SOUNDTRACK: BANKS-Tiny Desk Concert #401 (October 30, 2014).
I’d never heard of Banks before this Tiny Desk Concert. The blurb says that “Banks’ terrific full-length debut, Goddess, is constructed out of layer upon layer of electronics, beats, samples and other means of submerging the singer’s voice in swirling accoutrements…. On record, she’s placed at the center of lavish productions, each suitable for throbbing remixes and banks of swirling lights.”
In this version, it is just a keyboard and a drum box, so her voice is exposed. But I actually found her voice was a little annoying. Especially during the verses, where she uses too much vibrato.
On the first song, “Beggin For Thread,” I enjoyed the choruses where she sang loudly and with less affectation. Although it was during “Alibi” that I particularly didn’t like her voice–too much yea yea yea with a ton of vibrato.
For “Brain,” the accompaniment is acoustic guitar rather than piano. It has a very different feel although I liked it even less. I’m curious to see what their record sounds like with her voice buried, but I’m not going to find out.
[READ: June 1, 2016] Dawn Land
Dawn Land was a novel that Joseph Bruchac wrote in 1993. The novel (as explained in the afterword) details the oral traditions of his people as filtered through a fictional story that he was inspired to write over a burst of about six weeks.
I may have enjoyed this graphic novel more if I’d known the original story first (I also didn’t know that Bruchac was Abenaki Indian, so I wasn’t sure what to think about the story in the first place–appropriation is such a hot topic these days. Of course having said that, I’d never heard of the Abenaki Indians before either (they lived in what is now New England).
I found the story a little confusing. But before getting into the story, I loved the artwork. In black and white, Will Davis conveyed so many amazing scenes and scenery–perfect depictions of people and animals and yes, giants. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 