I confess: I'm that guy(girl). When I first stumbled upon a paperback copy of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, my initial thought was: "Wait...that was a book first?"

As a closet Michael Cera fan--and a public fan of movies about music-- the film has been on my "to see" list for months. Thankfully, my English Teacher Cred was rescued by this fortuitous trip to Borders, as I promised myself that I would promptly move Nick & Norah to the top of my "to read" list instead. And boy, am I glad that I did.

With its dual narrators, witty dialogue, complex (but believable) characters, an abundance of semi-underground musical references, and a jacket named "Salvatore", Nick & Norah is a very here-and-now kind of story that effectively appeals to a generation notorious for seeking instant gratification.

The novel is co-authored by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, who pen Nick & Norah's parts, respectively. Nick, the heterosexual bass-player in a queer-core band, is a sensitive, indie-rocker cutie reminiscent of Rivers Cuomo. Norah, the edgy daughter of a bigtime music-mogul, is a tough, street-savvy, rocker-chick (think early Liz Phair) who--like all teenage girls--simply cannot understand the inner-workings of boys.

The alternating narration and skillfully-combined writing styles of Levithan and Cohn create a tension and a cadence that is, appropriately, very musical in nature. I'm not sure if a non-musician would pick up on this, but to me, it was immediately obvious.

What's also immediately obvious to all, is the blatant sexuality and unabashed use of the "F" word (and the "S" word, the "A" word, the "D" word, and a few "P" words), starting on page number one. While conservative parents and/or stodgy teachers may dismiss the novel for this precise reason, I think that teenagers--older "young" adults-- will appreciate a book whose voice and situations are so reflective of their own.

I just Redboxed the movie, and will be watching it while I recover from the flu later on today. I'll let you know how it holds up.

Crowd Surfing with Obama

The optimism in the air in Boston this past week has been nearly palpable. What with Obama's victory Tuesday and the unseasonably warm November weather, there's a smile on nearly everyone's faces these days. It's a welcome reprieve from the doom and gloom of the economic crisis and the impending winter chill. Though there was much gleeful shouting, car horn beeping, and giddy bouncing on Tuesday night around 11pm, the most exuberance I've seen was at the Orpheum Theater Thursday night, when I went to see the Decemberists.

It was my second time seeing the Portland band, known for their eccentric stage antics and literary lyrics, live. The first time their set was punctuated with a giant whale puppet and members of the band diving into the audience at the Avalon to crowd surf. Many of their songs are more mythic tales than pop song, with tracks ranging from "O Valencia!" which tells the story of a star-struck romance in the vein of Romeo and Juliet, to "The Mariner's Revenge Song" in which a man finds justice in the belly of a whale. The group has an ode to the writer Myla Goldberg and in fact, lead singer Colin Meloy's sister is an acclaimed author herself.

This time, a life-sized cardboard cutout of Barack Obama stood in for the giant whale. The band sent the 2-D President Elect into the crowd, where he happily crowd surfed for a good part of the set. When the audience returned him to the stage, Meloy sent him back, saying "No, he belongs with the people." If that wasn't clue enough of the band's political stance, Meloy went on to expound how delighted and inspired he was by the election, and lead a call and response "Yes we can! Yes we DID!" chant. The real climax of the evening came during the last song of the night, "Sons and Daughters," the last song on the band's most recent studio album The Crane Wife. As they launched into the chorus "Here all the bombs fade away," they pulled up about 30 members of the audience and, as everyone sang along, I couldn't help but tear up a little bit. It was a fitting reminder of the relevance and resonance music can have in culture, and in our own personal lives.

It's been a great week, and I can only hope that this sense of possibility doesn't fade away.

Bettye LaVette

Here's a holiday recommendation for those with musically Fringey taste. I just got back from a trip to the West Coast that ended up being something of a vinyl binge, and picked up Bettye LaVette's 2005 album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise. LaVette is a soul singer who has somehow remained below the radar--possibly because her extraordinary voice is so evocative and high-octane it may make pruder listeners uncomfortable.
I've Got My Own Hell to Raise is a collection of LaVette's renditions of great songs by exclusively female songwriters. Most songs were originally performed somewhere in the intersection of country and folk (Joan Armatrading, Dolly Parton, and Lucinda Williams are all represented), and LaVette growls them up to red hot emotion. This is raw, relevant, profane soul.
You can listen to tracks on LaVette's website: http://www.bettyelavette.com/

Posted by Katie, even though it says Sarah.

National Day of Silence for Net Radio

Save it, kids! New royalty rates for internet radio are set to go into effect on July 15, which will put many small webcasters out of bidness. Broadcasters have declared today a National Day of Silence, and will be observing it at various times during the day today. Save Net Radio has organized the effort; here's more from their press release:

The regularly scheduled programming of millions of Internet radio listeners will be temporarily interrupted tomorrow when tens of thousands of U.S. webcasters observe a national Day of Silence. Protesting the recent 300 percent royalty rate increase for online music webcasters, the aim of the industry wide daylong blackout is to raise awareness of the threat these new rates pose to the future of Internet radio and rally support for legislation pending in Congress.

"Webcasters of every size and from every corner of the country will stand united tomorrow to protest a very real and fast approaching threat to their livelihood,” said Jake Ward, a spokesperson for the SaveNetRadio Coalition. “With nearly a half million emails and phone calls from webcasters, listeners, and the artists they support sent to Congress in just the last two months, this national grassroots campaign has certainly captured the attention of lawmakers, but there is more to be done and time is running out....

Internet-only webcasters and broadcasters that simulcast online will alert their listeners that "silence" is what Internet radio may be reduced to after July 15th, the day on which 17 months' worth of retroactive royalty payments—at new, exceedingly high rates—are due to the SoundExchange collection organization, following a recent Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) decision.

Grump! How many ways are there for big companies to steal entire markets from little ones? Write your congressperson and let em know how you feel. Today's the day to do it!

American Idol, you've got NOTHING on Eurovision!

I would like to extend an official congratulations on the part of Fringe to the Balkan nation of Serbia for their 2007 Eurovision win. Who knew that so much of Europe was into 1980's style KD Lang?

Not familiar with Eurovision? Oh-ho-ho...well. Each year, all members of the European Union have an opportunity to submit one song, sung by the group of their choosing, into the Eurovision challenge. The groups perform live and are voted on by country. Last night, Finland (last year's winner) hosted the contest from lovely Helsinki. Replete with a live Princess Barbie doll hostess who was more interested in being in the center of the camera than interviewing her guests, and a back-scratching voting system that rivals US Congress, I have to honestly say that this was one of the most entertaining events I have been privy to watch in a dog's age.

Some of the more amusing and original acts included:
...Ukraine's Boy-Scouts-in-tinfoil-by-way-of-Sun-Ra performance;
...the blatant advertising of British Airways by the UK (come on--dancing flight attendants?!? No, I don't want to come fly with you. Please, stop asking me.);
...Turkey's pop and belly dancers--watch out Justin Timberlake, Turkey's got your number;
...1980's Marilyn Manson clones from Sweden (which, frankly, I found very, very scary. I'm canceling my trip to Stockholm.);
...and, last but clearly not least, France's Scissor Sisters on crack. I'm still dizzy from watching the lead singer run round and round and round that stage like a gerbil.

It was all quite impressive, to say the least. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing next year's presentation, live from Belgrade. With a good couple pints of Guiness and a bag of spicy chili crisps, I'll settle in for another evening of spine-tingling entertainment, watching as for one night, all of Europe puts their disagreements aside and unites in the name of bad music. Sorry America, maybe you can catch it on YouTube?