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Archive for May, 2020

David Means–“Two Nurses, Smoking” (New Yorker, June 1, 2020)

Posted in Cigarettes, Coronavirus, David Means, Florence Proce, Hospitals, Lara Downes, Margaret Bonds, Nurses, Quarantine, Romance, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sex, Short Story, Shoshone, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert on May 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »

indexSOUNDTRACK: LARA DOWNES-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #29 (May 30, 2020).

laraI don’t know Lara Downes, although from the picture you can see that she is a pianist, obviously.  But she also works in communities with young people–something she has been unable to do since the coronavirus took over.

This Tiny Home Desk is visually more interesting than most of the others, because she has a mobile cameraman, her son Simon, who walks around and zooms in on her fingers and elsewhere.

She plays three songs

all from her recent album Some of These Days… They are strong statements that resonate in new ways. From Margaret Bonds, one of the first celebrated African-American women composers, there’s “Troubled Water,” a poignant riff on the spiritual “Wade in the Water” that Downes says takes a “journey from classical virtuosity to gospel, jazz, blues and back again.”

It has a very fluid feel but is also quite dark.

The next piece surprised me not because of the song but because of the arranger.  Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, yes the author, created this arrangement of “Deep River.”  I’m surprised that there is nothing else said about him.  I had no idea he was musical as well.

She says there are many interpretations of the river in this song.  For some, it is crossing over into the afterlife.  In the time of slavery, it meant crossing to freedom.  For Downes it represents “crossing over” the coronavirus crisis, to something better.

She is looking to raise money for FeedingAmerica.  If you go to her site and donate you can get a signed copy of her new album.

The final song is Florence Price’s “Some of These Days,” which she sees as a vision of better times ahead.  It is a beautiful slow piece.

The set ends with a jump edit to her snuggling her beloved pooch, Kona.

[READ: May 31, 2020] “Two Nurses, Smoking”

This story is broken up into titled paragraphs.  The title often works as the first part of the first sentence.  At first I didn’t understand this technique, but by the end it made a lot of sense.

The story is indeed about two nurses smoking.

Gracie grew up living in a motel that people paid for week by week.  A high school counselor encouraged her to go to nursing school.  Marlon grew up on the Shoshone reservation then his mother moved East and married a man who drank as much as she did.  He had been in the war and has a scar from an IED. (more…)

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Tom Gauld–Department of Mind-Blowing Theories (2020)

Posted in Drawn & Quarterly, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Joy Division, Morrissey, New Scientist, Scholarship, Science, Scientists, The Tea Party, Tom Gauld on May 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE TEA-PARTY-“Everyday is Like Sunday” (2020).

The Tea Party recently released a cover of Joy Division’s Isolation.  They have now followed it with this cover of a fantastic Morrissey song.

I prefer the guitars in the original just because of the very cool sound that Morrissey’s guitarist got.  But The Tea Party’s guitars are a nice blend of acoustic and electric.  They also add strings (like the original).

Jeff Martin’s vocals couldn’t be much further from Morrissey’s, but they work perfectly with the subject matter.

Morrissey’s been more than a little bit of a horrible person lately, so it’s nice to have another solid version of this great song to listen to.

[READ: May 25, 2020] Department of Mind-Blowing Theories

Tom Gauld is consistently one of my favorite cartoonists. Even though most of his people are stick-figurish, he conveys so much with them.  But more importantly, the content of his cartoons is unfailingly clever and funny.  Some you have to think about to get, which makes them even funnier.

These cartoons are all science-themed and were originally published in New Scientist.

Some examples include Darwin posting The Origin of Species on social media with these comments:

  • MrTomHuxley OMG! This is Amazing!!
  • BishopWilberforce1805 LOL! Totally Fake
  • MorphineEmprium: For the relief of coughs and colds [this post has been flagged as spam]

One of my favorite jokes (which relies on the visual) has a scientist saying “No wonder today’s results have been so poor.  This isn’t growth serum: it’s hand sanitiser!”  The visual it outstanding.

Some pieces that work without seeing them: Comparing covers of the new issue of Utopian Science Quarterly and The Journal of Dystopian Science.  Or seeing the new classic fiction with binary Numbers: The 11 Musketeers; 1100 Angry Men; Catch 10110. (more…)

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Against Me! / Baroness / Drug Church (Sherman Theater, Stroudsburg, PA, May 30, 2020) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Against Me!, Baroness, Cancelled, Coronavirus, Decibel Metal & Beer Fest, Dilly Dally, John Baizley, Quarantine, Sherman Theater, Strand of Oaks, Stroudsburg, PA on May 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: May 30, 2020] Against Me! / Baroness / Drug Church

indexI had a ticket to see Against Me! on their “2 Nights / 4 Records / 48 Songs,” tour.

