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Archive for the ‘Boredom’ Category

Lars Jansson–Moomin: Volume Five (The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip) (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Bon Iver, Boredom, Children's Books, Cute, Drawn & Quarterly, Evening News London, Funny (ha ha), James Vincent McMorrow, Lars Jansson, Moomin, Religion, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Tove Jansson on February 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

moomin5  SOUNDTRACK: JAMES VINCENT McMORROW-Tiny Desk Concert #151 (August 25, 2011).

mcmorrowI don’t know McMorrow. He is an Irish singer who plays acoustic guitar.  His singing voice switches between a kind of raspy voice and a keening falsetto.

He plays four songs and his style and voice reminds me a lot of Bon Iver.

I don’t find any of his song especially compelling. They’re all nice–the humming part of “This Old Dark Machine” is pretty memorable.  As the part in the middle where he seems to get pretty intense.

“Sparrow And The Wolf” has some nice chord changes.  I think my favorite song is “Follow You Down To The Red Oak Tree,” which opens a little differently.

I have to say it’s a little awkward watching him up close as he does some pretty unusual things with his face when he sings.

The final song, “Red Dust” really shows off his falsetto.  I found his songs to be entirely pleasant and think they would sound great in a coffeeshop on a Sunday afternoon.

[READ: February 3, 2015] Moomin Volume 5

Moomin Book 5 is composed entirely of strips written by Lars and drawn by Tove.  These are the final strips that she contributed to.  And, as such, there are only three chapters in the book.  As with the others these stories originally ran in the Evening News, London 1953-1959.

The chapters are called “Moomin Winter” “Moomin Under Sail” and “Fuddler’s Courtship”

(more…)

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Tove Jansson–Moomin: Volume Four (The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip) (2009)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Boredom, Children's Books, Cute, Drawn & Quarterly, Evening News London, Funny (ha ha), Lars Jansson, Moomin, Religion, Surreal, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tiny Desk Concert, Tove Jansson on January 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

moomin3  SOUNDTRACK: THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA-Tiny Desk Concert #139 (July 5, 2011).

bboaI have of course heard of The Blind Boys of Alabama, but they only came on my radar maybe a decade or two ago.  And I never knew these things about them:

  • They formed under a different name in 1939.
  • The band has understandably experienced many lineup changes in the 72 years since.
  • Singer Jimmy Carter is the only participant in this lineup billed as a founding member, and even that term is up for debate.
  • They have released 60-plus albums and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
  • And that wherein these Blind Boys are young and old, blind and sighted.

There are six players for this Tiny Desk–a guitarist, a bassist and a barely visible drummer as well as three singers.

It makes me laugh that the guy on the far left sings much less than the others and seems to be less happy about being there.

They play four songs and, no surprise, they sound fantastic.  Their harmonies are outstanding and the music is quiet and subtle–a mellow accompaniment for this soulful music.

But their rendition of “Amazing Grace” is indeed amazing–they do it to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun” and it must be heard to be believed.  I happen to really like the original of “Amazing Grace” and I hate when it is done poorly.  But I love this interpretation–it’s original and still moving.

  • “Take The High Road”
  • “I Know A Place”
  • “Jesus Built A Bridge To Heaven”
  • “Amazing Grace”

[READ: January 23, 2015] Moomin Volume 4

Moomin Book 4 changes things pretty dramatically.  Because starting with this book, the stories were written by Tove’s brother Lars!

The colophon explains “[Chapters 14-17 were written by Lars [Jansson] and drawn by Tove.  Chapter 18 was to be run before Chapter 14 and be Tove’s farewell strip but she stayed on to draw 7 more chapters].”

So that means that the first four chapters in this book were written by Tove’s brother but she drew the art.  How fascinating.

