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Archive for January, 2018

Gin Phillips–Fierce Kingdom (2017)

Posted in #RESIST, Cowboy Junkies, Death, Fears, Film & TV, Gin Phillips, Guns, Joni Mitchell, Laura Marling, Margo Timmins, Parenting, Regrets, Summer, The Weather Station, Violence, Yuck!, Zoos on January 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE WEATHER STATION-Tiny Desk Concert #689 (January 8, 2017).

The Weather Station played a show in Philly a while back.  I knew that Bob Boilen really liked the album, and I thought about checking them out live.  But things came up and I didn’t.  And now here they are at a Tiny Desk.

It was the first song here, that Bob especially liked:

It’s called “Thirty” and in less than four minutes and nearly 400 words, singer Tamara Lindeman paints images of joy intertwined with the awaking jolt of turning thirty.

The dollar was down
But my friends opened businesses
There were new children
And again, I didn’t get married
I wasn’t close to my family
And my dad was raising a child in Nairobi
She was three now, he told me

The song is a pretty, shuffling song (spare drums from Ian Kehoe) with a speedy rhythm guitar (from Lindeman), a roaming bassline (Ben Whiteley) and some cool guitar licks (William Kidman) over the top (both of which are really lovely).

The musicians in The Weather Station underpin these words with delicate playing and by sitting quietly but poignantly under Tamara Lindeman’s beautiful voice. Her soft voice shifts pitch with a rapid flow in a Joni Mitchell-sort of way, never coming up in volume more than a quiet, table conversation level.

There’s a great (relatively) wailing solo that really pushes the song forward and which ends perfectly when Tamara starts singing again.

“You and I (On the Other Side of the World)” has a slow slinkiness that I rather like.  There’s also some nice, understated backing vocals (deep male voices under Tamara’s higher register).  I love the bass work at the end of the song, too.

Tamara’s voice sounds very much like someone else or maybe a number of people: I hear Laura Marling and yes, Joni Mitchell, but maybe Margo Timmins as well.  In other words, all good benchmarks.

In fact, the final song, “Free” has a real Cowboy Junkies feel with the big slow echoing rhythm guitar that opens it.

On “Free,” there’s some great lead guitar work once again as well as a wonderful bass line.

a song Lindeman describes as about being both free and not free at the same time, there’s restraint in the voice and a release in the powerful guitar chords. That tension and release is an essential element to The Weather Station’s sound and one of the joys I’ve found listening to their enchanting music.

Initially I wasn’t blown away by this concert, but I found myself hitting replay over and over, enjoying it more each time.

[READ: August 20, 2017] Fierce Kingdom

I read about this story on Skimm, a daily news digest that I have since read is geared to women (and according to some criticism, treats women like they are dumb.  I have recently stopped subscribing to it because I do find it rather dumb and subtly right-wing (how could a site for women not be pissed that Hillary lost? #RESIST).  But whatever, the book sounded interesting so I put it on hold.

The premise is fairly simple: a woman and her young child (4 perhaps), are in a zoo.  Right around closing time two gunmen enter the zoo and start killing people.  What will she do?

For some reason, the blurbs didn’t reveal that there were gunmen, just that “something” happened. Well, honestly what else could it have been but gunmen. So, perhaps I spoiled that part but it came out pretty early anyway.

The story begins with a time stamp 4:55 PM. The zoo closes at 5:30 and Joan and her boy Lincoln are sitting in their favorite spot waiting to leave the zoo.  As they head toward the exit around 5:30, she notices bodies on the ground.  She had heard explosions earlier but didn’t think much of it,  But when she sees the bodies, she quickly puts things together and takes off.

Now the blurb for the book on the inside cover says “an electrifying novel about the primal and unyielding bond between a mother and her son, and the lengths she’ll go to protect him.”  That’s not wrong exactly but I feel like that puts a weird focus on it being about mother hood instead of survival.  Must be some kind of marketing thing.  I didn’t get the sense in the book that it has anything to do with motherhood–I mean frankly any parent would do that for his or her child and I’m sure any person would do the same for anyone they loved.  The fact that the child is younger and doesn’t have the same cognitive skills make the story more compelling.

