Ian Penman + Ariana Reines
Two pieces came out this week. First, there is a review of a new collection by Ian Penman I wrote for Bookforum. It is about Penman’s career, specifically, and pop music criticism, in general.
Second, a long interview with Ariana Reines went up today at Bookforum. It was culled from a conversation that spanned several months.
I also put together a playlist by accident while I was listening to this discussion between Trevor Jackson and Scritti Politti’s Green Gartside. The period they spend a lot of time discussing was more or less my high school years, and the records they played are among my favorites. There’s a commonality in instrumentation and approach here: big, melodic bass lines that often carry the song; drum machines, but not the fancy ones; very loud acoustic drums; synths up front; and very emotional, not at all cool-guy singing. I loved 1982.
