BOOK
Agit Disco by Stefan Szczelkun
Released in December, Agit Disco is a collection of 23 writers’ and artists’ playlists, CDs and illustrations — all in an effort to explore where political ideas come from. Tracey Moberly, a safe-sex graffiti campaign organizer and Text-Me Up! author, submitted songs based on a socio-political narrative that begins with a young girl being born in the then-thriving mining valleys of south Wales. Peter Haining, a British journalist, author and anthologist, provides traditional Gaelic and contemporary music and includes a track highlighting draconian censorship in Vietnam. This new collection is diverse, interdisciplinary and edgy — with a perfect peppering of Occupy Wall Street flavor.
APP
Smart-Cart
You want to drink. You want to golf. You want to drink while golfing. There’s an app for that. Smartcart is the first free application to provide services to 90 percent of golfers using a smart phone. Smartcart’s GPS pinpoints any course within a 25-mile radius and the golfer checks in. Using the application’s easy-tonavigate interface, the golfer has instant access to the club’s food and drink menus. After paying over the phone, golfers can expect prompt delivery service, no matter where they are on the course. They also can chart their progress and scorecard updates. Quaffing golfers will see their game get really good or they’ll at least think they’re really good. Either way, cheers.
CD
Wilco: The Whole Love
Wilco´s latest album, The Whole Love, released this past fall, demonstrates the band’s eclectic virtuosity. The opening song, “Art of the Almost,” is a sprawling 12-minute kaleidoscope of hipster beats and lyrics that maintain surreal melancholic undertones. The album’s title track embodies Wilco’s hallmark blend of Jeff Tweedy’s charcoal vocals and guitar funk. And the emotionally wrought closing song, “One Sunday Morning,” shows that the band still has got something to say. The song reflects on a dysfunctional father-and-son relationship, and all the things that could have been. But don’t let that happen to you: Get tickets soon for their performance at the INB Performing Arts Center downtown on Feb. 6 at 8 pm.
