SOUNDTRACK: SOFA-New Era Building 7″ [CST001] (1997).
Sofa was a band that is notabkle for being the first band released on Constellation Records. They had some releases before that but then guitarist Ian Ilavsky started Constealltion where they released their final 7″ and CD before disbanding.
This 7″ has two songs, “Canyon (Fade)” and “With It” which do not appear on their CD Grey. if you know the band, these songs fit in perfectly with thie sound–low throbbing bass, noisy buzzy guitars and spoken/sung deep vocals.
“Canyon (Fade)” opens with tribal drum beats and a low rumbling bass (which reminds me a bit of early Cure and other goth bands), but with a bit of a heaver edge. The singer has a deep speaking style of singing. I’m not really sure what he’s singing, but it adds a great tone to the song. About midway through the song the guitar (which has been mostly scratchy and noisy) breaks out with some harsh feedback squalls that kind of overpower the song. But then the bass fights back.
Of the two songs, I prefer “With It.” The bass rumble is super cool, low and wicked sounding. And the drums a are bit more spare. The guitar is playing some occasional notes while the singer mumbles his way through whatever he’s talking about. It’s a totally atmospheric piece—you can just picture where this noir thing is happening.
Just before the chorus comes in, his voice gets louder, the guitars start squalling and feedbacking and a rather high pitched “withit” punctuates the noise, after which the deep voice seems to moan. It’s pretty cool.
I really enjoyed how the bass doesn’t really change for the whole song except in a couple of places where it places a similar yet distinct bass line. It’s neat and changes the tone of the song briefly. At 2 and a half minutes the song stops abruptly and then the guitar notes resume to get the song started again. Groovy noise.
Shame the band disbanded.
[READ: February 6, 2015] Booth
Here’s another First Second book for February #10yearsof01. And what better day to post a book about John Wilkes Booth?
I really didn’t know much about John Wilkes Booth except for the obvious–he shot Abraham Lincoln and shouted sic semper tyrannus.
Well, this book take a relatively sympathetic look at the life of the world’s most famous assassin. This is not to say that the book endorses what Booth did or anything like that–no hate letters please. It just looks at Booth as a human who had opinions and acted on them.
Thankfully, Colbert does not show Booth’s life in a vacuum so we get proper context for what he did and we also hear the opinions of the people who were also opposed to him. But it is fascinating to see the things he believed and what forced him to act on his beliefs. (more…)
Last night we attended McCarter’s production of A Christmas Carol for the second time (first time was two years ago). We went specifically because it is the last time that they are doing this particular performance of the show (it has been the same for 16 years). Next year they will be doing something entirely new.
We were pretty staggered by the pricing (last time we got super cheap seats but they were pretty far into the corner which ruined some of the magic). But there was a Black Friday special and we had awesome seats (the woman next to me was mad that we paid literally half her price, muhahaha, Scrooge alert!). But wow, what seats!
The show felt more magical and more moving than last time (I was a blubbery mess by the end). It was awesome to see that the entire set was crooked (a great, disconcerting effect). And to really see the sets come forward and the spirit of Christmas future as soon as he came out, those were very cool moments. T. asked if we can sit in the front row next year.
It was also interesting to see who was different in the cast this year. I recognized a few returning members–James Ludwig is awesome as Fred, Scrooge (Graeme Malcolm) was the same (and was awesome–I loved the way he did little things, like kick a rug into place, which were “accidents” but were totally in character). And there were clearly some new faces and new actors. You can see the whole cast at the McCarter site.
And I just read (in New Jersey Stage) that apparently many in the cast are quite well known:
Boasting a gigantic list of Broadway, regional and international credits, the cast of A Christmas Carol includes Leah Anderson, Allison Buck, Billy Finn, Kathy Fitzgerald, Nike Kadri, David Kenner, January LaVoy, James Ludwig, Bradley Mott, Anne O’Sullivan, Sari Alexander, Gabriel Bernal, Andrew Clark, Jean G. Floradin, Heather Gault, Michael John Hughes, Sophie Lee Morris, Gregory Omar Osborne, Patrick Roberts, Daniella Tamasi, and Arielle Taylor.
