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Archive for June, 2015

Charles M. Schulz–Peanuts Every Sunday 1956-1960 (2014)

Posted in Bill Watterson, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Eskmo, Fantagraphics, Funny (ha ha), Peanuts, Tiny Desk Concert, Vijay Iyer Trio on June 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

peanuts1956SOUNDTRACK: ESKMO-Tiny Desk Concert #439 (May 8, 2015).

 eskmoEskmo is a guy from Iceland (Brendan Angelides).  He plays electronic music.

His music is pretty and rather mellow.  What makes this Tiny Desk so enjoyable is the objects he uses to makes sounds with.

He loops a lot of noises (something that I love) as they build to really add textures to the song.  But the things he uses for sounds are awesome.  In the first song (“Blue and Gray” about 4 minutes), he crinkles a water bottle to make a percussion sound.

Before the second song “Can’t Taste” (which is about 8 minutes), he asks the audience to bring up random objects for him to play with.  So he gets a set of keys that he uses as a chime sound.  He opens a can of seltzer for percussion.  He plays a metal water bottle.  And then he also takes things from the shelves behind him, like the shelves themselves and even a Paul McCartney bobble head.

The music itself is almost an afterthought, as the melody is pretty but he doesn’t really do a lot to lot–he just has a ton of fun playing with the items around (he gets a big smile with the bobble head).

This is a show that works much better visually than audibly, so watch it here.

[READ: April 10, 2015] Peanuts Every Sunday 1956-1960

Fantagraphics has been releasing volumes of Peanuts daily comic strips.  They are looking to do 50 years of strips in 25 books! (they are up to 1990).  And now they have begun releasing the Sunday color strips in their own volumes.

This book picks up where the last one left off.  And of course, Snoopy is still the star.  There’s some very funny jokes with snoopy–like the one where he tries to fly—there’s something wonderful about Snoopy being insecure (and clumsy).

Linus can’t let go of his blanket (July 1956).  And in an early baseball one, the blanket actually causes him trouble (instead of later ones where it is a benefit).

Pigpen gets a strip devoted to himself in July 1956  and then there’s a very funny one about sand in his shoe in 1958.

Lucy yells to make the kites fall out of the tree.  And the first full acknowledgment of her pulling football away comes in December of 1956.

I also enjoy how violent the cartoons were.  Like this exchange between Linus and Lucy:

Linus: Give it to me or I’ll slug ya.
Lucy:  Mom, Linus says he’s gonna slug me.
Mom: Linus that’s no way to talk.
Linus: Well, that’s the way they talk on TV if they can talk that what, why can’t I?
Mom: That’s just one of those things I can’t explain.
Lucy: Listen dope. If you slug me I’ll slug you right back.
Linus: Never mind Mom, it’s just been explained to me in language that I understand.

There’s some really great one liners coming in now too.  Lucy: I feel torn between the desire to create and the desire to destroy.

There almost isn’t as much Charlie Brown in this book.  Although he is certainly there.  In June 1957 he realizes that he won’t ever be president.

And the gang all starts to look pretty much as we know them at this point (except Snoopy still).

There’s lots of funny strips (visual mostly) of Snoopy chasing Linus to try to get his blanket (a joke that recurred for years).

And there’s a very meta joke of Lucy wearing one of CB’s shirts

Sally Brown, CB’s sister is born around August 1959 and CB gains a pencil pal.  The following week Aug 16 1959 is a great sibling rivalry with Lucy and Linus.  And there’s a wonderful strip where Sally and Snoopy gang up on Linus Oct 25 1959.

The Snoopy jokes are very funny with him (still) walking on all fours and wishing to be a bird or pretending to be a mountain lion.

The 1960 new years strip in which Lucy gives Linus the resolutions he should work on is hilarious.

Later Linus gets so mad at Lucy that “she hath caused me to rend my garment” is one of the funnier punch lines I’ve seen.

The great pumpkin makes its first mention on October 23 1960.

The Snoopy/Linus rivalry is really wonderful throughout with Snoopy trying to steal Linus’ blanket and then later getting into boxing matches—this is the classic Peanuts.  Some of these jokes have now been around for ages (the boxing glove on the nose). And Snoopy is starting to look a lot more like his familiar self (although not exactly the same yet).

