Just weeks short of his 90th birthday, we lost Cormac McCarthy this week. As far as Post WWII writers, no one took the longest path to discovery and success while staying true to the craft remaining uncompromising. Born in Rhode Island and raised in Tennessee, McCarthy barely made enough to move from novel to novel after his first work, "The Orchard Keeper" in 1965. He was making it even harder by staunchly refusing to do any press or readings. McCarthy still acquired enough great reviews to receive a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in the Eighties. So with that support, he moved to El Paso, Texas to finish his long-simmering novel "Blood Meridian."
Upon release in 1985, "Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness In The West" was met with a lukewarm reception. Was it a question of timing? The Los Angeles Review of Books 1985 review appears on the page as Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove." Was it simply too well-written to be understood? Walter Sullivan in The Sewanee Review questioned "What do we make of this phenomenon, a mind that dwells unremittingly on evil and a prose that conveys these thoughts with the tongue of an angel?" Or was it too far ahead of its time - or behind it? Terence Moran of The New Republic dismissed it immediately saying "This novel, despite its chronicling of appalling horrors and straining for apocalyptic effects, is boring."
Nearly forty years later, "Blood Meridian" is McCarthy's most outstanding literary work. One that bravely satiates his need for Faulknerian prose while traversing the lines of art, history and classic literature (allusions range from "The Iliad," through "Moby Dick"). "Blood Meridian" is weirdly timeless. While it diagrams this lurid and nearly unwritten history of the Old West, it is written as if every word must be perfectly placed. The passages that are repeated, are done so with a reason. The insertion of internal rhyme and rhythmic writing balances balletic against its Grand Guignol level of violence. It flows like a river in the American Southwest, cutting through the uncharted territory in places leaving behind new paths for other writers to follow.
While it may seem to be mostly without a plot, it is far from aimless. Every turn of the screw feels authentic and as dystopic as his later novels. "Blood Meridian" is horrific. This is not even a "Gothic Western." Lives end without provocation and life is there to be taken by the next person you encounter no matter who you are and who they are with. However, make no mistake these are not the cliched "sins of the past." Using The Bible as a ballast for this terrifying tale, "Blood Meridian" never takes the moral high ground (also very Milton-ian) and uses the interpersonal relationships and their chosen revealing of details as those today might use in a boardroom, office, or political arena. Some are warriors. Some are shepherds. Most of us are caught in between these two worlds and another world that looks like it may never cool enough to be inhabitable again. When the late David Foster Wallace was asked to list his five most underappreciated novels since 1960, he offered careful non-reductive descriptions of four of them. For "Blood Meridian," Wallace wrote just three words: "Don't even ask."
William S. Burroughs may your classic literary experimenter/ne'er do well. Born into great wealth (the Burroughs family inherited his fortune from inventing the adding machine as it precedes both the calculator and the computer.) young Burroughs saw the comforts of cloistered suburban life as "boring." While he may look fondly back on "lamplighters lighting the gas lanterns on every street," that was not enough to provide him with thrills and in turn inspiration to write. What is fascinating about Burroughs is how his life of crime as a juvenile influenced his adulthood. A graduate of Harvard and ready to study medicine in Vienna, his "rational" desire for the most anti-societal pursuits was more enthralling. Of course, with his sexual and pharmacological needs - came trouble. However, Burroughs could be bluntly honest about these events to the point of having to change the names in order not to incriminate others.
Burroughs was busy crafting sordid and - this is most important - non-gloryifing tales of illicit drug use leading to habits that were fed by petty crimes. Like "Blood Meridian," early Burroughian worlds were hard-pressed for any real trust and a need to see life as a series of transactions. As uncouth as this standard of living might seem to the reader, it was not there to be lionized. Instead, these experiences brought out Burroughs, the writer. His prose and ability to fashion it from random cut-up styles or other wild self-examination became what was admired by the likes of Norman Mailer, Lester Bangs, David Bowie, and Kurt Cobain. His actions and activities remain revolting, but his stark, unblinking vision of the underbelly of the world a few floors below ours is necessary for all those who want to see the world as it exists. To read Burroughs is to see what we missed out of the corner of our eyes while life was passing through.
