Vacation Listening and Reading List 2015

Once again, the Else Family is gearing up for vacation. This means pulling together music and literature! Here's what we're listening to and reading this year:

Sound
Tame Impala, Currents--Kevin Parker's newest release is an epiphany...a delightful summer record that eschews guitar freak-outs for bass & synth driven psychedelic pop. We will be listening to a lot of this on the boat!
Wilco, Star Wars--Tweedy & Co. surprised everyone with this free release (www.wilcoworld.net) of new music (their first since 2011). It is a throwback, of sorts, and upon initial listens hearkens to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (which remains my favorite Wilco album).
The Helio Sequence, Negotiations--Melodic indie pop rock released in 2012 remains a touch above their most recent eponymous release.
Mumford & Sons, Wilder Mind--Kevin Parker (see above) changes direction and the critics swoon. Marcus Mumford changes directions and the critics seethe. Evidently, you don't let go the banjo. Critical resentment aside, this is a wonderful record.
The War on Drugs, Lost in the Dream--This album defined 2014 in many ways, and remains in my playlist. It will get a lot of play on vacation, once again.
Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell--However a little depressing, this a great album for early, hazy mornings.
Mansionair, Hold Me Down EP--More Australia. More catchy techno soul.

Word
David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest--I actually just finished this book, so it won't be coming along on vacation. As I just finished it, I'm including it on this list. It is one of the more fascinating, difficult books I've read in a long time.
Patricia Hackett & Andy Warhol, The Andy Warhol Diaries--This book will be hefted along (it would not be if we were flying). I'm not sure how much time I'll spend in it, as it appears to be a catalogue of Andy's many dinners and nights out with interesting people. I would prefer to live my own life, and not live through the life of a long dead artist, but may warm up to it as we go.
Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman--Critics are ambivalent; booksellers are cashing in. Fifty years after To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee has the perhaps impossible task of meeting expectations. We'll see.
Ralph J. Mouw, Letters from Ralph: A Soldier Writes Home During World War II--Orange City native Ralph Mouw provides a firsthand account of life in the theater of war. There is a lot of buzz in Northwest Iowa about this book!
Nicole Baart, The Beautiful Daughters--Sioux Center resident (and friend) Nicole Baart's seventh book has gotten a lot of attention nationally. I am excited to read it!
Kim Gordon, Girl in a Band--Sonic Youth riot grrrl! Kim Gordon's, er, autobiography?
James Michener, Centennial--This would be a better book if we were going to Colorado. As it is, Michener, the West, and vacation make a pretty good trio.