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Archive for the ‘Canadian Music’ Category

David Foster Wallace–[Week 7] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Big Books, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, Fables, Funny (ha ha), Infinite Summer, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Suicide, Technology, Tennis, The Future, Threats, Violence, Voivod, Yuck! on August 7, 2009| 8 Comments »

ij7SOUNDTRACK: VOIVOD-Nothingface (1989).

nothingfaceIn light of Marathe and the Antitois, and Quebec separatists everywhere, I figured I’d mention my favorite CD by a rocking Quebecker band.  When Voivod started they were a rumbling thrash band.  They put out an album with the wonderful title of RRRÖÖÖAAARRR.  They were very fast, very loud, and their singer had a really peculiar delivery style.  I later learned that this was because he’s a Quebecker and French is his first language.  Since he sings in English, his stresses and emphases are off-kilter, (and the guitarist seems to play to this particular feature, so the music is off-kilter as well) making for a very surreal experience.

They were probably my first inroduction to really cool French names.  Because even though they had stage names (Piggy, Blacky, Snake, and my personal favorite: Away) their real names were foreign and cool like Denis D’Amour and Jean-Yves Theriault.

Nothingface is the pinnacle of their prog-creative energies.  It is a fantastic progressive-rock/heavy metal hybrid.  There are fascinating time-changes, with cool atmospheric aspects that counterpoint the heavy sections.  And the overall theme of the album is technology gone awry.

On their previous records, melody was not really evident.  And it’ hard to believe that a disc that is so full of time changes could still be melodious.  Yet the bridge of “Nothingface” is quite pretty, which, again, counterbalances the weird chord structures of the solo section.  There’s even an awesome cover of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine” that adds some cool metal guitars to an already trippy song  The Floyd version is spacey and psychedelic.  Voivod add an element of menace to the song.  Very cool.

And then there’s a song like “Missing Sequences” which has 4 different sections in the span of less than two minutes.  An opening that is slow and spacey, interrupted by a loud “Now!” which brings to a weirdly chorused verse that morphs into a rough staccato bridge followed by a speedy guitar break and then yet another verse style.  By the time we hit the 2:30 mark, the song breaks down into a bass-only sequence.  And then it mostly repeats itself. That is, until the ending minute which is something new entirely.  It sounds impossible on paper and yet it is done seamlessly and is one of my favorite tracks on the disc.

There’s also the weirdly propelling and compelling “ground and rock and sand come crumble tumble down” sequence of “Pre-Ignition” that throws a cool catchy riff in the midst of a fast charging song.  And “Into My Hypercube” has some fantastic riffs, including another really cool bass-only section.

And the whole album works great with headphones.

In the 1990s, metal bands experimented with lots of different genres and effects, but it was this 1989 release that really highlighted what kind of fantastic music you could make within the strictures of heavy metal.  Voivod makes some pretty unusual sounds with their instruments (guitar most of all), and the album can be a challenge, especially if you like you music light and easy), but for me, this is one of the best discs around.

[READ: Week of August 2] Infinite Jest (to page 508)

50% through.
Halfway House, er, I mean Half Way Home.
Thoughts:

The rewards are coming quickly now.  There seems to be a payoff every few pages.  I am totally loving this book and the environment it has created.

Since the Boston Marathon is mentioned in the book, I’ll say that we are currently at the 14 or so mile point (downtown Wellesley).  Congratulations, you have just made it through “Screech Tunnel.”  [See the Boston Marathon route here.]

ij

I’ve been going on and on about chronological years and when exactly Subsidized years started.  I even quoted other people who had calculated the actual year that Subsidized time was set up.

And, of course, all this time, all we had to do was to look at the NAME of the Year of Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge….  As this clever thread shows, others figured out pretty early in the reading that the 2007 in the year was a pretty big clue as to what year Subsidized Time began.

(Presumably non O.N.A.N. countries do not follow Subsidized Time?  And the, again, presumably Japanese made Yushitsu is on numerical-year-time.  Or is that a thread that has already been discussed already?).

I am pretty embarrassed to have realized this at this late a date, and I’m delighted that everyone let me figure it out for myself (and that no one was cruel enough to rub it in.)

Now if you wanted to argue against the Yushityu 2007 as a dead giveaway to the year, you could say that, for instance, Microsoft Products don’t always indicate the year that they came out.  But for confirmation of Yushityu, we can use a perpetual calendar.

