On Monday I was discussing with a friend the next day's release of Coldplay's new album; neither of us were fans, especially. We appreciated a few songs, but the rest? Well, it struck us as somewhat dull. Fast forward to yesterday when I download the album on Napster: I'll be damned if it isn't the best album I've heard in forever. X&Y is this really gorgeous soundscape of dense melody. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, so to speak: the ghosts of U2 and Radiohead are still here, but rock and roll has long been a haunted house. Color me surprised.
And I have to listen to Get Behind Me Satan by the White Stripes. Good time for music.
***
# of blurbs confirmed for book: 2.
About Me
- Paul
- Paul Guest is the author of four volumes of poetry and a memoir. His debut, The Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World, was awarded the 2002 New Issues Poetry Prize. His second collection, Notes for My Body Double, was awarded the 2006 Prairie Schooner Book Prize. His third collection, My Index of Slightly Horrifying Knowledge, was published by Ecco Press/HarperCollins in 2008. His fourth collection, Because Everything Is Terrible, was published by Diode Editions. His poems have appeared in Harper's, The Paris Review, Poetry, Tin House, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. His memoir, One More Theory About Happiness, was published by Ecco in May 2010 and selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program. The recipient of a 2011 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2007 Whiting Writers' Award, Guest lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
6 comments:
Paul,
I have been nervous about getting the new Coldplay, but a few people have had your reaction, so maybe I will give it a listen.
I think it's pretty great...
Okay, I'm totally late on this (stupid heart crisis!), but congrats on your book. That's fantastic and I look forward to it.
I've only heard the one song, I think .. the one with something about "ignite your bones" in the chorus. "Fix You"? I flipped the radio on in the middle of the song, and was entranced enough to Google. The buzz seems pretty mixed ... but now I want to check it out.
Hey Paul.
This talk of Coldplay makes me feel uneasy, confused, oddly comforted, the color of sheet rock wall painted blue.
I'll either get some help or check out the album (perhaps both).
A slight aimless correction:
If the ghost of Radiohead is a Kid A/Amnesiac sorta ghost then I think you might, more appropriately, refer to Radiohead as the Sword of Omens (fiercesome in its own right).
And Sigur Ros would be more like Jaga, ethereally wielding the prophetic blade's might of aural experimentation.
The musical Spectre remains. Though much larger and ancient than any might have guessed.
~Taylor
Oh yay! I've been waiting for news. I'll give it a listen too.
Gina
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