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Archive for December, 2017

Marie-Helene Bertino–“Edna in Rain” [The 2017 Short Story Advent Calendar #7] (2015)

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas Album, Death, Funny (strange), Marie-Helene Bertino, Rain, Relationships, Short Story, Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Short Story Advent Calendar on December 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS-Christmas Caravan (1998).

The Squirrel Nut Zippers Christmas album is pretty much what you’d expect.  Part swing, but far more old-timey sounding.  This disc is comprised of originals and some unfamiliar covers.  I really like the swinging parts, but some of the slower songs are a bit too slow for me.

“Winter Weather” is my favorite song on the disc, with the cool drawl of, I assume Katharine Whalen, and the neat horn accents.

“Indian Giver” is an original.  Despite the offensiveness of the premise of the song, it swings nicely.  “A Johnny Ace Christmas” is a bluesy original song, I rather like the guitar parts that sprinkle the verses.  “My Evergreen” is another original.  It’s a slow shuffle that kinds of drags the album a bit.

Things pick up with a ripping “Sleigh Ride” It’s all instrumental and features that great moment in the back half where things slow down and then they bring it back up really big.  Good fun.

“I’m Coming Home for Christmas” is a slow original full of longing.

“Carolina Christmas” picks things up again with a hopping shuffling number about Christmas in Carolina.  “Gift of the Magi” is a slow ballad.  It is a retelling of the O. Henry story, Gift of the Magi, told in verse.  It’s a rather clever retelling of the story.  The duet format is pretty effective for this number.

“Hot Christmas” is a horn-filled swinging instrumental (with occasional chants of “hot Christmas”).  It’s got some good swing and lots of horn solos.

“Hanging Up My Stockings” is a slow swing number.  It’s earnest and sweet.  After a small pause, the disc tacks in the the original version of the song bu Chester Church on a crackling vinyl platter.  It is sweet and unassuming just like the lyrics indicate: “I want to show old Santa Claus that I believe.”

[READ: December 1, 2017] “Edna in Rain”

Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This year, there are brief interviews with each author posted on the date of their story.

Hello. Welcome. It’s finally here: Short Story Advent Calendar time.

If you’re reading along at home, now’s the time to start cracking those seals, one by one, and discover some truly brilliant writing inside. Then check back here each morning for an exclusive interview with the author of that day’s story.

(Want to join in? It’s not too late. Order your copy here.)

This year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection

I loved this story as well.  Edna is walking down the street when the first one falls from the sky.  Kevin is the first one–he was the one who could do that amazing thing “where you flip the girl from the top to the bottom without letting go.”  She caught up with him a little and then she went on her way.

The Marisa fell out of the sky.  It was nice to see her but by now, they had both moved on.

Then came Brent and Rico. (more…)

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Patty Yumi Cottrell–Sorry to Disrupt the Peace (2016)

Posted in Adoption, Christmas Album, Death, Dentists, Depression, Drinking, Drugs, Huh?, Humiliation, Imagene Peise, McSweeney's, Patty Yumi Cottrell, Racism, Sex, Short Books, Steven Drozd, Suicide, The Flaming Lips, Travel, Violence, Wayne Coyne, Yuck! on December 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: IMAGENE PEISE-Atlas Eets Christmas (2014).

This is a terrific lost album created by Iraqi jazz piano prodigy Image Peise.  The record states that “most of what is known [about Peise] is shrouded in clouds of legend and smoke of myth.”  She is “rumored to have committed suicide in 1978.”

She is playing mostly traditional Christmas songs, with a couple of originals added on to the mix.  She is accompanied by:

Imagene Peise – Piano
Ominog Bangh – Laughing/Crying Glider Synthesizer
Shineyu Bhupal – Drones, Sitar, and Baritone Tambura

The album has a consistent feel throughout.  Lots of jazzy piano and then some interesting Middle Eastern and/or psychedelic sounds that are sprinkled on top (primarily from the sitar and the glider synth).  Whether she is messing with the beauty or just manipulating it is up to the listener.