Because, frankly, as she hides in an abandoned animal enclosure, there’s no reason she would ever have to leave such an enclosure–she can’t be seen, she is well protected, and it is dark.  She even has her cell phone and she talks to her husband (I find it a bit hard to believe that the police wouldn’t listen to him if he has a text from his wife in the zoo, but that’s what happens).  The bad guys even come into where she is and don’t see her.

So, end of story right?  At least I couldn’t imagine why there would be more story when she is safe and the police are coming. (more…)

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Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater–Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Unicorn Training (2015)

Posted in Fantasy, Fire, Funny (ha ha), Jackson Pearce, King Crimson, Lo Moon, Maggie Stiefvater, Magic, Manuals, Mr. Mister, Pat Mastelotto, Short Books, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Unicorns, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on January 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LO MOON-Tiny Desk Concert #688 (January 5, 2018).

WXPN has been playing “This is It” quite a bit lately and I’ve realized that it sounds way too much like Mr. Mister (I think it’s Mr. Mister, or something else cloyingly 80s) for me to really enjoy.  [Speaking of Mr. Mister, how is it possible that Pat Mastelotto, currently touring with King Crimson, was the drummer for Mr. Mister?  Are they better than “Broken Wings.” There’s hardly any drums in that song at all and Mastelotto is awesome].

Anyhow back to the history of Lo Moon, lead singer and instrumentalist Matt Lowell says he created the song “Loveless” 5 1/2 years ago in a basement studio in New York.

He then moved to Los Angeles and linked up with Crisanta Baker (guitar, bass, keyboards and backing vocals) and multi-instrumentalist and principal guitarist Sam Stewart. They spent months in a backyard shed with gear and guitars everywhere. There they learned to feed off each other, sometimes jamming on two-chord drones for six hours straight without even saying a word. With the lights turned down, it was a comfortable space for the band to catch its artistic wind and create a celestial sound.

No word on when Sterling Laws was added as a drummer.

The show starts with “This is It.”  Lowell is on piano, and the song sounds pretty faithful to the recording. It’s the combination of the four note melody and the synth sound of those four notes at the end of the chorus that really rings Mr. Mister to me.  The addition of the backing vocals (ahhhing) is a nice addition to the song.

For “Real Love” Chrisanta switches to piano, Sam switches to acoustic guitar and Matt goes to electric guitar.  He plays a pretty melody on the guitar, but I can’t help feel that his voice is too soft, too middle of the road.

The same is true for “Loveless.”  They switch back to the original instruments.  Like “Real Love” it’s a pretty song, but ironically, without those Mr. Mister notes, there’s really no hook.  The songs just sound like pretty, generic songs on some kind of soft rock station.

[READ: September 9, 2017] Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Unicorn Training

I enjoyed the first Pip Bartlett book.  It was funny and had a good time with magical creatures.

In the first book we find out that Pip Bartlett is a young girl who can speak to magical creatures–unicorns, silky griffins, fuzzles–but no one believes her (because no one else can).  This is a drag because she loves magical creatures and her Aunt Emma is a veterinarian of magical creatures (people know magical creatures exits, they just don’t think people can talk to them).

Pip loves Unicorns and in the past has assisted Mr Henshaw with a very timid Unicorn–Regent Maximus–who was afraid of his own shadow.

I love the tone of the books.  This one opens: I was shoveling Greater Rainbow Mink poop. This wasn’t as bad as you might think. Greater Rainbow Minks only eat brunt sugar, so their poop literally smells like candy.  (It’s NOT candy, of course, It’s very important to remember that no matter how good its smells, it’s still poop).

And then we see (or actually we don’t see) a Rockshine who can only say the word Hey, but most often says “Heyyyyyyyyyyy!”  Rockshines are dull sheeplike creatures who turn invisible when frightened–which is often. (more…)

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Elise Gravel–If Found… Please Return to Elise Gravel (2017) [translation 2017]

Posted in Art, Drawn & Quarterly, Dumbo Octopus, Elise Gravel, Foreign Books, Foxes, Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Meta, Oddities, Open Mike Eagle, Project Blowed, Rabbits, Red-lipped batfish, Sea Pig, Shira Adriance, Sketches, Swim Team, T., Thirsty Fish, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Yeti Crab on January 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: OPEN MIKE EAGLE-Tiny Desk Concert #687 (January 3, 2018).

