Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Artists’ Category

Jason–Werewolves of Montpellier (2010)

Posted in Graphic Novel, Jason, John Arne Sæterøy, Kim Thompson, LGBTQ, Mystery, Pink Floyd, Short Books, Slayer, Translation, Venom, Violence, Voivod on September 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

werwolvsSOUNDTRACK: VOIVOD-Nothingface (1989).

nothingI have talked about Nothingface before, but here it is in sequence with the Voivod catalog.

This is the culmination of Voivod’s move toward progressive metal. Even nearly 25 years after its release, this remains one of my favorite albums ever.  The guitar chords are complex and wonderful.  Snakes’ voice is melodic with odd tinges of weirdness thrown in—where he goes up or down a note unexpectedly.  Plus, he has that peculiar pronunciation/emphasis that makes the words sound even more exotic (like “repugnant”).  And despite the fact that they cover Pink Floyd (!), the album is still heavy.

The whole band is in top form here—Away’s drumming is explosive and complex, Blacky has a fantastic rumbling sound that’s not distorted but really fills in the bottom end and Piggy’s guitar is masterful.  “The Unknown Knows” has some cool staggered notes and a great catchy guitar riff during the verses but the time changes come fast and furious.  I love the way the guitar and bass play off each other in this song.  But then comes the cover of “Astronomy Domine”.  Imagine the band from War and Pain who used to cover Slayer and Venom now covering Pink Floyd.  It’s hard to fathom, but man, do they pull it off wonderfully—adding a heavy bass element but keeping it very faithful.  And Away’s drumming is stellar.  It’s a marvelous cover.

“Missing Sequences” starts with a cool bass line and Snake’s great pause… “NOW!” Then when he starts singing again, his voice is phased in a very cool sci-fi kind of way.  There’s also some interesting effects—keyboards maybe–in many of the songs.  There’s also a great part where there’s a rumbling bass and Snake’s scream of “GO!” before a weird guitar solo and then even weirder shifted guitar chords.  It’s magnificent.

As is the guitar playing in the verses for “X-Ray.”  I’m not even sure how Piggy came up with the bizarre chords in “Pre-Ignition.”  And yet despite the harshness, there’s pretty melodies like in the cool catchy “ground and rock and sand” section of the song.  And as for pretty, the quiet beauty that opens “Into My Hypercube” is really impressive for such a dissonant album—Snake whispers his vocals and the guitars are all pretty, major chords.  Until the bridge where dissonance enters and then the post bridge (who even knows what to call these song parts) which is once again a heavy round of dissonant chords.  And then when the “tumult in the dark” section starts, it’s practically a whole new song—until Blacky’s bass section reintroduces the beginning motif.

The final track has a wonderful moment where Snake’s voice follows Piggy’ unusual guitar line perfectly.  And then the very cool almost funky (great bass sound) of Blacky after the “too late for S.O.S.” line.  The album ends abruptly (too late for S.O.S.) and you’re left contemplating everything that just happened (I haven’t even mentioned the lyrics).

It’s a prog metal masterpiece.

[READ: August 26, 2013] Werewolves of Montpellier

I enjoyed Jason’s Lost Cat so much that I went to the library and checked out some other books by him as well.

Werewolves has the same looking characters as in Lost Cat, but they are different people (I assume).  The strange thing about this book is that the werewolves don’t look all that different from the main drawings.  At first I wasn’t even sure that he was wearing the werewolf mask.  But on closer inspection there are subtle differences (the eyes, the ears, the fingers).  Indeed, it took two reads for me to really notice all the subtle details.  Nevertheless, it’s just funny to imagine the characters thinking he was a werewolf when he looks for the most part the same anyway.

But so this story starts with the main character, Sven, dressed like a werwolf and breaking into someone’s house.  When the victim comes home, she catches him, but is frightened and he flees out the window.  In the next scene his next door neighbor, Audrey, (not his girlfriend, as she is dating a woman named Julie) brings him some food and tells him that he was in the paper (unidentified but in costume).