We learned that November 7th is the the day of the exam that Schacht is taking.  This is a Saturday class.  The perpetual calendar show that Nov 7th falls on a  Saturday in 2009.  Therefore YDAU=2007.   I’ve been trying to use all this logic to puzzle this information out, and here the author basically just TELLS us it from–well, not the get go exactly–but from a pretty early point.

All of this self-flagellation is also because of my own lack of clock-watching in the book.  I have somewhat obtusely not been following the chronological dates very carefully.  It was only when I consciously realized that Marathe and Steeply are having their mountainside chat in April/May of the YDAU when all of the events at E.T.A. and Ennet House are taking place in November that it dawned on me that the time line was not only present, it was pretty important.

So, I spent some time crafting a general timeline of events–something I haven’t seen anywhere else, (but then I haven’t actively been looking for it because I don’t want to get Spoiled).   So at the end of this post I’m going to put my timeline of events thus far. I’ll see how important it is to update it in future posts.

But now on to the book:

This week’s reading jumped back and forth between topics a bit more frequently. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 5] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Big Books, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corner Gas, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Digression, Dreams, Drinking, Drugs, End of the World, Eschaton, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Infinite Summer, Neurotics, Postmoderism, Rick Mercer, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Suicide, Technology, Tennis, The Future, The Kids in the Hall, The Tragically Hip, The Walrus, Toilets, Violence, Work, Yuck! on July 24, 2009| 6 Comments »

in hereSOUNDTRACK: THE TRAGICALLY HIP-We Are the Same (2009).

Itragically hip first heard of The Hip when I saw their video for “Nautical Disaster.” This is back in the day when I first got Canada’s MuchMusic on my Brighton, MA cable system, and when I actually watched Music channels. Anyhow, the song was intense and very cool and it built to a great climax, and I was totally hooked.

I got their back catalog and continued to get their new releases.  Since then they’ve released some really good songs, and some pretty good discs.  It almost feels like since their live disc they decided to switch from intense songwriting to more simple, straightforward rock. This is a little disappointing to fans of their intense stuff, and yet if you accept the change in style, the music is quite solid.

So this disc seems to be shooting for an even broader, more commercial appeal.  And, in the first half, at least, they emphasize a more folksy/country feel.  All of this should make me flee from the disc, and I think longtime fans are pretty disappointed by it.  And yet, I can’t get over how much I like it. There’s something slightly off about the Tragically Hip that keeps them from being overtly commercial.  So that even when they release a disc like this, which is quite mellow in places, it still sounds alternative.  Maybe it’s Gord Downie’s voice, maybe it’s something in the melodies; whatever it is, it keeps this disc from being blah.

The final track, Country Day” seems to sum up the overall feel of the disc: meandering country roads.  And “Queen of the Furrows” is about farming.  The opening few songs have a Neil Young folkish feel, since “Morning Moon” and “Honey Please” have big catchy choruses with folky verses

“Coffee Girl” actually reminds me of a serious Barenaked Ladies type song, which is disconcerting coming from the Hip, but could possibly become a hit (it’s probably their most overtly commercial song I can think of since “My Music at Work”).  Actually, I take that back, one of the final tracks on the disc, “Love is  a Curse” sounds like it’s their last ditch attempt to have a big hit in the States.  And if they were a more well known (or on a bigger label) it would be a huge hit.  It rocks pretty hard and screams radio friendly.

The Hip of old do surface on two songs though: “Now the Struggle Has a Name” is one of those great sounding Hip songs:  as you’re singing along to the swelling chorus you wonder why they aren’t huge down here, and then you realize the song is 6 minutes long and will never get on the radio.   There’s also a 9 minute song, and the good news is that it doesn’t get boring (no mean feat).

The second half of the disc has more loud guitars.  The cool riff of “The Exact Feeling” is pretty great.  While “Frozen in My Tracks” is probably the weirdest track on the disc, with a very cool, off-sounding chorus.

So yeah, the disc has horns and strings and is maybe a little too polished and produced.  But the songwriting is still stellar.  I’m sure that if I had heard these songs now without knowing the Hip, I wouldn’t be all that impressed.  Maybe as I get older I’m less critical, or maybe I’m just happy to mellow out a bit more.

[READ: Week of July 20] Infinite Jest (to page 367)

Even though last week I said I would keep to the Spoiler Line Page, I am breaking the promise already.  I just couldn’t stand the thought of leaving a passage unfinished, so I just continued to the section break of Gately’s A.A. meeting.

