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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Antonya Nelson–“First Husband” (New Yorker, January 6, 2014)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Antonya Nelson, Black Sabbath, Brownout, Dread Zeppelin, Marriage Trouble, Monopoly, New Yorker, Parenting, Short Story on June 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_01_06_14Ware.inddSOUNDTRACK: BROWNOUT presents Brown Sabbath (2014).

brownout_cvrI was intrigued by the premise of this album: Brownout is a nine piece jazz band and they play a selection of Black Sabbath covers.  The NPR site (where you can stream the album this week) explains:

They played a residence at an Austin club where they devoted a week each to the repertoire of artists like Black Sabbath to break the monotony of a long club gig.  Audience response, not to mention the fun the band had on stage reworking Sabbath classics, led to a full-length album.

So, this band plays a number of Black Sabbath classics, with, oftentimes, the horns standing in for Tony Iommi’s guitars or Ozzy Osbourne’s voice. Although there are also times when the (various) singers in the band try out their inner Ozzy (and often succeed).  They get pretty heavy for the heavy parts (and there are guitars so the do have appropriate guitar sounds from time to time).   But they also play some of the groovier songs too (like “Planet Caravan.”)

Other songs include “The Wizard” (probably my favorite here), “Iron Man” (which is very different from the iconic song, and is only vaguely recognizable as the song, but is very good nonetheless).  They also do “N.I.B.” a bass heavy song which takes on a different style (perhaps a bit too much like Dread Zeppelin).  “Black Sabbath” has no vocals, just a guitar playing the lines–and the horns in the beginning add a suspenseful accent. “Hand of Doom” plays that slinky dark sound very well (I just like the original so much that this one can’t quite compare).  And “Into the Void” which also has no vocals, but sounds a little too marching band here (but the middle instrumental section is really trippy).

So I enjoyed this take on classic Sabbath.  Although I don’t need to listen to it more than once.

[READ: June 13, 2014] “First Husband”

Looking back, I see that I have enjoyed a lot of Antonya Nelson’s stories.  And I enjoyed this one too.  She seems to have a great eye for little details, or interesting aspects of family life that are fun to unravel.  The thing I really liked about this story was the simple construction of the character relationships.

Lovey is married to William.  It is both of their second marriages.  But Lovey’s first husband was married before he married Lovey–she was his second wife.  Lovey’s first husband had several daughters, including Bernadette.  So for a time, Lovey was Bernadette’s stepmother (even though she was close in age to the oldest daughter).  Then when Lovey and her first husband split up, she was no longer Bernadette’s step mother.  But because the marriage lasted for more than a few years, the girls grew close to her, especially Bernadette.  When they divorced, Bernadette actually chose Lovey over her father.  So now Lovey is her ex step mother.  And William is something to Bernadette that there’s not a word for.

I love that.  Even though it’s probably not that uncommon, it is such a linguistic mess that its clear no one was ever prepared for that.

I especially liked that that level of detail is included even though it is not the crux of the story.  It is relevant, but it is not the crux.  The crux is that Bernadette’s husband (whom no one likes) is out drinking.  Again.  Bernadette is nervous about him coming home drunk and the fight they will have so she wonders if she can bring the kids over to Lovey’s house.  It is 2AM.

Lovey doesn’t mind.  Lovey doesn’t have children of her own–she feels that her first husband (Bernadette’s dad) deliberately kept her from having children during her prime years and now she is stuck.  And even though these children are technically nothing to her, their ex- step-grandmother, she still cares them.  And Bernadette’s oldest boy, Caleb, is the reason she is named Lovey–it was something that he could say when he was little.  So when the children come crashing over, Lovey welcomes them without waking William (who needs to be up early for his doctor rounds). (more…)

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Tor Ulven–Replacement (1993) [translated 2012]

Posted in Boredom, Death, Depression, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Karl Ove Knausgård, Kerri A. Pierce, Short Books, Stig Sæterbakken, Suicide, The Kids, Thin Lizzy, Tor Ulven on June 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

torSOUNDTRACK: THE KIDS-“Forelska i lærer’n” & “Norske Jenter” (1980).

kids2 The Kids are a Norwegian band that was mentioned in Karl Ove Knausgaard’s story yesterday.  He is pretty disparaging of them as they were hugely popular when he was in school (and he liked other bands).  They sing in Norwegian and are quite poppy.

