Posted in Coronavirus, David Gray, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine on August 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »
[POSTPONED: August 20, 2020] David Gray [moved to August 19, 2021]
David Gray is pretty uncool–definitely “old person” music. However, White Ladder is a pretty solid album. When he announced this show, I asked S. is she might want to go. We both had the same reaction. Maybe… if it’s convenient. Well, the Mann Center is anything but convenient, so there’s no way we were going.
I really shouldn’t even post it here, but since I’m including anything I even considered going to, here it is.
Posted in Boot & Saddle, Cancelled, Coronavirus, Fucked Up, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Sheer Mag, Young Guv on August 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »
[POSTPONED CANCELLED: August 20, 2020] Sheer Mag / Young Guv [rescheduled from May 15]
UPDATE: I’m not technically sure what the difference is between a postponed and a cancelled show in this time of COVID. This show was changed from postponed to cancelled on October 19. I assume that Sheer Mag will be back at Boot & Saddle one day, maybe it’s just a technicality for their books.
Who would have guessed back in may that a show postponed to August would get postponed again? Well, the CDC I suppose.
Since Sheer Mag is a Philly band, they will be back. But I was looking forward to seeing Young Guv. Hope he gets to come along next time.
I saw Sheer Mag a couple of years ago and found their set to be fun and energetic. I haven’t gotten any of their music because they refuse to put anything out as a CD.
Their sound is so strangely old school rock that it’s hard for me to believe they are a new band made up of young musicians.
I didn’t think I’d need to see them again, but it’s always fun to see bands at Boot & Saddle, especially with a home town crowd. They have rescheduled for two dates in the fall and fortunately my ticket will be applied to the night I am free.
Young Guv is Ben Cook, the guitarist for Fucked Up. I had no idea what kind of music Young Guv made, but what I imagined turned out to be nothing like what it actually is.
Young Guv’s music is poppy and light in an indie rock sorta way. It’s really catchy, too. I’m looking forward to seeing him again.
Posted in Adoption, Buscabulla, Coronavirus, India, Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, Parenting, Puerto Rico, Quarantine, Short Story, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Violence on August 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: BUSCABULLA-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #66 (August 18, 2020).
I 
know of Buscabulla from some glowing reviews of their debut album. Their story is an interesting one as well.
Buscabulla is made up of husband and wife Luis Alfredo Del Valle and Raquel Berrios, two Puerto Rico-born musicians who were based in New York until 2017. When their birthplace was devastated by Hurricanes Maria and Irma that year, they decided to leave New York and go back to where they were born. It was an emotional journey, one that inspired the songs of Regresa and which they chronicled for an upcoming mini-documentary.
Despite that setup, their music is soft and gentle–ethereal and beautiful. Raquel Berrios’ voice is delicately echoed and sexy without being over the top.
Their setting for this Tiny Desk (Home) (Beach) Concert is the trunk of their van. Luis del Valle has created a studio within the car that perfectly reflects the band’s sound. So two of them are
sitting inside their car at the beach in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico performing their Tiny Desk (home) concert. It’s as if the bubble of being inside the car will protect them from any chances of encountering the virus on the beach. But it’s also a reflection of how the band’s atmospheric sonic textures get inside your head when we listen with headphones. Buscabulla set up shop in New York years ago, but returned to their home to help support the island’s redevelopment — thus their entry from the beach.
It looks almost like a Zoom meeting background, with the gentle waves lapping against the shore, although in the beginning of the video you can see some people walking on the beach.
The set starts with “Mio” which has a cool slinky bass line from Luis Del Valle and an inset video of JD Matías playing timbales and cowbell. And although LD Valentín is laying down some nice backing keys (also in an inset), it’s Berrios who plays the trippy keyboard solo.
“Nydia” has a funkier bass line and layered spacey keys from Valentín. Berrios’ voice floats above all of it.
The duo have to maneuver a bit in that cramped space to play the final song. Luis puts his bass outside of the car (!) and switches to keys. Berrios also plays keys and this lovely set ends as beautifully as it began.
