Tom Verlaine, RIP

Side 1 of Marquee Moon is my favorite side of rock music. There is nothing else in the rock canon that sounds remotely like it, or sounds as good. 

Nightmare Alley

There's a sucker born every minute, and whether by the laws of economics or predator-prey dynamics, there's also a steady supply of grifters to satisfy the demand: Trump, Holmes, SBF, Santos, to name only the latest crop.

Grifters and their marks (the suckers) figure prominently in many noire novels and movies, and William Lindsay Gresham's sordidly fantastic 1946 novel Nightmare Alley features one of the best literary grifters ever: Stanton Carlisle. 

Nightmare Alley traces Stan's path from the gritty carny tent to expensive private séances where, as the Reverend Carlisle, he summons spirits for the naive and vulnerable well-to-do. Stan's ascent illustrates all the talents a successful grifter needs to have: an ability to identify the most gullible and eager marks, whether in the carny audience or among the well-heeled dinner-party guests; enough talent for magic to pull off increasingly elaborate illusions and sleights; and a real gift for gab. The last of these talents is the most important of all, serving multiple purposes: to ingratiate the marks while all the time keeping them distracted from the real game at hand; to identify and exploit a personal weakness or trauma, creating an emotional stake in the grift; and to weasel out of jams when a cop or a skeptical mark calls your bluff.

Along Stan's journey, the reader is treated to a fine cast of characters, including the women in Stan's life– grifters and marks alike– and to writing in the best hard-boiled style, punctuated by booze-driven stream of consciousness soliloquies. Extended flashbacks and memories fill in the personal histories of a couple of characters, most notably Stan Carlisle. His Oedipal longing and resentments are fodder for his psychologist, lover, and eventual partner-in-grift Lilith Ritter. You'd think Stan might be a little more savvy than to fall for this femme fatale– but then, maybe there's a mark inside every grifter.

This being noire, it's not a spoiler to reveal that Stan's ascent will inevitably lead to a hard fall. You might say he had it coming; but for the gods or spirits who govern Gresham's universe, justice has got nothing to do with it.

Nope

Jordan Peele's latest film is further evidence of his greatness, even if this shaggy dog of a story is not totally great. It is certainly worth watching: funny, at times scary, and full of amusing social commentary that ranges from broad to pretty clever. It lacks the punch and discipline of Get Out, but like that film it does feature Daniel Kaluuya, who is fantastic. In a movie where the cloud-like alien invader will eat you if it catches you looking it in the eye, a fellow like Kaluuya with eyeballs that nearly jump right out of his head is at a distinct disadvantage. Peele plays that for all it is worth, with darkened scenes in which Kaluuya's dark skin nearly disappears, his bug-eyes all aglow. 

Horses play a role here, and I felt the movie could have made more of them. Horses are, after all, the most alien of animals that humans regularly commune with. Note to self: EVs are great, but a horse is better during those times when an evil alien is using some kind of electromagnetic pulse to shut down all electrical devices. 

Recommended.

Can Music Be Perfect? Vol. 101

Lately it seems like I've been listening to at least one Oscar Peterson YouTube every night. There's a surprising number of them out there. All of a sudden he is my favorite musician. Peterson knew his Bach, and you can hear it in this 1964 version of C Jam Blues, as he passes the counterpoint between left and right hands. But always rooted in the blues, and always swinging. Swinging is underappreciated. Supported by his classic trio-mates, Ed Thigpen and Ray Brown.