I was mostly interested in seeing Dilly Dally who was opening, but I thought it would be interesting to see Against Me! as well. My night was for the White Crosses/Transgender Dysphoria Blues albums.  I actually don’t know those newer albums (I have New Wave), but I was interested in hearing them.

This show seemed like a good opportunity to check them out

But the main reason I wanted to go to this show was for Baroness.

I saw ‎John Baizley play with Strand of Oaks a few years ago and he was a great addition.  I hadn’t heard his band, but I immediately had to check them out.  I really liked them.  Last year I got to see and meet Baroness at an in store performance at Vintage Vinyl, but seeing Baroness acoustic in a record store (as cool as it was) is nothing like seeming them as full band in concert.

Unfortunately their Philly stop was at the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest that had a good line up but sounded like a nightmare, honestly.  But when they set up the rest of their dates, they didn’t do Philly again.

I don’t know Drug Church, but I’ve read that their sound mixes hardcore punk with alternative rock and grunge.  I listened to their song “Avoidarama” (love the name) and I really liked it (it’s far more grunge than hardcore and no screaming vocals).  “Grubby” has a bit more punk elements, and I liked it too.  I hope they tour with them when this gets rescheduled.

This show in Stroudsburg is the closest their were coming and even though they weren’t headlining (double headliner, I guess) it was the best I could do.  I’ve never been to a show in Stroudsburg before and I was curious how the commute there would compare to Philly.  But I’ve heard the Sherman Theater is really nice.

Since this show was at the end of May, I was counting it as a sort of holding out hopes for shows to not get cancelled.  But better safe than sorry.

 

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Fiona McFarlane–“Demolition” (New Yorker, May 25, 2020)

Posted in Coronavirus, D Smoke, Fiona McFarlane, Murder, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Quarantine, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Violence on May 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: D SMOKE-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #28 (May 29, 2020).

The lineup of musicians for the Tiny Desk Home Concerts has been a fascinating mix of known and unknown folks.

I have never heard of D Smoke.  Apparently it’s not surprising that I don’t know who D Smoke is because

last year, the rapper and pianist, born Daniel Farris, rose to national acclaim when he won Netflix’s MC battle show Rhythm + Flow.

Winning allowed him to quit teaching and produce music full-time.  He plays four songs.

D Smoke’s songs here — taken from his latest album Black Habits, out earlier this year — acknowledge the disparities impacting the black experience that are simultaneously personal and universal. The opening selection, “No Commas,” is a heart-wrenching lament on injustice and inequality. The gentle touch of D’s fingers moving across the keys complement the song’s poignant lyrics, which he raps in English and Spanish.

I am really quite amazed at what rap sounds like without a beat, with no percussion of any kind.  These songs are performed with just the piano.  Stark and powerful.

I enjoyed the lyrics to “No Commas”

I told ’em I’m the one for the job, no commas
And I’m serious, period, no commas
Wanna enjoy my family and my friends with no drama

The song segues into “Closer to God” which has a more jazzy/lounge vibe.  He sings the chorus and has a lovely voice.

This is his first time playing and rapping “Seasons Pass.”  Although he is rapping, his is very musical about it, kind of singing more than straight ahead rapping.  But when he gets rapping, his flow is fast and impressive.

He also performed “Black Habits II,” the affecting finale to Black Habits, for the first time in a live setting.

The album is about his upbringing growing up, for the first nine years, with a single mother and then his pops coming home [from being incarcerated] and being a good role model.

He cautions us that it’s his first time playing it live so, “If I stumble a bit we gonna pick it back up.”  He does stumble a bit but it sounds great.

[READ: May 25, 2020] “Demolition”

It’s always interesting to read a story set in a different country.  I guess one always imagines a story is set somewhere familiar unless you are told otherwise.  It wasn’t until about half way through the story before I realized it was not set in the States.  And I think it was very close to the end that I realized it was set in Australia.

But the setting doesn’t matter so much because the story is about the house across the street which is being torn down today.

Eva lives across the street and is sad that the Biga house is being torn down.  Her husband, Gerald, is happy to see the eyesore go.  As they looked through the blinds, they watched people come and take souvenirs from the place.

