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Archive for the ‘Canadian Content’ Category

Jill Sexsmith–“Somewhere, a Long Happy Life Probably Awaits You” (The Walrus, July/August 2013)

Posted in Canadian Content, Death, Humiliation, Jill Sexsmith, Live from Mountain Stage, Marriage Trouble, Neurotics, Pokey LaFarge, Short Story, The Walrus, Trees on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

walrusjulySOUNDTRACK: POKEY LAFARGE-Live on Mountain Stage (2012).

pokey2I really only know Pokey LaFarge from NPR (they’ve embraced them, but I haven’t heard them anywhere else).  Pokey and his band plays a mix of early string-band music, ragtime, country blues and Western swing, in a completely un-ironic way (they dress the part as well).  Like Squirrel Nut Zippers, but even more so.

Interestingly, I know the first song “La La Blues” from a previous performance (on a Tiny Desk Concert) and I actually liked that version better than this one.  This entire performance feels a little too loose.  Which is weird because the music is designed to be loose, but in the previous performances there was a little more structure which made the songs jump out a little more (or maybe the recording just isn’t loud enough).

There’s 5 songs in total: 4 originals include “Central Time,” “Drinkin’ Whiskey Tonight,” and “Won’tcha Please Don’t Do It.”  And a Jimmie Rogers song called “Peach Pickin’ Time in Georgia.”  This final song feels more authentically of the time than LaFarge’s originals but only barely, just barely (perhaps its the “gal pickin’ time” line).  And yet “Won’tch Please Don’t Do It” sounds just right too.

The best joke in the set is when Pokey says they have 78 RPM records for sale (they really do).  But that they don’t have any that night because they are sold out!

LaFarge is an engaging live performer (even if the crowd seems subdued here).  And while I don’t see myself buying any of his records, I would like to see him live–it seems like a fun show.  Check it out here.

[READ: July 15, 2013] “Somewhere, a Long Happy Life Probably Awaits You”

The prefatory paragraph that precedes up this story seems so light-hearted: “Manfred met Elizabeth when she interviewed for a position at his fortune cookie company.  She was a greeting card writer looking to branch out.”  That is an actual quote from the story, but in the story, it is a flashback after the main action of the story has begun.

When the story begins, Elizabeth is trying to protect a tree in her front yard.  It has gotten Dutch Elm disease and is to be cut down this summer.  She would like to know when, but she is only told between may and September.  While she is not going to go crazy protecting this tree, she would like some actual notification, so she can be there to say goodbye.

Going crazy, it turns out is an important thing to note, though.  Because Elizabeth from time to time goes on “safaris.”  These safaris can last an indeterminate amount of time, and in some cases may even require Manfred to track her down.  Like when she was protesting the war in front of a building (where no one else was) or, as in one case, when she was frolicking in a sprinkler in her underwear. (more…)

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Kris Bertin–“The Eviction Process” (The Walrus, July/August 2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Arcade Fire, Canadian Content, Drinking, Drugs, Fears, Kris Bertin, LGBTQ, Nils Frahm, Sarah Neufeld, Short Story, The Walrus, Violence, Yuck! on July 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

walrusjulySOUNDTRACK: SARA NEUFELD-“Forcelessness” (2013).

neufeldSara Neufeld has a new album coming out on Constellation Records.  Neufeld is the violinist for Arcade Fire–not someone you think of as a “special” violinist or someone who necessarily stands out in the band.  But her violin here is haunting and beautiful.

The album is pretty much her and her violin with occasional accompaniment.  On this track she is accompanied by pianist Nils Frahm (whom I don’t know).  The song was recorded in a parking garage giving it an incredibly expansive sound.

It opens is a somber tone with repeated triplets.  But once the pianos come in, the triplets become slightly more positive.  For a time.

There is something very simple and yet very pleasing about this track–it doesn’t alter itself very much over its three minutes and yet the subtle variations in notes can really affect the mood of the song as it is playing.