Many of Burroughs misadventures take place in the fast-growing urban paradise of New York City in the 20th Century. Like McCarthy's blood-soaked landscape, the city grew from a series of settlements to the metropolis it is today. The city built on a granite foundation was not without its share of subversive subcultures and inhabitants leading a mostly Darwinian existence. Lucy (formerly Luc) Sante's enthralling history "Low Life" picks up roughly where "Blood Meridian" leaves off, encompassing from 1840 to roughly 1920. For every major advance, New York is making, there is a community of workers living in desperately built "mud huts" trying to get the work doing it and making ends barely meet. Sante constructed this history to "prevent amnesia from setting in." It leaves you asking: Did the city's rapid growth open the doors for corruption and mass anonymity? With buildings constructed with absolutely no safety in mind, was it then naturally understandable that the working class would protect itself by aligning itself with the criminal element? Was this influx of gambling, liquor, drugs, prostitution, and worse, the city's foundation or growing pains and skin to be shed as it became the shining city it is today?
Between McCarthy, Burroughs, and Sante, there is a world of prose that is designated to uncover pieces of the past that may have thankfully disappeared. However, in opening a book and reading about it, are we not fortunate to experience (at a distance) and compare the ugly process of growth? While we may never encounter a man with a necklace of strung-together ears, "lush roll" a sleeping drunk subway passenger behind a newspaper for their wallet, or meet a medical student about to plunder a graveyard to finish their anatomy "homework," their existence gives us perspective on those we do meet today.
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Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
New music this week
SWANS - The Beggar [LP/CD](Young God)
Forty years of being a band has led to some refinement. However, the latest incarnation of Michael Gira's Swans gets to really stretch their wings on two-plus hours of hefty Gothic Rock on "The Beggar." Gira's sepulchral voice has sounded more grave before (2012's massive "The Seer") but never had so much range ("Los Angeles: City of Death.") He bellows, but his mid-range warble has developed into its own tension-creator. Nine minutes of "Paradise is Mine" see Gira and the band bouncing a shamanic-yet-menacing minimalism riff back and forth. "The Beggar" sees the promise of 2019's underrated "leaving meaning" come to fruition.
M.WARD - Supernatural Thing [LP/CD](ANTI/AMPED)
It is hard to tell just when M.Ward peaked (take your pick between 2001's "End of Amnesia" or 2006's" Post-War.") However, his last few albums of "collaborations" have taken a lot of spin off his pitch. His farewell to Merge saw him bring in Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck, while his move to ANTI had him employ Arcade Fire members for a brand-new sound. "Supernatural Thing" finally takes you back to the aforementioned halcyon period with breezy Folk/American (the title cut) and almost silly Pop ("New Kerrang" with Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog and his underrated new band THE EVER-EXPANDING.) In addition, Ward also has Jim James, First Aid Kit, Shovels & Rope, and Neko Case along for this new "Thing."
WYE OAK - Every Day Like The Last [LP/CD](Merge/AMPED)
Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack have made some brilliant albums as Wye Oak. However, they decided to scale back to a "single-only" run as a means to expand their capabilities. "Every Day" collects the tracks from the last three years. Given the attention to each song existing on its own, the largest change is a rebalancing of the Electronic portions to the Rock portions from track to track. The song "Every Day Like The Last" is allowed to now blossom from an emotional but bright ballad into full-on skittering drums-battling-steel guitar and piano for the end. Like the B.J.Burton productions for Low or even Sonic Boom's bristling "7" with Beach House, the recording process is now just as much a part of writing the song as composition itself.
