Digressive Comedy

For a while I've had this theory that modern sitcoms are experiments in fractured narrative. Recently, because the world is a beautiful and indulgent place, I was able to write about my crazy theory for the New York Times Magazine. Plus, a nice Nytimesy illustration of 30 Rock comes along with the article. Officially, it appears in print this Sunday, but you can read it here.



(And thanks to Lelenditor for spit and polish)

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Jonny Olsen

A few months ago, Rob of High Places told me about Jonny Olsen, a kid from LA who, within a few years, became the only white Laotion pop star. I watched some of his videos, listened to his music, and quickly became a fan, of sorts. Last month, I interviewed Olsen and then profiled him for the LA Weekly, which was published today.

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Gang Gang Dance

Roos Shamanana wrote a review of the new album, Saint Dymphna, for the this week's LA Weekly. Long ago Roos conducted an interview with them for identity theory. Then, recently he slapped them on the Believer comp.

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Believer Fifty-Eight

The Believer Art Issue is out and beautiful and includes an unbelievable poster by Robyn O'Neil, whose art is pictured above. Also of note is Miranda Mellis' fantastic interview with the seed bank artist, Dyveke Sanne and a piece about Sol Lewitt, who inspired me to make a lot of mediocre geometric artwork in high school.

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Meredith Monk

Last week Roos Shamanana went up to Geyserville and had the opportunity to interview Meredith Monk, who, in his mind, stands as one of the most creative, unique musicians living today. I can't believe the things she does with her voice. In our meeting, she was kind and thoughtful. Talking with her was an all around good thing. The interview turned into an LA Times article and then, later in the week, I saw her perform an amazing piece in an eight-story art installation, which made me rethink my entire view of what a performance could be.

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NewVillager blog has begun.

Read it here and then maybe listen to the new tracks.

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Maya Deren meets Trespassers William

Trespassers William just put up a simple video. It's a clip of the amazing Maya Deren film Ritual in Transfigured Time, which is influenced heavily by her work with Haitian vodoun ritual. The video is for the TW song "Weakening," which was released on our last full length called Having.

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