Back in September, I posted about the Replacements song, “Androgynous,” because reading Middlesex reminded me of the tune. It was just a one-off type of thing, but then a co-worker suggested that I make it into a regular feature. This will probably end up being more embarrassing for me than anything else (now the internet public will know that it takes me far too long to get through a good book), but I kind of like the idea. Plenty of blogs pair music and food, why not music and novels? I’m not claiming to have any particular good taste in literature, I’m just going to post a song that I think fits with a book I happened to have finished reading. Maybe it can generate some interesting discussion. And I’m going to call it NYRM Literary Society.
I just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A novel that most people probably read in high school or college, but one that I completely missed out on somehow. A sprawling, complex, yet simply written magical tale about a family. Fraught with symbolism and a whole bunch of characters with the same name, this old Feist song immediately jumped to mind. ”It’s Cool To Love Your Family,” works well. Not only do the characters learn at the end that loving your family is the most important thing in the world, but they very literally LOVE each other. A lot. Plus, look at that photo of Feist above. She could totally be Remedios the Beauty. I actually think of her more as an Amaranta, spurned by Kevin Barnes, vowing to never love again until she rules triumphant over Broken Social Scene. Anyways, it’s a great Feist song, and one that people may not be all that familiar with.
It’s a nice reminder that Leslie was producing excellent material before Let It Die. The album, Monarch, is no longer in print and is pretty difficult to find. I actually wanted to BUY an mp3, but was foiled at every turn. Enjoy the song below, and if you’re interested in the rest of Monarch I’m sure you’ll be able to find it, with a little digging. Just like Ursula’s buried treasure.
2 Comments
October 8, 2009 at 4:24 am
jgmarkuez > horchatas?
also, another idea*
woods+tobias frobird
also, write about more rap?
October 8, 2009 at 10:42 am
ohhhh horchatas.
i don’t write about rap as a rule. i don’t really know anything about it. i think i can safely say that i know an ok amount about rock music, and thus feel comfortable voicing my opinions about it on the internet. i haven’t listened to much rap, and don’t really think that i have the authority or knowledge to make any kind of judgment calls about any songs, albums, or artists. that’s why you’ll pretty much never find any rap or hip-hop on this blog. maybe someday, when i have tons of free listening time on my hands…