way he internalizes his mother's four past marriages, his "four fathers" that he wears with pride in public but rejects in private. Not only does Avery deal with his own father issues, he has to face his mother's overbearing nature both directly and indirectly.

As a result of Avery's inner struggles, Spencer suggests that what's more important in Willing is not the bawdiness of a sex tour, or even the outright hypocrisy of those rich CEO types on the tour, but the conflicts faced by a man who has never actually confronted them. For example, Avery's mother seeks him throughout the novel (Avery keeps "seeing" his mother in various locations around the world) and Avery must face her directly in the middle of his sex tour escapades. Avery's response is not to assert himself as an adult male, but rather to seek her comfort. He also never faces his reaction to Dierdre's infidelity; even as he desperately wants to be with her, he assumes that his own insecurities will never allow him to connect with her directly. Avery's whole bizarre, textbook Oedipal complex approach to life is both pathetic and comic at the same time.

One of Willing's strengths, and a strength of Spencer's prose style in general, is that we never know where reality and the fantasy of Avery's narration actually meet. There is a dreamlike quality to the entire novel, and Avery's self-deprecating tone and recollection of events is full of the random and surreal. Spencer reflects this dreamlike quality on a technical level as well through his lack of quotation marks and stripped-down dialog.

Even though Spencer is successful in creating a bizarre, psycho-sexual narrator and protagonist, he is not as successful with some of the basic elements of continuity and plot. At times, Avery's experiences don't make sense. For example, Avery is able to secure a $400,000 book deal within 24 hours after sending off his pitch, justifying his sex tour trip. I wish I lived in that type of world, where a struggling freelance journalist can sign an amazing book contract deal that fast. Spencer also loses the reader at the end, when Lincoln Castle kicks Avery off the sex tour because of a string of unfortunate events and because he was "pulling the plugs out of computers" at his Reykjavik hotel. Seems like such a minor reason to be kicked off a sex tour. At the same time, Spencer's comic portrayal of Avery's antics makes up for it, even if it's a bit unbelievable.

Willing may have its flaws, but it is, for the most part, an enjoyable read. Spencer's portrayal of Avery is hilarious, and Avery's personal demons interweave with the plot well. Willing leaves the reader with an understanding that, in this world of psychoanalysis and obsession, there is still hope to laugh at our mistakes.

Rating: 6/10

Originally published at Blogcritics.org: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/03/27/050653.php

Old articles now up

I've added a few older articles up here to give you readers a perspective on what we're looking for on this site. It's a start, but still not fully what we'll be doing here.

In the next week, I'll have some original articles up here that will give more perspective.

For now, send me an e-mail if you'd like to make a suggestion or want more information.

Also, check out our submission guidelines.

Just getting started

Yesterday, I kicked off this blog with a brief introduction and statement explaining what I hope to do with this thing. Now comes the fun part: getting started.

I've posted a submissions guidelines page because we'd like to get more writers on board. I don't think this thing will work the way I want it to without some varying perspectives on the world.

Right now, I'm leaving this thing open to all types of media and art. However, you'll notice the sub-heading at the top says this site is "A weblog of mixed media + cultural criticism with a literary bent," well, that's just my own perspective because of my own experiences. I know literature, I don't know other forms of art nearly as well (except music, I guess). So that's another reason why I want other writers. The "literary bent" I'm looking for is that I think literature works best when it's allowed to connect with the society that created it, and I think the same applies for other works of media/art.

You'll see a lot of archived reviews, opinions, and essays on the state of the world show up on the site in the next few days. Once I have some of those older articles up, I'll start posting some original stuff that'll be exclusive to the site. Of course, if I get any new writers, I'll add their stuff as well.

For now, sit back and enjoy.

--Kevin

Welcome to There There Kid

Welcome to There There Kid. Obviously, this is our first post, and we won't be up and running for a month or so as we sort out the format, etc.

However, this blog will be a mixed media blog that brings together many different forms of art, placing the works within their cultural contexts. After all, art doesn't occur within a vacuum, and we hope to reveal the undercurrents of culture that shape our art.