“Norske jenter” is the poppier of the two.  It’s pretty synthy, with a super catchy melody and chorus.  It seems just shy of being a sleek pop hit, but I can imagine that a band singing in your native tongue would fair well even without super slick packaging.

Of course, having said that, “Forelska i lærer’n” is nothing if not slick–check out these guys with their super blond hair.  Actually the video is pretty funny and with a name like “In love with the teacher,” it is quite a different subject than I expected).  I love the way they designed the teacher.  And that wink is fantastic.  If only the lead singer could act a little better.  kidsThe song is kind of a heavy classic rock sound–maybe a poppier version of Thin Lizzy (those guitar solos are very Thin Lizzy).  I’m of course very curious what the lyrics are.

I found two videos on YouTube (and apparently there are some more recent live songs)

Norske jenter: There’s no visuals in this video, just music:

But the video for “Forelska i lærer’n” is here in all of its glory–it looks much more modern than 1980.  The self pogoing at the end is fantastic.

[READ: June 15, 2014] Replacement

I found out about this book from Karl Ove Knausgaard, who claims that it is the best Norwegian novel ever written (he also has a quote on the back of the book).  I had never heard of Tor Ulven before.  It turns out that he has written mostly poetry.  And then he wrote a few prose-like poems and then this novel called Avløsning in Norwegian.  And then he killed himself.

This book was translated by Kerri A. Pierce and it has an afterword by Stig Sæterbakken.  And literally that is all I can tell you about the book for certain.

Why?  Because the back of the book and the afterword actually differ about what they say is happening in the story.  To a pretty intense degree.  The back of the book says that “the perspectives of unrelated characters are united into what seems a single narrative voice: each personality directing the book in turn.”  Whereas Stig makes the case that the book is all one narrator at different points in his life.

And why can’t you tell?  Because there seems to be different perspectives (all by men), and yet no one is named.  And then there’s the fact that some of the book is written in second person, while the rest is in the third person–this suggest at least two narrators, and yet it could also be a flashback.  There are at least four different time settings and seemingly different people.  There’s an old man in a wheelchair, there’s a security guard, there’s a taxi driver (I think).  There’s a guy who likes to list things, there’s another guy who thinks parenthetical thoughts.  And there’s an intense obsession with “her,” a woman who doesn’t seem fictional but is certainly mythical.

And what happens?  Well, nothing. (more…)

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Karl Ove Knausgaard–“Come Together” (New Yorker, February 17 & 24, 2014)

Posted in Biography, Don Bartlett, Excerpt, Foreign Books, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Karl Ove Knausgård, Morgenbladet, New Yorker, The Aller Værste!, The Clash, The Kids, The Police, Translation on June 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_02_17_14Columbo_spine.inddSOUNDTRACK: THE ALLER VÆRSTE!-Materialtretthet (1980).

matThe Aller Værste! were a Norwegian new waves/punk band with elements of ska thrown in.  I only know of them because of this story, but I decided to check out some of their stuff since it is so relevant to the story.

This was their debut album, which has been ranked as the number 6 best Norwegian album of all time (by Morgenbladet, a Norwegian weekly newspaper).  The album opens with lounge piano and trombone before breaking into a ska-inflected “Du sklei meg så nær innpå livet.”  Lead singer Chris Erichsen sings in some unusually deep voices (some of which seem comical) in “Dødelige drifter.”  “Døgnflue” is a two-minute punk blast with a loud Farfisa organ running throughout.

“Bare du som passer på” has a distinctly Clash feel in the vocals.  “For dem betyr det lite” is powered by that organ sound, while “Bare en vanlig fyr” is very guitar heavy (and may have a different singer).  This is probably my favorite song on the album, there’s some great sections in it.

This sound of punk sensibility with a prominent organ (an vocals in Norwegian) really make The Aller Værste! stand out in 80s rock.  “Må ha deg” has some interesting backing vocals and sounds like a Clash inspired ska song (with more crazy vocals).  It has a slow instrumental section with a twangy guitar solo.

