Dancing About Architecture - Interesting. Enjoyed reading.

The Beatles, 1970-75 - I don't know much about The Beatles so this article would have made more sense if I did.

The Maestro from Another Planet - About the Lawrence Welk Show, which was before my time. The article makes it sounds a bit... creepy.

** I am wondering if most of these article will benefit from having prior knowledge on the subject. **

The Clash of the Jamaican Deejays - An article that makes sense with no prior knowledge of the topic. It is grim that what started out as friendly mock rivalries has turned to violence.

A Figure in the Distance Even to My Own Eye - I do think knowing about Berman's poems and music would have enhanced this article but it was understandable and interesting without it. I especially liked the end of part II where the author wrote about how he got his copy of the book, figuring out who had marked it up, and why.

Sobbing Children and Singing Shillings - A short, interesting, and enjoyable piece. I wonder if there are some avant garde musicians out there currently that write music based on the sounds of everyday things. Perhaps there are and this article is meant to tell about the man who originally thought of it.

The Gossip Takes Paris - Amusing at first but then turned into "oh look who I know" and "oh look what we did".

Schema: It Takes Four - I know who Gaye is but don't know much of his music. Short look at his singing partners over the course of his career.

The Ballad of Benji Hughes - I've never heard of this musician and I think that's the point of the article.

Phil Elverum interviewed - Ditto what I said about the previous piece except in interview format this time.

Sedaratives - Micheal and Micheal give idiotic answers to reader questions that are possibly made up.

Creative Accounting: Opera - I wasn't surprised that 1/3 of an original production of an opera costs that much.

Pat Martino interviewed - I don't know much about jazz music but it was interesting by way of how someone with amnesia reconciles who they are now with who they used to be when there is a large amount of physical evidence of it.

Real Life Rock Top Ten - After reading the first one, I realized these weren't going mean anything to me since I didn't know any of the musicians mentioned.

Thom Yorke interviewed - I know who Radiohead is and I've heard some of their music so it was interesting to learn more about them.

The Last Interview: A Single-Sentence Performance on the Subject of Polly Jean Harvey - I know who PJ Harvey is but don't know her music. I liked the single sentence format and thought it was an interesting discourse on why the author could no longer interview someone he knew without putting himself in the interview.
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Overall: I did not enjoy this issue. I don't think I had the background necessary to and musicians featured don't seem to be my taste in music.

Nah. ( )

(from McSweeney's)
The 2009 BLVR Music issue comes with a CD, compiled by Daniel Handler, full of new recordings from fourteen beloved songwriters — including Dave Wakeling (of the English Beat), Stuart Moxham (Young Marble Giants), Robert Scott (the Bats, the Clean), Mike Scott (the Waterboys), Lloyd Cole (Lloyd Cole), and many others (Wreckless Eric?? Lisa Germano!?). The CD is glued to an excellent magazine, featuring stuff like Arthur Phillips's soon-to-be classic "Dancing about Architecture"; David Ulin's revisionist history of the Beatles; Michelle Tea at Paris Fashion Week with the Gossip; Jamaican Dancehall Feuds; Lawrence Welk; spurious advice from Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter; Joe Hagan on the new Harry Nilsson (his name is Benji); Ben Greenman on Marvin Gaye's multiple duets; Hilton Als and Greil Marcus on P J Harvey; definitive profiles of DC Berman and Phil Elverum; Paul Collins on the music of sobbing children; slightly more!