no fans my ass

September 6, 2007 10:53 PM

Allow me to nerd out briefly on behalf of one of our own. Say, Mr. William "I invented cyberspace" Gibson, what were you listening to while writing your new bestseller Spook Country? Why, I was listening to Brad Sucks, nanojath! (see Sept. 1 entry)

Brad Sucks AKA frenetic for those just joining us. I thought it was cool, anyway. I just finished the book and thought that I hadn't checked out Gibson's blog recently.

posted by nanojath to MetaFilter Music at 10:53 PM (54 comments total)

Yay Brad! I just started reading Spook Country last night, coincidentally.

Somebody get Mr Gibson a Metafilter account, stat! Tell him Woz was here or something. His next novel will have minor characters with names like Todd Lokken and Matthew Chen, and pancakes and ponies aplenty...
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:23 PM on September 6, 2007

this is fantastic
posted by gac at 11:27 PM on September 6, 2007

Holy fucking shit. The dude patterned characters after songs?! That's fucking awesome. Way to kickass Brad!
posted by mathowie at 11:39 PM on September 6, 2007

triple damn. Hard to think of a more pleasing fan.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:58 PM on September 6, 2007

I'm told that most of Neuromancer was written under the influence of Steely Dan - apparently he's been writing this way since the beginning.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:10 AM on September 7, 2007

Well, for what it's worth, one could argue that Brad's album would have been a huge, epic success if it had the kind of marketing juggernaut behind it that, say, Beck's Mellow Gold album had -- because it's a truly fantastic album.

So he has insidious, sneaky fans, I guess.
posted by davejay at 12:29 AM on September 7, 2007

This is like getting beamed up by Scotty.
posted by Poolio at 1:06 AM on September 7, 2007

That's crazy awesome. Grats mate.
posted by lazaruslong at 1:10 AM on September 7, 2007

Huh. Unarguably awesome.

This makes me want to make stuff. Inspiring things are few and far between.
posted by blacklite at 2:09 AM on September 7, 2007

What, Gibson, that washed-up hack? And Brad Sucks? That talentless poser?

jes' kiddin'! I like both of them!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:00 AM on September 7, 2007

Wow, cool. And definitely a good book (even when stupid conventions like having a plot and moving it forward got in the way of the real Making Me Think stuff).
posted by yerfatma at 4:29 AM on September 7, 2007

I just ordered that book. It came in yesterday but I've got to make it back to my apartment building during work hours to pick it up. *sigh*.

I ordered it late because Pattern Recognition left me flat. Listening to some old guy try to describe internet culture he just got into was kind of dull, especially for someone who'd grown up with it, (or at least spent my teenage years online)

Hopefully this new one will be better.
posted by delmoi at 6:00 AM on September 7, 2007

That's fantastic - nice one, Brad!
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:05 AM on September 7, 2007

Oh, keen gear. I just put a couple of frenetic's songs on a mix-CD the other day. But I guess I'm not as big a deal as William Gibson.

Mr. Sucks, do you do much touring in the US? I just "demanded" you at your website.
posted by Greg Nog at 6:48 AM on September 7, 2007

So you are part of Milgrim's soul? Congrats, Brad.

I have begun the book 2 days ago and was thinking that as much as Bruce Sterling writes like he talks, with the inflections and rhythms of a wicked Southern preacher, William Gibson chooses more his words and metaphors for their mingling sounds, like he would sing them.

Nice to know more about the tunes. Thanks nanojath.
posted by bru at 7:24 AM on September 7, 2007

Awesome!
posted by interrobang at 7:37 AM on September 7, 2007

Man, you guys are nice. I thought I had nerd-peaked at having the experience of checking my email and seeing album orders from William Gibson. But this goes even further.

Greg: I've done zero touring in the US but if there's enough demand I hope to start once I put the new record out (which should be in the next few months).

