Bands and their corresponding authors (invitational)

November 20, 2005 1:06 PM

A blog invitational - Jazz group The Bad Plus came up with a list of conceptually similar authors and bands. They now invite readers to add their own submissions. The type of similarity between the band and the author is up to you: examples from the band's original list include Tom Waits/Charles Bukowski, Jewel/Danielle Steele, and Rush/J.R.R. Tolkien. Here is the first set of fan submissions, and here is another blog that is participating.
posted by ism (61 comments total)

Funny-- I can tell they have read Bukowski and do listen to Waits, but have not read Daneille Steele, and have probably only heard Jewel on the radio. I'm no fan of Jewel or Ms. Steele, but I also know that they're not analagous in the same way Waits/Bukowski are.
posted by eustacescrubb at 1:09 PM on November 20, 2005

See also: Bands as TV shows - Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.
posted by VanRoosta at 1:26 PM on November 20, 2005

I'm trying to think of an author that corresponds to The Bad Plus. Donald Barthelme, maybe?
posted by greasy_skillet at 1:38 PM on November 20, 2005

The Beatles=Roald Dahl. Yeah, pretty good. Especially if Roald was high.
posted by Miko at 1:44 PM on November 20, 2005

What band would you pair with Robert Anton Wilson? Or Neal Stephenson?
posted by sourwookie at 1:46 PM on November 20, 2005

The rest of them, not so much. The Clash is way off for HST. JRR Tolkien is way more Yes than Rush.
posted by Miko at 1:50 PM on November 20, 2005

Tolkien=Zeppelin, no?
posted by sourwookie at 1:51 PM on November 20, 2005

I was thinking Don Barthelme-Pavement

Marilyn Manson-Michel Houllebecq
Le Tigre-Judith Butler
Fugazi-Raymond Carver
ani defranco-ee cummings
gg allin-Hubert Selby
Courtney Love-Sylvia Plath
posted by bardic at 1:52 PM on November 20, 2005

Tolkein is neither Yes nor Rush.
posted by kenko at 1:57 PM on November 20, 2005

The Clash - Allen Ginsberg

That is so wrong on so many levels!

I don't think this game works, anyhow, here's a crap but easy one:

Marylin Manson - Poppy Z. Brite
posted by funambulist at 1:59 PM on November 20, 2005

Dictators-Richard Price
Ramones-Stephen King
John Prine-Jim Dodge
Primus-Mordecai Richler
Black Sabbath-Jim Goad
Bob Dylan-John Sayles

(I stuck to my favorite authors)
(the Steely Dan-Raymond Chandler is just wrong even though I'm a fan of both)
posted by jonmc at 2:01 PM on November 20, 2005

also:

Supersuckers-Tim Sandlin
John Coltrane-Jack Kerouac
Funkadelic-Trey Ellis
Bruce Springsteen-John Steinbeck
posted by jonmc at 2:06 PM on November 20, 2005

Bauhaus-Paul Celan
Billy Bragg-Robert Frost
Man or Astro Man?-JT Leroy
Squarepusher-George Perec
Sid Barrett-William Blake
They Might Be Giants-John Ashbery
posted by bardic at 2:13 PM on November 20, 2005

Kiss-Jack Kirby
posted by jonmc at 2:16 PM on November 20, 2005

Juliette Lewis-Jewel
posted by bardic at 2:17 PM on November 20, 2005

from mrs. jonmc

X-Charles Bukowski
Sex Pistols-Graham Greene's "The Destructors"
Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop"-James Ellroy
posted by jonmc at 2:20 PM on November 20, 2005

The Cure-William Gibson? Am I missing something there?
posted by brundlefly at 2:21 PM on November 20, 2005

Cheap Trick-Richard Brautigan
Nirvana-Fred Exley

Poets?

