14 書香人生 B O O K S & R E V I E W S SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2010 • TAIPEI TIMES

Hardcover: US By Taylor Briere CD Reviews

LCD Soundsystem Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Finally, ‘Less the Cairo Gang The Wonder Show of the World Than Zero’ gets DFA Records Domino its sequel Bret Easton Ellis’ follow-up doesn’t match the brilliance of his debut novel

by BRUCE MACHART NY Times News Service, Houston his Is Happening is the third studio released by James he Wonder Show of the World is singer-songwriter Will Oldham’s 1985, Bret Easton Ellis Murphy under the name LCD Soundsystem. It is the follow-up to 14th album under the Bonnie “Prince” Billy name, and is a published his bestselling Publication Notes the critically acclaimed , an album that put Murphy continuation of his collaboration with The Cairo Gang, which debut novel, Less Than at the center of everything hip in the indie music world back in consists of guitarist Emmett Kelly and bassist Shahzad Ismaily. T2007. Though The Wonder Show of the World is far less ornate than some of Zero, which was quickly T Three years later, Murphy sounds like a man who’s enjoying the Oldham’s recent releases, the musicianship on it is solid, with The Cairo Inadapted into a “Brat Pack” movie. At the time, Ellis was still an spotlight and having as much fun as he can on This Is Happening, which Gang making some tasteful contributions. Nowhere is that more evident undergraduate, and his book was he says will be LCD Soundsystem’s final album. “I believe in waking up than on the album’s opener and standout track Troublesome Houses, on lauded for its terse depictions of the together/so that means making eyes across the room,” he sings on Drunk which a wandering bass line adds some melodic intrigue to the simple Hollywood elite, of the perennially Girls, the album’s ultra-catchy first single. Propelled along by crunchy chord progression atop which Oldham sings, “I once loved a girl/but she anesthetized kids and their morally and booming , the song is likely to become a dance couldn’t take that I visited troublesome houses.” ambivalent parents. rock anthem. While his voice has improved considerably over the years, Oldham is Twenty-five years later, Ellis There is no doubting the caliber of the music here, which sounds like not a great singer in the traditional sense. His gift is in many ways a rarer now offers a short sequel, Imperial your favorite songs from the 1980s being given a once-over with modern one, however, as the grit of his vocals breathes a special life into his songs, Bedrooms, and the premise production gloss and tongue-in-cheek wit. You Wanted a Hit’s chunky carrying his words far further than would otherwise be possible. brilliantly assimilates his first novel’s palm-muted guitar riffs and vocal phrasing sound like something straight On Cornstalks or Among Them, a simple, sparse track haunted by Hollywood buzz: “They had made a from The Cars’ music book, and the playfully spooky synths of I Can desperation and sadness, he pleads to a lost lover for a second chance: “I movie about us,” the novel begins. Change instantly bring the hit She Blinded Me With Science to mind. have saved enough that I can go/But where to find you/I don’t know.” “The movie was based on a book But LCD Soundsystem is at its artistic best on songs that build to And on the album closer, Kids, Oldham seems to hint that he is on the written by someone we knew.” powerful climaxes, as on the closing to All I Want, where Murphy’s verge of a complete breakdown, “I have gone from place to place/Weeks or For Ellis fans, this must come as IMPERIAL BEDROOMS repeatedly sings “take me home” atop an insistent, distorted guitar riff, only steps ahead only/Of something following/Now I am becoming afraid while melodic synths explode into atonal splinters. quite a shock. After all, for a quarter By Bret Easton Ellis to move.” of a century they have assumed This Is Happening is one of the most fun records of the year, and a Although The Wonder Show of the World is not one of Oldham’s greatest that the events in Less Than Zero 192 pages fitting finale for the LCD Soundsystem project. (look to the critically acclaimed I See a Darkness to understand what were described by its protagonist Knopf he’s capable of as a songwriter), it is nevertheless quite good and likely to narrator, Clay, the cocaine-bolstered please anyone who’s a fan of singer-songwriters with an Americana feel. undergraduate who comes home for Christmas break to find a host of While most metafiction aims to demons run amok in the City call attention to the artifice of art, of Angels. As it turns out, Clay, Ellis seeks to confuse reality with now presumably the narrator of artifice. And who can blame him? Imperial Bedrooms, had been In a novel where the narrative rules Cosmogramma misrepresented in the first novel by are fluid (and therefore not rules at Arts and Crafts Records “someone we knew.” This someone all), where the game changes as it’s remains unnamed, though cross- played, the author is unfettered by referencing the two texts makes the such inconveniences as character identity clear. motivation, causal relationships Otherwise, nothing has really between events and plausibility. changed. Clay, now a successful In the end, Clay is either delusional screenwriter who returns to LA to or very, very unlucky. Only a handful help cast his latest film, is still myopic of days in , and he finds and monomaniacal. He routinely uses himself (and this no-talent actress his power in the industry to coerce to whom he’s so drawn) at the heart aspiring actors into his bed, and the of a pulsing miasma of evil involving psychosexual relationships that ensue drugs, prostitution, murderous are as unfulfilling as