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Form Follows Reputation: Review of Bryan Charles’ “Wowee Zowee” (33 1/3 Press)

My stream-of-consciousness review of Bryan Charles’ 33 1/3rd Book on Pavement’s “Wowee Zowee”

Apparently free-form, even slapdash at times, w/ no preconceived structure or trajectory, just unfolding haphazard as it may — and yet, like a Pavement tune, it ends up just where it’s supposed to, albeit unexpectedly, the pay-off beyond all expectation. And what a cool, weird, boring, scintillating, sideways trip it was in getting there. In a word, organic. Like experience itself, a mix of best intentions, wayward desires, messy preambles & unconscious defeats that are nevertheless… victories in the long run? ‘We’ll never really know, will we?’ — Malkmus’ wink-wink vision, so damn close to the truth.

Mack’s site

Check out Mack Hooligan’s bio, recordings, videos & performance schedule here:

Books read in Jan. ’14

Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, by Carl Wilson – A terrifically smart look at how tastes and cultural affiliations are formed and inform each other. Includes the clearest, most helpful explanation of Pierre Bordieu’s concept of “cultural capital” (and how it works) that I’ve ever read. The author comes to appreciate how an artist whose work he formerly reviled could be so loved by millions of devotees around the world, and why breezily & sneeringly condemning them for “bad taste” ultimately condemns him/us as thoughtless, self-defensive snobs lacking in curiosity, empathy and awareness. A true gem of informed cultural criticism. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Status Anxiety, by Alain de Botton – The force behind London’s “School of Life” and the author of such gems as How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Art of Travel and The Architecture of Happiness provides a thoughtful, history-spanning take on the challenges of maintaining one’s social status, with essays on what he sees as five key alternative systems/stances-in-the-world that have and can continue to help us rethink the normative values that uphold the reigning secular-capitalist status system, as provided by: philosophy, art, politics, religion and bohemia. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In Spite of Everything, by Susan Gregory Thomas – An engrossing, thoughtful, moving memoir about the impacts of their parents’ divorces on Gen X-era children and the author’s efforts to prevent, confront, understand and ultimately cope with her own unexpected divorce. I read this book in two days and literally could not put it down. I’ll definitely be seeking out other books and articles by this intellectually omnivorous, passionate and incredibly funny writer. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Guitar Pilgrimage

While visiting my sister Amy in February of 2013 I made a pilgrimage to Guitar Showcase in San Jose, one of the largest (and most jam-packed) guitar stores in northern California. Below are some photos from that visit.