Miles-Dylan Thomas
Elvis Costello-Alexander Pope
posted by toma at 2:22 PM on November 20, 2005

actually only the bukowski comparison is from the mrs. the other two are mine
posted by jonmc at 2:22 PM on November 20, 2005

Elvis Costello-Phillip Roth
posted by jonmc at 2:23 PM on November 20, 2005

Otis Redding - F.Scott Fitzgerald
posted by jonmc at 2:27 PM on November 20, 2005

remember to email them to badplus61 @yahoo before december 1st
posted by ism at 2:28 PM on November 20, 2005

Revised:

Frank Zappa-Mordecai Richler
posted by jonmc at 2:29 PM on November 20, 2005

The Dave Matthews Band - Dan Brown?

i don't know if i get this game...
posted by Hat Maui at 2:40 PM on November 20, 2005

The Pogues - Garth Ennis
Devo - Ayn Rand
The Clash - George Orwell
Will Oldham - Kurt Vonnegut
(Care to elaborate on the Primus/Richler thing, jonmc? I'm a huge fan of the latter and only casually familiar with Claypool's ouevre, but you've piqued my curiosity)
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:45 PM on November 20, 2005

Both Rishler and Zappa have a sense of the ridiculousness of life, a deep didtrust of the overly earnest, a geeky sort of compassion, and a twisted sense of narrative) (Primus has the same thing but not as much as Frank Zappa)
posted by jonmc at 2:49 PM on November 20, 2005

(for a sense of Claypools sense of absurdity and corrosive cynicism, "My Name is Mud" and "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver," are good examples, but not as much as Zappa's "Joe's Garage," or We're Only In It For The Money.
posted by jonmc at 2:51 PM on November 20, 2005

more crappy easy ones:

The Cure - Edgar Allan Poe

The Velvet Underground - William Burroughs

Pete Doherty - Thomas de Quincey
posted by funambulist at 2:55 PM on November 20, 2005

Chumbawumba-Carl Sandburg
Lightning Bolt-Kathy Acker
Gang of Four-WC Williams
Run DMC-Chester Himes
posted by bardic at 3:28 PM on November 20, 2005

NWA - Iceberg Slim
posted by jonmc at 3:32 PM on November 20, 2005

Billy Joel - Tom Perrotta (you have to be a tri-stater to truly get either)
posted by jonmc at 3:43 PM on November 20, 2005

Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen
posted by speicus at 3:48 PM on November 20, 2005

Christopher Moore - King Missile
Chuck Palahniuk - Source Direct
William Gibson - Cibo Matto
Neal Stephenson - The Avalanches
posted by bashos_frog at 4:00 PM on November 20, 2005

Iron Maiden - Lovecraft
posted by signal at 4:03 PM on November 20, 2005

also
Stephen King - Rob Zombie
Terry McMillan - Lauryn Hill
Jimmy Buffet - Jimmy Buffet
Paul Bowles - John Cage

This is fun!
posted by bashos_frog at 4:08 PM on November 20, 2005

The Afghan Wigs - Henry Miller
Interpol - Rainer Maria Rilke
Joy Division - Arthur Rimbaud (too easy?)
Melt Banana - Andre Breton
Billy Ocean - Dean Koontz
posted by The Jesse Helms at 4:08 PM on November 20, 2005

The Bad Plus <=> Steve Erickson
posted by aaronetc at 4:10 PM on November 20, 2005

Matt Haughey - Neal Stephenson

The Jesse Helms - Balzac
posted by The Jesse Helms at 4:12 PM on November 20, 2005

The Cramps-"Scooter" Libby...?
posted by toma at 4:15 PM on November 20, 2005

George W. Bush - Hall and Oates


posted by The Jesse Helms at 4:16 PM on November 20, 2005

Joy Division - Josef Conrad

The Doors - Jim Morrison
Jim Carrol - Jim Carrol
posted by whir at 4:21 PM on November 20, 2005

Gang of Four-Josef Conrad
posted by bardic at 4:31 PM on November 20, 2005

Radiohead - Don DeLillo
Pavement - David Foster Wallace
Morphine - Dashiell Hammett
Kraftwerk - Douglas Copeland
John Cage - Samuel Beckett
posted by speicus at 4:38 PM on November 20, 2005

I take back the cage/beckett thing.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Samuel Beckett
posted by speicus at 4:45 PM on November 20, 2005

