I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: THEODORE-Tiny Desk Concert #842 (April 17, 2019).

I recall NPR’s SXSW coverage last year in which they raved about Theodore (and then ran into him walking the street while they were recording their nightly dispatch) and his beguiling music.

Theodore is a Greek composer/performer who is fairly difficult to search for online.  I was really surprised but quite intrigued to see that he now had a Tiny Desk Concert.  And what a Concert!

He plays three songs that last nearly 19 minutes and they are full of twists and turns with great instrumental passages and incredible sounds from all of the instruments.  Whether it is thanks to Theodore’s own set up or the Tiny Desk crew, the sound quality is amazing.

He began with “Disorientation” which

explores the complete loss of inner direction as Theodore examines his inner dualities in search of clarity and, perhaps, new ways to look at the world.

“Disorientation” begins with a terrific throbbing bass from Nikolas Papachronopoulos and occasional guitar notes from Emmanouil Kourkoulis or Ioannis Lefas (not sure who is who).  Theodore starts singing in his husky voice.  After a verse he adds some keys and then just as suddenly the whole band kicks in–drums and soaring guitars which all drop away just as suddenly.

A minor shift occurs at around 1:20 and then at 1:45 the whole song slows down into gentle washes and piano trills with (again) some gorgeous bass notes (the bass sound is phenomenal).  The song feels like it’s going to end but it sound jumps back with the dramatic entry of a pick slid along guitar strings and then back it’s to the delicate moments.  Bob Boilen says the songs have the “spare elegance you can hear in Sigur Rós or Pink Floyd,” and you can clearly hear echoes of mid 70s Pink Floyd with splashes of Sigur Rós for drama.  At 3:45 it jumps again, with some great drumming and more cool basswork.  Then at 4:46 Theodore starts “oohing” in the microphone, his voice is processed and echoing and the whole thing feels like it is drifting off into space

It is spectacular.

“For a While” starts quietly with two notes repeated quietly on the guitar  Theodore adds piano as washes of guitar follow shortly.  The guitar and piano resolve into intertwining pretty melodies.  After the bass and drums come in Theodore starts singing.  He has a very European kind of croon, a bit like latter Morrissey or Guy Garvey from Elbow.  The song builds to a cool moody and then settles down delicately to washes of guitar and single piano notes.

“Naive” ends the set with another great bass sound and intense guitars .  Theodore sings while Ashley Hallinan adds some nifty rim hitting on the snare.  Midway through the song some instrument gets all kinds of processed adding a kind of fat synth sound as the rest of the band builds the song.   Great guitar effects from both guitarists flesh out the moody wild middle section.

This Concert was spectacular and I would love to see him in person.  He only comes to the US for SXSW, so maybe this Tiny Desk will bring him to a wider audience.

[READ: April 15, 2019] “Lobster Night”

Russell Banks is the kind of author I have known about for a long time and am incredibly familiar with the covers of many of his books and whom I’ve considered reading again and again and yet I never seem to.

He is also one of the reasons why I chose to read Esquire fiction in general.  There are many excellent writers who write for Esquire and not all of them write stories about men killing other men.

Well, maybe all the stories don’t have someone or something killed, but this one does.

Stacy is a former potential Olympian.  She used to ski until a bad fall left her with a broken thigh bone.  She can still ski but she has lost her edge so she teaches in the winter.  But during the warmer months she has to waitress or bartend.  She has recently gotten a job at Noonan’s Family Restaurant.

The place was okay.  She liked Noonan.  He was married but they seemed to flirt with each other in a way that felt nice but not creepy–she assumed neighther one had any intentions towards each other.

In order to drum up some business and make things easier on himself in terms of cooking, he started featuring nightly specials.  Thursday was lobster night.  Previously Thursdays were dead, bu the lobsters were quite the attraction.  He put them in a 30 gallon fishtank which soon became overcrowded.

Stacy said that she felt a little bad for them cramped in like that.  But Noonan replied

“Well, I don’t go there, Stace.  Trying to figure out what lobsters feel, that’s the road to vegetarianism.  The road to vegansville.”

She admitted that she had been a vegetarian for a couple of years back in college.

Then she told him why she’d stopped and instantly regretted it.  She stopped because she had been struck by lighting and it was impossible to be a vegetarian is the hospital.

And of course he was more interested in the lightning than the vegetarianism.

She told him how it had happened–she reached for the lights during a thunderstorm and the lighting struck the house.  She thought she’d been shot.  It didn’t kill her but it almost did, which is not the same as “it didn’t kill me.”  And it changed her

She found over the years that no one else had been struck by lighting–no one she knew.  It was weird being having a unique thing happen like that.  It was weird to have no one to commiserate with.

Although Noonan tried.  He compared what happened to her to what happened to him–he was almost by killed by a bear which tore his cabin down.

He had been kicked out of his house and was living in a cabin.  While he was out a bear came in and smashed things up pretty good looking for food.  The next evening he assumed it would come back.  He had his shotgun and waited.  When the bear arrived, Noonan, who was drunk, shot but only wounded it, making it very angry.  It smashed some walls and the flimsy cabin fell on Noonan.  He was stuck there until a nearby woman heard him calling for help.

He said it changed his life.  He married the woman.  He also stopped drinking…a few years later.

So yea, no, it wasn’t really the same at all.

This night had been very busy and very exhausting.  Gail, the waitress, had her mind elsewhere.  The dishwashers both quit and people were getting angry.

Finally Noonan asked Stacy to see him in the kitchen.  She was sure he was going to try something–that lightning story was always trouble for her.  He asked if she wanted to have that final lobster and a drink–it was just that kind of night.  She blew up at him saying that she didn’t want to mess around with a married man.  He was offended saying he just wanted to have someone to share the lobster with after such a hectic day.  he had no thoughts of messing around.

And that’s when they heard the customers yelling that a bear was visible outside the window (the restaurant was on the second story).  It was snuffling around by the garbage.

Noonan set off with his shot gun.  The customers were delighted to see the bear while safe behind glass.  The kids in the restaurant were thrilled.   Until Noonan started firing at it.

Children cried, customers vowed never to return, Gail quit and asked why Stacy was staying

She said she wasn’t and the Gail said “Yes, girl, you are.”

The story could have gone in several directions from here and I can honestly say it did not go in the direction I expected.  I can’t decide if it was a reasonable ending or not.  The little coda at the end was pretty fascinating, too.