ever. When Clay Mexicans, torture and comparatively grows obsessed with an untalented pedestrian sins such as infidelity. It’s s one of ’s most celebrated acts, Broken Social lying Lotus is the moniker of electronic musician Steven Ellison, but beautiful actress named Rain really quite a mess. Scene functions more as a loose collective of musicians than a who is perhaps best known for his work on Cartoon Network’s Turner, he manipulates her with Perhaps more troubling is the fact traditional band, with an ever-changing roster that at one point Adult Swim, for which he provides snippets of music. It might not promises of a part in his movie. that, for all his struggles, Clay remains swelled to more than 19 members. That number has since been be the claim to fame most musicians dream of, but it has helped The old gang is still around, too, unknown to the reader. We are told Acut to seven, though innumerable guest musicians, many of them ex- Fto put Ellison on the map. Cosmogramma, his second album for Warp and filthy rich despite their apparent during a session with his psychologist members themselves, were invited to play on the group’s fourth studio Records and third overall, sees him continuing his evolution as a uniquely lethargy. There’s Blair, Clay’s high that “the pattern that keeps repeating album, Forgiveness Rock Record. talented electronic music producer worthy of far more attention. school girlfriend, and Julian, his itself is again pointed out, and its Forgiveness Rock Record is perhaps the most straightforward Most of the songs on Cosmogramma are short for electronic music, oft-abused chum. Rip, Clay’s former reasons are located, and we practice Broken Social Scene album to date. Though the band’s songs are still often not reaching the two-minute mark. But sounds and motifs are drug dealer, is now disfigured by his techniques to lessen the pain.” Again splattered with instrumental jams and artful noise, some of the youthful repeated continuously on the album, providing listeners with a compass predilection for plastic surgery. And we are given only abstractions, as experimentalism that characterized earlier releases seems to have been to work their way through what would otherwise be very schizophrenic then there is Trent, now a successful neither “the pattern” nor “its reasons” abandoned. But that isn’t to say the band has regressed. In fact, the terrain, such is the speed at which Ellison juggles ideas. Hollywood insider and Blair’s nor the “techniques to lessen the pain” album is a step forward into more measured, mature songwriting. Ellison is the nephew of greats Alice and John Coltrane, and husband of convenience. are revealed. The album’s most successful moments tend to be its quietest. The Cosmogramma is drenched in a deep jazz influence. The album’s mix The only novelty of Imperial But Ellis is savvy and clearly single Sweetest Kill, with its mellifluous synths and heavy reverb, is of jazz and at some points calls to mind the sounds of other Bedrooms is in the noirlike mystery aware of what he puts on the page. an achingly beautiful ode to life’s uncertainties. ’s voice artists, particularly on the drum ’n’ bass track Pickled, which makes use Ellis constructs. From the moment In Less Than Zero, after returning has never sounded better as he sings, “All the time we get by/Trying to of a Squarepusher-esque bass sound with cut-up beats to great effect. Clay arrives in the city, he is being from New England, Clay is forever figure out our lives/Like a fade out.” The tracks Arkestry and mix some jazzy acoustic drums and followed. Dark-windowed cars described by his suntanned friends On Highway Slipper Jam, feather-soft vocals float atop a nimble brass with an angelic harp to create a chilled-out ambiance akin to LTJ lurk on the street below his high- as being pale. At the end of Imperial acoustic guitar and polished percussion as the band ambles through Bukem’s work. rise condo, their drivers sending Bedrooms, the last thing Blair says four and a half minutes of airy pop. Adding some star power to the mix, front man Thom threatening text messages from to Clay is, “You don’t look like But the band has never limited itself to slow, subtle jams. Yorke makes a guest appearance on the track ... And the World Laughs blocked numbers. anything has happened to you. Sentimental X’s bouncy, cyclical bass builds to a sterling climax With You, a song that almost sounds like it could be an Amnesiac B-side. Yet Ellis seems far more And you’re so pale.” No doubt Ellis in familiar Broken Social Scene style, with triumphant horns and But despite all these references, it would be wrong to write-off interested in befuddling his readers intends this pallor as a metaphor for squealing synthesizers, before fading out in a wash of white noise. Ellison’s music as derivative, because when taken all together, his sound than in creating fully developed Clay’s interior life, but it also serves The band’s 2002 breakout record will be is one-of-a-kind. He’s put together a quality record that displays a special characters. It is no coincidence as a description of yet another remembered as a landmark album in indie rock, a feat difficult to talent for arranging disparate sounds and styles into a cohesive unit. that the old chess metaphor (and inferior sequel, which is drained of duplicate. That said, Forgiveness Rock Record includes some of the Anyone who favors a more challenging breed of electronic music should the LA band X’s song lyrics) “this its vitality and not only less than best music the band has ever released. consider giving it a spin. is the game that moves as you Less Than Zero, but less than fully play” appears so often in his work. alive on the page. Hardcover: US Author holds Facebook founder under the microscope