I just re-read what I had written two years ago and found that I felt exactly the same. So for the rest of the post I am going to keep everything the same (with a few updates).
I love big band music. It’s what I grew up listening to. So this seemed like an ideal collection for the holidays. I mean all of the big names in big band are here. It’s a little less raucous than I would have imagined, but for a low key kind of swinging party, it works very well
GLENN MILLER-“Jingle Bells” starts off the collection right, with big horns and fast beats. I don’t love the main singer (I do like the way he twists some of the lyrics), but I do enjoy the really really un-hip backing vocalists.
RALPH FLANAGAN-“Winter Wonderland” is the kind of swing I like–big horns, more horns, all louder than the last. I also tend to like my big band as instrumental, so this one is aces for me.
TOMMY DORSEY-“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” opens with a verse that I’d never heard before. It sounds like it is coming from a tiny transistor radio, but is fun nonetheless.
FREDDY MARTIN-“Sleigh Ride” sounds like a very traditional version of this with pizzicato violins and smooth orchestration. When the vocals come in, it sounds like it may have been used in every Christmas TV special during the 1940s and 1950s (the “horse” whinny at the end especially). Perhaps a little too smooth for my liking.
VAUGHN MONROE-“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” features Monroe’s deep bass voice. They tinker with the standard melody somewhat–singing on an occasional minor note, which is interesting. But it’s still a nice romantic version of the song.
CLAUDE THORNHILL-“Snowfall” is a slow piano instrumental. It definitely does not swing.
SAMMY KAYE-“White Christmas” is, as I’ve said, really a sad song underneath, but this one actually sounds like it could have the backing vocalists wailing in tears as Kaye sings along. Again, there will be no swinging here. Never have the words “merry and bright” sounded so sad.
LARRY CLINTON-“Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” is a big swingin’ horn fueled romp (it has nothing to do with the The Nutcracker). It always makes me laugh when the first minute or so of a big band song are rollicking and wild, and then when the vocalist comes in, the horns drops out and the song becomes really quiet (that happens here).
FATS WALLER-“Winter Weather” is not really a swinging song, but Waller’s voice sounds great and raspy in this piano and guitar based song.
BENNY GOODMAN-“Santa Claus Came in the Spring” is a song I’m unfamiliar with. It’s got a good swinging feel, although lyrically it’s a bit suspect (if not sweet).
FATS WALLER-“Swingin’ Them Jingle Bells” is a swing version of Jingle Bells, with a lot of rollicking piano. It’s good fun until the really weird vocals come in. I guess it was something of a novelty (Waller seems to be having a lot of fun at any rate).
SPIKE JONES-“All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” is one of the oldie songs that I really don’t like. I love Spike Jones, and I appreciate that it was a novelty hit (my father used to say this line every year). But at 3 minutes of that weird squeaky voice, it feels way too long–and the fact that the middle just goes on and on is so weird.
GUY LOMBARDO-“Auld Lang Syne” is a pretty orchestral version of the song–probably the one you’ve heard every year. A nice end to the party.
[READ: December 3, 2014] The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth
I grabbed this at the library, not entirely sure what it was. Could it really be a version of Macbeth? Set in a zoo? Well, yes it is. It’s a version of Macbeth for kids as performed by animals in the zoo.
The plot is the same, but it is utterly simplified and made not only kid-friendly, but also funny. Yes, Macbeth as comedy!
So the lion is Macbeth, a heroic figure if ever there was. And the owl is the king. Everything is great until th elion is hungry for…power! Various other animals play different parts (some of them very humorously–like the blind mole as the guard). And many other animals are in the audience (of course) and they get to comment on the performance too. I particularly enjoyed the two tiny creatures (no idea what they are), one of whom loves the violence and the other one hates it. (more…)
I had never heard of Muckaferguson. Okay, that is not true, as I see I made a post about them because of the They Might be Giants song “John Lee Supertaster.” Because the real John Lee is a indeed a supertaster and was in the band Muckaferguson. (And John Flansburgh of TMBG produced this album). So there. But I still hadn’t heard them until now.
