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Archive for the ‘Authors’ Category

Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #7 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Colombia, Death, Egyptology, End of the World, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Grinderman, Math, Murder, Nick Cave, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Parenting, Skottie Young, Terry Moore, The Birthday Party, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Unfinished series, Violence on August 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“You Man? Human???” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

Nick Cave’s most recent music has been quiet pretty and tender.  It’s easy to forget that he has often been a wild man of Australian punk.  His Grinderman albums emphasized that noisy history of his and this song seems perfect for Cave.

In fact, this track seems like a song he could have released with the Birthday Party forty years ago. It’s abrasive and kind of rambling–although with more modern production and sounds. It also has a slow pummeling bass notes with lots of chaotic drumming.

Unlike most of the songs on the record which have falsetto vocals, Cave’s deep voice really stands out.  He is reciting a fairly crazy story of pools and chlorine and how you can touch him if you want.

Quintessential Cave mixed with a few Lips.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #7

Katchoo was falling off a cliff.  In the wide shot we see there is water down below (and a small boat).

She lands in the water and rockets down pretty far (some creepy eels greet her before she takes off back up to the surface).

The man on the boat tries to fend her off with a long pike, but he’s no match for Katchoo who avoids the gun shots until the boat takes off.

Back home, we see Francine and her (cool) Aunt Libby in some relative domestic happiness–Katchoo hasn’t warned her about he gunman yet.

Koo resists taking out the garbage. Francine asks, “when do you want to do it”  “Later when I grow up.”

When she puts the trash in the bin, she smells…something.  Which we see is a pile of cigarette butts and a shoe.  But she is called in before she sees what it is.

Katchoo goes to a small hotel.  There’s a man sleeping in the tub.  I’m unclear what that is meant to signify, but Katchoo leaves before he wakes up.

The book ends back home with Koo unable to sleep (she is reading I Hate Fairyland, by Skottie Young).  She heads downstairs (at 3AM) and sees a male shadow looking in their glass windows. Yipes!

Don’t mess with these cute kids, you hear me!

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Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #6 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Colombia, Death, Egyptology, End of the World, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Hospitals, Jim James, Math, Monkeys, Murder, My Morning Jacket, Parenting, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Unfinished series, Violence on August 17, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“Children of the Moon” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

Lately, Jim James has been going in a more mellow direction after the pretty heavy psychedelia of Circuital in 2011.  But this song stays in that heavy psychedelic vein with a big distorted guitar riff and distorted vocals from James (and Coyne, I assume).

It’s that weird mix of creepy and catchy that the Lips do so well.  You can clearly hear James on the lead vocals, but who knows who is contributing vocals to the rest (the oh oh ohs).  The guitar solo is all distorted and reversed–a noisy explosion of sound.

This song is barely four minutes and it’s followed by another noisy short one before the album segues back into quieter terrain.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #6

Katchoo was given coordinates to meet Stephanie.  The coordinates put her way off the grid in Colombia.  As she waits, a guy on a moped drives up and a monkey hops off and delivers a package (that’s pretty adorable, honestly).

Katchoo can only assume things are bad since Stephanie didn’t show.  She can’t imagine what is in the satchel (she hopes it’s not Francine’s head).

But no, it is a tube and in the tube is an ancient piece of papyrus–Cleopatra’s mathematical ideas. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #5 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Death, Egyptology, End of the World, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Math, Murder, Parenting, Sci-fi, Tame Impala, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Unfinished series, Violence on August 16, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“Children of the Moon” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

I’m not exactly sure when Tame Impala became huge.  I actually didn’t even realize they were huge until this past summer when I saw them. I’d always just liked their modern psychedelia.  I gather they’ve been huge for a while.  But I don’t think they were huge in 2012 when this album came out.  So really, Tame Impala was just another cool indie rocker singing along with the Flaming Lips.

None of the songs on this album are particularly “poppy” what with all the distortion and noise on them.  But this song is certainly one of the catchiest.  The guitar melody (which is very Flaming Lips) is simple and instantly grabbing.  The vocals are high falsetto–which are probably Wayne and Kevin Parker together.