Then came the media. (more…)

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Kool Keith (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, May 29, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Dr. Octagon, Johnny Brenda's, Kool Keith, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Ultramagnetic MCs on May 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 29, 2020] Kool Keith [moved to May 29, 2021]

index

Kool Keith is a wacko alternative rapper.  I really liked him a lot back in the 1990s. He was part of the Ultramagnetic MC’s and Dr. Octagon. he also had the alias Black Elvis.

I had more or less forgotten about him and didn’t realize that he was still making music, but he has been consistently releasing music since the 1990s.

A lot of his music is aggressively, explicitly, sometimes disturbingly sexual (Dr. Octagonecologyst, anyone?) which was once amusing but feels really wrong now.

I didn’t really know about this show until it was cancelled and I’m not sure that I’d actually want to go (I had a few other shows I was more interested in that night).  I’ve also heard mixed things about Keith live, but I feel like it would be a fun experience.  The postponed date is a year away–we’ll see.

kool

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The Beths / Weakened Friends (Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA, April 29, 2020) [rescheduled date–POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, J. Mascis, Kung Fu Necktie, New Zealand, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Beths, Weakened Friends, World Cafe Live on May 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 29, 2020] The Beths /Weakened Friends [moved to Auguist 27, 2020 @ World Cafe Live]

index

The Beths are from New Zealand.  New Zealand has a pretty great track record for producing great bands.

The Beths play a delightful alt-pop rock with a splash of grunge and punk all under Elizabeth Stokes’ high but powerful voice.

I’m not too familiar with their music, but I was planning to be by the time of this show.

The opening band Weakened Friends describes themselves as “We’re three tall young adults making some songs and eating some snacks. Indie noise junk band from Portland ME and Boston MA.”

I listened to a few songs and they have a great distorted guitar/catchy chorus sound.  J. Mascis even guests on one of their songs.  I think they’d be great live.

Hope they can make it back to the States next year.

I love World Cafe as a venue, but I really want to get to King Fu Necktie sometime.

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Loudon Wainwright III (Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA, May 29, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Loudon Wainwright III, Postponed, Quarantine, Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA on May 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 29, 2020] Loudon Wainwright III [moved to December 4]

indexI really got into Loudon Wainwright III about ten years ago because he was on Freaks and Geeks and so was his music.  I enjoyed a lot of his then new stuff and even started going back through his older material.  He is a funny, snarky guy who writes really catchy songs.

I’ve seen his name at a lot of venues in the last few years, but the timing has never worked out.

Sellersville is a little too far away for me to go to, but it did seem like a good opportunity to see him in a close, quiet setting.

This is going to get postponed, so I assume it will be rescheduled, but I do hope he adds a show even closer to me.

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Simon Rich–“Everyday Parenting Tips” (New Yorker, May 25, 2020)

Posted in Coronavirus, Francesco Turrisi, Funny (ha ha), Monsters, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Quarantine, Rhiannon Giddens, Simon Rich, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert on May 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RHIANNON GIDDENS AND FRANCESCO TURRISI-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #27 (May 28, 2020).

Rhiannon Giddens has a really amazing voice.  It is powerful and full and easily commands your attention.  She’s a practitioner of traditional music and loves to share the history and the culture.  She also writes her own songs.  However, introducing the second song Rhiannon Giddens explains “We’re not doing my original songs, ’cause with these kinds of emotions, the old songs say it best.”

They start with “Black as Crow” a lovely traditional song starting with Giddens’ mournful violin and then Turris’ plaintive banjo.  It’s amazing how rich and deep her violin sounds  Which makes me think it is a viola.

Rhiannon talks a bunch about how the pandemic has effected them.

They canceled their tour of Japan and returned home to Ireland; Rhiannon lives in Limerick while Francesco lives a few hours away in Dublin where they recorded this Tiny Desk (home) concert.

She says it’s hard for them as musicians because to do anything they have to be videographers and engineers and everything.  There’s a reason why people do that as the thing that they do and we appreciate them even more.

For the “Spiritual” mentioned above, Rhiannon plays the banjo and Francesco plays a bodhrán.  It starts with Rhiannon singing a capella, then she starts playing with great banjo picking (even some groovy slide work).

Food and art are the basis of what we are as human beings. And those are hit hard.  She started a website ArtLivesOn.com.

They end the set with two songs, “Carolina Gals” segues into “Last Chance.”  Rhiannon plays a violin (fiddle) while Francesco gets an amazing variety of sounds from the tiny hand drum he plays.  It’s like a tambourine with a skin on and there’s wonderful diversity of sounds.  The lyrics of “Carolina Gals” are familiar but different: “Carolina girl’s won’t you come out tonight.”  But my favorite part of the set comes at the end when Rhiannon just takes off on the fiddle playing the super fast instrumental “Last Chance.”

