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Archive for the ‘Animals’ Category

Richard Ford–“Calling” (New Yorker, December 25, 2000 & January 1, 2001)

Posted in Coronavirus, Culture Shock, Death, Drinking, Ducks, Hunting, Joel Culpepper, LGBTQ, Marriage Trouble, New Orleans, LA, New Yorker, Parenting, Quarantine, Richard Ford, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Yussef Dayes on July 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TOM MISCH AND YUSSEF DAYES-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #49 (July 13, 2020).

mishTom Misch and Yussef Dayes play a light jazz with lots of interesting elements floating around the songs.  The blurb says the music “evokes a dreamy utopia, blending live electronica, psychedelia and avant-garde jazz.”

I didn’t realize that Misch was British until the chorus–the way he sings “the dash.”  Actually I first realized when he spoke after the song, but then it was obvious when he sang.

Producer/guitarist Tom Misch and drummer Yussef Dayes released a surprising and stunning collaborative album earlier this year called What Kinda Music,. This Tiny Desk (home) concert — recorded across six different musicians’ homes — features two songs from that album, “Nightrider” and “Tidal Wave.”

“Nightrider” has cool echoing slow guitars and fantastically complex drumming.  But the focus of this song seems to be the wonderfully busy five string bass from Tom Driessler.  Jordan Rakei provides backing vocals and

special guest John Mayer provides a closing solo, just as he did at last year’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.

It’s weird the way Mayer stares at the camera at the end though.

“Tidal Wave” has a different cast.  It features Rocco Palladino on bass, which is not as complex.  Although Yussef’s drumming is fantastic once again.

There’s a nice lead guitar line before the vocals kick in.  I almost wish the song were an instrumental until Joel Culpepper adds his wonderful high backing vocals.

This is some good chill out music.

[READ: July 10, 2020] “Calling”

I know I’ve read Richard Ford stories before, but this stories was so fascinating to me–it felt very different from so many other stories that I read.

Set around Christmas in 1961, the narrator’s father has left him and his mother in New Orleans while he has moved to St. Louis to be with a male doctor.

His mother, meanwhile, had begun a singing career, which essentially meant that she was sleeping with her African American singing coach.

What’s fascinating about the story (aside from how trasnsgressive his parents seem in 1961) is that the narrator is telling the story from the present:

They are all dead now.  My father.  My mother.  Dr. Carter. The black accompanist, Dubinion.

These interjections of the present allow for some reflections on this tumultuous period in his life.  (more…)

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Konami Kanata–Fuku Fuku: Kitten Tales 2 (2015) [translation 2017]

Posted in Cats, Detective Conan, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Japan, Kanata Konami, Kittens, Manga, Marlaina McElheny, Ringo Sheena, Tokyo Incidents, Tokyo Jihan, Translation, 東京事変, 椎名 林檎 on July 9, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TOKYO JIHEN [東京事変]-“The Scarlet Alibi” (永遠の不在証明 Eien no Fuzai Shoumei) (2020).

220px-Tokyo-Jihen-News-EP-cover-artRingo Sheena formed Tokyo Jihen (which means Tokyo Incidents) in 2003.  They put out five albums and disbanded them in 2012.

Then she surprised everyone by reforming the band in 2020 (with the same people who played with her in 2012).  They have released a new EP, News.

永遠の不在証明 which translates more or less as “Eternal Alibi” is the final song on the EP and the only one that Ringo Sheena wrote the music for.

It starts like a kind of James Bond theme (and it is indeed a theme for Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet).  It’s got a noir piano, but the bass is really fat and fuzzy.

The chorus gets big while the piano stays prominent and the bass does some really fancy fretwork.  Then in th emiddle of the song there’s an instrumental break.

Seiji Kameda (亀田 誠治, Kameda Seiji) gets a wicked bass solo followed by a ripping guitar solo from Ukigumo (浮雲, The Drifting Cloud) and a soaring keyboard solo from Ichiyō Izawa (伊澤 一葉, Izawa Ichiyō).  Everyone gets a moment to shine except drummer Toshiki Hata (刄田 綴色, Hata Toshiki)–but his playing throughout is stellar.

The song halts at 3 and half minutes, but there’s a jazzy jamming coda (lots of piano and guitar solos) that runs for about a minute as the song concludes.

Although I just discovered the band this week, it’s nice to have them back.

