SOUNDTRACK: MARTIN TIELLI-Jane Bond, Waterloo, Ontario (September 29 2001).
The second Martin Tielli solo show on Rheostaticslive comes two years after the first one. It’s a new band and Martin’s debut solo album We Didn’t Even Suspect He Was the Poppy Salesman is due out soon (or just came out, it’s hard to be sure). Although interestingly, he plays some songs that will wind up on his next solo album (which is years away). The show is at Jane Bond in Waterloo, and unlike the previous show, this one has massive audio problems. There are 4 songs that are nearly inaudible and the whole set is recorded very low. Which is a bummer because the set is very good.
As seems to happen a lot to Martin, he is having all kinds of technical troubles and he gets shocked a number of times during the set (I don’ think I’ve ever heard of this happening to people before, but it seems to happen to him a lot.) He also asks the crowd quite often if they can hear okay.
The show opens with the backing music of Talking Heads (which is quite loud). And then Martin and company open the show with the slow Scott Walker song “Farmer in the City.” Then they play a Nick Buzz song, “Love Steams” and Martin gets shocked so bad that he takes a break. He re-starts the song and it sounds really good.
Then inexplicably, Martin’s voice drops out and the bass gets really loud. And the next four songs are really hard to enjoy. You can also hear the crowd really loud. (Did Martin almost fall or something? there’s a big gasp from the audience at one point. You can also hear someone loudly ask “You want a beer?”).
The audio slowly starts to improve from there. By “She Said ‘We’re on Our Way Down'” it’s quiet but it’s very good otherwise.
Then Chris Gardiner comes out to help on “Waterstriders,” which is bit louder. By the time “My Sweet Relief” comes in, the sound has gotten better (probably because it is a full rocking song) with a very country/twangy feel). He tells a little story about the history of “That’s How They Do It in Warsaw” which is for Kasia (she recites the Polish on the album). He tells a funny story about how she went to Warsaw and developed feelings for her cousin).
There’s a lot of funny banter in this set. Martin talks about a movie he was watching in a bar. It was presumably on Show Case, and he described a woman being tied up and a man masturbating and then someone collects something in a syringe (presumably semen) and injects it into a vagina. What could it possibly have been? It sounds like someone might have given him the answer, but we can’t hear it–so we’ll never know! One of the band members shouts out that it was “Who’s the Boss.”
They play a great version of “Digital Beach” and “Shaved Head.” “How Can you Sleep” has a great solo.
Also at the end of “Sgt Kraulis” (which is from the next album) they say it is last call (for everyone who is not on the stage). There’s a funny comment where someone says, Watch how this law gets broken. And they all order rye and cokes. “Sgt Kraulis” has a funky opening (they play some of Abba’s “Mama Mia”).
The set ends with a nice version of “Take Me in Your Hand.” And then a surprise (to me) of “Blue Hysteria.” Then he plays the second part of “Wet Brain/Your War” (just the “Your War” part).
And he ends with a great version of “Record Body Count” and “a stolen song from borrowed tune,” the opener of the next album: “Beauty On.”
There’s so much great music here, it’s a bummer the quality isn’t better.
[READ: June 13, 2015] The Ondt & The Gracehoper
This fascinating book is an excerpt from Finnegans Wake (Book III Chapter I). Thomas McNally has taken one of the fables in Joyce’s Wake and has illustrated it. The book includes a few essays about the Wake and about expressionism and why McNally illustrated the book the way he did.
I have never read Finnegans Wake. And I am fairly certain I never will. I feel like this is a minor failing on my part, and yet it’s not pushing me to read this largely incomprehensible book. So I was excited to see this weird little excerpt of the fabled difficult book (with pictures!)
In the introduction, McNally explains that despite everything we’ve heard about the Wake, it was, in fact, meant to be read and it is indeed, quite funny. Joyce is playing around with language in incredible ways–throwing in multiple meanings in different languages in all kinds of words. He says that for a first read, one should just read it–preferably aloud–and not worry about the various meanings that you are undoubtedly missing. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK: SEU JORGE-Tiny Desk Concert #79 (September 13, 2010).
Seu Jorge was the melancholy singer in Wes Anderson’s movie The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. He sang the David Bowie songs and was amazingly soulful and brought a completely unexpected quality to the Bowie songs.
I Just Read About That... 