After a trippy middle instrumental, the song resumes with acoustic guitar an a nice sing along.  It feels like a solid combination of The Lips and Tame Impala.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #5

The island that Katchoo woke up on is called Bonbi, a private island in the Riviera.  The person waiting for her is Tambi.

Tambi proceeds to give Katchoo a history lesson about Cleopatra and the history of Base Phi Mathematics.

I don’t know that much about Cleopatra, so I’m going to assume that the history here is true.  I don’t know a thing about Base Phi Mathematics, so I don’t know whether Cleopatra knew anything about it. I’ll assume Moore did his research.

Anyhow, Base Phi Mathematics is also the foundation for he Alaskan Collider that exploded and caused all the trouble for Katchoo.  (Yup, I’m skimming the hard science). (more…)

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Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #4 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Death, End of the World, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Murder, Parenting, Prefuse 73, Scotland, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Unfinished series, Violence on August 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“Supermoon Made Me Want to Pee” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

This is (almost) the shortest song on the album at just over 3 minutes. And it’s kind of a transitional song.

There’s not a lot to it.  It’s fast and propulsive with a never-ending bass rumble and vocals (singing the words “coming up”) going higher and higher in pitch which makes it all seem more intense.

After two minutes the song seems to peak, settling down in to gentle washes with swirling sounds floating around.  It segues nicely into the next song, “Children of the Moon.”

The collaboration on this song is with Prefuse 73.  Prefuse 73 is a producer known mostly for hip hop, but also other sound effects.  It’s hard to know exactly what he contributed, but I think the collaboration works well.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #4

This issue also feels like a transitional issue.

Issue 3 ended with Katchoo possibly chasing a guy who ran away.

But it also ended with her being very sick.

Those two facets combine right away as Katchoo tries to catch the man on foot but quickly succumbs to pneumonia.

This is some of Terry Moore’s most impressionistic drawing–even if the fields of Scotland’s Isle of Skye are beautifully rendered, the people are all in motion.

When Katchoo passes out in a field, a woman in a hat spies her and, upon seeing who she is, picks her up and brings her to a nearby cottage. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #3 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Drambuie, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, End of the World, Fears, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Parenting, Scotland, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Violence on August 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“Helping the Retarded to Know God” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

After an intense dance song and a trippy synth song, why not follow it up with a (mostly) acoustic song with an incredibly offensive title?

Turns out this incredibly offensive title is actually the name of a (serious) book written in 1969 (you can see it and the rather amusing contemporary reviewed on Amazon).

I don’t think the lyrics address the book exactly (although I haven’t read it).  But with lyrics like

We can hear them laughing at us
Judging all the time
I wish I could be like you
You don’t pay them no mind

It’s hard to tell.

This song is sung by Wayne in his falsetto and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (the whole band or just the singer, I don’t know) singing along.

After a minute and a half some processed drum beats add some texture to the song which stays mostly quiet and pretty. The Lips can sure do pretty went they want.  There’s even birds tweeting.

After five and a half minutes, the song shifts gears to a repeated refrain of

And I am trying to know you.

The song is 7 minutes long, but it never drags, which is quite a compliment.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #3

Issue 2 ended with a literal cliffhanger–Katchoo hanging off the edge of a cliff.  She’s freezing. There are dogs above and even an eagle flying at her.  She’s in a bad way until a rope comes down.

It is from Jet and Earl.  Jet figured Katchoo might do something stupid so she went to the gated house and heard the screams.

Jet explains that the home owner is an asshole, but they may need him to get any information on Stephanie.  Katchoo has put up with assholes before and she pulls out a gun of her own.  After some threats back and forth (the guy was shooting rock salt as a warning and mostly wants to know who will pay for the fence that Katchoo drove through), Jet is able to calm things enough to learn that the man doesn’t know where Stephanie is.

But he provides a small clue–Scotland.  Stephanie loved Scotland. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #2 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Bon Iver, End of the World, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Parenting, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, Unfinished series on August 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“Ashes in the Air” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

The second song sounds a lot more like The Flaming Lips (latter period).  Starting out with spacey zaps and a super fast drum electric drums beat, the song is actually slow and trippy with interweaving heavily distorted synth lines.

