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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Jonathan Lethem-“The Starlet Apartments” (New Yorker, March 4, 2019)

Posted in Books about writers, Jonathan Lethem, New Yorker, Phony Ppl, Sex, Sexism, Short Story, Sisters on March 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PHONY PPL-Tony Desk Concert #829 (March 4, 2019).

This is another case where a band I’ve never heard of gets four songs and twenty minutes.  It’s petty to be bugged by that, but when band I like sometimes play 9 minutes, it’s a bummer.  However, by the end of the 20 minutes this jazzy, rocking r&b band won me over.

Phony Ppl is from Brooklyn.  They are fronted by an incredibly happy and smiling guy named Elbee Thrie.  In fact everyone seems really happy and full of energy

Phony Ppl is a group that emits a vigorous energy on and off stage. In this case, the spirit was exchanged between the band and the NPR staff from the moment they gathered behind the desk and gave a zesty greeting.

I thought they seemed very confident for a new band and it turns out they’re not new at all.

The Brooklynites formed in high school and stand out as one of a handful of R&B bands in the industry that makes eclectic choices in fashion and lyrical narratives. Their fifth full-length, 2015’s Yesterday’s Tomorrow, was praised for the way the band seamlessly melds jazz, R&B and hip-hop.

The songs are certainly jazzy (with a near-continuous sax from guest Braxton Cook).  If he’s a guest I wonder if I would enjoy them more without the sax.

They opened with “Compromise,” a highlight from Yesterday’s Tomorrow, and locked into an up-tempo pocket as if it was a second skin.  Midway through, during a quiet part where he claps along, Thrice says that the song’s “about meeting somebody at the wrong time” he says midsong.  There’s some awesome fuzzed out guitar solos from Elijah Rawk.  And I like when Rawk and bassist Bari Bass star swinging back and forth in sync, just enjoying themselves.

From there, they wove in three more songs, including two from their latest project, mō’zā-ik.

Thrice says that “One Man Band” is very special to him.  Hopefully you can feel it and I don’t have to explain why.  The middle sees a shift to reggae chords with some grooving bass and some delightfully gentle piano from Aja Grant.

“Cookie Crumble” features a kazoo solo that sounds a bit like a muted trumpet.   And by the final song, (uno mas, uno mas) “Why iii Love the Moon” they have totally won me over.  I love the way he interacts withe everyone on hand–“oh wait, she’d not ready.”  “You ready yet?”  “Oh she;s ready, we can play now.”

Maybe it was the nice backing vocals from drummer Maffyuu or the amazing moment when Cook and Rawk played the same solo on guitar and sax at the same time.  It was a great moment of synergy–they sounded amazing together.  And they totally won me over.

[READ: March 4, 2019] “The Starlet Apartments”

This is the story of a couple of young men fresh out of Yale.  The narrator was working for F.S.G. in New York City. Then he got invited by an old classmate, Todbaum, to move out to Hollywood to work on scripts–for projects that were already vetted!

The narrator, Sandy was delighted with the arrangement.  They lived in the Starlet Apartments a classic thirties two-story complex with a swimming pool. They drank a lot and tried to pick up women,  They fancied themselves great writers.  They wrote a ton and sold none.

After a few month, Sandy heard from his younger sister.  She had just graduated and wanted to come out to L.A. (anywhere but home).  He imagined having an attractive woman with them would only help their chances. (more…)

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Boya Sun and Kate Reed Petty–Chasma Knights (2018)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Boya Sun, Children's Books, Dio, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Humiliation, Kate Reed Petty, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio, Toys on March 2, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BLACK SABBATH-“Neon Knights” (1980).

There was no way I could read this book about Plasma Knights, Oxygen Knights and, yes, Neon Knights, and not think of this song.

This was the lead off track to the first Black Sabbath album in which Ronnie James Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne.   It is a great song and a huge testament to Dio’s ability to revive a flagging band.

It’s really catchy, too.  Geezer Butler’s thumping bass riff opens before Tony Iommi’s chords add a nice rhythmic juxtaposition.  And with Dio’s voice you can hear that Black Sabbath sounds rejuvenated.

Dio’s crooning goes really well with the fast chords and propulsive beat.

This is a great song from a great album.  Although it’s hard to say that the Dio era of Black Sabbath was better than the Ozzy years, the two Dio albums are really fantastic.

[READ: February 27, 2019] Chasma Knights

Although this book was satisfying in the end, I thought it was kind of weirdly unsatisfying overall.

Perhaps it’s because there no real context to the story aside from a rhymed poem that introduces it.  It tells us that if you catalyze toys your powers grow.  And everyone loves to do it except Neon Knights, because they can’t catalyze anything–they don’t have the power.  Aside from that there is no explanation of the setting or the people or anything.

