Indigest Picks (best new releases this week)

Books:
Brian Eno's Another Green World (33 1/3 series) by Geeta Dayal [Continuum]
+ The 33 1/3 series has been churning out the best books on albums since 2003. The series is continues with Brian Eno's Another Green World. It'd have a tough time being better than John Darnielle's guide to Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, written from the perspective of institutionalized teenager, but the series is consistently engaging.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen & Ben H. Winters [Quirk Books]
+ Quirk Books releases another book in the vein of the surprising hit Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. Pretty much going to be like you expect, if you expect it to be awesome.

Music:
Tyondai Braxton - Central Market [Warp]
+ The Battles frontman's solo effort is fantastic. It's in the vein of his Battles work, but with the addition of an orchestra to his orchestrations it gains an epic quality. Maybe not a cover to cover classic, but when the album hits its stride it's epic and moving and as good as anything Battles has done.

Fennesz/Sparklehorse - In the Fishtank 15 [Konkurrent]
+ The In the Fish Tank series pairs great artists and has them collaborate to create an EP in the studio. The series has had such luminaries in the past as Low, Tortoise, Sonic Youth, Isis, The Ex, Blackheart Procession and others. Even when these discs aren't incredible, they're always interesting and engaging. Sparklehorse is having a renaissance this year with a great collaboration with Danger Mouse kind of came out this spring.

In Theaters:
The Burning Plain (Guillermo Arriaga) [2929 Productions]
+ Much like the films Arriaga had previous written The Burning Plain is structural brilliance. Far more complex than Babel and better paced than 21 Grams. Theron puts in a great performances and Elswit definitely makes a case for winning the Oscar for cinematography two years in a row.

The Informant (Steven% Soderbergh [Warner Bros. Pictures]
The second (or fourth, depending on how you're counting) Steven Soderbergh film this year is a hilarious faux thriller that sees Matt Damon at the best he's been in years. It's been a while since Soderbergh has made a comedy this good.

DVD:
Trumbo(Peter Askin) [Filbert Steps Productions/IDP Distribution]
+ This documentary follows the life of the great screenwriter Donald Trumbo as he was told by the government he was a communist and then he decided to fight back. It's the kind of Bond moment ever writer hopes for but Trumbo is one of the few who takes on management in such a magnificent fashion.

Old Jews Telling Jokes(Sam Hoffman) [First Run Features]
+ Old Jews telling jokes is a serialization of the great website. The concept is, well, pretty self explanatory. And it's just as hilarious as it sounds.

What's New This Week

Books:
A Gate at the Stairsby Lorrie Moore [Knopf]
+ Lorrie Moore's newest novel is her first published book in eleven years. If you aren't sure whether or not to read this you should read Jonathan Lethem's convincing review in the New York Times: "[Moore's] a discomforting, sometimes even rageful writer, lurking in the disguise of an endearing one. On finishing "A Gate at the Stairs" I turned to the reader nearest me and made her swear to read it immediately."

The Death of Bunny Munro: A Novelby Nick Cave [Faber & Faber]
+ Troubadour Nick Cave's second novel (following his dark and McCarthy-ian debut And the Ass Saw the Angel) follows a door to door salesman named Bunny Munro who seduces women as he tries to sell them moisturizer. Doesn't sound very Nick Cave in premise, but it's a dark novel. And what's more Nick Cave than being just a little surprising?

Update: Listen to Nick Cave read from the book at PrefixMag.com

I Drink for a Reasonby David Cross [Grand Central Publishing]
+ A new book from David Cross, why wouldn't this be good? Paul Rudd says, "One of the funniest books I've ever skimmed."


Poetry:
Rising, Falling, Hoveringby C.D. Wright [Copper Canyon Press]
+ Wright puts out her first collection of lyric poetry since 2003; it's a collection that focuses it's verse on the strained relations between America and the international community. Wright is a treasure of American poetry and her collections generally need no introduction, so I won't try and explain why you should be reading this.

Graphic Novels:
Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Muthaby Melvin Van Peebles [Akashic]
+ Filmmaker/actor Melvin Van Peebles newest film bears the same title as this book, Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-Itchy Footed Mutha, but this is his graphic novel version of the film. Illustrated by Van Peebles it's a sort of companion to the forthcoming film with stills and original artwork.

Music:
David Bazan - Curse Your Branches[Barsuk]
+ Formerly performing as Pedro the Lion Bazan has struck out under his own name. Always an intriguing song-writer; Curse Your Branches sees him striking out a bit from his folky roots. The electro-tones of tracks like "Hard to Be" sound like Bazan doing some of the best work since early Pedro the Lion.

Theater:
Extract (Mike Judge) [Miramax]
+ Mike Judge, creator of Office Space, Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill, and the less exciting Idiocracy has a new film with Jason Bateman at the center. Everything seems to indicate that this film could be on par with the cult brilliance of Office Space.

[Editor's Note: We used information from another site on this listing. Black Dynamite is actually being released on 10/16/09. Sorry, my excitement got the best of me.]

