I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: ARTHUR MOON-Tiny Desk Concert #962 (March 20, 2020).

Arthur Moon is exactly the kind of weirdo band that I never would have heard of if not for Tiny Desk Concerts. I’m so happy that Bob Boilen enjoys the offbeat, because there’s no other way I would have heard of these guys.

This band, the project of singer Lora-Faye Åshuvud has the quirky freshness I first heard from New York artists such as Laurie Anderson and Talking Heads in the late 1970s and more recently with Dirty Projectors. It comes off in the starkness of the sound, a spaciousness that leaves room for me to hear the storytelling in the songs, but always surprising me with aural delights.

They play three songs (here’s another Tiny Desk I wish was twice as long).

All three songs in this performance come from their brilliant self-titled 2019 album, an album too many missed, in my opinion. And this band pulls off these odd, unpredictable twists and turns with simplicity and charm.

The first song, “Homornormo” starts with an lopsided five-note acoustic guitar riff from Martin D. Fowler and hugely processed vocals Lora-Faye Åshuvud (I guess it’s a vocoder).  There’s backing vocals and hocketing from keyboardist Cale Hawkins and Aviva Jaye (who is credited with “toys” and vocals).  There’s a guitar solo form Åshuvud which is as weird and abstract as the rest of the song.  The only thing vaguely conventional about the song are the drums from Dave Palazola because the rhythm has to be consistent when every thing else is chaotic.  But even his sounds are oddball, like the reverse snare drum sound he plays at the end.

I haven’t even mentioned the lyrics:

The opening song at the Desk, “Homonormo,” begins with a kiss-off to the very city that birthed their sound, and a search for something normal, yet twisted.

“Hello
Send my kindest regards to New York
I’m gone, woo
I think I want to settle down
But weirder”

“Reverse Conversion Therapy” opens with the mini Mellotron from  Cale Hawkins, who was last at the Tiny Desk with Raveena.  This song is slower, with Moog bass sounds from Fowler.  When the chorus kicks in the guitars launch out like a St. Vincent song, but it quickly settles back down.  The middle turns down nearly all the music as Ashuvud sings while others provide ooohs for backing vocals.  It ends with some awesome hocketing from all three vocalists.

There’s anxiety in these songs, even when the chorus is “I Feel Better,” but there’s a creative spirit in this anxiety, and then, of course too, there’s the tin foil.

“I Feel Better” opens with drums and a sprinkling of sounds as she sings.  Then comes the chanted chorus of “I feel better” that everyone sings. Aviva Jaye (who brought a table of toys) gets a brief lead vocal line before everyone else joins in again.

The song ends with a pretty piano solo and Åshuvud pulling out a roll of aluminum foil (I only wish I could see what she was doing with it).

[READ: May 6, 2016] Hilo: Book 3

At the end of book two, Gina was sucked into a portal and DJ and Hilo were surrounded by army tanks.  How would they ever get out of this?  In the most hilarious way ever (by acting like the little kids they appear to be).  I love that there is a recurring joke that dogs love Hilo and even they get in on the act.

Hilo takes advantage of being in the military base to hack into the computer system to learn about possible portals that he can open to get Gina back.  They were also given an orb by Polly which causes everyone on earth to forget the last two days–an outstandingly easy way to get everyone to forget everything.

In another flashback we learn that Razorwark created Hilo in the first place: Hilo was named H, and was the first experiment who actually worked.

Then we see Hilo and DJ fly through a portal and land on a new world–with large furry monsters and tiny angry lizard creatures.

But as Hilo keeps flashing back to his origin story, he gets distracted from what is happening around him  This is bad for he and DJ until a hooded creature comes out to save them. It is Polly! They have landed on Polly’s planet Oshun, which is where Gina is.  Except they have landed three months in the future–Gina has been there for three months (and has learned quite a lot, like some magic).

The bulk of this book takes place on Oshun where the Scale Tail Clan are trying to dominate the planet, include Polly’s Furback Clan.

It used to be an even fight but at some point the Scale Tail Clan were able to use an orb to create giant weapons.

The Furback Clan home is wonderful-lots of funny alien animals (even the alien dogs like Hilo).

They go to a mystical woman who helps Hilo to see his memories.

He remembers the story of the robot, I, the robot which was created after him.  She has different abilities but she was made the same as Hilo and Razorwark.  She is able to make all kinds of things from scrap parts.  They are sweet and kind, just as I is.  But when Razorwark commands her to build weapons, she refuses, saying she will not hurt people.  Razorwark sees her as a failure.

Hilo is having some really hard times dealing with what he learns and he worries: what if he is a bad machine.  During the fighting, the Scale Tail Clan take Polly.  But Hilo is chill because he remembers!

He remembers why he is the way he is and he also remembers some even more impressive things that he can do.  He also reveals that he knows what that giant orb is that has been making weapons for the Scale Tail Clan.  And he is going to rescue it.

The book ends with the sweetest cliffhanger ever.