It’s a great collection, once again.  And it looks amazing.

 

 

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Charles M. Schulz–Peanuts Every Sunday 1952-1955 (2013)

Posted in Bill Watterson, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Fantagraphics, Funny (ha ha), Peanuts, Tiny Desk Concert, Vijay Iyer Trio on June 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

peanutsVIJAY IYER TRIO-Tiny Desk Concert #438 (May 4, 2015).

vijay I was unfamiliar with Vijay Iyer, but I really enjoyed this Tiny Desk Concert.  Iyer is a jazz improv artist and composer (although all of these pieces have titles and come from previous albums).  The first four (of five) pieces are fast and eccentric, with interesting rhythms both in the drums (by Marcus Gilmore) and the piano.  There’s an  upright bass too (Stephan Crump) but I feel like he’s not very audible during the early medley.

I really enjoy the kinds of beats (from clicks to snares to cymbals) that Gilmore does.  And even if you can’t really hear the bass, it’s really fun to see how into it Crump is, keeping time to something or other.

While the four songs have fairly distinct starting points (and are labelled in the video), they flow pretty seamlessly, which is cool.  “Time, Place, Action” slows down just enough that “Questions of Agency” (a more staccato piece) is able to start fresh.  And then the opening of “Hood” is quite distinct.

The four songs are

  • “Diptych”
  • “Time, Place, Action — Excerpt 1 (Libra)”
  • “Questions Of Agency”
  • “Hood”

At around 13:31 “Hood” begins, and I love the staccato playing style and practically morse code drums.  It’s a dynamite piece (and you can really hear the bass too).  I’m amazed at how different what his left and right hand are doing.  And then the shift at 19 minutes, back to that earlier sound is very dramatic.  The final minute is tense and dissonant, really building to something big.

The band pauses for applause after nearly 21 straight minutes and then they play the final piece “Time, Place, Action — Excerpt 2 (For Amiri Baraka)” which mellows things out considerably, although is still kind of dissonant.

I don’t listen to a lot of jazz, but this really hit the spot (maybe because his new album is called “Break Stuff”).  And if you like this, there’s a 90 minute video of his trio playing on NPR.

[READ: April 10, 2015] Peanuts Every Sunday 1952-1955

Fantagraphics has been releasing volumes of Peanuts daily comic strips.  They are looking to do 50 years of strips in 25 books! (they are up to 1990).  And now they have begun releasing the Sunday color strips in their own volumes.

The reproductions are absolutely top notch.  I’m quite certain they look better here than they ever could have in the papers (the coloring alone looks phenomenal).

Schulz started doing Sunday strips for Peanuts (he hated the name Peanuts by the way, which was assigned him by the syndicate who agreed to publish him) in 1952.  And he continued up through his death in 2000.  Between black and white and Sunday color strips, he hand wrote, colored and lettered 17,897 comic strips.  That is amazing.

And the strip really evolved over the years (for better and worse).  These original cartoons are fascinating to see–especially now that the images from Peanuts are so ubiquitous that I doubt I could go an entire week without seeing an image of Snoopy somewhere.  So it’s amazing to see Snoopy look so different (and so much more like a real dog) in these early strips. (more…)

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Faith Erin Hicks–The War at Ellsmere (2008)

Posted in Canadian Content, Cathedral, Celtic Frost, Corrosion of Conformity, Dave Grohl, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, Faith Erin Hicks, Graphic Novel, Hope Larson, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Motorhead, Probot, Sepultura, Set at School, Short Books, Soundgarden, Supernatural, Tenacious D, Trouble, Venom, Voivod, YA Books on June 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ellsmere SOUNDTRACK: PROBOT-Probot (2004).

probotAfter all of the Dave Grohl love I’ve been sending his way, Grohl went and fell off a stage and broke his leg.  But, he is so badass (and such a thoughtful musician), that he went to the hospital, got his leg fixed up and went back on stage to finish the set!  Holy cow.

