As you know from reading this newspaper, journalism is really an art. We all know the basics of who, what, why, when, where and how - but good writing expands our knowledge and opens up new paths to empathy. To feel something (a big something at that) for the integrity of a group of people. To communicate with the importance within that group of a person who gave it direction or challenged the methodology is entirely another.
In 1989, Tracy Kidder sat alongside students in a Holyoke, MA classroom for an entire year to capture the experience of not only the life of his subject, but those around this devoted instructor. In 1993, Kidder recorded the differences between older Americans when under treatment and care at nursing homes and how they stayed true to themselves. When asked to describe his methodology, Kidder said "Small things have to count for a great deal."
In an age of fleeting journalism and deflating interest in Nonfiction in general, we lost this National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner this week to lung cancer. Kidder served in Vietnam and studied creative writing at the University of Iowa. Raised on "The New Journalism" of Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, and the irascible Hunter S. Thompson, Kidder translated those fly-on-the-wall experiences into pinpoint reportage.
1981's "The Soul of A New Machine" tells the story of the vagabonds-turned-mavericks of the computer industry. Kidder sets the story in motion in the most unpredictable manner possible, a well-constructed elegant lesson in Computer history for luddites. To his credit, his writing avoids being didactic or even "broadcasting" that it resulted from his feeling foreign to an office full of people who spoke Computer Science like it was another language. "The Soul of A New Machine" makes its case that the engineers and programmers were definitely a rare breed - yet at their center no different from you or me. This is to Kidder's credit, especially in the current age of AI.
THIS is American business. The upper level brass are concerned with making money and keeping those stockholders happy. The lower level "Hardy Boys" and "Microkids" are concerned with building a better, faster, cheaper mousetrap. Their nondescript office building off of Route 495 and the Massachusetts Turnpike in Westborough bears the name of 14A/B. Data General is housed here. Thanks to cream-colored cubicles, a room could either house busy programmers at their desks or be swept away for more factory floor space to manufacture. Just like the restaurants and stores that go up today, they place function far higher above any identifiable or aesthetic value.
The same goes for their boxy computers. Take one apart and you can quickly surmise that it is a collection of parts that could be bought off of a shelf. However, once you more closely examine what Kidder calls the "odd strain of caterpillar bred for mathematical ability" that is the ubiquitous chip that occupies everything in our lives today, it is understandable how in 1981 one could see this as holding the secret of the universe. Before the big bang, technicians and programmers were stretching the limits of just what these high-voltage/low-voltage transmissions could do.
Inside of the fort-like 14A/B, Data General built a business almost out of utility in the shadow of the giant Digital Corporation (as well as the behemoth IBM.) By the late Sixties, computers had a place in business that no longer needed to be secure "behind a plate glass window with people in white gowns attending to it." Reading this today is ironic as Kidder in 1981 was commenting on how unobtainable the computer once was. In 2026, this model sounds not only like a deity but working on it renders one with access to a new, untested power.
Reading "The Soul of A New Machine" in the age of AI is eerily prescient. All of the Mag Seven's elevated leadership were once in positions where they not only worked continuously as underlings, but the notion that hard work instills one with an unblinking need to prove oneself through leaps in technology. However, when isolated in the past, the programmers and supervisors at Data General are not just "fighting" the proverbial good fight (either for their faster computer or for their survival against a rival branch in North Carolina.) Kidder's critical distance allows you to see their decision making step-by-step as if they were choosing off-the-shelf chips or software to rev up their machines.
After their initial success with smaller computers like Eclipse and NOVA in the rapidly heated market in the early Seventies, Data General took on an amazing growth spurt around 1973 (as inflation started clicking up and sticker shock from oil prices caused lines at the pumps for months.) Imagine walking into your workplace and discovering that there were three times as many employees as yesterday. It is not only compartmentalized change, it is a consistent message that you will only succeed if you do your job to its fullest. After a failed campaign to elevate a pet project (Eagle or FNP,) we learn that the manager is smart enough to split his workforce in two and offer the higher-ups a pair of projects, essentially one that was built to be refused and one built to be selected. In addition, at the "lieutenant" level where the new talent is being plucked from fresh men and women graduating, there is a four-tiered system of interviews designed to land the right prospect under the right growth sector. Finally, if that was not enough, when the budding young programmer and/or engineer leaves the key placement interview, the closing statement is "we only hire the best." When they receive that very important phone call saying they got the job, the implication of that sentence lives with them far longer.