“Winter Wonderland” opens with a crackling record sound and some interesting Middle Eastern instruments and drones.  And then the lovely traditional jazzy piano version of the classic.  The trippy synth thing comes back up from time to time.

“Silver Bells” opens with a middle eastern synth that sounds nothing like the song.  But once again when the piano comes in it’s really lovely and traditional with hints of psychedelia.

“Christmas Laughing Waltz (Jingle Bells)” has some laughing-like sounds from the voice/synth thing.  Midway through the song, which has been mostly trippy, it resolves itself into “Jingle Bells” on piano with some cool sounds added.

“Silent Night” opens in a not at all peaceful way with some crazy sounds.  It’s a little disconcerting if you know what song it is supposed to be.  But the piano eventually finds the melody and plays it straight and nice.

The first original peace is the delightful if mournful, “Atlas Eets Christmas.”  It’s a series of washes and piano chords until finally a solitary piano melody plays  its mournful melody.  There’ s vocal line where you hear the pronunciation “At last it’s Christmas.”  The voice is pretty far in the background making it kind of hard to hear.  It fits in with the record but stands out because of the voice.  But the sentiment is quite nice.

“Do You Hear What I Hear” is the first really dissonant sounds on the disc.  They come in the form of echoed piano chords.  It feels sinister and kind of kills the mood of the song. The vocal melody is played on that glider thing with dissonant piano behind it.  It feels kind of wobbly and unsettled.

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” returns to the more traditional style and once again, it’s very pretty.

“White Christmas” has a real feel of longing to it.  After a bout 2 minute it kind of builds with drums and upright bass but it never really gets into a more traditional feel.  It sort of hints at the song until the very end where the melody is more pronounced.

“Frosteeeee”is of course, “Frosty the Snowman.”  It opens with melody played on the piano.  But then it switches off melody lines with that voice/synth thing.  It’s sort of a duet between the two instruments.

“Christmas Kindness Song” is the other original.  It sounds like the other in spirit but this one has highly processed vocals.  Presumably they are by Steven Drodz, but I’m not sure if he sis supposed to sound like an Iraqi woman (how far is the ‘joke’ gong?), but he clearly doesn’t.

“The Christmas Song” returns to the jazzy traditional song with some sprinkling so psychedelia on top.

Depending on your tolerance for oddity, this is either a great, fun addition to a Christmas collection (it will make people prick up their ears to hear whats going on), or it’s just too disruptive to the holiday spirit.

And yes, in the “Christmas Kindness Song” I mentioned Stephen Drodz because this is an album by The Flaming Lips.  I gather that the music was created by Steven Drodz and the mythology of Imagene was created by Wayne Coyne.

Oh and the disc ends with some 30 minutes of what sounds like an album clicking at the end of locked groove.

[READ: June 21, 2017] Sorry to Disrupt the Peace

This is one of a new(ish) batch of McSweeney’s books.  I was intrigued by the title and the cover  and some snippets of reviews sounded promising.

There were things I liked about he story but overall I was mixed on it.

The story is about Helen Moran.  She is a 32-year-old Korean woman.  She was adopted by white parents when she was a baby. As was her adoptive brother (who is also Korean but is not related to her).  Throughout the story she refers to her parents as “my adoptive parents” and her brother as “my adoptive brother” easily 100 times each.  I realize that that is a true statement and description, and it is important to her to keep this distinction, but it makes for irritating reading.  It makes your main character seem really ungrateful.

And maybe that’s it.  Helen is a pretty unlikable character.  She works with at risk youth but does some pretty risky things with them.  She’s even currently under investigation at her work for doing suspicious things.  She says she is called Sister Reliability but its unclear to me if they are doing it to mock her, if they are not doing it at all or if they are actually doing it because she is reliable (which I doubt).  She has also written a pamphlet called How to Survive in New York City on Little to Nothing which she handed out to people.  She wears garbage and discarded clothes and eats whatever–and that’s her advice to the poor.