This is amazing (and he must have incredible endorphins (or something else) to be able to do this (the video is long because it shows his re-arrival):

Grohl has always been very open about his love of heavy metal–and the liner notes here go into pretty good detail about he bands he grew up listening to.  He wanted to create a kind of tribute/dream lineup album of metal vocalists.  As far as I can tell he was sitting around and banging away riffs and every time he got one that he liked, he recorded it.  He eventually added bass and drums and made demo tapes out of them.  Then he contacted some of his favorite metal singers from when he was a kid and asked them to write lyrics and sing.

I assume that Grohl sent the demos that sounded most like the bands to the appropriate singer, because so many of them are spot on for the original bands.  The Venom song sounds completely like Venom (Cronos’ bass certainty helps) and it’s one of the best songs here.  I don’t know Sepultura that well, but the music fits perfectly with Cavalera’s style.  And this song is just fantastic.

The Lemmy song sounds unmistakably Motörhead, again possibly because Lemmy plays bass, but the riff is pure Motörhead.  It’s another great song and one that the Foo Fighters have played live.

The song with Mike Dean is very punk, very C.O.C.  It’s followed by another punk/metal song from D.R.I.  This song also matches perfectly with Brecht’s style of singing on the more metal side of D.R.I..

Lee Dorrian used to sing in a guttural cookie monster growl with Napalm Death, but in Cathedral, he turned to proper singing.  I don’t know Cathedral, but the main riff coupled with the twin guitar solo notes from Thayil make a great epic song, especially that mosh section in the middle (I didn’t think Cathedral did mosh but whatever), although at 6 minutes it does go on a bit.

I also don’t know Wino, so I don’t know if this is the kind of thing he sang on, although I do hear a bit of Saint Vitus vibe from it.  There’s a really long middle section which is interesting for the backwards guitar solo, and while it’s a little long, when it comes out of that, the heaviness is really great.

Tom Warrior is a fascinating guy with all kinds of tricks up his sleeve, so the weird industrial sound on top of the heavy bass is pretty interesting.  There’s no way Grohl could hope to emulate Voivod’s Piggy, so he doesn’t even try.  Rather than playing up to Voivod’s proggy style, he goes deeper to the heavier stuff.  And, perhaps it’s Snake’s voice, the bridge sounds very Voivod.  The chorus is more poppy than what Voivod might do, and yet it’s a great song.  Voivod’s Away also designed the album cover.

I loved Trouble when I was in high school, although I don’t really remember them that well now.  This songs sounds bit more classic rock than metal (and I recall Trouble being pretty heavy), and yet Wagner’s voice works very well with the style.  I just read that Trouble went through a more psychedelic period and the middle section ties in nicely with that, so maybe this is inspired by later period Trouble.

Grohl says he was excited to get King Diamond, and who wouldn’t be.  Kim Thayil is back to create a suitable Mercyful riff (although it could never live up to the classic Fate).  But the mid section’s doom riffs are right on.  The song showcases some of the King’s vocal acrobatics, although not quite as many as I could have used (there are some excellent high-pitched notes in there though).

There’s a bonus track at the end of the disc which features Jack Black doing a suitably funny but accurate metal tribute.

This is a really solid heavy record that lets some classic metal singers back on the scene.  There won’t be a second Probot record, but there may not need to be one anyhow.  I also like that he picked some slightly more obscure singers rather than the obvious Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson type of singers, even if they would have also been interesting).

  • “Centuries of Sin” (feat. Cronos of Venom)
  • “Red War” (feat. Max Cavalera of Sepultura)
  • “Shake Your Blood” (feat. Lemmy of Motörhead)
  • “Access Babylon” (feat. Mike Dean of Corrosion of Conformity)
  • “Silent Spring” (feat. Kurt Brecht of Dirty Rotten Imbeciles)
  • “Ice Cold Man” (feat. Lee Dorrian of Cathedral and Napalm Death, and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden)
  • “The Emerald Law” (feat. Wino)
  • “Big Sky” (feat. Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost)
  • “Dictatosaurus” (feat. Snake of Voivod)
  • “My Tortured Soul” (feat. Eric Wagner of Trouble)
  • “Sweet Dreams” (feat. King Diamond of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, and Kim Thayil of Soundgarden)
  • “I Am the Warlock” (feat. Jack Black of Tenacious D)

[READ: February 13, 2015] The War at Ellsmere

I’ve enjoyed Hicks’ books in the past–both the ones she’s written and the one’s she’s simply illustrated.  In this book she does both which means you get big eyes and the dark hair.