Weird huh? (more…)

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Norm Feuti–The King of Kazoo (2016)

Posted in #ITMFA, Alex Brettin, Children's Books, Graphic Novel, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Magic, Mild High Club, Norm Feuti, Political Humor, Science, Volcanoes on March 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD with MILD HIGH CLUB-Sketches of Brunswick East (2017).

It was August of 2017 and KGATLW had already released two albums–one that explored microtonal music and a another that was a heavy metal concept album that wound up destroying the universe.  Where do you go from there?

KGATLW decided to join forces with Mild High Club and the results are forty minutes of … rather delicate retro jazzy psychedelia.  The instruments on this album (in addition to the standard bass, guitar, keys and drums), include: mellotron, flute, electric piano, glass marimbas, microtonal organ, omnichord, bongos, güiro, maracas, and of course harmonica.

I didn’t know Mild High Club, which it turns out is basically one guy, Alex Brettin.  Andtheir music is according to All Music, “pleasantly woozy and laid-back, but shows a subtle attention to detail without being excessive or indulgent.”

So that explains the overall sound of the album which is certainly woozy and laid-back.  But there are so many elements of Gizz-ness that it’s obvious how much the two fed off each other.

Like the previous album, there is a song with parts, (Sketches of Brunswick East I, II, III) that recurs throughout the album.  The album opens an interesting pattern of a 1 minute song followed by a 3 minute song followed by a 1 minute song etc.  That first song is “Sketches of Brunswick East I.”  It has a great bass line (the album is chock full of interesting, compelling bass lines).  There’s an awesome flute melody that floats throughout the song as well as acoustic piano from Brettin  and light drums from Michael Cavanagh.

“Countdown” follows.  It’s a gentle, breezy number with Mackenzie’s falsetto vocals floating over the top of jazzy music.  “D-Day” introduces some of their microtonal riffs into this gentler version of the band. Brettin, Mackenzie, and multi-instrumentalist Joey Walker all play microtonal instruments on a theme that sounds like jazz, Middle Eastern folk and rock.  The microtonal riffs do add a but of a harsher edge to the songs.

“Tezeta” is the chanted refrain of the next song that is a crazily retro easy listening exploration with vibes and spoken words and a fantastic bridge that repeats throughout the song.  The spoken word goes

Come here, girl
Who are you?
I am true perspective
Followed by the chorus
Tezeta, tezeta
Tezeta, tezeta
Nostalgia, nostalgia
Tezeta, tezeta
and then :
Come here, boy
Are you God?
I am that which I am
After a middle section that’s kind of a slow jam with great bass lines and interesting guitar melodies, the song re-emerges at a faster tempo!

“Cranes, Planes and Migraines” is another one minute song with a nifty bass line and intricate.  The melody segues into the easy listening jazz y joy of “The Spider and Me” which has a great vocal zippy vocal melody and concurrent musical riff.

On “Sketches of Brunswick East II,” breaks the 1 minute/3 minute pattern.  This is a longer version of the main theme.  It opens with (I assume) a tape of an old jazzy standard which slows down until the main melody starts up. A Fender Rhodes-like electric piano plays, and you can’t tell from the credits whether it’s Mackenzie or Brettin playing because both contribute electric piano to the tune.

In fact, the credits are really fascinating for this because everyone plays on the record but some people far more than others.  See:

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

  • Stu Mackenzie – mellotron (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13), vocals (track 2, 3, 6, 9, 12), bass guitar (tracks 1, 4, 7, 8, 13), flute (tracks 1 4, 7, 11, 13), wah-wah guitar (tracks 2, 6, 11, 12), electric piano (tracks 1, 7), acoustic guitar (tracks 4, 12), microtonal guitar (track 3), glass marimbas (track 5), microtonal organ (track 9), synthesizers (track 11), piano (track 11), electric guitar (track 13); recording, mixing (tracks 1, 3-13), production
  • Joey Walker – bass guitar (tracks 5, 6, 9, 10), shaker (tracks 3, 4), synthesizers (tracks 4, 5), microtonal bass guitar (track 3), glass marimbas (track 4), acoustic guitar (track 4), vocals (track 4), electric guitar (track 4), omnichord (track 11), piano (track 11), bongos (track 12), güiro (track 12); additional overdubbing
  • Michael Cavanagh – drum kit 1 (all tracks), bongos (tracks 1-5, 7-9, 11, 13), drum kit 2 (track 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9-13), floor toms (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 13), maracas (tracks 1, 7, 11, 13), cowbell (tracks 4, 5, 9), snare brushes (tracks 1, 8), vibraslap (tracks 1, 8), tambourine (tracks 3, 9)
  • Cook Craig – electric guitar (tracks 1, 4, 5, 8, 9), fretless bass guitar (track 8, 11), vocals (track 8), synthesizers (track 8), bass guitar (track 11); additional overdubbing
  • Lucas Skinner – electric piano (tracks 2, 4, 6, 9), mellotron (tracks 2, 6), piano (track 11); additional overdubbing
  • Ambrose Kenny-Smith – harmonica (tracks 10-12), vocals (track 6)
  • Eric Moore – drum kit 2 (track 4)