This song comes from that album.
The album is a flurry of genres and styles, and amid all of this, we get this old school beat box rap (sorta early Beastie Boysish). And I like it because it is quite funny. And since it’s only a minute and a half long, I’ll put all the lyrics, because I can’t pick a favorite line:
my name is mc speller and i like to spell…s p e l l spells spell. mc speller and i love to spell…q u e u e spells queue.
he’s a maniac, ya’ll. here comes the heart attack, yo. chris likes food. andy like atari. i like the work of john baldessari. my rhymes are fresh and my moves are hard. i play the plastic guitar like baudrillard.
my name is mc speller and i like to spell…d a d spells dad. mc speller and i love to spell…r h o n g spells wrong.
i’m mc scared of bees, ya’ll cause you know that i’m scared of bees, ya’ll. when i see a bee i run because by definition i’m scared of bees.
yo, i’m comin’ to you straight out of sutton in suburban south london. white, middle class, educated 20 something. i got me degree in pure mathematics. i don’t like to rap i’m just being sarcastic.
r i g h t spells right, mc speller’s gonna spell all night, talkin’ about. n i g h t spells night, mc speller spells everything right
Despite the kid friendly nature of some of some of these songs, the album as a whole is definitely not kid friendly (I mean, look at the cover and, frankly the band’s name). The song “I Wanna Get…” is all about getting, well, F’d up, so be mindful. But many of the songs are delightfully witty.
John Lee, incidentally, is also responsible for the show Wonder Showzen, so if you know the show, you get a sense of the kind of mischief he makes.
[READ: August 9, 2014] My Homework Ate My Homework
Regardless of how I felt about Guinea Dog 1 and 2 (overall I liked them quite a bit), it was impossible not to snap up a book with a title like this. Especially when the book is about a ferret. (The cover is by the same artist as the Guinea Dog books, which led me to assume the style was similar, which it was).
This book is about 10-year-old Zaritza (the unusual name is never explained). She is… dramatic. And is a fan of dramatic…. pauses. She is incredibly excited to be playing Calamity Jane in the upcoming traveling theater production of Calamity Jane. She has watched the film dozens of times and has her “Calam” down perfectly.
The problem is that if she doesn’t bring her grades up she’s won’t be allowed to do extra curricular activities. Like drama. She is not the best student, so rather than actually doing her work, she decides to do some extra credit. Like bringing the classroom pet Ferret home for the weekend. She hates the ferret. She hates its smell, she hates its look. Hates it. But she needs the credit. And so it comes home. And then she forgets to close the cage door and the ferret gets out.
Panic!
While the ferret is out, and they are trying to catch it, Zaritza hears something–gnawing. And that’s when her homework ate her homework. (more…)
Last year when Orphan Black came out, we taped a bunch of episodes, but it aired at an awkward time in our viewing schedule. We watched the first episode but we picked a bad night (for me) to watch it because I dozed off and didn’t get absorbed in it. Then the Tivo deleted an episode or two and that was the end of that.
As Season 2 was amping up, the press about the show was a little ridiculous, but everything made the show sound so good that we decided to give it a try again. Of course, it started before the Fall season shows ended, but SyFy kindly aired a marathon of Season 1. By the time we had time to watch it, we had 17 episodes in our queue. And that was an awesome way to watch this show–no delays between episodes, just one show a night until we were totally hooked.
Sure, some of the details of the show are confusing and sure there’s some weird sciencey mumbo-jumbo, but when the characters are this intriguing, and the actual story grows more compelling, you can forgive confusion (especially since a surprising number of those questions were answered in the Season 2 finale). The acting is superb and each clone’s storyline is detailed and rich. Even the characters that were despicable have become enjoyable (how many murderers are we going to root for on this show?). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: WHITEHORSE-“Pins and Needles” and Kickstarter campaign (2014).
