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Archive for the ‘Africa’ Category

Dave Bidini–Home and Away: One Writer’s Inspiring Experience at the Homeless World Cup (2011)

Posted in Aerosmith, Africa, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Charity, Cheap Trick, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini, Dave Bidini music, Drugs, Homeless World Cup, Rheostatics, Russia, Travel, tagged on November 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

homeawaySOUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI—The Paramount Moncton, NB [audience & soundboard recordings] (July 29, 2007).

monct This final show has two different recordings at the Rheostaticslive site, an audience recording and a soundboard. The soundboard recording is cleaner and I suppose better, but the audience recording is a little more fun because you can hear the audience responding to Bidini’s comments and jokes.

For the reading he asks if people want London or Finland, and so he reads Finland.  He reads the funny story about trying to get a cheap 30 pound flight to anywhere only to get hit with a huge fine for having too much stuff.  The section ends with a funny moment when a Finnish audience member compliments him:  Your voice is excellent!  Dave is excited since that’s not something he hears to often.  The man follows up with: “You pronounce English very well.”

He plays seven songs all on acoustic guitar.  Three of the songs are Rheostatics classics: “Fat,” “Me and Stupid” and “My First Rock Show.” I feel like hearing “Me and Stupid” in this setting really let me get the lyrics better–I never really understood the middle section. All three songs sound good in this format.

The “solo” songs are the same four: “Song Ain’t Good,” “The List” “The Land is Wild” and “The Ballad of Zeke Roberts.”

While talking to the crowd he mentions seeing signs on the road: “Free PEI Spuds for Cheap Trick” and “Red Sox nation welcomes Aerosmith.”  He mentioned them in the previous days’ show as well, but in this show it sounds like someone claims to have written them (or at least seen them) but we never learn what they are all about.

He sounds great and the audience is responsive.  Of the three, I like this show the best.

[READ: November 10, 2015] Home and Away

My triumvirate of Bidini books ended with this one.

I had never heard of the Homeless World Cup (which is kind of the point of the book, that no one has).  But as you can imagine, knowing that that’s what this book is about you can be prepared for a pretty sad book.

Bidini follows a small group (4 players, including one woman) of Canadian homeless soccer players as they travel to Australia to play in the 2008 Homeless World Cup.

We meet the four players on the Canadian team and learn all about how they became homeless (a variety of reasons, but drugs feature prominently).  These people were able to get above their bad situation, most of them through the joy of playing soccer–a cheap game even for the homeless.

The Homeless World Cup gathers homeless players from around the world to play in small venues on a small pitch. (more…)

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Dave Bidini–The Best Game You Can Name (2005)

Posted in Africa, Alun Piggins, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Culture Shock, Dave Bidini, Dave Bidini music, Drinking, History, Hockey, Hockey Night in Canada, Rheostatics, Russia, Sonic Unyon, Teeth, The Wombats, Toronto Maple Leafs, Travel, Violence, Yuck! on November 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 ganeSOUNDTRACK: DAVE BIDINI-The President of Mount Allison’s House, Sackville (July 28, 2007).

allisonUntil I looked it up, I didn’t know what Mount Allison was, nor why he would be playing at the President’s house.  I’m still not sure why he was playing there, but as part of his solo mini tour, Dave graced the beautiful house.

For this show he read for 17 minutes and played 5 songs.  He plays “My First Rock Show” as the only Rheos song.  And then plays the same four “new” songs as in yesterday’s post: “Song Ain’t Good,” “The List” “The Land is Wild” and “The Ballad of Zeke Roberts.”

He explains the Zeke Roberts song a bit more.   He spent a few days in Ghana and went to a Liberian refugee camp (all documented in the book Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs) which is how he learned about Zeke Roberts.

He talks about staying locally in the Marshland Inn and the scary doll in his room (and also how he hopes to have his picture among the famous people who have stayed there).

For the reading portion he talks about the guys he played with in China: Alun Piggins, drummer Jay Santiago and guitarist Dwayne Gale.  He talks about the scene where they get massages (very funny).  There’s another excerpt in which they meet some people on the street where a baby is playing with a lighter.  The band starts taking pictures and then—eventually one of the adults puts an unlit cigarette in the baby’s mouth, and much hilarity ensues.

Overall though, this reading gets pretty dark as he gets into fight with Jay about Rush, and he feels bad that the Rheos had broken up especially when he sees the up and coming band The Wombats loving their set.

