Unfair, she thought, running her fingers down the yellow piping of her skirt, his hair always looks marvelous when he comes in from the rain. Nolan shook off his coat, sniffed and smiled. "My darling, it's been ages," he stepped towards her, his golden coif glistening with rain, a curl falling near his eyes. She turned abruptly towards the crystal carafes of bourbon, and poured herself a drink, now a habit. "Damn your jaw," she said out loud, to the wall. Her back to him, she raised her eyebrows in surprise at herself in the mirror. It's true, damn his jaw, her mind was racing now, it's ugly the way a statue is ugly, nothing like that truly exists. "I beg pardon, my dear?" he stopped mid-stride, his shoes sopping a spot on the fine new rug. She spun around, "I don't think I want to see you right now. Or ever again, for that matter." He stood frozen, in that dumb pose, as if a photographer had yelled at him to hold steady, wonderfully powerful legs all bent and gangling, overcoat dripping, mouth slightly agape. "Surely you must be joking," his piercing blue eyes were now worn with age, no longer a boy but too beautiful to be a man, "I just travelled two days to get here." "Well, that was your decision, I didn't ask it of you," her bottom lip, the back of her shoulders, hell, her entire being quivered beneath his gaze, as she steeled herself for his reply. "Very well," he said, in his damn calm way, breathy and confident, "Seems I misunderstood the situation." And with that, he walked out the door. As quickly and dream-like as he had entered. She looked down at the wet footprint on the carpet. Unfair, she thought, of him to leave a goddamn mess on my carpet. Were it not for that, I might believe he was just like his jaw, too goddamn lovely to be real. [from Yeti 5]
Sisters are for stealing. If it's late and it's dark and you want a grape or two to help sleep come, send your sister to the fruit bowl. If your brothers have a comic book, with pictures of girls in shorts and ads for sugar cereals, send your sister to nab it while they're on the toilet. If you know where little Ricardo hides his garden snake, in a shoebox under the stairs of his house, covered in leaves and held fast with a rock, send your sister to sneak it away while he's having dinner. But tell her to watch out, it's angry. [from Yeti 4]
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Both songs today are from old Yeti compilations. I highly recommend these compilations, they're full of extremely rare gems and also just wonderful music of all kinds. Hidden unreleased songs from Destroyer, personal donations from Jeff Mangum (of which "Unknown Title" is one) and tons of other great stuff.
Also: I greatly enjoyed the ten minutes it took to play The Great Gatsby NES game.
Posted by Dan at February 22, 2011 4:44 AMI dig the first story but wasn't somehow intellectual enough to figure the 2nd. And boy I cannot believe one could make a nintendo game out of the great Gatsby! maybe Kafka's Metamorphosis will also get one. The compilation must be exquisite.
Posted by Pedram at February 23, 2011 3:33 AM"Unknown Title" is Jeff Mangum? WTH? Whatever, excellent.
Posted by Orlando at February 24, 2011 4:50 AMa contribution from Mangum's personal collection of 78s, not him performing the song.
Posted by dan at February 24, 2011 12:01 PMthanks for the great reference. these yeti compilations look incredible. might you have a recommendation of a certain album over another? i'd like to order them all, but unfortunately my gold snakeskin wallet is actually made of duct tape.
Posted by marissa at March 1, 2011 7:48 AMHey Marissa,
thanks for the comment.
probably start with Yeti 4. it's a book as well as a CD, and Sean posted about it back when it came out in 2007 - http://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/aloysius_radio_and_co.php
I think the interview with Dan Bejar alone is worth it.
just a recommendation, though, there's tons to plunder in the Yeti series.