Went for a Walk
I just got back from a little book-inspired walk. The walk was not actually inspired by a book, but I did walk to the library and then the used book store. It is quite nice out. When I stepped outside after being in the book store for about forty-five minutes, I was engulfed in a pleasant warmth. People sometimes complain about the humidity, but to me it is lovely. It's like stepping out onto a beach in Hawaii, but without the pesky sand. Just a lovely day.
Anyway, while browsing through the book store, I stumbled across a series of small paperbacks (I forget the publisher). There were about twelve to twenty on the shelf and each one was about a specific music album, telling the story behind how the album was made, what influenced the artists and what artists the album influenced. Like liner notes, but in much greater depth. Very cool. The one that sprang to my attention was one entitled "In the aeroplane over the sea," about the Neutral Milk Hotel album of the same name. I'm not a huge fan of NMH, but I do enjoy that album. More importantly, my good friend Matt of Superelectric fame is a huge fan of NMH and Jeff Mangum.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share.
Anyway, while browsing through the book store, I stumbled across a series of small paperbacks (I forget the publisher). There were about twelve to twenty on the shelf and each one was about a specific music album, telling the story behind how the album was made, what influenced the artists and what artists the album influenced. Like liner notes, but in much greater depth. Very cool. The one that sprang to my attention was one entitled "In the aeroplane over the sea," about the Neutral Milk Hotel album of the same name. I'm not a huge fan of NMH, but I do enjoy that album. More importantly, my good friend Matt of Superelectric fame is a huge fan of NMH and Jeff Mangum.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share.
posted by Fishfrog at 10:44 AM
3 Comments:
You went to Subterranean, right? That place is pretty nice. I've seen the section where they have the album books, but I haven't seen the NMH one yet (I'd like to check it out sometime, I am a ridiculous fan of the band).
The last time I was there (with Washrambler), I saw they had a Wu Tang Clan book written (at least nominally) by the RZA, and it had lyrics for a lot of their songs (including CREAM, which I referenced once in a paper in college), with glossary explanations of what different words/phrases/lines meant. I finally found out what "Moms bounced on old man" meant. It meant that his mom left his dad. Anyway, cool book.
Subterranean's a really neat place, you live on one of the few truly cool parts of St. Louis.
I'm kind of suprised I haven't been to Subterranean more often. They have a very friendly staff, and it is pleasant to browse around the store. My only complaint is that they don't have enough used books. Most of their stuff is new.
I agree that the Loop is one of the cooler parts of the Lou, but there aren't really that many great places. It's just that the great places that are here are very cool (the Tivoli, Sub Books, Vintage Vinyl, Blu Hill; I can't really think of any others, though Cicero's might be cool, I just don't get over there).
the last time I went to Subterranean there was this really wierd chick at the check-out in front of me. She asked the extremly friendly clerk if they sold "cool journals" He told her that although the do not currently have journals, they are working on it. She replied "What's to work on? How hard is it to stock journals?" He futher explained that they used to sell primarily used books, but now stock more new books and are hoping to incorporate other things (such as journals) into their stock, but are still in transition. She was not satisfied and told him that "there are no places in St. Louis to get cool journals - you should sell them."
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