I’m not sure what kind of car this is, but it’s a pretty decent ad for trunk space–maybe Buscabulla could make some cash. It’s also a pretty nice ad for the gorgeous beaches of Puerto Rico.
[READ: August 20, 2020] “You Are My Dear Friend”
I thought this story was going to be about a British couple living in India, because it opens with a British couple living in India. They are hosting a party and their daughters’ au-pair, Geeta, brings their two little girls to meet everyone.
One of the party goers is a middle-aged Indian man sitting by himself. He looks old and tired.
A few days later Geeta is at the markets and she runs into this man. She has trouble placing him at first then she realizes that this man, Srikanth, was the man from the party. He talks with her and she resists engaging with him at first. Then she rethinks, and turns to talk to the man.
They met a few more times and then decided to get married. (more…)
Posted in Coronavirus, Harper's, Hilary Leichter, Jeff Tweedy, Norah Jones, Parenting, Quarantine, Short Story, Supernatural, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Tiny Desk Contest, Word usage, Work on August 19, 2020| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: NORAH JONES-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert # 65 (August 17, 2020).
Norah Jones is a musical force. Even though her songs are simple and tasteful, she has pretty much conquered or at least dabbled in many genres.
The blurb notes:
I’ve always wished to hear just her voice and her piano in a room. The unfortunate circumstances of our times have given us something beautiful. For this Tiny Desk (home) concert, Norah Jones sits in her music room; it’s just Norah, her upright piano, her poetry, and that golden voice.
I don’t know these songs (I’m sure they are lush), but even with this simple old-school piano, they sound lovely. All four of these songs are from her seventh record, Pick Me Up Off the Floor.
“How I Weep” and “Heartbroken, Day After” are pretty songs with lovely melodies.
My favorite song of the set is “I’m Alive,” which she co-wrote with Jeff Tweedy. I don;t know if it’s the Tweedy connection, but I love the melodies in this song–both vocal and musical. I’ve been hearing this on the radio a bunch and while I do prefer the full on recorded sound, this stripped down version is quite nice. “I’m Alive” is
a song that at once feels the pain of politics and a pain that is personal.
“You feel your soul / Get hollowed-out / While the world implodes / You just live without.” Yet the refrain is what lingers, “Oh, I’m alive / Yes, I’m alive / But I’m alive / Oh, I’m alive.”
“To Live” sounds like an old spiritual.
Jones is not very animated in this session. Indeed, if her hat didn’t keep falling off (why not just leave it off?), she’d have very little to talk about.
But I assume one doesn’t listen to Norah Jones for wild storytelling.
[READ: August 4, 2020] “Terrace Story”
This story started out with a young couple moving out of a beloved apartment and into a smaller one. The couple (Annie and Edward) had a little girl, Rose, and they talked about many things as if they were Proper Nouns: the tree outside the window was Yellow Tree, the place where the pigeons landed was Pigeon Tunnel. But the most pressing new Noun was Closet Mystery. The mystery was what would fall out of the tiny closet the next time you opened it.
Annie worked with Stephanie. Stephanie took on some of Annie’s work while she was having the baby. Annie wanted to thank her, so she invited Stephanie to their tiny apartment.
Stephanie was delightful and funny. And when she opened the door to Closet Mystery, the door opened onto a Terrace–a terrace that obviously had never been there before.
The terrace was gorgeous–amazing views, plenty of room, a grill, fantastic weather. It was fantastic.
When Stephanie left, Annie and Edward tried to recreate the Terrace in so many ways. But it only happened when Stephanie opened the door.
So they invited her over a lot.
They had a great time on the Terrace. They told Terrace Stories which were stories that were not really true, but it didn’t matter because the Terrace didn’t really exist either.
But soon, Annie grew suspicious of Stephanie. She felt that the stories Edward was telling Stephanie were more intimate, more detailed (even if false) than they should have been.
Edward told her he would never lie to her outside of the Terrace.
But on the Terrace, the lies were growing too big. Stephanie started calling Edward, “Eddie” and Rose “Rosie,” and Annie felt that Stephanie was trying to take over their lives. Annie had once been Anne until someone had started calling her Annie.
