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Archive for the ‘Artists’ Category

Dean Hale, Shannon Hale and Nathan Hale–Calamity Jack (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Danger Mouse, Dean Hale, Dystopia, Fables, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, James Mercer, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Nathan Hale, Shannon Hale, The Shins on November 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JAMES MERCER-Live on KEXP, February 10, 2012 (2012).

James Mercer came to KEXP to play a few songs solo with his acoustic guitar (the set is billed as The Shins, but it’s only Mercer).  DJ Cheryl Waters talks to him about what he’s been up to in the last five years since the previous Shins record (they don’t discuss that the rest of the band is basically gone).  She asks him about working with Danger Mouse and his foray into acting.  But mostly this set is about the music.

Mercer’s voice sounds great and the songs sound wonderful in this acoustic setting.  He explains the origins of the title Port of Morrow (it’s a real place).  He plays “Australia” from Wincing the Night Away and “September” “Simple Song” and “It’s Only Life” from Port of Morrow.

While I prefer the full album versions, this acoustic setting is quite nice and shows what great songs they are as well as how strong Mercer’s voice is (and that he was really the driving force behind The Shins all along)..

[READ: October 31, 2012] Calamity Jack

And they did.  Two years later.  This book is a kind of sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge as well as Jack’s backstory before he met Rapunzel.

Jack was a petty thief. He and the pixie Pru (who loves hats) began with small scams (apples and whatnot), and slowly built up to larger ones.  In their defense they initially only tried to rob people who “deserved” it, but they were caught on more than one occasion and Jack’s mother had had enough of him.

Then Jack happens upon a score that he can’t pass up.  And he does it (without telling Pru about it).  Jack climbs into the tower of the evil giant Blunderboar.  Blunderboar is an industrial bigwig with a Jabberwock as a guard of his gigantic tower.  As with Rapunzel’s Revenge, the setting is a mix of fairy tale and contemporary real world(ish).  Blunderboar has a lot of money (including a media empire) and he is responsible for all of the troubles in Jack’s village of Shyport.

But the problem is that the beanstalk (there is a beanstalk, but there’s no cow, there’s magic beans and a pawn shop) destroys his mother’s bakery.  And she realizes that he is responsible.  Jack flees the town both because of his mother and because of the giant (who is understandably incensed). (more…)

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Dean Hale, Shannon Hale and Nathan Hale–Rapunzel’s Revenge (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Dean Hale, Dystopia, Fables, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Gilmore Girls, Grant Lee Phillips, Graphic Novel, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Nathan Hale, Shannon Hale on November 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: GRANT LEE PHILLIPS-Live on KEXP, January 21, 2010 (2010).

I really liked Grant Lee Buffalo back in the day.  I think Grant Lee Philip’s voice is amazing–soulful, expressive, beautiful.  He was also a troubadour on Gilmore Girls!

Since Buffalo broke up, Phillips has released a few solo albums.  I have found that I don’t enjoy his solo music as much as I did the band music.  His voice is still amazing, but the solo stuff is a little too slow and meandering for me.

This set comprises four songs from his album Little Moon.  “Strangest Thing” is my favorite song from the set, it’s upbeat and beautiful.  And “Little Moon” is correctly described by the DJ as moody an intoxicating.  It’s not my favorite of his songs but the description is totally correct.

This is an enjoyable mellow set.  The DJ and Grant Lee are relaxed and comfortable and the between song chats are informative and interesting.  You can listen here.

[READ: October 30, 2012] Rapunzel’s Revenge

This story is a wonderful extrapolation of the Rapunzel story which has been moved to the Wild West.  Yup, that’s right.  Rapunzel is a cowgirl.

Well, in the beginning, the story is pretty faithful to the original.  Many elements of the fairy tale are present–Rapunzel was kidnapped from her parents (or traded for some lettuce) and raised by the enchanted witch.  This story fleshes out the politics of the witch somewhat–she has cursed the surrounding lands and made them barren–all of the fertile ground is within her walls and the peasants must pay tribute to her from their meager earnings.  And Rapunzel is a rather rebellious and outgoing girl who wants to leave her stepmother’s walled fortress and explore the world beyond.

