SOUNDTRACK: FUTURE ISLANDS-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #158 (January 25, 2021).
I’m not a huge fan of Future Islands. I like some of their songs, and I think singer Sam Herring’s voice is really interesting. The biggest thing I remember about them is NPR’s fascination with singer Sam herring’s dancing. Herring does some dancing here, but saves most of it until the final song.
Future Islands’ four members are gathered not too far from their Baltimore base in Carroll Baldwin Memorial Hall, sans desk. “We lost the desk,” singer Sam Herring tells us with a smile. With drummer Michael Lowry on the tiny stage, the rest of the band — including bassist William Cashion and Gerrit Welmers on electronics — took to the floor, allowing Sam Herring to make his moves and sing his heart out. This music is clearly for the head and the feet.
The first three songs are from
their sixth and very recent album, As Long As You Are.
“Hit the Coast” is an upbeat song musically. The notable thing about Future Islands is that their music is primarily keyboard based, but there’s something about having a bassist that brings an organic element to the music.
Along with themes of loneliness and love, we also hear songs about race, which is most evident in “The Painter,” a song about how we can all look at the same thing and see it so differently.
He continues, “Art is subjective but they way we think about people and the way we treat human lives shouldn’t be.”
My favorite part of this very precise song comes mid-song when Cashion scratches up the strings a bit to add some chaotic distortion.
“Thrill” is set in Greenville NC on the banks of the great greasy Tar River. It’s about feeling isolated in your society, about self-isolating through substance abuse and about continuing to push forward as all the seething bubbles up inside of you like the great river. It is a slow and moody song and yo can tell that its very personal to Herring.
We end with a song that came out shortly after visiting NPR in 2011 [Oh man, I miss my hair] called “Balance.” It’s one of those tunes that feels repurposed for the 2020s: “This is a song for anybody who’s struggling through their lives,” Sam Herring says, “and I know there are a lot of you all out there, just trying to get by, but it’s going to take a little bit more time.”
This is a fun dance song–the kind of earlier, faster song that I like from them. Herring lets his dance shoes lose, with some impressive and wild moves.
[READ: March 1, 2021] Behemoth
Book two of this series was longer and more dangerous–as a sequel should be.
As this book opens, everyone is on board the Leviathan having just sailed to safety. Alek is showing Deryn how to fence. She is impatient and has no technical skill. But it’s nice for her to be with Alek (who Deryn has admitted to herself that she fancies) and it’s nicer that he is saying things like “we” when he talks about the Leviathan.
But soon they see some enemy ships. The ships look in bad shape and the Leviathan looks poised to destroy them. Until one of them fires up what they learn is a Tesla tower–a generator that can shoot lightning across great distances. No one has ever seen one before. But Alek’s men piece together what it is. Since they are the only ones who know how to fly Clanker engines, they are in charge of propulsion. And they disobey orders by bringing the ship to a halt. The Leviathan, being sentient, also senses what’s going on and starts to concur with the decision.
But disobeying orders is mutiny (except that Alek’s men aren’t technically part of the crew so they can’t be punished).
The Tesla cannon fires and grazes the Leviathan. It doesn’t puncture the ship (it could literally blow it up if it got to any of the hydrogen), but it does mess with everything electrical. It also leaves one of the men stranded on a Huxley–essentially electrocuted.
Deryn takes it into her hands to save her mate in an exciting an daring rescue.
Meanwhile, Count Volger whose decision it was to turn off the engine is in the brig (despite saving the ship). He and Alek decide that they need to escape the Leviathan–once Austia gets into the war, they will be considered enemy combatants and Alek cant risk that. He tells Deryn and she agrees that it would be for the best. He should try to escape when they dock in Constantinople.
Constantinople–that is, Istanbul, is a marvel. They have a fascinating mixture of Darwinsit and Clanker constructions–giant mechanical elephants and lots of automata. Plus the middle eastern spices and foods are exotic as anything. As is an American reporter–who will play a very large part in the story later.
Dr. Barlow has decided that Deryn would accompany her to meet the Sultan–where she plans to present her unhatched eggs. There are three of this precious cargo left, although no one but Barlow knows what they are yet. Things don’t go as planned, however, when it appears hat the sultan is uninterested in any sort of olive branch.
While the crew are in one the mechanical elephants they are boarded by German troops who make the elephant go on a rampage. [The effect of this is to make it seem like the British did the rampage], But before it can get too crazy, it’s up to some quick thinking from Deryn and Dr Barlow if they want to stop the takeover. I love how they stop the attack and that they use this technique even more affectively later. I did this attack to myself once by accident and I can imagine how effective it would be.
Meanwhile in the ship, Alek is planning his escape but he has to make sure the eggs are safe and warm (Dr Barlow has trusted him to be in charge). But on the night he is planning to sneak out, one of them hatches. It’s a n adorable, creepy mammal. Alek tries to leave it behind but as soon as he walks out it starts yelling and screaming. Alek has no choice but to brig it with him, where it stays quiet. After it has been with him just a few moments, it begins repeating things Alek says. Not like one of the communication lizards, but as if it is testing out words and learning them.
The escape does not go as planned, with only Alek and the two mechanics getting away. Klopp and Volger were caught (actually they sacrificed themselves). Fortunately they were caught by the Leviathan. Alek finds his way around Istanbul and that’s he meets the reporter. When the reporter reveals that he is going to tour the Leviathan, Alek promises him a good story if he he gets a message to Volger.
When the reporter is on the ship, he runs into Deryn who takes him to see Volger. While there, the reporter tells both of them about where Alek is.
When the reporter leaves, Vogler tells Deryn that she will help him escape or… he will reveal a secret about her to the ship–he has figured out her gender from the fencing lessons.
Then two distinct plots happen. Alek is rescued from German soldiers by a group pf Ottoman revolutionaries, and Dylan is given a dangerous mission.
Dylan’s mission is to plant special beasties onto the nets that hold the underwater mines in the river–these creatures will slowly dissolve the nets. If these mines can be destroyed they can sail a ship up the river which would allow the Russians to enter the fray. It’s a far more dangerous mission than even Deryn could imagine. She even loses some of her men. When she tries to escape through a loading dock she discovers the great train the Orient Express. carrying far more than passengers.
Alek is followed by a disguised young girl–Lilit. She takes him for a spy but it is Lilit’s father who invited him to the revolutionary’s hideout. After some details given, they trust that he is on their side. Their plan? To overthrow the sultan (who was instituted six years ago and is very unpopular) and help to get rid of the Germans. Alek is 100% on board.
Lilit slowly trusts Alek and is taken with Alek’s beastie. She names it Bovril (never name a beastie!). Bovril, a perspicacious loris, became my favorite character.
After much research, Deryn figures out how to find Alek in Istanbul and they have a joyful reunion.
In a subplot, it turns out that Deryn is convinced that Lilit and Alek are an item. But Alek reveals to Deryn that Lilit likes Dylan–she fell for Deryn’s disguise and thinks he is a dashing solider. Deryn almost tells Alek her secret but chickens out when he reveals that he could never love a commoner. His family has had too much trouble with the royal lineage business already.
There is a ton of really exciting stuff in the last hundred or so pages. Deryn, Alek and the resistant try to take down the huge Tesla Cannon. (Lilit’s escape is very cool).
As the book comes to an end everyone is back aboard the Leviathan and they are heading to Japan which decaled war against Germany four weeks ago
Looks like book three, the final one will be set in Asia for a time. What could possibly happen there?
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