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Archive for October, 2012

The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror 48-Page Chill-Tacular! [#18] (2012)

Posted in Batman, Death, Evil Dead, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Helloween, Magic, Matt Groening, Queensrÿche, Rosemary's Baby, Short Story, Supernatural, The Bride, The Simpsons on October 31, 2012| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: HELLOWEEN-“Halloween” (1987).

Back in the late 80s, I loved Helloween–they played speed metal, they had intricate solos, and they were German–what’s not to love?  Oh, and also, they were quite funny, with their little pumpkin mascot.

In 1987, they released The Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1, a concept album (hooray), with this song as the 13 minute centerpiece.  They also released a “radio friendly” version that’s about 3 minutes long.  How do you eliminate ten minutes of a song?  Take out some verses, some riffs, a whole middle section of vocals, a cool section that sounds like Queensrÿche, a little spoken word section and a whole lotta solos.  Surprisingly you do get the essence of the song, just none of the theatricality.

So Helloween are still around, although I gave up on them after the sequel to this album (Part Two) which really didn’t live up to the majesty of Part One.

But this song is fun and whether you choose the 13 minute or the 3 minute version, Happy Halloween.

[READ: November 7, 2012] The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror #18

Yes, that’s right, I read this after Halloween!  Hurricane Sandy means I can throw convention to the wind until I catch up.  Sarah bought this for me before Halloween, but I didn’t really feel like reading it on Halloween, so here it is.

Unlike in the TV show, this Treehouse of Horror has four stories!  The first thing you have to get used to in Simpsons comics is that the characters don’t look like the ones on TV.  This is deliberate–they get different artists to draw the pages, so the artist’s own style comes in.  The characters are obviously The Simpsons; it’s amazing how many liberties can be taken with icons and have them still be recognizable.

The first story is a parody of Evil Dead.  Homer takes the family to a cabin in the woods where Henry K. Duff created the secret recipe for Duff beer.  But when the recipe is read aloud…the spirit of the beer possesses the family.  This story is actually kind of gruesome, although my five-year old enjoyed flipping through the pages.  The twist at the end is completely unexpected and wonderful. (more…)

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Hurricane Sandy

Posted in Jackyl, Natural Disasters, Paul Debraski on October 30, 2012| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JACKYL-“The Lumberjack” (1992).

Does anyone remember this band?  Their gimmick was that the lead singer performed a chainsaw solo.  As I cut down trees that fell in my yard I kept thinking about this band, although I couldn’t remember any of their songs (which is just as well).  I had to Google this one.

It’s a stupid gimmick, but a hard one to forget.  My favorite coincidence to this song was when my friend Garry and I went to a party on a New Year’s Eve in like 1999 or so and the party house had a framed gold album of the debut album on the wall.  I never found out why.

Oh, and holy cow, they are STILL putting albums out!

Here’s the song in all of its nonsensicality:

Incidentally, if you don’t wear ear coverings when using a chainsaw, your ears will ring for about an hour after cutting down trees.

[EXPERIENCED: October 29, 2012] Hurricane Sandy

I considered live blogging the hurricane.  It would have gone like this:

October 29: 1-7PM: Wind picking up, not too much rain.

October 29: 8:15PM: Lights flickered and went out.

November 2: power restored.

November 5: Internet restored.

Gripping, eh? (more…)

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Leonid Tsypkin–“The Last Few Kilometres” (New Yorker, September 17, 2012)

Posted in Jamey Gambrell, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Leonid Tsypkin, Russia, Sex, Short Story, Yeasayer on October 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: YEASAYER–Live at KEXP, October 18, 2007 (2007).

This concert from Gibson’s is great.  It took place in 2007 and showcased songs from Yeasayer’s first album. I don’t know this album but their description of the music as tribal gospel is apt.  The music is noisy and almost chaotic, but the melodies and harmonies are wonderful.  There’s a comment that they used to be in a barbershop quartet (ironically).  And you can hear that they really know their harmonies well.

I have their two later albums which  like very much and which are slightly different from the sound of this one–but this set is really great, and it’s a good introduction to their earlier sound.

I mentioned Up All Night the other day because Silversun Pickups were on.  On this past week’s show, Yeasayer got a mention at a hipster coffee bar.  Guess that means Yeasayer are a trendy band, too.  Check out the show here.