Then we see the main character and a bird looking guy playing chess in the park (and talking about the value of escalators for checking out women’s asses).  The main characters seems to be primarily dog-like and bird-like, but they intermingle freely.

The final new characters are two men talking about the photo.  They say that the werewolf in the photo is not part of their brotherhood and they want to punish this newcomer for causing them trouble. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jason–Lost Cat (2013)

Posted in Graphic Novel, Jason, John Arne Sæterøy, Kim Thompson, Mystery, Noir, Sci-fi, Slayer, Translation, Venom, Voivod on August 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

lostcatwarandSOUNDTRACK: VOIVOD-War and Pain (bonus stuff) (2004).

The War and Pain reissue was packed with goodies for Voivod fans.

You get “Anachronism” which is 3 songs from their very first live show in June 1983.  (“Condemned to the Gallows,” “Blower,” “Voivod”). They had (it sounds like) a surprisingly large audience for the show.  You also get “To The Death” which is 3 songs from the Metal Massacre V sessions (“Condemned to the Gallows,” “Voivod,” “Iron Gang”) of which “Condemned to the Gallows” was used on that compilation.  I think this is one of their better early songs, and it’s a shame it never got a proper release (although it’s all over this package).

If the sound quality on their proper album was bad, you can imagine how bad this sounds.  Their first show may have been recorded on a microcassette it is so low-fidelity.  And somehow the Metal Massacre tracks sound like they were left in a puddle of mud since 1984.  I have the Metal Massacre albums and I don’t think they sounded that bad.

That leaves Disc 2: “Morgoth Invasion.”  This is a live show from December 1984.  It has 16 songs (surprisingly no “Voivod” and two covers:  Venom’s “Witching Hour” and Slayer’s “Chemical Warfare”).  Like the previous live tracks, this one sounds pretty dreadful–but not quite as bad.  It is fun for the historic value–hearing the band play fast and tight hearing Snake’s guttural French (he did most of the between song banter in French).  Also hearing how well they play the covers shows how seriously they took their metal.

The third disc is a CD-ROM.  You get lyrics to the album, biographies of the band and comments on the 20th anniversary release.  There’s also band photos and art by Away.  There’s even the old  video for “Voivod.”

But for fans the most exciting part is the “Sounds” section.  In addition to including all of the above audio (in case you wanted it all on CD-ROM?), there’s also seven songs from a 1984 concert.  I am fairly certain that these tracks would eventually be released on the To the Death 84 album (it’s the same order and I don’t have that record).  Again, the sound quality is not great, but it’s interesting to hear these songs played live–to hear just how fast these guys can play.

So the anniversary package is worth investing in if you like your Voivod.  If not, wait a couple more albums when they become amazing.

[READ: August 26, 2013] Lost Cat

I had not heard of Jason before this book passed across my desk.  Jason is a Norwegian graphic artist and comic book maker whose real name is John Arne Sæterøy.  Many of his books have been published in English by Fantagraphics.  This one was translated (from the Norwegian I assume, although Jason now lives in France, so maybe it was written in French) by Kim Thompson.  The interesting thing about the translation is that I didn’t realize it was one at first…I just thought the characters were deliberately speaking in a weird sort of way.  I wonder if this is intentional on the translator’s part.

The striking thing about Jason’s art is that his characters do not have eyeballs (as you can see from the cover art).  This seems to convey an overall sadness to the characters.  And yet he is also incredible at creating mood and tone from these animal people (even without eyeballs!).