Kidder's works have long been inspirational to many writers and journalists. As dated as the technology may seem in "The Soul of A New Machine," Kidder's real genius is documenting that the ongoing human applications of devotion and invention still mirror the progress we strive to make today.
NEW MUSIC THIS WEEK
OLIVIA RODRIGO & DAVID BYRNE - "Drivers License/Burning Down The House" [RED 7"](Geffen)
It is the single that made Olivia Rodrigo a star. "Drivers License" celebrates its 5th anniversary with this special version from Talking Heads legend David Byrne. Olivia joins in on the B-side for a sparkling cover of the Talking Heads classic.
CHARLEY CROCKETT - Age of The Ram [WHITE LP WITH ALT COVER/CD](Island)
Crockett's third Island release continues his fruitful production connection with Shooter Jennings. The end of his proposed "Sagebrush Trilogy," is packed with 1962-length songs and narrative threads that honor Marty Robbins's "Old Red." A Texas-style album that catches an air of nostalgia for the Western days of Country, but keeps up with Crockett's modern delivery ("Kentucky Too Long.")
THUNDERCAT - Distracted [BLACK SMOKE LP/RED LP/CD](Brainfeeder/Redeye)
A stellar Grammy-winning bassist/singer Thundercat joins forces with producer Greg Kurstin. The Foo Fighters/Wolf Alice veteran gets Thundercat to focus his writing and presence with some serious collaborations from Tame Impala, WILLOW, and Lil Yachty. As always, Thundercat knows his elaborate bass lines leave room for a variety of textures. However, he continues to create his best with the most familiar - namely a posthumous Mac Miller on "She Knows Too Much" that revisits the masterful mood of "Drunk."
GOOD KID - Can We Hang Out Sometime? [PINK IN PASTEL/BLUE IN PINK SPLATTER/CD](Many Hats)
With four EPs under their belts, Good Kid officially establishes themselves as the new progenitors of Mall Punk. Built with the post-Wallows attentiveness to the nervy pop of The Strokes, Good Kid swing their bouncy guitar parts over a swift series of songs that are not just about the big L. To their credit, these short stabs at friendship, anger and longing ("Wall") hint at the newness of their relationships to each other and the world at large. Welcome.
TBONES will be hosting a special LISTENING PARTY for the new GOOD KID album on Thursday at 5:30pm
BON IVER - VOLUMES:ONE [LP/CD](Jagjaguwar/Secretly/AMPED)
Whether he discovered Soul on last year's stellar "SABLE, fABLE" or his soul in general, Justin Vernon knows more about finding the light from darkness than most of today's mysterious singer/songwriters. "Volumes" is meant to be experimental. A result of live collaborations with his travelling band, these songs from "i,i" and "22, a million" sound more electric than their studio-recorded counterparts.
ARLO PARKS - Ambiguous Desire [BLUE LP/CD](Transgressive)
For her third album, Arlo Parks scales back Folk-based writing for a trip to the dancefloor a la "Hit Me Hard and Soft." While the nightclub is a strange place to find oneself, Parks uses aqueous melodies ("Heaven") and the ongoing first sensation of finally fitting in ("Get Go.")
SUNN O)))) - SUNN O)))) [BLUE 2LP/CD](SubPop/AMPED)
Drone/Doom is an acquired taste at best. Before you venture into the low frequency zone of New Orleans on April 6th, their new self-titled album is their most consistent in years. Their first album in seven years is less boom and more ooze. It encompasses its environments and sets notes adrift finding minimalism in the music, its waves of distortion, and the natural (the cello-like bellow of "Glory Black") decay of its journey.
