Shaken & Stirred: Headbang Your Pen

April 21, 2007

Headbang Your Pen

Y'all will remember that making playlists can be a useful outlining and writing tool for me. And I hadn't made one in awhile, not since way back when the novel had an entirely different name. I prefer writing to certain kinds of songs, so that's the kind of playlist this one is, not necessarily one I hear as a soundtrack to the novel.

Well, it is, but not in an overt way. There's way more slow, drawn-out quiet songs on here than there are chapters like that in the novel (I hope), but I like those for thinking and writing. They blend into invisibility easier. So, without further ado, here it is. Remember that my iTunes is all stuff I've downloaded since I got my computer last summer, so it's all from music blogs and albums I've bought since then.

Warning also: It's long. That means I don't have to keep hitting repeat. Most tracks findable online at the Hype, if you're intrigued by something.

Hotaru - Kama Aina
She Was a Girl, She Was in Love - Matt Baldwin
Splintering - Arizona
The Funeral - Band of Horses
Mushaboom (Postal Service Remix) - Feist
Minors - Flying
My Dad Is Rich - Brian Ross
This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life - Born Ruffians
True Affection - The Blow
I Turn My Camera On - Spoon (Live at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on 8-12-2006)
Cursed Sleep - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Crowd Surf Off A Cliff - Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton
Hunters Map - Fionn Regan
My Head Is Blank - François Virot
Hello Hello Hi - From Bubblegum to Sky
Rich Man - Ghostland Observatory
Holy Cow (demo) - Margot & The Nuclear So And Sos
On a Neck, On a Spit - Grizzly Bear
Wild is the Wind (Nina Simone Cover) - Cat Power
My Heart Is An Apple - Arcade Fire
I'm Just a Child - Coming Soon
Bonnie & Clyde - Headset
Citizens of Tomorrow - Tokyo Police Club
Gotta D.J. - Hot Springs
Strange Desire - The Black Keys
Winchester Gun - Katamine
Under the Gun - Kristin Hersh
Elephant Gun - Beirut
Vertigo - Kristin Hersh
Alaska - Camera Obscura
Everything's Just Wonderful - Lily Allen
We Were Sparkling - My Brightest Diamond
I Can Get Us Out Of Here - Lucero
To Go Home - M. Ward
Volcanoes - Islands
Dancing Queen - Mantissa
Up To My Neck In You - Mark Kozelek
I Am Not Willing - Moby Grape
I Was Wrong - The Morning Benders
Hold On, Hold On - Neko Case
Breathless - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Shade And Honey - Sparklehorse
Something of an End - My Brightest Diamond
Home As A Romanticized Concept Where Everyone Loves You Always And Forever - Woodpigeon
Scientist Girl - North Atlantic
Cross My Heart, Hope You Die - This Is A Process Of A Still Life
The Fatal Flaw - Lucinda Kruy & The Sun-Ups
Song for Augustine Pt. 2 - White Flight
Celebration Guns - Stars

Posted at 04:36 PM in Write Porn | Permalink

Comments

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Wow, that's a really evocative playlist! Makes me even more excited about reading the novel...

I tend to find one CD that matches the emotional mood of the novel and stick to it exclusively through a draft, so the last novel was written to a nonstop loop of Evanescence (romantic gothy angst), and the new one is being written to the Dr Who Series 1-2 soundtrack (big bombastic, happy adventure music).

Posted by:Steph Burgis | April 22, 2007 at 09:06 AM

I actually entered all the songs on that playlist (that I could find) into Rhapsody. Neat! Thanks for the tips. :-)

Posted by:Benjamin Rosenbaum | April 23, 2007 at 05:09 PM

Love the idea. Playlists are going to be key for Dave and my next project.

Posted by:Meeks | April 24, 2007 at 11:35 PM

Read Read

E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.

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