As for the music in this set, it is too loud and peaks a lot in the recording.  There also seems to be a hornet pestering him.  It’s probably the least interesting of the three shows.

[READ: November 7, 2015] The Best Game You Can Name.

This book is about hockey.  Specifically it is about Bidini’s rec team the Morningstars and their quest for another championship (and how after winning two years in a row, they were the main target for all the other teams).  Much like how his book On a Cold Road included quotes and stories from musicians, this book includes quotes and stories from former NHL players (I didn’t really recognize any of their names, but then I wasn’t a hockey fan in the 70s and 80s).

So each chapter talks a bit about his team and then has several stories about a specific topic from the hockey guys.

He begins by talking about his athletic renaissance in his 40s (after having given up on professional hockey).  I enjoyed the stories from the hockey players who loved playing so much as kids that they would spend hours and hours and hours on the ice.  I also liked them saying that you could still become a pro if you only started playing at 15 unlike today when kids are starting at age 5. (more…)

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Claire Cock-Starkey–How to Skin a Lion: A Treasury of Outmoded Advice (2015)

Posted in Africa, Anachronisms, Birds, Claire Cock-Starkey, Disease, Elephants, Essays, Etiquette, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Greed, Guns, History, How to, Lions, Los Lobos, Nature, Tiny Desk Concert, Yuck! on November 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

skin SOUNDTRACK: LOS LOBOS-Tiny Desk Concert #90 (November 10, 2010).

loslobosI don’t really know all that much about Los Lobos.  I frankly got sick of them because of “La Bamba” (which came out 20 years ago!) and I don’t think I’d ever heard much else by them.  So I wound up enjoying this Tiny Desk much more than I anticipated.

The one big problem with this tiny desk is that the drummer is playing one of those plastic mail bins and it sounds awful.  Especially on the first song.  I think anything would have had a better drum sound than that.

I really enjoyed the first song “Burn It Down.”  It has a propulsive minor key structure and an excellent bass line.  I would never have guessed it was Los Lobos, but that may be because it’s not the singer I most associate with them (he sings on the next two songs).

“Yo Canto” is a cumbia, sung by a different guy (in Spanish) who also plays lead guitar.  The mail bin sounds better on this song because of the placement (and use of) a cowbell.  The singer sounds amazing.  I rather like the riff that underlines the song.

Those two songs are from their then latest album.  And the band sounds really good all these years on.

The final song is “Don’t Worry Baby.”  It has the same singer as the middle song (this time in English) although it is a pretty standard blues song that I found just okay.  It also features a bunch of saxophone.  I didn’t realize that it was from their major label debut in 1984! and is something of a classic.

So three songs, all of them enjoyable, from a band I didn’t really think I’d enjoy.  The funniest part is just before the show stops and someone asks, “Okay, where’s the beer?”

[READ: October 1, 2015] How to Skin a Lion

This book sounded awesome–I love outdated things that we can laugh about now (because I’m a superior git, of course).

But this book proved to be not all that funny.  The outmoded advice wasn’t treated comically exactly (well, some was), rather it was looked at rather seriously–some as good advice that still stands, some as crazy advice that is way outmoded and a few things that are, yes, just comical.

Cock-Starkey (insert joke here) says that this is a collection of materials from the vast archives of the British Library.  It culls from medieval manuscripts, Victorian manuals and self-help guides from the early 20th century.  She explains that the book aims to reveal the secrets of lost arts, remind us of how modern conveniences have changed our lives, recall the complexities of etiquette, highlight changing attitudes and beliefs and furnish us with still useful tips and guidance.

Although she also points out that readers should be advised that some pieces of advice contained herein have stood the test of time better than others. (more…)

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Christina Nichol–“Democracy in Batumi” (Harper’s, July 2014)

Posted in Africa, Cat Stevens, Chadwick Stokes, Dispatch, Excerpt, Harper's, Hillary Clinton, State Radio, Tiny Desk Concert, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on May 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: CHADWICK STOKES-Tiny Desk Concert #432 (April 13, 2015).

chadI had recently been hearing about Chadwick Stokes on WXPN.  But I didn’t really know anything about him.  I just looked him up and found that he has been making music for almost twenty years, with the bands Dispatch and State Radio (under the name Chad Urmston) and now as a solo artist.  He apparently is a big time activist as well, and his accolades ring high.