“Igjen” is 90 seconds of punk (but not very harsh punk).  The next few songs are all about 3 and a half minutes long.  “Bare ikke nok” has call and response vocals and an unexpected beat.  “Hong Kong” slows the sound down, with a prominent bass riff.  “De invalide” is an upbeat song with horns.  “Hekt” has some dissonant guitar over almost funky bass and a serious breakdown at the end.  “Discodrøv” has very fast drums as it opens, but it turns into a rollicking song with disco bass and big horns.

“Oppvekst” follows those horns with some fast (ska-like) guitars.  “Materialtretthet” opens with some great, wild bass and continues wit a very fast-paced song.  This is another favorite (it’s interesting that the title track is also one of the shorter songs on the record).  “Menneskelig svikt” sounds quite raw, with echoey distant guitars and vocals.  “Blank” is the final song on the album (reissues have added more tracks).  It has a distant echoey harmonica acting as a melancholy sound behind the vocals.

I hope that Karl Ove’s book somehow gets this disc in print, I’d like to listen to it on more than YouTube.

There’s a live version of the song mentioned at the end of the story here:

[READ: June 11, 2014] “Come Together”

I know that this is an excerpt form the third part of My Struggle which I plan to read in say six or eight months.  But I decided to read it anyway in part because I was intrigued by the cover picture, which is of a record sleeve with a man on a bicycle and the wheel is the inner label of an album.  That, coupled with the title “Come Together” made it pretty apparent that this would be about music.   And so it was.

As I said, this is excerpted from Karl Ove’s third book in the My Struggle series, which is called Boyhood.  I’m intrigued that this book is set in his teenage years since the first two were set much later–it actually felt like Book 2 caught us up to the present).  At any rate, this is one small section (chock full of details) about being young and being in love with music and with girls. (more…)

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Yiyun Li–“A Sheltered Woman” (New Yorker, March 10, 2014)

Posted in Babies, Fears, Federico Aubele, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Parenting, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Yiyun Li on June 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_03_10_14Steininger.inddSOUNDTRACK: FEDERICO AUBELE-Tiny Desk Concert #350 (April 21, 2014).

faFederico Aubele is an Argentinian singer-songwriter.  He sings in both Spanish and English. And in this Tiny Desk Concert, he plays pretty guitar solos between songs which makes the three songs all seem like one long piece.

His guitar playing is clean and beautiful on the nylon string guitar.  He plays in the quintessential “South American”/”classical” style [some might even call this Flamenco, Paul].  And his voice is low and deep but also expressive.

The three songs here are “Laberinto Del Ayer,” “This Song,” and “Somewhere Else.”  They are each quite pretty and melancholy.  And when he starts speaking in Spanish at the end of the third song, his voice is definitely enticing.

[READ: June 10, 2014] “A Sheltered Woman”

In this story, the second or third I’ve read by Yiyun Li, the main character is an older women who goes by the name of Auntie Mei.  Auntie Mei is a first month nanny–she stays for only the first month, to make sure that the mother is breastfeeding correctly and that everyone is prepared to move on–her skills are very specific to the first month.  And she is in very high demand among Chinese immigrants.

She has worked for 126 families in the last eleven years.  And she never gets attached to any of the families–calling each mother Ma and each child The Baby.

With this new mother who, like all the other mothers is Chinese (but who wants to be called Chanel), Auntie Mei is having a bit of a hard time.  The mother is disinterested in her baby, claims to have postpartum depression (Auntie Mei says “Don’t speak nonsense”) and even had a dream that she drowned her baby in the toilet.  Mostly, Chanel is angry that her husband is not around–he has been away on business since the baby was born.  We later learn about the strange details of their marriage.

Auntie Mei tries not to get involved.  She keeps telling Chanel (and others in the story not to tell her details).  She feeds Chanel a thick soup (designed for breastfeeding) and massages her breasts when she does not produce milk.  But after a few days Chanel says she quits and leaves the baby entirely in Auntie Mei’s charge.  Auntie Mei protests but she can’t allow the baby to die so she takes over.  Chanel simply watches TV and complains–she won’t even go buy groceries. (more…)

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Tessa Hadley–“Under the Sign of the Moon” (New Yorker, March 24, 2014)

