Reading and Listening

I don't have much to report on the reading front. Finished a few from last time (Kimball and McKinley), still working on some (Saramago, Duncan, and Boyd) and picked up and am in the middle of one new one (Henri Nouwen readings for Lent). To be fair to myself, most of my reading material is either long or dense or both. All fantastic, though.

The exception is one book that I picked up this week and finished in one sitting. John Sellers "Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life" is a short and not always sweet take on music. Sellers is opinionated, but it a way that you tend to want from music writers. I prefer Klosterman, but Sellers is a great fix until the next Klosterman offering.

As a result of Sellers' book, I am listening to a lot of Guided By Voices, Pavement, The Smiths, Silver Jews, and so on. This was a week for making mixes, so I've been listening to a lot of stuff, but the repeated highlights have been:

Slanted & Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain by Pavement
Bee Thousand by Guided By Voices
American Water by Silver Jews
The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
Surfer Rosa by the Pixies

If you're looking for definitive albums by these artists, these are my picks for their best offerings.

Enjoy!