It didn’t help that her boss at worked continued to give Stephanie more and more of Annie’s work.
Just what was going on with this Terrace and why oh why couldn’t Annie find it on her own?
I was really delighted in the way this story turned surreal and wonderful and yet still seemed realistic.
Posted in Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Decemberists, The Met Philadelphia on August 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »
[POSTPONED: August 18, 2020] The Decemberists: 20 Years Before the Mast [moved to August 17, 2021]
I’ve been a fan of The Decemberists for years and I am surprised by how few times I’ve seen them. We were supposed to see them two years ago and then Colin Meloy’s voice went out just in time for our show, so that was cancelled.
I was surprised that this tour didn’t include a stop in Red Bank, but a show at the Met in Philly is almost as good.
I was really really hoping that this show wouldn’t be postponed–it seemed like a milestone date somehow. Plus, I had AMAZING seats. Fortunately, the show was postponed to exactly a year minus a day away (as many shows tend to be) and my amazing seats are still good.
Here’s their official word on the postponement from May 27:
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
As you might remember from previous emails, there was some discussion over whether or not 2020 was *in fact* the 20th Anniversary of The Decemberists. Did the band start out in 2000? Or was 2001 our proper debut? There are recollections of Decemberists shows happening in 2000 in some form, and yet our first website and logo proclaimed us “Est. 2001” — for reasons lost to time. Well, we’re happy to report that that controversy is settled once and for all, and it only took a global pandemic to do so.
And so: Twenty Years Before the Mast, The Decemberists’ 20th Anniversary Tour will be coming to your town in the summer of 2021, not this summer.
Posted in Children's Books, Christmas, Coronavirus, Diary, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Giuseppe Verdi, Humiliation, Jealousy, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jeff Kinney, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lies, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nostalgia, Parenting, Philip Glass, Quarantine, Richard Wagner, Short Books, Technology, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Toilets, Vacation, Víkingur Ólafsson, Yuck! on August 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #63 (August 12, 2020).
Víkingur Ólafsson has a fantastic name. But even better is his way of talking about the music he plays. He adds so much detail and information about these songs that they really come to life. I don’t often buy classical music anymore, but I absolutely want to get his new record of Rameau and Debussy pieces).
Ólafsson has moved from strength to strength, releasing three terrific albums in a row (Philip Glass, J.S. Bach, Debussy-Rameau). And now that he has a young son, he wants to spend as much time with the family as possible these days.
So he tells us that he is leaving Berlin after living there for eight years, to return to Iceland with his wife and son.
He opens with a beautiful slow and stately piece from J.S. Bach (arr. Stradal): “Andante” (from Organ Sonata No. 4). The piece runs about five minutes and after four slow lines, he throws in some amazing speed near the end. he says that Bach is a good idea whether you are happy or sad–whatever it is, Bach makes things better.
Then Ólafsson offers a crash course in the fascinating music of Jean-Philippe Rameau and Claude Debussy, two French composers who lived nearly 200 years apart. Ólafsson connects the dots between the two seemingly strange bedfellows, illustrating his points with demonstrations on his Steinway.
Introducing Jean-Philippe Rameau, he says the music will go in a very different direction (than Bach). Rameau was two years older than Bach and was dubbed the Newton of harmony. He defined harmony and opened musical doors.
For Rameau: “Le rappel des oiseaux” (“The Recall of the Birds”) he says that he is playing two birds: one in his right hand and one in his left. They are calling to each other–one imitating the other with perfect recall. Then they take flight and we see the landscape under their wings. When he plays it, it absolutely comes to life.
He says that was first piece of Rameau that he had ever heard. The version he heard was by a Russian pianist who played it “more sad, more Russian.” He plays it like that original version and you can hear the remarkable difference and how both versions work so well–although I like Ólafsson’s better.
Introducing Claude Debussy, he says it’a unusual pairing since they lived 200 years apart. But Debussy’s idol was Rameau. They were both musical outsiders, reinventing music, bringing life to a tired scene.