When I first read IJ way back in 1996 I, like most Americans, didn’t really think too much about Canada.  I liked a lot of Canadian music and The Kids in the Hall were awesome, but beyond that I was pretty oblivious to our neighbors to the north.  Since then, I have become something of a Canuckophile.  I did Curling for two years and have visited up North a number of times.  We even had a Canadian satellite dish where we watched most of our TV (like Corner Gas and The Rick Mercer Report) until that moderately legal company was sued out of business.  Now I subscribe to The Walrus which keeps me well informed. Anyhow, this is all to say that I have a greater understanding of Quebec separatists and the state of US border relations.  This makes this whole Marathe-Steeply section more interesting to me this time around.  I sort of went from Hal (apolitical) to a quarter of the way to Avril in my understanding.

But before we get to that, lets get into the book and learn about Orin. (more…)

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Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen Adventures (Issues 1-5)

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Music, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jim Massey, John Layman, Military, Outer Space, Robbi Rodriguez, Rush, Sci-fi, Scott Chantler, Sex, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, Tom Peyer, Violence, Wikipedia on July 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

tekSOUNDTRACK: RUSH-Retrospective 3 (2009).

retro 3This disc filled a hole that the public had been really clamoring for: a collection of the most popular songs by Rush from the 1990s until today.  [cue crickets chirping]. Okay so this period isn’t exactly the best selling Rush era, and many people probably didn’t even know that they were still around (they weren’t for a while, but then they came back with an amazing vengeance).

Back in the 1980s I was a huge Rush fan. They were hands down my favorite band. I don’t like them any less than I used to, I just like a lot of other bands more now.  And yet this era of Rush’s music has some of my favorite of their songs, and they’re pretty much all here.

Disc One is a selection of tracks and Disc Two is a DVD of all of their videos. Perhaps the most interesting thing to me is that if you compare the videos track list to the audio tracklist, they don’t jibe as much as you might think.  This leads me to believe that the band doesn’t think that their original singles were the best songs from the discs (and I agree, I think the track listing of the CD is much stronger than that of the videos).

Presto is one of my favorite discs of this era, as are their two most recent releases Vapor Trails and Snakes and Arrows.  Test for Echo, on the other hand is one of my least favorite discs of theirs.  The last time I listened to it I thought it was pretty terrible (and yet I am very surprised to see how well liked it is by Rush fans in general).  Nevertheless, all of these discs are well represented here.

And speaking of their videos, I have to say that Rush has some of the w(and every one was directed by someone different it seems) they’re just terrible.  They always seem to have a “plot” of some sort, yet it is elliptical and lacking in specifics.  It frequently involves a teenaged boy, often shirtless, in some kind of peril.  The only parts I like are the band scenes, because it’s fun to see a) Alex’s hair b) Geddy’s hair and c) Neil’s scowl.

One of the major selling points of this disc is that the two tracks from Vapor Trails are remixed.  Anyone who knows Rush knows that their releases are definitive.  You don’t get remixes or even B-sides out of this band.  So for them to release a different version of these songs is pretty amazing.  I wonder what’s up with that.  Research suggests that the band was never happy with the quality of Vapor Trails, and there are rumblings that they’d like to remix the whole disc.  I hope they do, as these sound great.

But the real selling point is the bonus video: a live interview/recording from The Colbert Report.  As I mention below, I simply don’t watch the Report as often as I ought, so I had no idea the band was even on.  I wish that Colbert had let them speak a little bit more, even if the fawning and funny questions are really great and show what a sense of humor the band has (as does the “cheering fans” that Alex has on his board).  And “Tom Sawyer” (which, I get as it’s their hugest song, but really they had to play a song that’s 27 years old?) sounds great.  And they clearly have fun with it.

If you’re on the fence about getting this disc, those two items should convince you to pick it up.

[READ: June 30, 2009] Tek Jansen

I enjoy the Colbert Report.  Quite a lot.  And yet, I don’t watch it very often.  I find the idea of committing to a daily show (like The Daily Show) is just impractical.  And so, even though Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are queued up on my TiVo, I rarely have the time to watch them.