[READ: October 17, 2012] “The Last Few Kilometres”

This is another very short story–two pages total.  It is translated from Russian by Jamey Gambrell.

In this story, a man visits his mistress, has sex with her, eats some food (after dropping a chicken leg on the floor) and then heads home.  Despite the brevity and simplicity of the story, I had to read it twice before I could really get it.  The story is told in flashback as he’s on his way home (on the train).

But the story is less about the plot than the details. I loved that he normally doesn’t like to eat first because having sex when you’re full is no fun.  But she made a nice dinner so they eat first.  Also, he left his dentures home, so he was happy the meal was soft (quite the romantic!).  Meanwhile, “She received him the way mistresses generally do in the movies,” dressed to the nines, and running around serving him.  Later, the lovemaking was indifferent, and a comment that he casually threw out had offended her. (more…)

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Kevin Barry–“Ox Mountain Death Song” (New Yorker, October 29 & November 5, 2012)

Posted in Cancer as plot device, Death, Irish Writer, Kevin Barry, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, New Yorker, Short Story on October 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: !!!-Live at KEXP, May 3, 2007 (2007).

!!! play a funky dance party music.  It’s certainly not Top 40 dance, as it throws all kinds of elements into the mix.  I have one of their early EPS but I haven’t listened to much more from them.  This show is from 2007, so I don’t know how much their sound has changed these last five years, but this is a cool and interesting set.

“Myth Takes” has a great bass line while “Heart of Hearts” has a steady beat with 70’s retro keyboards and cool guitar sections.  The jam at the end of the song is great.  “Yadnus” has a slinky feel until the screamed chorus (and there’s one member with a great scream) makes the song rock hard.

The entire set feels like a rollicking party.  I’ll bet they are a lot of fun to see live.

This band is especially hard to search for (search engines don’t know what to do with “!!!”) so the link is here.

[READ: October 26, 2012] “Ox Mountain Death Song”

This was a very brief story set in Ireland.

It was constructed as two parallel narratives: one about a policeman Sergeant Brown, and one about a criminal, Canavan.  Canavan  comes from a long line of criminals–thieves, sexual abusers, violent thugs, and he is no exception   And as soon as the community learns that he has a deadly cancer, they prepare for the worst from him, because what has he got to lose?

Sergeant Brown has dealt with his family for years.  He’s old now–fat and tired and soon to retire, but he wants this guy before he does anything worse.

Brown speaks to an older woman who was recently beaten up by him.  She protects him for a while until she finally reveals his hiding place–in the Ox Mountains.   (more…)

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Trout Fishing in America (RVCC Arts, Branchburg, NJ, October 21, 2012)

Posted in Branchburg, NJ, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T., Theater, Trout Fishing in America on October 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 21, 2012] Trout Fishing in America

Trout Fishing in America is (primarily) a children’s band.  They are a duo comprised of Ezra Idlet (who plays the guitar and is six-foot nine inches tall) and Keith Grimwood (who plays bass and is five foot five inches tall).  When I first encountered them, Ezra had very long hair–although he no longer does.  They are quite a sight onstage (and they play up this height difference a lot).

Trout Fishing is, I assume, a rather successful band.  They have been around since 1979!  Their first big family friendly record came out in 1991.  Amazingly, given their longevity, they are not opposed to playing small venues.  Two years ago, they played my son’s elementary school.  Which was a hoot.

They came back through the area again and this time they played RVCC.  I’ve said before that RVCC gets some pretty major acts, but I’m not sure exactly what went on with this show.  They played at 1PM and 3:30PM and rather than perform to the audience in the normal theater seats, they let the (much smaller) audience sit on stage with them.

They erected a small stage–big enough for  the two of them and their minimal gear.  The audience chairs were arranged around them in three section and my family got front row seats, approximately ten feet from the mini stage.  It was wonderful.   Since it was the day after T.’s birthday  when Keith asked if it was anyone’s birthday  T. was right up front to get singled out (they said it was okay that her birthday was yesterday).

