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Archive for the ‘Colleen Coover’ Category

Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover–Bandette: Volume Three: The House of the Green Mask (2016)

Posted in Adventure, Agnes Obel, Art, Bandits, Cats, Colleen Coover, Daredevils, Dogs, Erik Satie, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Noir, Ongoing, Paul Tobin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Short Books, Suzanne Valadon, Tiny Desk Concert, YA Books on May 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: AGNES OBEL-Tiny Desk Concert #599  (February 15, 2017).

Agnes Obel recently played a show near me, but it wasn’t until after I watched this show that I realized I should have gone to see her.

Agnes Obel, a Danish singer and writer of deeply alluring music, brought her work into what you could call its opposite — an office in the daylight. While the setting is a bit contrary to her carefully plotted, vocally dense songs, she mapped out a strategy which included her own reverb and monitor mix in the (successful, I think) hope of giving the Tiny Desk an aesthetic more suitable to these focused and powerful songs.

Obel plays three songs from Citizen of Glass alongside her band, keeping it sonically spare.  “It’s Happening Again” opens with fairly standard-sounding piano chords.  Then Obel’s voice kicks in and it’s unique–not weird, but with a cool almost detached delivery.  Accompanying her is a cellist and keyboardist.  They each sing backing vocals (along with a third backing vocalist).  When they all sing together, it is magical–sometimes creepy, sometimes beautiful.  The song builds to the end with all of the strings growing louder as the cello plays some wild, sliding sounds.  It is quite striking.

For “Golden Green,” the cellist switches to percussion (which is a kind of clacky ball that she throws in the air).  The main melody comes from the mellotron.  Once again when the backing vocalists kick, in everything is magical, especially the way the final note ends with a dramatic rise in pitch from all of the singers.

On “Stone,” the mellotron player switches to (electric) ukulele.  The melody comes from the uke and it is quite quiet until the chord when the cello and keyboard adds some deep bass notes that seem to overwhelm the room–quite dramatic and quite lovely.

[READ: December 1, 2016] Bandette Volume Three

Bandette Volume Three is just as much fun as books one and two.  It opens with Bandette getting shot at as she gives her little dog Pimento an important note for Daniel.  Daniel calls her and she proceeds to tell him about an upcoming heist (while she is still being shot at).  She says that there is a fabulous emerald on display.  An emerald that was once owned by Madame Presto: fabulist, mesmerist, woman of impudent morals.

And later that night (after she easily dispatches the bad guys) she goes to that special event and steals… a film about Madame Presto.

The next night several people (and a dog) are hit with sleeping darts from a new villain–Dart Petite. (more…)

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Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover–Bandette: Volume Two: Stealers, Keepers! (2015)

Posted in Adventure, Art, Audrey Hepburn, Audrey Tatou, Bandits, Cary Grant, Cats, Colleen Coover, Daredevils, Dogs, Emi Lenox, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Henry Fonda, Herbert Lom, James Coburn, Jonathan Hill, Lucy Bellwood, Noir, Ongoing, Patrick Sherberger, Paul Tobin, Peter Falk, Peter O'Toole, Ron Chan, Ron Randall, Sheli Hay, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, YA Books on May 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

  SOUNDTRACK: DANA FALCONBERRY-Tiny Desk Concert #292 (July 29, 2013).

This Tiny Desk Concert introduced me to Dana Falconberry:

Dana Falconberry’s songs are gentle, almost invariably delicate, sometimes mysterious and frequently feather-light. But her music’s sweet, intricate softness never stands in for strength: This is a confident songwriter, whether she’s ambling through six- and seven-minute epics (“Leelanau,” “Dolomite”) or chirping sweetly in the bouncy “Crooked River.”

The compositions on Falconberry’s most recent album, last year’s Leelanau, are sturdy enough to be stripped down for a space like Bob Boilen’s desk at the NPR Music offices. But each benefits immeasurably from the broad assortment of lovely flourishes she re-creates here with the help of five instrument-swapping backing players. What makes Falconberry stand out in a crowded field of singer-songwriters is her music’s unfailing impeccability, and this Tiny Desk Concert finds her and her crack band hitting every immaculately crafted mark.

I tend to agree with the blurbs, but this one really is spot on: delicate, impeccable, sturdy.  These are words I would absolutely use to describe these songs.  I would also use fantastical–not suggesting that there might be fairies floating around during these songs, but it wouldn’t surprise me if one made an appearance.

“Dolomite” is a beautiful 7 minute song with many different sections.  Falconberry’s delicate (but not wimpy, it must be said) voice works perfectly with the capoed guitar she’s playing.  After the first verse, she’s joined by a cello, banjo and backing vocals, and the song builds.  Then after almost 2 minutes the bass and drums jump in and the song, while staying basically the same, gets a whole new feel (the bassline is staccato and unexpected while everything else is so smooth).  At around 3 and a half minutes the keyboards start adding these pretty little runs that make the song seem even more magical.  The middle of the song has the three female singers rotating through a  series of oohs and ahs as they make a cool-sounding fugue.