I really enjoyed seeing Whitehorse live. I would absolutely see them live again. I was delighted then that their album was also fantastic (I didn’t think it could match their live show…and it doesn’t but it is great in a different way). In a very short time I became a big fan of the band.
THey havea new song, “Pins and Needles” and a Kickstarter campaign. The song begins with Melissa McClelland’s voice singing in it beautiful way–there’s guitar in the right ear and bass in the left ear. Then Luke Doucet comes in for verse two. And when their voices fill the bridge it feels so complete. Until they get to the chorus when they push it even further and it sounds amazing.
They sing so well together. Her voice has a slight country twang, and his is a low baritone. Their harmonies are superb as they sing the compelling chorus: “Fake Your Death and I’ll Fake Mine”
Lyrics are certainly interesting for the band. How many times do you hear a woman singing a line like: “I’m the villain in this piece And back when I was a thief, I broke hearts like they were teeth.”
I love this song. And it may or may not end up on the new album for which there is a Kickstarter campaign.
And I’m in. I’m a little unclear about exactly what they aim to do with the money they raise. They say quite plainly that there will be an album regardless of whether they raise the funds. And their label, Six Shooter, is totally behind the band.
Rather seems to be a way to raise some money and some attention for the band. And, apparently it will give fans a glimpse of the album as it is being made–a sort of behind the scenes featurette that comes before the disc itself. The prizes are varied and moderate–from a download, to the CD, to a T shirt, to sheet music (all for reasonable donations), all the way to the grand prize–for $8,000 they will play a private show for you.
I’m in for a CD, and I’m happy to pay regular ticket price when they come around again.
Check out the Kickstarter campaign for more details where you can also hear “Pins and Needles.”
[READ: April 24, 2014] My Struggle Book Two
I read an excerpt of Book Two in Harper’s well over a year ago. So when I got to that section again (it’s the end of the book) I was trying to remember why it sounded so familiar–an accident during a soccer match that leaves Karl Ove with a broken collarbone and an unhappy girlfriend (who will be looking after three kids without him), and then I remembered the excerpt that started it all.
The translation of Book Two by Don Bartlett is fantastic, just as in the first book–I can only assume the original Norwegian is just as compelling. Book one was 430 pages and now book two was 573, so I’m in to Karl Ove’s life for 1003 pages, and there’s four more books due (Book Three comes out next month).
As I mentioned for Book One, this series has caused some controversy because it is given the same title as Hitler’s Mein Kampf (Min Kamp in Norwegian), and also because he says some pretty mean stuff about people who are still alive. Book One was about the death of his father. It was pretty dark. Book Two is about his first daughter and about falling in love with Linda, his children’s mom (although not yet his wife). And it is also pretty dark.
I was trying to figure out why I like this series so much. Not a lot happens, Karl Ove is not a very nice person and he seems to be pissed off most of the time. And I think what I realized is that I share a lot of opinions as him, but he takes everything to the extreme. And he is kind of an asshole. I mean, anyone who writes a six part autobiography called “My Struggle” (okay, really it’s called My Head) is kind of an asshole. But so when I see things that I would only think in my deepest recesses of my mind printed on a page, it’s strangely visceral to me. I realize this means that I’m kind of an asshole too, but the key difference is that I don’t act on the things that I think, nor do I write 4,000 pages about them.
I told Sarah that she might laugh at some of the opinions that he lists but that she would not enjoy reading the books. Indeed, this book, this series, is not for many, I’m sure. But to me there is something strangely engaging about him and his strange life and his writing style. And I really flew through this book, finishing it in about a week.