This story has a few threads that tie it together.  As the story opens we meet Dan Delon, a private detective.  As he walks home for the night he sees a lost cat sign.  A few panels later he see the cat.  He calls the number and returns the lost kitty.  The kitty’s owner, Charlotte, is very nice.  She invites him in and gives him a drink.  She owns a local bookstore which he was recently in (although they did not meet).  They seem to have a lot in common.  Charlotte is fascinated that he’s a private detective.  But he quickly dismisses the excitement saying that it is mostly just taking pictures of people having affairs–and then upsetting both parties when all is said and done.  He seems to realize the loneliness of his life as he says this (again, conveyed wonderfully with the art). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Lara’s Book: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon–with thoughts and story by Douglas Coupland and Strategies from Kip Ward (1998)

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Douglas Coupland, Fantasy, Funny (strange), Kip Ward, Kris Renkewitz, Sex, Technology, The Future, Tomb Raider, Unfinished, Voivod on August 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

laraSOUNDTRACK: VOIVOD-War and Pain (1984).

warandIt was easy to know that Voivod were going to be an unusual band.  Their name is crazy.  All the members had nicknames like Piggy, Blacky, Snake, and, confusingly, Away.  And they were French Canadian, which meant that their singer’s first language wasn’t English–I love the way he stresses things in his vocals especially on later albums, and he had the guttural French that sounds like a cookie monster vocalist even when he is just speaking.

Later on, their prog and psychedelic leanings would come out more, but on their debut, they were just a noisy, screamy pounding metal band.  And this debut has typically bad mid 80s metal production to top it off.

In 2004 the album was remastered with bonus tracks, a full live concert and a CD ROM with all kinds of goodies.  I originally thought the remaster didn’t sound that good, but there is definitely some clarity that the remaster brings.  It allows you to hear a lot of the subtleties (and there are some) that were lost in the original.

There are hints at the kind of weird sounding noises the band would make on future albums, but this is mostly just fast, pounding music.  I’d have liked them to re-record this stuff before Piggy died, just to see what a proper recording studio could do with these earlier songs.

Of course, now that I have listenedto it again with better equipment, I’m changing my assessment somewhat.  Despite the very heavy nature of the songs there are some very cool sequences in here.  They are nothing compared to the complexities that the band would undertake in just a few short years, but there are some really interesting things underway and the remaster definitely highlights them a little better. It still sounds pretty bad 9especially compared to their later records), but hey, they only spent $2,000 and recorded it in a studio where the engineer had never heard a metal band before.

[READ: August 23, 2013] Lara’s Book

I have known of this book since it came out in 1998.  I was a huge fan of Douglas Coupland and yet I had zero interest in Lara Croft or Tomb Raider. So I simply ignored this book.  But because I’m being all completist with this blog, it was time to bite the bullet and see what this piece of nonsense was all about.

And it is just as weird and creepy as I feared.

There are several sections to the book, most of which are written by Coupland.  I will admit right up front that I did not read the strategies and secrets from Kip Ward–sorry Kip, it seemed like fun but between the crazy fonts and layout and the fact that I will never play the game it just seemed like too much. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Hard Art DC 1979 (2013)

Posted in Alec MacKaye, Bad Brains, Books about music, Brick Bats, D.O.A., Dischord Records, Faith, Fugazi, Henry Rollins, Ignition, Lucien Perkins, Minor Threat, Photo Essays, Punks, The Slickee Boys, The Teen Idles, The Untouchables, The Warmers, The Washington Post, Trenchmouth (DC), Tru Fax on August 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

hardartSOUNDTRACK: THE TEEN IDLES-Minor Disturbance (1981).

minorThe Teen Idles were the first band released on Ian MacKaye’s Dischord Records.  And this EP was record 001 (MacKaye was in the band and he made his own label to release the record).

There are eight songs, done in a total of 9 minutes and 20 seconds.  The final song is a live track and it reaches 2 minutes mostly because of the introduction and crowd noise.  Three songs almost reach 90 seconds long.  The rest are under 1 minute.

Interestingly, there are earlier demos of these songs that are a little slower and a little less fastinyourfacescreamedlyricswhat???  Perhaps because I’m old I like the slower ones a little better, but I know that this represents the core of DC Hardcore and I respect that.  And you can actually make out the lyrics if you try.

