Classic D Man

The D Man has been reinvesting in his early R.E.M. catalog. Seeking lyrical elegance. Melodic refuge. Arguably the definitive American band of the past 30 years, R.E.M. are the inspired fathers of indie-rock and have a story arc almost unparalleled given such an incredible trajectory across so many great albums. While driving home tonight and listening to the song below, I remembered what makes this band so special. For a fleeting moment, I thought I might be listening to the finest song ever recorded. At the very least, you should enjoy "I Believe" from the band's fourth album Lifes Rich Pageant. A brilliant song unlike anything else. Call it a friendly reminder. (Lyrics provided below, because as you might know, you won't find them in the liner notes).

When I was young and full of grace
And spirited, a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell my spirit
I will not tell
You're on your honour not to tell

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change
The difference between
What you want and what you need
There's the key
Your adventure for today
What do you do between
The arms of the day
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and give and take
And foolish said my fool awake
When I was young and fever fell my spirit
I will not tell
You're on your honour
On your honour
Trust in your calling
Make sure your calling's true
Think of others
The others think of you
Silly rule, golden words make practice practice makes perfect
Perfect is a fault and fault lines change
I believe my humour's wearing thin
And change is what I believe in
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and full of grace
As spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell my spirit
I will not tell
You're on your honour
On your honour
I believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the key
I believe my humor's wearing thin
And I believe the poles are shifting
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

Silversun Pickups

On a whim, Rip and The D Man hit the Silversun Pickups in concert last night. Why? Because we were quasi-autonomous thirty-somethings in the mood for some woozy guitar workouts.

• The D Man picked up Rip's post-meal chocolate chip cookie and, as a result, enjoyed a ticket on the house. Rip scores again.
• Silversun Pickups opened with "Growing Old is Getting Old" and immediately announced that they would sound much better live than The D Man anticipated.
• The band transitioned to strong performances of "Sort Of" and "There's No Secrets This Year."
• "The Royal We" was fantastic live. The build-up following the hazy guitar interlude was even better than the album version.
• "Kissing Families" from Carnavas was held together with a nice mid-tempo chug and bassist Nikki Monninger's vocals.
• The band ran headlong into the encore with "Panic Switch" and "Lazy Eye," the two biggest-sounding songs of the night. "Lazy Eye" was played with absolute abandon, as it should be. A maxed-out treasure of a song. Brian Aubert's vocal-chord shredding yelps climaxed at just the right time.
• "Substitution" was the best of a three-song encore. The set list was Swoon-heavy and that ended up being a good thing. The crowd was really into the show and the band's appreciation seemed genuine throughout the night. Good on ya, SLC.
• Ultimately, Silversun Pickups do not capture The D Man's aesthetic imagination. But they mine a vein of sonic quality--even identity--that pulsed throughout some of my formative music listening years. They are a tight and competent approximation of Gish-era Pumpkins with scattered nods to The Breeders and Sonic Youth. The derivative vibe could be offputting but for the band not taking themselves so seriously. Hearing them live, they are a well-meaning and solid outfit aping earlier tropes to surprisingly good effect. Good on ya, Los Angeles.

The Trials of Van Occupanther / Midlake

Van Occupanther

carries water in the snow

and stumbles again

1. Roscoe

2. Bandits

3. Head Home

4. Van Occupanther

5. Young Bride

6. Branches

7. In This Camp

8. We Gathered in Spring

9. It Covers The Hillsides

10. Chasing After Deer

11. You Never Arrived

Song of the Weekend

Enjoy the best driving song of the summer from your friends Ben Bridwell and company. It does not get much more straightforward, wide-open, American country-rock than this. Thank goodness for sweet guitars and hooks. Note to self: wear your plaid button-up to the concert in September.