So this book begins (started in July 2008) with Karl Ove being pissed off. He talks about finishing the first part of the novel (which I have to assume is Book One, given when this was written and how this book ends) just last month (in other words he is really churning this stuff out!). He and Linda have been fighting (as the book opens they have three children, Vanja, Heidi and John–it’s also hard to believe that his children are young enough to not really know much about this series). The tension is high between them–glares, comments, nasty sniping. Karl Ove says that he is afraid to say things around her because he knows how she’ll react. But at the same time, some of things he desires are simply not defensible in a relationship or when you are parent. And the main conflict seems to be that Karl Ove is selfish and Linda is (at least according to him) mildly suicidal and possibly bipolar). And mind you, at the time of his writing this, I think they are still together…. (I could look that up, but it seems kind of fun not exactly knowing). (more…)
Of the four Record Club discs, this is the only one I don’t own. Although I do have a different covers collection called More Oar (which Beck also appears on). I may have never heard any of the original songs on this disc, so I can’t even compare them.
For those who don’t know (as I didn’t), Skip Spence was one of the founders of Moby Grape, a band who was vaguely successful in the late 60s and then sort of fell apart (especially when Spence tried to kill his bandmates and was put in an asylum for a year).
Beck doesn’t have anything special to say about why they picked this album. But he must have been very excited that Wilco and Feist were around to play on it. He says
This one took place last June when Wilco was in town for the release of their new eponymous album. They came by after a long day filming a TV appearance and still managed to put down 8 songs with us. Jamie Lidell was in the studio with me working on his new record. Leslie Feist happened to be in town editing her documentary and heard we were all getting together. Recording took place at Sunset Sound Studios in the room where the Stones did a lot of Exile On Main Street (and looking at the records on the walls it appeared that the Doobie Brothers recorded most of their output there too). Sitting in on drums, we had James Gadson, who’s played on most of the Bill Withers records and on songs like ‘Express Yourself’ and ‘I Will Survive.’ Jeff Tweedy’s son Spencer played played additional drums. Also, Brian Lebarton, from the last two Record Club sessions is back.
And if you don’t know what Record Club is, see the summary on yesterday’s post.
Wilco plays on 8 tracks (of 12) and they sound great. Indeed, overall this is the most “professional” sounding recording. Which is not to say that they don’t have fun. It sure sounds like they do.
Little Hands (2:59). This has a traditional folk band sound. It’s a great recording.
Cripple Creek (4:14). This is not THAT “Cripple Creek,” by the way. “Jamie takes the lead and Gadson gets behind the kit, while Beck and Brian back them.” There’s a funky drum breakdown in the middle.
Diana (3:48). Another good sounding song.
Margaret/Tiger Rug (2:27). This song is a little boppy and slightly silly sounding, but not really that silly.
Weighted Down (The Prison Song) (4:58) “Feist takes the lead this week with Nels Cline arpeggiating some ridiculous 64th notes on a toy guitar.” Feist adds some beautiful vocals to this song.
War In Peace (5:04). This begins a little slow and shambolic but it soon builds into a full band that gets even crazier when they start playing “Sunshine of Your Love.” It was fun to hear them let loose.
Broken Heart (3:39). This sounds like a traditional song. A little drunken and fun–a nice duet with Feist.
All Come To Meet Her (2:02). This is a simply beautiful harmonized a capella rendition.
Books Of Moses (7:21) “Gadson lays down the heaviest RC beat ever, while Jamie loops his voice into a voice army and Brian plays some kind of octagon shaped synth.” This had a kind of Primus-y weird synth opening. But as Jamie loops his voice over and over it sounds really good, although it is too long.
Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin For Yang) (3:56). This is a synthy bouncy song. It’s a little silly, especially with th Ace of Base coda at the end. But it sounds good.
Lawrence of Euphoria (5:17). The lyrics of this song are very silly. This version has a fake cowbell and funky bass but is otherwise just electronic drums and vocals.
Grey/Afro (7:35). This has echoed vocals and noisy bass. It’s hard to figure out what’s going on here, especially at the chaotic ending. But it’s nice to hear them all let loose a bit.