They played about a dozen songs.  And in between songs, their banter was wonderful.  They told jokes (Keith juggles), they did left brain/right brain challenges (draw a square with one hand and a triangle with other) and they explained to the kids about the instruments they use (they also do musical instruction at schools).   (more…)

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Shani Boianjiu–“Means of Suppressing Demonstrations” (New Yorker, June 25, 2012)

Posted in Death, Fanfarlo, New Yorker, Shani Boianjiu, Short Story, Violence, War on October 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FANFARLO-Live at SXSW, March 19, 2010 (2010).

I only know of this band at all from Bob Boilen on NPR, who really liked one of their more recent songs.  This set is from Gisbson’s Showroom in Austin during SXSW.  They play six songs from their debut, Reservoir.

Fanfarlo use all kind of instrumentation to create a very full sound–horns, strings, male and female vocals and of course, bass and drums.  This set makes them seem like they were ahead of the game on bands like Mumford and Sons–there’s a kind of orchestral/folkie pop feel (of course the trumpet is very different from the banjo).  Indeed, they remind me a bit of Beirut.

I rather enjoy this set.  I really like “The Walls are Coming Down” and “Harold T. Wilikins.”  It’s a fun dose of folkie indie rock.  Although I don’t see myself getting their album or anything.  This may be just the dose of Fanfarlo that I need.  You can get the set from NPR here.

[READ: October 19, 2012] “Means of Suppressing Demonstrations”

I’ve been putting this story off for a long time (it came out in June).  The image that accompanied the story, three youths approaching a military barricade just didn’t appeal to me. But the story proved to be really interesting.

It is broken into four sections: Shock, Tear Gas, Rubber, Live Fire.  Each of these is a progressively more dangerous means to suppress demonstration.

But here’s the strange thing–the three youths in the drawing are asking to be suppressed.  They want to get in the paper, they want to be heroes.  So these three Palestinians approach a barricade manned by the Israeli army.  The barricade is at Route 799, which, for the soldiers is a low-traffic, fairly cushy assignment.

The main army guard is Lea, a woman who is soon to be done with her time.  She is looking forward to the end of her time, although she has rather enjoyed the company of Tomer who calls her Lea during the day and Officer at night when they are in bed together.  Route 799 is typically a very quite post until these three come up and politely say that they are demonstrators and wish to be suppressed. (more…)

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Ian Frazier–“A Farewell to Yarns” (Outside, November 2012)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Birds, Black Sabbath, Earth, Essays, Fishing, H.P. Lovecraft, Ian Frazier, Judas Priest, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Outside, Technology, Unreliable narrator on October 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: EARTH-All Tomorrows Parties, October 5, 2011 (2011).

Anyone who likes Black Sabbath a lot knows that they were originally called Earth.  About mid way through this concert, the lead singer/guitarist of Earth says that he grew up listening to Black Sabbath and reading HP Lovecraft, so Earth is clearly something of a tribute.   Incidentally, he grew up in Manalapan, NJ which is just down the road from us.

All of these bona fides means that I should love Earth.  But I have to say that although I didn’t dislike this show at all, it’s really not my thing.  Earth creates long droney songs.  I tried to measure a couple of BPM of songs and came out with 60 for one song and 42 for another (by contrast Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law” is 180 BPM).

The songs are all instrumental and range from 8 to 12 minutes.  Again, nothing objectionable about that.  Indeed most of the songs are cinematic and cool sounding.  My problem with them is that there wasn’t a lot of dynamism in the songs.  The bass wasn’t crazy heavy or loud or chest rattling (as I had been led to believe Earth’s bass was).  The melodies were pretty, but it came across as soundtrack music–for a very very slow zombie chase, perhaps.

According to some basic history, Earth used to be a heavier, noisier band, but have morphed away from that, and I suspect I would have liked their earlier stuff a bit more (although the one older that they played, “Ouroboros is Broken” wasn’t that much different from the rest.

NPR broadcast most of the All Tomorrow’s Parties concerts, and I enjoyed listening to them all.  But Earth is just not my thing.  You can check it out here.

[READ: October 20, 2012] “A Farewell to Yarns”

I mentioned the other day that I read one complete piece in the three Outside magazines since I subscribed.  It was this one.  The thing that I have enjoyed about the Outside articles that I have cherry picked is that unexpected writers pop up to write an essay.  So here’s Ian Frazier, comedian and essayist, writing for Outside.  Weird.  (Or maybe not so weird, he’s an Editor).

