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Archive for the ‘Caleb Crain’ Category

Caleb Crain–“Easter” (New Yorker, September 26, 2022)

Posted in Caleb Crain, Death, Drugs, New York City, New Yorker, Short Story on January 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: January 2, 2024] “Easter”

This story follows two events in Jacob’s life.

They are placed concurrently often with no discernable change in the narrative.  And that makes sense since Jacob is stoned for most of it.

Jacob had driven from Houston to Galveston to visit Stu. Stu was a college friend.  They had gotten stoned together but never just the two of them–always in a group.  So Jacob was a little nervous.

But they quickly got stoned and all was well.

The other story was a few days earlier when he flew from Harvard to Texas to be with his family for Easter break.  They were all going to stay with Jacob’s grandparents.  Jacob’s grandfather had been a doctor and often self-medicated.  He also medicated his wife.  But since he was no longer practicing, his prescriptions were not always safe. (more…)

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Caleb Crain–“Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution” (Harper’s, August 2019)

Posted in 99%, Activism, Caleb Crain, Canadian Music, Excerpt, Harper's, Occupy, Positively Stompin', Protests, Rheostatics on August 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: POSITIVELY STOMPIN’-“Jump on My Wheels” (Moose: The Compilation, 1991).

Back in the 1990s, it was common to buy a compilation or soundtrack or even a band’s album based on one song.  Only to then find that you didn’t really like anything else on it.

Maybe that single sounded like nothing else on the album.  Maybe the movie was almost entirely one genre, but they had that one song that you liked over the credits.  Or maybe the compilation was for something you didn’t know, but a song you really wanted was on it, too.

With streaming music that need not happen anymore.  Except in this case.

I bought this compilation, used, recently exclusively for one song, Rheostatics’ “Woodstuck.”  It’s a goofy song and this is the only place you can get the studio version.  The actual compilation was not well documented, so I didn’t know what the other bands on it might sound like.  It turns out to be a compilation for Ontario based Moose Records which specialized in Rock, Folk, World & Country.  They put out another compilation in 1992 and that’s all I can find out about them.

Positively Stompin’ certainly sounds like a certain kind of music.  So it’s a little surprising how quietly this song starts out with just acoustic guitar.  The song picks up with some slower stomping about midway through although a ripping guitar solo really activates the buzz in the song.

It’s a short lived buzz though as the song more or less settles into a kind of Southern Rock, which is a bit ironic coming from a band from Toronto.  I cant find much out about this band, although they did have an album out called Junk Drawer.

[READ: August 1, 2019] “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution”

This is an excerpt from Crain’s novel Overthrow. which is about the Occupy movement and protests.

Lief and Matthew were together when Lief’s phone started buzzing.  Lief read the text–its happening. police were everywhere.

They decided to go check it out–many of their friends would be going as well.

They brought earplugs–the police have some kind of sound weapon that they bought after 9/11.

The city was sleepy and quiet. So quiet and still, that it felt abandoned. (more…)

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Caleb Crain–”Mr. Hutchinson” (Harper’s, August 2018)

Posted in Caleb Crain, Death, Dogs, Film & TV, Halloween, Harper's, Kasvot Växt, Phish, Sexism, Short Story, WFMU 91.9 FM--Jersey City, NJ on December 22, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KASVOT VÄXT-“Turtle in the Clouds” (1981/2018).

Back in 1994, Phish started covering a classic album for its Halloween costume. In 2015 they covered the Disney album: Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House, which pretty much meant all bets were off.  So in 2018, they decided to cover an obscure Scandinavian prog rock band called Kasvot Växt and their sole album, í rokk.  This proved to be a big joke–they were a nonexistent band.  They had so much fun creating this band, that they even enlisted others to expand the joke.  This included impressively thorough reviews from WFMU and from AllMusic.

The joke is even in the name: when translated together Kasvot Växt and í rokk means “Faceplant into rock.”.

Here’s some more details they came up with:

The Scandinavian prog rock band purportedly consists of Jules Haugen of Norway, Cleif Jårvinen of Finland, and Horst and Georg Guomundurson of Iceland.  The album’s label, Elektrisk Tung, supposedly went out of business shortly after the LP’s release and little information about the record appears on the internet. Bassist Mike Gordon made a tape copy of í rokk in the mid-’80s and Phish would play it “over and over in the tour van in the early ’90s.” In the Playbill, guitarist Trey Anastasio insisted, “Every time the Halloween discussion comes up, we talk about Kasvot Växt. We honestly were worried we wouldn’t have the chops to pull it off or do justice to the sound, but when it came down to it, we just couldn’t resist any longer.”