I had seen Iron Mike Eagle’s album on a lot of Year End Best of lists, but I hadn’t heard of him before.  Well, I absolutely loved his Tiny Desk Concert and I’m ready to get his album as well.

I love that the “(How Could Anybody) Feel at Home” starts with a live trumpet and the rest of the band is there playing live, too–two synths, a live bass and Mike on some kind of techie gadget.  But the great thing about this Concert is Mike’s delivery.

He sings/raps and he’s got an uplifting style of rapping combined with the spare but cool/weird music that fit with the lyrics.

And it’s really the lyrics that won me over.

Everybody’s secrets inspire all of my scenes
I write in all of my fantasies and I die in all of my dreams
My superpowers I maintain
I take control of my scene

and the hook:

I done told
Some goofy shit that sounded like a poem
I spun around in circles on the globe
So who the hell could ever feel at home

I could tell that  the lyrics were pretty interesting, but I was surprised to read:

Open Mike Eagle may have released one of the most political albums of 2017, but Brick Body Kids Still Daydream is also among the most personal. It comes across best in his live performances. For only the second time during his recent tour cycle, the LA-based artist played a set aided by the live instrumentation of musicians Jordan Katz (trumpet, keys, sampler), Josh Lopez (keys, sampler) and Brandon Owens (bass) for his Tiny Desk debut.

He performed two songs from the stellar Brick.  The title comes from:

It’s been a decade since the last brick fell from the Robert Taylor Homes, the old Chicago Housing Authority project personified on the record. Yet, when it comes to excavating the politics of place, and all the racial implications inherent in cultural erasure, there is no project released in recent years that comes close.

“Daydreaming in the Projects” is, like the other songs, political but warm:

(This goes out to)
Ghetto children, making codewords
In the projects around the world
Ghetto children, fighting dragons
In the projects around the world

and then this seemingly nonsensical rhyme that speaks volumes

Everything is better when you don’t know nothing
I’m grown so I’m always disgusted
All these discussions online is mayonnaise versus mustard
Mayonnaise people think French can’t be trusted
Mustard people think eggs is all busted
But fuck it
We in it for the pattern interruptions

I love that it is accompanied by a simple but pretty trumpet melody while Jordan is also playing keys.

The set ender “Very Much Money,” from his 2014 album Dark Comedy, is tremendous.

What a great verse:

My friends are superheros
None of us have very much money though
They can fly, run fast, read Portuguese
None of us have very much money though
They know judo and yoga, photography, politics
Some of them leap over buildings
Writers, magicians, comedians, astronauts
None of it mattered when niggas was hungry

All to a catchy, cool beat that is in the spirit of bands like De La Soul, but far more modern and powerful.  Great stuff.  And if “Very Much Money” is representative, I need to check out his old stuff too.  And maybe even the other three (!) bands he’s with: he is a member of the hip hop collective Project Blowed. He is also a member of Thirsty Fish and Swim Team.

 

[READ: October 20, 2017] If Found

Tabitha had this book and I thought it looked really cute so I grabbed it not really knowing what it was.

Basically, it is the blank notebook of Montreal artist Elise Gravel.  She says:

At night, when my daughters are asleep, I draw in my blank notebook.  I draw complete nonsense   Whatever comes to my mind.  When I draw in my black notebook, it feels good–it’s as if I let out all the ideas that are bouncing around in my head.  I never critique the drawings in my black notebook. I give myself the right to fail.  To mess up, to create ugly drawings.  I’m kind to myself. (more…)

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Pénélope Bagieu–California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before The Mamas & The Papas (2017)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Biography, Books about music, Drugs, First Second :01, Florence Foster Jenkins, Graphic Novel, Japanese Breakfast, Mama Cass, Music, Scott McKenzie, The Big 3, The Journeymen, The Mamas & the Papas, The Mugwumps on January 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JAPANESE BREAKFAST-“California Dreaming'” (2018).

