Destroyer on NPR, 3.18.2006
Monday, March 20, 2006
Destroyer’s Rubies is, and will probably remain, one of my favorite records of the year, but I’m still, as is often the case with Destroyer albums, not quite sure why. That’s part of the reason I enjoyed hearing NPR’s Weekend Edition on Saturday devoting a full 8 minutes to one Mr. Dan Bejar on the cusp of the impending Destroyer tour. It incorporates comment from Carl Newman, Bejar himself and the quite swell Carl Wilson, who along with penning crit for the Toronto Globe and Mail, has emerged as perhaps the preeminent Destroyer fan/critic through what is one of the best music blogs on the internet, Zoilus. Here, he posts on the Destroyer drinking game, which is also discussed in the piece. It’s also nice to hear Bejar himself speak about his public persona (or lack thereof), although reporter Joel Rose is wise to suspect a bit of leg pulling when Bejar comments on why he chose the name Destroyer: “It’s got three syllables, which is good, but it’s still one word, which is also cool”.
man, i try _so_ hard, because so many people whose musical opinions i hold in high regards like destroyer so much, like this album so much, but i listened to it and wanted to take it out and jump on it, maybe throw it at an airplane. I’ll try it again, but just know…i’m doing it for you.
Thanks for the NPR link, that was golden.
Yeah, Bejar’s definitely not everyone’s favorite cup of tea (or whiskey, as the case may be), but I absolutely adore his stuff and can likewise completely understand why someone would hate the guy.
Thanks for posting the interview – I completely missed it.
This record has grown on me with each listen, which has been daily for about the last two weeks. I love the subtle (and not so subtle) Bowie references (the tinkling piano via “Aladdin Sane”), and the guitar on the last track is such a rip/homage to Neil Young’s “Down by the River.” There’s something really haunting about all of it, too. I’ve tried to play it for a few people, and they all hate it. I added “Rubies” to my wife’s workout playlist and she told to delete immediately. Still, I’m sure I’ll listen to it again on the way home today.