This book contains the stories: “Moomin Goes Wild West,” “Snorkmaiden Goes Rococo,” “The Conscientious Moomins,” “Moomin and the Comet,” and “Moomin and the Golden Tail.”  As with the others these stories originally ran in the Evening News, London 1953-1959. (more…)

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Tove Jansson–Moomin: Volume Three (The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip) (2008)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Boredom, Carlo Domeniconi, Children's Books, Cute, Drawn & Quarterly, Evening News London, Funny (ha ha), Isaac Albeniz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Miloš, Moomin, Paul Jacobs, Religion, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Tove Jansson on January 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

moomin3  SOUNDTRACK: PAUL JACOBS-Tiny Desk Concert #148 (August 12, 2011).

pauljacobsPaul Jacobs is an organist.  In fact he heads the Julliard School’s organ department.  For this Tiny Desk Concert they moved in Jacobs’ massive organ–complete with foot pedals.  I feel like he should have played for an hour for all the work that must have gone into moving this.

I had thought about describing the way the Tiny Desk Concert has changed as I went through the Concerts.  But I have gone out of sequence so often that it’s kind of moot.  Nevertheless, it’s fun to marvel at how in the first few shows, it was one camera, there was little editing and what you got is what you saw.

Well, for this, the 148th Concert, they have three cameras.  And that is perfect because one is on Jacobs’ face.  One is on Jacobs’ hands as he plays these amazing Back pieces.  But the best one is on Jacobs’ feet.  Jacobs play a melody with his hands and a separate melody with his feet.  Watch as he looks like he’s tap dancing all over these massive foot pedals. The mind boggles watching him.

He plays four Bach pieces:

  • J.S. Bach: “Gigue” Fugue
  • J.S. Bach: Arioso
  • Bach/Reger: Invention in F Major
  • J.S. Bach: Fugue in A Minor

The Arioso is recognizable to me as a familiar piece.  It’s low and beautiful with washes of foot pedals.  But even more familiar is the Invention in F minor which most piano students try to play.  This version was arranged by Max Reger who turned the left hand melody into a foot pedal melody–so Jacobs is all over the keyboard on this one.  It’s stunning.

The final piece is somewhat recognizable (well, to me its recognizable as Bach, since his stuff is so elaborate and cool).  This piece is really fun to watch his hands and feet at work.  Especially at the end when he plays an intense “foot solo” before returning to an incredibly fast finger coda.

It’s such a neat instrument and he’s an amazingly talented player.

I prefer to watch on the NPR site, but its easier to embed the YouTube version:

[READ: January 13, 2015] Moomin Volume 3

Moomin Book 3 is slightly different n that it has four stories instead of three.   The stories feel shorter too, although I don’t have the other books handy to compare.

This book contains the stories: “Moomin Falls in Love,” “Moominvalley Turns Jungle,” “Moomin and the Martians,” “Moomin and the Sea,” and “Club Life in Moominvalley.”  As with the others these stories originally ran in the Evening News, London 1953-1959. (more…)

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Tove Jansson–Moomin: Volume Two (The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip) (2007)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Boredom, Carlo Domeniconi, Children's Books, Cute, Drawn & Quarterly, Evening News London, Funny (ha ha), Isaac Albeniz, Miloš, Moomin, Religion, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Tove Jansson on January 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

milos moo2SOUNDTRACK: MILOŠ-Tiny Desk Concert #138 (June 30, 2011).

Miloš is Miloš Karadaglić, a 28-year-old from Montenegro.  He says he wants to bring classical guitar to a younger audience–to make it cool.

The first piece is a lovely ballad called “Romance” although the author is anonymous.  It is sweetly pretty and everything you might expect from a slow classical guitar piece.  It rings familiar to me, although it’s hard to know if I’ve heard it before or not.

The second piece is where his guitar really comes to life.  Asturias by Isaac Albeniz which Miloš describes as most flamenco and most familiar.  Interestingly, eh says that this was originally written for piano. The introductory riff should indeed be familiar and Miloš plays it passionately.