And, unlike many of the other things I’ve read in Outside, Frazier is not, repeat not going to do anything brave or daring or stupid, he’s just going to muse about a topic.  I like it.

Basically, this whole piece is a compliant about how with everything documented and digitalized it’s impossible to tell fibs about the one that got away or as he calls it, “an outdoorsman’s sacred right to exaggerate.”  What I like is that he takes us all the way back to ye olde mapmakers who wrote Here be Monsters which leads to this wonderful idea that I have never considered “the pictures of the monsters must have been accurate; how would the mapmakers have known what to draw unless eyewitnesses had told them?”

And he moves on through those who spied the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.  He even talks about one I had ever heard of, a hidden city in Siberia called Gorod Koka-Kola, built during the cold war as a reproduction of an American city, they speak English and live and behave like Americans–perfect for spymasters to practice   Genius–and how would anyone ever know if it existed in remotest Siberia?

But Fraizer’s greater point is that “Lies make the wild scary and alluring.”  He grew up in Rural Illinois afraid of the Argyle Monster who haunted Argyle State Park–and, boy, how many adventures he had or dreamed of having back then. (more…)

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George Saunders–“The Semplica-Girl Diaries” (New Yorker, October 15, 2012)

Posted in Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, New Yorker, Short Story, The Airborne Toxic Event on October 24, 2012| 6 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-Live at KEXP July 23, 2008 (2008).

The Airborne Toxic Event’s “Sometime Around Midnight” was huge back in 2009.  It seemed to be on the radio every time I turned it on.  The ATE put out a new album in 2011, although I didn’t hear much from it.

This show was recorded in 2008, about a year after their debut (with that song on it) album came out.  The set features four songs from the debut.  This was the second time that the band appeared on KEXP (the first time they played three different songs from the debut and “Innocence” which I guess must have been their planned single?).

The band sounds very good live, as a poppy yet downbeat alternative band.  I could see a number of these songs having been huge.  It’s interesting to me that the DJ, who didn’t seem to know the band yet, says that “Sometime Around Midnight” could be on a soundtrack.  The fact that he singled that song out is either prescient or they were already pushing that one.  Although as I say, they played “Innocence” in both sets so I assume that was supposed to be the breakthrough.

Anyhow, I’m not a huge convert to the band, but this was an enjoyable set.  And the band seem like nice guys.

[READ: October 17, 2012] “The Semplica-Girl Diaries”

One never really knows what to expect from George Saunders.  This story is a diary.  And it started off being very irritating to me because of the voice he chose to write the diary in.  “Having just turned forty, have resolved to embark on grand project of writing every day in this new black book just got at OfficeMax.”  I hate this clipped way of speaking/writing and I don’t believe anyone would use it.  And it never lets up.

The other thing that bugged me about the narrator was that he is supposedly writing the diary for future historians to dig up and discover things about whenever this takes place.  And I know that this is a funny trope and that many people imagine that their stuff will be discovered as historical artifacts.  And it’s kind of funny in that he wonders “Will future people know, for example, about sound of airplanes going over at night, since airplanes by that time passé? Will future people know sometimes cats fought in night? Because by that time some chemical invented to make cats not fight?”  For who hasn’t wondered about what will be around in the future.  But these examples (which are preposterous) set a tone which does not match the rest of the story.  And that whole future generation trope gets discarded after a few entries.  I’m not sure if that’s another joke because he explains things like cars and books but not what Semplica Girls are, but I found it very disjointed.

So the first (obvious) joke is that he says he will write for 20 minutes a day and he misses the very next day.  But we learn the situation that the diarist is in–he and his family are in trouble financially.  Their car bumper has fallen off, they have huge debt, and their daughter’s birthday is approaching.  They had just gone to the daughter’s friend’s house where opulence and grandeur are the norm.  This immediately makes the narrator uncomfortable.  This is also the first sighting of the SG in the yard. (more…)

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Matt Lennox–“A Speaking Engagement” (The Walrus, November 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Drinking, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Marriage Trouble, Matt Lennox, Short Story, Stars, The Walrus, Violence, War on October 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: STARS-Live at the Triple Door, July 8, 2010 (2010).

