Dead Snake

The following quotation by Stephen Crane was found in a Luc Sante piece in the New York Review of Books:

"An artist, I think, is nothing but a powerful memory that can move itself through certain experiences sideways and every artist must be in some things powerless as a dead snake."

A line filled with mystery and force. The image of the snake in the second half of the sentence coils back to the first half as one envisions an artist moving sideways snake-like through collected memories sorting motivations and impulses while lacking the ability to change outcomes or determinations of a lifeless reptile.

Sante says that this line from Crane is quoted by John Berryman.

Two Up

Two recent music purchases: John Coltrane's One Up, One Down: Live at the Half Note and Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (the title supposedly comes from a comment from Knick Kurt Thomas to fellow Knick and all-around prick Stephon Marbury). The Coltrane set is phenomenal especially the title track. 27 minutes long, Coltrane and drummer Elvin Jones (Best. Drummer. Ever.) engage on an extended duet that find both stretching towards the heavens like two half-crazed prophets. The recordings come from a radio broadcast that only provide a snippet of the actual set and realizing that the 27 minute-long song is actually 45 minutes in length in the actual performance. That's a pretty good sermon length.

Yo La Tengo's latest disc finds the band returning to their find-the-influence game shifting from extended feedback-driven guitar workout to white man soul. Many found their last record Summer Sun to be too singular in sound, so this hodgepodge collection may be a response. On first listen, the energy is there and the songwriting is as strong as ever. There are a few clinkers, but most of all, a celebration on the joy of creating music. (Download two samples here.)