He plays a simple Debussy melody–harmony in space, a timeless beauty. But Debussy did not like being considered an Impressionistic. He was interested in the baroque, and there is a baroque structure to his music.
For Debussy’s: “The Snow is Dancing” (from Children’s Corner), he describes the driving rhythm that never stops as he explores harmonic inventions. This song wa written for his four-year-old daughter as he was exploring the snow with her. You can absolutely hear the textures of the snow in the song.
Ólafsson has a penchant for making transcriptions, taking pieces written for other instruments and making them his own. He closes with “The Arts and the Hours,” his mesmerizing arrangement of a scene from Rameau’s final opera, which he plays as a farewell to his Berlin apartment.
Ólafsson says that he wrote his last masterpiece (an opera) a year before he died and he never heard it performed. Indeed, it didn’t get a world premiere until 200 years after he died in 1960. This is a transcription he made because he was jealous of all the conductors and orchestra players who got to play this music. Rameau (arr. Ólafsson): “The Arts and the Hours” (from Les Boréades) is more loveliness from a composer who I feel may be quite under appreciated.
[READ: 2017 and August 15, 2020] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway
I read this book when it came out in 2017 but never posted about it. Then I recently realized that Kinney had written two more Wimpy Kid books that I hadn’t read (and two books written by Rowley, that I don’t know at all). So it was time to get Wimpy again.
This book is a Christmas book and yet it’s not a typical Christmas story–no annoying relatives, no bad gifts, not even snow. For The Heffleys have decided to go on holiday for Christmas. Their Christmas planning was going very badly (a funny picture of the tree on its side with Manny playing with tinsel), so when they saw an ad for Isla de Corales, where Greg’s parents went on their honeymoon, they decided to get out of town for Christmas and celebrate in the warmth of the holidays.
Now, unlike shows where the place is far worse than the advertisement shows, Isla de Corales proves to be a wonderful paradise. However, the place has now been divided into the mild side for families and the wild side for couples. Obviously, the wild side is better but the Heffleys have no way to get there.
But before they arrive, they have to get there. Their entire trip to the airport is one terrible moment after another–bad traffic, lost luggage, late shuttle. Not to mention terrible lines and a hilarious pile of confusion at the security line–I love that it’s not Greg’s fault that things went so badly but the Heffleys had to pay for it anyway. And of course Manny is a nightmare. (more…)
Posted in Boris, Fragment, Franz Kafka, Harper's, Japanese Music, Knives, Michael Hofmann, Play (Drama), Short Story, Violence on August 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: BORIS-Archive Volume Four “Evil Stack Live” (2014/2020).
In early August, Boris digitally released six archival releases. Volume Four is called “Evil Stack Live” and it is a fantastic-sounding concert from 2003. Boris released their fourth and fifth albums in 2002 and 2003. This fifty minute set picks songs from both of these albums: Heavy Rocks and Akuma No Uta.
Full set live recording [NHK Tokyo, 15th May 2003] that was broadcast on Japanese government-owned radio. The setlist is compiled from songs representative of their “Uppercase BORIS” distinction, including tracks from “Heavy Rocks” (2002) and “Akuma no Uta” (2003). (Originally released on March 5, 2014. Included in Archive 2, limited to 1,000 copies)
The show open with some splashing gong and two songs from Heavy Rocks (2002). That instantly recognizable riff from “Heavy Friends” kicks in as Atsuo screams to open the show. The riff continues, eventually picked up by Takeshi on the bass while Wata unveils a soaring guitar solo. It’s segues into the fast and heavy “Korosu.” This song has a catchy chorus that’s punctuated by a nifty riff from Wata.
The set shifts to the blazing rocker “Ibitsu” from Akuma No Uta. The song is three minutes long and has some great guitar licks and solos from Wata while Atsuo and Takeshi sing the lyrics. The really fast riffing at 2 minutes is energizing as they then return to Heavy Rocks for “Death Valley” which combines a classic riff with some great droning verses. The song stretches out to almost seven minutes with some heavy jamming in the middle.