Some themes include being too young to go to shows, people trying to grow old too fast, punk music (“you say we need practice, maybe in a couple of years”), and apparently dissing British punk for selling out. (“There goes your fury out the door, don’t expect our respect anymore”).

The acerbic “Deadhead” even has a slow section (but is still overall less than 90 seconds) in which they parody the Grateful Dead—the song is anti-Dead primarily because of the drugs they espoused (The Teen Idles, like Minor Threat were straight edge).  I had to look up Fiorucci to see what “Fiorucci Nightmare” was about (it’s a fashion house).

For an early taste of the DC Hardcore scene, it pretty much starts here.

[READ: August 22, 2013] Hard Art DC 1979

Do you like punk rock?  Punk rock from the late 70s? Specifically bands from Washington DC? In particular bands that played at three venues?  On four specific dates?  That’s the focus of this book.

This is a collection of photographs by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Lucien Perkins.  Perkins has been taking pictures for decades, primarily for The Washington Post—covering major events in Russia, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and, in the late 70s, a few DC punk shows.

The book doesn’t say anything about his motive for doing these shows—other than that he was new to the scene and thought it looked interesting.  And since Bad Brains are the focus of most of the pictures, I’m certain that race and racism had something to do with his showing up at these events.  Especially because the first event was called Rock Against Racism and was held in a public housing area of Washington D.C. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Victoria Chang–The Boss (2013)

Posted in Corporate skewering, Edward Hopper, McSweeney's, Poetry, Poets, Short Books, The Octopus Project, Victoria Chang on August 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

bossSOUNDTRACK: THE OCTOPUS PROJECT-“Sharpteeth” (2013).

octopusThe Octopus Project play largely instrumentals, but this track has vocals.  It begins with a very synthy keyboard sound–very retro.  But it soon grows huge with big swirling sounds and a ton of other instruments.

I’m not sure why they do so many instrumentals because their vocals–male and female playing at odds with each other–work wonderfully together.  They’re kind of a talkie singing which works well in this song.

Bob Boilen says one of the musicians is a great theremin player.  I assume that that’s what the solo is although it doesn’t have the eerieness of a theremin–perhaps that’s just the production?

By the middle of the solo, the whole band kicks in and it is a noisy cacophony but with a pretty melody still going on.  It’s a very cool song, and I’m bummed that I’ve never heard of them before (they’ve been around over a decade).

[READ: August 20, 2013] The Boss

This is the fifth book in the McSweeney’s poetry series.

I don’t know Chang’s poetry (although I have apparently read it in The Believer) and two things struck me.  She really sticks to her theme and she likes playing with words.

What I found initially very exciting but then a little exhausting (perhaps her poetry is better taken in small doses) was the play on words.

Like the vibrancy of “I Once was a Child” (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth–Retold by Davis Worth Miller and Katherine McLean Brevard; illustrated by Greg Rebis (2008) & Journey to the Center of the Earth (film 200)

Posted in Adventure, Alfred Hitchcock, Bernard Hermann, Brendan Fraser, Davis Worth Miller, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Greg Rebis, Hollow Earth, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne, Katherine McLean Brevard, Oddities, Orson Welles, Sci-fi on August 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

comicSOUNDTRACK: BERNARD HERMANN-Journey to the Center of the Earth soundtrack (1959).

Herhermannmann is best known for scoring amazing pieces of music for Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles.  And during his prolific period with Hitchcock, he scored the 1959 version of Journey to the Center of the Earth.

I have always admired Hermann’s scores as being very effective, although I’m not sure how enjoyable they would be to simply listen to (the opening to Psycho is pretty great as a piece of music though).

Because this is a ponderous sci-fi film that plumbs the depth of the earth, Hermann’s score is very ponderous as well, with long held very deep notes.  Although I haven’t actually seen it, so I don’t really know what is happening during the various score moments.  The opening sequence is very over the top, but it has some really great sounds in the organs (the bass notes are really ominous).