Wayne sings lead (with his voice modified):

You and me we were both so fucked up
You’re fucked in a good way
I’m fucked up in a bad.

After the first verse, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon sings the echoing first lines in a highly processed almost unrecognizable voice.  This was before Bon Iver recorded his weirdo 22, A Million album so it’s safe to assume that either Wayne influenced Justin or Wayne allowed Justin to explore an arena he hadn’t before.

The song is catchy in that darkly sweet sounding style that The Lips create.  Despite the fact that the lyrics are quite dark:

We thought we could outrun them but they had robot dogs

So, yeah, The Flaming Lips in a nutshell.

It ends with those same spacey zaps fading out–a pretty solid Lips song.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #2

Issue 1 ended with Katchoo in a guy’s house.  Issue 2 opens with Katchoo hanging for dear life on the side of a mountain.

The story gives some background on the Parker Girls story.  Darcy Parker was the leader of a group of women–dangerous, deadly women who were selected for their beauty and their skills.  She mentored and paid for them and essentially owned them.  If they turned on her, they were killed with no mercy.

The woman from issue 1, Laura, whose real name was Stephanie was a Parker Girl.  She cut a deal with the Senate to revel the details of the Parker Girl operation.  Since Darcy was now dead, she assumed she could easily hide.  But Parker Girls don’t give up. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise XXV #1 (2018)

Posted in Abstract Studio, Adventure, Biz Markee, End of the World, Fears, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Hour of the Time Majesty 12, Kesha, Parenting, Terry Moore, The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, The Stooges, Unfinished series on August 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS AND HEADY FWENDS-“2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)” (2012).

2012 saw the release of this very strange collaborative album.  Whether The Flaming Lips had entered the mainstream or if people who’d always liked them were now big stars or maybe they all just liked doing acid.  Whatever the case, The Lips worked with a vast array of famous (and less famous) people for this bizarre album.  Here it is 8 years later. Time to check in.

The first song is I believe made by Kesha (who wanted to collaborate with Wayne Coyne).  I understand it is a kind of update of The Stooges’ “1969.”  I’ll have to assume that’s true.

It starts with Kesha saying, “Coz I want my ass.  Shit.  Sorry.”  And then the stomping electronic dancey but chaotic beat starts up.  “2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)” features Kesha, Biz Markie & Hour of the Time Majesty 12.

It runs along with Kesha singing (incoherently) and Biz Markee chiming in (also incoherently).  I don’t really know what they’re saying, but it’s oddly catchy.

The middle has some psychedelic flutes and a relatively clean vocal line from Kesha.  She sings nicely and It feels like the end of the song–like its just going to fade out–but no, after a beat, the noisy dance part starts up again.  At four minutes, it’s a relatively short song on this album.  And it certainly sets the tone for what follows (which means who the hell knows what’s going to come next).

This song is so unlike The Flaming Lips, I’m not even sure what they contributed to it.  Lyrics? Music? Anything?  Who knows.  The unknown contributors are Hour of the Time Majesty 12 who are Spooki Tavi and Ashi Dala an experimental pop group who “create cartoon-like psychedelic fantasy in the dusty shimmer of east Hollywood.”  They have two albums out which I may have to investigate.

[READ: August 1, 2019] Strangers in Paradise XXV #1

I loved the Strangers in Paradise series.  Terry Moore’s art is amazing and the story was incredibly affecting.  I was really saddened when it ended in 2012.

Then in 2018 he announced that he was restarting the story–a 25th anniversary update!  Hence the XXV in the title.

I subscribed to the monthly publication issues but wanted to wait until the ten issue arc was completed before I started reading it.

Issue 1 begins with a man on a subway looking at his phone.  When he doors open, a kid grabs his phone, and takes off.  The phone gets tossed around until a woman who looks a lot like Katchoo takes out the sim card and throws the phone down.

