Faculty Retirement: RIP DFW

-According to The LA Times, novelist, essayist, and philosopher David Foster Wallace was found dead of an apparent suicide Friday night. Wallace published several novels, along with musings on everything from porn to infinity, and was considered by many to be the best writer in America. He was 46.
-A film version of DFW's collection of short stories, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, was adapted by The Office's John Krasinski, and features the likes of Lou Pucci, and Death Cab's Ben Gibbard. The film is currently in post-production.
-DFW is not to be confused with fellow philosopher DPW, who is very much alive as far as we know. more

Faculty: Ben Gibbard

-We apologize for the lack of posts this weekend, as we were temporarily drawn away by an eclectic mix of concerts. The biggest event of this weekend was, of course, Bumbershoot, the Seattle arts festival that acts as an annual reminder of why I love this city. Having worked their way up to the Mainstage over the years, Death Cab for Cutie proved they had earned it. They were truly the highlight of the weekend when they closed this year's festival with a set that included a seasonally apt "Summer Skin" and a euphoric Sigur Ros-ian jam during "Transatlanticism". 

-Judging by the fact that they are probably our school's most famous alumni, Death Cab hasn't gotten nearly enough love from this site. Ben Gibbard is one of the Northwest's best songwriters, and his prolific career shows no signs of slowing down. While Death Cab is a great band, its no secret that some of Gibbard's best work has been with other people. The Postal Service's Give Up is one of the highest selling albums ever put out by Seattle's best record label, and his work with Styrofoam was pure electronic gold. 

-While those projects were defined by heavy production, Gibbard is still at his best with an acoustic guitar. Home, his split album with Andrew Kenny, was a brilliant collection of folk songs that Gibbard (somewhat disingenuously) vowed to write more of. The above track, entitled "Broken Yolk in Western Sky", was supposed to show up on Plans. While it apparently didn't make the cut, Gibbard decided to contribute a performance to the Seattle edition of Burn to Shine, a series of concerts played in old houses waiting to be destroyed. It plays like a somber version of Dave Chappelle's Block Party, and features the above video along with performances by the likes of Eddie Vedder and Blue Scholars.

more