For the final piece he plays the first movement of a piece by Carlo Domeniconi: “Koyunbaba – moderato.”  This piece has a strange tuning: C sharp minor.  It’s a Turkish song with extraordinary techniques.  He says it reminds him of home–the song is about the sea and the waves by his home.  Whether it’s the tuning or the structure of the song, it is enchanting and exotic and really lovely.

[READ: January 13, 2015] Moomin Volume 2

I enjoyed Moomin volume 1 so much that I was excited to read vol 2.  And it did not disappoint.  This volume was full of the same whimsical, often bizarre stories that were sweet and funny (and a bit cruel, which makes them funny).  It also added some new characters.

This book contains the strips: Moomin’s Winter Follies, Moomin Mamma’s Maid, Moomin Builds a House and Moomin Begins a New Life.  Each one seems to tackle a big idea and pushes it to crazy conclusions.

These stories originally ran in the Evening News, London 1953-1959. (more…)

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Tove Jansson–Moomin: Volume One (The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip) (2006)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Ballake Sissoko, Boredom, Children's Books, Cute, Drawn & Quarterly, Evening News London, Funny (ha ha), Moomin, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Tove Jansson, Vincent Segal, Yacouba Sissoko on January 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BALLAKE SISSOKO AND VINCENT SEGAL-Tiny Desk Concert #104 (January 17, 2011).

moomin 1sissokoBack in April 2010, another kora player with the same last name (Yacouba Sissoko) played a Tiny Desk Concert with Regina Carter.  Sissoko plays the kora and he is mesmerizing to watch (and to listen to).  Vincent Segal plays the cello and he does things with that instrument which I’ve never seen anybody do before.  It’s a great duo.

Together, the play some beautiful music.  On the first song, “Chamber Music,” Sissoko provides both the lovely backing music as well as some fast plucking.  And Segal keeps up and often outplays his partner.

For the second song, “Balazando,” Segal plays the cello like an upright bass and even plays a little bass solo (including some harmonics).  Then when Sissoko starts playing Segal, plays such high notes that it sounds almost like a flute and even has a Chinese feel to it.

Before the third song starts watch as Sissoko tunes the kora (by twist ting the ropes that hold the strings in place).  “Niandou” opens with Sissoko playing a fast melody (with an up close camera to really show his fingers).  Then Segal play a lovely riff of high notes on the cello.  The song ends with a very fast section–some quick bass playing on the cello followed by some very fast bowing before returning to the slow opening.

The fourth song features some cool harmonic bowing, the likes of which I’ve never seen on a cello before.  The end of the song sees Segal strumming the bowl like a guitar–he can do it all.

Together, they make some beautiful music.

[READ: January 5, 2015] Moomin Volume 1

Inspired by reading the D&Q 25th anniversary book, I decided to check out the books that have been sitting in the children’s section of my library every time I go–Moomin!  They are oversized and lovely books and since I’ve paused on Peanuts I thought I’d read some Moomin–which I have never read before.

It was fascinating to read in the D&Q 25th Anniversary book that Moomin started because Jansson tried to draw the ugliest creature she could think of.  And it eventually morphed into the adorable round creature that we know as Moomin.

This book contains four stories.  I feel like the strips are printed like an every day four panel strip.  Each four panel strip is signed and numbered (but not dated) and most of them (but not all) read like they have a punchline at the end.  So I’m not entirely sure what to make of the publishing run.  Although the front pages state that it originally ran in the Evening News, London 1953-1959.

The four stories are Moomin and the Brigands, Moomin and Family Life, Mooim on the Rivera and Moomin’s Desert Island. (more…)

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Dale E. Basye–Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go (2008) [audiobook 2010–Bronson Pinchot]

Posted in Adventure, Audiobooks, Boredom, Bronson Pinchot, Children's Books, Dale E. Bayse, Death, Demons, Fears, Goths, Supernatural, Yuck! on December 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: December 2015] Heck

heckI read this book several years ago.  I remember enjoying it but not loving it.  But when we were looking for an audio book and I saw that this was narrated by Bronson Pinchot, I knew we had to listen to it.  And the kids liked it a lot (although Tabby didn’t love the ending, which is sad, but is more of a set up for volume 2).

