I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: VIOLENTS & MONICA MARTIN-Tiny Desk Concert #626 (June 5, 2017).

I don’t really understand why Jeremy Larson chose the name Violents.  His music is anything but–pretty piano melodies with (in this show) really nice string arrangements.  I love the way the strings really dramatize the pop song elements.

About the strings, (who go by the Rootstock Republic),he says “they saved our lives this week–because even though a solo vocal performance with her would be amazing…,”

“Equal Powers” has such beautiful melodies.   I really like the way Martin’s voice plays off of the piano.  The chorus melody line is perfect and the high notes “I know I know” are like a perfect icing topper.  I like this lyrical construct:

lean in, let me feel your breath on my skin/I know, I know
lean in, liquor on your breath/ I’m tasting, I know, I know

Her voice has a lovely delicate straining to it that is really pretty.

So who is Martin?  The last time we saw singer Monica Martin at the Tiny Desk she was singing with Phox, her folky, poppy band based in Madison, Wisconsin. But, while that band is on hiatus, Martin took time to walk into the world of Violents, the project of pianist, string arranger and songwriter Jeremy Larson. Larson and Martin make a lovely pair and have created a subtle, soulful record — Awake And Pretty Much Sober — that benefits greatly from Larson’s classical training.  It’s the first full-length Jeremy Larson has released as Violents, a project that, generally, sees him joined by a different singer each outing, resulting in an EP.

“Unraveling” has a pretty, slow piano melody.  It’s more of a ballad.  Once again the chorus is gorgeous–especially the way Martin hits some of those notes in the ooooh section.

and again her voice hits some lovely notes and her ooohs are delightful against the strings.

Before introducing “Spark” he says playing the Tiny Desk is “a bucket list kind of thing.”  He says they’re gonna do one more song.  We were supposed to do a different one but this one’s a bit more appropriate for a smaller setting its called “Spark.”  It has a simpler melody and is certainly a ballad.  It is not as powerful but it’s still quite lovely.

The Rootstock Republic is Juliette Jones (violin); Jessica McJunkins (violin); Kristine Kruta (cello); Jarvis Benson (viola).

I have really enjoyed Yiyun Li’s stories of late, although i didn’t fully enjoy this one.  I found the location of it a little hard to follow and then it seemed to be about something but was then about something else.

It begins in China, with Bella and Peter walking down the street.  Bella and Peter are friends and have been for 25 years.  They met in Boston.

Bella is Chinese by birth but moved to the USA to study.  They are in China because Bella and Peter always talked of going there.  And it turns out that Peter’s boyfriend Adrian is doing research on his ancestors from China.  So they decided to use it as a chance to travel together.

This was kind of mistake. 

She enjoyed their company but was a little irritated with them and their romance by the time they left.  Bella was kind of playing tour guide for them as well.  And Peter summed it up when he said that she’s always fun but now that they’re in China “its like you’re stoned the wrong way, you’re a contentious bore.”

The rest of the story extrapolates on Bella’s life.  She has been divorced twice (both of her exes called her toxic), and look back on her life with sense of confusion.
She was adopted as a child (and is grateful that the parents who gave her up didn’t simply drown her as a baby).  She was adopted by wealthy parents and she grew up wanting little (the story of the child her parents had before her is pretty surprising).

That toxic designation seems not far from the truth as we travel back to Bella’s childhood and learn that she was always a bit of a devil.

Bella (she changed her name as soon as she moved to America) had always been very good at English.  She was the best in English Club in school and she sought the approval of Miss Chu.  Miss Chu was 26 while Bella was 16 and Miss Chu had a unique voice–the kind of voice that, with training, could have been memorable and amazing but which left alone was just aggravating.

For much of the rest of the story she wonders about Miss Chu.

While she’s till in town, she decides to catch up with an old frenemy, Peipei.  In school Peipei fell in love with a teacher and through her grandfather’s work, they were soon married. (Yikes).  Bella was friend with Peipei but was filled with disdain for her as well. In the intervening years Peipei was still with the man and they had created a small empire for themselves.

Miss Chu had been a temporary teacher and had only lasted for a couple of years.  And since she had suddenly thought of her, Bella wanted to find out what Miss Chu was up to.  So she reached out to Peipei.  After dining together (with lots of little squabbles), Peipei gives Bella some info about what has become of Miss Chu.

Turns out she was involved with an LGBT organization in China.  And this affects how Bella thought of her.

I enjoyed the way she takes this new information and imposes it on an old event, but overall the story didn’t resolve satisfyingly–it felt like there could have been a lot more and it suffered a bit because of it.