[READ: July 15, 2013] “The Eviction Process”

I don’t know why I’m always surprised by stories that go dark.  But this story is very dark indeed.

It begins with two men and an autistic boy (who proves to be the son of one of the men) visiting The Champ in the hospital.  The Champ is one of their roommates and they have come to tell him that he is being evicted.  They are nervous as anything because The Champ is not afraid to use his considerable strength in a fight (and the narrator has a stashed bottle of vodka in his pants that he would hate to see smashed).

But The Champ takes it very well, considering he is now homeless.

Their next stop is back home where the eviction process continues.  The next person is Morgan, but Morgan is passed out from huffing keyboard duster.  So, they’ll get him later. (more…)

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Mona Awad–“When We Went Against the Universe” (The Walrus, July/August 2013)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Content, Mona Awad, Pond, Sex, Short Story, Summer, Tame Impala, The Walrus, Yuck! on July 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

walrusjulySOUNDTRACK: POND-“Giant Tortoise” (2013).

pondWhen I first listened to this song I wasn’t all that excited by it.  In part I’ll admit it’s because I was listening with only one earbud (a work hazard).  When I was finally able to listen with both earbuds, the song grew exponentially, turning it from a kind of mundane classic rocker into a trippy psychedelic classic rocker.

There’s not much strikingly original about this song–the sound is totally retro, the riffs are pretty simple, even the recording technique is nothing all that exciting.  And yet when you put it all together in this big soundscape, the song is much more than the sum of its parts.

The guitars are big and expansive like their native Australia, the vocals are soft and processed, and the ending instrumental section is very trippy.  Oh, and three of the members of Pond are also in Tame Impala.  Not a bad side project at all.

[READ: July 15, 2013] “When We Went Against the Universe”

In this story, two girls play a game in which they ask the universe questions and do whatever the universe dictates.  The game, which they call Fate Papers, is very simple.  They take two scraps of paper and write Yes on one and No on the other.  One of the girls holds out her hands and lets the scraps drop.  Whichever lands first is what they do.  And they never go against the universe.

The girls live in Mississauga (which they call Misery Saga) and they have done everything that young teens can do that summer–they’ve eaten all the snacks, hung out at all the places, even talked about everything they could ever want to talk about.

The girls go to McDonald’s and get McFlurrys.  When they are about to leave, Mel, the more daring of the two, says that the three businessmen sitting at the other table were checking her out.  She says she has been emanating sex all day and these men responded.  And so Mel proposes that they should offer to suck off the men for money–at least $50 each.  The narrator goes along assuming that nothing will come of it.  But Mel is serious.  She imagines just how much they could get from each of them (even more because they are virgins).  And she drags the narrator to the bathroom so they can make sure they look good and to see if they guys checked them out as they walked past.

When the narrator realizes that Mel is serious, she says it’s time to do Fate Papers.  The papers say Yes. (more…)

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Three Poems–(The Walrus: Summer Reading Issue, July/August 2013)

Posted in Canadian Content, Death, Derek Webster, J. Mascis, Mazzy Star, Poetry, Poets, Suzannah Showler, The Walrus, Vincent Colistro on July 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

walrusjulySOUNDTRACK: J MASCIS-“Fade Into You” (2013).

jmazzy I really liked this Mazzy Star song when it first came out.  Over the years I have gotten a little tired of it–it was a bit overplayed and a bit too…something.  So it’s nice to have this remarkably faithful cover from J. Mascis.

Mascis is of course the singer from Dinosaur Jr, and is usually fond of screaming guitar licks and wild vocals.  But one must not forget that Mascis is also a king of melody (underneath the noise are beautiful pop gems).  And this simple acoustic song fits very well with his vocals style and falsetto.  There are some beautiful overdubbed guitar licks, and it never veers into the treacle at all.

I prefer Mascis’ to the original now.

Perhaps more fascinating than the cover is why he has released it:  It accompanies a limited edition (360 pairs) of shoes.  [So limited edition that my size is sold out already].