And so, it was news to me that Colbert had the character of Tek Jansen on his show. I heard about this series via Oni (who publishes it, and all good comics).  I also just learned, (thanks Wikipedia) that there are animated shorts of this character which I must track down.  In fact, heck, for the hilarious background of the origin of this comic, just read this. (more…)

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Paul Debraski–“Miracle Memory” (rejected by The Believer, June 2009)

Posted in Canadian Music, Demons, Empires of Tin, Fugazi, Godspeed You Black Emperor, History, Hockey, Jem Cohen, Miracle, Paul Debraski, Red Dawn, Russia, Short Story, Silver Mt. Zion, The Believer, Threats, Vic Chesnutt, War on July 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The Believer occasionally publishes first person narratives.  They’re usually relatively short but are insightful and poignant.  After reading one particular story the events described below converged in my head.  When I wrote this piece I had originally called it “Piece for The Believer” because well, that’s who it was written for.  I’m not upset that they rejected it, but I’m also not going to submit it anywhere else because I can’t think of any place else where it would fit. So, it might as well go somewhere!  [This is a slightly modified version]

[WRITTEN: April 2009] “Miracle Memory”

Recently my work had a staff training day.  It was yet another of those in-house services in which they pay people to create acronyms for success, and to encourage us all to read Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.  This particular training was about Teamwork (always capitalized).  The meeting proceeded apace, finding clever ways to say the same thing for five hours, until she told us that after lunch we would be treated to some clips from a movie that we would find inspiring in its look at teamwork.

When lunch was finished, she unveiled the movie: Miracle.  According to IMDB, Miracle is

The inspiring story of the team that transcended its sport and united a nation with a new feeling of hope. Based on the true story of one of the greatest moments in sports history, the tale captures a time and place where differences could be settled by games and a cold war could be put on ice. In 1980, the United States Ice Hockey team’s coach, Herb Brooks, took a ragtag squad of college kids up against the legendary juggernaut from the Soviet Union at the Olympic Games. Despite the long odds, Team USA carried the pride of a nation yearning from a distraction from world events. With the world watching the team rose to the occasion, prompting broadcaster Al Michaels’ now famous question, to the millions viewing at home: Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

And of course, what better display of teamwork could there be than an underdog team winning a gold medal?

I instantly bristled upon hearing that this was our movie.  One of my strongest non-family related memories is of watching the U.S. Olympic team skating to victory over the U.S.S.R. in the 1980 Olympics.  I didn’t watch the whole game (I didn’t become a fan of hockey until the late 1990s), but I tuned in during the third period right around when Mike Eruzione scored the go-ahead goal. (more…)

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Stephen King–“Morality” (Esquire, July 2009)

Posted in Bible, Canadian Music, Esquire, Morality, Moxy Fruvous, Short Story, Stephen King, Talking Heads, Tom Waits, Violence on July 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

esquireSOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-Live Noise (1998).

livenoiseLive albums usually work as a “best of” and so, with Live Noise you get the crème de la crème of the Früvous catalog.  But, more than that, Früvous were amazing live.  I had the opportunity to see them once, and it was a fantastic show.

Just about every song I have mentioned in other reviews is here: “Michigan Militia,” “Horseshoes,” “Fly,” “King of Spain,” “Johnny Saucep’n” and “The Drinking Song” among many others.

They also do some interesting covers: Tom Wait’s “Jockey Full of Bourbon” and Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.”

And best of all, there’s a lot of between-song banter.  Interestingly, the banter is quite vulgar.  While Früvous is not a G rated band by any means, it’s a little surprising how many F bombs they drop (which is why it got a parental warning sticker).  But mostly they are funny bits, like the “Intra Pennsylvania Rivalry,” and the hilarious and factual crowd participation bit: “Lowest Highest Point.”

You can’t go wrong with this disc, it’s fantastic (although, I suppose I could do without the  second version of “King of Spain,” as it does go on a bit long), but aside from that?  Fantastic!

[READ: June 25, 2009] “Morality”

I’ve said a lot about Stephen King in the past, so I’ll just get right to the story.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to read this story or not.  I mean, it’s long, and I don’t jump at the chance to read Stephen King anymore.  But I read the first paragraph and I remembered why Stephen King is so popular, and why I liked him so much.  Whether or not he is a great writer or an artiste, he has a wondrous way with words.  With the first few paragraphs I was hooked into this story.  His prose is effortless, and before you know it you are engaged with the characters. (more…)

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Deb Olin Unferth–“Wait Till You See Me Dance” (Harper’s July 2009)

Posted in Canadian Music, Deb Olin Unferth, Funny (strange), Harper's, Moxy Fruvous, Set at School, Short Story, Supernatural on July 2, 2009| 2 Comments »

harperSOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-the C album (2000).

cMoxy Früvous broke up (or went on indefinite hiatus) almost ten years ago.  But they released this final compilation, basically for fans only.  I’m not sure if it’s even available anywhere anymore.