Mild High Club

  • Alex Brettin – electric piano (tracks 2, 6-8), synthesizers (tracks 2, 5, 7, 9), bass guitar (tracks 2, 8, 12), electric guitar (tracks 8, 10, 13), microtonal synthesizers (tracks 3, 5), optigan (tracks 3, 7), organ (tracks 4, 12), acoustic piano (track 1), electronic drum kit (track 7); additional overdubbing, mixing (track 2)
  • Andrew Burt – guitar (track 11)

You get the feeling that people popped in, did some things and then left.  Like usual main dude Ambrose Kenny-Smith is only on a couple of songs.  But I guess if you release five albums in a year, you can slack off a little for one of them.

The second part of the album features longer songs like “Dusk to Dawn on Lygon Street.”  Again, the bass is great and it works nicely with the gentle vocals and sweet backing vocals.   It segues into the longest song on the disc, the five-minute, “The Book,” which features more great bass lines and a psychedleic keyboard intro.  It feels very 60s mod as it opens.  The really weird singing from Stu is a fun change of pace, too.  I love that at 4 minutes in the song sorts of halts with just the staccato keyboard melody and spare drums pushing it forward  until everyone jumps in again.

“A Journey to (S)Hell” picks up the pace and volume a little bit.  It’s by far the most psychedelic freakout song on the record.  There’s tape fluctuation and manipulation and the sounds of every-increasing synth notes like something taking off.

“Rolling Stoned” (has no one thought of that title before?) returns to the gentle sound of the rest of the record with a pretty, easy-listening melody.  There’s a very 70s sounding synth solo and it’s all quite groovy.  “You Can Be Your Silhouette” is a gentle jazzy number with whispered vocals.  It really encapsulates the whole album in one track.

The disc ends with “Sketches of Brunswick East II,” which opens with tape rewinding and then a reprise of that original melody once more.  This time the pacing and rhythm is very different with a very rubber guitar sound and a wash of sort of woozy synths.  It’s a very soothing ending to a very soothing disc.

How many ideas do these guys have?

[READ: February 1, 2019] The King of Kazoo

I saw this graphic novel while I was in the kids section.  I knew it was aimed pretty young, but the drawing style appealed to me–classic cartoon animal style with round head, oval eyes, oversized ears and a reluctance to adhere to physics–just my thing.

The story opens with a young girl, Bing, reading a book when Gypsy, a blue bird, flies in.  It sings, she listens attentively and then says “Wow!  I wish I spoke bird.”  But then she uses some magic, touched the bird’s beak and is able to see everywhere that Gypsy has been.  Gyspy saw a tunnel on Mount Kazoo which no one knew was there.  Bing runs to tell King Cornelius (her father).

But the King is busy thinking Kingly thoughts and cannot be bothered.  He is mostly thinking of his legacy–what can he put his name on?  (was this written immediately after the 2016 election?)  He has some big ideas, but they are all terrible.  Although he just assumes that you have to be a king to appreciate them.

They are interrupted by Torq, the inventor.  Torq has just created the Gonkless carriage.  Bing wonders if it runs on Magic, but the King says that no, it runs on Science.  The King says that Science is magic that anyone can use.  Bing wonders what the fun in that is.

(more…)

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Jim Pascoe, Heidi Arnhold–Cottons: The Secret of the Wind (2018)

Posted in Art, Artists, Death, Foxes, Heidi Arnhold, Jim Pascoe, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Rabbits, Religion, Supernatural, Superstitions on February 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD-Nonagon Infinity (2016).

A nonagon is a 9-sided shape.  Infinity is endless.  This album has nine songs that flow seamlessly into the next one.  Including the final song, which flows seamlessly into the first.  It’s a nine-track album designed to loop forever.  Riffs and choruses are repeated throughout (including the frenetic guitar solo riff that starts the album and is sprinkled throughout).  But even though the songs are connected and there are repeated parts no two songs sound alike–it’s not a 41 minute song by any means.

It is a pretty intense and relentless rocking good time, though, with all kinds of catchy melodies and bizarre lyrics.

This album launches with “Robot Stop,” a maniacal riff and a super fast beat .  It’s non-stop intensity of distortion, drums and vocals.  There’s distorted whoops and hollers.  There’s a distorted harmonica solo and more and more guitars.  It also introduces the repeated chorus:

Nonagon infinity opens the door
Wait for the answer to open the door
Nonagon infinity opens the door

It’s not always clear if the lyrics have meaning [Any wasp that I see / It’s a fig wasp / Pearly guillotine] but I love singing along with those that I can understand.  Or just chanting “Big Fig Wasp” when it comes around.

