SOUNDTRACK: BELLE & SEBASTIAN-“Write About Love” (2010).
This single was released on the bands website on September 7th. The first 20,000 visitors were able to get a free download. By the time I’d heard about it (3PM) it was long gone. But the streaming version is still there.
This song continues in that “groovy” vibe that they’ve been indulging in with the last few listens. It’s far afield from their earlier, more mellow/acoustic sound, and it features some loud organ and solid guitar lines. Although I really like the early B&S, I’m also quite fond of this later, louder material, and I think it makes for a well-rounded band.
The song is a duet with Carey Mulligan (who I don’t know, but she was in An Education which I haven’t seen). B&S have always found great melodies for their songs, and this one is no exception. Even with this more rocking sound, they still haven’t lost their sense of songcraft.
I can’t seem to embed the song, so here’s a link: http://www.belleandsebastian.com/newsstory.php?id=515.
[READ: September 7, 2010] Pinky & Stinky
This is the third book that Sarah received for her birthday. I’m not sure why I put off looking at it until now, but it was worth the wait.
This is a fanciful graphic novel about two pigs who are sent into space. I’ve always thought that Kochalka’s drawings were simple/sloppy. But this book shows them to be not at all sloppy, and perhaps deceptively simple. Because even though the main characters are cute pigs with very few lines, and (once they get to the moon) the moon men are basically hands, the drawings are consistent and are all quite good (hands are definitely not easy to draw).
But on to the plot….
Pinky & Stinky are pigs launched into space. Pinky is the smart/nasty one, while Stinky is the good natured/clumsy one. When Stinky causes them to go off course, they end up on the moon. And this sets off an elaborate series of events that culminate in a surprisingly touching conclusion.
In the meantime, all manner of slapstick and hostility is observed (because the book is kind of short, I won’t reveal any of the many twists).
I don’t know if this story was serialized first (there don’t seem to be many natural pause points or cliffhangers that would suit a break in a serial, but then he could have just stopped it whenever he felt like, right?). Anyhow, the problems grow more and more elaborate, with increasingly more satisfying results, until we get the rather surprising conclusion.
The notes say it took Kochalka 11 months to make this book. The fact that I read it in about 25 minutes seems to diminish the work he put into it, but it doesn’t diminish the enjoyment I received from it.
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