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Monday, April 23, 2007
SUPERMAN
The Clique
The Clique
Vivid Sound : 1969
[Buy It]
One of the things I do when I'm not doing Moistworks: an MP3 Boombox is, I teach writing at The New School: a University. And one of the first things I did to prepare for that job was buy a pair of glasses. Moistworks own Joanna Yas tagged along, to make sure I picked appropriately professorial frames: Glasses with heft, and gravitas. The sort of thing Henry Kissinger might wear around the house.
She did a good job.
But glasses were a pain in my ass. Anyone who knows me can tell you I'm a hyper-athletic guy: In high school I jumped from great heights, into bodies of water below. Later in life, I drove very fast in Germany. And so, I heaped athletic scorn on the glasses Joanna helped me buy. Like man in his natural state, I would be unencumbered - glorious - with fierce aspects to my mien and countenance. Not Clark Kent, but Superman! I'd wear contacts, and sing:I am! I am Superman!
And I know what's happening!
PSYCHO
Bobby Hendricks
Sue : 1960
Available on: Itchy Twitchy Feeling
Collectables: 1996
[Buy It]
Lately, I've been seeing a psychiatrist. I want to understand the inner workings of me. What does it mean to be me? What are the things that amount to me, and what do I amount to? Like the rest of you, I suffer sometimes. But why must I suffer so?
ROUND 1: I AM THE GREATEST
Cassius Clay
I Am The Greatest!
Columbia : 1963
[Buy It]
And it turns out that my suffering is caused by a condition "characterized by extreme focus on oneself - a maladaptive, rigid, and persistent condition that may cause significant distress and functional impairment." My psychiatrist Dr. Fehr calls it "the writer's disease."
ROUND 2: I AM THE DOUBLE GREATEST
Cassius Clay
I Am The Greatest!
Columbia : 1963
[Buy It]
According to Dr. Fehr, I "present a large, powerful, grandiose self to be admired, envied and appreciated," which he defines as the very "antithesis of the weakened and internalised self that hides in a generic state of shame, in order to fend off devaluation." Insofar as diagnoses go, this strikes me as a brave and manly one; I'm proud to call it mine own. But, sadly, there's no cure for the condition itself. Nothing to do but suffer it so.
SUPERSTAR
Nina Nastasia
Run to Ruin
Touch & Go : 2003
[Buy It]
Like many of you, I have a very tall, very beautiful friend named Kathryn. (I tried to kiss my Kathryn once, but she's so very tall I couldn't reach her lips at all!) My Kathryn turned me on to Nina Nastasia, who judging by this song knows a bit about the symptoms I've described above. It's a wonderful song, and because I've spent a lot of time listening to and learning how to play it on the cello (one of the many instruments I've taken time away from swimming in the shark-infested waters off the coast of Djibouti to master), I can tell you a few things about it: This song uses an artfully constructed musical peu de chose to potently describe some of the ways in which a cluster-B personality disorder causes people to seal themselves off from others, isolate themselves from the world, despair, and finally die. About how there is no hope, or light, and about how all that we are is dust in the wind.
"Look at me!" the singer sings. "I am a mess!"
But then she sings, "I know, I know, I know what you said." And then she sings, "Look at me!" again, and then: "I am a superstar!" whilst a cello, or something cello-like, illustrates the point in precise musical terms. It is, to me, a chose etonnante - both la derniere chose and une chose en amene une autre - which brings us to the very end of language, and also this post.
Labels: alex, curios, indie, rock and roll
posted by Alex
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