[READ: July 1, 2020] Fuku Fuku 2

This is Konami Kanata’s second and final collection of FukuFuku stories.  After all of the Chi stories, it was probably for the best to limit FukuFuku to just two volumes.

It allows the story to go out on a high note.

The framing device of the series is an older woman looking at pictures of her cat FukuFuku when she was a kitten.   I was pleased that this book ends the framing device with FukuFuku as an older cat–the flashback is complete.

This volume is less about FukuFuku exploring new things and more about her owner’s expectations of her. (more…)

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Konami Kanata–Fuku Fuku: Kitten Tales 1 (2014) [translation 2016]

Posted in Asa-Chang & Junray, Buffalo Daughter, Cats, Ed Chavez, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Japan, Kanata Konami, Kittens, Manga, Marlaina McElheny, Ringo Sheena, Semisonic, Thinners, Tokyo Jihan, Translation, 椎名 林檎 on July 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RINGO SHEENA [椎名 林檎]-Shōso Strip [勝訴ストリップ] (or Shouso Strip or Winning Strip) (2000) 

Yumiko Shiina (椎名 裕美子, Shiina Yumiko, is known by her stage name Ringo Sheena (椎名 林檎, Shiina Ringo). She later fronted the band Tokyo Jihan.

I’m not exactly sure how I discovered this album.  I think I had been reading about psychedelic Japanese bands and this album came up as a must-listen.

I found a copy on eBay (it’s also streaming) and, wow–it’s my favorite album in a long time.  Ringo Sheena flirts with just about every genre of music throughout her career.  Often times, including several genres in one song.  But throughout this album, it’s her singing and songwriting that really stand out.

Plus, I absolutely love the sound that she gets from her bassist.  I have included all of the credits from the album below because my copy of the album is entirely in Japanese. The “official” Wikipedia entry is first, but the Google Translated version is second.  I’m not sure what is going on with the Google Translated version, but for most of the songs the bass is described as “Bombshell base” which is totally accurate.  Interestingly, sometimes the guitar is described as “Oxygen deficient guitar” which I think just means electric, but I love that description.

So the overall feel of this album is grungy.  There’s a lot of distortion among the guitars and the drums.  None of the songs would be described as metal, but there are definitely some heavier rocking elements.  But there is an underpining of J-Pop throughout.  Both in her catchy choruses and the way her voice soars as she sings.

The disc opens with “I Am a Liar” (虚言症 Kyogen-shō) 5:26 [“False” from Google Translate].  A funky slap bass and some flutes introduce this song that has a great mix of alt rock and J-Pop.  Sheena Ringo has a great voice that can sing low but also soars nicely when needed. The chorus of this is instantly catchy with a great melody disco flourishes and her fantastic vocals.

“Bathroom” (浴室 Yokushitsu) 4:15 [bathroom] is a wild song (and one that she has apparently performed in very different styles over the years).  A ripping funky bass and synth lead to a great pulsing ear worm of a melody.  The chorus is warm and inviting and fantastic.  “Excuse Debussy” (弁解ドビュッシー Benkai Dobyusshii) 3:16 [Excuse Debussy] is another propulsive rocker with a great fat bass sound.

Things slow down for “Gips” (ギブス Gibusu)  (which apparently means “orthopedic cast”) 5:38 [Gibbs] but it has a huge soaring chorus that is partially in in English “don’t you think I wanna be with you….”  It’s about the catchiest peppiest thing and it is awesome.  The songs is quite long–over five minutes–and the last few minutes feature a great guitar line that repeats and repeats until it breaks apart with chaotic confusion.

Things slow down even further for the gorgeous strig opening of “A Driving Rain in Darkness” (闇に降る雨 Yami ni Furu Ame) 5:03 [Rain in the Darkness].  Interesting electronic sounds and some electronic percussion mask the beauty of the stirrings and then after 45 second the strings turn pizzicato and pop song structure stars with a loping bass that plays some funky high parts.  It’s a pretty song that segues nicely to the scorcher that is “Identity” (アイデンティティ Aidentiti) 3:05 [Identity].  It opens with a ripping guitar and Sheena screaming like the best of them.  This song hits pretty standard metal sounds and is a total rocking freak out with her singing syllables as the guitars and drums just go bananas.  Her band is really fantastic.

