I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: ANTLERS-Live at MusicFestNorthWest, September 10, 2011 (2011).

It took me a few listens to really appreciate this band.  The initial problem is that I thought they were someone else when I downloaded the show.  I was expecting something a bit more chaotic.  But Antlers play rather pretty alt rock–mildly orchestral with soaring vocals (especially on “Hounds,” which really showcases the singer’s range).  But their music is also kind of somber, not my favorite style.

This concert was recorded during MusicfestNorthWest and comes from The Doug Fir.  All of the songs are from their 2011 disc Burst Apart.  Their previous album Hospice was critically acclaimed, but I didn’t want t listen to a concept album about a person with bone cancer.  Anyhow, this set has a retro 90s pop alt rock feel, and any one of these songs could have a been a slow dance hit at goth clubs.

The set is 28 minutes and I have grown to like it quite a bit.  You can check it out here.  I also have a full length concert that I downloaded from them.  I’ll have to see if their music holds up for an hour as well.

[READ: December 15, 2012] “Creatures”

This story was really well done.  When the reveal is finally given at the end I was genuinely shocked.  And not because the author didn’t earn the shock but because of the wonderful way the story was foreshadowed as well as obfuscated.  There were several possible outcomes, but  I didn’t expect the one we received.

This story is about guns and children (I know, the timing is terrible).  As the story opens we learn that a couple’s little boy is being violent in school.  He’s three and he is in preschool, but he is running around “shooting” at people with a stick.  He in particular seems to pick on one boy (who he ultimately winds up biting).  The parents feel that the school is overreacting, because they don’t allow their child to play with toy guns and they have never see anything but sweetness out of him.

What was wonderful about this story was the way it tied back to the father’s past when he was a child.  James was friends with a boy in town whose father was a hunter.  James loved to play outside and to create things–he made wings for his tricycle in an attempt to leap the ravine.  He also (and I adored this detail), when he was much older, made a table and chair that was bought by the owners of a successful chain of coffee houses.  [I love this idea–we have no idea how chain stores get their furniture so why not have it be by a guy who happened to make some in his shop).

Anyhow, there is an incident when James was young when he and his friend and the dad go hunting.  His fried ruins the hunt and angers his father who embraced James as a more manly child.  This sets in motion events that will come to define the James’ life

This was a really powerful story, and it was left open-ended, inviting discussion, especially given the timing of its release.