When Rapunzel tries to climb the wall just to see what’s out there (the wall is like 70 feet tall), she is grabbed by the witch’s guard, Brute, an over-sized man who is very grouchy.  But when she learns that her real mother is still alive (and is a suffering peasant) she tries to escape for good.  Brute catches her again, and the witch locks her up (the re imagined prison is a very cool twist).  I loved that she escapes with no help from anyone (just her hair).  And that as she’s running off she meets a prince who was coming to rescue her meets her; she sends him on a wild goose chase.  This Rapunzel needs no prince. (more…)

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Colin Meloy (with illustrations by Carson Ellis)–Under Wildwood (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Big Books, Carson Ellis, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Death, Fantasy, Fears, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Magic, Quasi, Trees, Trilogy, Violence, War on November 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: QUASI Live at SXSW, March 8, 2010

I really enjoyed a few Quasi albums back around the turn of the century, and then I kind of forgot about them.  But this set is really great.  The always excellent Janet Weiss on drums and harmonies and the wonderful Sam Coombs on guitar and vocals. Around the time of this album, American Gong, they added Joanna Bolme on bass which really fills out their sound.  The first song, “Repulsion,” rocks harder than any of their older stuff (which was more keyboard based).  Indeed this album was apparently much rockinger than any of their earlier releases–I must check it out.

This set was recorded during SXSW  from the Gibson Showroom in Austin.  They play five songs in about 20 minutes.  “Never Coming Back Again” has a far more country feel (especially the backing vocals which have a real twang.  The lengthy instrumental section of “Black Dogs and Bubbles” is great–especially check out Weiss’ drumming.  “Little White Horse” is a shambolic rave of a song–fun and noisy.

The set ends with the inspiring Rise Up, a short stomper that encourages you to, yes rise up.  Weiss and Coombs both have other bands that they play in, so Quasi never seems like a full-time project.  But that seems to make their music all the better.  Listen here.

[READ: November 1, 2011] Under Wildwood

I enjoyed Wildwood, but I wasn’t blown away by it.  So I admit I wasn’t totally excited to read this one (especially since I had some other books lined up).  But Sarah managed to get it from the library (I guess it was not as a big a deal as I assumed it would be?) and I decided to give it a go.

I found it a little slow at first, but after about 40 pages, the book totally took off and I was fully engrossed.  Whether it was because there was less exposition since this was a sequel or because the story itself was more exciting, I couldn’t put the book down.  And, more importantly, the book did not feel like its 550 pages were excessive.  He really filled up every page with story.

But I was a little concerned because part of the story is set in an orphanage–a setting rife for cliché.  But Meloy has some great ideas and although he does use the orphanage as a scary setting (and employs some clichés from all orphanages) he transcends the conceit with some great characters and some evil owners who use demerits to completely move the story along outside of the orphanage–a great plot idea.

But let’s back up. (more…)

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Sheila Heti &Clare Rojas–We Need a Horse (2011)

Posted in Billy Kelly, Children's Books, Clare Rojas, Davy Jones, Flight of the Conchords, McSweeney's, Sheila Heti, Surreal on October 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BILLY KELLY with DAVY JONES-“Me and My Brand New Haircut” (2010).

This is a fun and silly song in which the beat is kept by scissors.  It’s a very light song (as befits a song about a haircut).  Indeed it’s amazing how much you can sing about a haircut.

The lines that Davy speaks (there’s some call and response) reminds me a lot of Flight of the Conchords.  This is the kind of silly kids song that I really like.

I see that Billy Kelly has a few albums out.  He may be worth investigating further.

[READ: sometime in 2011] We Need a Horse

Like with Arthur Bradford, this book is Sheila Heti’s first children’s book.  I haven’t enjoyed Heti’s adult work all that much, but it’s hard to disagree with the message of this book.  The message is simple enough–you are what you are and what you are is valuable.  But I have to admit that the first few pages are a little unexpected (a horse talking to light, a sheep with a tennis racket, etc).  Nevertheless, it has a happy ending. (more…)

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Arthur Bradford & Lisa Hanawalt–Benny’s Brigade (2012)

Posted in Arthur Bradford, Children's Books, Lisa Hanawalt, McSweeney's, Mo Phillips, Surreal, The Knitters, X on October 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MO PHILLIPS-“Big Red Truck” (2012).