David Kirkpatrick endeavors to uncover what makes Mark Zuckerberg tick in this timely tour of the social networking Web site

By G. Pascal Zachary humiliating. Yet Kirkpatrick finds astonishing translation tool; the untapped riches. Rather than coaches. Having spawned one experiencing Facebook is more NY Times News Service, San Francisco these failed deals irresistible system operates in at least 70 Publication Notes chasing revenues, Zuckerberg of the biggest social movements like watching a movie than doing David Kirkpatrick sets a difficult copy, so much so that his book languages. While Kirkpatrick chases users; his desire to expand in the world, built around a Google search. Facebook task for himself in writing a might be better titled, “How calls the translation tool “among his social network seems insatiable an Internet-based software seems like entertainment, definitive account of one of the many times can one man offer to the company’s greatest product — and is as close as anything to system, Zuckerberg has yet to a way of passing the time. great technology stories of all sell his company for billions of innovations,” he never explains the real secret of his success. figure out how to balance the Google improves productivity, time. Facebook — hatched by dollars and then renege?” what makes it so. The absence of Throughout this fast-paced tensions between promoting helps a person get stuff done Harvard students and enormously Kirkpatrick, a superb any such technical explanations book, Zuckerberg holds center human community and earning faster. Though new features on popular since moving beyond elite technology journalist who is a shame, especially because, stage, the one constant amid significant profit. Facebook are starting to offer colleges a mere six years ago — is worked for Fortune magazine for in the early going at Facebook, a bewildering array of Befitting a writer whose more productivity options, the one of the most controversial two decades, is most interested Zuckerberg apparently wrote supporting but ultimately journalism appeared in a core attraction remains social. companies in the world. in financial issues — and spectacular code. The parallels disposable characters. The story magazine devoted to the rich and To be sure, the Facebook In The Facebook Effect, the especially how rich Zuckerberg between him and Microsoft’s of how Zuckerberg hatched super-successful, Kirkpatrick story is unfinished. The company company’s chief executive will become if ever he does pull Bill Gates — another Harvard Facebook from his Harvard views Facebook as a singular seems balanced between finding and guiding intelligence, a 26- the trigger and sell the company dropout who wrote code — are dorm room — and managed to pursuit of the Big Score. Yet business wealth from its service year-old East Coast transplant for cash. obvious and yet unexplored. overcome largely spurious earning large profit — indeed and imploding, abandoned by named Mark Zuckerberg, comes Kirkpatrick rarely provides There is plenty of business complaints over code theft by any profit — from Facebook has frustrated fans who shift their across as a reclusive know-it- any explanations of how drama in The Facebook Effect, jealous Harvard undergrads proved difficult for two reasons. allegiances to other idle pursuits all, an irascible rebel prone to Facebook has achieved its because although Zuckerberg may — makes for gripping reading. First, fans of Facebook span — or are concerned about sophomoric pranks. Kirkpatrick vaunted “effect” technologically; be famous for igniting firestorms The Facebook Effect: The But once Zuckerberg drops the globe; 70 percent of the 500 protecting their user information. profusely thanks Zuckerberg for software complexity is sacrificed over the privacy of Facebook Inside Story of the Company out and relocates to Palo Alto, million people who use it at least Zuckerberg, no longer a his cooperation, but his is not for business simplicity, but users, he seems ambivalent That Is Connecting the World Kirkpatrick struggles to maintain once a month live outside the neophyte, is clearly shrewd, an authorized account. In these Kirkpatrick doesn’t demystify about capitalism and surprisingly his tale. Zuckerberg, it turns out, US. The far-flung and polyglot brilliant and wildly ambitious. pages, Zuckerberg so often shops the mechanics of how Facebook sophomoric about business. By David Kirkpatrick is no business whiz; he doesn’t nature of Facebook users makes Don’t bet against him finding a way Facebook for sale to big-name created “a fundamentally new “We’ll figure that out later” is 372 pages talk much to his colleagues marketing to them difficult and to achieve both a stable business media tycoons, only to reject form of communication.” Zuckerberg’s standard answer to and he cycles through senior not especially attractive. and a distinctive social good — an deals at the last moment, that Typical is Kirkpatrick’s hyperventilating financiers who Simon & Schuster managers about as quickly as Then there is the more achievement that will surely spawn his manner seems insulting, even treatment of Facebook’s insist that Facebook sits atop Raiders owner Al Davis sours on profound problem that more books about him.