As I said, I don’t know how this compares to the original, but I really enjoyed it.
[READ: March 23, 2014] White Girls
This book was madly hyped and I was pretty excited to read it (even though to be honest I didn’t know if it was fiction or non-fiction–and wasn’t even entirely sure as much as half way through the first piece). I knew Als’ name from the New Yorker, although I wasn’t really conscious of having read anything by him. It turns out I read one of these essays in McSweeney’s 35 about four years ago. The fact that I didn’t remember reading that essay does not speak all that well about it. But overall I enjoyed most of the essays in the book quite a lot; however, the two longest ones I found, well, way too long. And I honestly don’t understand the title.
Overall the book is a collection of essays (often told from an interesting perspective, like from the dead person’s first point of view). The problem with pretty much every essay in the book at least for me was that Als presupposes a base knowledge of these people. Without that, the essays can be frustratingly vague and unclear. But again, these people are all famous enough that it seems likely that one would have that base knowledge (even if I don’t). I do wish there was a small bio or even a photo with these essays (as there was with the Truman Capote one) as I feel that grounded me nicely.
I was a lot more confused by his essays that were more personal. I didn’t really understand the context for what he was talking about, since i know very little about him. And as you’ll see from the first essay, he covered a lot in a very un-straight way. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Bathurst Street Theatre, Toronto, ON (October 7, 1994).
This show was broadcast on the radio, and indeed, this is an encore broadcast that you can download from Rheostatics Live.
Anyhow, it begins with people raving about the Rheos on the radio. And then the band kicks in. The set is 45 minutes, although I assume the original must have been longer. Why? most of their shows are longer and this feels like it might have some cuts for commercials and whatnot.
They play ten songs, and it’s alike a highlight reel of their earlier music: “Take Me in Your Hand,” “King of the Past,” “Queer,” “California Dreamline,” “Soul Glue,” “Claire,” “Northern Wish.” But it’s also got its far share of goofiness: some improvs and the resolutely silly “Full Moon Over Russia” and “Alomar” (which sounds really tight here). It’s a great set and a great introduction to early Rheos live music.
[READ: January 29, 2014] “My Man Jeremy”
Everyone mostly knows Cera as an actor (who I’ll see in anything). But he’s also a writer. His previous piece in McSweeney’s was very funny. And so is this one. Although now the two published things I’ve read by him were both about being an actor, so maybe its time to broaden the range a bit.
Anyhow, this is basically a set up about text messaging. He opens by explaining that people ask him is he has any funny stories about texting (this part is in italics). Then he tells us this tale about Jeremy. The text messages are written straightforward, with interjected comments by Cera as he “studies” the exchange.
It begins with a text from an unknown number “Sup you coming to this thing?”
Michael writes back. “Hi oops I don’t know this number. I’m Michael, who is this?”
Now, this isn’t especially funny, but it did make me smile to think that anyone would respond to a wrong number this way. At any rate…. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: An open letter to the Rheostatics (2014).
To Dave, Martin, Tim and assorted drummers:
I’ve been a fan of the Rheostatics for a long time. I recall traveling to Toronto from New Jersey back in the 90s and tracking down Introducing Happiness at Sam the Record Man. And then later driving around the Niagara Falls region listening to the strange and wonderful album. I’ve enjoyed all of the subsequent albums.
You were a unique band with a unique sound. I was sad when you split up, even if that meant that now there were three solo projects to enjoy. Of course, there’s been a lot of bands that have broken up, it’s just part of being a fan. But the thing about the Rheostatics breakup is that you three (or four or five or six) have remained friendly. You’ve done a few reunion shows since the breakup, which I think that’s super cool. It’s especially cool because RheostaticsLive tends to post them after a while so that those of us who don’t make the shows can hear them.
