I Just Read About That…

 SOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS and FRIENDS present Let It Snow! songs for Christmas vol. 9 (2009).

Disc 9 of the series is a return to the old style after the freakout of Vol. VIII.  It’s only 21 minutes long and features a number of fun Christmas Carols (done as only Sufjan can do them).

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” sounds traditional with harps and bells.  “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (this is the first time he’s done Santa-centric songs) has fun group singing (which reminds me a bit of Peanuts).   There’s lots of layers of voices, and it’s almost chaotic, but not quite.  “The Sleigh in the Moon” was written and sung by Cat Martino.  It’s a slow pretty song.

“Sleigh Ride” is old school sounding but with some modern effects thrown in too.  It ends with a whole mess of silly sound effects.  “Ave Maria” has such a beautiful melody that it’s a shame he messes with it here. I don’t really care for this version.  “X-Spirit Catcher” has a nice melody.  It’s an upbeat fun song but it gets kinda weird near the end with overlaid vocals sounds.  “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” also has a very unexpected melody–it’s minor key and sad.  It’s a weird way of dealing with the song but it’s very pretty in its melancholy (this is melody he can mess with).  “A Holly Jolly Christmas” also has a tinkered melody.  This time just a tweak, but it’s surprising.  The music sounds like a calliope.  “Christmas Face” ends the disc.  It’s a sweet song, only 40 seconds long. It was written and sung by Sebastian Krueger.

It’s fun to have the Christmas albums of old back from Sufjan.

[READ: December 12, 2014] Locke & Key 2

I enjoyed Book 1 of this series so much I couldn’t wait to read Book 2.  And book 2 not only did not  disappoint, it was even better than the first.

The book opens with the ghost from the well (who goes by Scout, although he is now known as Zack) hunting down an old teacher who seemed to recognize him (from when he was Luke a generation ago).  But this murder gets the police involved, especially when they see that the professor fought back and left some evidence.  But Scout’s real problem is with Ellie and her son Rufus.  She keeps calling him Luke (instead of Zack) and seems to be making his reemergence very difficult.  But at the same time, he knows he needs her so he can’t get rid of her.

Zack is also getting quite friendly with Tyler.  Tyler seems to be adjusting fairly well,  He can’t stop thinking about his father (understandably) but he seems to be making friends (of questionable quality, naturally).   His mom is looking pretty haggard, though, what with everything going on.  And to make things worse, Duncan, the guy who has been helping out around the house and cooking them good food (he’s related in some way although I don’t know how exactly) is ready to head back to Provincetown.  This means bad food ahead for the Locke family.

On the supernatural front Bode has found a new key and this one lets you see inside people’s heads (I adored the way it was drawn, and won’t spoil it).  This proves to be an easy and interesting way to add and or subtract memories from people’s minds–making studying easy and forgetting your fears even easier.  The kids agree to show no one else, but Tyler immediately tells Zack–which gives Zack access to an incredible power.

Indeed, he immediately uses it to mess with Duncan’s memory (he seems to remember Luke from before as well) and to fix what has been worrying him about Ellie.

The Epilogue is a great story in which some old pieces are explained.

Ellie tries to get rid of her super mean mother.  Her mother is nothing but nasty to hear and Rufus (who has special needs).  We also get to  look a bit more at Rufus.  He is in his own world in which he talks to and through army guys.  But it is clear that things that are happening in the real world impact his “fake world” (and brings some real honesty to conversations).  The epilogue also shows Ellie finding Scout in the first place and how they reunite so eerily perfectly.   The last two or three pages are an awesome cliffhanger that has me really excited to get to the next book.

I really can’t get over how much I’m enjoying this series.  It is gripping and very well-crafted.

The last few pages of the book show the six Known Keys (from a diary circa 1757): The Anywhere Key, the Head Key, the Gender Key, the Echo Key, The Ghost Key and the Omega Key (which is the one Scout is seeking).

And the final pages show Gabriel Rodriguez’s step-by-step instructions for fleshing out a page.  They are very cool and rather informative.