The shoes are vegan (or however you phrase that) and feature a purple faux suede and a stripe from Mascis’ guitar strap.  As the write up says: In addition to having a design inspired by J Mascis’ guitar strap embroidered on the back, the purple shoe comes with an exclusive 7″ picture disc of Mascis covering the Mazzy Star classic “Fade Into You”.

And I have to say that the $75 price tag is surprisingly cheap for a limited edition/star inspired/benefit type shoe.  You can buy a pair (maybe) here.  Or just listen to the song at Pitchfork.

[READ: July 15, 2013] Three Poems

This issue of The Walrus is the Summer Reading issue.  It includes three short stories and three poems.  In light of my recent decision to try to read more poetry, I was pleased to see three poems here, even though in my head Summer Reading is all about Fiction.

Since there are only three poems (by different authors), I’m going to mention them all in one post, as I hate to write more words in a post than the author did. (more…)

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Sheila Heti–“Mini Ching” (Harpers, July 2013)

Posted in Advice, All Songs Considered, Beck, Canadian Content, Excerpt, Harper's, Sheila Heti, Short Story, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on July 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

julySOUNDTRACK: BECK-“I Won’t Be Long” (2013).

beckSo Beck has a new song out, too (on NPR they’ve been saying this is the year of the cicadas–bands are resurfacing after years of dormancy).  I’ve actually heard this a few times on WXPN, but I never realized it was Beck and it has left no impression on me.

It’s tough to say it doesn’t sound like Beck since every album is different, but this song really doesn’t sound like him.  The drums are cheesy drum machine drums (like from the early 80s), the keyboards are cheesy keyboards (like from the early 80s), and the song is really really simple (with a strange instrumental break in the middle).  And its five minutes long.  It just doesn’t make a big splash like Beck usually does.

This is all leading me to say I don’t love it.  I usually really like Beck’s gamut of music, but this is a little too bland for me (the last minute or so adds some more details which are more interesting).  I suspect if it wasn’t Beck it wouldn’t get played at all.  I wonder if this is going to be a whole album of this style of music.

[READ: July 11, 2013] “Mini Ching”

This is an excerpt from “How to Be Good When You’re Lost.”  In it, Heti interprets six of the sixty-four hexagrams that comprise the I Ching.  I don’t know exactly what the I Ching is.  I mean, I know vaguely what it is but not exactly.  I assume that there is no real explanation for the hexagrams?

The four excerpted here are #53 Gradual progress; #24 Return  #49 Revolution #33 Retreat.

Again, I don’t know how many others have “interpreted” these mystical hexagrams.  But Heti creates are wise fortune cookie-sounding advice for each one. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #38 (2011)

Posted in Adam Levin, Adventure, Alia Malek, All Songs Considered, Ariel Dorfman, Bisi Adjapon, Books about writers, Boredom, Canadian Content, Chanan Tigay, Culture Shock, Dan Guterman, Dave Eggers, David Henne, Death, Essays, Francois Mauriac, Jack Teagle, Jason Polan, Jen Statsky, Joey Latimer, John Moe, Jon Wurster, Marriage Trouble, McSweeney's, Morality, Nathan Englander, Nathaniel Rich, Paul Curtis, Peter Meehan, Peter Orner, Rachel B. Glaser, Religion, Roddy Doyle, Rory Douglas, San Fermin, Short Story, Sloan Schang, Steven Millhauser, The Mountain Goats, Violence, War on July 5, 2013| 1 Comment »

38SOUNDTRACK: SAN FERMIN-“Crueler Kind” (2013).
sanfermin-91f624c3b893c51669028614cc4bbf4973704a7c-s1

This was the final song that NPR played in their summer new music collection.  It was a band that Bob didn’t know, but he liked the song and then saw them live and put the song here.

It opens very simply, quietly with beautiful harmonies over a simple synth.  After about 45 seconds, the drums and horns (!) kick in and the backing harmony vocals take on more of a choral sound (AHHHH!) that punctuates rather than accompanies the vocals.