Posted in New Yorker, Quilt, Romance, Short Story, Tessa Hadley, Tiny Desk Concert on June 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_03_24_14Juan.inddSOUNDTRACK: QUILT-Tiny Desk Concert #351 (April 26, 2014).

quiltQuilt play soft, 60s era hippie music.  Lead singer Anna Fox Rochinski (who reminds me of a young Susan Dey) has a lilting gentle and quite pretty voice.  And the rest of the band layer gorgeous harmonies over these complexly patterned songs.  The hippie imagery comes across on the lyrics too.  Take “Arctic Shark,”, which has a really enticing melody and Anna’s pretty voice singing lyrics such as “How can I proceed with thee? This eastern harbor’s full of grief All my heavy dreams are simply a luxury Horses in the pepper tree and the lighthouse floating in the sea.”  The “lead” guitar sounds like a sitar, which is pretty neat and continues with that 60s theme

On “Eye Of The Pearl,” Lead singer Shane Butler has a sleepy look that fits in well with the gentle dreamy songs. His voice is a little too delicate for my liking (but the backing vocals bring the song to life.  The whole feel seems like it was transported out of the 60s folks scene.  “Mary Mountain” is a bit more uptempo and as the whole band is singing together, it sounds really full and complex. Like the other songs this one seems to have several distinct parts, although this song’s parts are even more distinct—with loud chords interchanging with quiet plucking.

The final song is “Penobska Oakwalk.” Shane sings lead on this one, but his voice almost seems to delicate (whne Anna’s backing vocals come, in the song comes to life). I’ll have to hear if the studio version is the same (no, in the studio version, his voice is appropriately loud).  This one ends with this interesting series of images:

I’ve been packing bombs for a man in an idle tower.
Who traded this land for an open hand of flowers. How did we get so
Language deflated the zeppelin of the conscious. How did we get so
And now we return through the means of our destruction. How did we get so

Although they may be a little too idealistic, it warms the hippie who lives in my heart.

[READ: June 9, 2014] “Under the Sign of the Moon”

I have enjoyed most of Tesla Hadley’s stories even if the they are a little bit sad.  This one is a little bit sad, too.  It focuses on an older women who is on her way to Liverpool to visit her daughter.  She is taking the train, and marveling at the route that they take (one section is chiseled through a mountain).  She would like to be with her own thoughts (she has a lot going on), but a man sitting next to her feels compelled to talk.  First he tells her about the building of the railway line through the mountain, then about Liverpool.  She tries to give him the hint by opening and reading her book while he is talking to her, but he keeps interrupting, at one point even asking how the book is.

I enjoyed the way he was described as chameleon-like person–his accent seemed to change whenever he talked about a different place and he seemed the kind of person who would just make up anything to have something to say.  And, gah, the way he is dressed!  Like he is still stuck in the sixties, but with none of the coolness of that decade.  He is a little bit younger than her but she feels that he may actually be flirting with her which she thinks is ridiculous given her age and how asexual she feels lately.

She is thrilled to finally arrive at the station, to be away from this man.  But as she gets off of the train, her daughter texts to say she will be at least 30 minutes late.  She decides to go for coffee.  The man is in the cafe–he clearly wasn’t following her–and he is all by himself.  He has nothing to read and no phone to look at.  She feels sorry for him and decides to sit with him.  (more…)

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Louise Erdrich–“The Big Cat” (New Yorker, March 31, 2014)

Posted in Louise Erdrich, Marian McLaughlin, Marriage Trouble, Minnesota, New Yorker, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert on June 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_03_31_14Sempe.inddSOUNDTRACK: MARIAN McLAUGHLIN-Tiny Desk Concert #363 (June 7, 2014).

marianMarian McLaughlin is a singer-songwriter from Washington D.C. who has self released one album.  In this Tiny Desk setting McLaughlin plays an acoustic guitar (and some very unexpected chords) and sings while a string trio plays very eccentric melodies (and often not the ones you might expect) behind her.

Indeed, McLaughlin sounds like she might be right at home at a Renaissance Faire (her long hair and floral dress speak to that as well).  Her voice isn’t especially quirky but her delivery certainly is. And when the strings really get going (as they do in many places) the music is really powerful and more than a little off-beat.

“Heavier-than-air” seems to have many parts in its 4 minutes. While “Ocean” brings in some amazing low end with the bowed double bass and cello.  It also has an extended violin solo which is quite pretty.