[READ: May 25, 2020] “Everyday Parenting Tips”

I love Simon Rich, he makes me laugh out loud pretty regularly.  Although this piece fell flat to me.  The premise is okay but there’s not enough to do with it, so it kind of runs out of steam pretty quickly.

This comic essay is all about how to help your children who are afraid of monsters.

It starts off easily enough with the calming assurance that it is normal for children to be afraid of monster.  It shows a sign of a healthy imagination.  By five they should be convinced that monsters aren’t real.

The problem however is that some monsters are real.  Ever since the Great Monster Uprising, when the monsters arrived from the Dark Place, monsters are an unavoidable part of out lives. (more…)

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Nada Surf / S.G. Goodman (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, May 28, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Jersey City, NJ, Nada Surf, Postponed, Quarantine, S.G. Goodman, White Eagle Hall on May 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 28, 2020] Nada Surf / S.G. Goodman [moved to April 18, 2021]

indexI saw Nada Surf a few months ago and  the show was great.  They are such a tight band and their songs are super catchy. Matthew Caws is a wonderful front man (and super nice guy).

Because I had just seen them I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go.  Well, I wanted to go, but I didn’t know if I should since I was going to so many other shows.  But since it was so close, I wanted to take S. to experience the joy.

I don’t know if this is the kind of thing that would get rescheduled, but I sure hope so.

S.G. Goodman is a singer-songwriter from Western Kentucky known for her rootsy sound and raw, honest lyricism. Her debut album came out in March.

I’ve listened to “The Way I Talk” and wow, what a cool song.  A simple repetitive beat with Goodman’s raw voice.  She doesn’t sing like a country singer (so that’s good), she tells a song story that ends with some amazing guitar feedback.  I’d love to see her live.

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Amanda Petrusich–“California Ghosts: Phoebe Bridgers’s humor and dread”(New Yorker, May 25, 2020)

Posted in Amanda Petrusich, Better Oblivion Community Center, Biography, Boygenius, Conor Oberst, Coronavirus, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Haley Dahl, Harry Potter, Marriage Trouble, Parenting, Phoebe Bridgers, Quarantine, Ryan Adams, Sexism, Sexual Assault, Slayer, Sloppy Jane, The National on May 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHOEBE BRIDGERS WORLD TOUR (May 26-June 4, 2010).

Phoebe Bridgers is a fascinating person.  She sings the most delicate songs.  Her voice is soft and almost inaudible. Her music is simple but pretty.  And her lyrics are (often) devastatingly powerful.

And yet she is really quite funny.  Both in interviews and in her visual representation of herself.

Her logo when I saw her was a fascinating faux death metal style of her name.  And now with this world tour, you can see in the poster all of the metal bands referenced in the logos. (There’s Slayer in the kitchen for instance).

And then there’s the basic joke of this world tour.  No one can go anywhere, so she is travelling her world: kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom (second concert by popular demand??)

The first show last night raised money for Downtown Women’s Center.

After some introductory talking and even a magic show (!) from Ethan, her producer, she played five songs.  Midway through she agrees that the set was a bit of a downer, especially opening with these two sad songs.

“Scott Street”
“Funeral”

Then it was time for two new songs (and an electric guitar).

“Moon Song”
“I See You”

Before coming to the end, she delayed, because she was having so much fun (and raising so much money).  So she showed us around her kitchen and pitched the kind of guitar she was playing, the kind of capo (quite expensive!), and her Target-purchased kitchen ware.  

She ended the set with a boygenius song, “Me and My Dog ” dedicated to her dog Max who died at the age of 17 last year.

The first night of her tour was a success. Tonight is night two, from the bathroom.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.  You can watch it here.

[READ: May 27, 2020] “California Ghosts”

I don’t usually read profiles of artists I like.  But every once in a while, one strikes me as interesting.

Phoebe Bridgers is a pretty fascinating character (see the above part for some details).  So I though this might be an interesting profile.  And it was.

Bridgers was brought up in Laurel Canyon and came of age listening to emo.  I love that the writer has to define emo for the New Yorker crowd, “a sub-genre of punk focused on disclosure and catharsis.”  That’s probably the most concise definition of emo I have read.

She writes that Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) is one of emo’s most beloved practitioners.  Phoebe grew up listening to him and then met him in 2016.  He says when he first heard her he felt like he was reuniting with an old friend.  In 2018 they made Better Oblivion Community Center together.

At Carnegie Hall (where she wore a tea-length black dress and high to Doc Martens), she sang a song with Matt Berninger of The National. (more…)

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