SOUNDTRACK:BOWERBIRDS-Tiny Desk Concert #35 (November 16, 2009).
This 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…)
I Just Read About That... 