This track was number two on the OWTK March 2012 playlist.  This song has a kind of late X, or maybe The Knitters kind of feel–male and female vocals with a heavy bassline and a slightly ominous feel–although it is just about a big red truck.  I like t he song a lot, but I’m not sure if my kids would.

The chorus of “bringing all my loving taking all my loving home to you” seems like an odd one for a kids song.

[READ: September 30, 2012] Benny’s Brigade

Yes, this is the same Arthur Bradford whom I have written about and read all of his works–McSweeney’s McMullens has been publishing children’s stories from unexpected adult authors!  This is Bradford’s first foray into children’s books, and I think it’s quite successful.  Benny’s Brigade came with the Ionesco book, but my kids enjoyed it much more.

I was a little concerned exactly how this would turn out (the combination of McSweeney’s and Bradford could have gone dark), but I needn’t have worried.  It is a kids book after all. (more…)

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Eugène Ionesco & Etienne Delessert–Stories 1 2 3 4 (1969, 1970, 1971, 1976) [translated 2012]

Posted in Children's Books, Etienne Delessert, Etienne Delessert, Eugène Ionesco, Foreign Books, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), McSweeney's, Surreal, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Happy Racers on October 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE HAPPY RACERS–“Lovabye Dragon” (2012).

This song was the first track on the inaugural playlist of Out With the Kids back in March 2012. This is a sweet song about dragons and monsters and no more nightmares.  For a children’s song, this is quite intricate.  The opening riff is enticing, and the occasional falsetto was unexpected.

But the bridge is a delicate lead in to the chorus which is not as catchy as one might expect for a children’s song.  It’s a very sweet song.  And indeed, a lot of the elements are things that I would normally love in a song (it actually reminds me a bit of Airborne Toxic Event, but more poppy).  And yet I’m not all that compelled by it.  Although a few listens has really warmed me up to it.

[READ: September 30, 2012] Stories 1 2 3 4

Last year, McSweeney’s started a new imprint–McSweeney’s McMullens–which would publish children’s books.  As with everything McSweeney’s does, the books are beautiful!  Lovingly created with amazing illustrations.  And in each book, the cover unfolds into a giant poster (usually of the pictures contained inside).

And, like other McSweeny’s books, the stories are all a little odd.  I usually try to read the books once through before reading them to my kids to find out just how odd they turn out.  I didn’t read this one first because it was quite large, and boy, were we surprised by it.

Eugène Ionesco writing a children’s book?   One of the foremost playwrights in the Theater of the Absurd?  Indeed, that Ionesco. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Bluebeard, the Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916–1988) (1987)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Art, Big Black, Charles Perrault, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Culture Shock, Death, Funny (ha ha), Futility, Jackson Pollack, Japandroids, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, Morality, Violence on September 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JAPANDROIDS-Live on KEXP, June 16, 2009 (2009).

Back in 2009,  one of the guys from Japandroids had surgery and they had to cancel some dates.  That’s only relevant to this because when this set is over, the guitarist is bleeding from his scar.

Japandroids are two guys and they make a lot of noise.  I can recall jamming on guitar with my friend on drums and even when we were totally in synch, we never sounded this good.  It really sounds like there are four or five people playing.  This set has three songs from their debut album and an amazing cover of Big Black’s “Racer X.”

The three  songs are very good and the guys pay hard and fast and, as I said, they sound amazing.  It’s a great set.  You can hear the whole thing here.  There’s also video of the performance.  It’s broken  into two parts.  This is part two, with the blistering cover of “Racer X.”

[READ: September 17, 2012] Bluebeard

I’ve mentioned this book a few times in the last couple of days as something that I’d been struggling with.  And, indeed, I found it to be a little slow going.  I was excited to start reading it because, as the subtitle says, this is an autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, an artist who appeared in Breakfast of Champions–I love that Vonnegut keeps working within his own universe.  But there was something about the early pages of the story that were just not that compelling.