As I was thinking about what song to put with this book, Japanese Breakfast released a cover of the wonderful original.  I don’t know too many songs by The Mamas and the Papas, but this is one of my all time favorite songs in general.

I was a little disappointed as the song started because it just Michelle Zauner singing over a delicate organ (it’s the harmonies that I love so much about the original).

But then it becomes evident what Zauner is doing.  The song is dirgey and cold, as the lyrics suggests, which is kind of cool.

And then after for the second verse she drops a big beat which adds a cool guitar lick and backing vocalists.

It brings a cool, sensual twist to the song which in the original is kind of poppy, yet dark.  The production of the song is quite nice, but it really can’t beat the amazing harmonies of the original.

[READ: July 20, 2017] California Dreamin’

This is a delightful biography of the woman who would become Mama Cass.  I knew little about The Mamas & The Papas, and I knew even less about Mama Cass, so this proved to be an excellent and fascinating introduction.

And it is all told with Bagieu’s wonderful drawings–there’s something so wonderfully French about her drawings of the hippie sixties in the US–it’s wonderful.  She also makes Mama Cass–who could be drawn fat and unpleasant–as perpetually pretty and sexy, which is pretty cool.

The scene opens in the summer of 1965 (although in the shopping center there is Kohls which I don’t think was in California in 1965, but whatever).  A DJ is asking kids what they love about the Mamas and the Papas.  They all say Cass obviously,  she’s the nicest and coolest.

Then we flashback. And I love the way that she has constructed this story–it focuses on a different person in each chapter. (more…)

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Julian Barnes–“The Limner” (New Yorker, January 5, 2009)

Posted in Art, Artists, Calexico, Guided By Voices, Julian Barnes, Nada Surf, New Yorker, Short Story on January 5, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-Peaceful Ghosts (2016).

Six years after the release of the Brussels live album (and 13 years after recording it!), Nada Surf released another live album.  This one featuring an orchestra.  Apparently Austrian radio station FM4 offered the band the yearly slot they give to a rock outfit to be backed by an orchestra for a whole concert. A similar session with Radio Eins in Berlin enabled the band to extend the collaboration with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra over two shows.  It is the show with Babelsberg on June 21 that was recorded.

I have often wondered what makes a band play with an orchestra.  So it’s interesting to learn that they were invited. What made the orchestra choose them is something else entirely.  Caws says that they were recording their new album when they got the call for this, so they sent over their friend (and occasional touring member) Martin Wenk (of Calexico) to supervise the project with composer Max Knuth.

So perhaps because the band didn’t participate entirely, or maybe just because that’s what they wanted to do, this recording is not a rework of the songs. Rather, it’s Nada Surf with an orchestral backing.  But Caws’ songs and voice are quite suited to this treatment.  They avoid their heavier songs and stay with primarily their mid-tempo stuff (wisely avoiding an orchestral version of “Popular”).  This gives the performance a bit of a samey quality, but each song sounds lovely.  Sometimes the strings are just there to accentuate the songs, but other times they really add power to the emotions.  They had recently added former Guided By Voices guitarist Doug Gillard to the lineup (“we hope to never be a trio again”) but despite his occasional solos, the flourishes comes from horns and strings more than guitars.

The album almost feels like a Storytellers session with Matthew Caws telling origins stories before each song.  Some of the stories are really quite fascinating.  Some just give some nice insights into the songs.  My favorite was the one before “Blizzard of ’77.”

It’s expensive to rehearse in New York.  No one has a garage and there are no basements, so they rehearsed in a space that cost $20/hr.  When they were in high school they could only afford two times a week.  So they played loud and fast to get everything out.  Later, they were touring in Amsterdam sharing a hotel room with Daniel.  He didn’t want to wake up Daniel so he went into the bathroom to write and that’s how their first quiet song came out. (it’s fascinating how short it is too).

The somewhat more unlikely story is for “Rushing” in which he says that a relationship can sometimes make you forget your own body dysmorphia:  “You come rushing at me and I forget my body.”