“Horse” is the most intense song of the three, opening with an interesting guitar motif and that great bowed bass.  True, it’s unusual to hear the line “we are in debt to our equine friends” and later, “rhythm like a paradiddle,” but when the strings (but not the guitar) start playing a super-heavy almost heavy metal riff for a few bars, it is really intense.  There’s no question that McLaughlin is a unique voice, and I imagine that mainstream success will elude her.  But I really admire this kind of eccentric songwriting, and I am curious to check out her album at bandcamp.

[READ: June 9, 204] “The Big Cat”

I enjoyed this story quite a lot although I didn’t really care for the title (in relation to the story, the title itself is fine). There were so many images and turns of phrase that I think would have been much more interesting as a title. But if that’s all one has to complain about, that’s no too bad.

This story is from the point of view of a man who was happily married to a woman who snored.  In fact all of the women on her side of the family snored.  One holiday visit with her family he had many sleepless nights listening to the crazy loud racket of “the rip saw” (Elida’s mother) “the welders” (her sisters) and the polisher (Elida herself).  He says “sometimes they snored in unison—which was terrifying” (this made me laugh out loud).

They have a daughter together, Valery, who does not snore–as of yet.

He and Elida were from Minnesota but they lived in Hollywood for a time.  He was a relatively successful minor actor—lots of commercials, TV shows, etc and she was a film editor.  They were becoming successful in their jobs.  But then when Valery was 12 and unhappy in school, Elida decided it was the nature of Hollywood, so they moved back to Minnesota.  This ended his acting career so he found new work doing something else. (more…)

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Daniel Abraham–“Balfour and Meriwether in The Adventure of the Emperor’s Vengeance” (2009) [from Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded] (2010)

Posted in 19th Century, Adventure, Daniel Abraham, Egyptology, End of the World, Fantasy, Fears, Moon Hooch, Moonhooch, Short Story, Steampunk, Supernatural, Violence on June 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

steamiiSOUNDTRACK: MOON HOOCH-“Bari 3” (2014).

bari3Man, I love Moon Hooch–that loud crazy baritone sax and the other skronky sax.  But there’s also the great drumming.  And, in this song, there’s so many stops and starts, it’s amazing they can do so much with just 2 different types of instrument.

Just how many different things can one band do with two saxophones and a drummer?  Well, in the case of Moon Hooch, the answer seems to be limitless.  This song jumps and twists–it has a heavy loud section and a smooth groovy section, it even has a loud thunderous section.  Between Colin Stetson and Moon Hooch, the saxophone is definitely cool again.

And why not watch Moon Hooch play this song at a scenic rest stop on a Pennsylvania highway:

[READ: June 10, 2014] “Balfour and Meriwether in The Adventure of the Emperor’s Vengeance”

After having read the other two Balfour and Meriwether stories, it seemed only natural to track down the first of the stories.  And it happened to be collected in this Steampunk anthology.  I didn’t read anything else in the anthology even though I like steampunk, mostly because I didn’t have time.

This story opens, as the others do with Balfour and Meriwether sitting at home by the fire.  Then Lord Carmichael bursts in with news.  This means Balfour and Meriwhether know it is time to save Queen and country.

In this case, the crisis involves Napoleon and some old plundered Egyptian goods.  This proves to be a similar premise as Tales from the Clockwork Empire and I have no idea if Napoleon’s plundering of Egyptian artifacts led to any clockwork machinery for real or not–I may have to look that up.  But this story ups the ante by having a Jewish conspiracy as well.

The British museum has several Egyptian artifacts (taken from Napoleon’s army), but it is believed that Napoleon’s men included false items with the loot in order to discredit anyone who thinks that all of the items are real.  One such falsity was believed to be a sarcophagus.  Lord Abington (the anti-Semite) wants that sarcophagus opened while no one else around.  But when he opened it the others in the next room heard a scream, a thud and then silence.  Meriwther and Balfour speculate about what was in there–perhaps it was plague and the whole museum may need to be razed.  This freaks out Lord Carmichael, naturally. (more…)

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Jonathan Lethem–“Pending Vegan” (New Yorker, April 7, 2014)

Posted in Animals, Consumerism, Food, Johnnyswim, Jonathan Lethem, New Yorker, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Whales on June 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_04_07_14DeSeve.inddSOUNDTRACK: JOHNNYSWIM-Tiny Desk Concert #352 (April 28, 2014).

johnnyIt was with this Tiny Desk Concert that I was able to get the numbers of the more recent ones.  They proudly announce that this was the three hundred and fiftieth TDC.  Which is pretty hard to believe.  They have almost a year’s worth.  And it seems lately that they have been putting them up at the rate of more than one a week.  How;sa guy ever supposed to catch up?