And, hey, what happened to the Früvous website???

C is not quite as fun as b.  Although it is definitely a fun, silly collection.  Highlights include “Pisco Bandito” (the bandit fish!) and “The Goal Judge” (without him there would be no hockey game).

Some other fun tracks include “Video Disco Bargainville” a wild disco-fueled version of “Bargainville.”  “The Norbals” is another faux TV show theme.  And “Beware the Killer Tents” is an inside joke, but a good one.  It’s about a folk festival and name checks a number of artists who appeared with MF.

This seems like a good end of career recap for fans who missed the humor that the band was so good at.

[READ: June 25, 2009] “Wait Till You See Me Dance”

DIGRESSION: I had a dream last night and Deb Olin Unferth was in it.  It was one of those dreams where I was standing next to a woman on line for something or other and after twenty minutes or so dream-time I realized it was her.  I have no idea if she looks even remotely like the woman in the dream.  Great story huh?

Deb Olin Unferth must have grown up in a world that is very different from mine.  In the few things I’ve read by her, her characters seem to act in ways or experience things that are simply not what I’ve known people to experience.

In this story, the narrator is able to look at people and see how long they have left to live.  So, this is going to b a weird sci-fi story?  No.  Not at all.  For even though that characteristic is very important to the story, it has very little to do with the plot.  In fact, I was a little put-off at how the story started like that.  It didn’t seem like it would be very interesting.  And yet as soon as the rest of the story kicked it I was hooked.  And that aspect of the narrator turned out to be very cool.

So, the narrator is an adjunct who works at a college.  She teaches the 99 class (ie, they’re not yet eligible for 101 classes, and if they fail, they will not be admitted into the school).  She is accosted by one of the assistant admins who invites her to go to an Indian dance (the admin is not Indian).  No, not that kind of Indian, Native American Indian (the admin is not that kind of Indian either).

But the narrator doesn’t really like the admin.  The admin has convinced everyone to call her Mary because she is like the woman from that film, you know with George and the angel who shows him the future. [Yes, I know what the film is].  The narrator doesn’t like this, because in addition to it not being her name, she also realizes that Mary is really quite insignificant in the movie.

But the dance isn’t the main focus either.  For Mary finally has a vested interest in whether one of her students passes the 99 class.  She has no say in whether they pass or fail as the final tests are graded by someone else.  In this particular semester an Iraqi violin piano prodigy is admitted to her school two weeks into the semester. She finds his music so haunting that she will do whatever she can to make sure he passes the class.  (he has no hope of passing the class).

And that means buttering up the admin, and maybe even going to this weird dance.

The things that happen in the story are bizarre and unexpected. And yet despite all of that, it offers some real truths and insights about humanity.

How does she do that?

For ease of searching I include: Moxy Fruvous.

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Lisa Moore–“Water Eveywhere, 1982” (The Walrus, June 2009)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, History, Lisa Moore, Marriage (Happy), Moxy Fruvous, Short Story, Sloan, The Walrus, Weezer, Wikipedia on June 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrus juneSOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-Thornhill (1999).

thornhillThe final “proper” Moxy Früvous disc is something of a return to the days of Wood (see, the cover art isn’t silly at all, and it’s a photo not a drawing). It’s not as dire and claustrophobic as Wood but it also doesn’t really have too many silly moments.

Unlike Wood,this disc feels very full, very robust.  My initial response was minor disappointment that it didn’t have many silly moments (except, perhaps “Splatter Splatter”).  And yet, after many listens I’ve concluded that it’s is one of their richest, most complex discs, and it’s very rewarding.

The opening song “Half as Much” is very full and sounds not unlike Canada’s own Sloan.  In fact, the whole disc sounds a bit more like Sloan than any other previous comparisons.  “You Can’t Be too Careful” has great full harmonies (and actually sounds a bit like Weezer (!)).  “I Will Hold On” is another great acoustic power song where they harmonize wonderfully.

“Earthquakes” is a silly rollicking song, (at least as rollicking as this disc can do).  “When She Talks” is almost too delicate for its own good, but the melody is really strong.

Then you get to the crazy song “Splatter Splatter.”  This song rocks. And it’s quite funny, with the noir guitar lines and the horror movie conceit. I want to hear it again and again and again.