The best use of the orchestra is on the awesome minor key song “The Fox.”  He opens, “After all this joy, we’ll go somewhere dark.  American television.  Cable news.  FOX TV.  A fox is a clever animal–good at manipulating other animals.”  This is one of my favorite Nada Surf song anyhow (even before I knew what it was about), the bass line is just sublime.  And the dramatic buildup towards the end with the horns and flutes is really great.

There’s some nice orchestral hits and swells on “Believe You’re Mine” and “Beautiful Beat” has a pretty guitar melody that is nicely appointed to strings.  “Out of the Dark opens with the orchestra which is a nice change and the xylophone sounds quite pretty as well.

Before “80 Windows” he explains about visiting a friend in Sweden and how in the summer it is warm and dreamy, but in winter, he slept until 2 because of jetlag, and the day was over.  So he counted windows in the apartment across the street.  Knowing that really makes the lyrics more effective, I can really picture it.  There’s some great use of orchestra at the end of this song as well.

Between this album and the previous live album they repeat three songs (marked with a * below).  This is not an essential release, and I hope they rock a bit more when I see them in March.  But it’s a nice overall experience of the band.

Comes A Time                  The Fox                              Out Of The Dark
Believe You’re Mine        Blonde On Blonde*     When I Was Young
Beautiful Beat                  80 Windows                                       Animal
Blizzard of ’77*                 Inside Of Love*           Are You Lightning?
Rushing

[READ: March 25, 2016] “The Limner”

I really enjoyed the way this story unfolded.  I was especially intrigued at the details of the painter’s disability and how we didn’t learn of it until several pages in.

So this story is about a painter, Wadsworth.  I’m not exactly certain when this is set, but suffice it to say it is set when a portrait was the only way of guaranteeing your image would live n in posterity).  Wadsworth is painting a man, Mr. Tuttle. Tuttle is quite cheap (he is arguing about the fee–$12).

Wadsworth says that he has written Tuttle’s comments in a book–the book that every patron writes in–and that Tuttles’ comments are just as obvious and repetitive as all the previous patrons were.

Turns out that Wadsworth is an itinerant painter.  He moves into a town, puts an ad in the paper and if he has no customers in 5 days he moves on.  Some patrons give him lodging–some are even more generous. (more…)

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Otessa Moshfegh–“The Beach Boy” (New Yorker, January 4, 2016)

Posted in Death, Joy Division, Marriage (Happy), Nada Surf, New Yorker, Otessa Moshfegh, Regrets, Revenge, Short Story, Travel, Vacation on January 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-Live in Brussels (2010).

This album was recorded while Nada Surf was touring their Let Go album.  This particular show was recorded at the AB Club in Brussels 31st March 2003.

This is a great live recording–the band Matthew Caws on guitar/vocals, Daniel Lorca on bass and Ira Elliot on drums–sounds terrific and the recording quality is excellent.  They added a keyboard for “Blonde and Blonde” but otherwise it’s just the trio.

They play nine songs from Let Go (not in sequence).  Those are mixed with four from Proximity Effect and three (including “Popular”) from their debut.

There’s some mild distortion on the guitars but the bass and drums are very clean.  Caws’ voice might be a tad loud in the mix, but since his voice sounds great, it’s fine.  They don’t deviate too much from the recorded versions–a few drums fills here and there near the ends of songs.

The most notable differences are on the songs from high/low which sounded a bit different from their “newer” sound.  “Stalemate, for instance, is far more up tempo, but less heavy.  The biggest surprise comes during this song when they seamlessly shift into a verse and chorus of (a very mellow) “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

*from Let Go, **from Proximity Effect % from high/low

*”Blizzard of ’77”       *”Killian’s Red”              **”Bacardi”
*”Treading Water”     *”Hi-Speed Soul”         %”Stalemate”
%”Icebox”                   *”Happy Kid”               **”Robot”
**”Amateur”           *”Fruit Fly”      *”Blonde on Blonde”
*”Inside of Love”         **”80 Windows”         %”Popular”
.                                                                  *”The Way You
Wear Your Head”

Caws speaks rather good French (I guess) and does all of his announcements in French.  I enjoyed that before “Popular” he says the song is “tres, tres, tres sarcastique.”  I’m only mildly surprised they didn’t play “Là Pour Ça.”