“Crime and Punishment” (罪と罰 Tsumi to Batsu) 5:32 [Crime and Punishment] plays like a torch song ballad, but it’s accompanied by a heavy guitar and a big fat bass that keeps it in the alt-rock arena.  The juxtaposition is great.  There’s a lengthy jamming coda as well.

“Stoicism” (ストイシズム Sutoishizumu) 1:46 [Stoicism] is a short interlude.  Her voice is manipulated while she’s singing a simple melody as bouncy synths underscore the whole thing.  It flows into “A Broken Man and Moonlight” (月に負け犬 Tsuki ni Makeinu[3]) 4:14 [Lose dog on the moon] which sounds like a grunge version of “Closing Time” until the loud distorted bass crashes in and upends everything. The end totally rocks out.

“Tidbits” (サカナ Sakana[4]) 3:43 [Fish] opens with a harpsichord and the makings of a bubblegum pop song.  But as the verses come in it feels kind of noirish with horns and a great catchy chorus.  The end of the song features that noir bass and a piano.

“Sickbed Public” (病床パブリック Byōshō Public) 3:16 [Patient Public] has super distorted drums and a heavy bass rumbling underneath her whispered vocals until it switches to a bright J-Pop chorus.  “Instinct” (本能 Honnō) 4:14 [Instinct] has a menacing opening of sound effects and turntables that meld into a super catchy poppy melody with wild bass.  The verses slow to a slinky sound, but that chorus is undeniable–especially when the whole song shifts up a note midway through.

The disc ends with fun watery sounds that bloop and blip for the opening of  “I Am an Addict” (依存症 Izon-shō) 6:23 [Dependence].   The song begins with a delicate synth but there’s a fun fun soaring chorus (of course) that you can’t stop humming.  The song and disc end with ends with three minutes of everyone jamming at the end of a show when the star has left the stage and the band is just going to keep playing until they can’t anymore.

I haven’t really looked into much more by her–although I did enjoy the one Tokyo Jihen song I heard.  This album is so good I’m afraid to explore anything else for the time being.  So I’ll just enjoy this one.

[READ: July 1, 2020] Fuku Fuku 1

Konami Kanata wrote the wonderful manga Chi’s Sweet Home about a family who adopts a cat.  It’s wonderful and is apparently one of many manga about cats.  Even though it’s sweet and adorable there are occasionally weird thing that make it seem more adult than it seems to be (the word pissing is in one of them, which seems a little odd for a cute book).

The framing device of the book is an older woman looking at pictures of her cat FukuFuku when she was a kitten.   FukuFuku wants to see them too, which means lying on them, of course.

And so there are 24 short pieces about kitten FukuFuku’s introduction to living with this woman.  I understand that the book is translated, so I don’t know if the cat sounds are translated as well, but I love that when she tries to pick up the kitten for the first time, it says “Mii?”  And when she grabs for it it says “Mya”

The translator also has a lot of fun with the kittens’ action words: Skoot, Bound, Dash, etc. (more…)

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Admiral William H. McRaven–Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life … And Maybe the World (2017)

Posted in Admiral William H. McRaven, Baden Powell de Aquino, Bob's Burgers, Brazil, Bullying, Coronavirus, donald tRUMP, Fabiano Do Nascimento, Iraq, Leo Brouwer, Military, Quarantine, Saddam Hussein, Sharks, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, War on July 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »

31423478SOUNDTRACK: FABIANO DO NASCIMENTO-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #43 (July 2, 2020).

fasbiFabiano Do Nascimento was born in Brazil and now lives in L.A.  he is an amazing guitar player, creating gorgeous soundscapes–‘an amalgamation of Afro-Brazilian jazz, folklore, bossanova and samba.”

For the first piece, “Nanã,” he plays what I think is a 10 string guitar (the fretboard is so wide!).  he starts a lovely melody and then the screen splits into four.  David Bergaud adds quiet piano and Julien Cantelm adds some complex drum patterns.  The fourth quarter is Fabiano again (it took me a moment to realize it, because he is in a different room).  He plays a lead guitar melody on a tiny ten stringed guitar.

The combination of his overdubbed rhythmic and melodic guitar lines, coupled with the delicate hands of piano player David Bergaud and drummer Julien Cantelm … flow into the first number, “Nanã,” a folkloric composition that “is the spirit that comes from African lineage and represents the forest … and is the primordial mother of earth.”

Up next is “Etude,” a composition by Fabiano inspired by Cuban classical guitar virtuoso Leo Brouwer.