The three songs he plays her are wonderful.  He has a great voice that reminds me in some ways of Cat Stevens (even though Stokes is from Boston and certainly rocks harder than the Cat).  Although he even mentions Stevens in the third song.

I love the way the first song, “Pine Needle Tea” starts out slowly (with Stokes on the guitar) and a delicate xylophone playing along.  Then half way through, both accompanists start playing floor toms–one with stuff on it to deaden the sound and one (Will’s) with no deadening to really pound away.

I love the faster parts in the second song “Horse Comanche” and also how in the slower parts both guys sing lovely high harmonies.  It makes me laugh that the fellow who plays the melodica solo stands almost ramrod still while waiting for his time.  (He is actually Stoke’s brother, Will).  I have grown to really enjoy the melodica lately.  I love how the end of the song has the repeated refrain with great harmonies and the melodica all playing together.

Chad jokes after the song that “Comanche” has a dropped D E string and he always forgets to retune it live (and his brother says he forgets to remind him to re tune it) so half way through the next song “it goes Wah.”

The final song is called “I Want You Like a Seatbelt” which gets a laugh.  It is a funny title but it proves to be a great simile.  I love the vocal melody of this song.  And when it really gets going it is infectious.  It’s just way too short.

I need to dig into his back catalog.  And here’s a link to this great Tiny Desk.

[READ: April 10, 2015] “Democracy in Batumi”

Sometimes an excerpt from a novel (Waiting for the Electricity) piques my interest. In this case, however, it really didn’t.

In this excerpt, Slims Achmed Makasvili is from Batumi on the Black Sea.  He is writing to Hillary Clinton (we’re not told why to her specifically).  He says that Batumi is not very well-known.  The local dictator is tearing down old buildings, but Slims wants Clinton to know that Batumi is a natural port for petroleum deliveries.  He says that there are great business opportunities available for America here. Then he asks if she knows the movie Jesus Christ Superstar.

The next letter (they are undated so it is unclear how far apart they were written) talks about how Clinton’s version of democracy and his are quite different.  The Batumi Center for Democracy has expanded and even has an air conditioning unit. (more…)

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Lionel Shriver–“Kilifi Creek” (New Yorker, November 25, 2013)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Africa, Fears, Lionel Shriver, New Yorker, Pixies, Short Story, Swimming on July 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_11_25_13Viva.inddSOUNDTRACK: PIXIES & “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-”I Bleed” (2009).

iblledYesterday I posted about “Weird Al”‘s new song “First World Problems” which parodies the Pixies’ style. I didn’t know that Al liked the Pixies, but he’s evidently quite a fan.  And the feeling is mutual. Here’s a video from 2009 of Al singing lead on the Pixies’ track “I Bleed.”

Al is totally passionate about the vocals.  The more professional looking video has an audio the mix is a little odd, as Al is so much louder than the band, that his intensity really sticks out, even though I’m sure the rest of the band was just as loud.  Indeed, there’s a fan video that is mixed better (which I have posted below, even though the more professional one has the welcoming introduction for Al).

I like that he starts with the spoken style (even if his spoken voice is not as menacing as Francis’).  And then when the actually rocking part kicks in, Al, keeps up just fine.

[READ: July 1, 1014] “Kilifi Creek”

This story starts out with an interesting technique–speaking about the main character in third person but with great insight and almost a judging attitude into her mindset: “It was a brand of imposition of which young people like Liana thought nothing showing up on an old couple’s doorstep, the home of friends of friends of friends….  mature adulthood–and the experience of being imposed upon herself–might have encouraged her to consider what showing up as an uninvited impecunious house guest would require of her hosts.”

Indeed, Liana is traveling around the world and has stopped at various people’s houses for free room and board for a week or so, all in the name of young exploration.  In most instances, she gives the lucky family a few days’ notice. And she felt she repaid the families not with money but with brightness and enthusiasm.

This particular family was on the Kenyan coast, their name: Henley.  “Regent Henley carried herself as if she used to be good-looking and her husband Beano (a ridiculous name for anyone so old) was a big game hunter.  They were wealthy by African standards and their native help often had little to do, Liana even considered that her arrival would give the help something to occupy themselves with.”