I’ve never seen you guys live, and I imagine I never will. And I’m okay with that. What I’m mostly bummed about is that there will be no more new music from you. You put out approximately ten albums (there’s a few miscellaneous things that are hard to qualify). Those records include soundtracks and live albums and all manner of things, so there’s really seven proper albums (the others are great, don’t get me wrong). Anyhow, my gut feeling is that there needs to be some new Rheostatics music. I know you’ve all been doing solo stuff (and I have it), but sometimes the sum is greater, etc.
Clearly I’m getting at that it’s time for a new album from the Rheostatics. Before you scoff, I’m not talking reuniting for a grand tour, or even any tour, I’m not even talking a live show. Heck, I’m not even talking about you guys hanging out for more than a couple weeks. Just an album of new songs. A decade ago it would have been unthinkable that you would get together for the expense of an album without major label support. But now, the cost is so much lower and with your fan base expanding, I assume it would be easy to recoup the expenses.
So what do you say? Since it seems like everyone is still friendly and creative, maybe you can throw some ideas around in the email, see if there’s anything magical happening. Obviously, if there’s nothing there or you just can’t work together, then don’t continue. No one wants to hear a crappy Rheostatics album. But if there’s even a chance that you guys can throw some ideas together and pull out another “Horses,” or “Northern Wish” or “CCYPA,” or holy cow, “King of the Past,” or, hell, anything you’ve done, then it’s absolutely worth it.
I don’t imagine any of you will read this, but maybe if you google yourselves, Tim Vesely, Dave Bidini, Martin Tielli, you’ll see this and think that, yes, dammit, seven records of Rheostatics music is not enough.
Thanks for the music, Paul Debraski.
[READ: January 26, 2014] Worst. Person. Ever.
I told myself that I wanted to read this book before anyone requested it. And I did. In fact, I wanted to finish it before the weekend was up, which I did as well. It’s nice to meet a minor goal.
The last few Coupland books that I read (see last week) were very dark. Since those books, he has broadened his palette somewhat, including writing a children’s book and some more non-fiction. And then we get this. A vulgar, very funny sendup of modern culture. The introduction to the book says that it was based on a short story that he wrote for McSweeney’s #31 called “Survivior.” That story was written in the style known a biji which they described as
Biji is sort of a notebook, which contains legends, anecdotes, scientific notes and local wisdom. Accounts of everyday life mix with travel narratives as well as lists. It is meant to represent a picture of the culture at the time of writing.
I thought that this style was well suited to Coupland, because he includes all of that stuff anyway. And so he has taken that story and fleshed it out into this full novel.
The worst person ever is named Raymond Gunt. He thinks he’s Jason Bourne, but he’s really just a metaphorical extra in a Bourne movie (one who probably gets killed). Gunt is a cameraman working in England. He is divorced. His wife is a raging harpy (at least from his point of view, which is all we see). Since their divorce, she has become wildly successful in television production. He calls in on her at work and she tells him about a job working as a B cameraman on a show called Survival. He knows that the job must suck or she wouldn’t give it to him, but he needs to work. Of course, he is most upset at the thought of having to work with Americans (Americans are majorly abused in this story). Although by its very nature a B cameraman position is not as good as an A cameraman, Ray needs the work, so he agrees to fly to some godforsaken tropical island to watch beautiful people starve and try to have sex with each other.
On his way out of the building he sees a homeless guy. And since Ray is the worst person ever, he kicks him. But the homeless guy is no pushover and he chases after Ray. He catches Ray in an alley and pummels him, ultimately pushing his face into some garbage. The man is Neal and although he acts crazy, he’s actually quite sharp (why he is homeless is not addressed). After forcing Ray to sing the female verses of “Don’t You Want Me,” Neal gives him this sage advice:
“Stop being a cunt to the world and the world will stop being a cunt to you.”
Advice which Ray simply cannot follow.
When ray learns that he needs a personal assistant, um, slave, he immediately thinks of Neal. So he tracks him down, cleans him up and gives him a job. And off they jet to make some TV.