But that’s not what the story is about.  The story is about what happens after she hears from her uncle that her adoptive brother is dead.  For reasons we never find out her adoptive parents do not make the call, it is done by her uncle.  Weird. (more…)

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Edie Meidav–“Dogs of Cuba” [The 2017 Short Story Advent Calendar #6] (2017)

Posted in Boxing, Brave Combo, Canadian Content, Christmas Album, Edie Meidav, Huh?, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Violence on December 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BRAVE COMBO-It’s Christmas, Man (1991).

This is one of my all time favorite Christmas records.

I love that it plays around with the styles and tempos of traditional songs and yet it remains very faithful to the spirit of the holidays

Brave Combo is a band who likes to have fun, and they certainly do that here.

This record may have been the first time I’d heard “Must Be Santa” (Polka) back in 1991, and their version is peppy and wild.  In my mind it is the accurate version.  There’s lots of fun percussion and crazy sounds.  It’s got a klezmer beat and a conga session at the end.

“Oh Christmas Tree” (Samba) is a 3 minute nearly all instrumental wild version. The vocals come in about 30 seconds from the end to zip through it.  “It’s Christmas” [Cha Cha] I love this song.  It is catchy and fun and is just the epitome of Christmas to me.

“Corrido Navideño” [Ranchera]  This is a mellower song, sung in Spanish.  That’s an unexpected change, but Brave Combo celebrates all kinds of musical styles.  “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)” [Ska] is upbeat and dancey and so much fun.  Although the vocals at the end are a bit understated for the rhythm.
“Christmas In July” They have some fun with the lyrics: “bells on the ice cream truck” “Rudolph the sunburned reindeer.”  “Have yourself a merry, steamy Christmas.”  It’s fun, fast and dancey.  “Please Come Home For Christmas” is a bluesy song.
“Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah” [Hora]  This is fast and punky and a wonderfully jazzy version.
“Frosty The Snowman”  This is a short jazzy version of the song with horns taking the vocal melody.
“The Little Drummer Boy” [Guaguanco]  I love the various styles of drums which makes this song more vibrant to me than many other versions.  It feels calypso to me.  “Santa’s Polka” [Polka] This song is outstanding, funny and sweet.
“Feliz Navidad” [Cumbia] The album kind of slows down a bit at this point.  This is a little too slow for my tastes, especially given the wonderful faster versions that are out there.  It’s not bad it just sounds like it’s designed for older people.
“Ave Maria”  This is a pretty operatic version of the song.  It is just acoustic guitars and the singer’s lovely operatic voice.  It is completely out of place on this disc.  If anything it should have gone last, right?
“Buon Natale” [Waltz]  I never realized how strange this song is until I listened closely to this fun, upbeat waltz.
Far away across the sea
In sunny Italy
There’s a quaint little town
Not a clock has been wound
For over a century
They don’t know the time or year
And no one seems to care
And this is the reason
The Christmas season
Is celebrated all year
“Jingle Bells” is only 45 seconds long and it is zippy and minor key in a klezmer sort of way.  A jolly fun way to end the disc.

[READ: December 1, 2017] “Dogs of Cuba”

Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This year, there are brief interviews with each author posted on the date of their story.

Hello. Welcome. It’s finally here: Short Story Advent Calendar time.

If you’re reading along at home, now’s the time to start cracking those seals, one by one, and discover some truly brilliant writing inside. Then check back here each morning for an exclusive interview with the author of that day’s story.

(Want to join in? It’s not too late. Order your copy here.)

This year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection. (more…)

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Wolf Alice (Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ, December 5, 2017)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Polyplastic, Wolf Alice, Wonder Bar on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 5, 2017] Wolf Alice

I really enjoyed Wolf Alice’s new record.  I also re-listened to their first and had forgotten how much I liked it.

They were scheduled to play a show in Philly, but it happened to be the same night as something else I was doing.  And then, as if by magic, about two weeks before this date, they announced this show at Wonder Bar.  (The original dates were announced back in Sept).  So there was little fanfare about this show on a rainy night in sleepy Asbury Park (Tuesday night in December is pretty sleepy).