She was staying for six nights.  But rather than doing any major exploring, she spent most of her mornings writing things online to her friends, and most of her afternoons in a bikini, coming to and from the Kilifi Creek behind the Henley’s house. (more…)

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Dinaw Mengestu–“The Paper Revolution” (New Yorker, January 13, 2014)

Posted in Africa, Dinaw Mengestu, New Yorker, Phish, Racism, Set at School, Short Story, Threats, Violence, War on June 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

CV1_TNY_01_13_14McCall.inddSOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Bait 7 (2012).

bait7This free sampler from 2012 is practically a greatest hits collection for me.  There are 8 tracks on the collection and none of them is shorter than 15 minutes.

It opens with a 1995 concert in which “Wilson” segues into “Tweezer” (for a combined total of 30 minutes).  Then there’s a 13 minute version of “Stash” from 2010 and an 18 minute version of “Split Open and Melt” from 1999.  The songs meld very nicely together with just the slightest change in recording sounds making any notable difference.

“You Enjoy Myself” comes from way back in 1992, and it ends with an extended vocal nonsense section–all four of them mouthing crazy sounds in a rhythmic pattern.  The only song of the set that I don’t love is “Runaway Jim,” but the jam section is great in this one.

“Reba” from 1996 works perfectly with “Gumbo” from 1998.  And the set closes with another 1992 recording.  The band opens with “All Things Reconsidered” which Trey explains is a reworking of the NPR theme.  But he then tells the audience that they can sing along to the next song, David Bowie” (which opens with a little nod to the Simpsons).

There’s no sign of a Live Bait 10, unfortunately, but having 9 free releases of highlights from live shows is still pretty sweet.  If only their show in Philly hadn’t sold out.

[READ: June 12, 2014] “The Paper Revolution”

Dinaw Mengestu’s first story (in the 20 under 40 issue) was about a refugee which I felt was more than a stereotypical refugee story.  This new story is about student revolutionaries, and it looks at them in a different (and somewhat confusing) way.

The narrator, who is eventually called Professor Langston by his friend Isaac, is at the University in the capital city, Kampala.  When he first meets Isaac, he finds him an interesting fellow–a man studying politics, because what else is there to study in Africa?  When the narrator says he’s studying literature, that’s when Isaac calls him the professor.

Isaac is full of information that he loves sharing (starting his sentence with “Did you know?”) He lectures about the British rule and their plan to turn this city into a new London if they lost the war.  Isaac fills him with political theory, and the university was the ideal place for it “Every aspiring militant, radical and revolutionary in Eastern and Central Africa was ran to the university.”

He and Isaac watch the “radicals” and can tell from their shoes which ones are truly poor. But there is one boy–so rarely seen as to possibly be invisible–who was the genuine article.  And soon enough there is graffiti on the walls which everyone attributes to him.  But the graffiti is whitewashed and a sign is put up admonishing: “It is a Crime against the country to deface our University walls.” (more…)

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Marcos Giralt Torrente–The End of Love (2011) [translated 2013]

Posted in Adventure, Africa, Beck, Devendra Banhart, Foreign Books, Katherine Silver, Leonard Cohen, Marcos Giralt Torrente, McSweeney's, Metallica, MGMT, Record Club, Short Books, Short Story, Summer, Translation, Travel on March 27, 2014| 2 Comments »

endofloveSOUNDTRACK: BECK/RECORD CLUB-LEONARD COHEN: Songs of Leonard Cohen (2010).

leonardcohenI won’t say anything because no one ever listens to me anyway. I might as well be a Leonard Cohen record.

-Neil from The Young Ones.

This second recording from Beck’s Record Club is, indeed, a Leonard Cohen record.  I like Cohen and have a bunch of his stuff.  Although he’s never been a huge favorite, I find his songwriting to be top notch.  And, since his arrangements are usually pretty sparse, it’s easy to cover his songs in a myriad of ways, which these artists certainly do.

But just to catch you up to speed about this whole Record club business:

According to the Beck/Record Club website:

Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day. The album chosen to be reinterpreted is used as a framework. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is put up here once a week. As you will hear, some of the songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering. There is no intention to ‘add to’ the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens. And those who aren’t familiar with the albums in question will hopefully look for the songs in their definitive versions.

Introducing this second recording, Beck explains:

This time around the group includes Devendra Banhart, Ben, Andrew and Will from MGMT, Andrew from Wolfmother, Binki from Little Joy, and Brian and Bram returning from the first Record Club.  ‘Songs Of Leonard Cohen’ by Leonard Cohen was chosen by Andrew from MGMT. For those interested, our close second choice was Ace Of Base, which we’ll keep on the list for next time.

