I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: CHAPPO-Future Former Self (2015).

CHAPPO opened for The Flaming Lips, and I enjoyed them enough to get their CD. Since I bought it, I have listened to it nonstop.  While I enjoyed their live show, I never expected the subtle nuances that were present on the disc.  It’s entirely possible that the band’s sound got lost somewhat in the huge open-air stadium that they played in.  They also rocked pretty hard live, so I was surprised by the more psychedelic sound they achieved on disc.

I feel like they achieved an interesting mix of psychedelia and Britpop, which I would never expect.  The album opens with “Hello” a gentle psychedelic song with whistling and a jaunty melody.  I like the unexpected riff that comes in the verse before returning to the really catchy opening melody again.  About half way through the song changes into something bigger—a very cool switch which turns the seemingly simple ditty into something even more interesting.

“Hang On” is wonderfully catchy single. Opening with washes of keyboards and a cool guitar riff, the vocals are gentle and then the bridge comes in and the song lifts to a new level. And then the chorus comes in and things get even bigger. It’s wonderfully crafted.  I saw this song live and while it was good live, and it was definitely fun.  After a quiet moment (with interesting processed vocals), the big chorus returns and you can’t help but sing along.

“I’m Not Ready” switches gears pretty radically, with a chugging riff and 70s synths thrown over the top. The chorus is much more guitar heavy but is not heavy itself–sort of the way the Cars sound.  “I Don’t Need the Sun” shifts gears again with more interesting keyboard sounds sprinkled over the sunny guitar lines.  The lyrics to this one get stuck in my head all the time.

“Run Me Into the Ground” opens with seemingly contradictory keyboard notes and guitar riff. They come together nicely into a pretty verse which all melds into a huge grabbing chorus.  “Mad Magic” opens with a kind of disco/reggae guitar line and Alex Chappo’s falsetto for certain notes.  I love the lyrics to this one too: “My wife is indispensable she will succeed because she has to she will succeed with magic.”  A multilayered chorus really complements the opening riffs and the lines “we’ll be floating while they are coasting” is very cool.

“Hey-O” has a simple catchy gesture with a group singing Hey-O Hey-O that reminds me a bit of Of Monsters and Men.  “Something’s Ringing” is a delicate ballad with a lot of falsetto (and I find Alex’s to me unusual pronunciation of some of the words strangely compelling). I like the way the odd helicopter sound ends the song as it takes off.

“Orange Afternoon” has a sleazy guitar sound and vocal that reminds me a bit of Suede. But the chorus changes direction entirely getting  brighter and brighter.  But moments of that sleaze come back and intersperse interestingly with the bright guitars.

“Ghetto Weekend” is a trippy song to end with.  There’s talking going on, and also a languid guitar.  But it’s interfused with guitar soloing which is echoed and at times seems to not stop. But the switch to the bridge is a great change of pace from the mellow opening—it a great trick, the kind that CHAPPO does so well.

I can’t think of another band that I saw live without knowing their music and was subsequently even more blown away by their album which of course makes me want to see them again in a  more intimate venue.

[READ; June 22, 2015] Fish in the Dark

I’m not sure if I would have known this play was by Larry David just by reading it, but since I knew it was by him, I could tell unmistakably that it was David’s writing (and voice) while I was cracking up.

One wonders why David chose to write a play as a opposes to a screenplay, but then, by doing this it allowed him to get away from his normal characters (even if these ones act just like the characters in anything else he has done).

This is the story of a family.  Norman (played by Larry David) is a put upon husband.  His wife doesn’t want to sleep with him anymore (she has a very funny rejoinder to him in the first scene).  His mother is overbearing (and hates his wife).  His brother, Arthur, is wealthy, recently divorced and is living it up thinking only about himself.  And he just received a phone call that his father is one the verge of death.

He knew his father was unwell, but this phone call tips him over into “on death’s door.”  Of course, his brother tells him not to bother coming in right now, because the doctor said he would be fine until the morning (so why did his brother call him at 3AM?).

They arrive at the hospital to see his father.  Arthur shows up with a hot blonde (which everyone thinks is inappropriate–is this a date?).  By the end of the scene, Brenda (Norma’s wife who can remember any detail of any day in her life and uses it to her own purposes any chance she gets) has it out with Norman’s mother.  And the hot blonde is groped by Norman’s father on his death bed.

The last words that their father tells them is that he should take care of his mother (but neither Norman nor Arthur knows which “he” their father is talking is talking to, which leads to countless Larry Davidian fights since neither one wants their mother).

Brenda threatens to move out if Gloria moves in to their house, but Arthur refuses to take her in since he is finally free.

This in and of itself is a pretty solid plot, but David throws in a twist.  His mother and father had a maid, Fabiana.  Gloria hated her because of the way Sidney looked at her and she eventually fired her. So Norman took her on.

We learn that Sidney and Fabiana have a secret.  And this secret (both preposterous and hilarious) pays off in spades as a great plot device.

This story cracked me up.  There’s ample niggling jokes like whether the phrase is “walk the walk” or “walk the talk” and there’s a hilarious joke about tipping doctors (the later payoffs are always very funny).  There’s also an entire subplot about Norman’s daughter and her goofy boyfriend and their no good Uncle Harry who only wants what is coming to him.

I imagined it done in David’s voice, which made it even funnier.  And even though the book lists who starred in the production, I just used the cast of Curb Your enthusiasm to fill out the rest of the voices in my head, which made it even funnier.  I would love to see this someday as I can just imagine what Larry David on stage would be like.