I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: DONKEY-“Memory Haunts Me” (Moose: The Compilation, 1991).

Back in the 1990s, it was common to buy a compilation or soundtrack or even a band’s album based on one song.  Only to then find that you didn’t really like anything else on it.

Maybe that single sounded like nothing else on the album.  Maybe the movie was almost entirely one genre, but they had that one song that you liked over the credits.  Or maybe the compilation was for something you didn’t know, but a song you really wanted was on it, too.

With streaming music that need not happen anymore.  Except in this case.

I bought this compilation, used, recently exclusively for one song, Rheostatics’ “Woodstuck.”  It’s a goofy song and this is the only place you can get the studio version.  The actual compilation was not well documented, so I didn’t know what the other bands on it might sound like.  It turns out to be a compilation for Ontario based Moose Records which specialized in Rock, Folk, World & Country.  They put out another compilation in 1992 and that’s all I can find out about them.

Donkey is NOT the Donkey from Atlanta.  This is a band from Toronto founded by Alex Radeff (the band now goes by Alex Radeff & Donkey). It’s a shame this song is buried so far down on this album, because it’s really great.  It’s got a cool Byrdian sound, but with a slightly darker feel.  This song sounds mildly sinister.  And then with chorus of “memory haunts me every single day,” you can tell why the tone works.

It’s got a guitar solo that sounds like it was recorded in a tinny room, with the rest of the band dropped down somewhat so it really stands out.  It’s certainly a peculiar song.  Like his website says: Founded by singer/songwriter/guitarist Alex Radeff as a vehicle for his eclectic songs.  The song even ends with a bit of backwards guitar solo.  Cool stuff.

[READ: July 20, 2019] “Indian Country” 

This is a story about Low Man Smith, a Coeur d’Alene Indian and successful writer.

He was returning to the Reservation (which he said was always horribly monotonous until some horrible violence interrupted the monotony) to meet up with Carlotta.

But when he arrived, she had sent someone to meet him because she had just run off and gotten married to Chuck.  She wasn’t planning on it, but Chuck showed up a couple days ago, eleven years sober and they ran off together.

He went to the 7-11 and tore a page from a phone booth.  He wanted to go to the local used book store, have some coffee and sit where he felt comfortable.  The kid at the 7-11 told him he’d have to pay for the phone book.  Low Man left the kid his briefcase instead.

Low Man wound up walking to the Barnes & Noble. He hated the monstrosities but secretly loved them because they sold tons of his books.

He told the manager he would sign the books they had in stock.  She said she thought he would want to met up with Tracy, a Jewish woman he went to school with.  He was delighted to find out that she worked at that Barnes & Noble.

He had been madly in love with her but she had always been a lesbian.  Once she set him straight about that, they were able to be friends.

Tracy’s fiancee was a Reservation woman.  They were meeting her parents who had become Mormon and were very much against gay people in general.

They five of them had a meal together and Low Man, who was feeling rejected by two women in one day, and the world in general, was not going to let bigotry remain untouched in his presence.

I enjoyed this story, as I do most of Alexie’s short fiction.