I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: STEVE RILEY & THE MAMOU PLAYBOYS-Tiny Desk Concert #115 (March 7, 2011).

I had never heard of the Mamou Playboys, but it turns out that accordionist Steve Riley has been making music with his friend and fiddler, David Greely for 23 years.  But the 2011 Mardi Gras would be their last together because Greely is leaving the Mamou Playboys to save his ears; the loud volume of dancehall shows has been harmful to his hearing.  So he found this acoustic Tiny Desk show to be very palatable.

Steve Riley plays accordion.  Both of them are very strange and almost look like steam punk instruments to me.  The band plays creole music and sings primarily in French.  Strangely, Riley really does not seem to be enjoying himself for such happy music (he never seems to smile), although Greeley is definitely the chatty one on the group.

They play four songs.  “Lyons Point” which is upbeat and fun.  And “Valse de Chagrin/Waltz of Sorrow” which, despite being a waltz of sorrow still sounds pretty happy (it’s that accordion).

The third song was written by Greely.  “Grand Isle” is a place where he used to hang out and frolic as a kid.  But it got drowned in oil by the oil disaster. Despite the ugly association, the music is fun and upbeat and its my favorite song of theirs.   Greely sings this one and play a bunch of violin solos.  And Riley plays a different accordion for this song–it’s less “wheezy sounding.”

The final song is sung in English and is a Fats Domino song called “Honest Papas Love Their Mamas Better.” And Riley finally seems to be enjoying himself on this song.

[READ: June 3, 2015] Sweet Tooth: Out of the Deep Woods

After reading Lemire’s other two books, I saw this one at the library.  The cover image–a boy with antlers–was certainly disconcerting and unexpected with a title like Sweet Tooth.  I mean, what could this be about?

Well, Lemire tends to work dark, so this story is unsurprisingly dark, too.  It is post-apocalyptic.  Turns out that after the apocalypse, children were born as hybrids.  We only see Gus, the cover boy, in this book but he is referred to as a deer-one.  When he is first noticed one of the human men asks if the other has ever seen a deer-one before.  Man #2 says nope and never one as old as Gus neither.

So Gus’s story is a simple one. He was born in the woods.  His mother died when he was young.  He is about 9 years old, his father said.  His father is dying from the plague (hybrids aren’t affected by it).

His father has given him five rules which involve always praying to God and never leaving the forest where they live.  He says that the world is on fire outside of the forests.  But Gus has been to the edge of the forest and knows that’s not true.  He has also tasted the candy bars that “hunters” have left on the ground (which is where the Sweet Tooth part comes from).

And then his father dies.  Gus is on his own.  While he is burying his father he is found by hunters.  As they get ready to capture him, he is rescued by Mr Jepperd.  Jepperd tells him he’ll take him to the preserve where it is safe for hybrids.

And so the two of them march across the wasteland–Jepperd saving the boy from attackers and Gus saying the big man when he gets shot (Gus knows how to stitch a wound).

Gus has dreams that Jepperd is a bad man, but Jepperd seems very nice, so he’s not sure what to think.

By the end of this book they have arrived at the preserve, but that is just the beginning.  I’m not sure how many books there are in the series, but I’m hooked.

I love the mature style that Lemire has developed–clearly his own, but more polished and nuanced than he earlier books.  I really like it.