The decision to go with an obscure album few have heard or even heard of appealed to the members of Phish. “We’ve paid tribute to so many legendary bands over the years, it felt right this time to do something that’s iconic to us but that most people won’t have heard of,” Gordon said as per the Phishbill. “And with these translations we’re really performing songs that have never been sung in English before.” Keyboardist Page McConnell added, “I love the mystery surrounding this whole thing. If those guys ever hear we did this I hope they’re excited because we absolutely intend it as a loving tribute.” As for what Phish fans can expect? “A weird, funky Norweigan dance album! Get out there and put your down on it!” exclaimed drummer Jon Fishman.

While the listings for the 10 tracks on the original í rokk were in a Scandinavian language, the titles appear in English in the Playbill. Phish called upon a Nordic linguist to translate the lyrics to English for tonight’s performance.

These songs do not really sound like a Norwegian prog rock band.  They do sound an awful lot like Phish (although with a more synthy vibe overall. The band has this part of their live show streaming on Spotify under the Kasvot Växt name.  And I’m ending the year by talking about each song.

This song starts with a slinky bass and spacey synths sounds. It doesn’t really sound like Phish until Page’s keyboards come in–no one else has keyboards like that these days.  It also doesn’t feature Trey singing lead, so it definitely has a non-Phish vibe.

But as the song moves along the Phishiness becomes apparent.  The song is a lot of fun with a few different sections and insane lyrics (clueless Wallob).

The chorus is very catchy (with cool 80’s synth lines) and there’s a great funky end section with two synth sounds running through to the end.  The final section of the song has a solo from trey which I can;t decide if it’s meant to be a Trey solo or a Kasvot Växt solo (I don;t think it quite fits the synth vibe of the 80s).

[READ: December 1, 2018] ”Mr. Hutchinson”

I loved this story for its simplicity and delicate tone.  I rather hope it is an excerpt though, because there is so much more to explore here.

The main character is a young boy named Jacob.  He seems a sensitive type, rather attuned to people’s needs.  His parents have recently divorced, but that doesn’t seem to trouble him too much.

Mr. Hutchinson is his next-door neighbor.  Mr. Hutchinson uses his snowblower on his own as well as Jacob’s family’s driveway and maintains his house with great order.  Mr Hutchinson and his wife were married for fifty years.  She died recently and he is at loose ends.  When Jacob’s family gets a new dog (Butterscotch), Mr. Henderson offers to make a dog house for her, and asks for Jacob’s help.

The Hutchinson;s had lived in that house forever–literally as long as the house was standing.  The Hutchinson’s house spanned two lots while Jacob’s family’s house, which was identical, only spanned one lot–same house different yard.  Mr. Hutchinson also had a barn, a work area.  He fixed furniture there.  When he gave Jacob and his father a tour, Jacob couldn’t help but notice the topless women that Mr. Hutchinson had cut out of magazines.  Jacob felt he shouldn’t look at them. (more…)

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Caleb Crain–”Outside T-Club” (Harper’s, July 2013)

Posted in Caleb Crain, Drinking, Excerpt, Harper's, Jenny Hval, Justin Timberlake, LGBTQ, Robin Thicke, Rockettothesky, Travel on July 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: JENNY HVAL-“Innocence is Sexy” (2013).

hvalI saw this video on Stereogum.  I was actually intrigued by her last name: Hval.  Then I read a bit more about her–she’s an experimental Norwegian singer with four albums out (two under the name Rockettothesky).

I watched the video and was so mesmerized by it that I didn’t even really notice the music the first time through.  In the video, Jenny has her body filmed in all manner of unexpected angles and poses–she is shaving parts of her body, strategically positioning other parts of her body.  And pressing and squeezing her flesh in ways that are not often shown.  She is also jogging (both in a jogging outfit and in a dress–the juxtaposition is fascinating.  And then there’s the dress that appears to be made of latex.  At a time when men (Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke) are making videos of naked women, Jenny makes us question what we see and why.  It’s very cool.

It’s also interesting musically.  The first words of the song are: “That night I watched people fucking on my computer.”  The song has an interesting guitar riff playing behind her spoken words until she starts singing with a vaguely operatic Middle Eastern tonality.  After a more mellow verse, Jenny ends a with a fascinating little scale of notes.

The same confrontational style of singing occurs at the end when the music stops and she keeps singing “in and out and in and out” in a less then pleasing manner.

As I say I am fascinated by her.  Although I can’t help but wonder if this would be a case of more exposure being less satisfying.

[READ: July 11, 2013] ”Outside T-Club”

In this story, which an excerpt from a novel called Necessary Errors the narrator, Jacob, pulled out some significant pages about Eastern Europe from a travel guide. He hid the rest of the book in the garbage, keeping only the pages on gay life in Czechoslovakia.

He was living in Boston, but was heading to Prague.  This was after his boyfriend moved away to start a new job for a men’s magazine.  He had sent Jacob a postcard which tried to make it seem like Jacob would be on a  fun adventure, and he imagined Jacob hooking up with a tall dark Russian guy.

Turned out Czech men were neither tall nor dark. (more…)

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