The main riff stems from that horn—a bass saxophone?  And yet during the verses, everything resorts to that pretty, mellow sound.

It’s a very interesting mix of musics, and it reminds me of some of the more experimental bands of the 1990s.  I’ll bet they would be fun to see live.  And I’d like to hear more from this album.

[READ: June 20, 2013] McSweeney’s #38

And with this book, I have now read all of the McSweeney’s issues (except that Mammoth Treasury which I will get to, probably by the end of the year).  This one was a great collection of fiction and non-fiction, it also had an inserted comic.  The book itself was paperback, with a nice, textured cover and a cool design for the numbers. In looking for a picture I learned that it came in two colors (the yellow that I received and a black cover with white lines).

It continues with the later issues’ less frivolous style (in that there’s nothing weird about the book) and throughout, the quality of the work is great.  I really enjoyed this book.  It opens with letters and contains color pictures, too.

Letters (more…)

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Guy Delisle–A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting (2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Canadian Content, Comic Strips, Funny (ha ha), Guy Delisle, Helge Dascher, Parenting, Translation, Two Inch Astronaut on July 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

neglectfulSOUNDTRACK: TWO INCH ASTRONAUT-“Spank Jail” (2013).

two-inch-astronaut-cover-de5df21ccbfbcb75c6d6c83315becf109f32f74e-s1Two Inch Astronaut resuscitate some great dissonant sounds of the 1990s.

This song packs abrasive chords and unusual riffs.   But there is also so much going on in these three and a half minutes, that if it weren’t for the recurrent riff it might be several different songs.

This song opens with a brittle guitar playing an odd riff.  Then the band jumps in all playing that same fast, odd riff.  By thirty seconds, a pounding riff takes over until the verses start–spoken/shouted words (like great punk of the 80s) over a pulsing bass.  But then comes the great big melodic chorus–giving you something to latch on to in all the chaos (which comes back right after the chorus with guitars that sound practically unhinged).

The second verse is not spoken, but yelled, changing the song once again.  As does the third verse which is primarily bass with guitar accents and a few quiet moments.  But the guitar solo is just as fast as might be expected from the band.  What’s unexpected is that the guitar solo leads to a closing riff, and no more vocals.

This is challenging, harsh music designed to keep you off-balance.  And it’s a welcome sound that I’ve missed over the last few years.

[READ: June 21, 2013] A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting

This book came into my pile of new books at work. Since I’ve often wondered if I am a neglectful parent I thought maybe I could learn a trick or two from this User’s Guide.

Well, I read the whole thing in about ten minutes.  There are about twelve twenty page cartoons included.  Each one is a little saga of bad (and hilarious) parenting.

The first is about the tooth fairy (which in this version is a mouse—Delisle is Canadian…where does the mouse come from?).  It, of course has to do with every parent’s tooth fairy woe—when they forget to have the tooth fairy show up.  The punch line is quite good on this one.

One of the premises of the strip is that the dad is a Manly Man—and he thinks his son is a wimp.  So, when he sees a punching bag he encourages his son to be a man and hit it.  No, not like that…really hit it.  I know, pretend you’re hitting your sister.

WHAM WHAM WHAM.

Or perhaps the “here son, try out this chainsaw” strip.  The son, sensibly doesn’t want to.  The dad says he’s ½ Canadian, he’ll have to do it.  Then he tries a practical joke.  Practical joke with chainsaw.  The son freaks out, but the punchline is even better.  Very twisted. (more…)

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Annie Proulx–“Rough Deeds” (New Yorker, June 10 & 17, 2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Annie Proulx, Black Hippy, Canadian Content, Death, Greed, Kendrick Lamar, New Yorker, ScHoolboy Q, Short Story, Threats, Trees, Unlikable main character, Violence, Yuck! on June 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_06_10_13Schossow.inddSOUNDTRACK: ScHoolboy Q “Collard Greens” (2013).

colalrdgreens-f7ef9a5569c897652952a2688c4af9911361663a-s1NPR opened their summer preview show with two rap songs.  This was the second.  The bass line is very neat—propulsive and continuous and there’s this little keyboard sprinkling across the top.  This is West Coast rap style and I like the music quiet a bit.

