I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: KANADA 70-Vamp Ire [CST089] (2012).

Kanada 70 is the first of three discs released as part of Constellation’s Musique Fragile 02 set.  The set is primarily electronic instrumentals, highlight little known bands or collaborations.

From the Constellation site:

Kanada 70 is the home-recording project of Toronto’s Craig Dunsmuir, who started giving away CD-R micro-releases under this moniker in 2006. There have been over two dozen K70 titles issued since then… where the repetitive and cyclical nature of mostly loop-based tracks is conditioned by the fact that Dunsmuir plays and punches everything by hand; returns of phrase contain odd stutters and variations, intention and accident collide, and there’s an organic immediacy throughout. Vamp Ire spans a wide range of influences, from abstract techno, industrial and noise music to prog-rock, African funk, no wave and metal. The hardest part was selecting only 45 minutes worth!

There are fifteen tracks on the disc.

“Ignore Dub I” a droning keyboard and analog synth noodling.  There’s some ringing metal sounds too. For a  song with dub in the title there is no dub or bass or drums, it’s just an electronic soundscape.  “Mou” is one of my favorite tracks on the disc, with an interesting pulsing synth line and a cool noisy descending bass riff.  It’s only a minute and a half but it’s really neat.  “Krankqui” has a slow, pulsing bass line which plays under a quiet series of notes.  “Molle” has a neat retro sound.  It begins with some noisy staticy percussive sounds and out of the rumble comes a neat  outerspacey echoing guitar or synth riff. It seems like it could lead some where but since its only 2 minutes long.  It sets up something interesting and then disappears just as quickly.

“Delivery” is a fun piece with a high-pitched series of rapid notes.  This track is the longest on the disc and after a series of 2 minute songs a four minute track feels really long.  “Gnaer” runs through a series of repeated guitar lines, kind of staccato and fractured. With some of the chords being unconventional it sounds a little like 1980s King Crimson.  “Errora High II” is a series of rumbling noises–more effects than song.  About half way through an interesting riff comes out of the noise sounding like an 80s sci-fi movie.

“Chimura” has a series of guitar lines which overlap and make an interesting fugue of music.  At only a minute and a half this song feels like it has much more to explore.  “For T.O. (Perish)” is primarily drums and percussion, playing a  simple rhythm.  Of all the songs to be 4 minutes, this is certainly the least interesting–it’s all just a simple drumming rhythm with no real diversion.  “Annoyo I”  is a slow bass piece.  About 30 seconds in a series of horn blasts plays a staccato melody over the bass.  “Redrag” is a bunch if high pitched synth notes.  The song adds some staccato guitar licks and it eventually resolves into a kind of fast, inelegant guitar solo.

“Thumas” has a great riff and sounds like it could be any kind of jam band introduction (including some wha wah guitars in the background).  Why are the best songs the shortest?  “Redsidled” is a series of guttural noises that sound like car horns over a series of crashing percussion.  “Scorpi” features repeated noises with a series of sound effects whizzing through the background.  “Doubles” has  harmonics and echoed percussion.  I like the way the echoed guitar runs through a series of creaky notes to make this song spacey and grounded at the same time.  The drum beat is simple but cool and the background guitar make this whole song one of the better ones on the disc.

Musique Fragile Volume 02 is the second in our series of limited-edition, artwork-intensive box sets featuring three full-length albums by three different artists, available on heavyweight vinyl and as a digital bundle. The vinyl set will be limited to 500 hand-numbered copies, lovingly designed and hand-assembled.

[READ: October 30, 2016] Mighty Jack

Ben Hatke continues to make me very happy with his books.

When the blurb on the back said that Jack’s job was to stay at home and watch his autistic sister, Maddy, I was afraid that this story was going to have a Message.  But it doesn’t.  It doesn’t exactly address her autism at all, which is great–it doesn’t make a big deal out of it, which allows the story to flow naturally.

Indeed, Maddy’s autism isn’t spelled out exactly, she is just introverted and doesn’t really speak.  Until, that is, jack comes across some magic beans.

I love that Hatke is playing with the jack and the Beanstalk story without retelling the story at all.  So he is touching on a lot of things without explicitly using those story parts.

So what’s the story about then?  Well, Jack wakes up to a dream about plants growing wildly and coming to life, like a person.  Summer vacation has just started and Jack’s mom is going to be working two jobs this summer.  So Jack is in charge of Maddy.  The family goes to the flea market and look around.  There’s a creepy guy named Mr Gooseworth who asks if Jack’s pretty mom is around. (yuck).  But then Maddy is attracted to a booth called Just Stuff.

The proprietor know Jacks;’ name (how??) and then shows the two some interesting magical devices (which are not for sale).  But then he shows Jack something that will “change your life forever” : a box of seeds.  And theta’s when Maddy (who, remember, does not talk) says “Buy the seeds, Jack, buy all the seeds.”  Jack is so flustered that when the creepy guy asks for the keys to his mom’s car as payment, he just gives them up.

The next day Maddy begins digging a garden, and Jack silently agrees to help.  They plant some seeds and as they are ready to call it a night, Lilly, the girl who lives up the street comes running by. Earlier we saw her practicing fighting against a dummy.  Jack kinda likes her.  Things get weird and the girl runs back home, but not before she takes a few seeds for herself.

Overnight these plats start to grow.  And the next day some things have come to life (and are mobile).  The next day the garden is huge and very weird things are afoot.  And just when things start to look really dangerous, Lilly comes to the rescue.  She is so unafraid that she is even willing to eat some of the plants–ones that give the kids magical powers temporarily.

Then the next night a dragon, named Phelix shows up to Jack. He seems to know Jack and assumes that Jack should know him, but where exactly does he comes from?

The next day, Maddy is hurt while fighting the garden and Jack has had enough.  Despite what Lilly and Maddy say, Jack wants this garden gone, and he will stop at nothing to get rid of it.

Now Maddy is mad at him and Lilly won’t talk to him.

Perhaps its time for Jack to make amends.  And when he does (meeting Lilly’s hilarious older brother), he finds exactly what Lily has been up to in her own house.  As the book comes to a close, something happens to Maddy which sets things up for a very exciting premise in Book Two.

I had forgotten that this was a multipart book so I was getting nervous that the ending was going to be quick and too easy, but I needn’t have worried, Hatke has paced the story wonderful.  And his drawings are, as usual, superb.  Can’t wait for Book 2.  #10yearsof01