As the book opens we meet Juniper, a girl who has just enrolled in Ellsmere Private School.   We meet the headmistress and learn the history of this beautiful school (established in 1810).  And then we find out that Juniper is there on a scholarship (merit based) and that Juniper is well aware that she will likely be there to “liven things up for the blue bloods.”

When Juniper meets her new roommate Cassie (who hears her talking to herself), Jun immediately goes on the defensive–until she sees that Cassie is actually quite a nice girl. (Nice, Jun, you just insulted Bambi).

But it’s during the orientation that we meet the real antagonist of the story–Emily, a pretty blonde girl who immediately insults Cassie and calls her “orphan.”  When Jun gets involved, it suggests that it will be an interesting year for all of them. (more…)

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Paul Pope, JT Petty & David Rubin–Battling Boy: The Rise of Aurora West (2014)

Posted in Bob Mould, Cheap Trick, David Rubin, First Second :01, Foo Fighters, Graphic Novel, JT Petty, Kaki King, Pat Smear, Paul Pope, Superheroes on June 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

auroraSOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007).

330px-Foos-ESPGIt would seem that after recording the split acoustic and rocking In Your Honor and then touring a lot of acoustic music that the Foos were ready to make an album that combined both of these dynamics into one disc.  For many of the songs it means acoustic openings and super heavy end sections.  But some, particularity at the end of the album are completely acoustic.

Of course having said that, the album opens with a great heavy classic Grohl song, “The Pretender.”  A fantastic opener with the great chorus of “what if I say you’re not like the others.”  The next song, “Let It Die” opens with a real acoustic opening–not just mellow electric guitars but full on acoustic guitars (which Grohl has clearly become quite proficient at).  The switch to the really heavy chorus (not until almost 3 minutes into the song) is pretty intense–they pack everything into one song.

“Erase/Replace” is another great song–there’s an interesting twisting riff and an awesome chorus.  There’s some very nice contrasting with the smoother sections and even a cool guitar solo (there’s not too many solos in early Foos songs).  “Long Road to Ruin” is one of my favorite Foo Fighters songs–the chorus pushes all my yes buttons with the way it speeds up and has and the staccato stops in the middle of the chorus.  Fantastic.

“Come Alive” is another song with a slow mellow acoustic opening.  It builds slowly over 5 minutes to a noisy end.  “Stranger Things Have Happened” is the first fully acoustic song on the album that stays acoustic–there’s nothing heavy in it.  It’s got a classic Unplugged type of feel with two acoustic guitars playing off of each other, and a soloing section that has several pause click click resume moments.

“Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)” has a great riff and very poppy verses. It sounds like earlier Foo Fighters songs and reminds me of Cheap Trick with the “stop, stop” backing vocals.  There’s also several different sections which hearkens back to earlier songs.

And from this point on the album mellows out but in different ways.  “Summer’s End” has a folky jam band feel (even though it’s not acoustic.  It’s got a such a wonderful chorus.  It’s the first of three songs to feature Grohl on piano!  Taylor Hawkins plays piano on it too.  “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” is a 2 minute instrumental written by Grohl.  There’s some lovely finger picking in the song and you can hear that Grohl has really developed his guitar playing.  Kaki King plays rhythm guitar on this song which is surprising as she is such a much better guitarist than he is.

“Statues” is a piano ballad (played by Grohl).  It feels totally classic rock, with the sound of the opening guitar solo and the chord progression.  “But, Honestly” is fast acoustic song.  The melody and backing vocals remind me a lot of Bob Mould’s style of song writing.  The song feels like it’s just going to stay in a mellow vein, but this song really ramps up at around 3 minutes with some simple but cool riffing and a big growling end.

The final song, Home,” is a pretty piano ballad (Grohl on piano and vocals) with strings.  It’s almost cheesy but avoid that trap.  It doesn’t have a  big chorus, and is rather understated.  It also provides the album with its title.

This is a really complex album that works to all of the band’s strengths and even lets them explore different styles a bit. Guests on the album include Rami Jaffee and Drew Hester from the live shows as well as Pat Smear (who is a sometimes member of the band, but only plays on one song here).