“Gamma Knife” encourages us to “come on through the door, see, it’s your unborn self.”   All the while, the guitars are rocking and the vocals are whooping.  Things do finally settle down near the end of the song, where everything drops out but the two guitars playing the riff.  It’s interrupted by some pretty wild drum soloing (from both drummers) before seguing into the moderately slow introduction of “People -Vultures.”  It’s slow for the first three lines before the line “What else have I got left to spew down?” prompts a breakneck resumption of the album’s pacing.

“Mr Beat” seriously slows things down for one of the catchiest songs on the record.  It’s a cool groovy chugging song with organs amid the guitars.   It has an instantly memorable melody and is easy to sing along to “Once I missed a beat – only missed a beat.”  Even the verse has a sweet sing-song melody.

Things do come to almost a complete stop as Mr Beat slows down, but before you can take a breath, “Evil Death Roll” takes off.  It is 7 minutes long, full of staccato chants during the chorus.   But midway through the song a new riff enters–a happy, almost boppy riff that reconciles itself into a version of the original main riff.  And after a few minutes of electronic manipulation, a new bridge comes around.  It’s musically unique to the album, but while that music is playing the nonagon infinity refrain returns.  And then the song returns to the main “Evil Death Roll” chorus before jumping into the staccato “Invisible Face” which shifts midsong into a gentle jazzy jam.

The ending riff segues seamlessly into the wah wah of “Wah Wah” which starts with a harmonica solo and then switches to a downbeat verse with a screaming noisy bridge of “Wah Wah Wah Wah.”   It ends with some distortion and a drum beat that sounds like a train, hence the album closer “Road Train.”

Road Train hearkens back to their more Western songs, but with all of the metal and garage trappings that are consistent on the album.  So the song about a train is rather dark:

The spawn of Satan’s back
It’s made of steel and black
It comes to bring you pain
It comes again and again
Road Train!

The song is 4 minutes but after a bout 3 minutes, it starts a new chanting of Nonagon Infinity–a new way of doing it that speeds up until the last ten seconds which return to the opening of the album.

There is so much originality in this album and so many ideas that it’s kind of a blur.  But repeated listens show just how much excellence is on display here.

[READ: February 25, 2019] Cottons Book 1

Wow, I loved this book (part 1 of a trilogy).  The story was fascinating (if a little murky in some places), but the artwork was simply tremendous.

Arnhold’s drawing style is so realistic, and the rabbits are so lovingly drawn, it’s really beautiful.  (In her bio she says she loves drawing rabbits, and volunteers at the Georgia House Rabbit Society).

This is the story of Bridgebelle and the rabbits in her warren.  They live in the Vale of Industry within the World of Lavender.  But their’s is not a happy life.  Bridgebelle is an artist and no one appreciates artists in this time of Industry.  But even worse, this is a time of fear for all of the World of Lavender.  Fear of predators, or fire and of the end of their existence.

As the story opens we see Bridgebelle and her co-worker/secret crush Glee fleeing from foxes.  The two of them hide in a stump when suddenly they see that Glee’s sister Soozie is snatched up and killed by Marrow, a ruthless fox.   It is devastating.  (The drawing is very sad, but not bloody or disgusting).

Worse yet, the murderous fox just did it to get the rabbits’ attention.  He wants control of their factory. (more…)

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Emily Tetri–Tiger vs. Nightmare (2018)

Posted in Children's Books, Emily Tetri, First Second :01, Nightmares, The Pedrito Martinez Group, Tigers on February 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP-Tiny Desk Concert #826 (February 20, 2019).

I don’t really know what Afro-Cuban music is, exactly.  I can’t tell if it’s a catch-all phrase for a number of different kinds of music or if it’s a very specific kind of music that I haven’t leaned the nuances off.  Whatever the case, I really like this set/song from Pedrito Martinez.

Martinez’ band features a bassist (Sebastian Natal) who keeps the groove going, a keyboard player ( Issac Delgado Jr–who I actually  thought was a horn section for a second) and two percussionists: SJhair Sala (who plays bongos and cowbell, mostly) and Pedrito Martinez who sings lead and plays, frankly, astonishing congas.

Something happens when you get a chance to see Afro-Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez perform. First of all, his smile radiates. It’s hard to imagine someone happier than he is to make music in front of people; and as we saw during his turn behind Bob Boilen’s desk, he mesmerizes with this almost otherworldly talent on congas. His hands can be a blur because they move so quickly. To the untrained eye, it’s hard to see exactly what he is doing to draw out the sounds he does from his drums. I even know a little about playing hand drums and it still doesn’t make it easier to fathom his remarkable talent.

He plays only one song, “Tuvé Una Revelación” which runs fifteen minutes and is full of

 twists and turns and unexpected stops that resolve into grooves so ferocious it’s hard to resist moving your entire body in appreciation.

The main riff is a great groove which hits some occasional prog-rock riffs that settle down quickly.  After five and a half-minutes, it seems like the song stops–but it’s just a pause while the song ramps up again.  The middle of the song has a lengthy keyboard solo (sounding like a piano not horns now).  It’s jazzy and works very well in the middle of the song.  Midway through the solo, Pedrito gets up and starts dancing behind his kit, which is a little unusual.

