I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: MARIAN McLAUGHLIN-Tiny Desk Concert #363 (June 7, 2014).

Marian McLaughlin is a singer-songwriter from Washington D.C. who has self released one album.  In this Tiny Desk setting McLaughlin plays an acoustic guitar (and some very unexpected chords) and sings while a string trio plays very eccentric melodies (and often not the ones you might expect) behind her.

Indeed, McLaughlin sounds like she might be right at home at a Renaissance Faire (her long hair and floral dress speak to that as well).  Her voice isn’t especially quirky but her delivery certainly is. And when the strings really get going (as they do in many places) the music is really powerful and more than a little off-beat.

“Heavier-than-air” seems to have many parts in its 4 minutes. While “Ocean” brings in some amazing low end with the bowed double bass and cello.  It also has an extended violin solo which is quite pretty.

“Horse” is the most intense song of the three, opening with an interesting guitar motif and that great bowed bass.  True, it’s unusual to hear the line “we are in debt to our equine friends” and later, “rhythm like a paradiddle,” but when the strings (but not the guitar) start playing a super-heavy almost heavy metal riff for a few bars, it is really intense.  There’s no question that McLaughlin is a unique voice, and I imagine that mainstream success will elude her.  But I really admire this kind of eccentric songwriting, and I am curious to check out her album at bandcamp.

[READ: June 9, 204] “The Big Cat”

I enjoyed this story quite a lot although I didn’t really care for the title (in relation to the story, the title itself is fine). There were so many images and turns of phrase that I think would have been much more interesting as a title. But if that’s all one has to complain about, that’s no too bad.

This story is from the point of view of a man who was happily married to a woman who snored.  In fact all of the women on her side of the family snored.  One holiday visit with her family he had many sleepless nights listening to the crazy loud racket of “the rip saw” (Elida’s mother) “the welders” (her sisters) and the polisher (Elida herself).  He says “sometimes they snored in unison—which was terrifying” (this made me laugh out loud).

They have a daughter together, Valery, who does not snore–as of yet.

He and Elida were from Minnesota but they lived in Hollywood for a time.  He was a relatively successful minor actor—lots of commercials, TV shows, etc and she was a film editor.  They were becoming successful in their jobs.  But then when Valery was 12 and unhappy in school, Elida decided it was the nature of Hollywood, so they moved back to Minnesota.  This ended his acting career so he found new work doing something else.

And soon after he and Elida split up.  He moved out and enjoyed the silence of sleep–and he slept often, making up for years of the construction workers.  But then he rushed into marrying someone else–Laurene.  She didn’t snore, she was super happy and she was rich.  But he and Elida were cordial and met frequently to discuss Valery.  Things were okay with Valery at first but then she started seeing someone whom neither of them liked.  He and Elida started sniping at each other as well.  Finally she says they should just email instead of meeting.  And that’s when they kissed.

Soon he and Elida are having an affair.  He is delighted to be with his wife again (whom he still likes) without having to sleep next to her at night.  But they are eventually caught.  And that changes everything.

There’s still quite a lot more of the story.  I enjoyed him reuniting with her family, as if he had never left.  However, the ending felt unsettling.  And I feared that the conclusion we should draw from it was a weird one (that’s where the cat comes in too).