The rapping is unusual—some amusing voices and nonsense words, but I admit I didn’t really get into it until about half way through when the rapper (ScHoolboy Q or guest Kendrick Lamar I don’t know) comes in with an unusual-sounding voice—sped up and goofy.  And he does one of my favorite rap things—singing really fast in a high voice then ending with a low word (Gawd).

The song feels atmospheric, although overall, I’m not a fan.  The DJ who introduced the song says that he is part of the “supergroup” Black Hippy, along Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar.  She describes ScHoolboy Q as the darkest of the bunch, which makes me think I should check out the rest to see what other kinds of things they do.  [I did, and I didn’t like them–lyrically they are remedial at best].

[READ: June 18, 2013] “Rough Deeds”

This story is set in New France, (also known as Canada).  Duquet is a timberman, seeking his fortune by amassing the largest area of woods to be exported both to the Americas and back to Europe.   He connected with a man named Dred-Peacock (I included him mostly for his name) who set him up with a connection in Scotland.

Duquet wasn’t exactly sure about trading with the enemy, the English, but money is money and they had lots of it and need for lots of wood.  And soon a fortune was made.

Then Dred-Peacock encouraged him to head to Maine where thousands of acres were there for the asking.  Indeed, Duquet was able to buy twenty thousand acres at 12 cents an acre.  But when he and his man Forgerson went to investigate, they found a crew cutting down trees on his property!  When he accosted them, they fled.  The youngest member of the thieving team had a limp and fell behind–which gave Duquet the opportunity to hurl his tomahawk at him, felling him instantly.

When the boy won’t talk, Duquet cuts off two of his fingers (Duquet does not mess around) and the boy reveals that he works for McBogle.  The boy already had an infected leg and Duquet had no intention of healing him, so he allowed the boy to die, ultimately killing him and burning his body in McBogle’s makeshift mill.

While Duquet was doing this, Forgerson was off scouting a new way to get the timber to the mill and finding people to work with them.  When he returned, he wondered where the boy had gone, but said nothing.

And there were no consequence for Duquet. (more…)

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Douglas Coupland–Player One: What Is to Become of Us: A Novel in Five Hours (2010)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Cars, CBC Radio 1, Death, Douglas Coupland, End of the World, Environmentalism, Technology, The Future, The Tragically Hip, Violence on May 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

PlayerOne_Coupland

SOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-Now for Plan A (2012).

hip man

This is the latest Tragically Hip record and it bounces back from the more country feel of We Are the Same and provides eleven solid rocking songs (two of which are actually ballads and not rocking at all but are still good).  “At Transformation” starts with a big bass notes and some feedback, like an alternative indie rocker, but as soon as Gord Downie’s voice comes in it is unmistakably Hip.  This is one of their rockier songs and shows that they are back in fine form.

I recently wrote about “Man Machine” and “Now for Plan A” but I think they both work better in the context of the record.  “Man Machine” contrasts nicely with “At Transformation” and “Plan A” gives the album a chance to relax before the more rocking second half.  “The Lookahead” is the other duet with Sarah Harmer, although I fear she may be a little underutilized here.  It’s a great big chorused song that The Hip do so well.

“We Want To Be It” has a recurring “drip drip” section that I find mesmerizing.  I like the way drip drip turns into click click and then cricket and how it is alternately whispered and screamed.  I’ve never really heard a song where words were used in this way before.

I love the way “About This Map” starts slow but adds a great bridge/chorus that adds a lot of tension.  Take Forever” is a straightforward rocker which along with “The Modern Spirit” and “Streets Ahead” really exemplify the modern sound of the Tragically Hip–simple rockers with big choruses and thoughtful lyrics.  On the other end of the spectrum, “Done and Done” is a simple ballad that works nicely as the song before the closer.  “Goodnight Attawapiskat” (an aboriginal settlement in Northern Ontario) is the kind of amazing minor key, could-be-an epic that Hip fans always love.  It’s scaled down to 4 minutes, but it lets us know that they still have this kind of song in them.

