This site was created to present a platform for music reviews in a creative writing format. Music and literature. One is the muse for the other. Hence the short story reviews of albums. It was this relationship between writings and music that piqued my interest in the documentary As Smart As They Are: The Author Project.
Natty Man Blues (mp3) by One Ring Zero, lyrics by Paul Auster
The band One Ring Zero created an exceptional and novel (pardon the pun) album entitled As Smart As They Are. They became the house band for the nonpareil publishing house McSweeney's. Hosting weekly literary readings, McSweeney's invited One Ring Zero to perform and create a unique experience in the unmarked storefront full of unusual knick-knacks.
Composing mostly instrumental music with accordion, claviola, thermin, and a diverse array of instruments, Joshua Camp and Michael Hearst decided to solicit lyrics from a scattering of authors. After receiving lyrics from Paul Auster, Dave Eggers, Neil Gaiman, Myla Goldberg, Denis Johnson, Jonathon Lethem, Darin Strauss, and many others, the band set out to create The Author Project. The end result is an album of unequaled and varying musical landscapes set to non-typical lyrics. The subjects include a song from the point of view of a cockroach (Lethem's "Water") to an ode to vegetation (Amy Fusselman's "All About House Plants") to the narrative of a hermaphodite (Clay McLeod Chapman's "Half And Half").
The documentary traces the backstory of the collaborations. It focuses on the music, but highlights the writers who became involved in the songwriting process. The authors discuss their lyrical writing styles, how writing lyrics differs from novels, and the influences behind some of the songs. It becomes a representation of the process of creating music by featuring interviews, studio sessions, and live performances.
For me, the film reached its climax when it highlighted the relationship the band formed with Paul Auster. I have been an avid reader of Auster's work since my sophomore year in college. The Brooklyn author participated in an author's conference at Ohio University and read from his novel Leviathan. I was drawn to the reading after a friend lent me The New York Trilogy and have read most of his novels since. The Brooklyn Follies is the best book I read this year. My mind keeps wrapping around what he created with that novel. It's a literary masterpiece.
When Auster's lyrical contributions are discussed in this documentary, both the author and the band explain the influence. After visiting Cincinnati, the town where I live, the postal address I was sitting in as I watched this film, Auster was so disgusted he created the "Natty Man Blues." Here I was watching one of my favorite authors explain that he despised the city I have lived in for the past four years to the point that he was suddenly inspired to contribute to this project. The author is great, the song is great, and depending on what you see of the 'Nati, "There ain't no sin in Cincinnati."
One Ring Zero continued to collaborate with the authors. They have become the musical representation of the New York writing community. It is this community that becomes the greatest focal point to the documentary.
assmartastheyare.com
www.oneringzero.com
store.mcsweeneys.net
Watch the movie trailer:
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