The premise of the book is that Heck is where you go when you die if you’re under 18.  They’re not quite sure where you’re going to wind up, so you have to go through Heck, which is basically school, until they can sort out which layer of Hell you’re going to wind up in.  Needless to say Heck is full of bad kids (and bad demons).

Our two bad kids are Milton and Marlo Fauster.  Marlo is a troublemaker from way back.  She is a petty thief and is always up to no good.  Milton is a good kid.  He never did anything bad in his life, and he always gets abuse from Marlo.  As the book opens, Milton and Marlo are sprinting down the corridor of a mall where Marlo has just stolen something. She is planning on wreaking havoc with Grizzly Mall’s centerpiece: The State’s Second-Largest Bear-Themed Marshmallow Statue (that cracked me up).

The kids run to the center of the mall where they are cornered by security.  Marlo is trying to think of an escape plan when Milton notices his classmate Damian.  Damian torments Milton every chance he can get.  And now, he is standing at the top of the marshmallow bear with matches.  Milton also notices a fuse sticking out of the bear.

One explosion later, the kids find themselves no longer attached to their bodies, as they are rapidly sliding down to Heck.  Marlo deserves to be there, she’s a bad egg.  But what about Milton?  It turns out that Marlo had slipped an item into Milton’s backpack, and therefore he technically stole something as well.  A technicality but true nonetheless.

The rest of the book shows the kids in their gender-segregated classes.  The boys learn physical education from Blackbeard the pirate and ethics from Richard Nixon (the Nixon bits were hilarious, and yet I can’t imagine many kids getting the jokes).  The girls, meanwhile, learn home ec from Lizzy Borden (do kids know who that is?) and singing from an angel who is on a teacher exchange program. (more…)

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Thomas Siddell–Gunnerkrigg Court: Volume 1: Orientation (2008)

Posted in Adventure, And the Kids, Boredom, Culture Shock, Demons, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Magic, Monsters, Myths, Research, Romance, Science, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Superstitions, Thomas Siddell, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Witches, YA Books, Zombies on July 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

gunner SOUNDTRACK: AND THE KIDS-Tiny Desk Concert #452 (June 30, 2015).

Ikids hadn’t heard of And The Kids before, but I was intrigued by their name and the lead singer’s look (is that a tattoo on her lip?).

But I didn’t like the way the first song started with a modified military “Glory Glory Hallelujah” musical refrain–it seemed strangely forced, especially for the first song I’d heard by them.  Although I may have liked it better if I knew the band better. It was a weird way to start.

Especially since I ultimate liked “Glory Glory.” (I am hearing a chorus of “I’ve been picking up floor milk” which is as fascinating as whatever the lyrics really are).  The drummer has great harmony vocals that really adds something to the song. I also love at around 2 and half minutes when the song turns into something very different—faster guitars with lead vocals by the drummer.  And even the bassist who has been quiet thus far chimes in with another layer of voices (and some interesting bass lines). It’s very cool.  So the song which started out kind of shaky really rocks out at the end.

The band trio, with a singer/guitarist, bassist and a great drummer.  There’s something about the lead singer’s guitar–it seems really big (maybe it’s just the head of the guitar?).  And the sound that the drummer gets is really great too—it may just be this recording, but the snare is really sharp.

For “All Day All Night” the drummer busts out a glockenspiel. It has a kind of shouted chorus that borders on dissonance but isn’t quite.  I like the way the song slows down (with the guitarist playing keyboard as it builds back up), the drummer plays the glockenspiel and the drums at the same time.  And the all three start singing with interesting harmonies. The ending whoo hoos are sharp and distinct as well.