For this piece, he switches to a six string guitar.  He has a different accompaniment.  Adam Ratner plays electric guitar (quietly) and Leo Costa play a some great complex drum (and cymbal) patterns as well as the chocalho.

Both Fabiano and Adam play leads, slow jazzy, pretty, while thr drums really do take much of the action.

Fabiano expresses

love for his motherland Brazil — an “endless foundation of inspiration” — is threaded deeply into the tapestry of his sound and ethos. If you’re looking for a musical moment of zen, this set comes highly recommended.

The final piece “Tributo” is a tribute to Brazilian composer Baden Powell de Aquino.  This piece is for solo guitar.

[READ: June 20, 2020] Make Your Bed

My son completed a leadership training course for the Boy Scouts and he was given this book as a gift.  I was intrigued by the title and because I like the guy who gave it to my son, so I thought I;d read it.

It’s a fast and easy read and I think a younger person (this was originally a college commencement address) could be inspired by it.  I’m a little too set in my ways t make many changes (although I have made sure my bed has been made ever since reading this).

The book is set up in ten chapters: the ten points that he made during the speech.  Each chapter gives a suggestion.  It is followed by the practical origin of that suggestion and then a more intense incident in life in which he used that suggestion. (more…)

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Stan Tekiela–Bird Trivia: Funny, Strange and Incredible Facts About North American Birds (2018)

Posted in BEAM, Coronavirus, Elf Owl, Hummingbirds, Killdeer, Neil Peart, Quarantine, Ruffed Grouse, Stan Tekiela, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Woodpeckers on July 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

36963399SOUNDTRACK: BEAM-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #40 (June 26, 2020).

beamBEAM is a Jamaica-born, Miami-raised reggae artist, whose

father, Papa San, was a dancehall superstar during the late 1980s and early ’90s before becoming a preacher.

BEAM performs four songs, and

the 23-year-old singer and his co-producer and keyboardist, Al Cres, brought a new flair to the Tiny Desk (home) concert series with some unorthodox visual effects.

A guy rapping quickly with a pretty heavy Jamaican accent is pretty hard for me to understand, so I tend to hear phrases like “makes sure you know how to [garbled]” and I think he’s saying NPR a lot.

“SOLDIER” starts the set.

“MAD GAAL,” featured on his 2019 major-label debut, 95, is sure to keep living room dancefloors bumping during the pandemic.

“STRANDED” is a slower, ballad-style song with gentle keys from Al Cres.

He concluded the set with an exclusive: “KUMBAYA”, a fitting song for this moment in history.

It is nice that he included a green screen for visuals.

[READ: July 1, 2020] Bird Trivia

I was looking up books about birds and this book popped up. It seemed like a fun book to check out.  The original subtitle (the one still visible on Goodreads) is “Amazing Facts to Wow Any Bird-Lover.”  This original subtitle REALLY overstates the quality of this book.  The final subtitle is a bit more realistic.

Because this book is okay.  It’s quite short and feels a lot like the forty some pages of  information that Tekiela finds interesting.  It feels like a very personal book (which is good and bad).

I don’t really know what one might expect from a book of bird trivia.  Most bird lovers know a lot of trivia already about their birds (really, isn’t any information about birds trivia?). (more…)

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Eric Ormsby–“Lord Mayor Magpie” (The Walrus, July/August 2020)

Posted in Anna Wintour, Benny the Butcher, Birds, Black Soprano family, Canadian Content, Coronavirus, Eric Ormsby, Griselda, Heemer da Steemer, Karl Lagerfeld, Magpies, Memoirs, Nicki Minaj, Poetry, Poets, Quarantine, Ricky Hyde, The Walrus, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert on June 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »

julyaugust200SOUNDTRACK: BENNY THE BUTCHER-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #36 (June 19, 2020).

bennyI’d never heard of Benny the Butcher and when I was listening to his boasts, I assumed that maybe he was really old school.  He makes a crack about Nicki Minaj that made me think he was like 50, but in fact she is older than he is (which is pretty funny).

Benny the Butcher is part of “the triple threat emcee collective from Buffalo, N.Y., consisting of Westside Gunn, Conway, and Benny the Butcher” known as Griselda.  They were supposed to do a Tiny Desk until the coronavirus hit.

Benny the Butcher blessed us with a five-song set from the living room of his current home in Atlanta. (Due to some recording snafus, some of the audio and video in this video doesn’t always sync up.)