The man calls his wife from work to say what happened.  His wife, Laura, asks about the woman who took out the sim card.  He describes Katchoo and Laura freaks out.  She kicks a hole in a wall, takes out a bug-out-bag and flees.  Shortly, Katchoo goes into the house and sees that Laura has left already. (more…)

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Mark Z. Danielewski–The Fifty Year Sword (2005, 2012)

Posted in Atelier Z, Claire Kohne, Clairo, Death, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Happy Birthday, Mark Z. Danielewski, Michele Reverte, Novella, Orphans, Regina Gonzales, Supernatural, Surreal, Swords, Unreliable narrator, Violence on August 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CLAIRO-“Bags” (2019).

It seems like 2019 is the year of lo-fi women.  There’s a lot of great songs but great artists mining the same field of guitar-based, quietly sung catchy songs.

Clairo’s “Bags” is the latest of this style of song.

There’s a shoegaze vibe to the song both in the woozy guitars and Clairo’s distant vocals.  The melody is catchy but the big hook comes from what I assumed was a whispery, vibratoed synth line, but which a live video tells me is actually a guitar line.  It’s 11 notes long and meanders in a rather compelling way.

I’m curious what the rest of the album will sound like.

[READ: August 2019] The Fifty Year Sword

I’ve really enjoyed Mark Z. Danielewski’s meta fictional books. He makes the book itself, not just the words, part of the story.

This book is a novella.  Even though it’s nearly 300 pages, most of the right pages are blank and the left pages are mostly written in a poem-fashion with lots of white space.

(It’s a huge waste of paper, because the book would still work of text was on left and right, but whatever).

Neverthless, the design is really pretty.

This story has a design element that means there are a lot of colors in the book.

The conceit is that there are five orphans telling this story. Each is designated by a different colored quotation mark.  The orphans interrupt each other constantly (which is what gives the pages the look of poetry). (more…)

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Ian Boothby & Gisèle Lagacé–Exorsisters: Volume 1: Damned If You Don’t (2019)

Posted in Demons, End of the World, Explosions in the Sky, Funny (ha ha), Gisèle Lagacé, Gods, Graphic Novel, Ian Boothby, NPR/PRI/PBS, Parenting, Son Lux, Supernatural, Superstitions, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, YA Books on August 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: AMONG AUTHORS-Tiny Desk Contest # 878 (August 9, 2019)

A lot of the time when I say I haven’t heard of a band, tons of other people have.

But I’m expected to say I don’t know who Among Authors is because as of this performance they are unsigned and self-managed.

They make a kind of artful indie prog rock. Two lead guitars, a simple drum kit, and piano.  All centered around pianist Ian Ketterer’s amazing voice.

Out of more than 6,000 entries to our 2018 Tiny Desk Contest, Among Authors was one of the most original bands I’d seen — so much so that we invited the group to perform as part of our Tiny Desk Contest tour in Seattle. I was even more impressed by Among Authors’ songwriting and keen, spare musicianship at that KEXP-sponsored event, so I invited them to play a Tiny Desk concert. By the time their big day came, nearly a year later, they were ready — nervous, but ready.

They play three songs, each one longer than the last.

“Radio Signals” opens with just piano and Ian Ketterer’s soaring falsetto–he sounds a bit like Ryan Lott from Son Lux.  After a minute and a half Patrick Brockwell adds some gentle brushed drums and both guitarists play different intertwining melodies.

Ian Ketterer sat behind our upright piano, partially hidden by his hair and hoodie. Patrick Brockwell’s clean look provided a stark contrast, and his no-frills, perfectly placed rhythms matched his appearance. The two guitarists, Jon Livingston and Jason Ketterer (Ian’s brother), played intertwining melodies, often lifting the songs from their dimness while embracing the mystery in the lyrics.

“The Overture” opens with all of them singing oohs–they have great voices.  The guitar parts are not unlike the slower parts of Explosions in the Sky–fast high notes in repeated melodies that interweave and sound amazing.

The blurb says that these songs aren’t catchy. And that’s true.  These aren’t earworm pop songs.  Yhey are intense and inviting.  I’ve listened to this Tony Desk more than many others.  It’s impressive when Brockwell hits his low drums (floor tom, I assume) how deep it is–there’s not a lot of bass in these songs so the low notes really stand out.  And Ian’s voice is really quite amazing–he gives this his all.

