eliane's New Writeups

The Operating Theater (place)

2003-03-20T07:40:35Z

Brian Dewan is probably best known in indie rock circles as a visual artist and sometime-member of the Music Tapes and Neutral Milk Hotel, but he's been been creating odd little folk (for lack of a better word) songs for upwards of a decade in his Brooklyn studio. His songs have a offbeat, lo-fi vibe similar to his Elephant 6 cohorts, but Dewan's deadpan lyrics and delivery set this record in a category of its own; his zither and autoharp-backed songs manage to twist squishy anatomical details ("The Human Heart," "Cadavers") and psychological case-study ("Loathsome Idols") into something genuinely tuneful and sweet. Dewan's lyrical quirks and old-timey instrumentation might cause some listeners to write this off as a mere novelty record, but to do that would do a disservice to its honesty (however off-kilter) and driving energy. The Operating Theater's weirdnesses never get in the way of its large heart.

Tracks:

Where They Belong

…

The Swimming Hour (idea)

2003-03-20T02:45:18Z

Not three years ago, Andrew Bird was strictly a jazz violin prodigy, hiring himself out to the likes of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six while playing his own theatrical, lyrically dense cabaret/jazz numbers for the Bowl of Fire. Then he bought his first pop record and it all went to hell.

In this case, friends, that's a good thing. In the years between his last album, Oh! The Grandeur, and now, Bird has managed to absorb the entire past half-century of music and learned to create perfect three-minute pop songs that fairly burst with strings and chiming guitar and intricate wordplay, bringing a tear to the eye and a shake to the booty, as it were. Bird kicks the whole affair off with the dreamy '60s-reminiscent road trip tale "Two Way Action," harmonizing with recent Bowl of Fire addition Nora O'Connor on lines like "yeah, I think I'm gonna call my mother/ Let the subject wander/ To issues of blonde hair/ Or…

Katherine Parr (person)

2003-03-19T07:28:54Z

Katherine (or Catherine - spelling in the Middle Ages was far from standardized) Parr was Henry VIII's sixth and last wife; she was chosen mainly because she had already survived two husbands and the aging and increasingly sickly Henry needed someone reliable to care for him - not to mention she wouldn't be as troublesome as his last wife, the teenaged Kathryn Howard, who fooled around quite publicly and was summarily beheaded.

In addition to being an exceedingly patient nurse and loving stepmother to Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward, Katherine was the most intellectual of Henry's wives. She had been well educated and was devoted to scholarly pursuits and Protestantism, and made sure that Henry's younger children had the best tutors available, such as Roger Ascham and John Cheke. Her chambers were often the center of lively…

Last Plane To Jakarta (thing)

2003-03-18T17:52:24Z

Last Plane to Jakarta started out as a print zine, distributed through Absolutely Kosher Records and "published every time a guy in Uttar Pradesh who identifies himself only as 'Mohan' calls John Darnielle collect and says he's going to do something drastic unless he gets his hands on some pretty seriously wordy analysis of records, cassettes or compact discs, preferably not blank ones."

Now, however, it is primarily a webzine written by Darnielle, HTML-ized by the lovely and talented Mrs. Darnielle, and located at http://lastplanetojakarta.com. At this time, the five most recent articles have concerned The Strokes' hypothetical next album (it will involve a tuba solo), listening to Planet Asia in a tour van hurtling through Germany, grief and four-track bedroom recording artists, Rotting Christ odes set to songs from Show Boat, and "Why Morbid Angel Is So Great And Is Still So Great, by John's inner child, age 11." He has just started to sell cunning…

July 4, 2002 (idea)

2002-07-04T18:51:12Z

The gulf between my life at home and elsewhere continues to widen.

"Home" is a pretty strong term, but it's where I sleep most of the time: I don't know what to do with myself here, so I avoid most contact with my dad and stepmother, preferring to stay in my room or go out during the day. I only venture out to play in the kitchen or watch TV at night, when they're asleep. I just don't have much to say to either of them, though god knows that I'd like to. In return, they have just as little, if even less, to say to me.

To them, I'm standoffish and picky at best, downright antisocial and demanding at worst, and it's so weird to juxtapose that with how my friends would describe me: painfully shy, insecure and awkward with small talk, but opinionated, warm, funny, loving and even lovable for all that. All the same behaviors, but placed in different contexts. I can handle that, but when one context dictates that I'm to be barely acknowledged, while the other gives me all…

Lewis Hallam (person)

2002-05-23T04:22:48Z

Lewis Hallam (1714-56) founded the first professional theatre company in America and built the first permanent theatre in New York, the John St. Theatre, in 1753. Hallam spent the French and Indian War in Jamaica (as far as possible from those nasty French and Indians as possible) and then returned to the States (though they weren't the States yet, more the Colonies), married, and went on tour. He was an accomplished comedian as well as a producer, director, and company manager. He died in his early forties but the company went on with his son, Lewis Hallam, Jr., taking his father's role. Hallam is largely responsible for the beginning of the theatre scene in New York City (rather than, say, Philadelphia or Boston), and for inspiring future generations of draft dodgers.