“Independence Day” spins out a wonderful chorus after a somewhat uninspiring start.  And the ending track “My Poor Generation” is a great, winning song.  It’s a bit somber, but again, the full chorus redeems it.

Their albums tend to suffer from late-album mellowness.  And even if their songs are strong, the song placement tends to make you ignore those latter tracks.  But the albums are still really good.

Moxy Früvous are often described as a silly band, but their overall output belies that designation.  Rather, they were just a great band.

[READ: June 25, 2009] “Water Everywhere, 1982”

This story was a tough one for me.  It references a real event in Canadian history that I never heard of: the sinking of the Ocean Ranger, in 1982 (this Wikipedia article will fill you in on the history of the ship).

Helens’ husband was aboard the Ocean Ranger.  The story deals with her (in)ability to cope with the news. Not much “happens” in the story but it pays very great attention to grief and how a whole community is affected by tragedy.

The story is available here.

For easier searching I’m also adding this spelling: Moxy Fruvous.

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Jospeh Boyden–“The True Sorrows of Calamity Jane” (The Walrus, July/August 2009) [Summer Fiction Issue, Genre: Western]

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Joseph Boyden, Moxy Fruvous, R.E.M., Sex, The Walrus, Violence, Western on June 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrusjuly SOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-You Will Go to The Moon (1997).

moonMoxy Früvous’ fourth disc is their most well-rounded. It runs a full gamut of styles from pop to silly to ragga and a capella.

“Michigan Militia” begins the disc with a banjo-fueled rap about well, the Michigan Militia. It is topical, (meaning dated, although I suppose they are still around) and takes a pointed look at right-wingers. “Get in the Car” is upbeat and poppy, an R.E.M.-type alterna-rock song. “Ive Gotta Get a Message to You” is a Bee Gees cover! And it is as catchy as the Bee Gees can be (although far less disco-y).

“Lazlo’s Career” is a smooth folksy acoustic track with fun interstitial bits.
There’s some mellow tracks in the middle, until “No No Raja” breaks out some cool middle eastern sounds. “The Incredible Medicine Show” is a great psychedelic-Beastlesesque song about plastic surgery and other quick fixes. Catchy and pointed.

Meanwhile, “Your New Boyfriend” is fast paced and great (“Your new boyfriends a bit…of a right wing shit”). “Kick in the Ass” is hilarious barbershop (with drums) song about people who deserve a kick in the ass (telemarketers calling during supper, that guy who wrote the book about the bell curve). “Boo Time” is a jazzy fast paced bit of nonsense.

“Love Set Fire” would be the closest to “The Drinking Song” or “Gulf War Song” (from Bargainville), but doesn’t quite reach the majesty of those masterpieces. And finally, the title track is a full a capella treat about futuristic life on the moon.

There’s a funny thread on Amazon reviews about this disc being anti-American.  Yet really the only people who should be offended by “Michigan Militia” is the Michigan Militia.  It’s not anti-USA it’s anti-creepy-right-wing-separatists.  Plus, listen to all of the US fans singing along to it on Live Noise.

[READ: June 24, 2009] “The True Sorrows of Calamity Jane”

This story is the final of the four stories in The Walrus‘ Summer Fiction Issue.  This one is described as a Western, although it’s only a Western in that it is set in the West and concerns Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok.  Now, I don’t know a single thing about these two characters, historically.

Did they date?  Beats me.  But in this story they did. And the narrator is the offspring of Calamity Jane (but not Wild Bill).  (more…)

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Rivka Galchen–“Real Estate” (The Walrus, July/August 2009) [Summer Fiction Issue, Genre: Haunting]

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Funny (ha ha), Gordon Lightfoot, Moxy Fruvous, Political Humor, Rivka Galchen, Short Story, Supernatural, The Walrus on June 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrusjuly SOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS–The “b” album (1996).

bAfter the somberness of Wood, Moxy Früvous no doubt had to get some nonsense out of their system.  And this collection of “b” sides is full of nonsense.  It is funny and silly and smart and sassy and I think it winds up being many people’s favorite discs, despite being only about 20 minutes long.

It’s a bit silly and possibly dated (allmusic chides the Rush Limbaugh song (“The Greatest Man in America”) for being dated, although scarily here we are 12 years later and he’s back.  And the song is still spot on.