Rabo is having a hard time getting his book going, and while that is a dramatic effect, I had a hard time getting into the book too.  It’s not that complicated of a story.  There are really only about a half dozen characters in the book:

Rabo–he is an American Abstract Expressionist painter (contemporary of Jackson Pollack, Jasper Johns, et al).
Circe Berman–she is an author who writes under the pseudonym Polly Madison (ha).  Madison’s books look at the real life of American young people and are staggeringly popular.
Paul Slazinger–Rabo’s next door neighbor who spends most of his time in Rabo’s house, although he and Rabo mostly ignore each other.  Slazinger is a writer with a decades long writer’s block.
Dan Gregory–a famous artist for whom Rabo apprenticed.  Gregory was such a good detailist that he once created a perfect forgery of a bill (on a dare).  Gregory was also a terrible racist and philanderer and treated Rabo with contempt at best.
Marilee Kemp–Gregory’s mistress and sometime muse.  She inadvertently sends Rabo an encouraging letter on behalf of Gregory and then she and Rabo begin a writing relationship which blossoms when they eventually meet. (more…)

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Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Squish: The Power of the Parasite (#3) (2012)

Posted in Children's Books, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Nyckelharpa, Pranks, Short Books, Swimming on September 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: Nyckelharpa (2012). 

At ScanFest we also heard the American Nyckelharpa Association play a few tunes.  Like most of the  world, I had never heard of a  Nyckelharpa , but since I love unusual instruments, I couldn’t wait to find out more about it.    From the ANA website:

The modern chromatic nyckelharpa has 16 strings: 3 melody strings, one drone string, and 12 sympathetic vibration (or resonance) strings. It has about 37 wooden keys arranged to slide under the strings. Each key has a tangent that reaches up and stops (frets) a string to make a particular note. The player uses a short bow with the right hand, and pushes on the keys with the left. It has a 3 octave range (from the same low “G” as a fiddle’s 4th string) and sounds something like a fiddle, only with lots more resonance.

It was really neat to watch half a dozen or so people playing this odd instrument with all those strings.  They held it like a guitar and the bow is really short.  And, indeed, they were playing the keys instead of the fretboard.  How cool!  I didn’t really get to experience the sympathetic strings in the auditorium (I honestly can’t even imagine how that works), but it sounded wonderfully folksy.

Check it out!

[READ: June 6, 2011] Squish: 

This is a weird experience for me–I’ve now read the new Squish and the new Babymouse pretty much right as they came out.  Wow!

The Power of the Parasite continues the interesting juxtaposition of what Squish is reading (a Super Amoeba comic) and what’s happening in his life.  In an interesting graphic choice, the comic book is rendered in black and white while the scenes of Squish are lovingly rendered in the creepy green that they use.

In this story, it’s summer vacation and time for camp.  Interestingly, Squish’s two best friends Peggy and Pod go to ballet camp while Squish opts for swim camp (not that there’s anything wrong with ballet camp).  This means that we don’t see much of Squish’s cohorts.

When he gets to camp, he is pretty unimpressed (and he’s afraid of water) so he decides that he will avoid the SUPER AWESOME FUN that the counsellor promises.  Instead, he reads his Super Amoeba comic.  But then a new character Basil,a hydra, comes along and bonds with him (not literally, although he is capable of growing  a new limb (or tentacle or whatever) when one breaks off.  Basil also has the ability to shock others.  Yes literally.  (scientific fact: A hydra’s tentacles can paralyze you!).  And when he is bored, he uses this to make more fun. (more…)

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Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm–Babymouse For President [#16] (2012)

Posted in Barack Obama, Cats, Children's Books, Cupcakes, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Guided By Voices, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Mice, Political Humor, Set at School, Short Books on September 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MATES OF STATE-“I am a Scientist” (2012).

This is a cover of Guided by Voices’ “I am a Scientist.”  It appears on an all female 18-song charity compilation called Science Fair which is themed around and benefiting science and engineering education for girls.

The original is a wonderful, catchy low-tunes and lo fi sounding guitar track (that builds over the course of 2 minutes).  The Mates of State version is brighter and louder.  It also builds but they add kids singing along with them (it is a benefit album for kids after all).

It’s a wonderful introduction to this worthy CD.  You can hear (and watch) it here.

[READ: December 4, 2011] Babymouse for President

So this is the first new Babymouse book that I’ve read that was actually new when it came out!   And I’m reading it just in time for the election season.  Amazingly, this book with its cartoon politics is far less cartoony than the real politics this election season–who’da thunk it.

