Giuseppe Zangara

No go on the Robbins, but I haven't made a decision as to what I'm going to read after I finish/give up this Bellow, so we'll see.

The second and third times I tried with White Noise were due to being assigned other Delillo books for class, Mao II and Libra. I liked both quite a bit, but I couldn't get into White Noise at all. Too snide and oh so clever.

Go to bed, Bobby Peru.

I wasn't even aware you could send messages to people who weren't signed in. Shows what I know!

He im'ed me while I was offline to tell me how exciting the brackets made the whole thing. I'm sure he's mentioned that to you already, but, if not, know that you are loved.

I feel confident in saying Gaddis can fuck off.

Query: How often do the regulars of this thread feel compelled to finish reading a book? Particularly, one that is your introduction to a canonized author. While not bad by any means, Saul Bellow's Herzog isn't moving me any. I'm about a hundred pages in with a little under three hundred to go; I'm considering quitting, but I always feel a little disappointed with myself when I don't finish a book. (The only exception here is if said book is outrageously bad. Herzog isn't, but reading it is starting to feel like a chore.) If I do stop, I'll try again later. Trying another time won't necessarily prove more fruitful—I have, on three separate occasions, began but not finished Delillo's White Noise (though I have enjoyed other of his books I've read)—but you never know.

One of those two times was at an MTV taping! Anyway, in my experience, their live shows expose Black Thought. Granted, up until what I assume is recently (I haven't seen them since 2003), he had to handle both his and Malik's parts on stage. Rapping that much—especially with a less than perfect backing band (they can be a little sloppy)—isn't easy, but that doesn't mean he should get a pass just for trying.

I've seen the Roots twice; pretty dull both times. And I like them on record.

Why are Kreese and the Capt. placed with us? (No offense to either.)

My first impression of THRAK: eh. Nowhere near as bad as its follow-up, The Construcktion of Light, but something feels off. Maybe it's the contemporary production. I'm not a big fan of the guitar sound here, either; Fripp sounds like Vernon Reid on most of it.

What about

Argayde Fire

An aside: Not too long ago, I was rooting around Fripp's blog over at the dgm site. I found an entry where he stated that Tool are the only band that ever makes him want to pick up his guitar and rock out anymore. Considering that, we should all be grateful he hasn't found more inspiration to make another KC album.

I'm weighing downloading THRAK instead of doing a blind buy, which is how I've mostly acquired my KC albums. (Really dodged a bullet when I pirated TCoL, ya know.)

In the meantime, my five favorite KC songs of the moment. Only one song per album. (Otherwise, this list would be a little Discipline-heavy.) 1. Frame by Frame 2. Larks Tongues in Aspic, Part II 3. The Great Deceiver 4. Cat Food 5. Three of a Perfect Pair

I find whenever I get in a King Crimson mood, my opinion on certain albums changeâ€â€remember, I once stated in another thread that I preferred Beat to Disciplineâ€â€so the above list is liable to change in a couple of months (though Discipline is secure at the top, believe me). Every time I listen to a bunch of their albums, I discover a lot of things to like and appreciate that completely escaped my notice on earlier spins; that's exciting, as there aren't very many bands like that. I suppose it helps there aren't many bands with as wide and varied a discography as King Crimson. So, the day may come where I'll get over the hump that is "Providence" and truly love Red. That said, what's your beef with SaBB? It has, for higlights, "The Great Deceiver," "Lament," "We'll Let You Know," "Trio" and "Fracture." So much good stuff.

Re: Three of a Perfect Pair Production, mainly. Almost every song here is trumped by the live versions on Absent Lovers, thanks to the latter's rawer sound. That said, I do like the studio take of the title track and am quite fond of the Tony Levin mix of "Sleepless," though not so much any of the other myriad versions, including bonus tracks. Re: Red "Providence" just isn't that good. Everything else on the album is great. And you didn't ask, but yeesh, The Construcktion of Light is dire. I'll likely never check out The Power to Believe because of it; it makes me a little nervous about THRAK, too, though I'm sure I'll get around to that one eventually, as Levin and Bruford are on it.

Ranking the KC I have/heard: 1. Discipline 2. Larks Tongues in Aspic 3. Starless and Bible Black 4. Red 5. In the Wake of Poseidon 6. In the Court of the Crimson King 7. Beat 8. Three of a Perfect Pair 9. The Construcktion of Light I put LTiA over SaBB because why not. I didn't include Absent Lovers, but that's top five material, easily. #s 1-7 are all good; 8 & 9 are so-so and utterly forgettable, respectively.

Oh.

I can approach your post either one of two ways: 1) "Hey, good thing taste is subjective," or 2) "Hey, you like Arcade Fire, the Fiery Furnaces and Nellie McKay. Should you be so quick to judge?"

I'm not going to the Isis show, and here's why: Jesu is the opening act for Isis. Except they've had to postpone their involvement with the tour for the first two weeks, thanks to visa issues. (Jesu being from England.) The cancellation of the second of those two weeks—which covers the show I was planning on seeing—allows me, according to an e-mail I received the other day, to get a refund. Now, it so happened I wanted to see Jesu in addition to Isis, and was bummed to learn they had to bow out. Still, I was plenty excited to see Isis...until I listened to In the Absence of Truth yesterday, details of which are just a few posts above. After discussing it with Gene, I made the error of listening to it again, which served to further diminish the excitement I had for seeing them live. Now add how, from what I've read, the current Isis set list is mostly stuff from the new, boring album and very little of the earlier, better material (we're talking just two songs, though they'll throw in a third if they're feeling generous) AND that there won't be the plus of seeing Jesu AND that going to and from Gainesville just to see this show will result in me only getting four hours (if that) of sleep before going into work the next day, this all equals me no longer thinking it'll be worth the effort involved. So I'm taking advantage of the available refund and not going. For what it's worth, if either Jesu had been able to make it or Isis were playing a show here in town, I'd still have gone.

It's good to know I could brodown with a two-year-old, should the occasion arise.

Hey, I've warmed up to the guy's voice. And, to be fair, his singing isn't the only thing I dislike about that song.

How do you feel about The Night Watch double album? It was recorded around the same time as USA. edit: This was for Blak. THANKS SLAYER