I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:  CHICANO BATMAN-Tiny Desk Concert #613(April 17, 2017).

In the blurb for this show, Felix says that he was sol by their name.  And I am too.  It’s a great name.  And yet it is not entirely useful in terms of musical style.  But he summarizes pretty nicely:

a sound that perfectly captures dark lounges, quinceañera dances, car shows and backyard parties.

That lounge sound is completely evident with the keyboard tone–old fashioned and bachelor pad-like.  But this is no bachelor pad music, because behind the keys are some groovy and at time funky bass (from Eduardo Arenas) and some cool guitar wah wahs (from Carlos Arevalo) and more.

Holding it all together is Gabriel Villa on drums and then on keys and guitar and vocals is Bardo Martinez.  Martinez sings in such a cool, laid-back manner.  It’s often a gentle falsetto but it always feel like he is just chillin’ and singing these groovy songs.

And they also wears suits with bow ties.

“Freedom is Free” is a delicate and groovy song with lots of wah wah guitar and a cool echoing guitar solo.  It’s also got a great bass line.  The song is sweet and catchy with a great wah wah build up at the sudden ending.

“Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” has been quite popular on the radio here and man is it catchy.  The loungey organ and vocals are a great start, but the way the chorus just burst forth after the first verse–the backing singers (Nya Parker Brown and Piya Malik) hit the marks perfectly and then the staccato guitar riffs after that.  Its irresistible. (Parker Brown and Malik are from the band 79.5 and have been touring with them).

The ladies leave for the final song, “Jealousy.”  There’s a great funky bass line and fun drums before the song turns rather mellow.  I love the between chorus riffs.  Although I find the main song a little too slow, it probably works well between faster songs.

And they are all so polite and charming, I’m sure I’d enjoy seeing them live.

[READ: February 20, 2017] “The Prairie Wife”

I recently read another story by Sittenfeld in the New Yorker and really enjoyed it.  And this one was not only great and wonderfully written, it was full of surprises.

It’s hard to write about without giving away some of the surprises because they were so good.

But here’s a spoiler free attempt.

Kirsten is married with two kids.  The family has a routine and it involves Kirsten waking up and getting the boys up in time for school.  But lately she has been using her morning time to look at Lucy Headrick’s Twitter feed.

Lucy has 3.1 million followers and is known as The Prairie Wife.  Of course she has a vast social media empire, all of which Kirsten follows to some extent.  Lucy always replies to a few “nobodies” although Kirsten has never written to her.

Its during her commute that she tries to figure out if she has the power to destroy Lucy’s life.  Kirsten has a coworker, Frank, who also hates Lucy.  But he seems to hate all celebrities and follows several of them fanatically.

Then we find out how Kirsten might be able to destroy Lucy’s life.  The Prairie Wife is pure, sweet and somewhat religious.  But back in college, Kirsten and Lucy were camp counselors.  And back then, Lucy was a “gold-star” lesbian–had never been with a man at all. She came on to Kirsten and Kirsten, who had been with a guy and done some other things and was somewhat drunk, acquiesced.  Several times.

Kirsten hadn’t even realized that Lucy Headrick was the same Lucy–Lucy was now married and had changed her name.  But then one day she found out and her mind was blown.

Then, Frank reveals to her that Lucy is going to appear on The Mariana Show.

From here on out the surprises are small and grand and one of them was done so well that I was delighted with the revelation.

Even beyond the surprises this story was a really good one about relationships and family and how choices can make a big difference in our lives.