White Wilderness (Dead Oceans) is the latest album from the San Francisco-based John Vanderslice, and he’s joined on it by the classically trained Magik*Magik Orchestra. MMO artistic director Minna Choi arranged and conducted the Vanderslice-written music on the LP, which was recorded in a whirlwind three-day session by producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Walkmen, Bill Callahan). Vanderslice himself is no stranger to production, running the Tiny Telephone recording studio for 14 years and having produced records by the likes of Spoon and the Mountain Goats. Now he can add MAGNET guest editor to his resume, as that’s what he’s doing at magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Vanderslice: Yeah, I love TV. It’s surprising I’ve only included Generation Kill, the respectable HBO miniseries from David Simon and Ed Burns. The show covers the very beginning of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and in those first few weeks, Simon and Burns craftily foreshadow the resulting avalanche of war crimes: the checkpoint shootings, rendition and torture, massive collateral damage and uncounted civilian deaths. The cast, like all Simon and Burns projects, is excellent.
Video after the jump.