The show was not very crowded, but those of us who were there were really excited (some guys who got there after me knew all the words to every song–the bassist shouted out to them for that). (more…)

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Polyplastic (Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ, December 5, 2017) [WOLF ALICE]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Polyplastic, Wolf Alice, Wonder Bar on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 5, 2017] Polyplastic

I was pretty excited to see Wolf Alice and I’d never been to Wonder Bar before.

It was a rainy, miserable night in Asbury Park.  I found out that despite there being no one in the parking areas, they still charged for parking.  So I drove a few blocks up and parked for free.  But by the time I got myself situated, I was about ten minutes late for Polyplastic.

I didn’t know them at all, but I was pretty delighted with what I heard.  They are a relatively new band from California.  They don’t have a record out yet, but they do have stuff on soundcloud.

Wonder Bar proved to be pretty small, but with a good sound system and great sight lines.  I found it vastly superior to The Stone Pony, but with far fewer bands that I’d want to see on the docket. (more…)

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Tony Abbott–The Crown of Fire [The Copernicus Legacy: Book Four] (2015)

Posted in Adventure, Art, Big Books, Bombs, Children's Books, Christmas Album, Death, End of the World, Fears, Greed, History, John Zorn, Mike Patton, Murder, Museums, Nicolaus Copernicus, Religion, Research, Revenge, Scholarship, Sci-fi, Supernatural, The Pope, Threats, Tony Abbott, Travel, Violence, War, YA Books on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JOHN ZORN’s A Dreamer’s Christmas (2011).

You can never say with certainty what kind of music you will get with a John Zorn record.  It could be beautiful; it could be scary.  It could be chaotic; it could be traditional.  There’s could be death metal or gentle jazz.  There could be vocals or not.

Some time in 2008, Zorn started yet another project.  This one was called The Dreamers and it proved to be on the mellow, jazzy side of his spectrum.

The members have been Cyro Baptista − percussion; Joey Baron − drums; Trevor Dunn − acoustic and electric Bass; Marc Ribot − guitars; Jamie Saft − keyboards and Kenny Wollesen − vibes, chimes, glockenspiel.  For A Dreamer’s Christmas, Mike Patton (notorious for making a racket) sings some delightful vocals on 2 songs.

The album contains eight tracks: six traditional and two original Zorn compositions.

“Winter Wonderland” is played on vibes.  There’s a cool repeating bass signature that bounces the song along and a groovy jazzy keyboard background before the electric guitar comes in to play the main riff.

“Snowfall” is just lovely with more vibes and a delicate guitar and twinkling piano.  There’s even some hand drums to add some cool percussive effects.  the songs is primarily a lovely piano instrumental.  I don’t understand why I don’t know this song.  Why isn’t it on other Christmas albums?  It’s lovely.

“Christmastime is Here” is, indeed, the song from The Peanuts movie.  The main melody is guitar and vibes and this version is possibly more entertaining than the original.

“Santa’s Workshop” is a John Zorn composition.  It’s faster and a bit more upbeat than the others, but with a really groovy riff and some fun vibes to match it.  There’s also a fun keyboard solo.  This song first in perfectly with the others.

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”  begins with a quiet and somber piano playing the melody.  It’s a lovely piece with some fun piano noodling.

“Let It Snow” starts with a bell and a rather funky bass line.  After a minute or so the guitar takes over to play the main melody.  There’s some weird and wacky 70s keys playing around in the background that you don’t really notice right away.

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” is the first odd-sounding track on the disc.  The guitar is plucked and the percussion seems to be all kinds of small wooden things clattering around.  I assume someone is playing the rims of glasses as well.  That goes on for a minute before the piano comes in and it gets very jazzy (with an upright bass).  It sounds a lot like the kind of piano playing featured in Charlie Brown.  The end of the song features a kind of whispered, slightly sinister take on the lyric by Patton.