“Lure” opens with lovely intertwining guitar lines.  When the main part of the song kicks in, the thumping drums and fast piano really propel the song along.  It’s fantastic.  The song runs about 8 minutes with an extended instrumental outro that is dynamite.

Just to add some even more fascinating detail to this band

Nearly a dozen years ago, at 23, bandleader Ian Ketterer had open-heart surgery. Born without a thumb on his right hand and deaf in his right ear, he plays piano and sings.

I don’t know how hard it was to overcome any of that, but he (and the rest of the band) certainly did.  I’m going to have to look for this CD.

[READ: August 2019] Exorsisters Vol. 1

I saw this book in the store during an Image comic book sale.  I loved the title and was blown away by the art.  The whole premise seemed like a lot of fun.

I love the way the story doesn’t explain the set up for several chapters, it just jumps right in at a wedding.

As a pretty redhead is about to marry a handsome blond, dude, chains comes out of the ground and pull the man into hell.

Everyone in the audience believes that she was stood up, but she saw him get grabbed by a demon.

Then we meet twin sisters Cate and Kate.  Cate is prim and Kate is a rocker.  Lagacé’s artwork is perfect from the start.  They are distinct but similar.  Her whole style is almost like an Archie comic, but less sweet.  I love it.

The girls promise to investigate.

Meanwhile, we see a woman who proves to be their mom.  She bets a guy in a bar that she has done something worse than he has. We don’t hear what she has done, but she clearly beat his horrible tale. (more…)

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Jim McCann, Rodin Esquejo, Adrian Alphona, Sonia Oback–Mind the Gap: Vol 1: Intimate Strangers (2012)

Posted in Death, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Graphic Novel, Hospitals, Huh?, Jim McCann, Mac Miller, NPR/PRI/PBS, Rodin Esquejo, Series, Sonia Oback., Thundercat, Tiny Desk Concert, Ty Dolla $ign, Unfinished series, Violence on August 9, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK–TY DOLLA $IGN-Tiny Desk Concert #877 [August 8, 2019]

On the year anniversary of Mac Miler’s Tiny Desk performance, Ty Dolla $ign and his band were doing a Tiny Desk Concert.  This is an except from it (the full show is supposed to be uploaded but as of April 2020 it still isn’t).

I don’t know the original at all, but what is interesting to me is the phenomenal guitar work Justus West and the always wonderful Thundercat on bass.

Last week, Ty Dolla $ign visited NPR headquarters to record a fantastic Tiny Desk concert of his own that will air in its entirety soon. But once we wrapped the taping, something special happened: I reminded Ty that he sat at the desk almost a year to the day that his friend, Mac, delivered what would be one of his final performances.

The band paused and huddled. They mulled over a few notes in a matter of seconds then gave me a signal that they were ready. The room was silenced and the cameras started rolling again.

Here’s Ty performing a moving rendition of his 2016 collaboration with Mac, “Cinderella” from Mac’s fourth studio album, The Divine Feminine. Ty’s flanked by two close friends of Mac, Thundercat on bass and Justus West on guitar, both of whom played at the Tiny Desk with the Pittsburgh-born rapper a year ago.

The rest of the band includes Cory Henry and Aliandro Prawl on keys, Mike Moore on drums and Ant Clemons on vocals.  It’s a very moving performance.

[READ: August 2019] Mind the Gap 1

I saw this book in the library and was intrigued by the title and the frankly fantastic/al looking cover image by Rodin Esquejo and Sonia Oback.

I had no idea what the story was about and I was frankly surprised by the plot and the way it was massaged.

The story opens with a woman, Jo, getting a call from her friend Elle, but it quickly gets disconnected.  Jo calls Dane and asks if Elle is with him. She says Elle sounded strange in the call and she was worried.  Soon enough Elle (Ellis) is brought into the hospital unconscious.  The next page we see her floating in an otherworld.  She can’t remember her name but she sees her body in the hospital. (more…)

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