In the course of the book, a series of crazy things–the kind of things only Coupland thinks of–sidetrack them from Ray’s goal. (His real goal is to get laid, naturally). First, it turns out that Neal, despite being homeless, is a total babe magnet. And throughout the story, as he gets cleaner and fresher, he becomes irresistible This, of course, ruins Ray’s plans of bedding hot women. And as Neal gets cleaner, he becomes less and less Rays assistant and more and more Ray’s equal.
They jet to L.A., (he was supposed to be in first class, but was bumped and is super angry). He also gets in trouble with the airport bartender, Lacey, who comes back to haunt him in ways one could never predict. He gets first class seats on the way to Hawaii and he abuses the privilege. Then, because of unforeseen circumstances, they have to stay in Honolulu (with lots of Spam jokes). And because of those unforseen circumstances, they need to recast the show, which means Ray’s wife has to jet down and be around them. And Ray’s wife, Fiona, is delighted to make Ray’s life miserable. Eventually, they head to their intended island and prepare to set up for the show.
In the meantime, the U.S. has decided to destroy the Great Pacific Garbage Patch–in a very imaginative way. And ray is on hand to witness the destruction. This plan causes all manner of trouble with shipping and airplane traffic. Which has the effect of isolating everyone on the Survivor island–causing a literal survival situation.
Raymond Gunt may not be the worst person ever, but he is pretty darn close. He tries to sleep with anyone. He tries to screw over everyone else (but never seems to get anywhere). And he genuinely likes to torment others. And all the while he repeats his mantra, “I consider myself a reasonable enough citizen.” Despite Gunt’s personality, he (or at least the story) is funny enough that you want to keep reading (and maybe even to succeed in some of his designs). And that made this story a major page turner. And it was very funny as well.
Coupland really gets the feel for writing a British story. It doesn’t read like any of his other books and while it’s not full of crazy accents or overt Britishisms, his main character is defiantly not American. As I said, all Americans are fat, sweaty, stupid and prudish in Ray’s mind.
This is also the worst person that Coupland has ever written. He is such an abominable person with an incredibly filthy mouth. The above quote is just one of just many curses in the book. In fact there’s a whole subplot about how prudish Americans are about people saying “fuck” despite their cavalier acceptance of violence and other things (we say friggin, when everyone knows we mean fucking).
I have to assume Coupland had a ton of fun writing this. And it really comes through. I’m also going to guess that a lot of people’ won’t like this book because Gunt is so reprehensible. But if you can get past that, the story is funny, and makes some pointedly humorous observations about a lot of contemporary life. Like “Survival [sic] is a popular reality TV show… You’re either into this show or you’re not. It’s binary.” or “‘Come on Eileen’ was a single in 1982…What’s weird about this song is that it was so huge at the time and now you listen to it and wonder, what the hell was everyone thinking? Well, that’s pop culture for you.” It even has what seem like Wikipedia entries of things throughout in the book (and a YouTube link which is bizarre to see in print).
I really enjoyed this, and I’m thrilled that Coupland has unleashed his inner black humorist.
Watch him talk about the book with Jian Ghomeshi, a great interviewer
I had never seen A Christmas Carol performed. I was, of course, familiar with the story–from the original (the Patrick Stewart audiobook is amazing) and from the many, many versions of it that have been performed in cartoon and live action formats.
We took the kids as this is a holiday classic and we thought it would be fun for all of us. And we were right. Except–this version is at times quite scary and (as my son pointed out) quite loud. I didn’t find it terribly loud, although the scary bits were considerably louder than other bits. And yes, the ghosts were certainly scary. (I had actually warned him that the ghost of Christmas Future would be very scary, but it proved to not be the case, although it was really frikkin cool).
And I must say I was charmed immediately–as soon as the kids ran out on stage in period costume, singing songs and being very Christmassy, I was hooked. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: SOFA-New Era Building 7″ [CST001] (1997).
Sofa was a band that is notabkle for being the first band released on Constellation Records. They had some releases before that but then guitarist Ian Ilavsky started Constealltion where they released their final 7″ and CD before disbanding.
I Just Read About That... 