Inside the funky libraries and playlists of our crew.
Each day at Matador we line out publishing priorities, to-do lists, and stokes to the rest of the team via a central email called ‘the daily.’ Inevitably it goes off on tangents. Yesterday’s was a ‘what are you reading and listening to?’ kind of thing. Here’s what people said:
Adam Roy, contributing editor, Matador Sports. Listening: It’s been months, but I’m still glued to Tobacco’s record, Fucked-Up Friends. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard. Electronica, but warm and organic. Trippy as all hell. Reading: A couple weeks ago, I discovered Olé, the big sports daily in Argentina.
David Miller, Senior Ed. Listening: Juana Molina, Atlas Sound.
Reading: Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin.
Ross Borden, Founding member, CEO: Listening to: 1. Major Lazer (diplo + switch) BBC essential mix. free download here 2. Artist: Paul white album: The Strange Dreams of Paul White — a rec from our very own Paul Sullivan. 3. Artist: Bullion album: Pet Sounds: In the Key of Dee Reading The Economist.
Hal Amen, co-editor, Matador Trips. Reading: I’m currently try to get into Blade Runner in Spanish–proving harder than I’d hoped. Was it foolish to take on sci-fi in a foreign language?
Sarah Menkedick, Co-Editor, Matador Abroad. Listening to: Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago.” This is classic drinking-whisky-in-winter-post-breakup music. Reading: Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi.
Lola Akinmade, Editor Matador Goods. ReadingThe New Age of Adventure – an anthology from National Geographic Adventure. Listening: U2’s Magnificent (also danced in to this on the wedding day!), and Razorlight’s Wire to Wire.
Christine Garvin, contributing editor, BNT: Reading: Been trying to get my hands on a cheap copy of Emotional Freedom by Judith Orloff, and revisiting, once again, The Energy of Money by Maria Nemeth. Listening: my old peeps at Non-Stop Bhangra, for Jimmy Love’s latest bhangra mixes.
Juliane Huang, Intern of the Century. Listening: N.A.S.A. – Spirit of Apollo.
Reading: Junot Diaz – The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
Paul Sullivan. Reading: Roberto Bolaño, The Savage Detectives + The Rest is Noise by Alex RossListening: Fuckpony - Let The Love Flow, David Sylvian – Manafon.
Eileen Smith, Community Outreach Ninja. Reading: La Vuelta a Chile en Bicicleta by Régine Bienvenue and Pierre Devaux, A Woman Alone: Travel Tales from Around the Globe edited by Faith Conlon, Ingrid Emerick and Christina Henry de Tessan and Cadillac Desert, the American West and its Disappearing Water by Mark Reisner. Listening: mainly to Crud, not worth mentioning.
Carlo Alcos, Co-Editor, Matador Trips. Reading: I just finished Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer. Right now I’m two pages into Pico Iyer’s The Lady and the Monk. Listening: currently a lot of Josh Ritter and Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst…and lately old school Public Enemy, De La Soul, Pharcyde, Tribe Called Quest…
Ian MacKenzie, Matador Network Architect. Reading: The End of Your World - Adyashanti.
Listening: Wilco, Michael Franti.
Michelle Shusterman, Contributing Editor, Matador Goods. Reading: Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell.
Listening: Ojos de Brujo
[feature photo: pusgums]
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David,
Read In search of Small Gods last summer while on the boat off Honduras and it was an experience! They way he looks at the world is truly unique and i usually only like
Right now listening to : Dispatch Album :Who Are We Living For_
Reading : The Ticos: Culture and Social Change in Costa Rica ( my next trip!)↵ -
word up Bobby.
jh is one of the masters.
suerte on your trip to costa rica. that’s where it all started for me.
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Sarah ~
We have a lot in common. I love Reading Lolita in Tehran ~ I can’t get enough of books like that. Have you read Three Cups of Tea?
Bon Iver is also in my CD player. He actually grew up in the same town as I did (graduated from the rival high school). I knew him way back in the day when he played with his high school friends in a band called Mount Vernon. His voice is as beautiful today as it was then.
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Reading: Men of Certainty, Tom Gill, about Japan day laborers and the history of castes
Listening: Daily Show audio
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Sweet roundup, y’all! Definitely took a few notes going through this.
As for me…
Reading: Wild Stories: The Best of Men’s Journal
Listening: Just discovered my James Brown collection after it had been missing for a year. (It was in the glove compartment of my mom’s car.)↵ -
Thanks for this. I’ve added some new stuff to my “to check out” list!
As for me –
Reading: I just started The Great Railway Bazaar. It’s my first Theroux.
Listening – Lately I’ve been rediscovering Tom Waits and listening to alot of Damian Rice and Bright Eyes. I swear I’m not depressed, sad music actually makes me happy.↵ -
I’ve reserved Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers from the library. Unfortunately am 12th in line
Might have to buy this one! Thanks Michelle!
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Yeah, no doubt. Everyone is all over this one!
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Wow, Juana Molina (gorgeous stuff!), Bon Iver (JoAnna – can’t believe you know him!), old skool hip hop, Tom Waits, Bright Eyes…what a list!
So many books to check out too. What a great idea David…thanks…
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@Eileen: sorry about leaving your musical selection up there as a ‘joke.’ I know you really don’t like crud.
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just went through my emails and realized I totally left out Julie Schwietert’s picks! Sorry hermana.
For that you get the full layout. Here are Julie’s picks ladies and gentlemen:
Reading:
The Hive by Camilo Jose Cela: “Banned for many years by the Franco regime….” I’m only 20 or so pages in and am wondering if this novel builds into some cohesive narrative, but I almost don’t care. I’m fascinated by the way Cela presents characters: they’re sketches in the truest sense, totally visual. Even if the characters don’t converge in anything more than a scene in which no conflict is developed or resolved, I think I’ll be okay with that. And of course, the simultaneous connection and disconnection of the characters clearly reflects preoccupations of Cela’s historical moment. .
Anything I can get my hands on by Daniel Alarcon: I don’t usually read (or enjoy) fiction, but I was convinced that giving the genre a try again after years of fasting was worth it. Alarcon is a skillful writer, but he’s also just a fascinating person, so I’ve tried to track down anything I can find that he’s written to learn more about him– how his experiences have informed his writing. Currently reading his essay, “American Labasha” in an old issue of The Virginia Quarterly Review.
Puerto Rico: Arte e Identidad: Reading this for some background/context for an article I’m working on about the Puerto Rican artist Carlos Mercado.Listening:
Buika: African immigrant/expat living in Mallorca. Swear that she sounds like some unexpected but totally convincing blend of Tina Turner, Roberta Flack, Lila Downs, and Susana Baca, all rolled into one.
Other:
Gustavo Ott: Venezuelan playwright. I saw him speak a few months back and am still thinking about him. Much like Alarcon, his personal identity is so complex and fascinating. And like Alarcon, his work reflects an astute understanding and total dominance of the subject, no matter who and what it is and where it’s located. Try to put this guy into a genre or category. You can’t.
“Ruined”: A play by Lynn Nottage I saw staged in Manhattan last month– it’s about race, gender, war, rape, power. I’ve never been in an audience that reacted so viscerally and transparently to a work– it was extraordinary.
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