In addition to being surrounded by four congas, he has a snare drum and cymbals (everything hit with his hands).  He has a hi-hat (which he uses his foot for, but also smacks with his hand) and he is sitting on a box drum, which you can watch him occasionally smack for extra snare.

This particular performance at the Tiny Desk is highlighted by a stunning, unaccompanied conga solo that dazzled both neophytes and long-time fans of Afro-Cuban music.

It starts around nine minutes.  At first he is accompanied by some melody, but then he just takes off.   And indeed, his hands (and his elbow, which he taps in there) are a blur.  When he plays his solo, it’s musical as well as percussive, as his congas are tuned and he even plays a melody.  The thing he does near the end where it certainly appears that he’s somehow using his thumbs and fingers alternately while barely moving his hands is amazing.

It’s pretty awesome.

[READ: February 23, 2019] Tiger vs. Nightmare

I love the setting of this story. It’s futuristic–the cars are actually little planes.

But it’s not relevant because pretty much the entire story takes place inside.  I think it’s just a need a neat detail.

The illustration style is also fascinating,  It’s water-color for the background (and maybe the foregrounds as well).  But the outlines and shading and lines seem almost like crayon–they’re so simple and un-detailed.  It’s kind of a sloppy fun child-like style

Tiger is at dinner and she asks for extras for the monster under her bed.  Her parents concede and then joke with their friends that their little Tiger is always coming up with stories like that. Turns out the monster loves curry and tacos but doesn’t like stew (just like Tiger). (more…)

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Mark Andrew Smith & Matthew Weldon–The New Brighton Archeological Society: Book One: The Castle of Galomar (2009)

Posted in Children's Books, Death, Fairies, Goblins, Graphic Novel, Magic, Mark Andrew Smith, Matthew Weldon, Revenge, Scott Mulvahill, Snow, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Tiny Desk Contest, Unfinished series, War on February 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SCOTT MULVAHILL-Tiny Desk Concert #825 (February 18, 2019).

download (18)I had never heard of Scott Mulvahill.  And when I saw him with his big upright bass, I assumed he was a jazz guy.  But I was wrong.  And the reason I’d never heard of him?

Scott Mulvahill has been trying to win the Tiny Desk Contest for each of its four years. He’s always been one of our favorites, though he’s never been our winner. The double bassist entered his song, “Begin Againers” in 2016 and though it wasn’t the winning entry, we all loved it so much, I invited him to my desk to perform his extraordinary song. He opened the Tiny Desk with it, only this time he was joined by bandmates Jesse Isley and Josh Shilling who shared vocal harmonies.

“Begin Againers” is such a delightfully simple song–a cool upright bass melody that runs through the whole song (with an occasional flourish) and three voices.  Scott sings leads and he sounds like a fairly conventional old-school folk singer, but with a bit more punch.  He sings the lead and his two Jesse and Josh add some great harmonies. (who play guitar and keys).

There’s a bit of Jackson Browne [I was thinking James Taylor, but I think Browne is more accurate] in his voice and a bit of Paul Simon shows through in his self-reflective words.

When the song’s over he says, “That was the first song I ever sent into NPR and of course I wanted to play it behind this desk.  Isn’t it beautiful guys?”

For track two, “Gold Plated Lie,” Jesse and Josh switch to (guitar and keys) and two other guys come out to play drums and dobro [Terence Clark: drums; Gabe Scott: dobro].  With a full band, the music sounds fantastic.  The track opens with a zippy keyboard riff which everyone else soon joins in on.  There’s some cool ah ha has in the bridge and then a really stellar big chorus.  By the end the ah has turn into oh hos hos and and the catchy melody edges a bit sinister.  It’s fantastic.

Scott Mulvahill honed his craft touring with the great bluegrass mandolin player Ricky Skaggs. “Playing bluegrass with him is like playing jazz with Miles Davis,” Scott told the Tiny Desk crowd.

He says that it taught him to learn to write on the bass, which led to this new album.  For the title track “Himalayas,” it’s just him and his bass, and his bass writing is very cool.

For the final tune, the title track from his self-released and current album Himalayas, Scott Mulvahill goes solo, brings out a bow for that bass and we hear a spaciousness I don’t often find in the Nashville world he inhabits.

He bows the bass (playing some really deep and some really really high notes).   And when he starts singing, he plays harmonics and slaps the bass for percussion.  After slapping and singing for a bit, he starts bowing again, and even though the song doesn’t change, the new sound really changes the tone of everything.  I love the way he ends the song with such a high bass note.

[READ: February 7, 2019] The New Brighton Archeological Society: Book One

I was immediately attracted to this story because of the drawing style.  There was something really fascinating about these little kids with big heads, dressed like adults. And of course the title was really cool (especially given the fact that the kids has crossbows and there were goblins with them as well).