But it’s not all ponderous–there are trumpet blasts and harps.  The harp is quite a breath of fresh air and I can just imagine its revelation of something mystical.  Although the “march” is rather silly sounding and seems like something out of the Wizard of Oz (again, what could be happening in the film at this point?).  “False Arrow” is very uplifting (in a contemporary film sorta way) although with that title, I’m not too happy for them.

There are some moments like in Lost City/Atlantis where he sort of predicts prog rock.  There’s a  very cool organ sequence with single notes thrown in, that could easily come from mid period Pink Floyd.  While I wouldn’t want to listen to this soundtrack on its own for much of it, this sequence in particular could easily be played on a mix of trippy new age/prog rock music playlist.

Interestingly the soundtrack also has three songs sung by Pat Boone.  I didn’t actually listen to them so i don’t really understand how they fit in.  Especially in the soundtrack where they are interspersed with Hermann’s score.

[READ and WATCHED: mid July 2013]: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Recently re re-watched Journey to the Center of the Earth, the Brendan Frasier vehicle, with the kids.  It was a fun, kid-friendly adventure film—totally inoffensive and with a goodly amount of humor.  Aside from the gratuitous 3-D showoffiness (which just looks dumb in 2-D–can you even watch an old movie in 3-D on DVD?), the movie was enjoyable and, in its own way, faithful to the book.

I think.

For I have never read the book.  Despite the fact that I have a category called “Hollow Earth” and had a plan to read as many hollow earth-based books as I could find and have even read a few of the more obscure ones, I have not read the famous one.  (One of these days).  But as we were watching the movie Clark said that he recognized the giant mushrooms.  I had gotten him this graphic novel a few weeks before and he read it and said it was really good.  Then he said that I should read it, too.  Not one to turn down a recommendation, I did.

Now I have to admit that I found the story a bit jumpy and disjointed.  I felt like there needed to be some transitions between scenes and more than once I turned to see if I had skipped a page.  Of course, since I don’t know the original, I don’t know if this is how the book is written (I  would doubt it), nor do I know how faithful this is to the book.  I realize that it is a major abridgment and is just meant to convey the essence of the story.  And if it makes readers want to delve into the full book, that’s pretty cool.  Of course, the story is such an integral part of historical storytelling, that just having this basis is good. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Michael Chabon–The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man (2011)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Fantasy, Jake Parker, Michael Chabon, Parenting, Ralph's World, Ramones, Short Books, Superheroes on July 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

awesomemanSOUNDTRACK: RALPH’S WORLD-Green Gorilla, Monster & Me (2005).

gorilaI remember being pretty excited about this album because it was Ralph’s newest album after Clark was born.  And it was fun to have a “new” children’s album (they were of course all new to us since we hadn’t bought any children’s music before but the fact that Ralph was still putting new stuff out was good news).

And so it will always be cool (and has a couple of my favorite Ralph songs).  And yet, overall it’s not quite as exciting as some of the other ones.

“Dance Around” is a fun upbeat song that should get everyone moving as each verse gets progressively more energetic.  This would certainly be a favorite.  “Hideaway” sounds like any jangly pop song on the radio—even lyrically it’s not really geared to kids exclusively.  This could have had crossover appeal.  “Red Banana” is a fun song full of absurdities—catchy and wonderful.  “Guitarzan” is a song I never much liked, although this version is a bit more fun than the original.  Nevertheless, it’s so much longer than the better songs, that I get tired of it pretty quickly!  “Me & My Invisible Friend” is  sweet song about having an invisible friend, but I find that I clearly like the more upbeat songs like “Old Red #7” a cool song about making and racing a car.

