Live Review: Cap’n Jazz at the Starlight Ballroom, July 24, 2010

Photo credit: Nicole Kibert/www.elawgrrl.com

In the liner notes of Cap’n Jazz’s 1998 anthology Analphabetapolothology, singer Tim Kinsella opined: “reissues…undermine our pretenses by making what was once special and precious in its rarity, somehow a little less in its convenient availability.” To Kinsella, the reissue served as a means of “getting over and past it” in terms of his own personal involvement with the highly influential Chicago band.

Now, twelve years later (and fifteen since their disbandment), one wonders what inspired Kinsella to get past getting past it; Cap’n Jazz have reunited for a handful of shows on both coasts. Supported on the eastern shows by their hometown contemporaries Gauge — who called it quits in 1994 and reformed earlier this year — both bands are giving audiences (many of whom were in elementary school during their existence) a taste of what made the music of the Midwest so important in the early 90’s. Continue reading…

Interview: Charles Yu

Owl and Bear met with up-and-coming author Charles Yu, who braved 8-foot Pikachus and zombie brides at Comic-Con International 2010 to talk with us about his new book, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (Pantheon Books), due in stores September 7, 2010.

At first blush, Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in A Science Fictional Universe is a classic science fiction comedy complete with a sobbing, suicidal time machine operating system and an ontologically ambiguous robot dog. But surrounding the dark humor of the protagonist, a lonely repairman of chronogrammatical vehicles with temporolinguistic architecture (read: time machines), is a small, sad universe that challenges the polarity of science and art through a unique narrative “technology.”

“I was trying to explore a fake science of storytelling,” Yu said, when asked about how his book collapses the barrier between science and language. “Reading a book itself is definitely a pretty advanced form of time travel, one we’ve had for a long time… I wasn’t so much trying to rigorously work through any kind of science about it, but just the idea that this is a really amazing technology we already have.” Continue reading…

Poetic Memory: Zoo Seven (Interview)

Irish-born San Diegan Del Currie, also known as Zoo Seven, has been writing music and working in the industry since the 90s, but he only recently released his debut solo album. Called Lifesaver, the album is a rich and layered work that easily showcases his talent and self-professed love for melody and harmony. You can download the entire thing for free over at his website.

We asked Del to tell us about his influences, and he happily obliged. It’s a little different from what you might expect, but it’s nonetheless interesting. Check out Del Currie’s Poetic Memory below. Continue reading…

Villagers – ‘Becoming a Jackal’ (Video)

Sometimes when you hear a song, it casts a spell on you that can only be broken by continuously listening to it for days on end. “Becoming a Jackal” by Villagers still has me in its whimsical grip, and I suspect the only way that the spell can be broken is if I pass it along to the O&B collective consciousness.

Actually, after listening to the Irish band’s debut LP — also titled Becoming a Jackal, out now on Domino Records — I fear the spell won’t go away until the rest of you fall in love with the entire album, just as I have. But for starters, have a look-see at the above video. I must warn you, though — it may conjure emotion.

Lullabies in Nerdland

Comic-Con International 2010 came and went, leaving behind all its star-studded blockbuster buzz and its traumatic encounters with cellulite precariously wrapped in spandex hot pants (my Wonder Woman fantasies are forever destroyed). We’ll be bringing you our take on the world’s largest comic convention in the coming days, but in the meantime, here’s a video that captures the live-action fever dream that the folks at Owl and Bear got lost in this weekend.

Also, look below for some custom made owl, bear, and owlbear sketches by some generous Comic-Con artists. Continue reading…

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