I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: AARON LEE TASJAN-Tiny Desk Concert #817 (January 15, 2019).

Aaron Lee Tasjan and his band play wonderful retro-fueled jangle pop.  There’s terrific gentle harmonies, a chiming 12 string and a dual guitar solo.  He even looks the part

Aaron Lee Tasjan arrived at the Tiny Desk in his fashionable ascot and mustard-colored shirt, sporting reflective, red, rounded sunglasses and mutton chops. As he warmed up, the sound of the middle-and-late 1960s came through his seagreen, Gorsuch 12-string guitar while his voice felt both familiar and fresh.

Aaron Lee Tasjan’s love for this older sound infuses Karma For Cheap, his recent album, with an optimistic THC-veiled sentiment — one that can be heard on “Songbird,” his opening number here at the Tiny Desk. “There’s a songbird singing, I’m laying on the floor. Something feels right that has never felt right before.”

“Songbird” sounds familiar yet new, and wonderfully catchy.

He’s also got a good joke: “My name is Aaron Lee Tasjan. I hope I’m saying that right.”

For the next song he says the band will “boogaloo till they puke.”  It opens with a synth sound. more jangly guitars and even bigger harmonies.  It segues perfectly into the stomp of “Set You Free.”

These are songs of encouragement, and the final tune in this Tiny set, “Set You Free,” invokes that sentiment in plain-spoken language: “You gotta change your mind, you gotta plant the seed and let it set you free.”  All the while, drummer Seth Earnest, guitarist Brian Wright and bassist Tommy Scifres seemingly channeled their love of David Bowie’s 1972 song, “The Jean Genie” (a song mixed in Nashville), in its rhythms and vibes.

You can definitely hear “The Jean Genie” in the song, but never does it sound like he’s stealing from Bowie, just alluding to him–and that three-part harmony makes it all his own.  I love that both guitars play the solo at the end–atop even more harmonies.

This was such a delightful Tiny Desk that I need to find out more about this guy.

[READ: January 18, 2018] Peter & Ernesto

This is an adorable book, the first in a series, I believe, about Peter & Ernesto.  As the subtitle indicates, they are sloths.

The book opens with the pair sitting in a tree watching the clouds go by and naming the shapes.  When Ernesto sees a bear, Peter responds “Scary!” and then goes back to eating his hibiscus.

It is generally believed that sloths are lazy, but Ernesto points out that they are not lazy, just content.  Until, that is, Peter sings about how “We always see what we always see!  Nothing ever changes for you and me!”  And then Ernesto feels discontented.

Ernesto says he likes their piece of sky, but he wants to see all of the sky.  So he must take a trip.  Peter freaks out–there could be bears out there!  It’s too dangerous!  When Ernesto asks if Peter has ever been out there and Peter says no.  Ernesto points out, how would he know?

Then Ernesto sets off on his adventure.

Although these creatures are sloths, Annable thankfully does not make them have sloth-like speed.

Ernesto crosses a shaky bridge (and loves it), then he falls into a stream (and loves it), then he climbs a rock (and loves it) and then jumps in the ocean.  While in the ocean he meets his first stranger–a whale.  Ernesto is friendly and so is the whale–who helps him see everything he can.

Then we return to Peter, clinging for dear life to his branch, worried that something bad has happened to Ernesto.  Finally, he decides to go find his friend.  Despite his massive fears, he heads out.  But he is instantly stopped by that bridge.  He can’t even imagine how Ernesto managed.  Until a macaw finally tells him what Ernesto did.

It seems that Peter’s timidness gets him to meet a few more creatures, like that rather angry tapir and some chatty crabs.

When Ernesto gets out to the desert, he learns about constellations–which are like clouds at night–and he meets a fox and raccoon who tell him about the arctic.  It’s in the arctic that Ernesto meets his first real danger.

The book nears the end with some monkeys looking for their friend Dave–a scene that tickles me and Peter offering to help them.  Was Peter right all along, or does making friends save the day?

Will Peter ever find Ernesto?  Will Ernesto find contentment?  And are bears really that scary?

This was wonderful, and book two looks just as good.

I took some time off from reading First Second books, and now they’re coming back with a vengeance.