I really like when they do five or so songs in under fifteen minutes–it’s like a highlight reel.

There’s something really amusing about these guys rapping some hardcore stuff (the n-word is mentioned about fifty times in 13 minutes) while  they are sitting in a suburban-looking house on a gray couch with plants and baby pictures on the table.  But somehow, without all of the posturing and video effects, i gets you to listen to the words more closely.    And I really liked his lyrics.

“Crown for Kings” is like an old school song full of braggadocio and lots of similes (I assumed it was a twenty year old track) at first, until he rapped

I sat back, a vet, and watched beginners winnin’ my belts
Burned my bridges, came back a good swimmer like Phelps

and then this really funny bit about going to Philly, which includes the Nicki Minaj line

What’s the dealy? I’m only ’bout six hours from Philly
That’s an hour on the plane, I’ll make it three in the Bentley
My bitch keep sayin’ I’m famous, but it ain’t hit me
I’m too ghetto, mellowed out, this Hollywood shit tricky
See, before I knew an A&R, I was weighin’ hard
Back when Nicki Minaj was in a trainin’ bra

and

“Rubber Bands & Weight” was a cool song.  Slow and intense with creepy music.  I really appreciated the slow delivery in this song.  Even though I think the challenge is to see how much you can fit into a verse, sometimes slow gets the point across better.  I also liked that this song had a recognizable chorus and the video included jump cuts of him shouting it out.

For the third track, Benny is joined by Rick Hyde and Heem, two artists on his new BSF label imprint, for a live performance of “Da Mob,” the first single off an upcoming label compilation titled Benny The Butcher & DJ Drama Presents: Gangsta Grillz X BSF Da Respected Sopranos.  This track is dark and distorted sounding.  Hyde’s style is gruff (he jump cuts to Benny’s couch). Then Heem comes in for his verse–they don;t cross paths so I assume it’s all socially safe.  Benny returns for the final verse and his is definitely the best voice of the three.

“Cruiser Weight Coke” is a title I don’t get, but I like the sinister sounds on this song–very cool low notes an what sounds like processed vocals. vocals.  This line stuck out to me:

If we link up and make plans (shake hands), it’s a done deal if we shake hands
You won’t understand me ‘less you move your family to a place they feel safe in (alright)

This track is really short (less than 2 minutes) and skips the last verse.

It seems to be saving room for “5 to 50.” “5 to 50” and “Crown” come “from his critically acclaimed 2019 album, The Plugs I Met.”  It continues in this aggressive style.  He seems to pause to really let the final section sink in.  And as the song reaches its end, the music cuts out–intentional or not, I can’t tell.  I’ve never heard a rap end a capella before, but it really makes the words hit haard and show how good his flow is even with out a beat

I can turn your front door to a drug store
Make any kitchen to a lab
Man, I hear these drug stories and I laugh
Talkin’ ’bout the Coke sales they never had
Pull up on a nigga, you gon’ know the pad
Only house with a Bentley on the grass

As the video ends, he is very pleased. He says

“5 to 50,” “Crown for Kings” “Rubber Bands & Weight,” Oh my goodness!  That’s why I’m a legend.

[READ: June 23, 2020] “Lord Mayor Magpie”

This month’s issue of The Walrus is the Summer Reading issue and features two pieces of fiction, one memoir and three poems.

The fourth piece is a poem.  It is a simple, but lovely descriptive poem about a magpie.

This poem is five long stanzas.

Magpie idles in a limousine
of black feather with a slash of white
piping that outshines all chrome

…

he has the brazen glamour of a motorcade.

(more…)

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Dimitri Nasrallah–“Dancing Bear” (The Walrus, July/August 2020)

Posted in Bears, Canadian Content, Dimitri Nasrallah, Memoirs, Parenting, Phoebe Bridgers, Racism, The Walrus, War on June 23, 2020| Leave a Comment »

julyaugust200SOUNDTRACK: PHOEBE BRIDGERS-“Kyoto” (2020).

phoebeI’ve heard this song a bunch and I like it more each time.

Phoebe Bridgers’ songs tend to be sad lyrically (and sometimes musically), but this song just overflows with wonder, melody and (apparent) happiness.

The song starts with a gentle keyboard but soon adds a fast bassline as Phoebe sings quietly.  Then pow, a big joyous chorus comes in.  Horns play a gorgeous melody and Phoebe harmonies (with herself?).  The way she sings “tokyp skies” gets me every time.