So I’d never heard of Johnnyswim before.  The band is comprised of husband and wife Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano.  They sing duets mostly but he seems to have the main voice.  And it is booming and powerful.  They have been street buskers and they have a great chemistry with each other and the audience (she says she wants to have his baby someday).

The two start as duo then for the last song the full band comes out.  And their third song with the full band “Diamonds,” is a big catchy uplifting anthem that could be absolutely huge, especially with the big sing along oh’s.  And yet the thing is, I don’t really like their voices.  I completely understand the appeal of catchy sings like “Home” and “Falling For Me,” but I just didn’t really enjoy them.

I imagine their songs will be in soundtracks this summer and I’ll get tired of hearing them.  But for now, they’re just not my thing.

[READ: June 6, 2014] “Pending Vegan”

I enjoyed most of this story because it deals with issues that I think many carnivores (at least those who are relatively sensitive) deal with—how do you eat animals but also like animals.  And yet this is not a preachy story.  I also liked it because it is set at Sea World, a place that the narrator (and many people) find questionable (at best) with regard to its animal care.

The protagonist, Paul, is taking his family to Sea World even though he really doesn’t want to go.  His wife thinks its important for their kids to see the animals before they are all gone. Paul is also quitting the antidepressant Celexa, which his therapist (a very funny, inappropriate man who says things like “black folks and Orientals”) says will make him see a lot of bad things (like bums and pickpockets) wherever he looks.

We also learn that in his own mind, Paul has changed his name to Pending Vegan.  It was a bit of a mortification but something that he felt was a step in the right direction (even if he still ate what he wanted).  He of course doesn’t know how to explain this name change to anyone (especially his daughters).  And of course, he doesn’t know how to explain the questionable (at best) behaviors at Sea World.  But he toughs it out for his family. (more…)

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Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg & Michel PIRUS–King of the Flies: 2. The Origin of the World (2005) [translated 2010]

Posted in Black Flag, Boredom, Cian Nugent, Cigarettes, Dag Dascher, Death, Drinking, Drugs, Foreign Books, Graphic Novel, Helge Dascher, Humiliation, Kim Thompson, Marriage Trouble, Michel Pirus, Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg, Revenge, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Violence, Yuck! on June 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

flies2SOUNDTRACK: CIAN NUGENT-Tiny Desk Concert #353 (May 3, 2014).

cianCian Nugent is from Dublin.  In this Tiny Desk Concert, he plays two guitars, including a crappy no name electric guitar with a great raw sound.  For the first song, he plays a pretty acoustic guitar instrumental called “Grass Above My Head.”   It has a slow melody that turns into a ragtime jaunt over the course of 6 and half minutes.

The next two songs are on that electric guitar and are both rather different (he says the songs comes from “incoherent range of the mess that is my musical career”).  Before playing “Hire Purchase” he tells a very funny story about getting a pencil from a garage (and that he uses it to keep his string from detuning–does that work?).  This is an electric guitar instrumental, bluesy and mellow with some great riffs.

The final song, “Nightlife” has words.  It’s a simple blues song. Nugent has a nice delicate voice.  I’m not a big fan of bluesy songs, but he does a great job with this and the other two styles.

He also wrote a song called “My War Blues” which is variations on a Black Flag song (I don’t recognize the original in his version, myself).  But you can hear that here.

[READ: June 4, 2014] King of the Flies 2. The Origin of the World

This book picks up right where Book 1 left off.  This edition was also translated only by Helge Dascher although it says she had help from Dag Dascher and Kim Thomspon (I didn’t notice any change in quality).

As this book starts, Eric’s mother is making serious advances with Francis–the man whom she just met but who she is already calling her fiance.  Eric fantasizes about killing him (his dream sequence mother says this is the 13th time he has killed Francis).  Marie and Eric are still together and, through a strange series of events, Ringo is asking Eric to hold on to a cool looking elephant bowling bag.

By the end of this first story, Eric has saved Becker from drowning.  And yet neither Becker nor Karine bothers to thank him.  Indeed, Karine seems even more angry at him.  But this blow off makes Eric want Karine even more.

In a later story we finally meet Karine’s family who are just as freaked out about her “dating” this old guy.  And, by the end of the story Becker has a heart attack and dies.  When she returns home after the funeral she sees Eric and she confides in him that she is pregnant.

The newest development in the book comes in the next story in which we learn that Damien is a ghost and that he visits everyone that he knew.  Some people who are receptive to seeing him can actually talk with him.  He’s obviously pissed about Eric and Sal, but he has come to terms with a lot of things.  He even forgives the man who killed him (by accident).  He also winds up meeting ghost Becker at some point. (more…)

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Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg & Michel PIRUS–King of the Flies: 1. Hallorave (2005) [translated 2010]

Posted in Boredom, Cigarettes, Death, Drinking, Drugs, Foreign Books, Graphic Novel, Helge Dascher, Humiliation, John Kadlecek, Marriage Trouble, Michel Pirus, Pascal (MEZZO) Mesenburg, Public Service Broadcasting, Revenge, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Violence, Yuck! on June 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

flies1SOUNDTRACK: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING-Tiny Desk Concert #354 (May 5, 2014).

indexI heard about Public Service Broadcasting via NPR and I loved their song “Spitfire,” a rocking instrumental with interesting samples scattered throughout.  Well, it turns out that live, the rock just as hard.  Even though there’s only two of them.  There’s J. Willgoose, Esq. on guitar, banjo and electronics and Wrigglesworth on drums. The samples come from British public-service films from roughly the 1940s through the 1960s.

Watching this video, I was stunned at just how much Willgoose is doing, and just how much noise these two guys can make.  There’s even a video going on behind them.   The only problem here was that the samples were not loud enough.

 “Signal 30” opens with samples and samples and then a rocking guitar and solid drums. It amazing watching Willgoose do some many different things while playing the guitar. The change of tone at the middle of the song is great and I love watching him just bang the guitar to keep the notes going (while he is playing the keyboard).

 After the song, there is a sample of “Thank you very much” in an arch British voice (the duo don’t speak during the show).   “Spitfire” also sounds great hear–the song is surprisingly complex for an instrumental, and for what seems like it might be a novelty band, the song is really solid.  After this song, Willgoose had to fetch something and the talking sample said “talk amongst yourselves!” The final track “Everest” has a very catchy riff and some really great drumming.  But I love most watching Willgoose play the guitar with one hand and play a solo on the keyboard with the other.

This is definitely a band to check out live.

[READ: June 4, 2014] King of the Flies 1. Hallorave

Hallorave is a dark, violent, sexual comic series written by Pirus and drawn by Mezzo.  Both artists are French and have worked together before.  This book was translated by Helge Dascher and John Kadlecek (and it was translated very well–I didn’t realize it wasn’t American until they started talking about Euros sometime in the middle of the book.

So this is actually a series of short stories narrated by different people.  They seem unrelated, but after a couple of stories, you see the connections.  And there proves to be a core collection of characters all living in this suburb (the location is really irrelevant).

The first story starts with Eric (who proves to be the main protagonist) drinking, reading magazines and sitting on a couch on the (dried up and dead) lawn of his mother’s house.  He is also jealous of his best friend Damien because he is very hot for Damien’s girlfriend Sal.

That first story introduces us to a visual that will run through the book: Eric sitting with a giant fly head on.  The three are going to a Hallorave for Halloween.  Eric is King of the Flies, Sal has a giant cat’s head on and Damien is a skeleton.  By the end of the party, they are all high (you can seem them feeding each other drugs in the picture below).  Eric pledged his love to Sal in front of Damien, and Damien is in a foul mood.  He gets in a fight with some other party goers. By the end of the short story, Eric and Sal are having sex (with their costume heads on) and Damien has been hit by a car and killed.  That’s the kind of stories we’re getting here. (more…)

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