I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Nightline Sessions (1998).

This is a fascinating document for any Rheostatics fan.  I wound up buying it at the same time as Double Live, even though I couldn’t tell exactly what it was because it was really cheap.

And what it is is a night of the Rheostatics playing on the final night of the CBC Radio show Nightlines.  The notes state that the host of the show had been a huge fan for years and had tried to get the band on a few times.  He ultimately decided that they would be the prefect guest for the final show of the series.

It opens fairly seriously with some very simply orchestrated (guitars, bass, drums) versions of Rheos songs: “The Junction Foil Ball” would be recorded officially on Night of the Shooting Stars.  And “Stolen Car” only otherwise available on Double Live, absolutely kicks in this version.

The bulk of the disc is the Rheos fooling around in the studio. There’s some improv, there’s some tape manipulation, there’s a lengthy rap (“Trans Jam”), there’s Bidini being silly on the mike (“This is Nightlines”) and even a quaint little ditty, “Henry’s Musical Beard.”

I’m not sure if an album has ever been released that was so specifically just for fans of a band.  And not even casual fans, but die-hards who would enjoy hearing the band goofing off.  The “proper” tracks are definitely enjoyable, but there’s a lot of nonsense here (okay, yes, some of it is quite funny).

[READ: December 24, 2009] Love the Way You Love: Side A

I’ve always liked Jamie Rich’s stories.  He’s written some full-on fiction in addition to his comics.  And they’re both solid, romantic works.  Ellerby’s drawing style is rather cartoony (big eyes and often outlandish hair, but it works in context).  This is especially so since this story is about teens/post-teens and rock bands.

This book collects the first three (of six) volumes of this series.

The plot is fairly straightforward: Tristan is lead singer of the band Like a Dog.  The band is on the verge of breaking big and the labels guys are on the prowl. One particular label guy is drooling to get his hands on Like a Dog.

At about the same time, Tristan saw the woman of his dreams at the airport. She then showed up at that evening’s Like a Dog gig.  Tristan is blissed until he learns that Isobel, for that is her name, is engaged to the same awful label guy.  Boo. 

The label guy is high pressure.  Tristan is not interested, mostly because the guy is a dick.  But also because he’s looking for a better deal with full artistic freedom.  The rest of the band, although they love Tristan’s songwriting skills, are interested in getting a deal from the label guy, so they encourage him to come back around and speak more to Tristan.

Despite being engaged, Isobel is quite unhappy with the label guy, and she has no qualms with sneaking off with Tristan for a snog.  And the label guy really is a jerk, even her friends think she should break off with him.  They even try to arrange for a secret meeting between Tristan and Isobel (which gets compromised by the label guy).

So, will she see the light and leave him for Tristan (who has already written a song for her)?  I imagine we’ll find out in Side B.

Rich makes his characters full, with a wide emotional range.  The secondary characters are also quite good, especially Lance, Tristan’s younger brother, who wears a cool hat and has some of the best lines in the book.

It’s not the most original story in the world, but it’s very good for what it is: a teenaged romance with a  great soundtrack.

I wonder if Rich ever writes music for the lyrics he pens?