When the verse returns it feels a bit louder.  But the song is about her complicated feelings for her estranged father:

With my little brother
He said you called on his birthday
You were off by like ten days
But you get a few points for tryin’

The chorus resumes feeling even bigger and happier and yet the outro, featuring those same ebullient horns:

I wanted to see the world
Through your eyes until it happened
Then I changed my mind
Guess I lied
I’m a liar
Who lies
‘Cause I’m a liar

Phoebe said that this song was originally slow but she was tried of singing slow songs so she punched this one up.  It really reflects the mixed feelings you can have for someone.  And if you don’t care so much about the words, it’s a catchy gem.

[READ: June 23, 2020] “Dancing Bear”

This month’s issue of The Walrus is the Summer Reading issue and features two pieces of fiction, one memoir and three poems.

The first piece is the memoir, written by Dimitri Nasrallah.   I had assumed that this would be a First Nations piece with a title like that.  But it is far from that.  It starts in Beirut.

The neighborhood where Dimitri grew up was a battleground between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Israel military so his family left for Greece when he was four.

He stayed quiet while they tried to acclimate–they felt covered by the stench of war and wanted to keep a low profile. Then one night his father took the family out to the square.  As they walked around marveling at the sights, he saw a crowd gathered a round a man.

He was showing off a giant brown stanigng on its hind legs, muzzled.  The man made the bear “talk” and dance  Everyone laughed.  But that night Dimitri couldn’t get the sight of the bear out of his mind.  He imagined that he was the bear–muzzled, not wanting to dance.

The next day he told his father that he felt bad for the bear. (more…)

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Emma Steinkellner–The Okay Witch (2019)

Posted in Cats, Children's Books, Coronavirus, Emma Steinkellner, Graphic Novel, Insecure, PJ, Quarantine, Sexism, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, Usher, Witches, Wiz Khalifa on June 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »

okSOUNDTRACK: PJ-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #33 (June 12, 2020).

pjI understand that coming up with a stage name has to be tough, but there’s too many artists who try to go by one name when t hat name isn’t unique enough.  I mean, the rapper Dave?  C’mon.  PJ is another one.  That is such a common nickname there’s really no way you can claim it.

However PJ (whose real name is Paris Jones) has apparently made a name for herself.  Usher, Wiz Khalifa and more.  These songs come from her debut EP–I’m fascinated by the people who write hits and then eventually decide to sing.  Why did they give their songs away instead of singing them?  Is it a good way to establish your cred and make some money?  Probably.

Anyhow, I expected these songs to be much more pop-friendly and hook-filled.  Rather, they are pretty songs and PJ’s voice is really nice as well, but they aren’t earworms.

Backed by Drin Elliot on the keys, the Los Angeles-based North Carolina native breezes through two tracks off of her new EP, Waiting on Paris, from quarantine digs complete with mannequins, floral arrangements and radiant artwork.

I like the sound that Elliott gets from the simple setup (but I guess you can program synths to do a ton of stuff at the press of a button).

PJ is now the third singer in a row to have a song on the soundtrack for HBO’s Insecure.  I am now really surprised that I haven’t heard of it, even in ads.

For the final song and with the biggest grin on her face she “switches vibes” with the upbeat and anthemic “Element,” from this season of HBO’s Insecure. Here, her energy is nearly impossible to harness as she exclaims “quarantined but in my element!”

Strangely, I don’t find this song all that anthemic.  It’s kind of catchy, but then I haven’t found any of the Insecure songs to be all that super catchy.  Maybe it’s an understated soundtrack.

[READ: June 19, 2020] The Okay Witch

This graphic novel was wonderful.

Set in Founder’s Bluff, Massachusetts, this story is about witches (duh).  But there’s a fun twist with a mother-daughter/generational issue that definitely goes beyond witchcraft.

Middle schooler Moth (no explanation given for the name) lives with her mom, Calendula.  They own a second hand shop that was once owned by a nice old Jewish man named Joe Laslo.  (The Jewish part is relevant only because of what happens later–it’s funny).