“River Flow” is a fun travel song, but “Liesl Echo” is our favorite Ralph’s World song of all time! We even named our cat Liesl Echo. in honor of the song.  Ahhh.  “Monster” is a wonderfully funny song about a “scary” puppy.  It’s on a song like that this Ralph’s details shine.  “Tim the Boy” is actually about a series of kids who are contrary and refuse to change their minds.  The end shows how being so stubborn never works out quite as they wanted.  “I Don’t Wanna” is a great punk song (gentle punk of course, but in the spirit of The Ramones).  It’s all about saying you don’t want things because you have to do some work to get them (I don’t want dessert, I don’t want to watch TV).  It’s very fun to sing along to.

“Tower of Blocks” is about the man on the moon, but it pales in comparison to “Yum! Yuk!” which is just fun to sing a long to and gets very silly by the end.  “Swingset” ends the album in a rather generic way—which reminds me more of the kind of music that Ralph’s adult band plays.   So the highs on this disc are pretty great, but there’s a bunch of songs that don’t really grab me.  This was actually Ralph’s last disc on beloved indie label Minty Fresh before he made the jump to Disney.

[READ: July 21, 2013] The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man

Since I’m a fan of Michael Chabon, I’m including this children’s book since we read it this past week.

I’ve enjoyed most of everything I’ve read by Chabon, and I know he has a connection to the comics world.  So a children’s superhero book seems like an obvious hit.

And it is a clever idea.  Awesome Man talks about all of the things he can do (fights bad guys has cool powers), but also talks about the frustrations of being a super hero.  Awesome man gets mad and wants to break things, and sometimes he needs to sit on his bed and relax to calm down.  So the secret identity is not too hard to figure out.  Indeed, the idea of the narrator imaging a super hero identity is cool and fun.

But if the secret identity is pretty easy to figure out, I guess it is therefore not really astonishing?  And that’s just one thing that’s a little unsatisfying about this story. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Squish: Game On! (#5) (2012)

Posted in Advice, Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Ralph's World, Short Books, Video Games on July 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

squish5SOUNDTRACK: RALPH’S WORLD-At the Bottom of the Sea [Second Half] (2002).

ralph seaI split this disc into two because there were so many songs on it.  But the second half is just as fun as the first half.

“Baseball Dreams” is all about dreaming to be a pro baseball player (specifically a Chicago Cub, which is endearing).  “Sunny Day Rainy Day Anytime Band” is one of my favorite Ralph songs.  It’s a rocking rollicking song.  Super catchy and I find it in my head a lot.  “Fly Me to the Moon” is a charming take on the classic song (with mandolin).  And “Baa Baa Black Sheep” is the children’s song, slowed down and very mellow.

“Malcolm McGillikitty” is a fun original which is all about the psychic cat (he knows when we’re going to the vet, and when you’re coming home).  It’s a very funny original.  “The highlight of the second half of the disc has got to be “What Can You Do with Your Baby Brother” It is a great kid-friendly rendition of “What Can You Do with a Drunken Sailor.”  And it offers great advice about things you can do to torment your little siblings when your parents aren’t looking.  Very funny.  “Bean Soup and Rice” is a fun sing along because of the Buh Buh Buh Buh Buh Buh Beans line and for the nonsense about what you might eat.  “Many Things to Know” is a mellow album closer, which I actually didn’t even remember. I guess I tend to tune out the mellow Ralph songs, because I feel like a kid’s album should be all up or all mellow.

So there it is, a great children’s album–fun for kids and adults with a wonderful variety of styles for kids to delve into.

[READ: July 20, 2013] Squish #5

Why was this book better than #4? Because this one has a video game in it!  Well, that’s not exactly why, but as a parent who is struggling with a child who really like a video game a lot, it was comforting to see a story in which the video game doesn’t triumph (no matter how much fun it actually is).  And, as I mentioned in #4, there was a lot more dialogue here, which is always a lot of fun.