Anyone who has a joint they would like me to stink up can demand me here.
posted by frenetic at 8:17 AM on September 7, 2007 [2 favorites]

Come on NYC Mefites, hop to it!
posted by Skorgu at 8:41 AM on September 7, 2007

Not really related, but I read Neuromancer for the first time at around the same time that I discovered Radiohead. I listened to Pablo Honey on repeat for the entire time I was reading the book. Nothing like having your mind blown textually and musically simultaneously.
posted by empath at 8:47 AM on September 7, 2007

Can I demand you in Greece? Make Me Nervous at the Acropolis? Look and Feel Years Younger in Santorini? Sick as a Dog on a ship to Crete?
posted by taz at 9:08 AM on September 7, 2007

Metafilter: Sick as a Dog on a ship to Crete
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:13 AM on September 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Anyone who has a joint they would like...

That sentence did not end like I thought it would.
posted by jessamyn at 9:24 AM on September 7, 2007 [4 favorites]

Huzzah for frenetic!
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:46 AM on September 7, 2007

Thought or hoped, Jessamyn?
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:47 AM on September 7, 2007

So cool. And once again, we see that Metafilter is the fulcrum on which the world moves.

*stinks up a joint*

It's all connected, man. It's all connected.
posted by quin at 9:51 AM on September 7, 2007

taz: Certainly. Though I'm unlikely to spring for the plane ticket to rock one person no matter how much I would like to.

jessamyn: I think the words "blaze" and "stink" should be interchangeable in pot culture.
posted by frenetic at 9:51 AM on September 7, 2007

(And if you happen to actually be in Ottawa, I'm at the Live Lounge tonight at 9.)
posted by frenetic at 10:27 AM on September 7, 2007

I ordered it late because Pattern Recognition left me flat.

delmoi, I felt like this book succeeded better personally. I actually became more forgiving of Pattern Recognition with a second reading but I had the same problem as you and others as well - mainly I felt his just-post-9/11 "tone" of America was not quite on and that some of the more fantastical premise (the ultimate explanation of the "footage," mainly), although very in line with his oeuvre, was much harder to swallow in the context of the present day. To me, anyway, futurity makes the fantastical inherently more palatable. This despite the fact that from a pure craft point of view I think his writing in many ways keeps improving.

I feel like he's still finding his way around the present day, but he nails the tone a lot better, pulling off some very Gibsonian tropes without the jarring sense of temporal dislocation. And I was a lot more interested in the imaginary art form he invented for this book.
posted by nanojath at 10:45 AM on September 7, 2007

Fair's fair — now frenetic needs to record an album while scrolling through the text of Spook Country.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:14 AM on September 7, 2007

I actually liked Pattern Recognition more than some other more popular Gibson novels, and it was one of the last ones I read, because of it's (relatively) bad reputation. At any rate, it doesn't matter - I'm a fan girl, and will get "Spook Country" and anything he publishes, for better or worse, forever (probably). Plus Brad Sucks! So good!
posted by taz at 11:18 AM on September 7, 2007

Thought or hoped, Jessamyn?

thought.

I think we should all spring for a ticket to get frenetic out to Greece.
posted by jessamyn at 12:10 PM on September 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

mainly I felt his just-post-9/11 "tone" of America was not quite on....

That's absurd. Pattern Recognition wasn't about security culture and fear-mongering, it was about the conjunction of loss and technology, and the trouble with mourning something that is intensely personal but, for the rest of the world, political and iconic. I didn't realized that PR was intended as a 9/11 novel when I bought it, (which is why I read it; I avoid them) but I was moved and blown away by his delicate touch. It was simply lovely. He's definitely become a different, and better, writer than the author of Neuromancer.
posted by anotherpanacea at 12:12 PM on September 7, 2007

I got a review copy of Spook Country and could not get into it. Brad Sucks, on the other hand, is on my frequently played list, and totally doesn't.
posted by absalom at 1:43 PM on September 7, 2007

I felt like this book succeeded better personally

not with that ending. she leaves the Moscow hotel to finally meet the brain-damaged girl who did the footage, and the book dies. even worse, it takes off for crapland, never to be back.

I like Spook County but the only interesting character is the addict, and it's never a good sign.
posted by matteo at 1:44 PM on September 7, 2007

but I like Gibson. he very politely signed my copy of Virtual Light, many years ago
posted by matteo at 1:46 PM on September 7, 2007

Somebody get Mr Gibson a Metafilter account, stat!