As the story opens we learn that Founder’s Bluff has a long, beloved history of witch persecution.  Judge Nathaniel Kramer made the witches leave the town.  In 1692, women were accused of bewitching Kramer’s son Peter, and they all “disappeared,” taking Peter with them.  Kramers have been in charge ever since (the Mayor is a descendant). (more…)

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Haruki Murakami–“Man-Eating Cats” (New Yorker, December 4, 2000)

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Cats, Japanese Music, Kawabata Makoto, Kawabata Sachiko, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Philip Gabriel, Surreal, 河端一 on June 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »

20000000SOUNDTRACK: KAWABATA MAKOTO [河端一]-I’m in Your Inner Most (2001).

a3548319280_16Recently, Kawabata Makoto [河端一], mastermind behind Acid Mothers Temple, revealed a new bandcamp site for some newer releases.

This is Kawabata Makoto’s minimal music works by his own ensemble reissued in 2002 with a bonus track.

This album is in fact two parts of the same song (technically). And they’re the first of his solo works to predominantly feature organ.  It also features artwork by Kawabata Sachiko

“I’m In Your Inner Most Part.1″ (19.11)  starts with a repeated organ riff and (the inevitable) high-pitched feedback sounds.  This one also has the voice of Audrey Ginestet repeating one word (drift? drip? something in French?).  Every few measure a new item is added and repeated–mostly organ notes in a pattern or a scale.  The last five minutes or so feels like a two note siren as the high notes soar around the top.”

I’m In Your Inner Most Part.2″  (20.24)  opens with that repeated word.  This piece feels a biot more like an improv with organ and the tambura rotating through.

Kawabata Makoto is credited with electric organ, electric harpsichord, violin, tambura, percussion, electronics and electric guitar on this release.

The bonus track is called “Osculation (remix version)”  (15.32).  I can’t tell exactly what it is remixing as it sounds like parts of both songs are melded together.  There is a lot of church organ sounds and repeating motifs.  But around 11 minutes a grinding noise comes into the song and start to take over until the end is just all noise.

Like most of Kawabata’s solo album, this one feels improvised and off the cuff.  The inclusion of the organ however, makes this one solitary in his vast catalog.

[READ: June 13, 2020] “Man-Eating Cats”

Twenty years apart, Murakami has two surreal stories about animals. Actually, this one is far less surreal than the monkey story, but there is a supernatural component for sure.

The story opens with the narrator reading to Izumi from the newspaper.  The article is about a woman who died and her cats ate her–they had been alone in the apartment for about a week with no food.

Izumi wants to know what happened to the cats, but the paper doesn’t say.  She wonders if he were the town’s mayor or chief of police, would he have the cats put down?  He suggests reforming them into vegetarians, but Izumi didn’t laugh at that. (more…)

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Haruki Murakami–“Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey” (New Yorker, June 8 & 15, 2020)

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Anton Bruckner, Drinking, Film & TV, Japanese Music, Kawabata Makoto, Monkeys, New Yorker, Philip Gabriel, Surreal, 河端一 on June 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »

june8SOUNDTRACK: KAWABATA MAKOTO [河端一]-Jellyfish Rising (2005).

a1318054058_16Recently, Kawabata Makoto [河端一], mastermind behind Acid Mothers Temple, revealed a new bandcamp site for some newer releases.

This is another one of Kawabata Makoto’s minimal music works by electric guitars.  It also has two lengthy tracks.

“Astral Aurelia Aurita Laavarek” (28:05) is an echoing looping solo guitar piece.  It is chill and pretty. The looping is fairly quick until about 11 minutes when he slows it down to single notes.  The faster notes are still floating around in the background–ever so slowly fading away.  The pace speeds up and slows down through the rest of the song, creating a wall of new agey vibes.

“Meditation Of Pelagia Panopyra Perea” (27:16) is a similar style but deeper notes and a much lower backing drone.  This whole piece feels less relaxing but still soothing in a different way.

This might be my favorite solo record so far.

[READ: June 13, 2020] “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey”

The narrator met the titular monkey about five years ago in Gunma Province at a small Japanese-style inn.  He had arrived at the hot springs town and needed a place to crash for the night.  The place was practically a flophouse, but it was cheap and it was just one night.

But the hot springs bath was wonderful.  He was by himself and he spent a long time there, getting light-headed.

That’s when the monkey walked in and said “Excuse me.”  The monkey asked if the bath was satisfactory and if the narrator would like his back scrubbed (he did).

The monkey “didn’t have any clothes on.  Which, of course, is usually the case for a monkey, so it didn’t strike me as odd.” (more…)

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