[READ: January 26, 2015] The Rise of Aurora West

I really enjoyed Paul Pope’s Battling Boy, but I didn’t really like the art work. So here’s the second book in the series with a different artist (and no color)–perfect!

I enjoy this David Rubin’s art a lot more because of his much cleaner page–it’s far easier to understand what’s happening here.  But at the same time I don’t really like the way he renders faces.  For instance, on the very first page, the bottom right image of Aurora–it’s really hard to tell what she is thinking in that image–is she angry or what (and her face seems kind of oddly misshapen).  And that is fairly consistent throughout–the eyes are too big or something?  I found it distracting but it didn’t really hinder my enjoyment of this story.

This story looks at the early life of Aurora West, the daughter of Acropolis superhero Haggard West (so Battling Boy does not appear in it at all). (more…)

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“Weird Al” Yankovic (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, June 16, 2015)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bethlehem, PA, C., Eminem, Funny (ha ha), Michael Stipe, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, T. on June 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 16, 2015] WEIRD AL YANKOVIC-Live at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

2015-06-16 19.58.17This is my sixth “Weird Al” concert, and this was the best one yet.  Indeed, this may have been the best concert I’ll ever see because I had third row seats, and I am certain I will never get the like of that again.  It was also T.’s first rock show.  (And C.’s second).  We used the big yellow ear muffs from the Monster Truck show and protected our precious kiddies’ ears.  S. and I opted not to wear plugs.  I decided not to because although it was loud, the sound was much better (and less painful) than when we saw Al in this venue two years ago.

I was supposed to get seats for my friend Matt and his family and I, but when I got the order in, I could only get 4 tickets, so he had to fend for himself.  He wound up getting VIP tickets, so although he was a few rows behind us, he did get a pretty cool pre-show extravaganza.  So we each had a win there. (more…)

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Paul Pope–Battling Boy (2013)

Posted in Dave Grohl, First Second :01, Foo Fighters, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Paul Pope, Petra Haden, Superheroes, Violence on June 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

battlingSOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-Skin and Bones (2006).

330px-FFSkinBonesI totally missed this album when it came out.  Although since I prefer the heavier Foo Fighters songs, it’s not like I was queuing up to buy an acoustic show from them anyhow.

Nevertheless, someone had uploaded the first half of the DVD (part 2 never made it online) so that was my first exposure to this collection.  Comparing the DVD to the CD, I imagine I prefer the DVD because I really enjoy the silliness and banter (I do love banter) that Grohl brings in the live show (which seems like it may have been edited out of the CD).

The songs do sound good in the acoustic format.  Unlike many shows, these song are not stripped down.  In fact they are build up with eight people in the band, including Petra Haden on violin and Drew Hester on percussion.

I really enjoyed Grohl’s banter with the audience.  And I really enjoyed the end of “See You” (about where the first part cuts off) where everyone plays solos.  Grohl laughs at his inability to solo and then encourages Hester to do a percussion solo.  I really laughed how silly Grohl is (reminding me a lot of Jack Black) yelling at Hester for the various things he tries–no, I don’t like that do something else.  And even asking if he paid money for one of his little blocks.

Maybe one of these days I’ll see if the edited CD version is as enjoyable.

[READ: January 15, 2015] Battling Boy

Paul Pope is a famous graphic novel artist.  I’d heard of him and seen some of his work although I never knew exactly which stuff was his.

And as it turns out I really don’t care for his artistic style all that much.  It is quite distinctive, but it is very dark and kind of “sloppy/ugly” and I find it very unsettling to look at.  This book also has a very “superhero” look, which I have recently discovered I don’t like in general.

Which is quite a shame because this story is really interesting.

Set in the city of Acropolis, there are monsters everywhere (these monsters wander around with purple hoods on).  They seem to be after young children especially, so the kids are naturally afraid to even go get their soccer ball when it rolls into dark alley.  But when the monsters strike, Harggard West is there to save them. (more…)

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Farel Dalrymple–The Wrenchies (2014)

Posted in Dave Grohl, Farel Dalrymple, First Second :01, Foo Fighters, Graphic Novel, Huh?, John Paul Jones, Josh Homme, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Meta, Norah Jones, Peter Criss, Taylor Hawkins, Violence on June 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

wrenchiesSOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-In Your Honor Disc Two (2005).

