Enjoy

A big thanks to those who came to the reading last night. The crowd was small, but the generosity and attention were huge. There's nothing better than reading for people who get what you do, who are with you for every sentence. So many excellent friends from different places, many of whom I hadn't seen in a while. I especially loved the tranquil Village Zendo space and the people who are a part of its culture. Koshin Paley Ellison, the curator, couldn't have been sweeter. They have a terrific line-up planned for the remainder of this season's series: Marie Ponsot, Kazim Ali, Mark Wunderlich, Major Jackson, Marty Moran, Rick Moody. Mark is also reading with Fanny Howe at some point in the spring so you should definitely come back for that. Click here for the Village Zendo website.

So I didn't mention yesterday that I'd bought some new shoes especially for the reading, very boxy and sleek and nightclubby, a little out of my usual vocabulary. I picked them up for a song at the DSW on Union Square the night before. (One byproduct of the recession is that there are startling finds in DSW and Filene's Basement, places I hadn't checked out in years.) Well, wouldn't you know that shoes are to be taken off in the Village Zendo. The fact of that made me laugh at myself.

Here's a list of what I read last night:

--Lawnboy, excerpt from Chapter 1
--The Burning House, excerpt
--"This is the Day"
--"Irreverence"
--"Lighten Up, It's Summer!"
--"The Boy and His Mother Are Stuck!"
--"The Didache"

So a present for today: Pattern is Movement's sublime cover of Bjork's "Enjoy," which is about the most gorgeous, inventive thing I've ever heard. I'm still taking it in. I want to write the way these guys compose and play!

In their words:

Björk's music informs nearly every one of Pattern is Movement's songs. We've always been completely enamored with her ability to combine universe-sized grandness with the intimacy of lips on your ear. We are thrilled to be a part of this love letter to her. Our approach was to substitute the density of the percussion with harmonic and melodious density, all the while maintaining the exotic-groove-with-steamy-organ motif. To us, the end result wound up sounding like Perry Como in the Congo.



You can download the track for free here.