Neil Gaiman - Sigur Ros
Haruki Murakami - UA
posted by NemesisVex at 4:50 PM on November 20, 2005

The Jesse Helms: please let's not insult Hall & Oates.
posted by jonmc at 5:27 PM on November 20, 2005

William Gibson - Underworld, largely because Mmmm Skyscraper I Love You always reminds me of Neuromancer.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:46 PM on November 20, 2005

Talking Heads - George Saunders
Chad Vangaalen - David Foster Wallace

I'm still trying to figure out the P. K. Dick equivalent. And I don't know about Raymond Carver - maybe Pink Flag-era Wire? I'm surprised to discover, given my reading habits, that I can't think of an author insufferably pretentious enough to be Deerhoof.
posted by whir at 5:48 PM on November 20, 2005

I can't think of an author insufferably pretentious enough to be Deerhoof.
posted by whir at 5:48 PM PST on November 20 [!]

John Fowles?
posted by The Jesse Helms at 6:43 PM on November 20, 2005

Alanis Morrissette - Any Rand
posted by The Jesse Helms at 6:44 PM on November 20, 2005

M83 - Frank Herbert
posted by The Jesse Helms at 6:44 PM on November 20, 2005

actually, it's:
Morton Feldman ~ Samuel Beckett
posted by ism at 8:28 PM on November 20, 2005

John Irving - The Rolling Stones
Dave Eggers - Ryan Adams
Aimee Bender - Soul Coughing/Mike Doughty
Douglas Coupland - The Weakerthans
posted by jodic at 8:31 PM on November 20, 2005

John Philip Sousa - Ayn Rand
posted by speicus at 11:36 PM on November 20, 2005

Jandek - Thomas Pynchon
posted by speicus at 11:41 PM on November 20, 2005

Wall of Voodoo -- Raymond Chandler
posted by AJaffe at 6:33 AM on November 21, 2005

This is an awesome idea. I hate getting book recommendations because I have no frame of reference for an author besides "You'd like so-and-so." But if someone comes up to me and says, "You should check out Nick Cave, because he's the musical equivalent of Faulkner," I would go buy every Nick Cave album ever. I don't even like Faulkner, but there's something about the equation of a particular band or artist with a particular literary figure that just clicks with me.

Here are some of mine.

Eisley--Antoine de Sainte-Exupery
The Decemberists--Salman Rushdie
Cat Power--Flannery O'Connor
The Eels--Chuck Palahniuk
posted by Saellys at 9:38 AM on November 21, 2005

This is cool.

Ryan Adams ~ Saul Bellow
TMBG ~ Cory Doctorow
Bright Eyes ~ JD Salinger
Outkast ~ Toni Morrison
Alanis Morissette ~ Emily Dickinson
Cobain ~ Nietzsche
Jefferson Airplane ~ Lewis Carroll
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 9:41 AM on November 21, 2005

Pedro the Lion-Kierkegaard
posted by bardic at 12:43 PM on November 21, 2005

in their most recently posted batch, the band seems to be taking more liberties with their own guidelines:

Brian Ferry—Martin Amis

Rage Against The Machine—Russell Means

David Sylvian—R.M. Rilke

Nick Drake—Robert Lowell

Biz Markie—Dr. Seuss

Ryan Adams—A.J Cronin

Cat Stevens—e.e. cummings

Jimmy Buffet—Dave Barry

Courtney Love—Ann Coulter

Louden Wainwright—Bill Bryson

Keel—Louis L’Lamour (this is King’s volley to SF/J)

Rickie Lee Jones—Beverly Cleary

Saga—Donn Pearce

Marillion—(Author of YA “The Sea of Trolls")

Jethro Tull—Maurice Sendak

Bob Marley—Peace Pilgrim

Yanni—Richard Bach

Sex Pistols—Irvine Welsh

--------------------------------

And an anonymous person Raised A Smile:

The Books--Authors of The Encyclopædia Britannica
posted by ism at 2:44 PM on November 21, 2005

i immediately searched for william gibson.

and found him paired with the cure.

hulk smash.
posted by poweredbybeard at 6:20 PM on November 21, 2005