I was amused at how “rushed” or “weird” “Popular” sounded.  Then I saw in the liner notes (the advantage to mp3s) that Caws says, during a previous performance in Brussels, “on a lark, we invited whoever wanted to get up onstage and join us at the end of the show.  Apparently, some members of that audience were a this AB show and decided to do it again during ‘Popular.’  We apologize for our slightly abstract performance of that song and the one after it.”

I have tickets to see them in March and I’m really excited about it.

[READ: March 25, 2016] “The Beach Boy”

I found this story to be very engaging and somewhat surprising.

It begins with friends meeting for dinner.  They are in Manhattan and there are three couples.  One of the couples–the protagonists–have just come back from a vacation celebrating their twenty-ninth anniversary.  They were at an (unspecified) island and everyone is asking them all about it.  Was it safe?  Was it worth it?

Marcia says the beaches were beautiful and the sunsets were better than any painting.  But then she speaks of the political situation and the beggars.  And there were the prostitutes–male prostitutes, called Beach Boys.  The women wanted to know about the beach boys–what they looked like and what they said.

Then they talked about the feral monkeys (and the one who stole John’s pen). (more…)

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Alejandro Zambra–“Reading Comprehension: Text No. 1” (New Yorker, July 6 & 13, 2015)

Posted in Alejandro Zambra, Celtic Frost, Cheating, Martin Ain, Megan McDowell, Michele Amar, New Yorker, Religion, Set at School, Short Story, Sulfur, Translation on January 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CELTIC FROST-Vanity/Nemesis (1990).

I used to like Celtic Frost’s early brand of noise and mayhem.  I had given up by the release of this disc, but I feel like either my friend Al or my old radio station gifted me this CD which I didn’t listen to much.

The recent passing of Martin Ain made me pull this out to see if it was any good.  And it’s an interesting mix of early Frost noise and some progressive tendencies that ultimately lost them earlier fans.

But the music on the disc is as confusing and unruly as the title.  Was this originally a single with those two songs?  They’re not connected in any way on the record.  It’s very strange.

And what’s especially odd is the way the album is sequenced–along with the lead guitarists that accompany the songs.

I see that Ain himself was relegated to backing vocals on all tracks and bass on only track one.  Curt Victor Bryant has taken over bass duties as well as lead guitar duties (on some tracks).

The album opens with a classic Tom Gabriel Warrior “ugh!” and heavy guitars. The first two tracks are like Celtic Frost of old. Low rumbly, minor key, heavy menacing dirges with Warrior’s growling vocals.  And that lead guitar sounds like it comes literally out of nowhere on both tracks–it just feels tacked on, a little too loud, just swirls of guitar–there’s no real playing, it’s just a lead guitar “sound.”

The first surprise comes on track 3 when Michelle Amar sings (quiet) lead vocals and some backing vocals on “Wings of Solitude.”  Amar went on to form the cool short-lived band Sulfur.  After the previous two songs, this feels far more complex although it doesn’t quite work with Gabriel’s grunting vocals.  But there’s some real songwriting going on here.  There’s also a proper guitar solo.  Turns out that on some tracks, lead guitars were supplied by additional musician Ron Marks and he’s a real shredder.

More surprises are in store as “The Name of My Bride” (written by Ain) has these lyrics.

Now, like the tempting snake of old
She has seduced my very soul
She took my rib she stole my heart
And hid it in her bosom’s warmth
Oh mother hallowed be thy name

The mother line aside, these is a broken-hearted love song!  No wonder Warrior kicked him out.

It’s followed by an aching ballad “This Island Earth” which is actually a Bryan Ferry song.  Tom sings a serous achiness and there’s some massive guitar shredding going on.