Can Music Be Perfect? The First 100

1. San Jose Jazz Festival 2011

2. The Pogues, Rum Sodomy & the Lash 

3. DeBarge/ Andy Bey 

4. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock 

5. Wussy, This Will Not End Well 

6. Louis Armstrong Plays WC Handy 

7. Adele, Rolling in the Deep 

8. Bob Wills, Stay a Little Longer 

9. The Flamingos, I Only Have Eyes for You 

10. Aretha Franklin 

11. Keith Whitley, I’m Over You 

12. Lisa Stansfield, Affection 

13. Peter Stampfel, Goldfinger 

14. The Ravens, Don’t Mention My Name 

15. CCR, Fortunate Son 

16. Pet Shop Boys, Rent 

17. Luther Vandross, A House is Not a Home 

18. Frank Sinatra, One for My Baby 

19. Domus, Faure Piano Quartet No. 1 

20. Randy Travis, Reasons I Cheat 

21. Willie Colon, The Hustler 

22. Joni Mitchell, Free Man in Paris 

23. Willie Colon/ Ruben Blades 

24. Bootsy Collins, Psychoticbumpschool 

25. The Byrds, So You Want to Be… 

26. Randy Newman, Marie 

27. Marty Robbins, El Paso 

28. Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges 

29. Ray Charles, You Don’t Know Me 

30. Quincy Jones, Hicky Burr 

31. Lucinda Williams, Joy 

32. Alexi Kenney and friends, Dohnanyi Serenade 

33. Duke Ellington, Jazz Party 

34. Stevie Wonder, Bird of Beauty 

35. Ella Fitzgerald, What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? 

36. Horace Parlan, Dexi 

37. James Carter, Round Midnight 

38. OutKast, Gasoline dreams 

39. Anthony Braxton, You Stepped Out of a Dream 

40. Caetano Veloso, Voce e Linda 

41. La Quatuor Signum Joue Haydn, Haydn Quartet. 77(1) 

42. Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Pa’ Gozar 

43. Benny Carter, On Green Dolphin Street 

44. Gladys Knight & the Pips, Midnight Train 

45. Stevie Wonder, You Haven’t Done Nothin’ 

46. The Housemartins, The Light is Always Green 

47. Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit 

48. Amy Rigby, The Trouble with Jeanie 

49. Murray Perahia, Bach English Suite No. 2 

50. David Murray Octet, India 

51. Miles Davis, Right Off 

52. Dusty Springfield, Breakfast in Bed 

53. James Brown, Papa Don’t Take No Mess 

54. Men of Robert Shaw Chorale, Tom’s Gone to Hilo 

55. Billie Holiday, I’ll Never Be the Same 

56. Beach Boys, I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times 

57. Ray Kane, Pauoa Liko Ka Lehua 

58. Gal e Caetano, Minha Senhora 

59. Prince, Partyup 

60. Kate Tempest, The Beigeness 

61. Oumou Sangara, Iyo Djeli 

62. Louis Jordan, School Days 

63. New Order, Weirdo 

64. Bee Gees, More Than a Woman 

65. Ligeti, Mysteries of the Macabre 

66. Flying Burrito Bros. and Aretha, Do Right Woman 

67. Ella Fitzgerald, I Wish I Were in Love Again 

68. Guarneri Quartet, Beethoven Rasumovsky 

69. Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan, You Go To My Head 

70. Duke Ellington, Wig Wise 

71. McCoy Tyner, Atlantis 

72. Biggie, Things Done Changed 

73. Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Obelisk (For Dave Holland) 

74. Moraíto - Sor Bulería 

75. Stevie Wonder, Tuesday Heartbreak 

76. Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny, Acid Kiss 

77. Noura Mint Seymali, Arbina 

78. Billie Holiday, Me Myself and I 

79. Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love 

80. Stan Getz, Só Danço Samba 

81. Kanye West, We Major 

82. Tribe Called Quest, Scenario 

83. Riton & Kah-Lo, Ginger 

84. Jungle Brothers, Doin’ Our Own Dang 

85. Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Congratulations and Condolences 

86. Go-Betweens, Darlinghurst Nights 

87. Los Lobos, Don’t Worry Baby 

88. Rudresh Mahanthappa and Indo-Pak Coalition, You Talk Too Much 

89. Murray Allen Carrington Power Trio, Perfection 

90. Sly and the Family Stone, Stand! 

91. Courtney Barnett, Elevator Operator 

92. Sousa, The Stars and Stripes Forever - "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band 

93. Billie Eilish, bad guy 

94. Al Green, Let’s Stay Together 

95. Carsie Blanton, Harbor 

96. Chic, Good Times 

97. Annie Ross, I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face 

98. David Murray, All the Things You Are 

99. Safri Boys, Paar Linghhade 

100. Alexi Kenney, X Suite (Wiancko)

Can Music Be Perfect? Vol. 100

The centenary of this series calls for a bit of nepotism. The artist does not believe in perfection, I believe. But he and his friend Paul Wiancko get close enough for my standards. Don't miss him if he visits a concert hall near you...

Escaping the Malthusian Trap

An awesome visualization from Kieran Healy. Makes you wonder what happened in the 18th Century? Could it be... hmm... capitalism? I also want to see the 20th Century using a logarithmic scale. Thankfully he provides a link to the code.

Russell Banks, RIP

Two of his novels have really stuck with me: Cloudsplitter and Lost Memory of Skin. Different as they are in theme, what both books share are humanizing portraits of deeply flawed, troubled, complex men, and an accompanying exploration of what it means to lead a moral life. I have sometimes wanted to read some of his other books, such as The Sweet Hereafter, but the movie version was devastating enough. Banks did not flinch at the sad or the ugly.

Yup

ChatGPT.

Firuzabad

When Alexi is visiting, it's time for jigsaw puzzles. We did a city map of San Francisco, and then this Frank Stella painting. We followed Alexi rules for both: No peeking at the picture on the box. It came together. I'd say my contribution was about 15%.

Fred White, RIP

Obituary writing may be the last stronghold of virtuosic journalism, and Alex Traub nails the lede on this one. Bravo:

Fred White, who as a drummer with Earth, Wind & Fire propelled some of the funkiest songs in pop history, helping to provide a soundtrack to the nation’s weddings, bar mitzvahs, high school reunions and any other function at which people of all ages dance, died on Sunday. He was 67.