KEXP broadcast this concert from the Triple Door in Seattle  (they have a free feed of all of these great concerts from the Triple Door).  Stars are a great Montreal alternapop band.  They sing songs that are kind of downbeat and sad lyrically and yet gorgeous and poppy musically.

This show takes place on the day that their 2010 release, The Five Ghosts, came out.  I really like Stars although I wasn’t that excited by this disc, so I never picked it up.  And yet most of this set is from this album and I think the set is great, so maybe it’s time to pick up the album after all.

Torquil and Amy sing beautiful harmonies (and Amy’s voice is gorgeous on th e song she sings solo).

What’s a little confusing about this set is that they play 7 songs.  So it’s a short set.  And yet the Triple Door is a rock club and they say they’re playing later on that night as well.  So, maybe this is a n album release party?  Or a KEXP show?  Whatever, it’s still a good set.

The band has a relaxed and chatty attitude onstage, with Torquil claiming that the DJs at KEXP having “Serious taste” for playing their music.  The two singers have a disagreement about which song they’re going to play (Oh, it isn’t called “Fixed”?).  And there’s a funny moment when Amy says she was thinking about George Jones and his career being over and Torquil saying “Does anyone know what Amy is talking about”).  And Torquil, who has the gentlest voice (and is the most polite front man ever) curses during the last segment and then says, “I just swore on public radio.  That’s okay, Republicans don’t listen to it anyway they’re too but filling their hearts with hatred.”

Love it.

[READ: October 8, 2009] “A Speaking Engagement”

This story was fascinating to me because it was about a Canadian military lieutenant on leave. I can’t think of too many stories about the Canadian military (I’m sure there are many, I’ve just haven’t encountered them).

Paulie is home for six weeks on leave.  As part of his time home he gives speaking engagements to high schools and (on this date) to a senior center.  He has a slide show in which he shows the audience what they were doing in overseas–in this case helping the citizens with infrastructure.  He says the high school students and seniors react mostly the same way (respectfully) and ask a lot of the same questions, although the seniors never ask if he killed anyone.

On his way to the senior center (in full uniform) he runs into Amy, a girl from his high school class.  He always felt she was out of his league, but she seem genuinely excited to see him.  They chat briefly in the convenience store and make plans for later.

They have dinner later that week and catch up.  Amy tells what she’s been up to since school–not going to med school, having a baby by herself (with her mom’s help), starting her own care business and generally running around like crazy.  Paul talks a little about the army experience, but defers what he actually did there for “another date.”

That other date doesn’t come though because they go back to Amy’s house (her daughter is at her mother’s) for a nightcap.  Which leads to Paul staying the night.   (more…)

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Michael Crummey–“The Small Hours” (The Walrus, October 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Cancer as plot device, Death, Depression, Drinking, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Michael Crummey, Short Story, Tame Impala, The Walrus on October 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TAME IMPALA-Live at KEXP April 22, 2011 (2011).

Tame Impala play great swooping psychedelic tracks.  Their album is a wonder of retro modernism–sounding like you’ve heard it all before, but not quite.  I had no idea that they’d be able to duplicate that sounds so effortlessly in concert.  This small setting does nothing to diminish  their epic sound   “Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind” is as soaring as ever.  They throw a little jam on the end of “Solitude is Bliss” which really changes the sound of the song and shows that they don’t only play fuzz.

The interview is amusing because he forgets to take the echo off his voice for the first few questions.  And we learn that the band plays barefoot.

“It’s Not Meant to Be” and “Desire Be Desire Go” are paced a bit slower and more ponderous than the record.  I don’t love it as much this way, but I imagine it works well live.    But overall, it’s a great set, check it out.

[READ: October 20, 2012] “The Small Hours”

This is the story of a writer losing his father.  Justin’s father suffers from Leukemia–there’s a very nasty description of what happens when you have cancer in your spine.  And he is not expected to live long.  Justin is walking around in a fog.

He goes out with his writer friends (one is very pushy, trying to get him laid and wondering when he’s going to write the book about his dying father–Justin wonders when she will write her book about Justin and his dying father.  They spend the small hours together trying to get through the ordeal.

There’s also a tender scene between Justin and his mother as they look through photos.

But overall, I feel like the story was both too long and too short.   (more…)

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