There’s a slight pause before the start of the epic 11 minute “Naki Kyoku.” It starts slowly with some lovely picked guitar from Wata. After two minutes, Wata begins her extended solo. Atsuo and Takeshi jam a simple rhythm while Wata plays her soaring solo. Atsuo sings a catchy line (although I don’t know what he’s saying) as the song jams out around a thumping bass line and Wata’s chill noodling. The middle has a kind of call and response with the guitar and drums as Wata intersperses her licks between Atsuo’s drum fills.
They jump out of the slower song with two from Akuma. First is the fury of “Furi,” a ripping heavy song with lots of chaotic drums and yelps and screams (I think Takeshi is singing lead). A few gong crashes introduce the beginning of “Akuma no Uta.” It’s a slow grooving song with Takeshi’s heavy bass and Wata’s simple riffage. After two minutes the song takes off in a classic heavy jam–ripping guitar work and fast bass and drums.
They end the set with two songs from Heavy Rocks. “Dyna-Sore” is a fast rocker with a catchy guitar riff and chord pattern. The call and response between Takeshi and Atsuo while Wata plays the soloing riffs is only exceeded by the heavy middle drum section that turns into a super fast end riff. The set ends with “1970” another great riff-based rocker. This song features Takeshi and Atsuo singing together and a great rumbling solo bass moment before Wata ends the song with another ripping solo.
The quality of this recording is top notch and the selection of songs is just fantastic. This is a great archival release.
Takeshi: Bass, Guitar & Vocal ; Wata: Guitar & Echo ; Atsuo: Drums & Vocal.
[READ: August 15, 2020] “Knife Play”
This is yet another fragment from Franz Kafka collected in The Lost Writings. The one big surprise for me is how well fleshed-out the part of the story that exists is. It’s unfinished, but the sentences that are there are well composed (depending on how much translator Michael Hofmann has added to or spruced up the original German).
It feels like he he plotted and executed the beginning of the story very thoroughly and then just stopped.
In this fragment, the narrator is sitting next to his wife in a theater box. The play was exciting–a jealous man was raising a knife to stab his wife.
The narrator leaned over to his wife, but what they thought was curtain was actually a man. He and his wife jumped in shock. (more…)
Posted in Boris, Drinking, Harper's, Huh?, Humiliation, Japanese Music, Lina Wolff, Marriage Trouble, Saskia Vogel, Sex, Short Story, Translation on August 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: BORIS-Archive Volume Three “2 Long Songs” (2005/2020).
In early August, Boris digitally released six archival releases. Volume Three is called “2 Long Songs” and that’s what it contains.
There are two songs in this live recording, one is 15 minutes, the other is 22 and this whole recording is just fantastic.
Originally released in 2005 from the US label “aRCHIVE”, limited to 600 copies which sold out immediately. A precious live recording from their early days, of Boris’s 1996 debut single song release, “Absolutego”, and “flood”, released in 2000, performed live together as “1 song, 1 production”.
(Reissued as part of Archive 1 on March 5, 2014. Limited to 1,000 copies).
Like the other Archive releases, this one was also recorded at Koenji 20000V. This time in 2001–so the band and the quality of the recording are much improved.
“Absolutego” is a sixty minute song released as one long track on Boris’ debut album. So a 15 minute version is quite truncated. This version has a slow three-note bass line that slowly adds feedbacking guitars and cymbals. At two and a half minutes, the drums loudly pound in–like Atsuo is introducing himself to the set. But five minutes, the full on washes of noise have taken over the song and a few minutes later, Atsuo starts scream/singing. The song starts speeding up and by 12 minutes there’s lots of cymbal crashing as the song crescendoes into a conclusion of feedback and warped sounds.
“flood” is a 70 minute song (!). It is their third album (which was recorded in four parts). This song is much prettier and far less abrasive and here is only 22 minutes long. It opens with a pretty, quiet melody. It is slow and moody punctuated by cymbals and echoing noises. At four minutes the vocals come in–quietly singing in harmony. Then the drums come crashing in, building to waves of guitar noise and cymbals as the loud bass pushes the song along. A break introduces a high three note riff as the singing continues. Is that Wata singing? By fifteen minutes, Atsuo is making judicious use of the gong–a great punctuating sound. The last seven minutes are a conclusion as the song drones out to the end.