“Magical Sleigh Ride” is the second Zorn original.  It is a swift-moving treat–fluid bass, repeated guitar licks and solos, and a fast percussion beat before the melody kicks in.  After about 2 minutes there’s a pretty wild and rollicking guitar solo.  It’s the most intense thing on the record (which isn’t very intense really) but all along the jazzy pianos and percussion remains.  Its followed by a similarly exuberant vibes solo.  It’s another great Christmas song and fits in perfectly with the others.

“The Christmas Song” returns to the traditional with a lovely, quiet piano rendition of the song and a nice vocal delivery from Mike Patton.  Patton is in perfectly deep-voiced crooner mode and it suits everything perfectly.  There’s a lengthy piano solo in the middle and then Patton finishes the song.

The disc ends with everyone wishing us a Merry Christmas.

It is a surprising and wonderful Christmas album worthy of addition to everyone’s collection.

[READ: November 26, 2017] The Crown of Fire

This is the fourth and final book in the Copernicus series.  There is no third or fourth mini book (I wonder why there wasn’t at least at third one).

I found this book to be exhausting and depressing.   And that’s because for the most part that’s how the characters felt–exhausted and depressed.  I also felt more exhausted by the series than I apparently felt after book three.  I thought I had stopped because I was burnt out on the series, but that’s not the impression I get from reading my post.  But this book did get very dark for most of its 500+ pages.

Lily and Darrell are together by themselves and they are fleeing once again.  They eventually find someone who will help them leave the country in a cargo ship–two weeks in a tiny hold by themselves.  Even Darrell who is still crazy about Lily finds it a bit much.

Back in the other part of the world, Becca Wade and Sara have just gotten a message from Roald.  But it turns out to be a trap. (more…)

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Carmen Maria Machado–“Help Me Follow My Sister Into the Land of the Dead” [The 2017 Short Story Advent Calendar #5] (2014)

Posted in Belsana, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Carmen Maria Machado, Christmas Album, Coldplay, Copeland, Crowdfunding, Culture Shock, Death, Death Cab For Cutie, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ivy, Jars of Clay, Lisa Loeb, Murder, Pedro the Lion, Pilate, Polyphonic Spree, Regrets, Royal Crown Revue, Short Story, Supernatural, The Ravonettes, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Tom McRae on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS TREE? (2003).

 I really didn’t like the second volume of this series.  But this third volume is back to form.  Nearly everything on this record is great.  There’s a few songs where they have chosen to take all of the joy out of the Christmas song.  This is a valid choice, sure, but it doesn’t work when a collection mixes it up with happy Christmas songs.

But by far, this album is far more positive than mopey.

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE-“Happy Christmas (War is Over)”
I don’t really like this song, but this version is fun.  I think the full choir overwhelms what i don’t like about the song.

THE RAVONETTES-“The Christmas Song”
I don’t really know The Ravonettes, but I love this version of this song  The whispered vocals, the plinky guitar, the general rocking shuffle–it’s all good to me.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE-“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
It would take a lot for Death Cab for Cutie to mess this up.  This is a terrific version of this song.

PEDRO THE LION-“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
This is a slow piano ballad.  I actually thought it might be Coldplay.  It’s too slow, especially given the other songs so far.

BELSANA-“Bittersweet Eve”
This is a catchy folk song although it leans towards the mopey in the vocal delivery.  And technically it’s about New Year’s Eve.

IVY-“Christmas Time is Here”
I love Ivy.  Her voice is so great in general.  This version of the song sounds really compressed, almost like a music box, which makes its sound even prettier.

ROYAL CROWN REVUE AND VICKY TAFOYA-“Baby It’s Cold Outside”
I don’t know if Royal Crown Revue is typically a retro sounding band, but man, this song is perfectly retro.  It sounds like it could have been recorded a long time ago, right down to the vocal styling.

TOM McRAE-“Wonderful Christmastime”
I don’t understand why you would take this song and make it a downbeat ballad.