The second “Side” of the record turns away from this more progressive style with a pretty standard heavy metal music with a wailing solo at the end.  It’s followed by the hilariously named “Phallic Tantrum” complete with guitar noises by Bryant.  “A Kiss or A Whisper” is really heavy with big crushing drums and lots of ughs from Warrior.

“Vanity,” the first title track chugs along pretty nicely with more female backing vocals (I assume from Amar), but its “Nemesis” the is the biggest surprise.  A seven minute song that starts out with a pretty (simple) acoustic guitar melody (and spoken echoed words by Amar and Warrior) for  about a minute and 45 seconds.  Then there’s the ugh! and some chugging riffs.  The verses are kind of plodding but the final line around 4 minutes “Will death cleanse me of this nemesis” is pretty catchy even with Warrior’s lack of singing ability.  There’s a wild solo and then last two minutes are pretty cool.

The bonus track is a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes.”  This may be the most peculiar cover of this song out there.  If not for the lyrics you would have no idea that this is the song.  Musically, it sounds like any other Celtic Frost song.  I can’t even tell is the main riff is meant to mimic the Bowie melody or if it’s just some random Celtic Frost chords.  The end of the song features Amar whispering something in French (why is she recorded so quietly?).  I assume it’s the French lyrics to Heroes.  No one will say it is better than the original,but it certainly interesting.

Celtic Frost broke up after this album (and then reunited etc), but this is a pretty wild collection of songs–all genres represented.  Many ideas all thrown together all within a pretty simple setting of grunting vocals and heavy guitars.

[READ: February 1, 2016] “Reading Comprehension: Text No. 1”

I have really enjoyed Zambra’s stories a lot.  As with most of Zambra’s work, this one was translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell and I thought it was terrific.

It opens with the amusing sentiment:

After so many study guides, so many practice tests and proficiency and achievement tests, it would have been impossible for us not to learn something, but we forgot everything almost right away and, I’m afraid, for good. The thing that we did learn, and to perfection—the thing that we would remember for the rest of our lives—was how to copy on tests.

At his school especially, the teacher gave mostly multiple choice tests ostensibly in preparation for future standardized tests. (more…)

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Lauren Groff–“Ghosts and Empties” (New Yorker, July 20, 2015)

Posted in Lauren Groff, Mastodon, New Yorker, Parenting, Regrets, Short Story, Walking on January 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MASTODON-Cold Dark Place EP (2017).

The Cold Dark Place EP was apparently written to be a Brett Hinds solo project.  I don;t know how many songs he wrote for it, but he pulled his whole band together for these four tracks and they sound like the ever-evolving Mastodon–less heavy, more complex and with new, intriguing sounds.

“North Side Star” is a mellow song, with gentle guitars and rather delicate vocals.  The feature appears to be Brent Hinds’ 1954 Sho-Bud 13-string pedal steel guitar (which he acquired several years ago, fully outfitted with knee and foot-benders).  The slide doesn’t take over the song but adds really interesting soaring notes to the proceedings.  I love when both singers harmonize on their songs–their voices are quite distinctive and work together in a fascinating way.  Or as on the third verse when you can hear Hinds; voice and there’s a low harmony in the background.  Three minutes in there’s a cool guitar lick that leads to an almost (almost) funky break (it’s more heavy than funky) that leads to some cool guitar pyrotechnics.

“Blue Walsh” is sung by drummer Brann Dailor–his smooth crooning voice over the spiraling guitar line.  It has a cool bridge that leads to an aching chorus (with different lead vocals).  The end of the song turns into a blistering guitar solo that leads into a classic heavy Mastodon riff before returning to the chorus.

“Toe to Toes” opening with a very pretty acoustic guitar melody the song quietly shifts gears into a heavy circular riff and some rough but catchy singing.  The second vocal comes in on the second verse.  A pretty melody before a rather tough guitar solo.  It’s close to old Mastodon but still quite pretty.

“Cold Dark Place” opens with more of the Sho-Bud and Hinds’ singing.  This is a delicate ballad.  The keening slide guitar hovers over the pretty acoustic middle section (in which Hinds’s voice is too muffled).  Five minutes in, the song build into a screaming solo and a heavy prog-riffing end.