So, here we have Cohen’s debut.  I own it and am familiar with about half of the songs, but I didn’t want to listen to it before hearing their covers.  And so, the track listing and comments:

Suzanne (4:54)–A classic song, here given respectful treatment.  And yet they’re not afraid to play around with it, so they give it a dance beat and group vocals, all of which sound great.
Master Song (6:37).  I don’t know this song, and I don’t recognize it from this cover which is perhaps the greatest twist of a Leonard Cohen song ever. They sample Metallica’s “Master!” every time they sing the chorus.  The song is done as a rap with the voices pitched differently in every verse, there’s also a great funky bass throughout.  I assume the lyrics are the original, but I’m not sure.  The only problem with it is that it goes on for way too long.  But otherwise this is what record Club is about–having fun experimenting with songs.
Winter Lady (2:46). This is done as a pretty folk song, the way Leonard intended.
Stranger Song (5:26). This song is also dancey (with MGMT, that makes sense).  It has big drums and cool harmonies.
Sisters Of Mercy (4:36).  This is also pretty, done on an acoustic guitar with multiple singers taking turns.
So Long, Marianne (6:54).  This is also pretty faithful (of another classic).  There’s a group chorus which again sounds great.  The one difference is buzzy guitar solo.
Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye (4:27).  This has a cheap Casio vibe, yet it still sounds good.  Beck sings and the whole things is quite nice.
Stories Of The Street (5:06).  The songs starts with a simple bass and xylophone, but it gradually builds into a full band song which sounds great.
Teachers (4:04).  This is an insane punk version of the song.  It is super fast with a crazy guitar section and shouted vocals.  It shows just how adaptable Cohen’s music is
One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong (5:42).  This is a pretty, slow version of this song with keyboards as the main instrument.  It’s a very nice song until it nears then end when the singer just starts screaming and going nutty  Which is okay, but that goes on for too long at the end.

So overall, this is a very enjoyable collection of covers.  The faithful ones sound wonderful and the silly songs are, yes, silly, but they are not just tossed off (except maybe Master Song.  This must have been a lot of fun to record.

[READ: March 14, 2014] The End of Love

The End of Love is four long short stories.  Each one is about the end of a relationship.  Even though I enjoyed all four stories quite a lot, the book was a lot slower to read than I would have anticipated from its scant 163 pages.  And surprisingly, the stories weren’t sad or mopey–rather, they looked at the relationships via a slightly distant narrator who was engaged and engaging.

I have been reading a lot of Latin American writers, but this book, which was written in Spanish and translated by Katherine Silver, was written by a Spanish writer.  So that’s a little bit different in feel.

“We Were Surrounded By Palm Trees”
This story is not set in Spain. It is set on an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa.  It is about a man and his girlfriend, named Marta.  They have gone to this remote island for some secluded time alone.  But it turns out that they have to share the small boat (and therefore the small island) with another couple.  Christine and Paul are a German couple who are not outgoing and friendly as the narrator fears (he doesn’t want to spent his romantic vacation with those two), but are cordial and looking to share some of the troubles of their vacation.  One such trouble is meeting with the village elder and the chief, which Paul offers to do.

The details of the island were a little unclear to me.  I think that is somewhat intentional, but there is some confusion about the nature of the power structure on the island and what exactly people get up to there.  So when Christine goes missing, Marta is instantly concerned.  And then when Paul and Christine don’t turn up for dinner, they decide to go and find them.  Christie and Paul are involved in something that I found a bit confusing, but which involved elders of the island.

As the story draws to a close and there is yet more confusion as to where the Germans are, Marta and the narrators are at odds with each other about what to do.  And the strain begins to form between them.   Even though the details of what happened with Paul and Christine are vague, the details of Marta and the narrator are very powerful and really tell the story.  It was wonderful. (more…)

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Ben Fountain–Brief Encounters with Che Guevara (2006)

Posted in Adventure, Africa, Ben Fountain, Chumbawamba, Culture Shock, Death, Environmentalism, Golf, Marriage Trouble, Religion, Rheostatics, Sex, The Monkees, Violence, War, tagged on March 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

briefSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Spiral Club, Guelph Ontario (December 18 1997).

spiral This show has an interesting technical glitch that the owner thankfully fixed. It was a soundboard recording (which is awesome), but evidently there was static in the right channel that rendered it unlistenable.  So he simply removed the right channel and mixed it mono.  The sound is actually excellent—one of the best early shows they’ve done.  But since there is only own channel, you miss a lot of what, I think, is Dave’s guitar.  When guest Tyler McPherson plays his solo, I believe you can’t hear it.  Yet despite that, it still sounds great.