So we have ten songs, and they’re all great.  “I Love My Boss” is an a capella ditty about well, loving your boss.  I mentioned “Johnny Saucep’n” as the reason I got into MF in the first place. Man what a great song, a near-acapella beauty with an unreasonable list of foodstuffs (try this as fast as you can:

Basil endive parmesan shrimp live
Lobster hamster worchester muenster
Caviar radiccio snow pea scampi
Roquefort meat squirt blue beef red alert
Pork hocs side flank cantaloupe/sheep shanks Provolone flatbread goat’s head soup
Gruyere cheese angelhair please
And a vichyssoise and a cabbage and a crawfish claw.

How anyone can keep it straight, sing it fast and make it sound so good is beyond me. “Ash Hash” is a humorous look at smoking a bit too much hash. “Gord’s Gold” was the one song I didn’t like on this disc, until I got the Gordon Lightfoot album and realized that this is a kind of twisted tribute to GL.

“Big Fish ” is a fantastic song (and more or less the only “real” song on the disc, although the childlike voices singing the chorus are a bit silly); a pointed song about growing up conservative. “Jenny Washington” is a silly song about outrageous talk shows. “The Kids Song” has a lot of fun with rhymes and the idea that kids can help with our problems (since they are the future):

Is there something you like? (squirt-gunning my dog!)
Is there something you hate? (when my turtle ate my gerbil)
Is it fun to take a bath (no…sometimes…yes)
Should Quebec separate?

This is Moxy’s silliest side. Not for all, but certainly for me.

[READ: June 24, 2009] “Real Estate”

The third story in The Walrus’ Summer Fiction Issue is listed as the haunting genre (as opposed to a horror story) and that makes a lot of sense.  The story is not scary; it is about a woman who lives with ghosts.

She moves into an apartment that is owned by a relative but is going to be sold.  It is largely empty and she is staying there to keep an eye on it and show it when it needs showing.

She soon realizes that there is someone else in the building.  She hears him walking around but never sees him.  She also has the bizarre sensation of thinking she has food in the fridge but when she looks it is invariably something else.  This seems to happen most often with string cheese. (more…)

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Lee Henderson–“The Nerve” (The Walrus, July/August 2009) [Summer Fiction Issue, Genre: Romance]

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Lee Henderson, Moxy Fruvous, Political Humor, Religion, Romance, Short Story, The Beatles on June 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »

walrusjuly SOUNDTRACK: MOXY FRÜVOUS-Wood (1995).

wood

Moxy Früvous is a band that can totally be judged by their covers.  Their first album had a cartoon animal dog thingy, and the disc was whimsical and fun.  Wood, their second disc shows the quartet in an autumnal scene covered in sweaters.  And the content is autumnal and snug.  There’s very little whimsy on the disc. It’s as if they fully matured in two short years.

I would say that this is my least favorite of the MF discs.  However, it also contains my all-time favorite MF song: “Fly” so I can’t dismiss it entirely.

In fact, the first 5 or so songs are all really enjoyable.  I find myself singing “horseshoes have got to be tossed” (from “Horsehoes”) all the time for some reason.  And then we get “Fly.”  It starts out simply enough with an acoustic guitar, but as it builds and the harmonies come in, “we’ll take a last flight you and I….Hold on tight” it’s amazing every time.

“Present Tense Tureen” is similar to the Bargainville style of wit, although it is banjo infused folk rather than pop.  And “Poor Mary Lane” has a Beatlesque stomp going on.

From there the album sort of drifts into pretty, fairly undistinguished folk songs. “Nuits in Rêve” is a 6 minute folk ballad in French.  It’s very pretty, although I don’t know what it’s about.  Finally, the last song “Sad Today” wakes the disc up somewhat, as it feels likes something of a drunken shanty.  There’s also a bonus track called “Organ Grinder” (I suppose) that is the funnest, craziest thing on the disc and feels like pure insanity compared to the rest.  It’s a big shit-stompin’ song.

So as I say, the disc is quite different from the first.  It even feels a little claustrophobic in the production which is something I don’t really notice.  I’m not sure why the band left out their fun songs, maybe so they wouldn’t be pegged a novelty act, but they are sorely missed.

(It’s also likely why they release b shortly afterward).

[READ: June 24, 2009] “The Nerve”

This is the second short story in The Walrus‘  Short Story issue.  This one is labeled as Romance genre, and yet it also transcends the genre and is more  about a man falling in love than any of the other romance tropes. (more…)

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