I hope to use my experience with literature, music, art, and criticism to create a blog that mixes all of these elements together. For example, can we find links between a current novel and a popular indie rock album? When a musician says they read X, does it come out in that musician's song lyrics?

In addition, I'd like to add reviews and features that probe deeper into topics than the average review site.

Keep checking back as we update the site and add more useful stuff to it.

Review: The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia

Before you even open the disc or listen to a single second of the album, The Gutter Twins' debut release Saturnalia speaks to you through its striking album cover. The cover is a photo showing classic urban prairie, an abandoned lot between two shotgun houses, where the greenery only grows as weeds between the cracks of a neglected sidewalk and life seems to have gone underground. Two chairs sit in the center of the photo, and behind that, a dark, cloudy sky looms over the scenery and reflects off a dead tree.

Yet, there's something alive about the album cover. It draws you in and forces you to face the realities of humanity, and that life is not always beautiful and serene.

It's been a while since I've seen an album cover so succinctly describe the mood and tone of the music on the album itself. Even the two chairs — which are probably empty because the two members of The Gutter Twins are off recording this excellent album — speak of something profound. Is it abandonment? Poverty? A political message, possibly conjuring the images of destruction in the wake of Hurricane Katrina? Who knows...

Fortunately, the album cover is only one small aspect of why this album moves me. The Gutter Twins have created music that, at every listen, reveals some minor nuance I missed the time before. It's an emotionally and musically complex album, and one of the best to come out this year (so far).

The Gutter Twins are composed of two former '90's music powerhouses — Mark Lanegan of the Screaming Trees and Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs — and, I have to admit, I was initially skeptical that this combination would work. While I enjoyed The Afghan Whigs back in the day, I was never a fan of the Screaming Trees, and these two lead singers seemed worlds apart to me.

However, Saturnalia shows that these two musicians are a perfect match. While the album moves through many different styles and genres, it remains a unified collection of songs that speak to many different emotions and situations. Plus, it's a musically strong collection that flows from track to track, and hints at what's to come on future releases.

Saturnalia kicks off with "The Stations," a great starting point for this album, as it seems to summarize the mood of the entire album. Dulli and Lanegan share writing credits and vocals for this song; on most of the other songs, Dulli and Lanegan have split up the song writing and recording. "The Stations" captures an airy atmosphere through its reverberating guitars and backing strings, suggesting a maturity in sound as these two grunge masters have grown up. Lanegan sings of a blended religiosity and hope for the future ("I hear the rapture's coming / They say he'll be here soon / Right now there's demons crawling all around my room"), but he also sings of confusion ("Don't know what they mean").

"The Stations" transitions well into "God's Children," and the album's first half starts to take shape. It's full of melancholic ambiguity, and the Lanegan/Dulli mashup expresses this ambiguity best. "All Misery/Flowers," for example, expresses the need to "hold on" while it also suggests an end: "Let's ride suicide / Say what you want, but you make it, don't lie." The religious ambiguity is also used for stylistic effect, and the blues/R&B influences of these two artists shows through, both in their vocal styles and in their lyrical themes.

Saturnalia takes a turn with "Circle the Fringes," another Dulli/Lanegan composition rife with strings and growing atmosphere. The album becomes more inward looking, suggesting inner turmoil rather than social concerns. On "Who Will Lead Us?" Lanegan moves through a spiritual ballad that leans on the musician's blues influences. The call-and-response between the guitar and the vocal styles is pure blues, but it's still tinged with the loud guitars brooding in the background. Lanegan calls out, as if to God, saying: "I think the chariot is coming / And if it should please you Lord / I give this trumpet up to Gabriel." Other tracks, like "I Was In Love With You" (a Dulli composition), focus more on personal relationships rather than spiritual concerns.

The album ends by tying up the loose ends left at the beginning of the album. Stylistically, songs like "Each to Each" and "Front Street" bring back the loudness brewing beneath the airy atmosphere that defines this album. Equally, there is more partnership between the two musicians, and on "Front Street," the album ends with the same thoughts that the album cover initially brings up: "Front Street ain't a place for a boy who / Likes to talk ways that boys do / Unstrung, young, dumb, comfortably numb." It conjures up an image of a boy in the street behind the camera who has yet to grow up and face the world, yet it also speaks to some of the most basic human concerns of adulthood.