The story starts 50 years ago as an island stands up out of a lake and walks away.  On the island it looks like fairy marrying a goblin.

It jumps to 50 years later in Antarctica where four people are chasing a lone figure.  The lone figure pulls out a magic lamp with a genie in it.  He says a magic word and the people vanish. Then we cut to the children on the cover. Their parents were the ones who have gone missing (presumed dead) and now the kids are moving in with an older couple in a giant mansion.  Their relationship to the older couple is a bit vague, but they knew the kids’ parents too.

The kids acclimate well, playing together in the fields in all seasons . And then one day they happen upon clubhouse.  A clubhouse that clearly belonged to their parents. (more…)

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John Patrick Green–Kitten Construction Company: Meet the House Kittens (2018)

Posted in Architecture, Cats, Children's Books, First Second :01, Free at Noon, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, John Patrick Green, Kittens, Lily & Madeleine, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on February 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LILY & MADELEINE-Free at Noon, World Cafe Live (February 22, 2019).

I was pretty happy to be at my desk for this Free at Noon show today.  After seeing Lily & Madeleine Wednesday night, I was keen to hear them live again.

I was also happy that a lot more people showed up for this show than my bad-weather event.

They played a truncated version of the show that I saw–nine of the fourteen songs.  Can their real set only be five more songs?  They focused entirely on new songs, except their encore, and wound up playing all but two of the new songs.(Circles and Bruises).

The sisters aren’t the most dynamic performers.  They are quiet and somewhat subdued–look to guitarist/cellist Shannon Hayden for the action.  But they more than make up for it with their voices.  Once again Lily & Madeleine sounded great and their harmonies were transcendent.

Their new songs are really great live–the addition of the cello really fleshes out their music beautifully.  And their drummer (who goes by one name and which once again I didn’t understand (Coffee?)) was fantastic.

They played the first three songs as my show.  They skipped the older songs and went right to Analog Love.  I was surprised they played “Supernatural Sadness” right after “Analog Love” because they are very different.  Analog is, as the chorus states, “slow and sweet” whereas “Supernatural” has a much more dancey, almost disco attitude,

They ended the set with “Pachinko” and then the band left so the could play “Go” with just the two of them.

After Helen Leicht came out to thank the band for coming, they did one more song, an encore of “Blue Blades.”  This song sounded amazing when I saw them both because of their voices but also because of the awesomely echoed cello.  And she had that same effect on the song here–it just sounds massive and almost otherworldly.  It’s amazing.

Definitely check them out, they are terrific live (this will no doubt be posted soon enough).

  1. Self Care
  2. Just Do It
  3. Canterbury Girls
  4. Analog Love
  5. Supernatural Sadness
  6. Can’t Help the Way I Feel
  7. Pachinko Song
  8. Go
    encore
  9. Blue Blades

[READ: February 20, 2019] Kitten Construction Company

I loved Green’s previous book Hippopotamister and I was pretty delighted with the premise of Kitten Construction Company.  But I had no idea how funny it would be.

The city of Mewburg (I only wish it was Mewlinburg) is preparing to build a new mayor’s mansion.  The city planner is looking at excellent design plans for the mansion.  As he talks about how wonderful the designs are, he pulls back the paper to reveal Marmalade, an adorable kitten.  He stops what he is doing to marvel at her cuteness.  Marmalade is upset by this.

Even more so when the city planner says they can’t have a cute kitten as an architect–“you’re just too adorable to be taken seriously.”

Marmalade stomps off (cutely) muttering that she went to school and she has a degree.   While she is trying to drown her sorrows in milk, she meets Sampson. a dishwasher who is actually an electrical engineer.  They are sick of not being taken seriously so they decide to start their own firm.  But first Sampson has to finish his shift (which is adorable and hilarious). (more…)

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Anne Carson–“‘Fox” (Harper’s, February 2019)

Posted in Anne Carson, Deer, Foxes, Harper's, Huh?, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Lions, Short Story on February 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD-Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (2015).

After the imposed restrictions of Quarters (four songs each 10:10 long), Paper Mâché Dream Balloon goes for a change.  Actually, it goes for a lot of changes.

For this is an acoustic folk album.  It retains all of the psychedelia of their recent records but it removes the heaviness and harshness of those albums and focuses on the mellow.  The twelve songs are also quite short.  Only three songs are over three minutes.  There’s flutes and sitar (which actually isn’t that unusual for KGATLW).  And most of the lyrics are understandable (if not comprehensible).

“Sense” opens with strummed acoustic guitars and a melody from a saxophone or clarinet or both.  “Bones” has a lovely simple guitar riff (so catchy) and more flutes than you can shake a stick with holes at.  It’s immediately catchy and delightful.  “Dirt” ups the power some with slightly louder drums, but it is still fueled by flutes and gentle vocals.  “Paper Mâché Dream Balloon” maintains the high quality, pretty songwriting with a lovely flute melody and a much more uptempo (but somehow even poppier) chorus.

