I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: THE HOUSEMARTINS-Live at the BBC (2006).

I found out about the Housemartins after enjoying the Beautiful South, and since they only released two albums, it was easy to get into them quickly. This is a collection of live tracks from the BBC, some have an audience and some do not. What is most striking about the record are the amount of acapella works that are on here, and the, surprisingly religious aspect of many of the songs (especially for a bunch of guys who on the latest Beautiful South album say “No thanks to God, he did fuck all.”)

They sound great, and can totally pull off the acapella, and when they do break out the instrumentation it sounds even better. I would have resequenced it so that the acapellas were sprinkled throughout but hey, what can you do. My only sad moment was that “Happy Hour” was done acappella, and as I said, the acapellas are great, but that song just screams for full instrumentation. Anyhow, this collection will definitely get me listening to the Housemartins again.

[READ: October 21, 2007]: The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming.

What better way to get back into reading books than with a 20 page book full of illustrations! This is a holiday story of a latke who, because of his inherent religious beliefs, feels left out at Christmastime. As it is written by Lemony Snicket, it is twisted and even more twisted.

It is certainly funny, but really the pictures make it. The artist is Lisa Brown who did a delightful series of “children’s” board books called “Baby Be of Use” (Baby Make Me Breakfast, Baby Mix Me a Drink, Baby Fix My Car, and Baby Do My Banking ) which I TOTALLY recommend getting from McSweeneys: They are as wonderful as they sound.

Anyhow, back to this one, a latke wakes up in a frying pan and runs screaming through the woods, hurt by the firey pan and the lack of sensitivity to his cultural origins. Not much else happens until the twisty end, which is indeed funny and twisty. And, in true Snicket fashion, it is very very dark. Totally worth adding to your holiday bookshelf.