This is one of my favorite archival releases. The band sounds great and they perfectly jam out these long songs.
Takeshi: Bass & Vocal ; Wata: Guitar & Echo ; Atsuo: Drums & Vocal
[READ: August 15, 2020] “The Report”
This is a short story and I agree with the first sentence: “The report is bizarre.”
A woman has hired a man to bring information about her husband. The man followed the woman’s husband who worked at an office in Barcelona. But he spends a lot of his time in Madrid. With another woman. They meet every Thursday and Friday
The wife does not want to know the other woman’s name.
But the man tells her that the other woman is very ugly–her husband turns off the light as soon as he can because, “her face frightens him.” He takes long showers after lovemaking.
Then the man stands up and says that there are solutions to problems like this–we know how to get rid of people. But the wife is not interested. (more…)
Posted in Atlantic City, NJ, Coronavirus, Phish, Postponed, Quarantine on August 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »
[POSTPONED: August 15 & 16, 2020] Phish [moved to Aug 13, 14, and 15, 2021]
I have seen Phish a bunch of times but I will always try to see them again. And this summer tour promised to be interesting.
Phish will perform three shows on the Atlantic City beach Aug. 14 through 16, according to promoter Live Nation Entertainment. Atlantic City will be one of only two stops for Phish in the Northeast on their summer 2020 tour.
Atlantic City is a bit far for me (okay, it’s really quite far), but this seemed like a fun way to see them. So I got tickets for two of the three nights (I decided driving to Atlantic City of a Friday night was a fool’s errand).
Then on May 1, quite early in the pandemic, Phish made this announcement”
Due to the ongoing pandemic, we sadly have made the difficult decision to reschedule Phish’s entire 2020 summer tour, now moving to the summer of 2021. We’ve been as excited as ever to play music for you all, and are so heartbroken to postpone these dates. The health and well-being of Phish fans, our touring crew, and the communities in which the band plays is our top concern.
I assume my tickets are going to be for the 14th & 15th 2021. I wonder if they had printed any merch yet. I hope not–although it could be a pseudo-collector’s item like the Curveball shirts.
Posted in Aliens, Alternate Reality, Audiobooks, Bronson Pinchot, Fantasy, Foxes, Funny (ha ha), Magic, Pandemic, Parenting, Ransom Riggs, Supernatural, Surreal, Tahereh Mafi, Vacation on August 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »
[LISTENED TO: August 2020] Furthermore
The pandemic pretty much nixed our summer plans. But we decided to look for someplace close by, in a low-infection rate area, for a short getaway. It only amounted to a two night trip, but it was well appreciated. We traveled to the Lake George region and that meant we needed an audio book.
I absolutely love Bronson Pinchot as a narrator. I will listen to literally anything he reads. He tends to read darker materials, so the only trick is trying to find something family-friendly. Fortunately, he reads a lot of those as well. I’d never heard of this book before (although I was vaguely aware of Mafi’s other series “Shatter Me”). But as soon as I saw that Pinchot was reading it, I checked it out.
The only bad thing about Pinchot’s narration in this story is that there aren’t all that many characters in it. Pinchot has an astonishing range of voices at his disposal. So, to only show off 8 or so means you can’t fully appreciate how great he is. But the voices he chose were outstanding.
And the story was really interesting. Mafi has taken a fairly common idea–travelling to another world–and has infused it with all kinds of novel ideas and conceits.
First off, the original world that the characters start in is not our own. Alice Alexis Queensmeadow lives in Ferenwood, a land full of magic. Magic is so integral to Ferenwood, that it is a part of everything–including the people who live there. And that magic is displayed through color. Color that is abundant and vibrant and breathtaking.
Except for Alice. Alice was born without color. She is pale as anything. Her hair is white, her skin is white–she is unlike anyone else in Ferenwood and she hates that about herself. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 