POISON RUIN - Hymns From The Hills [METALLIC LP/GREEN LP/CD/CS](Relapse/The Orchard)
One-time Dungeon Metallers Poison Ruin can never release the same album twice. "Hymns" continues their amphetamine almost-Punk assault on the senses. However, they grew more Post Punk over time. The deep chasm-like production of the EPs that lead up to the sweeping "Harvest" were folded into the early Husker Du-isms of the still-brilliant "Confrere." On their second album outright (but sixth release since forming in 2020,) Poison Ruin are starting to sound like Motorhead with more effects. They wield mighty riffs ("Eidolon") but take you to places that resemble the dinosaur thump of Seventies Rock being thrust through the meat grinder of Eighties Metal ("Guts (Lay Your Self Aside.")
MASAYOSHI TAKANANA - Ocean Breeze/ Can I Sing? / Saudade [COLOR LP] (Universal Japan)
In City Pop circles, the slightly overdriven guitar stylings of Takanaka are a constant presence. As a Japanese Jazz guitarist, Takanana nails all the period flavor of the age of post-Fusion Yacht-ian Rock. Over these three albums from 1982-83, Takanaka continues to show his brilliance as a soloist and a bandleader. Even when it gets cheesy ("Tokyo.....Singin' In The City" from "Can I Sing?,") Takanaka knows when to scale it back and use the subtle melodies to revive his treasured breeziness ("Sail on Fire.") Live in front of a crowd on "Ocean Breeze," Takanaka even proves how well he plays off of his adoring audience.
THELONIOUS MONK - Thelonious Alone In San Francisco [AUDIOPHILE LP](Blue Note)
The venerable Monk entered the Sixties with the world of Jazz in blossom around him. After an orchestral record and a small group album, this is Monk improvising on his own. Recorded in 1959, Monk tears into his standards ("Blue Monk" and "Well You Needn't") with mountains of freedom. These opening salvos lead to spontaneous creations ("Round Lights") whose themes Monk guides back into known songs.
SMAG PA DIG SELV - This Is Why We Lost [LP](Stunt DEN)
The Copenhagen trio work within some dangerous extremes. The bellowing saxophone is heard in all of its glory as it opens the album with "Like a Word I Never Knew" and then enlists Viktoria Sandergaard to help lend to the sensory attack of the Techno-based "Vik's Rawcore." Immediately following this sonic assault, it's all soothing long, legato passages and minimalism on the title track which still carry the tension of what preceded it. Smag Pa Dig Selv play with such intensity that you feel the changes and their improved modulations. When they rip through a nearly Sleaford Mods synth burner in Danish, they have the temerity to bring in their mothers to help close it out. Challenging but so rewarding.
LEAD INJECTOR - Witching Attack [LP/CD](self-released)
Germany's new Power Metal generation launches itself with a blistering debut. Like their forefathers Venom and Sodom, Lead Injector know that speed is everything ("Sacrifice.") Where the trio look to have real promise is in how they are less angry and turn their snarl into its own razor-voiced anti-social smartass gut punch. "Evil Executioner" has a Motorhead-ready rolling riff, but they slaughter it right out of the gate like the Anti-Nowhere League. "Witching Attack" is a true Metal album that still feels like (adrenalized) Rock N'Roll.
KEKHT ARAKH - Morning Star [LP/CD/CS](Sacred Bones/Secretly)
There is something about sole member Crying Orc's gravelly croak that is weirdly poetic. The buzzing/chiming lo-fi guitar, melodic bass and Dante-level mezzanine buzz are all straight from Black Metal. However, the way the songs are stitched together and the lyrics bleed out of Orc's mouth are enticing. When he finally sings on "Genom Sorgen" (over acoustic guitar nonetheless) it is tender and haunting. From this point, "Morning Star" evolves away from its common melodic threads into a multi-tongued hydra of Ambient, Folk ("Dromsang" and "Trollsang" with flute?!,) Black Metal, and Rock ("Vigil.") Between two languages and guests (including EDM/Rap star Bladee!,) Kekht Arakh erects a record as a structure - never the same thing twice ("Raven King" fuses the growl, singing and a fiendish whisper into one thunderous flourish) and perfect for both the chilly winds of Halloween and dark nights where your soul craves a dose of bleak, empty sadness. Astounding.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