PILATE-“Fairytale of New York”
I love the original of this song so much.  Musically, this version is pretty good, but there’s something vocally about it that falls flat for me.  It may just be that it’s close but not exactly right so it feels off to me.

LISA LOEB-“Jingle Bells”
It sounds like she’s smiling entirely through this song, which is exactly as it should be–even with a somewhat breathy version like this.

JARS OF CLAY-“Christmas for Cowboys”
This is a John Denver song that I didn’t know before.  It’s kind of a country song, but it doesn’t really feel like it in this version.  I like the cowboy whistle.

COPELAND-“Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Because of the autotune, this version grates.  And yet, I find it strangely compelling add well.   The guitar chorus and synth voices are great, but when it gets into the auto tune it goes too far until it goes way too fast and actuate sounds interesting again..

[READ: December 12, 2017] “Kings”

Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This year, there are brief interviews with each author posted on the date of their story.

Hello. Welcome. It’s finally here: Short Story Advent Calendar time.

If you’re reading along at home, now’s the time to start cracking those seals, one by one, and discover some truly brilliant writing inside. Then check back here each morning for an exclusive interview with the author of that day’s story.

(Want to join in? It’s not too late. Order your copy here.)

This year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection

I really enjoyed this story, which was designed as a Crowdfunding request to do exactly what the title asks.

We see that the person’s goal is $5,229 and that she has received $1,395 with 28 days to go.

That all seems reasonable except for the whole Land of the Dead business. (more…)

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Morrissey (The Fillmore, Philadelphia PA, December 4, 2017)–POSTPONED/CANCELLED

Posted in Cancelled, Morrissey, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Smiths on December 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED/CANCELLED: December 4, 2017] Morrissey

I have been a fan of The Smiths since my friend Garry introduced me to them back in the 80s.  I enjoyed much of Morrissey’s solo output (to varying degrees).  Obviously, I never saw The Smiths live.  I had never really considered seeing Morrissey live until my recent concert-going binge.

When he came around to Philly a couple of years ago I joked that he was probably going to cancel, so I didn’t bother getting a ticket.  But he didn’t cancel and my friends who went said he was great.

Over the past couple of months (alright, years) he’s been saying a bunch of really stupid-ass shit.  The kind of stupid-ass shit that should upset his fans, but probably no one else.  His fans are all a little to die-hard to care, though, so he’s sort of yelling into a vacuum.  Making headlines that people who hate him say “see he’s an ass,” and fans say, “oh never mind him.”

Well, I decided that this was the tour I’d go see him.  Fully cognizant of the fact that he might cancel the show.  And early on, he cancelled a show in L.A. because the temperature wasn’t right.

He played Madison Square Garden the night before this show and all was fine. (more…)

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Tony Abbott–The Golden Vendetta [The Copernicus Legacy: Book Three] (2015)

Posted in Adventure, Art, Big Books, Bombs, Children's Books, Chisel, Death, End of the World, Fears, Greed, History, Leonardo Da Vinci, Murder, Museums, Nicolaus Copernicus, Religion, Research, Revenge, Scholarship, Sci-fi, Supernatural, Ted Leo, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Threats, Tony Abbott, Travel, Violence, War, YA Books on December 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TED LEO-Tiny Desk Concert #680 (December 4, 2017).

Up until now, I have more or less missed Ted Leo and all of his phases.  The blurb notes:

How you listen to Leo depends on when his work came into your life. If you’re a back-in-the-day type you might rep for Chisel, his ’90s punk outfit born on the Notre Dame campus and bred in Washington, D.C. If you’re just tuning in, you may have witnessed his understated comedy chops in arenas like The Best Show on WFMU and a highly enjoyable Twitter feed. At the center of this bell curve are those who found Leo at the dawn of the 2000s — when, at the helm of what’s most commonly called Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (shout-out to the typographical variants still mucking up iTunes libraries), he kicked off a run of five stellar albums in just under 10 years, each one urgently attuned to its political context and yet defiant in its ideas of what punk could sound like and whose stories it could aim to tell. Fans will tell you the songs about eating disorders and missing old ska bands felt just as vital to their moment as those that explicitly took on Sept. 11 and the Iraq War.