Sea Change / Beck

private catharsis

turns into Gordon Lightfoot's

six-string loneliness

Sea Change by Beck

1. The Golden Age

2. Paper Tiger

3. Guess I'm Doing Fine

4. Lonesome Tears

5. Lost Cause

6. End of the Day

7. All in Your Mind

8. Round the Bend

9. Already Dead

10. Sunday Sun

11. Little One

12. Side of the Road

Song of the Week

Sun Kil Moon releases fourth album Admiral Fell Promises next week. The D Man already pre-ordered the album to receive the accompanying I'll Be There EP. Unlike past efforts, Mark Kozelek recorded all of the songs solo with his nylon string guitar. So while you won't be hearing any open-tuned epics, if the cover art is any indication, you will be rewarded with some intimacy. Check out the spare "Australian Winter" and go to Myspace to hear the album streamed in its entirety on July 10.

Haiku Review

In Seymour--An Introduction, Buddy Glass tells us that his brother "probably loved the classical Japanese three-line, seventeen syllable haiku as he loved no other form of poetry, and that he himself wrote--bled--haiku (almost always in English, but sometimes . . . in Japanese, German, or Italian)." On the day Seymour left this world of his own volition, he composed the following "straight, classical style haiku" in Japanese, leaving it behind in pencil "on the desk blotter in his hotel room." (See "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," from Nine Stories, if for some reason you have never read J.D. Salinger's small canon).

The little girl on the plane

Who turned her doll's head around

To look at me.

The poem was later translated by Buddy, or so we're told in Franny and Zooey. Buddy usually describes Seymour's poetry rather than sharing the poems outright, adding another level of richness and mystery to Seymour's considerable craft. We learn that Seymour invented "double haikus" and artfully invoked powerful scenes. We do get this poem, however, written by Seymour when he was young:

John Keats

John Keats

John.

Please put your scarf on.

According to Harold G. Henderson's Haiku in English, the traditional Japanese haiku is visual in appearance, with three lines having five, seven, and five syllables, respectively. The poem must contain some reference to Nature. The poem is specific in the sense that it refers to a particular event, and the event is happening now, not in the past. It is often the practice to reference or allude to a time of year by season. Thus, "the blossomed-covered hill" would indicate spring.

American haiku is often about anything, breaching the ancient traditions and causing heartburn to purists. For example, recall Richard Brautigan's "Haiku Ambulance," which pokes fun at the haiku that fails.

A piece of green pepper fell

off the wooden salad bowl:

so what?

Nevertheless, Japanese haiku in translation is far better conveyed without a strict adherence to the syllabic rule. Sacrificing the syllabic rule while maintaining the three lines, which is usually the way translation is done, is necessary because syllabication in Japanse is obviously different from English, and Japanese kireji ("cutting words") are "primarily verbal punctuation marks" that are difficult to translate directly. So Basho reads as follows:

On a withered branch

a crow has settlled . . .

autumn nightfall

The old pond;

A frog jumps in -

The sound of the water.

Why the lesson in haiku? Why the nod to both the imaginative (Seymour) and literal (Basho) masters of the striking artform? Because The D Man loves haiku. And so should you. The beauty of the haiku is in its accessibility--its ability to distill a scene to its emotional essence in so few words. This accessibility allows for even the most meager of writers to try their hand at the poetic. Everyone can write a haiku. Some can even be quite good.

When The D Man was hanging out backstage with Stone Gossard* before a Pearl Jam concert, Stone (yes, we use first names here) said that the band members had recently been writing haikus. (Here is where you imagine Edder Vedder licking his pencil on the tour bus). Stone believed writing haikus kept their minds sharp and led to some striking realizations. Good for writing song lyrics too, The D Man supposed.

So with Seymour's, Basho's, and Stone's blessing, The D Man sets out on a haiku journey, a creative tour-de-syllable to describe the emotional resonance of his favorite albums from the new millenium. Five. Seven. Five. Wish me luck, as I may even attempt the mysterious double--even triple--haiku that has long been the thing of legend. As the haikus unfold, The D Man seeks your participation. Haikus are obviously a solitary pleasure, but the welcoming smile--and verse or two--from friends and readers extend the little poem's wealth into the realm of riches. So thanks in advance.

*No apologies for name-dropping or implying my coolness by association.