ON a crisp winter day, with snow glinting on the san gabriel mountains, air cleansed by a recent rain, and mighty oak trees looming over the quiet streets above colorado blvd, eagle rock can seem like the kind of place '60s bands used to write songs about. but these days, people aren't singing -- or if they are, it's in a bittersweet key.over the last few years northeast LA has become a kind of … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2009
Scott Walker: Icon of Obscurity
NOW HERE is a guy who made nick drake look gregarious. back in the 60s, scott walker was part of british boy band the walker brothers -- the most popular group, in their day, you've never heard of. but it's the moody, heavily orchestrated records he made after leaving the trio that made him a huge influence on everyone from david bowie to brian eno to laurie anderson and jarvis cocker. my story, … [Read more...]
Retro Rock Posters and The Small Stakes
OVER the last few year i've been turned on to a new wave of poster design that relies on '40s book jackets, minimalism and mid-century fonts for its effects. much of this stuff is rock posters, even though the visual language comes almost entirely outside rock n roll. i'll take it over the psychedelic nightmare of the fillmore school or the robert-williams blazing-eyeball-on-a-hotrod school -- any … [Read more...]
Wallace Stegner and the American West
THOUGH he's best known for his novels, wallace stegner's non-fiction, especially his essays, are among the wonders of the american west... here is a fine NYT piece by northwest correspondent timothy egan on the occasion of the great writer's 100th birthday. (stegner was born 60 years before yours truly, almost to the day.)the subject of egan's piece is stegner's assertion that the literary west … [Read more...]
American Newspapers and the Los Angeles Times
OVER the last few months, the only thing i've heard more than Thomas Jefferson's line -- that he would rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers -- is people telling me they plan to cancel their LA Times subscription.i can't say i'm surprised by this -- the paper has become a poster child of bad ownership recently, and it's lost so many talented staffers, in … [Read more...]
New "Lost" Story by John Cheever
I'm pleased to direct my distinguished readers' attention to a story only recently unearthed called "Of Love: A Testimony." the story was part of cheever's first story collection, from 1943,fell out of print for decades, and it's now up on the site fivechapters.com, which is typically dedicated to work of contemporary authors.(this post is also the latest in my "WASP writers of the 20th c" … [Read more...]
Yiyun Li, "The Vagrants" and China’s Cultural Revolution
This sunday i have a piece in the LAT on author Yiyun Li, a native of China now living in Oakland -- and her new novel, "The Vagrants," which is quite beautifully observed as well as brutal in the tale it tells. some of you may know her from her exquisite short stories, which have a bit of william trevor to them.interested to read a bit of the book? this will take you to an excerpt published on … [Read more...]
Roberto Saviano and "Gomorrah"
THE italian journalist roberto saviano has become famous for his book blowing the roof off the neapolitan mob, which is bigger, older and likely more deadly than the sicilian mafia.Here is my interview with saviano, who has been under police protection since late 2006. his book is pretty incredible, and full of ideas and analysis in the way some of these tough you-are-there books arent. we talked … [Read more...]
Airborne Toxic Event and Indie Rock
last night i saw the L.A. band Airborne Toxic Event at the henry fonda/music box here in L.A. (i probably should have posted on this the day >before … [Read more...]
Great Makeout Records and Happy Valentine’s Day
Please forgive me a bit of cheesecake, folks, as i celebrate Valentine's Day, a bogus holiday that i learned the hard way (with a college girlfriend i considered too bohemian to care about such a hallmark inspired custom) not to ignore.i guess today i am feeling something to lift the spirits after looking at all that east german cold-war art. so today i'm going to be building a list of great … [Read more...]