For “Crooked River,” the bassist switches to melodica.  Once again there’s a great sequence where each of the female singers sings one note in a very complex melody–it’s quite enchanting.  The cello is plucked giving the whole song a very different feel from the first.

Before the final song Bob asks if she has had any desk jobs.  She says she has had her fair share.  “I currently have a desk job…I hope. We’ll see when I get home.”

For Leelanau, the keyboardist switches to accordion, and there is prominent banjo and delicate melodica.  The verse is really quite catchy, and after the verse there is a gently rocking section where everyone joins together–it bursts forth in contrast to the rest.  It is repeated a few times throughout the song, and each one is more fun than the previous.  The middle has a kind of slow break down with the cello scratching and the melodica and accordion sounding like they are running out of breath.  Dana even hit’s Bob’s gong.  The accordion is even “breathing” without making a musical note.  The song returns to that super catchy verse and jam section and just as you think its going to fade to an end, there’s very cool chime that echoes and then a huge buildup to the conclusion.

I was so entranced by Falconberry’s music that I need to hear more of it.

[READ: September 19, 2016] Bandette 2

Two years ago I wrote about Bandette Volume 1: “The book was very exciting and sweetly charming as well.  I’m looking forward to Volume 2.”  And I waited and waited for it to come out.  I even saw Vol 1 the other day and wondered when we’d get volume 2.  Well, apparently this has been out since 2015, but the library just acquired it.  So I’m happy to say it’s not my fault it took two years for me to get around to reading it.

Even though I didn’t exactly remember how book 1 had ended, Tobin & Coover added a helpful “Previously” section to get us caught up.

The wit and charm of the first book is back in spades. Bandette continues to be seemingly immune to the world around her–she says what she wants and does what she wants and no resistance will get in her way–whether it is verbal sparring or her uncanny gravity-defying stunts.  Her love of chocolate remains as well, of course.  And the tone retains that agelessness.  It feels like this book could have been written in the 1950s but for the cell phones and scooters.

Chapter One reminds us that Bandette is a civilizan as well  She has dark hair and a love of pastries–she even gives the bakery owner priceless urn (from where) as payment for the delicious sweets. (more…)

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Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover–Bandette: Volume One: Presto! (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Colleen Coover, Graphic Novel, Ongoing, Paul Tobin, Sex, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, YA Books on August 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bandetteSOUNDTRACK: ERNEST RANGLIN-Tiny Desk Concert #382 (August 16, 2014).

ernestErnest Ranglin is a pioneer in ska, by mixing elements of reggae and jazz.  And at 82, he still plays a great guitar.  The solo at about 3 minutes in is really fun and interesting.  What’s interesting about this concert is that Ranglin is playing with a group of very young (compared to him) people.  The backing band is called Avila  and they hold down the beat and the rhythms for the master, sounding like a perfect fit.

They play three songs in fifteen minutes: “Surfin'” and “Jones Pen” which are longish ska instrumentals (“Jones Pen” features a keyboard solo) and “Avila (Oscar’s Song),” which is a more mellow jazzy instrumental.  Sometimes it’s nice to hear some good musicians jamming out with no vocals to complicate what they’re playing, and this is a good example of that.

It’s a lot of ska in one session, but if you like the genre, it’s hard to beat this concert.

[READ: August 1, 2014] Bandette

Sarah brought this book home and said I would like it and she was very much correct.

Bandette is a young thief living in Paris.  She is adorable and sprightly, wearing a black mask, a red wig and a yellow and black cape.  Even though she is a thief she is a good thief–stealing wonderful things but usually from bad people.  But her charm comes mostly from her fun banter and delightfully light personality.  The story is delightful and the art by Colleen Coover is fantastic–I need to see more from her (and I can, at her website).

As the story opens we see her sneaking into a fancy house where she is accosted by an adorable little doggie whom she asks “Want to come along with me on a robbery?” When the dog bounds off with her, she says “Really! You do you naughty dog! You are as bad as a cat”  She easily finds the target–four small drawings.  But she stumbles upon the owner in bed with a woman (the book just crosses the line out of kid-friendly territory).  He calls for the guards to chase her.  Her acrobatic escape is at once exciting and charming.

As she makes her escape, she calls on her cadre of helpers, assistants and urchins.  These kids love Bandette and help her however they can.  There’s the three ballerinas, there’s the group of street urchins and there’s Daniel, a delivery boy for the awesomely named Rad Thai.  He has a huge crush on Bandette and will help her in any way.

We also see that Bandette is sort of working in league with the police.  Inspector Belgique knows that Bandette is a thief, but he also knows that she can help him with more serious crimes.  Like the one he is currently involved with–a group of men breaking into the bank (real thieving).  The inspector asks Bandette for assistance and she helps in the most unlikely way she can.
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