Charlie Bennett was born in New York, raised in Virginia, and moved to Atlanta to study at the Georgia Institute of Technology. After earning degrees in Economics and STAC (Science, Technology, and Culture), he stayed with the school and became an academic librarian at the Georgia Tech Library. He co-hosts the research-library rock’n’roll radio show Lost in the Stacks on WREK Atlanta.
Everyone was talking at the reunion about where you were! You’ve been hiding in plain site it seems!!! Hope life is wonderful — would love to hear from you.
Thought I’d say hello. Gladdens me to see you’re a dad. Imagine you’re a damn fine one.
Any chance you have an opinion about Trans Am? Surrender to the Night delights me but The Surveillance is peaks & valleys. If there’s another solid album from ’em I’d appreciate you pointing the way. Somebody said they went dance so I’m kinda leery.
Anyroad, take care. I’m thinking about the Catholics a lot these days.
And hello back to you — I am delighted to be reminded of how often we thought of the Catholics. I hope you are well and happy.
As for Trans Am, I have no opinion but now I have just now queued up Surrender to the Night and “Motr” is enticing for sure. I’m dancing a lot more these days so perhaps I’ll dig the later stuff more.
Still crazy but no longer irrational, thanks. Been straightedge a couple years.
Rough Justice & the titular track are the highlights, to me. R.J. doubtless because of Full On Night. Noise has always been a thing (cf. Earthbound, ‘Groon’; Merzdub, ‘Conqueror’). Not that I abjure dance or melody, merely that for all my love of ligne claire my aesthetic tends toward the crunchy.
On that note, more or less, Money Mark had a brief interview seg on NPR’s Closer Look today. Studio hijinks, equipment hacks w/ the Beasties, etc. Short but you might like to listen.
geddy lee, rush
STEWART LEE
“I really like Stewart Lee. I don’t really have to explain him to British fans. I come to London a lot with my wife and we’ve been to see him a few times here – we usually sneak into the Leicester Square theatre whenever he’s playing. The first time I saw him I didn’t know a lot of the references, because he makes fun of a lot of local British TV personalities and other comedians. But he’s so dry and clever, and I like the way he tries out a lot of material. I saw his recent show where I guess he was prepping for his next TV special, so he was trying out a lot of new material, and it was brilliant. I love the way he badgers the audience too, and the way he ties all these different things together. I know he likes to stay in Britain, but I think he could internationalise his material and do really well in the States.”
I am a recent discoverer of this podcast, having been lured here by a geeky podcast search for “Faith No More.” To my infinite delight I found your podcast about Angel Dust, which is an album for which I have an almost terrifying affinity. It is indeed a grotesque masterpiece composed by very fucked up people; the world is a better place for having Angel Dust available. Very quickly, your topics list began to coalesce into an almost impossible inventory of some of my personal favorite pieces of entertainment: the movie Altered States;the album Fly By Night (I play bass in a Rush tribute band, Rash {www.rashisaband.com}), the animated series Aeon Flux; and the insanely great movie Ravenous. Being 42 (I very much identify as Gen X although one could argue I might be a Millenial) I find Charlie and I have very similar views on things. Thank you for the great detail you put into the episodes. It took me a while to understand that the autopsies you provide are not synopses of the content, but everything else about them, hence super context. Great job. I look forward to being freaked out by your future topics which no doubt will line up completely with my favorite things. I’ll try not to get too weirded out when I see you two dissect The Dark Crystal.
Just listening to the last episode of Supercontext. I’ll miss you guys. I’m proud to have listened to even the unpopular ones .. you widened my mind and even made me read zeroes, and Raylon givens. I proud of you Both for not turning into something you hated. You have made me a better person.
Hi Rob, Thank you so much for that message — I am so glad we connected and that you feel like we made difference.
Charlie-
I am new to your work so I apologize if you have covered this elsewhere. I discovered Supercontext while reading/researching Gravity’s Rainbow. Your breakdown of all things Pynchon and GR made the book much easier to understand a much more enjoyable read. I have since done a deep dive on Pynchon. Any love for Against the Day? Working on it now and it’s blowing my mind. Not sure if Supercontext is still a thing, but I’ll be following elsewhere wherever I need to. Keep up the great work!
Hi Charlie,
Supercontext fan and supporter here.
I’ll be launching a jazz show called Genius and Soul (https://www.geniusandsoul.com) January 1.
So far, bebop luminary Charles McPherson and music journalist Phil Freeman will guest deejay on the show.
We’re hoping to make appearances on various jazz shows in the fall and winter to promote the launch. Can you please recommend anyone you know or make introductions so we can arrange on-air interviews?
Thanks in advance!
Joseph
Hey Joseph, I look forward to your show! I’ll look into folks in Atlanta to point you to. I confess, I don’t have any introductions to make for you, but I bet I can send you some leads.
— C