“Cats Were Born” has a very interesting lyric: “The cats were born to kill for fun.”  But perhaps even more interesting than the words are the yodels and screams and yips that punctuate the song.  What’s also strange is the way the bassist seems so reticent to look goofy while the other two are wild.   The guitarist busted out a small four string guitar for this song which sounds really distinct. And the drummer really shines.  Through many of the songs she’s playing rim shots which is a distinctive sound in itself, but when she switches over to a faster style for the middle section, it’s really intense.

I don’t think any bands has gone so far from me not thinking much of them to being really won over by the end of their Tiny Desk.

[READ: February 26, 2015] Gunnerkrigg Court [1-14]

I discovered this book through my Goodreads account.  It was suggested because, well, I don’t recall, it had something to do with schools and supernatural and graphic novels or whatever.  There was also one that was suggested for Sarah (it was about boarding school and tea) which turned out to be Japanese softcore porn, so beware the Goodreads suggestions.

Although there was nothing to beware of with this book.

I actually thought Sarah would like it more because she loves boarding school fiction.  But she gave up on the book after a few stories.  Interestingly I almost did as well. It wasn’t that it was bad, in fact we both enjoyed the beginning.  But it was the kind of book that once you put it down, you didn’t feel compelled to pick it up again.  Perhaps because each chapter feels so self-contained–with no real cliffhanger–that it seemed like the stories were done.  And while the stories were good they weren’t awesome…so.  She gave up, but I continued

And I’m glad I did. (more…)

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Bannister & Nykko–The ElseWhere Chronicles Book Six: The Tower of Shadows (2012) [translated 2013]

Posted in Bannister, Boredom, Carol Klio Burrell, Children's Books, Chris Squire, Fantasy, Fears, Nykko, Short Books, Supernatural, The Beatles, The Byrds, Yes on June 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

6SOUNDTRACK: YES-Yes (1969).

yesThis past weekend bassist and founding member of Yes died.  Up until about six weeks ago he was supposed to tour with Yes this summer.

It was surprising and sad news.  I was a huge Yes fan in college, and of course I love all things prog. But I started to lose patience with Yes since they had such a revolving door policy it wasn’t even clear is the people in the band even were part of the band (although Squire has played on every Yes album).  I hadn’t listened to anything new from them since the 1990s, and I was genuinely shocked to see how much new material they had released since then (about ten).

So here’s a bunch of their albums that I own.  I’m not going to pretend I don’t know their peak period stuff, so I’m looking at their first two albums with the hindsight of the 70s masterpieces.

Their debut album (look how 1969 that cover is) opens with a Chris Squire penned song called “Beyond and Before.”  Loud (and high) bass notes announce that this might just be a Yes album, even the vocal harmonies suggest Yes, and yet once the verse begins, it is a much more psychedelic version of Yes. The music feels very Summer of Love. And while Squire’s bass does come out from time to time, after that initial flurry it kind of settles down a bit. The song itself is quite good, as long as you’re not expecting classic Yes.

I feel the biggest sound difference is Anderson’s vocals which, while still powerful have a more gentle/sensitive feel (not too far off from his more famous style later on, but slightly mellower perhaps).

Next come s very jazzy cover of The Byrds’ “I See You” (a song I don’t really know, but the lyric “the cave of your hair” is pretty awesome.   This version is 7 minutes long with an extended jazzy solo from Peter Banks and suitable jazzy percussion from Bill Bruford. Tony Kaye on keyboards also features prominently.  The end is quite loud for such a hippie offering.

“Yesterday and Today” is a piano & vocal performance. It’s very delicate.  “Looking Around” has very heavy keyboard opening. The bass sounds like Squire but this is a very keyboard heavy song.  “Harold Land” opens with a kind of church organ and singing, but then the Yes sound comes in (you can almost hear the band forming). It feels, again very synthy, but certainly heading in the direction of Yes.