DVD:
Heroes: Season Three [Universal]
+ Ok, so season 3 of Heroes wasn't the most brilliant of the series, but it was a huge recovery from a short and mostly uninspired second season. The beginning of season 3 was political charged and engaging in the same way the show was when it started, it peeters off a bit, but it starts off fantastic.

What's New This Week

Books:
Collected Storiesby Raymond Carver [Library of America]
+ This may have actually come out last week, but I missed it then and it deserves mentioning. Generally a complete collection of a major author from the Library of America might not be something to note in this context, but this is a pretty special book for fans of Carver. The collection includes the book Beginners which is only available here. It's Carver's famous collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love without the rather considerable edits by Gordon Lish. The debate about Carver sans Lish has been raging for years. Clearly Lish made Carver more of a minimalist and refined his style, but to what extent did he suppress a voice? To what extent did he give Carver the voice he was searching for? Your questions answered here.

Take a look at the story "Beginners" here. (And, yes, this is "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" before Lish's red pen entered the fray.)

The Skating Rinkby Roberto Bolaño [New Directions]
+ As Bolaño's oeuvre continues to be translated into English his legend only seems to grow. The Skating Rink captures Bolaño's style perfectly: flourishing language, crime, and romance all included. A corrupt civil servant has been misdirecting funds to build an ice rink for his lover. An illegal Mexican immigrant and writer, Gaspar Heredia (Bolaño anyone?), has discovered the corruption. The mystery unravels with murder and surprises in the three revolving stories set in the imaginary town of Z, just north of Barcelona.

Also out this week: Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon [Random House], Home Boy by H. M. Naqvi [Random House]

Music:
Asobi Seksu - Transparence[Polyvinyl]
+ The New York indie-pop duo is equal parts art rock band and pop crossover. Their light melodies and treble laced songs are heavily influenced by Japanese pop, and each of their albums seems to be a little better than the last. Their new EP, Transparence, won't be an exception to the rule. This follows on the heels of their lush February release Hush, which is worth checking out if you don't know who Asobi Seksu is.

Listen to some tracks from Asobi Seksu at Daytrotter.


Blitzen Trapper - The Black River Killer EP [Sub Pop]
+ New tracks from Blitzen Trapper is never a bad thing, and, thankfully, The Black River Killer EP seems to a bit of a misnomer as this thing is pretty long. Seven tracks that contain their signature bluegrass-rock foundations with huge hooks and dark overtones. The lead off track "Black River Killer" is pretty stellar. You can listen to it here.

Also out this week: Willie Nelson - The Nearness of You, Mariachi El Bronx - Self Titled [Swaml], Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon, David Bazan - Curse Your Branches, Arctic Monkeys - Humbug [Domino]

Theaters:
Still Walking (Hirokazu Kore-eda) [IFC]
+ Hirokazu Kore-eda is a rising star of Japanese cinema. His newest film, Still Walking, will definitely further that premise and attract many new film-lovers to his work. It rivals his fantastic 2004 film Nobody Knows, and seems to be a sign that he just keeps getting better. If you've got this film playing in your city this weekend go see it.

Check out the trailer here

Big Fan (Robert Siegel) [First Independent Pictures]
+ Big Fan is the first vehicle where Patton Oswalt is going to take the spotlight (outside of the great comedy-documentary The Comedians of Comedy). Oswalt plays a crazed New York Giants fan, and he struggles with the implications and depth of his obsession after being beat up by his favorite player. Oswalt may shine here, under the guidance of writer/director Robert Seigel, who is making this film as the follow-up to his first filmed script with The Wrestler.

Also out this week: Halloween II (Rob Zombie), Taking Woodstock (Ang Lee), We Live in Public (Ondi Timoner)

DVD:
Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir(various directors) [Criterion]
+ I was going to write how I've never been disappointed with the Eclipse series, and how it's opened a world of cinema that I'd never have had the chance to experience without it, and that the Nikkatsu films are a crazy olio of some of the hippest cinema from Japan in the 50s and 60s. But then I read the description on the Criterion site and it made me want to watch it even more: "This bruised and bloody collection represents a standout cross section of the nimble nasties Nikkatsu had to offer, action potboilers modeled on the western, comedy, gangster, and teen-rebel genres." Translation: Bad ass.

Second Skin(Juan Carlos Pineiro-Escoriaza) [Pure West]
+ Second Skin is a documentary that explores the world of gamers and people interested in virtual worlds such as Second Life. It explores how these worlds enhance and destroy individuals, and have these alternate universes have changed the landscape of technology forever. It's got all of the charm of films about sub-cultures such as Darkon or King of Kong with the slight alteration that if you've never heard of the games and programs here, it's because the people in the film are far ahead of the curve.

Also out this week: The Last Days of Disco (Walt Stillman) [Criterion], Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman) [Criterion], Duplicity (Tony Gilroy), Adventureland, Sunshine Cleaning