I feel like the band was a having a lot of fun on this Thursday night in Guelph (every night in Guelph is a weekend). They mention that their Nightlines episode was aired on the night of Lady Diana’s death (so they feel some kind of weird connection to her).

There’s a few firsts in this set as well.  It’s the first time they plated “Junction Foil Ball” (from Nightlines).  They seem to have finally settled in with “Harmelodia” not “California” in “Easy to Be with You.”  They toss in a bit of “Tubthumping” at the beginning of “Horses,” and a bit of the Monkees, song “Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow)” at the beginning of “Queer.”

Of course there are some flubs as well.  Martin messes up California Dreamline big time and Dave gets lost in the counting of “Four Little Songs” (and then says he never went to school).

But it’s the banter that is the fun part of this show.  They ask the crowd not to shout out requests for a couple of songs.  There’s a very funny sequence in which they try to play a Coors lite anthem.  And Martin says he’s out of his mind.  Dave says he’s a madman and Martin calls him a manatee.  And then someone offers Dave an Islanders jersey which he says he can’t accept—it is too generous, but he’ll always remember it (and now so will we).

Before the end of the set, they offer the crowd some of the food they have backstage (if you like olives). But then they say that $18 was a bit steep of a ticket price for the show (can you imagine?).  So they’re going to play extra long because the ticket price was so high.  Man, how cool is that?

[READ: Summer 2013] Brief Encounters with Che Guevara

Several years ago (long before Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) I read about Ben Fountain…somewhere.  I was reading an interview with a writer who talked about some new writers that he liked.  Ben Fountain was one of them, and this writer specifically mentioned this collection.  A week or so later I was in a dollar store of all places and saw this book on their piles of books.  I couldn’t believe the serendipity. So I bought it (for a dollar).  And then kind of forgot about it (so much for my theory that if I buy a book I’ll read it).  But I did eventually get around to reading it and now sadly not only do I have no idea who originally introduced me to Fountain, I can’t even find it with online searching (and frankly I could have read it anywhere).  Also, Fountain has since written Billy Lynn which received all kinds of praise (and which I haven’t read), so trying to find specific praise for Fountain from 7 years ago is a lost cause.

And just as I forgot to read it I forgot to write about it until now.  This was his first collection of stories.  There are eight in total.  Even though it has been awhile, most of the stories were so powerful and well constructed that I remember them quite well. (more…)

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Jennifer Egan–A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Africa, Books about music, Bowerbirds, Death, Drinking, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Jennifer Egan, Marriage Trouble, Neurotics, Tiny Desk Concert on February 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

goonSOUNDTRACK:BOWERBIRDS-Tiny Desk Concert #35 (November 16, 2009).

bowerThis show was recorded July 7, 2009.  It’s fascinating that it didn’t get posted until four months later.

As the Bowerbirds first started I didn’t think I would like them primarily because of the opening lyrics of “Hooves” “Back to when I was born on a full moon, I nearly split my mama in two.” It just seemed an offputting way to start especially when sung over very simple acoustic guitar.  But after the first verse, the band joins in with some Ahhs, which flesh out the song very nicely.  The accordion and violin fill in where necessary and make this a much more compelling-sounding song.

The second song, “Teeth” opens with a very full sound–I really like it–bowed double bass, violin, accordion and guitar and when the backing vocals complement the lead vocal, it’s really quite beautiful.  “House of Diamonds”  is a folkie song, but the final track “In Our talons” (which comes from their first album) is really dramatic, with a some great vocals, a cool section that slows down the tempo and rousing accordion-driven conclusion.  (There’s something a bout an accordion that when played right can add incredible tension to a song).

You can watch it here.

[READ: February 13, 2014] A Visit from the Good Squad

This book made many best of list at the end of 2010.  I’ve wanted to read it for some time now, so when I saw it remaindered at Barnes & Noble, I grabbed it (yes, the library is cheaper, but I find that sometimes I will read things more quickly if I buy them).

