Grant Hart's new record The Argument finally out
July 23, 2013 4:39 PM Subscribe
Previously mentioned back in in 2012, The Argument, a concept album with influences from Milton's Paradise Lost and William Burroughs, has at last appeared.
It's received good notices, including a rave from the Onion's AV Club which compares it to Zen Arcade, the double album by Grant's former band Hüsker Dü.
My guess is that the 1985 photoshoot mentioned as the occasion when Grant met Burroughs was for the Giorno Poetry Systems record A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse on which both Hüsker Dü and Burroughs appeared (audio at UbuWeb)
Hart says that Burroughs amanuensis James Grauerholz showed him an unpublished Burroughs manuscript for Lost Paradise, "William's science fiction story which portrays the fallen angels as men from distant planets and God as none other than fellow Missourian Harry S. Truman. James and Grant discussed adding music to William's story much in the same way that Tom Waits and William conspired to turn the German folk tale Die Freischütz into The Black Rider as staged by Robert Wilson."
John Giorno noted in The Death of William Burroughs (link has text and optional audio reading), at Burroughs' funeral, Grant slipped an envelope of white powder into Burroughs' pocket, saying "Nobody's going to bust him."
It's received good notices, including a rave from the Onion's AV Club which compares it to Zen Arcade, the double album by Grant's former band Hüsker Dü.
My guess is that the 1985 photoshoot mentioned as the occasion when Grant met Burroughs was for the Giorno Poetry Systems record A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse on which both Hüsker Dü and Burroughs appeared (audio at UbuWeb)
Hart says that Burroughs amanuensis James Grauerholz showed him an unpublished Burroughs manuscript for Lost Paradise, "William's science fiction story which portrays the fallen angels as men from distant planets and God as none other than fellow Missourian Harry S. Truman. James and Grant discussed adding music to William's story much in the same way that Tom Waits and William conspired to turn the German folk tale Die Freischütz into The Black Rider as staged by Robert Wilson."
John Giorno noted in The Death of William Burroughs (link has text and optional audio reading), at Burroughs' funeral, Grant slipped an envelope of white powder into Burroughs' pocket, saying "Nobody's going to bust him."
I'm looking forward to it, if it's as good as all that. I loved Intolerance, but everything else Hart's done since HD has been kinda lame (the Black Francis disease).
posted by klangklangston at 5:25 PM on July 23, 2013
posted by klangklangston at 5:25 PM on July 23, 2013
This is a very welcome sight! Intolerance is a longtime favorite album of mine.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:25 PM on July 23, 2013
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:25 PM on July 23, 2013
If you want an album out of some other old school Minnesota rockers, The Suburbs are kick-starting a new album. I would much rather hear The 'Burbs than Grant Hart!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:24 PM on July 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 6:24 PM on July 23, 2013 [2 favorites]
A Minnesota rocker who loves literary references? That's my favorite kind of thing! Thank you.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:47 PM on July 23, 2013
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:47 PM on July 23, 2013
Spotify also tells me there's a 'Grant Hart' who appears on 'Midnight Flyer - Trucker Songs from Australia', so don't get the two confused I guess!
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:47 PM on July 23, 2013
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 6:47 PM on July 23, 2013
Grant played my town's now-raided-and-defunct speakeasy/show-space about a year ago. There was barely a crowd and he looked kinda worse for wear, but he still gave us a good show. Hope this puts him back on enough radars to pay a few bills.
posted by Rustmouth Snakedrill at 7:42 PM on July 23, 2013
posted by Rustmouth Snakedrill at 7:42 PM on July 23, 2013
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