While it'd be neat for Gibson to have an account, I'm content with Charles Stross being a regular contributor. I just finished Accelrando and --HOLY FUCK-- that book was a thing of beauty.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:11 PM on September 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Accelerando

Sorry. Saketinis for lunch.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:33 PM on September 7, 2007

Cheers to frenetic!
posted by snsranch at 4:02 PM on September 7, 2007

not with that ending.

I meant that I felt Spook Country succeeded better than Pattern Recognition. I don't agree with your assessment of Pattern Recognition but you know, it turns out that taste is subjective. For me, Gibson remains one of the few people writing who I won't wait for the softcover or the library waiting list to read.

But anyway, it's really all about Brad Sucks!
posted by nanojath at 4:15 PM on September 7, 2007

I just finished Accelrando and --HOLY FUCK-- that book was a thing of beauty.

Agreed.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:48 PM on September 7, 2007

I'm halfway through The Atrocity Archive. I'd have stuffed the whole thing down, but it's my go to work on the train book, and it's a pleasure to digest it slowly.

Also, Glasshouse is totally a piece of work.
posted by Wolof at 8:14 PM on September 7, 2007

Thank Gibson! Has everyone noticed how much this song fucking rocks?
posted by humannaire at 8:22 PM on September 7, 2007

*%#$#@!&@#+!*$^%@#$!!!!!
posted by 31d1 at 8:59 PM on September 7, 2007

I'm happy that this thread introduced me to Brad Sucks. Great stuff, frenetic!
posted by painquale at 9:47 PM on September 7, 2007

There's no writing without music.

But it's a reciprocal relationship.
posted by scarabic at 9:51 PM on September 7, 2007

From Accelerando:

"Manfred pauses in midstride, narrowly avoids being mown down by a GPS-guided rollerblader. This is getting weird enough to trip out his weird-out meter, and that takes some doing."

Does it get better than this?
posted by b1tr0t at 10:00 PM on September 7, 2007

I have to add that "making me nervous" is a sexy, sexy song, though it may not have been intended that way. It definitely goes on my "music to snog to" list.
posted by taz at 12:45 PM on September 8, 2007

If you have sex to my music, you will die in seven days.

Accelerando is on my to-read pile here though my girlfriend (who is infinitely more patient with books than I am) has complained it's a rough read so I don't know.
posted by frenetic at 3:46 PM on September 8, 2007

That's pretty sweet. I'm reading Spook Country now while on vacation, and enjoying it quite a bit. It sounds like I need to incorporate some Brad Sucks too. And thanks for posting your album for free!

As well, 31d1 makes some good tunes as well.

Props, yo!

Yay!
posted by slogger at 2:11 AM on September 9, 2007

Spook Country is next on the to-be-read pile. I'm looking forward to it. I really liked Pattern Recognition (and almost everything else WG has written).
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 7:10 AM on September 9, 2007

I'm a voracious reader, so I finished Spook Country in one sitting. Not bad, but it just seemed so bland. Sure, it beats PR, but for my money Gibson's sprawl trilogy will be the ne plus ultra. Contrast Bobby Chombo's gridded warehouse with Dog Solitude, for instance. Sure, science fiction lends a whole lot more latitude than being constrained by the present day world, but I just can't help but think he's phoning it in with his new books.
posted by quite unimportant at 10:10 AM on September 10, 2007

If you have sex to my music, you will die in seven days.

You are terrible at marketing.
posted by nanojath at 11:08 PM on September 10, 2007

After reading a bit more, I think Accelerando is nto really any worse than Snow Crash.
posted by b1tr0t at 7:33 PM on September 17, 2007

... a rough read ...

I hear that about Stross all the time. I suppose I get the criticism, but I think it's really a matter of people not understanding that you're not really supposed to understand the mumbo-jumbo in hard SF. It's got to be convincing and you have to believe the author believes it (at least while s/he's writing it), but that's different from expecting yourself to understand it.
posted by lodurr at 6:00 AM on September 24, 2007