I know Ted Leo from when he played with Aimee Mann as The Both (they did a Tiny Desk show) and I am aware of Ted Leo + Pharmacists (the above mentioned typographical variant), but I somehow never really heard him/them.  I didn’t even know he was a Jersey guy.  (My friend Al is a big fan, I recently learned).

Recently, WXPN has been playing his new song “Can’t Go Back” which is wonderfully poppy and catchy and which I sing along to each morning.  Leaning more about him (and how funny he is in the Tiny Desk show) makes me want to see what I’ve been missing.

I obviously had no idea about his punk past, so I was pretty surprised to hear the feedback and heavy guitar of the first song here “Moon Out of Phase.”  Leo sings pretty hard on this song, too.  It’s fairly simple musically, but there’s a bunch going on lyrically that’s fun to pick out.

[After] the bone-rattling slow burn “Moon Out of Phase,” he smiled and explained the song was perhaps “a little heavy for noon — but, practically speaking, it helps me get the cobwebs out.”

“Can’t Go Back” couldn’t be more different. It’s catchy and not at all heavy.  It has backing vocals (provided by Leo himself) and just swings along.

 It’s a bit faster than on record, and as the blurb notes:

By the time he hit the first chorus of “Can’t Go Back,” a danceable bop about accepting that the life you have isn’t quite the one you planned for, any remaining cobwebs had been scattered to the wind.

Interestingly for being such a guitar based guy, there;s no solos on the songs (and yet they’re not short either, the first and third songs are about 4 minutes long).  Rather than a solo on “Can’t Get Back,” there’s a cool guitar chord progression.

He seems unsure of the quality of that song (not sure why–because he doesn’t hit those high notes perfectly?)  But then says he’ll finish off with a request.  “I’m a Ghost” is an old song that he doesn’t usually play solo, but figured he would because of the time of year (guess this was recorded around Halloween).

He tells an amusing story about someone asking about the first line: “I’m ghost and I wanted you to know its taking all of my strength to make this toast.”  The person asked if the toast was “a toast” or a ghost pressing the lever down on a toaster and “the hand of the frosty apparition is just going through the thing.”  He says it was originally “a toast” but now it is absolutely about the toaster, that’s the greatest metaphor for so many things.”

It’s really about “alienation from the political process.” It’s more rocking, like the first song, but with a catchy chorus like the second song.  This is a fun set and a good, long-overdue introduction to Ted Leo.

[READ: April 6, 2017] The Golden Vendetta

This is the third full-sized book in the Copernicus series.  It follows the mini-book about Becca.

I enjoyed this book more than the second one.  I enjoy the sections where they have some downtime and aren’t just running around.  And there was more downtime in this book.  I was also really intrigued by the way it began.

The families had been reunited and them separated.  So Darrell and Wade and the adults Kaplans were living in a hotel under an assumed name.  And Lily and Becca were also together under assumed names–but they were not allowed to contact the boys.  This went on for two months.

In that time Galina Krause had been inactive.  We learn that she had been in a coma, but the good guys never find that out, they’re just in the dark for months.

Until Galina wakes up and is on the move again.  And then everyone is on the move.

The families travel under assumed names but are still followed relentlessly by the bad guys. (more…)

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Hasanthika Sirisena–“Kings” [The 2017 Short Story Advent Calendar #4] (2004)

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SOUNDTRACK: MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS TOO? (2003).

This second installment of this Nettwerk Christmas series is much darker than the first.  Perhaps this is indicated by the tree being on fire.  In fact, of the three it’s the one I listen to the least, despite the fact that it has a couple of my favorite Christmas songs on it.  The downer songs are labelled [NSFC] Not Safe for Christmas.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT-“Spotlight on Christmas”  I love this song.  It’s actually quite sad and stands up for poor little rich people at Christmas, but the chorus is so pretty.  And i really love Rufus’ voice.