“Every Little Thing is a Beatles cover (! two covers on the debut album).  It begins with much chaos—noisy drumming, bass rumblings and keyboard noodling. The song is 5 minutes and the intro is almost 2 minutes. The big bass and drum really makes the song rock and the keyboards build some real drama into the track.

“Sweetness” is indeed a sweet slow track with a lot of acoustic guitars and soft keyboards.  It has a great descending chorus vocal line. If this were rerecorded and made a bit more modern sounding I think it could be a hit (well, maybe update the lyrics a bit too).

“Survival” is probably the most enduring track on the record. It opens with some great fuzzy bass and some actual catchy riffs. The opening vocals sound more like what latter-day Yes would sound like (subtle distinction, yes but it’s there). The chorus is very catchy and it’s a fun romp right until the end.  It’s a good send off, with a promise of better things.

Since almost every Yes album had different personnel, I’m going to keep a running tally here:

Chris Squire-bass
John Anderson-vocals
Bill Bruford-drums
Tony Kaye-keyboards
Peter Banks-guitar

[READ: February 16, 2014] The ElseWhere Chronicles Book Six

I ended my review of the last book by saying “now I’m hooked.”  But in the year since I read the last book I lost all the momentum of the series (since I’d read the first five in quick succession).  Which is a shame since the book was every bit as exciting as the rest, but I wasn’t quite as into it as I wanted to be.

Since Ilvanna died in the last book I should have been more upset about it and been more excited at the prospect of her return in this one, but I’d forgotten about it all.

As for the rest of the story, Theo, Max and Rebecca meet up with an old man who seems to know the secrets of the Other World.  He convinces Theo and Max to capture a creature who can take them to the Other World.

Meanwhile, in the Other World we see that the spirit of Rebecca is held be a mean looking guy known as the Master of Shadows.

At last the Master of Shadows meets the old man and Rebecca meets her double–a creature which he has created from a photo of Rebecca–he just needs her soul to complete the creation.  The final battle is pretty epic with swirling shadows all over the place and Rebecca’s grandfather pleading with her to destroy her doppelganger.

Meanwhile Theo and Max find Ilvanna who may or may not be dangerous, but she seems to want to help them.

This was the final book of series two of the series.  And the cliffhanger shows that the boys have found Dolean and the two Rebeccas have emerged–to what end?

The story was certainly exciting, but I recommend reading the whole second series together to really maximize the impact.

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Neil Gaiman–The Graveyard Book: The Graphic Novel Adaptation (2014)

Posted in Adventure, Boredom, Children's Books, David Lafuente, Death, Demons, Fantasy, Galen Showman, Graphic Novel, Jill Thompson, Kevin Nowlan, Maraj, Minnesota, Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton, Stephen B. Scott, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Contest, Tony Harris on March 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

graveyardSOUNDTRACK: MARAJ-“Gettaway” (Tiny Desk Contest Runner-Up 2015).

maraj Last week, a Tiny Desk Contest winner was announced. This week, All Songs Considered posted ten runners up that they especially liked.  And I want to draw extra attention to a couple of them.

I know very little about these bands, but I assume that these folks are all members of Maraj.  They are from Kalamazoo MI and they do hip hop with a twist. I loved that there was a live upright bass player. And that the music had a steel drum sound (although it was all electronic).

The verses were done by two different rappers Motor Cit Kam–whose flow is incredibly fast and clear (even if I didn’t actually know what he was saying, the style was great) and Dari G who has a very different flow (and also sings a beautiful backing vocal later).  I enjoyed that there were two rappers, but I liked even more that the third verse (or perhaps bridge) was sung by two of the women in the band.  They totally change the tone of the song—an excellent mix of rap and singing.

What I thought set this song apart was that the chorus–while the music was the same, the slower singing gave a very different sound to the song.  It really changed the flow from the fast first verse.  And the singers–all six of them–all sing well together.