“Trapdoor” changes thinks pretty dramatically for this album.  There’s still a lead flute, but the melody has become kind of intense and minor key and the chanted “Trapdoor” chorus is reminiscent of earlier KGATLW freakout choruses.  But while the song stays restrained, it is still the loudest thing to be found here.  “Cold Cadaver” returns to that flute-y happiness (despite the title) and even features a cheerful “whooo” or two.  I love how the song stops and a very martial drum beat starts but the song never goes off the rails, it just follows along like before.

“The Bitter Boogie” is the longest song in the disc.  Although it initially seems as short as the others because it almost stops half way through.  But it slows down and then begins a new, pretty guitar melody and then a new vocalist comes in and continues the song.

“NGRI (Bloodstain) opens with a fast piano note (very rock-n-roll sounding) and some wailing harmonica.  But it’s all very friendly (until you start listening to the lyrics–no idea what NGRI stands for though (not guilty for reasons of insanity?) but the chanted “bloodstain” is a bit disconcerting.  There’s some wild drumming and a little sitar at the end, but it seems to serve more as a segue to the next song.  “Time = Fate” is a delightfully poppy ditty that seems to be related to “Time = $$$” although musically it doesn’t have any connection (aside from being a delightfully poppy ditty).

“Most of What I Like” is a sweet ballad (although the drums feel particularly distorted (and split between the two headphones) which leads to the final song. “Paper Mâché” is an instrumental which ends the album with a delightful flute melody and acoustic guitars.  It runs for about 2 minutes and is then followed by an incredibly speeded up something (the whole album backwards?) going faster and faster until it explodes.

It’s frankly amazing how many musical ideas this band has.  And the fact that they can pull of so many styles so well is a testament to their songwriting.

[READ: January 19, 2016] “Fox”

This is a story where animals are personified, but in which they also live in the “real” world, apparently.

The foxes are the adjudicators of the world.  The aunts run the den.  They sit upright, tails curled around their feet.  They are pretty animals and they enjoy being pretty.

Aunt Rob spoke the most.  She explained that all animals differ in their violent tendencies:  “The lions are racist, nervy.  They think everything south of Paris is Arab,  everything east of Poland is Chinese.” (more…)

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Han Kang–“White Out” (Harper’s, February 2019)

Posted in Deborah Smith, Dogs, Excerpt, Han Kang, Harper's, Huh?, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Short Story, Snow, The Dog Dies, Translation on February 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD-I’m in Your Mind Fuzz (2014).

Even though this record came soon after Oddments, this has been considered the first major release by KGATLW (maybe that’s because it was the earliest recording that was still in print (until the reissues).  This album is a major step forward in their psychedelic garage rock sound.

The first four songs are more or less a continuous suite.  Not really, but all four songs contain the same breakneck drum pace and rumbling bass line and each one segues into the next.

“I’m in Your Mind” has a simple guitar riff, lots of wickedly distorted harmonica and a catchy vocal line.  It segues into “I’m Not in Your Mind” which is a three-minute jam based around a guitar solo.  The tone has changed slightly, but only slightly.  The solo features the main melody from “The Streets of Cairo or The Little Country Maid” (which we in the States think of as the Egyptian song or the snake charmer song because it was in every cartoon from the 1950s). The end of the song features a bass rumble which segues into the intro to the classic KGATLW song “Cellophane” (where the lyrics are nearly all nonsense singing and the word “cellophane”–catchy as anything).  The quartet returns to the opening song with the reprise called “I’m in Your Mind Fuzz.”   The same guitar melody and tempo resume with a similar-sounding chorus.

A click opens the next song, “Empty,” which halts the fast-paced bass and drums and grows much slower.  With a new rhythm and a more staccato delivery, this song maintains the fuzzy sound and distorted vocals and adds, I believe, a flute.  It’s followed by the wonderful “Hot Water.”  It’s an uptempo song with muted delivery in the vocals and guitars.   It’s also got the simple chanted chorus of “Hot Water” all surrounding this cool 70s sounding melody.

“Am I in Heaven” begins as a folkie acoustic song.  It’s pretty gentle for about 45 seconds until it turns into a screaming and thumping rocker with all kinds of wailing—guitars, vocals, harmonica.  Then at 3 minutes it returns briefly to that original folkie melody until, once again, the loud rocking just overtakes the whole thing with psychedelic soloing.

“Slow Jam 1” slows things down a lot. “I need to slow my mind down” is the lyrical opening.   It is slow and hazy for a few gentle minutes.  “Satan Speeds Up” sounds like it might be an old lost psychedelic/metal song–a cool vibrato guitar riff and flutes play this excellent opening.  The verses are gentle–falsetto singing as the band chills out around it.