All of Squish’ friends are playing a game called Mitosis!  (Who says video games can’t be educational? Or comic books?).  There are  few wonderfully drawn screen shots of this 8-bit game (the kitten bonus is hilarious).  It’s not really relevant how you play the gamer (I’m not sure I could tell), but suffice it to say that levels must be defeated.  And once Squish sees Pod plying his game, Squish spends the money he was saving for some Super Amoeba comics (say it ain’t so!) to buy his own Mitosis game.  The scene where Squish sets foot in the video game store for the first time was just like the first time we took our kids to Game Stop. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Squish: Captain Disaster (#4) (2012)

Posted in Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Ralph's World, Short Books, Soccer, The Dickies, Trout Fishing in America on July 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

squish4SOUNDTRACK: RALPH’S WORLD-At the Bottom of the Sea [First Half] (2002).

ralph seaI’m splitting this disc in two parts because there are seventeen tracks on it.  This is one of my favorite Ralph’s World records.  There’s something about the collection of originals and covers that is always varied, always interesting and lots of fun.  (Most Ralph’s World records meet the same criteria, but this one seems to have overall a better collection of songs).  Which is kind of interesting as it is his second kids album.

“At the Bottom of the Sea” is a fun bopping song (with fast lyrics and a slide guitar!).  “Honey for the Bears” is a countryish song that is very fun to sing along to (even if it seems factually questionable).  “The Coffee Song” is also fun to sing along to (what is it about spelling songs that make you want to spell along?).  Even though none of us drink coffee in the house.  “Surfin’ in My Imagination” is, yes, a surf rock song (this album is a nice introduction to different styles of music).

I had the theme from “Harry’s Haunted Halloween Circus” in my head for days before I could remember what it was—it’s a kind of clarinet and tuba riff, slightly off but also mesmerizing like circus music.  I really like it.  I don’t think I ever really listened to the lyrics which are quite “spooky.”  “The Banana Splits Song” is always super fun, whether it’s by Ralph’s World or The Dickies (who are goofy but not really for kids).  “18 Wheels on the Big Rig” was introduced to me by Trout Fishing in America, so I always think their version is best (even if they do it live exactly the same every time). Ralph’s version is good, but just not quite as good as TFiA.  “Clean My Room” is a blues, which I don’t particularly like (I’m nt a fan of the blues, although this one is funny).  The first half ends with “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”  Ralph’s version has some extra verses and a whole new scenario as well as a very amusing (to adults) punchline.

The second half will come tomorrow.

[READ: July 20, 2013] Squish #4

Somehow I didn’t even know that there were two new Squish books out.  Hoorah!

Although this particular volume felt a little slim to me.  Not in the size, but in the content.  In this book, Squish joins a soccer team.  His team is terrible, compiled from a mishmash of players, many of whom are simply, terrible.  The coach tries to get everyone excited (blah blah blah) and then Squish is promoted to Captain of the team (because someone volunteered him).

The problem here is that in the book, it is the captain who makes all the decisions regarding the plays and players.  Which is nonsense at that age.  I realize of course that this is fiction and a children’s book and a comic book and that the story wouldn’t coalesce if he wasn’t captain, but it puts a crazy amount of pressure on poor Squish.

The other problem is that it’s a story about sports.  Sports stories always stink because you either win or you lose.  And, in an underdog sports story you lose a lot and then you win. It’s pretty unavoidable.  Although the Holms do a nice twist on it at the end.  But really, most of the book is just scenes of them losing–which sells short the usual snappy dialogue. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Nick Hornby–Songbook (2002)

Posted in Aimee Mann, Ani DiFranco, Badly Drawn Boy, Ben Folds Five, Bruce Springsteen, Concert, Decadence, Essays, Marcel Dzama, Mark Mulcahy, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Nelly Furtado, Nick Hornby, Paul Westerberg, Rod Stewart, Rufus Wainwright, Sex, Short Books, Soulwax, Suicide, Teenage Fanclub, The Bible on July 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

songbookSOUNDTRACK: songs from Songbook (2002).

songbook2Songbook came with an 11 song CD.  I’m curious, given the way he speaks so lovingly of the songs in the book how come more bands/labels didn’t want to be included on it.  The proceeds went to charity and it would just be more exposure for the artists.  There were a lot of songs I didn’t know and would love to have heard (or would love to hear while I was reading).  And frankly I see no downside to throwing a track on a compilation which is a collection of someone’s favorite songs.  Of course, things were very different in the music world in 2002.  Now, someone will just make a playlist on their iPod of theses songs, and post them to Spotify.