Babymouse has a dream of being president–not because of what she could accomplish but because of the POWER!  (Later, she is disturbed to realize that Felicia Furrypaws has the same feeling).

This story has fewer pink fantasy sequences than normal.  Well, maybe that’s not true, there are plenty, but they are pretty short and self contained–sequences about George Washington playing dodgeball (ha) and Babymouse on Mount Rushmore. And there’s a pretty funny Declaration of Independence joke. (more…)

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Alessandro Baricco–“Without Blood” (New Yorker, December 23 & 30, 2002)

Posted in Alessandro Baricco, Ann Goldstein, Death, Douglas Gordon, Fears, Foreign Books, Gangsters, Marriage Trouble, Mogwai, New Yorker, Olaf Nicolai, Short Story, Translators, Violence on September 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MOGWAI-Music for a Forgotten Future (The Singing Mountain) (2011).

This track is a 23 minute instrumental that was used for an art installation by Douglas Gordon (who made the film Zidane, for which Mogwai provided the score) and Olaf Nicolai called “Monument for a Forgotten Future”.  The more I learn about  his installation, the more intrigued I am by it.  According to wikimedia, “Monument for a Forgotten Future” is a sculpture by Olaf Nicolai and Douglas Gordon on the so called “Wilde Insel” (wild island) in Gelsenkirchen-Horst, Germany. It is 1:1 replica of a rock formation in Joshua Tree National Park with a sound installation by Mogwai that can be heard from within the “rock.”  Someone has even posted a video of their trip to it.  In the video (which is literally of a rock), as the filmer approached you can hear the music only when he or she gets pretty close to the installation. It’s just barely audible.  Cool.

As for the music itself, it is very mellow an atmospheric, quite perfect for being on a Wild Island and sitting by/staring at a rock.  There are definitely hints of Mogwai’s sound in the music, although there are a lot more keyboards than guitars (which befits their more recent albums).  It’s very peaceful and quite beautiful.  At about 19 minutes it fades out and seems to being another string laden piece into the mix as well, but it more or less fades into static (which would be a lousy time to get to the installation!).

The music comes free with most editions of Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will.

[READ: August 2, 2012] “Without Blood”

After reading Baricco’s Emmaus, I wanted to see what else he had written.  I found this short story (which is also the name of one of his novels, although I’m not sure if this is an excerpt or the inspiration for the novel–Wikipedia says it is a “revised form” of the novel, whatever that means).

I was a little disconcerted by this story when it opened because it has a very violent introduction.  The farmhouse of Manuel Roca is the site of bloodshed.  Three men, Salinas, El Guerra, and Tito pull up in a Mercedes.  Manuel Roca is the man they are looking for.  He has two children a boy and a girl, Nina.  He tells Nina that she must hide when the men come.  Hide in the cellar and be absolutely still, no matter what happens.  And to not be afraid.  The son, slightly older, wants to help, he even has a gun, but Manuel tells him to hide in the woodshed.  And then the house was riddled with bullets.

Manuel survived that first round but when he looked up, Tito (who was described as a boy but was in fact 20) was standing there with a gun pointed at Manuel.  And he shouted to  Salinas “IT’S TITO.  I’VE GOT HIM.”  When the threesome get inside, they see that Tito has shot Roca in the arm because he had a gun.

When the two men come face to face we learn that this fight has to do with the war.  Roca says the war is over, although Salinas, says “Not yours, Not mine, Doctor.”  Salinas was known as the rat because he deciphered Roca’s men’s coded messages.   But despite the war, Salinas has only shot a gun twice.  The first one was at no one, the second was at his brother who was in the hospital when the war ended.  Salinas went to the hospital with the intent of killing Doctor Roca and his men, but they had fled, leaving all of the sick and dying unattended.  When Salinas’ brother asked him to kill him…please, he could only comply.

After this flashback, Roca’s son came into the room with a shotgun.  From here the scene gets really violent with both Roca and his son killed.  The men realize that Nina must be there as well, so they look all over for her.  It is the boy Tito who finds her in the cellar.  They stared at each other, but Tito let her live.  And the men left.  After they set the house on fire.

Three days later a man on horseback found Nina and took her away.

Wow. (more…)

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