The Hip will never release another record like Fully Completely or Day for Night and while there is something sad about that, it’s nice to see a band evolving and modifying their sound.  This album isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it is a solid collection of great songs.

[READ: May 15, 2013] Player One

I didn’t really understand what a CBC Massey Lecture was.  It was kind of explained, but I was confused how his lecture would have been a full length novel.  And while it is described as a novel in five hours, I doubt his lecture lasted five hours (the story takes place in real time over five hours, but surely no one would have listened to him read for five hours).  Well, thanks to Wikipedia: Each of the book’s five chapters was delivered as a one hour lecture in a different Canadian city: Vancouver on October 12, Regina on October 14, Charlottetown on October 19, Ottawa on October 25 and ending in Toronto on October 29. The lectures were broadcast on CBC Radio One’s Ideas, November 8–12.   Coupland felt that “a narrative seemed like the most efficient and accessible way of putting forth a large number of propositions about life in the year 2010.”

So this turns out to be a story that takes place over five hours, although like many stories with this conceit there are flashbacks (how could there not be).  There are five main characters: Karen, Luke, Rick, Rachel, and Player One.  Although Player One is a confusing character who may or may not really exist.

Karen is a divorced mom and has decided to travel across the country (from Winnipeg to Toronto) to meet a man in an airport bar for a possible fling.  She’s not proud of it but she thinks, why the hell not–she still feels good about herself.  In fact, on the airplane a boy takes some pictures of her with his phone, because she looks pretty hot.  And in the last one she gives him the finger.  (The whole reality of that–that someone may take a picture of you anywhere for any reason is pretty bizarre).  She arrives in the airport bar where she meets Rick, the bartender. (more…)

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Shaena Lambert–“Oh, My Darling” (The Walrus, May 2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Canadian Content, Cancer as plot device, Marriage Trouble, Savages, Shaena Lambert, Short Story, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Walrus on May 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

walrusmaySOUNDTRACK: SAVAGES-“She Will” (2013).

I fsavages-2013-382952pc8ound this song in heavy rotation on NPR.  I had never heard of Savages before (this is from their debut album coming out this week), but they seemed interesting.  And the description was intriguing–saying they sounded like Siouxsie and the Banshees.  And that is right on, from the shimmery 80s punk guitars that open the song to that strange goth-y wail that Siouxsie possessed, to the rumbling basslines, this song hearkens back to a darker, wonderful era.

It’s a really great sound–evocative without mimicking.  It’s certainly an uncool sound that Savages are pulling for (in the 2010s) and I like them all the more because of it.  I’m curious to hear what else they do.

And that ending note is a killer.  I want to hear this whole album.

[READ: April 30, 2013] “Oh, My Darling”

The “teaser” for this short story says “I am so close you could touch me.”  And with this piece of information in mind, this story is dark and creepy right from the start.

The story begins as a letter: “Hello, Vanessa.”  And the letter continues to compliment Vanessa on her name, those three satiny syllables (the letter writer won’t deign to use that silly “Nessa” that others do).

The narrator pushes back to some months ago when Vanessa’s husband says he believes that he has Aboriginal bloodlines (despite his blue eyes and Scandinavian features).  Vanessa knew immediately it was because of the case he was working on—an Aboriginal case, obviously—with… Connie, a student of Haida birth.  She replies to it with a funny (to me) comment: “What part do you think is Aboriginal? I hope it’s something simple, like your foot.”  This comment from Vanessa’s husband, intimating infidelity is compounded by their daughter’s insolence: “You are a cruel fucking cow.”  (Vanessa has weight issues which makes this hurt even more).  Vanessa knows this is just how teenagers are, but it still hurts. (more…)

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