ROYAL AND THE SERPENT - How To Grow A Rat [LP/CD](Atlantic)
Somewhere between the "whispery girl" songs of Billie Eilish and the driving Punk-ish Paramore, you will find Ryan Santiago. Like so many new artists today, Santiago takes a lot of freedom with her music. The establishing hit "Overwhelmed" is Electronic Pop. While "IM FINE" cranks up the distortion a la 100 gecs and plays with her high-register voice. "Astroturf" is a fairly by-the-numbers ballad that erupts into an angry explosion with M.I.A's pistol clicks and Queen-like stadium posturing. "One Nation Underdogs" takes a good message and turns it into a retread of Halsey's "New Americana." Here's hoping the album is more like the earlier singles.
PORTUGAL. THE MAN - Chris Black Changed My Life [LP/CD](Atlantic)
In the history of the Billboard Alternative chart, Portugal has the longest-running #1 single when "Feel It Still" ruled for 20 weeks in 2017. Six years later, the Alaska-based group is back with an album that seems to gun for even more hits and touches on various styles. Portugal's freedom to collaborate has brought in a panoply of voices including Natalia Lafourcade, Black Thought, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Edgar Winter. The Gnarls Barkley-esque first single "Dummy" has put them back on the radio, but the slinky "Summer of Love" with Unknown Mortal Orchestra sounds like the best prospect for another smash.
Reissues this week
BILLIE HOLIDAY - Songs For Distingue Lovers [LP](Verve)
When dealing with the voluminous discography of Billie Holiday, the later years typically receive short shrift. Having so much trouble and losing so much range on her voice, they are too easily cast aside. In the Fifties, Holiday moved to her fourth label and they finally united her with old band members (Harry Edison and Ben Webster) while keeping her in a small Jazz band lineup like Ella. Pulling from standards, Holiday is revitalized, even though her tone can be weak. "Day In Day Out" revives that old coo. The smoky "A Foggy Day" puts some interesting phrases in her view. While she may not sound so confident about it, she does manage to really sell the choruses. On the immortal "Stars Fell On Alabama," Holiday is outstanding as she finds the sweet spot between accentuating her highs and holding the sonorous lows over the chord changes like an instrument. Holiday winds it up with "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" where she sings against Webster's sax and great guitar work from Barney Kessel. In these final years, Holiday was eager to connect with audiences. "Distingue" began an end run of classic albums including 1958's "Lady In Satin" all misunderstood after their release but quickly grew in stature following her death from cirrhosis of the liver in July 1959.
LITTLE FEAT - Sailin' Shoes/Dixie Chicken DLX [LP/CD](Warner/Rhino)
For a hot minute, Los Angeles' Little Feat was part of the crest of the new wave of precise, musical, sophisticated groups taking hold at AOR stations (and even Pop - like Steely Dan.) A band that could have been studio wizards nursed their love of Pop, Soul, Funk, Country and especially New Orleans music. Having gotten their rocks off (so to speak) on their 1971 debut, "Sailin' Shoes" is the moment where Lowell George's songwriting really takes off. With the group so seasoned now from touring and playing together (and surviving their first breakup,) George can turn a simple riff like the swaggering second-line build of "Dixie Chicken" into a full song before you know it. Both of these albums trace that path beautifully. "It's So Easy" furthers the Pop thrust of the debut. "Cold, Cold, Cold" proves their best Blues, steadily rolls like a river. Add the Boogie Woogie piano of Bill Payne and "Tripe Face Boogie" put them on the radio. While "Teenage Nervous Breakdown" kind of puts their raw old-style Rock in the rearview, "Fat Man In The Bathtub" plugs them into branding their own sleek Seventies Rock standards. While they did not truly need to do "Willin'" again, "Roll Um Easy" is just the subdued track that could put them behind any number of singers. This is the classic version of Feat. Drummer Richie Hayward adds the perfect rhythmic seasoning to every cut (he drives the Allen Toussaint cover "On Your Way Down" but always sounds laid back) However, with Hayward and Payne emerging as writers, the seeds of the power struggle were planted (new guitarist Paul Barrere and Payne's "Walkin All Night" hint at a post-George Feat that goes on today.) These new versions add a host of demos and live cuts from both periods.