“Her and I (Slow Jam 2)” returns to that acoustic mellow sound, this time with some extra fuzzy notes sprinkled around the song.  After about a minute and a half (of the 8 minute song), the tempo picks up and there’s a cool guitar solo which returns a couple of times by the end adding harmonica and wah wah guitar.

This is a very cool album that really shows what KGATLW is all about.  At least until their next release.

[READ: February 18, 2019] “White Out”

This issue of Harper’s had two stories and I didn’t really enjoy either one.

This first one was written in Korean and was translated by Deborah Smith.  What I didn’t like about it was that I wasn’t sure if these nine short pieces were sections of a big story or individual (somewhat) connected stories.  Either way the blocks of text were all quite short and not always complete.

Frost
This tells us that she was born on a day of frost but her father chose seol, snow, as one of the characters for his daughter’s name.  I found that pretty interesting and would have liked to know more about that. (more…)

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Leila Slimani–“The Confession” (New Yorker, February 18 & 25, 2019)

Posted in Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, Amelia Meath, Leila Slimani, Molly Erin Sarlé, Mountain Man, New Yorker, Rape, Sam Taylor, Savory Oatmeal, Sylvan Esso, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation on February 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MOUNTAIN MAN-Tiny Desk Concert #824 (February 13, 2019).

I had only heard of Mountain Man from an earlier Field Recordings Session on NPR–back in 2012!  Since then the individuals have all gone to different successes but they have reconvened for a new album and this Tiny Desk Concert.  We’ll also be seeing them at Newport Folk Festival this summer.

Mountain Man is endearing.  And they are so quiet.

Mountain Man is the perfect band for a Tiny Desk concert. These three women make the most intimate music; and behind the desk, the voices of Amelia Meath, Molly Erin Sarlé and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig were the stars. Adorned by only light, rhythmic acoustic guitar, they sing songs that conjure a simpler life: dogs, friends, moonlight, sunlight, skinny dipping, beach towels and sand.

These dear friends have known each other for more than ten years, since their college days in Vermont. They released their first album in 2010 called Made The Harbor and only recently had a follow-up with the pleasantly surprising, 2018 fall release of Magic Ship.

They play three songs.  “Rang Tang Ring Toon” has a two note guitar melody from Alexandra Sauser-Monnig.  While she plays, she sings the first verse.  Then the other two join in (that’s Molly Sarlé on the really high notes).  It’s a very simple guitar melody–so simple that when she plays a kind of solo (also very simple) it really jolts you out of the gentle melody.

There’s a true kinship that happens in this trio. Things get quiet, sometimes funny and playful or, at moments, awkward, especially when they talk about “savory oatmeal.”

It’s Alexandra who talks about the savory oatmeal (with wild mushrooms, fried garlic, poached egg and chives).  It was delicious–although Molly says, “I had a different thing.”

For “Moon,” Molly plays guitar.  Her playing is more strumming.  She sings very high and the others join in.  One fascinating thing about most of these songs is the nonsense syllables they sing.  Obviously the first song (just the title alone), but even this one has a refrain of:  “Dai dai dai dai dai dai dai dai.”

For the last song Amelia Meath (yes, of Sylan Esso) sings a capella.  Before the song she says she’d like to dedicate it to “all my NPR crushes–anyone who works at NPR who has looked me in the eye and asked me questions about myself.” The song starts with all of them humming.  Then Amelia sings and they accompany her with their hums until they all sing amazing harmonies.  It’s all so quiet and sweet, you just want to lean in to hear them better.

In the eight years between Mountain Man records, Amelia Meath went on to create Sylvan Esso with Nick Sanborn. Molly Sarlé, meanwhile, was in a meditation center in California — at a cliffside trailer in Big Sur — and worked on her own, beautiful solo album, which is due out soon. And Alexandra Sauser-Monnig worked with Hiss Golden Messenger, released her own music under the name ASM and has a new record coming as well.  There’s a tour about to happen, and hopefully they won’t vanish after that for another eight years. There’s no other band like them.

[READ: February 12, 2019] “The Confession”

The confession in this story is a rape.

The narrator is the rapist.  He can’t reveal his name or the rural village where it happened because his father is a feared and respected man and he doens’t want to bring shame on him.

The summer this happened, the boy says his father didn’t want him to be idle, so he was sent to the countryside for hard work with the villagers.  The villagers were illiterate and there was no electricity.  He was bored out of his mind.  The only entertainment was the story that the boys all told about a girl from the area who had been rejected by her clan because of her sexual behavior.

One afternoon he went with one of the older men to the plains to gather grass for the animals.  The man treated the boy with deference because of the boys father, but he did show him how to do the work efficiently.

Then they both saw off in the distance, a young woman crossing the plains.  They both imagined it was the girl from the stories.  So immediately the man ran up to the girl.  She didn’t react to the man–she was too tried to resigned to her fate,  He threatened to hit the her if she screamed and then he tore of the girl’s harem pants.  He then presented the girl to the boy like a gift. (more…)

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