I was expecting to be blown away by the book.  But I wasn’t.  At least not at first.  And the real reason for that was because I read it over too long of a span of time.  There are a lot of intricacies in this book that demand attention.  It’s not a difficult book, but the structure of the book is not linear, and there are connections that are made and lost and resumed.  And if you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to miss them.  I enjoyed it quite a lot and I really liked the way the story filled in parts as it went along (you’ll see why that is significant shortly).  And I loved the way the end tied everything together so nicely.  But I found that I got even more out of it while writing this recap because it helped me to make connections I initially missed.  So definitely read this, but either read it quickly or read it twice in a row.

So this book is set up that every chapter is narrated by or focuses on a different person at a different time in the story’s history.  It’s a fascinating way to tell a story for the obvious reasons, but also because most of the characters are interrelated in some way (which was the clever part).  And other characters arrive and disappear while still keeping continuity in the story.

There are thirteen chapters, which means 13 stories.  Naturally there are more than 13 characters, so this makes for an interesting look at this world.

The first chapter and more or less the thread throughout the stories is Sasha.  In the first chapter, (which is third person but in which Sasha is the protagonist), we see her planning to steal the wallet from a woman in the bathroom stall next to hers.  She is on a date with a man named Alex, who is new to New York and is still kind of wide-eyed about it.  He is amazed when later on he sees that Sasha has a bathtub in her kitchen (which she never uses).  Sasha’s chapter is interspersed with her at the therapist’s office as she talks about her kleptomania and about her life as the assistant for Bennie Salazar–THE Bennie Salazar, record producer extraordinaire who discovered The Conduits. (more…)

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Yoko Tawada–The Bridegroom Was a Dog (1994) [translated 1998–New Directions Pearl, 2012]

Posted in Advice, Africa, Dogs, Fables, K'naan, Margaret Mitsutani, New Directions Pearls, Sex, Short Books, Short Story, Small Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Yoko Tawada, Yuck! on February 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

   bridegroo,SOUNDTRACK: K’Naan-Tiny Desk Concert #34 (November 9, 2009).

knaanI really only know K’naan from his song “Wavin’ Flag” which was the World Cup anthem in 2010.  It’s an uplifting anthem which would be schmaltzy except that K’naan is Somali-born, spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there until the start of the Somali Civil War in 1991, when his family moved to Canada.  “Wavin’ Flag” was for the people Somalia and their aspirations for freedom.

In this set (the first ever hip-hop Tiny Desk Concert–although there is very little hip-hop in the set), K’naan plays three songs. “Take a Minute” is quite beautiful.  It’s funny to me the rap section kind of spoils the song  but because K’naan is a much better singer than rapper.

“Fatima,” which has a less interesting musical style than the other songs (perhaps it’s better when not in this Tiny Desk format) is startling lyrically.  It’s about childhood friend of his, with the harrowing line–“what did the gunman say before he took you away.”

The final song is “Wavin’ Flag” (which was popular but nowhere near as big a hit as it would be soon enough). The anthemic nature of the song still sounds inspiring in this stripped own format.

I’m not a big fan of this style of music in general–poppy/R&Bish, but K’naan has a great sense of melody and brings a very interesting perspective that makes his style unique.  And most importantly, he has a good, subtle voice.  This is a good introduction to his music.

[READ: January 3, 2014] The Bridegroom was a Dog

In continuing the “small book” idea, I recently subscribed to the New Directions Pearl series.  It is a collection of smallish books–novellas or short stories–in starkly beautiful binding.  This was the second book I received in the series (I haven’t read the first one yet).  Incidentally, this book has a list of the other pearls, and I rather hope they will send me some past Pearls as well, as they are quite a great collection.

This was an interesting selection to me because I actually own this book already (it’s the same translator, Margaret Mitsutani).  Although as it turns out the book I own (which has the same title) is actually three short stories while this one is only the title story. I bought the book in 1998 and never read it (there is a bookmark that suggests I read a few pages, but I didn’t remember a thing).  So I was happy to get reintroduced to the book and to finally read it.

And I intend to read the other two stories in the near future as well.

This is a peculiar story (as the title indicates).  In it a teacher, Mitsuko Kitamura runs the Kitamura School which is described as a cram school–an extracurricular school.  And the students learn some interesting things.  Like “snot paper.”  She suggests that using used tissues is better because they are warm and wet.  And indeed, she goes so far as to say that you should use “snot paper” when wiping your behind because “it feels even better.” (more…)

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