Foo_fighters_in_your_honorSo disc two is an all acoustic collection (and is actually a little longer than the rocking side, bring the total time to about 85 minutes).  Because of the guests, I tend to think of this as a less than exciting collection of songs.  But it is actually quite solid.  And even though I have always preferred Foo Fighters’ louder songs, Grohl’s voice is well suited to acoustic songs and his songwriting withstands stripping away the noise.

“Still” is a mellow acoustic opener.  Grohl’s voice is gentle.  It’s the kind of opening that on later records would lead to a big loud chorus, but this album is all mellow.  I like the way the song unexpectedly shifts chords about half way through.  The song also has keyboards done by Rami Jaffee (I believe a first for a Foo Fighters record).  It’s 5 minutes long and perhaps a little samey.

But the album perks up with “What If I Do?” a brighter song with a catchy chorus.  It is also 5 minutes but doesn’t feel long. It’s followed by “Miracle” a lovely ballad with a great chorus (and John Paul Jones on piano).  I really like the entire composition of “Another Round,” the clear guitars and the bright chorus.  And John Paul Jones plays mandolin on this one!

“Friend of a Friend” is done on just a quiet acoustic guitar. It’s a lovely, dark song.  Although it is always tempting to assume Grohl’s songs are about Kurt Cobain, this one apparently was.  According to Wikipedia, this was the first acoustic song Dave Grohl had ever written.  “The song was written by Grohl in 1990 (and recorded in secret the same year), and it was about his first impressions of new bandmates Kurt Cobain, and Krist Novoselic.”  The way it is so sparsely recorded was a really good choice.

“Over and Out” has a cool and interesting riff and a nice big chorus.  “On the Mend” has some lovely acoustic guitar pairings.

Then comes “Virginia Moon.”  It has a slow jazzy feel, a shuffling drum sound and really delicate vocals.  The biggest surprise of course is that Norah Jones (no relation to John Paul Jones) sings a duet with him.  It’s a pretty song and, while I wouldn’t want a bunch more songs like this, it works well as a one off.  The next song “Cold Day in the Sun” was written by drummer Taylor Hawkins.  Evidently they tried to make a rocking version but it never really came off so they made it acoustic.  Hawkins sings lead vocals (and has a raspy Peter Criss type of voice–is that a drummer thing?) and Grohl plays the drums.  It’s got a super catchy chorus.

“Razor” ends this disc with a neat hammering guitar line.  Josh Homme plays rhythm guitar on this song.   It’s a very pretty song, although I feel like Homme is underutilized.

For an 85 minute album, this is mostly really quite excellent.  I tend to forget about it in the Foo’s discography but there are a number of stand out tracks here.

The band did some acoustic shows following this album, and made a CD and DVD from them.

[READ: January 20, 2015] The Wrenchies

Most of the First Second books I had been reading were either for kids or young adults. This one is squarely in the adult category–and I feel you can tell that by the rather ugly style of drawing on the cover.  (First Second does an admirable job of getting books that are pretty as well as ones that are ugly).

Dalrymple has a broad spectrum of styles in this book.  He has excellent realistic characters (warts and all) but he also has really nice pretty sections as well–where the characters are quite beautiful.  The fact that he chooses to pick the uglier style more is likely a matter of the location–a post apocalyptic hell–than anything else.

This story is (obviously) quite dark.  In fact I can see a lot of readers being turned off right from the get go with how dark and violent it is.  It’s also a little confusing because the post apocalyptic world that we are introduced to is not really explained.  There are also riffs on T.S. Eliot-with lines like “In the room the children a come and go.”

The story begins with Sherwood and Orson entering a cave. It all seems rather idyllic until we see just what kind of creepy thing lives in the cave–and what it does to Sherwood. (more…)

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Craig Thompson–Goodbye, Chunky Rice (2002)

Posted in Adventure, Craig Thompson, Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Graphic Novel, John Paul Jones, Love, Norah Jones, Threats on June 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

chunkySOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-In Your Honor Disc One (2005).