EISLEY-“The Winter Song”
I’ve never heard of this band outside of this song (they are still active).  The song is terrific and their voices and harmonies are really wonderful.

AVRIL LAVIGNRE & CHANTAL KREVIAZUK-“O Holy Night”
This version of the song has stuck with me for years.  I simply cannot decide if Avril has the most pure and unmodified voice when singing his song or if she is just totally flat (which I don’t think she is).  I find her delivery is haunting in a very strange way.  Krevizauk, on the other hand has and absolutely incredible voice and her parts are amazing.

RILO KILEY-“Xmas Cake” [NSFC]
This is the first of many depressing songs.  Five and a half minutes of bad news and sad tidings.  Good grief.  The melody is nice and maybe in another context it would be powerful, but holy crap, no one want to hear this at Christmas.

DAMIEN RICE & LISA HANNIGAN-“Silent Night” [NSFC]
This is a really dark song that turns Silent Night from a song of hope to one of despair.

GUSTER-“Donde Esta Santa Claus?”
This is perhaps my favorite Christmas song, ever.  It’s fun and lighthearted and super catchy.  I can’t believe it is wedged in between these really dark songs that I always skip.

THE BE GOOD TANYAS-“Rudy” [NSFC]
This is a sweet, catchy song until you hear the words and that its about a red-nosed wino who dies.  Good grief.

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND-“Christmas Song” [NSFC]
This song has a pretty decent melody but Matthews sings it really quietly and, man, it just never goes anywhere. It’s five and a half minutes long and has no energy.  Gah.

OH SUSANNA-“Go Tell It on the Mountain”
I always forget that this is a Christmas song, but it certainly is.  It’s full of gospel tinges, as it should be.  Apparently new lyrics have been added but I don’t know all the words so it was news to me.

BARENAKED LADIES-“Green Christmas”
BNL has recorded three versions of this song.  It was written for the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas and appeared on the soundtrack.  It also appears on Barenaked for the Holidays.  Each of those versions is different and they both differ from this one.  It’s a bit of a downer but only as much as BNL can be downers.

MARTINA SORBARA-“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” [NSFC]
Never has anything wonderful felt so sad and mopey.  This bluesy version is kind of interesting but man is it ever at odds with the meaning of the song.

BADLY DRAWN BOY-“Donna & Blitzen”
This is another terrific song.  Its got a  great melody, some terrific piano and a super catchy chorus.  Its not exactly Christmas although it sort of is and certainly works for the Christmas season

THE FLAMING LIPS-“White Chritsmas” [NSFC]
Despite my love for the Lips I really don’t like this version of the song at all.  It’s subtitled that it is a demo for Tom Waits which might explain why it is sung in such a crazy way, but Waits would do it so much better.  He just sounds mocking all the way through.

SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER-“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”
This band used to be pretty huge back in the day.  This song is very pretty–played on a kind of Spanish-sounding guitar with some neat and kind of spooky keys playing single notes at the end of each verse.  It’s a really cool version and ends the disc on a good note.

[READ: December 12, 2017] “Kings”

Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This year, there are brief interviews with each author posted on the date of their story.

Hello. Welcome. It’s finally here: Short Story Advent Calendar time.

If you’re reading along at home, now’s the time to start cracking those seals, one by one, and discover some truly brilliant writing inside. Then check back here each morning for an exclusive interview with the author of that day’s story.

(Want to join in? It’s not too late. Order your copy here.)

This year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection

This is a story about D.H. Lawrence and his life in Kandy, Ceylon in 1922.  I don’t know anything about Lawrence, so I assume this is all based on research.  As with most fictionalizations of real people’s lives, I don’t get why it was written.  But it was quite interesting and enjoyable, so maybe that’s why.

He and his German wife had exiled themselves from England immediately after the war.  They met an American, Brewster, who invited them to Kandy, nicknamed Little England.  But it was a sad trick, that name, for it was all jungle.  Lawrence suffered from tuberculosis and the jungle heat did not help. (more…)

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