PAUL WESTERBERG-“Born for Me.” I’m much more of a fan of Westerberg with the Replacements, as he got a little too polished as a solo guy.  But this song has a fun, shambolic quality to it (it doesn’t even sound like Westerberg singing).  It wouldn’t be a favorite song of mine, but it is a nice one.

TEENAGE FANCLUB “Your Love is the Place Where I Come From” and “Ain’t That Enough.”  I really like Teenage Fanclub a lot.  They are one of my favorite jangly pop bands.  So these two songs rank pretty high for me.  Although I admit to liking their slightly more rocking songs a bit more, “Your Love” is a very pretty ballad and “Ain’t That Enough” is just gorgeous.

THE BIBLE- “Glorybound” Hornby says he knew these guys.  It’s an okay song, a little too slick for me and very of its time.

AIMEE MANN-“I’ve Had It”  I like Aimee Mann very much.  I can’t say that I paid a ton of attention to the lyrics of this song (I didn’t know it was about touring) but I’ve always liked it—the understated yet beautiful melody and chorus are very nice.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT-“One Man Guy” I like Rufus a lot.  I don’t own any of his music, but I really like everything I hear from him.  His delivery is so louche, it makes me smile every time.  This song is actually one his father wrote and sang many years ago (very differently).

ROD STEWART-“Mama You Been on My Mind” Hornby’s essay on Rod Stewart is hilarious.  And his defense of early Stewart is wholly believable.  I, of course, know Rod from his later, laughable stuff, so I never considered his early work  But this track is pretty good.

BADLY DRAWN BOY-“A Minor Incident” Sarah and I love Badly Drawn Boy, and this soundtrack in particular.  Hornby’s discussion of how he Damon got to do the soundtrack is very interesting.

BEN FOLDS FIVE-“Smoke” I’ve liked Ben for years now (going to see him in two weeks).  This song has always been a favorite both for the lyrics, which are great and because that weird harp-type sound is him playing the strings of his grand piano with a pick.

MARK MULCAHY-“Hey Self Defeater” I don’t know Mulcahy at all.  This song has a beautiful wavery guitar and gentle vocals (it’s funny to read about Hornby rocking out when most of this disc is quite mellow).

ANI DIFRANCO-“You Had Time” I was a huge Ani DiFranco fan back in the day, but this song is unknown to me, or should I say unfamiliar to me.  It’s on one of her very early albums.  Perhaps it’s more that I must have ignored the piano opening, which Hornby pays close attention to and really explains it in a useful way, showing how it is more about a beautiful melody being born from chaos.  And now I respect the song a lot more.

[READ: 2002 and July 1, 2013] Songbook

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written this very book in my head….  A list of favorite songs and why they are so important to me?  How cool is that.  I have no idea how come Hornby got to write it (I know, High Fidelity), but still, what a nice cozy assignment.  And to have this book illustrated by Marcel Dzama is even cooler.

This book came out in 2002 after About a Boy (and in the year that About a Boy was being turned into a film).  Hornby had recently hooked up with the McSweeney’s gang and began writing for The Believer in 2003.

I had no idea that the book was released in the UK under a different name (31 Songs) or that they also released an accompanying CD (A Selection of Music from 31 Songs) with 18 songs on it (see my comment above about CDs).  Although we got fewer songs on the disc in the US, at least ours came with the book. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »