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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Pierdomenico Baccalario–Ulysses Moore–No More?

Posted in Pierdomenico Baccalario on January 26, 2010| 67 Comments »

[UPDATE October 18, 2010]:
Check out the comment below from Sydney Veldhuis who is offering to do some of the translating if Scholastic won’t!

Currently in the U.S. there are four volumes of the Ulysses Moore series published in English.  There are nine original books in the series (in Italian).  Readers of this blog have wondered fro quite some time whether or not the rest of the series would be translated here.  According to Rachel, a reader here, Scholastic sent this reply:

“I’m so sorry. We are not planning on translating the rest of the books. I thought perhaps the British publisher might have done a translation that you could purchase. I did make the editor aware of your interest.”

While I don’t believe in overwhelming an employee (it’s certainly not her fault that the books aren’t being translated… unless of course she’s the person who makes the decision, but I suspect she’s just  the outreach person), we’ve all seen how grassroots campaigns can make a difference.

But the key is to be organized.  It’s possible that a petition would work, although I’m not sure how to go about setting one up. If anyone wants to take the reins on that, please do.  In the meantime, I think the best thing is to sent a polite email saying how much of a fan you are of the series and ask that they do continue to translate the books.

I think a good sign of continuity would be if everyone used the exact same wording in the subject line as well. Unless someone has a really catchy phrase, I’m suggesting:

We need more Rick and Julia–please translate the rest of Ulysses Moore.

I’ll post here what I’m going to email.  Obviously, you can copy what I wrote, but if you have something better or want to get some other things across, please wrote your own message! (more…)

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Roberto Bolaño–2666 [Week 1] The Part About the Critics (1 of 3) (2004)

Posted in Big Books, bolanobolano.com, Books about writers, Foreign Books, Infinite Summer, Infinite Zombies, Natasha Wimmer, Pixies, Research, Roberto Bolaño, Scholarship, Sex, Starlight Mints, Translation, Travel on January 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: STARLIGHT MINTS-Change Remains (2009).

This is the fourth disc from the Starlight Mints.  Their music is hard to describe at any time, but this disc complicates things even further.

The number of genres they cram into this disc is impossible to count.  However, there seems to be a very heavy concentration of a sort of punk/disco feel.  The disco beats (and telltale bass lines) are very strong yet the noisy guitar and instrumentation removes the disco sheen.

And that overall sense sums up the disc fairly well.  It’s got this poppy aspect to it, but there’s a sinister undercurrent.  In my review of their earlier discs, I described them a having a Pixies influence.  And while that’s still true (the sinister part (and the vocals definitely sound like Black Francis)) their sound has evolved away from a grungy rock into a more keyboardy feel.

The opener is a short instrumental that sounds like a cartoony James Bond theme.  The next few tracks have a good 90s alt rock feel (although “Zoomba” mixes it up with some jazzy horns).   But it’s the second half of the disc where the disco sounds really come to the fore.

And, lyrically, the band is all over the place.  It’s always fun to see what’s coming around the corner (as when the rocking “gallop along” comes out of an otherwise mellow dancey track).   Starlight Mints are definitely not trying to sell billions of records, but they are no doubt building a delightful niche fan base. And I’m one of them.

[READ: Week of January 18, 2010] 2666 [pg 1-51]

And so begins the Infinite Summer-like reading of 2666.  I don’t know if this reading group has a catchy title yet (I can’t even think of a jokey one right now), so for now, 2666 it is.

I don’t really know what I’m in for with this book.  And as such, I’m not entirely sure what thee posts are going to turn into.  Unlike with Infinite Jest, which was confusing from the get-go, this novel starts out in a rather straightforward manner.  So, I think for the foreseeable future I’ll do some plot summary and comments.

2666 is divided into 5 books (which were originally supposed to be published independently).  The first book is 161 pages and is called The Part About the Critics.

I had no idea what this book was about.  I’d heard it was a great, difficult read, and that was enough for me.  I like to go into books fairly blindly, so that’s nothing unusual.  The back cover blurb says that it centers around Santa Teresea, which I suspect has something to do with Juarez, Mexico.  So, okay, I get the idea that we’re in for a harrowing tale about murdered women in Mexico.

So, imagine my surprise when the book opens with fifty-plus pages about 4 scholars of a little-known German writer.  And imagine my further surprise when the language of the book is fairly easy to read. (more…)

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Jim Massey & Robbi Rodriguez–Maintenance, Vol. 3: Fighting Occupants of Interstellar Craft (2008)

Posted in Canadian Music, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Jim Massey, Kathleen Edwards, Mad Scientists, Outer Space, Robbi Rodriguez, Supernatural, Technology, Threats, YA Books on January 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Live from the Bowery Ballroom (2003).

This is a live EP released just after Failer.  I assumed that the Bowery was the New York one, but I just leaned that it is a Ballroom in Vancouver.  The CD has three live tracks, two from Failer and a cover of an AC/DC song (!).

She sounds great, her band sounds great, and the quality of the recording is great.

Side two of the disc is a DVD.  It contains two videos: “Six O’Clock News” and “One More Song the Radio Won’t Like.”  Both videos are okay at best.  They are fairly pedestrian clips of her singing, close-ups of her face, shots of her singing standing in the street etc.  “Radio” is slightly more inventive in that there’s a vague sort of plot, but she gets to wear some wigs.  But the overlays of her in various wigs come about half way through and seem like an afterthought.  The songs are great, but the videos are just so so.

So, if you’re a fan, this might be worth finding.  But it’s not an essential addition by any means.

[READ: January 15, 2010] Maintenance Vol 3.

This is the latest (and possibly last?) volume in the Maintenance series.  Unlike the previous collections, this volume contains an entire story arc.  And it’s a good one.

The evil-looking creature from the final page of volume 2 has kidnapped the gorgeous TerrorMax secretary Mendy (just as Manny was about to ask her out!).  And Doug and Manny, janitors extraordinaire, are determined to get her back.  When they learn that a spacecraft will be required, they’re quite happy to know that a certain grumpy alien has one that he’s pretending not to remember how to start.  And the adventure begins. (more…)

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Jan Van Meter, Christine Norrie & Ross Campbell–Too Much Hopeless Savages Part Three

Posted in Adventure, Books about music, Christine Norris, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Gangsters, Graphic Novel, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Jan Van Meter, LGBTQ, Mystery, No Forcefield, Oni Press, Primus, Punks, Religion, Ross Campbell, Threats, Travel, Violence, YA Books on January 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NO FORCEFIELD-God is an Excuse (2001).

I was looking up what Larry LaLonde, guitarist for Primus, had been up to while Primus seems to be on hiatus.  I hadn’t heard a word from him, so I was surprised to see that he had released two albums with a band called No Forcefield.

I looked for the discs, and found both of them used for $1.00 each.  So I ordered them without really knowing what they were about, except that they were described as “experimental.”

This is the second disc by the band which consists of Brain and Ler from Primus as well as assorted other fellows (Bob Cock) and guests.  And experimental is an okay word to describe the record.  But a better one is disappointing.

With the lineage that these guys bring to the band, it’s surprising how mundane the disc is. It opens with a phone message about Bin Laden and God which morphs into the hilarious Denis Leary bit about CDs and the silver dog bone thing.  It then becomes a fairly straightforward electronic track.  And this electronic stuff is kind of the purpose of the group, I think.  There are at least 3 long, simple instrumentals that are little more than a few notes repeated over a drum beat.

The other tracks are complete nonsense: a faux TV show with “products” for sale which is a teensey bit funny, but not really.  There’s also Billy Roz, whoever that may be, crooning “You Are My Sunshine” as well as some polkas over a drum machine (he sings like an old doddering man).  And finally a short drum solo.

It’s not even clear to me why Ler is in the band as it seems to be mostly drums and a simple keyboard chord.  The only interesting track on the disc is “How to Purify Street Heroin” which is an awesome scratchy workout which I assume is by DJ Disk from the Invisbl Skratch Piklz.  And that’s pretty much it.

I was really disappointed my first go around, as I was expecting something, anything, more than this.  On subsequent listens, I can appreciate the disc as background/comedy although really neither one is a reason to hunt this down.

[READ: January 21, 2010] Too Much Hopeless Savages

This third collection of the Hopeless Savages saga sees many new revelations.  Turns out that Nikki Savage’s mom has come under the influence of a preacher who is intent on praying at the Hopeless-Savage house trying to get them to react in some way.  (I’m a little unclear exactly what his goal is here).

At the same time, Arsenal and her boyfriend and Twitch and his boyfriend (the  boyfriends are brothers) are off to the boyfriends’ homeland of Hong Kong.  Arsenal is there for a martial arts competition and Twitch heads along so that the H-S siblings can meet their boyfriends’ great grandmother.

Hijinx naturally ensue.  In this case, Arsenal is slipped a very valuable package and she soon has numerous groups of men after her (it’s unclear if any of them are up to any good).  The rest of the family decamps for Hong Kong to escape from all the praying (and they bring grandma along to de-brainwash her).

What is surprising about the story is the emotional depth that comes out of an incident from Arsenal’s past.  (more…)

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T. Coraghessan Boyle–“A Death in Kitchawank” (New Yorker, January 18, 2010)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Music, Kathleen Edwards, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Nostalgia, T.C. Boyle on January 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Failer (2003).

I really enjoyed Edwards’ Asking for Flowers.  So much so that I decided I had to track down her earlier discs, too.  This is her debut album (aside from a self released demo type EP that I don’t think is available anymore).  And, no doubt, it will get re-released one of these days making the 500 holders of that first EP very cross indeed.

I’m very torn as to whether Edwards is a country singer or not.  My gut says no, because I like her so much.  And yet, there are many country tinges that sprinkle this disc.

But that’s really irrelevant, especially if you like the disc, which I do. The amazing thing about Edwards is that it’s hard to tell what disc her songs come from.  She has a singular style of writing and singing that makes her songs timeless.  This is not to say that she’s stuck in a rut by any means, because nothing sounds tired.

Edwards is a wonderfully talented songwriter, with a gift for storytelling and a wonderful twist of wordplay: “One more song the radio won’t like”; “And if you weren’t so old I’d probably keep you / If you weren’t so old I’d tell my friends / But I don’t think your wife would like my friends.”  And beyond that there are simply great songs: “Hockey Skates” is a wonderful metaphor (and a damn catchy song).  “National Steel” has a wonderful hook.

I really can’t get enough of this disc.  Or her follow-up either.

[READ: January 20, 2010] “A Death in Kitchawank”

My recent comment about T.C Boyle’s named being shortened from Coraghessan must have been an editorial choice by Harper‘s because here it is in full splendor in the New Yorker. I also find it odd when the same writer appears in two locations very close together. Is it like when an actor has a big movie out and appears in several periodicals in a month?  I suppose Boyle has a book coming out?

Whatever the case, I enjoyed this Boyle story quite a lot too. And, once again, it undermined my expectations of what he writes (so I guess my expectations should change by now, huh?).

This story is set in a lake community in Kitchawank, NY.   When the story opens we see a woman tanning herself to a golden brown (this is the first clue that it’s set in the 70s. Which it is).  We watch as the woman, Miriam, relishes her family’s life and their friends in their close-knit, Jewish, lakefront community. (more…)

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Woody Allen–“Udder Madness” (New Yorker, January 18, 2010)

Posted in Funny (ha ha), New Yorker, Noir, Pearl Jam, Set in New Jersey!, Woody Allen on January 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Ten Revisited [VH1] (2009).

This 30 minute special about Pearl Jam’s Ten album (or more specifically about the remastered edition) was a fine few moments of TV nostalgia. The most interesting nugget of information was that the “Jeremy” video originally contained a scene of the boy putting a gun in his mouth.  That was cut prior to airing.  (Although they show the footage in the special).

I wish that the show explained the band’s decision to actually make a video for “Jeremy” since they showed several earlier interview clips about why they chose not to make videos originally.  They okayed live clips for airing.  But that issue is never addressed.

The other really fun thing about the show was seeing the insane hats that Jeff Ament used to wear.  It seems like a fetish, with the crazy assortment he used to sport.  I either never paid attention at the time, or I didn’t think much of it given the sartorial choice of the rest of the band.  Since they are much less adventuresome clothing-wise these days, his hats really stand out in the old video clips.

It’s nothing earth shattering, but there are definitely some good scenes and concert clips.  And, it’s also fun to see how young (and long-haired) the band was all those years ago.

[READ: January 20, 2010] “Udder Madness”

After having just besmirched the nature of the New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs section, I get to retract my complaint because of this really funny piece by Woody Allen.

Many of the Shouts & Murmurs pieces run out of steam long before the story comes to an end.  It must be hard to maintain an often thin concept for two pages.   This one, on the other hand is longer than most and is a wonderfully detailed story with many layers.

The premise is taken from a humorous new story that 20 people a year are killed by cows, and that “in at least one case, the animal attacked from behind.”  Allen takes this last sentence and constructs a very funny story in which a cow plots the demise of an insufferable prat. (more…)

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George Saunders–“Heavy Artillery” (New Yorker, January 25, 2010)

Posted in Culture Shock, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, George Saunders, Kiss, Military, New Yorker, Paul Lynde on January 20, 2010| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KISS-KISSology: The Ultimate Kiss Collection, Vol. 1: 1974-1977 DVD (2006).

I finally got to watch all of disc two of this DVD and it was quite a treat.  Disc two covers Kiss while they are pretty much the hottest band in the world.  And the fun begins right off with an appearance on The Paul Lynde Show!  They don’t make camp like they used to!  I only wish they showed all of the footage, as I think they left out something (or at least they talk about Peter Criss playing a piece of wood painted to look like a piano).

This is followed by two full concerts.  The first is from the Destroyer tour in Tokyo.  The sound is not great (Gene’s bass sounds really bottom heavy and muddy).  But it’s fun to see the Japanese audiences go wild and then politely sit down as soon as Paul starts speaking.

I also had to wonder if the sight of a room full of Japanese fans was a culture shock for 4 boys from New York.  In college one of my teachers made a joke about how when she was living in Germany it was weird because  everyone around you was German.  And we laughed because, duh.  But that’s got to be weird to be immersed in a mono-culture unlike here where diversity is pretty prevalent.  So seeing an audience of all one nationality must be pretty unusual (at least of me anyhow).

The second show sounds and looks better.   It comes from the Love Gun Tour and was filmed in Houston.  By this time the band is completely over the top with their stage show: Gene still breaths fire and spits blood.  But now Ace’s guitar smokes and he shoots a laser beam at it from a new guitar.  Peter’s drum riser goes about 12 feet in the air.  The other three guys also have risers so that at one point they’re all 12 feet in the air.  I mean, for 1977, this is pretty massive.  No wonder their live shows were such a success.

And they have nothing but energy.  It’s really impressive.  Although I still laugh imagining them practicing walking in those 7 inch platforms.  The fact that Paul Stanley can do leaping splits and not break an ankle is tremendous.

There’s another short segment from Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.  I wish I knew if that is what my cousin called me up to tell me was on TV that night.  I would have been 8 years old and a new Kiss fan.  He called me past my bedtime and I heard my mom saying something about Kiss on TV.  I turned it on but when my mom came in I quickly turned it off.  I secretly hope that’s what it was, so now I finally got to see it.  Although realistically I’ll never know for sure.

I have to say though that it seemed lip synched to me.

The bands sounds great during all of these shows.  The only real problem once again is the backing vocals.  They just sound wrong somehow.  Either mixed too high or like they just aren’t trying to find the right notes.  Or something.  It just feels off (Except in Black Diamond, where the ooooh oooohs are always right on).  Oh, and for God’s sake. Ace’s “singing” of “Shock Me” sounds like he’s never opened his mouth before. He barely speaks the words much less tries to find the tune.  Wow.

But despite those foibles (and the fact that Gene Simmons comes off as a total dick in the liner notes (and, let’s be honest, in every interview I’ve ever heard him do)) it’s been a fun nostalgic trip watching these old concerts.  I can’t imagine how much I their show would have blown my mind if I had been allowed to see them back when I was 10 years old.

[READ: January 19, 2010] “Heavy Artillery”

I’ve said before that I find George Saunders to be really hit or miss.  I mean I absolutely loved his short story in the recent McSweeny’s Issue.  But then we get a piece like this.  I’m starting to wonder if it isn’t something about the Shouts & Murmurs section of The New Yorker that brings out the lame in good writers.

This piece had so much potential. The opening quote (which the story is based on) says that young people today (ie. future soldiers) are too fat for fighting and that “a group of retired military leaders is calling for more investment in early childhood education to combat the insidious effects of junk food and inadequate education.”

The possibilities are devilishly clever: spending money on kids to prep them to get killed in battle.  Teaching them head start programs so they can kill people later on.  Oh, ripe pickings all.

But Saunders basically makes a two page fat joke. (more…)

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David Owen–“The Dime Store Floor” (New Yorker, January 25, 2010)

Posted in Black Sabbath, David Owen, Jools Holland, Later with Jools Holland, Nostalgia, The Divine Comedy, The Flaming Lips on January 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND (Ovation TV) (2010–but obviously not really).

I’ve known about Jools Holland for years, and even knew about Later… from some other source (maybe it was on BBC America?).  But anyhow it is now being broadcast on Ovation TV (and what is that?  I’d never have heard of it except that TiVo found a Flaming Lips show for me).

The premise of Later is that there is one center stage, and encircling it are five or so bands.  The bands all face the center (where the camera is) so they get to watch the other bands, too.   Each band plays a song or two or three (depending on popularity I guess).  And it’s live and fun and generally a good time.

This episode, as I said, had the Flaming Lips on it.  I noted that the TiVo info said 2010, but the Lips played songs from At War with the Mystics, so it was more likely 2006.  Also on the bill were The Divine Comedy (and I was very excited when it said 2010, because I thought that DC had a new disc out, sigh).  The Strokes, Cat Power and a couple other folks rounded out the bill.

It was quite a show, and felt like they packed in a lot more than an hour’s worth of music.  The Lips especially pulled of an amazing three song set (scattered throughout the program, by the way) with a ton of scaled back, but still fun live gadgets (oversized hands, confetti etc).  And, they did a rocking cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”

I asked TiVo to tape more Later.  If the diversity of artists here is any indication, I assume you;’e bound to get at least one band you like on every show.  Cool.

[READ: January 19, 2010] “The Dime Store Floor”

I don’t often review Personal Histories from The New Yorker, but every once in a while one grabs me.  And this is one of them.

I have to assume that everyone feels that smells are highly evocative, so I’m not unique in feeling that scent is super powerful.  And yet, I think I tend to overlook smells in my daily life, even though I’m always secretly hoping for one to whack me up the side of the head and say, hey remember this!

And this piece is all about revisiting scents: both intentionally and accidentally.

I really enjoyed the closing where he opens the Old Spice deodorant and flashes back to his father.  However, I had one major question/quibble with the author.  Well, two actually.

The first was this: “A few years ago, an online store I’d been using ran out of my regular brand of deodorant, and, because I was unable to think of anything else, I switched to Old Spice, the kind my father used.”  Okay, that, wait what?  You buy your deodorant online?  You couldn’t go to any store anywhere and just buy another roll-on?  What kind of unique deodorant could this possibly be and conversely how could Old Spice possibly compare?

The second, a little further down: “…went to a local drug store to buy replacement [toiletries].  There I saw that Old Spice deodorant comes in more strength, formulations and scents than I had thought and realized that the one I’d been using High Endurance Pure Sport couldn’t have been my father’s.”  Where exactly does David Owen live that he didn’t know Old Spice had a huge line of deodorants out?  Go to any store in America, heck open a magazine, you can’t miss it! I myself am monogamous to Tom’s of Maine, and even I know there’s like a half dozen Secret containers on the shelf!

Owen clearly has the internet, so it’s not like he’s unaware of the outside world, and the whole story is about interacting with others, so he’s not a recluse.  I’m just baffled by all this.  (And Sarah and I had a good laugh too). (more…)

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Jan Van Meter, Andi Watson, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Christine Norrie & Chynna Clugston-Major–Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero (2003)

Posted in Andi Watson, Books about music, Boredom, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Christine Norris, Chynna Clugston-Major, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jan Van Meter, LGBTQ, Marriage (Happy), Oni Press, Punks, Romance, Set at School, Tom Waits, YA Books on January 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:  TOM WAITS-Glitter and Doom Live (2009).

Sarah bought me Tom Waits’s 3 disc collection for Christmas last year and I was sure it would be another Waits Xmas since this was nicely timed for an under the tree gift.  But no!  I had to buy this one myself (she says she forgot, but as punishment I may just make her listen to this one).

It’s a two disc set.  The first is a collection of live tracks from all over the world (well actually Birmingham, Edinburgh, Tulsa, Knoxville, Milan, Jacksonville, Paris, Dublin, Atlanta and Columbus–a strange Western Europe-Southern U.S. Tour, apparently).

I’ve never seen Tom live, although I have seen videos from Big Time.  And this is the first batch of live tracks I’ve heard in these latter days of his career.  And I have to say he sounds great.  The gravel in his throat is thick and gritty, yet he still hits all the notes.   And while his studio tracks are full of all kinds of cool instrumentation and embellishments, the spare live band (who sound fantastic) shows that his songs are great even without the bells and whistles.

The funny thing to me is how “Dirt in the Ground” an older song that I love sounds so very different, even though Tom’s voice isn’t all that different.  Of course, he plays some even older tracks that are totally reworked. And they sound great, too.  This all keeps the tracks fluid and seamless, and while the older tracks wouldn’t sound dated anyhow, it makes them all sound new.

Disc Two is a 35 minute track called “Tom’s Tales.”  It is a spliced together “story” of all the interstitial talking bits that Tom throws into his shows.  There’s jokes, there’s stories, there’s nonsense, and it’s all good fun.  For all his dour music, he;s quite a funny performer.  It’ll probably get one or two plays at most, but it’s certainly fun to listen to.

I just read a review of the disc that complains about the separation of music and talk.  And I see the critic’s point: cutting out the banter removes an essential part of Tom’s shows, while having all the talking bits together kind of dooms that disc to be listened to only once or twice.

While I agree with the sentiment, I’m not sure about the musical disc lacking something without the banter.  While it would be fun to have it in there, there is something nice about having just the music.  (And of course, there is one tale tacked on like an encore break (and one song at the end of the music disc, too).  It keeps the flow very solid and makes for an excellent song collection.

It’s a great place to find out what Tom has been up to on the last half dozen or so albums.

[READ: January 17, 2010] Ground Zero

Trade paperback #2 of Hopeless Savages collects the entire second series, with a few extras thrown in (and a very nice introduction).  And while I enjoyed the first series, Ground Zero is leaps and bounds more sophisticated and satisfying.  Even the title is a pun, what with Zero, the youngest Hopeless-Savage being grounded for most of the story.

The main focus is Zero’s burgeoning romance.  She is mostly off the boys at her school (typical comment: Your name is Skank, you must be easy), until she meets a boy in her science class who totally impresses her.  He’s named Ginger, after Ginger Baker, nice touch there.  And in a flashback we learn that although she hasn’t paid him any attention, he has loved her for years since their first accidental meeting.

I’m going to quote from Andrew Wheeler’s introduction because he sums up exactly what I think of the story: “It tells us that the most courageous thing of all is simply to fall in love.  The bravest thing to do is to place your heart in someone else’s hand.”  And that hits the nail on the head.  Pretty good for a comic book. (more…)

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Jan Van Meter, Christine Norris & Chynna Clugston-Major–Hopeless Savages (2002)

Posted in Adventure, Books about music, Canadian Music, Christine Norris, Chynna Clugston-Major, Corporate skewering, Dolly Parton, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Jan Van Meter, LGBTQ, Luther Wright & The Wrongs, Marriage (Happy), Morality, Oni Press, Punks, Sarah Harmer, Short Books, Threats, Violence, YA Books on January 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SARAH HARMER-I’m a Mountain (2005).

I first heard Sarah Harmer in 2000, with her “Basement Apartment” single (which always made me think of my friend Ailish who, at the time, lived in a basement apartment in Brookline, Mass.)

My wife Sarah has this CD playing in the car and I’d forgotten how much I liked it.  Unlike the You Were Here, I’m a Mountain is much more country music sounding. I’m not much of a fan of country music as a rule, but there is something about country music from Canada that just sounds better to me.  It tends to have more of a crossover sound, and is lyrically more interesting to me.  Maybe it has something to do withe Calgary Stampede.

While two or three tracks on here could easily fit on a country station, the album still got nominated for a Juno for Best Adult Alternative album.

To me, the album really kicks into high gear with the title track, which is funny and catchy (the line about Wal Mart is a good one).  The cover of Dolly Parton’s “Will He Be Waiting for Me?” is beautiful.  And the French song “Salamandre” sounds gorgeous even if I have no idea what she’s on about.”  The disc closes with my favorite song: “Luther’s Got the Blues” a wonderfully funny country song written by Luther Wright.  And in Sarah’s hands, it turns into a yodeling masterpiece.

You might hear Sarah’s voice backing up all kinds of bands.  And her voice really is fantastic.  So, should you tend to shy from country music as I do, this may be an entry way for you.

[READ: January 15, 2010] Hopeless Savages

I read this comic years ago, and loved it quite a lot.  I found it right around when I found Blue Monday. I recently tacked down the third trade paperback, so I figured I’d read all three again.

The premise here is that Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, two old school punk rockers fall in love and settle down.  They have four kids: Rat Bastard, Arsenal Fierce, Twitch Strummer & Skank Zero Hopeless-Savage.  Each kid is a traditional punk: bad assed, fierce and take no shit.  But they are also pacifist by trade (Ronald Reagan took on the world with force, so force is for fascists, too right!).  Self defense is okay, mind you.

In this first story (there’s three trade volumes published so far), there’s not too much punks-in-proper-society comedy, because it’s all action.  The kids’ mum and da have been kidnapped, and its up to the four of them to find them.  Well, actually it’s up to the three of them to find Rat and then find their parents. For you see, Rat Bastard has sold out and gone commercial. (more…)

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