I Just Read About That…

 SOUNDTRACK: SONDRE LERCHE-Tiny Desk Concert #33 (November 2, 2009).

Sondre Lerche is a Norwegian singer songwriter.  For some reason, without knowing anything about him, I pictured him as someone totally different–perhaps a French woman?  So I was quite surprised to hear him play these great folky songs.

“Hearbeat Radio” is a catchy love song, with a great melody and many chord changes.  I mention this because after the second song, “Good Luck” Bob Boilen also mentions the “handful” of chords in that song.  And there are a lot, which really makes for an interesting melody.  And indeed, Lerche is a very good guitarist, throwing interesting chords all over the place (although in his banter he complains that he puts too many chords in the songs).

Speaking of banter, Lerche is quite funny, introducing the first song by complaining about radio (but not you guys).  And also that a reviewer felt the second song was funny, even thought he thought it was depressing.

The final song, “Easy to Persuade” is a fast-moving, multi-chord song with a fun chorus.  It completes the set very nicely.

I have enjoyed this Tiny Desk Concert many times, and am interested to hear more by him.

[READ: February 13, 2014] Bluffton

I want to call this book Bluffington for some reason, but that’s my fault.  Because Bluffton is the name of the (actual) location where the book is set, so I just need to deal with it.

The subtitle of the book was not readily visible when I read it, so I didn’t know it was about Buster Keaton (sorry for the spoiler).  It quickly became apparent that that’s who it was about though.  But what I really liked about the story was that it wasn’t about Keaton per se, it was about a boy who knew Keaton during the summers and how this enigmatic performer impacted his life.

This story is a delightful graphic novel, drawn in very delicate colors (like the cover).  Set in the summer of 1908, in Muskegon, Michigan, young Henry is pretty excited to learn that a troupe of vaudevillians is coming to stay for the summer in the artists’ colony at Bluffton.  The whole town is aware of them–how could they not be when a zebra and an elephant got off the train with them?  But Henry is more interested in a boy named Buster.  He’s Henry’s age, and although he’s a star of the show, Buster is far more interested in paying baseball.  And Henry is more than happy to do that too.

So Henry invites his friends and they get a game going.  And the summer progresses along those lines.  Fewer of Henry’s friends turn up each time, but Henry and Buster are constant companions, playing baseball and having a great time.  Henry would love to find out more about the stage show, but Buster is resolutely quiet about it all.

Eventually Henry learns that Buster is “the human mop”–during the act, his father beats him and kicks him off the stage and the whole time Buster remains stone faced–which makes the slapstick even funnier. Buster is never harmed by any of this (he has learned to fall since he was little)–although Henry is a little disturbed by it all.  But more than that, Henry wants Buster to talk to him about what he does.  He wants to learn how to fall without getting hurt–or how to perform something, anything, on stage.  Because anything is better than working in his dad’s store.

And then the summer ends and the vaudevillians go away.  And we sit patiently with Henry until the following summer when they come back.

This second summer is the same as last with the slight difference that Buster has befriended Henry’s neighbor Sally, which can only mean jealously arising.  But baseball is really more important and the boys resume their friendship.

Henry is a fictional character, but Buster is real, and when we see Henry grown up, he is able to follow the career of Keaton with civic pride that Buster fondly recalled his summers in Bluffton.  But beyond the story of Keaton is the heart of the story: Henry.  Henry’s story is touching and real and I won’t spoil that one.

I really enjoyed this a lot, and Phelan’s art is quite beautiful.