There's no doubt that The Gutter Twins have something going for them, and Saturnalia is an excellent start. Don't expect these two '90's stars to stick to old clichés. Instead, expect an album that both reflects originality and a reflected sense of maturity. I have a feeling we may be talking about Saturnalia for years to come.

Originally published at Blogcritics.org: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/03/11/193631.php

Review: Things Fall Apart, 50th Anniversary Edition by Chinua Achebe

Fifty years ago, Africa was a continent struggling to find identity and freedom, despite centuries of control and change that destroyed the cultures of a diverse group of people. As Africa struggled to free itself from colonial rule in the second half of the 20th century, there were many who wondered if Africa could survive in the industrial age and move beyond colonialism.

In 2008, it's hard to say whether Africa's independence from colonial rule has resulted in freedom. It has certainly allowed many nations, such as Nigeria and South Africa, to compete globally, but it has also left many others in the throes of poverty, genocide, and war. As African nations found their independence throughout the '60's and '70's, many hoped Africa would become a new world superpower, but it never happened. It has been a tumultuous time, and Africa continues to struggle with the scars left by colonial rule.

Recognizing Africa's struggles between the traditions of the past and the turmoil left by colonialism, Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart shows how these struggles are not always simple to understand. Originally published in 1958, Things Fall Apart has become a modern classic, and a 50th anniversary edition was released this month to celebrate the novel's lasting impact.

Things Fall Apart follows Okonkwo, a village leader who becomes one of the most powerful men in Umuofia, his ancestral village. As Okonkwo strives to rise from obscurity to importance, he brings along with him the traditions that his village requires of him. Even though Okonkwo faces hardship throughout the novel, Achebe shows us that the cultural expectations and beliefs of this region are complex and difficult to understand, but more powerful than the Western world portrays it, especially in 1958.

Okonkwo's rise to a powerful position in Umuofia also reveals the struggles of a man torn apart by a multiplicity of emotions, and Okonkwo faces these throughout the novel. At one point, Okonkwo breaks the customs of Umuofia, and Okonkwo and his family are exiled from the village for seven years. Okonkwo is forced to start over, and he does so, building his power and manhood back.

Achebe's novel takes an interesting turn when Okonkwo returns to Umuofia, and he finds a village changed by outside forces. British missionaries have set up a Christian church in the village, and are trying to convert the villagers to Christianity. While many of the villagers convert to the new religion, Colonial forces take over the political and cultural beliefs and customs of the region, and Okonkwo, a man rooted in the traditions of the past, feels lost. Instead of portraying the British empire as the enemy and the villagers as the heroes, Achebe puts these political changes within their historical context; it becomes clear that the events take place at the height of Victorian Britain, and the fervor surrounding the Colonial government becomes a fact that Okonkwo must face. By showing the nuances and multiple customs and traditions that Okonkwo knew as a young man, Achebe shows how difficult it is for Okonkwo to face these outside forces.

In the end, Okonkwo won't face them with honor. Achebe then shows how complicated Colonial Africa has become, that it is a region full of turmoil that will last for years to come. In 1958, a time of change for post-colonial Africa, Things Fall Apart became a way for Africans to respond to their colonists, and in the decades after its publication, the novel would represent why change in the region was so necessary.

Now that fifty years have passed, Things Fall Apart is still an important novel because of its complex portrayal of colonialism. Although the novel seems simple at face value, it shows how difficult it is to overcome centuries of colonial rule that uprooted so many people and customs, and left them at the mercy of corporate and political greed. Achebe doesn't paint a black and white world when he describes Okonkwo's struggles; instead, he shows that things are difficult to fix once they have been broken.

Africa may one day become the prosperous world power that seemed possible fifty years ago, as nation after nation found their independence from colonial rule. Achebe's novel shows that it's too difficult to view Africa from one perspective, and the story will remain a powerful force in African literature.

Originally published at Blogcritics.org: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/03/01/123602.php