Foo_fighters_in_your_honorIt took another couple of years before Foo Fighters’ next album came out.  Grohl was unsure what to do with the songs he had been writing.  He originally thought perhaps a film score.  But when he realized he had a whole bunch of acoustic songs, he decided to do a double album–one heavy and loud and one acoustic and mellow.

The rocking side opens with some fast guitar and Grohl’s voice kind of deep in the mix.  He is screaming as the song continues unabated.  And then about two minutes in, the song doesn’t change but the drums kick in and the song grows quite dynamic.  The song pauses near the end so that Grohl can take a breath and give a big scream to end the song.  “No Way Back” is the first great song on the album.  It’s got a fantastic opening riff and a big chorus.  It’s followed by “Best of You” a wonderful single that’s a big song with a super-sized chorus.

“D.O.A.” has a unique guitar sound for the Foos.  Not heavy metal but more punk.  Then there’s the big chorus that kind of quotes Jim Morrison “No ones getting out of here alive.”  I had this chorus in my head for a couple of days last week.  “Hell” is only two minutes long but it feels like a much more complete song–big choruses and really fast verses elevate this from what could have been filler.

“The Last Song” has a very punk feel (especially the pounding snare drums in the opening and verse).  It’s followed by “Free Me” one of my favorite Foo Fighters deep cuts.  The riff is awesome and Grohl totally unleashes as the song progresses.  There is something about the way the song seems to get busier and louder as it ends that is really cool.

“Resolve” is a nice come down from the intensity of “Free Me.”  It’s not quite as mellow as the stuff on disc two, but it definitely slows things down.  And is still very catchy.

The final two songs don’t run out their welcome (it could be that this disc is only 40 minutes, not 55 like their more recent ones)–these songs don’t drag.  “The Deepest Blues Are Black” has a cool transition from loud bashing into really grooving chorus.  It’s quite a heavy song but it’s really melodic too.  And “End Over End” is another song that gets stuck in my head over and over again.  It’s not terribly original, but it rock and is catchy as well.  I find it to be a far more successful album ender (with it’s repeating outro) than “Come Back.”

I tend to forget about this disc because the news (and guests) of disc two tended to overshadow the solid songwriting of disc one.  But this is a great Foo Fighters disc, no question.

Tomorrow’s post: Disc Two

[READ: August 29, 2012] Goodbye, Chunky Rice

I’ve read a few books by Craig Thompson and enjoyed them quite a lot.  And this one, with the strange title and cute looking characters on the cover seemed like a sure fire hit.

As the story opens, we see a deer mouse riding her bike to visit her friend, a turtle.  The turtle hops on the back of the bike and off they go.  They have a great time at the beach (we even see a heart form over the turtle’s head as he watches her in the water).

And then we learn that the turtle is Chunky Rice and he is leaving.  He asks the mouse to come with him, but she says she cannot, and that they are to have no more tears while they are together.

The scene cuts to a human guy telling the Eurydice story to a bird (we hear “doot doot”).  The man has found the bird, who was injured, and has brought him back to his place.  He has named it Merle. (more…)

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Gipi–Garage Band (2005) [translated 2007]

Posted in First Second :01, Foo Fighters, Gipi, Graphic Novel, Hüsker Dü on June 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

garagebandSOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-One By One (2002).

onebyoneFoo Fighters had a really hard time recording this album (it came three years after the previous one).  I understand the band nearly broke up during the recording sessions.  Eventually they scrapped the whole thing and wound up re-recording it in Grohl’s home studio in about two weeks.

The band says they loved the album when it came out although they are all pretty critical of it now.  Grohl says there are “four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life.  Not sure which ones he means, but I have some ideas.  This is also the first disc to include Chris Shiflett on lead guitar.

I love the opening song, “All My Life.” The guitars are aggressive and noisy and even though the verses are sort of whispered you can just tell the whole song is going to explode..and then it does.  This has some serious vocal shredding from Grohl.  “Low” has some more great aggressive guitars.  Once again Grohl whisper-sings in front of the aggro guitars giving a nice contrast.

“Have It All” has another good heavy riff complimented by a soloing riff over the top. It’s a heavy song that has a surprisingly mellow and sweet bridge.  It ends with a really heavy series of chords.  “Times Like These” has a bright guitar riff.  The inclusion of the line “I’m a New Day Rising” makes me think of Hüsker Dü again.  It has a really catchy chorus and is a really strong song.