[READ: December 23, 2014] The Graveyard Book

Back in 2009, I read the prose version of this book.  Now in 2014, it has been re-imagined as a graphic novel.  And it’s funny, now that Gaiman has well established himself as a novelist, that I forgot he was originally a graphic novelist.  So this format works for him quite nicely.

As I said, I read the book five years ago, but I didn’t remember all the details.  Naturally the most exciting parts came back to me as I was reading it, but the little details has been lost to time.

I gave a rather detailed review of this book here and there’s really no reason for me to rewrite what I thought about it because it is pretty much unchanged.

But in sum: the story is about Bod Owens.  His family was murdered when he was 18 months old. He escaped to a graveyard (while the killer tried to track him down) and he was raised by ghosts.  They keep him safe from Jack, the killer, whose superiors want him to finish the job.  (more…)

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Mona Awad–“Beyond the Shore” (The Walrus, January/February 2015)

Posted in Bjork, Boredom, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Exercise, Mike Patton, Mona Awad, Sex, Short Story, Tanya Tagaq, The Walrus on February 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

janfebSOUNDTRACK: TANYA TAGAQ-“Uja” and “Umingmak” live at the Polaris Music Prize (2014).

tanyaTanya Tagaq won the Canadian Polaris Prize this year.  Tagaq is a Canadian (Inuk) throat singer from Cambridge Bay (Ikaluktuutiak), Nunavut, Canada who at age 15, went to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to attend high school where she first began to practice throat singing.  Mostly I included that so I could have the word Ikaluktuutiak in a post.  She is the first native Canadian to win the prize.

Tagaq sings in a gutteral throat singing style combined with some more traditional high-pitched notes.  She has worked with Mike Patton and extensively with Björk.  Most of her songs don’t have lyrics per se, and the album that won the prize is called Animism.

This is a live broadcast of her set which has been describes as truly mesmerizing in person.  It is certainly mesmerizing in video–marveling that the woman can sound so possessed  and yet so clearly in control.

At 1:38 when the backing vocalists (who were shrouded in darkness sing out, it’s quite startling.  I don’t know when the first song ends and the second begins, but at 3:48. when the drums start a regular beat, you can hear a sense of commercial rock amidst the avant garde music.   Around 5 minutes the music drops away and when Tagaq sings briefly in her non-throat voice she sounds almost childish. But when the throaty growls returns, it’s a bit scary, frankly.

Tagaq has talked about bringing the sensuality of throat singing out into the public and by 7 minutes, the sensuality is right there on the stage.  By the end, when she is screaming her lungs out, it has to have been really intense in the theater.  And her wold howl at the end is uncanny.

Clearly not to everyone’s taste, but probably not lie anything else you’ll hear all day.  And unlike anything you’d hear at the Grammy’s.

[READ: January 2, 2015] “Beyond the Shore”

This is  brief story about competitiveness at the gym.  It’s the kind of story that is probably acted out in gyms across the country and one which shouldn’t have been all that interesting, but Awad chose an interesting setting and characters to flesh this out.

I also enjoyed that the title has nothing to do with the action of the story.  Rather, it refers to the place where they live: “Beyond the Shore, a gated-living community that has nothing to do with California (we are nowhere near California), the apartment building which overlooks the Malibu Club Spa and Fitness Centre.”  Each morning when the narrator wakes up, she can see from her bedroom window that Char, an extremely depressingly fit woman, is already working out ion the gym. And most of the time she is working out on Lifecycle One, the very machine that the narrator has signed up for in fifteen minutes.

This wouldn’t be a problem except that in fifteen minutes, the narrator, who is not in peak physical shape will get to the gym and Char will still be in mid-routine with no intention of stopping.  When the narrator approaches Char, Char says she’s almost done (even though she ‘s already over by five minutes) and then mutters a nasty name about the narrator under her breath.  Often by the time Char gets off, the narrator has but 24 minutes in her time slot before the cardio group comes in next. (more…)

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