[READ: February 1, 2016] “Ghosts and Empties” (yes I read this almost two years ago)

This was a story in which I liked the heart of the story but I found the framing information to be less than satisfying.

The heart of the story is that a woman walks around her neighborhood every night and observes things changing–for better or worse.

Although it was a bit navel gazing and not especially compelling, I did enjoy her observations about her neighborhood.  It was especially useful once she gave the context of the neighborhood and how it has ups and downs and had its share of good news and bad news.  (Having a baby swan eaten by an otter is simultaneously adorable and horrifying). (more…)

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Pete Souza–Obama: An Intimate Portrait (2017)

Posted in #ITMFA, #RESIST, Art, Barack Obama, Basketball, Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, Crazy Horse, Dogs, Football, Golf, History, Michele Obama, Pete Souza, Pets, Photo Essays, Prison, Privacy, Racism, Relationships, Religion, Romance, Russia, Violence, War on January 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CHRIS FORSYTH & THE SOLAR MOTEL BAND-Dreaming in the Non-Dream (2017).

I was anticipating watching Forsyth at the end of last year but the show sold out on me.  (Note: he is playing nearby this Friday).

I heard about him from a stellar Tiny Desk Concert and was totally psyched to hear this four-song full length album.

The disc opens with the 11 minute History & Science-Fiction that starts with a slow bass line and lots of percussion.  After a short intro the guitar comes in with whammy bar’d chords.  It resolves into a really catchy “chorus” and then a slow down that reminds me of a softer “Marquee Moon.”  But instead of turning into a rocking solo section, it totally mellows out, with keyboards and cymbals and a pretty guitar melody.  It slowly builds out of that by switching from organ to sax.

“Have We Mistaken the Bottle for the Whiskey Inside” is the only song with words.  Of the four it’s my least favorite, but that’s only because I like his guitar playing better than his singing.  It’s a fairly simple riff–kind of Crazy Horse-ish with Forsyth’s deep spoken-singing asking the title question.  After about 3 and a half minutes, the song starts to pick up speed and turns into a huge freak out of noise and chaos. 
“Dreaming in the Non-Dream” begins as a simple picked guitar line repeating.  Throw in some a steady drum beat and some buzzy synths and the song starts to build. And then Forsyth’s soloing makes an appearance.  At first he is just playing harmony notes alongside the lower notes but at the 2 minute mark, the full throttle wah-wah guitar soloing takes off (the backing guitar also throws in some cool wah-wah, too).  And the song runs as a full instrumental for over 15 glorious minutes.  But it is not just a 15 minute guitar solo.  The whole band gets involved–the rest of the band is fully present and there’s a synth solo.  But it’s all within that catchy melody line.  Fifteen minutes never went by so fast.
 “Two Minutes Love” is a beautiful two-minute song.  Gentle guitars interweaving over lush bass lines and twining with the other guitar.  It’s a nice delicate end to that spiraling CD.

[READ: December 27, 2017] Obama: An Intimate Portrait

Sarah got me this book for Christmas and it is awesome.  I wanted to spend 2018 looking forward, getting past the dumpster fire of 2017 and hoping we can move past what we are bogged down with.  #ITMFA #RESIST

But this book was just an amazing look back and something that gives me hope that we can move forward past what we have now.

Pete Souza is a tremendous photographer and this collection offers amazing access to a President who was full of gravitas and thoughtfulness.

We were concerned that reading this would be too depressing given the State of our country and the Embarrassment in Chief.  And in some ways it was depressing.  But in many ways it was what it was intended to be: inspirational.

It’s hard to believe that before our Chief Idiot was bumbling his way through life and giving literally zero thought to anything except his own ego, we as a country had 8 years of a leader who, these pictures show, put serious thought and concern into (almost) everything he did.  Obama was never quick to do anything–he was often mocked for his slow speech patterns–but this is a job where rushing to judgment never does anyone any good.  And you can see the pressures of the world weighing on him.

But this book is not all about pressure.  There are delightful moments of joy–with his daughters, with delightful citizens, with staff and of course with Michele. (more…)

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