“Disenchanted Lullaby” starts off kind of mellow but then offers a great yelling chorus.  There’s not a lot to “Tired of You” but the guitar sound is pretty cool and unexpected.  It’s a little long and samey though.  “Lonely As You” has an unusual sound.  I’m not sure that I like it, although it is strangely catchy.

“Halo” has a cool bridge and chorus.  “Overdrive” is one of their midtempo songs that might have been a huge hit, but there’s something missing.  I like some mellower Foo Fighters ballads, although sometimes their songs seem to drift a little too much which makes them sound a little stuck.  It’s especially notable because Grohl often writes some amazing choruses that when one doesn’t quite work it really feels flat.

The final two songs are fine, they just feel a bit like filler, especially “Come Back” which is quite long.  I do like that it’s in a couple of parts (with mellow acoustic section in the middle), but it doesn’t really hold up for 8 minutes.  Which is a shame because when it comes out of the acoustic part, t could have been really dynamic.

Even though the end of the album is a bit flat, the beginning of the album is really great.  And four or five great songs is not too shabby.

[READ: January 8, 2015] Garage Band

Although I read this book before Notes for a War Story, it comes after War Story so here they are in order.

This is  simple story told in five chapters.  It revolves around a garage band.  Specifically, one of the band members’ (Guiliano)’s fathers has arranged for them to practice in a garage. We learn a bit about the peculiarities of each member (and how most of them are pretty unlikable).

Their drummer Alex, is really into Nazi memorabilia (he’s apparently not a Nazi himself, but he does have a poster of Hitler on his wall–weird!).  Stefano the lead singer is a general troublemaker–none of the adults like him, and he plays up his eccentricities.  When the adults first arrive to check out the garage, he puts on the veterinarian garb that is still in the garage and acts crazy.  Alberto is a hypochondriac, looking for diseases everywhere.

Guiliano (could he be the same Guiliano in War Story?) is the only one who seems kind of normal. He has a girlfriend and although he makes excuses for his band mates, he doesn’t seem to fall for any of their nonsense. (more…)

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Belle and Sebastian (Radio City Music Hall, New York, June 10, 2015)

Posted in Belle and Sebastian, Dum Dum Girls, Grateful Dead, Guys and Dolls, New York City, Paul Simon, Radio City Music Hall, Simon and Garfunkel on June 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 10, 2015] Belle and Sebastian

2015-06-10 23.11.13After the major hassle of getting into the city we at least had plenty of time for Belle and Sebastian (which meant plenty of time to take pictures of the awesome art deco structures and sculptures and paintings in Radio City Music Hall).  It’s an amazing theater.

We bought the tickets in April.  Then about two weeks ago we weren’t sure if we could go.  Then we realized we could.  And then three days ago, we had a miscommunication with our babysitter and thought we again couldn’t go.  So we tried to sell them to friends.  But thankfully no one took us up on it because our plans went as planned and we made it.

I had seen Belle and Sebastian back in 2002 with my friend Ailish.  Although my memories of the show aren’t the greatest because the crowd was so overwhelming (B&S were an “it band” at the time).  This was much more civilized.  And high tech!

Back in 2002, B&S were kind of mellow folksingers.  Some of their breakthrough If You’re Feeling Sisnister was bouncy and jaunty (and some was actually quite rocking), but the vibe was shushed and personal.  Well, thirteen years later, they are a huge band with horns and strings and dancers and a cool video screen and a ton of charm.  Just the fact that lead singer Stuart Murdoch ran around high-fiving everyone in the front row, and then later ran through the aisles singing is testament to how much more extroverted the band has become.

And Stuart and lead guitarist Stevie Jackson had a lot of amusing banter going on up there.  There was a lengthy one about walking around Broadway

Stevie: “I was walking down Broadway earlier today, singing to myself…”
Stuart: “Oh, and what were you singing Stevie?”
Stevie: “It was Guys and Dolls.”
Stuart: “Oh, which part?”
Stevie belted out (very nicely) a line from the musical Stevie said he was a rocker who liked musicals.  and then Stuart said he was singing “Feelin’ Groovy.”  That’s when we learned that the trumpeter has played with Paul. (more…)

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