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Archive for the ‘Death’ Category

Colin Meloy (with illustrations by Carson Ellis)–Under Wildwood (2012)

Posted in Adventure, Animals, Big Books, Carson Ellis, Children's Books, Culture Shock, Death, Fantasy, Fears, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Magic, Quasi, Trees, Trilogy, Violence, War on November 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: QUASI Live at SXSW, March 8, 2010

I really enjoyed a few Quasi albums back around the turn of the century, and then I kind of forgot about them.  But this set is really great.  The always excellent Janet Weiss on drums and harmonies and the wonderful Sam Coombs on guitar and vocals. Around the time of this album, American Gong, they added Joanna Bolme on bass which really fills out their sound.  The first song, “Repulsion,” rocks harder than any of their older stuff (which was more keyboard based).  Indeed this album was apparently much rockinger than any of their earlier releases–I must check it out.

This set was recorded during SXSW  from the Gibson Showroom in Austin.  They play five songs in about 20 minutes.  “Never Coming Back Again” has a far more country feel (especially the backing vocals which have a real twang.  The lengthy instrumental section of “Black Dogs and Bubbles” is great–especially check out Weiss’ drumming.  “Little White Horse” is a shambolic rave of a song–fun and noisy.

The set ends with the inspiring Rise Up, a short stomper that encourages you to, yes rise up.  Weiss and Coombs both have other bands that they play in, so Quasi never seems like a full-time project.  But that seems to make their music all the better.  Listen here.

[READ: November 1, 2011] Under Wildwood

I enjoyed Wildwood, but I wasn’t blown away by it.  So I admit I wasn’t totally excited to read this one (especially since I had some other books lined up).  But Sarah managed to get it from the library (I guess it was not as a big a deal as I assumed it would be?) and I decided to give it a go.

I found it a little slow at first, but after about 40 pages, the book totally took off and I was fully engrossed.  Whether it was because there was less exposition since this was a sequel or because the story itself was more exciting, I couldn’t put the book down.  And, more importantly, the book did not feel like its 550 pages were excessive.  He really filled up every page with story.

But I was a little concerned because part of the story is set in an orphanage–a setting rife for cliché.  But Meloy has some great ideas and although he does use the orphanage as a scary setting (and employs some clichés from all orphanages) he transcends the conceit with some great characters and some evil owners who use demerits to completely move the story along outside of the orphanage–a great plot idea.

But let’s back up. (more…)

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The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror 48-Page Chill-Tacular! [#18] (2012)

Posted in Batman, Death, Evil Dead, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Helloween, Magic, Matt Groening, Queensrÿche, Rosemary's Baby, Short Story, Supernatural, The Bride, The Simpsons on October 31, 2012| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: HELLOWEEN-“Halloween” (1987).

Back in the late 80s, I loved Helloween–they played speed metal, they had intricate solos, and they were German–what’s not to love?  Oh, and also, they were quite funny, with their little pumpkin mascot.

In 1987, they released The Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1, a concept album (hooray), with this song as the 13 minute centerpiece.  They also released a “radio friendly” version that’s about 3 minutes long.  How do you eliminate ten minutes of a song?  Take out some verses, some riffs, a whole middle section of vocals, a cool section that sounds like Queensrÿche, a little spoken word section and a whole lotta solos.  Surprisingly you do get the essence of the song, just none of the theatricality.

So Helloween are still around, although I gave up on them after the sequel to this album (Part Two) which really didn’t live up to the majesty of Part One.

But this song is fun and whether you choose the 13 minute or the 3 minute version, Happy Halloween.

[READ: November 7, 2012] The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror #18

Yes, that’s right, I read this after Halloween!  Hurricane Sandy means I can throw convention to the wind until I catch up.  Sarah bought this for me before Halloween, but I didn’t really feel like reading it on Halloween, so here it is.

Unlike in the TV show, this Treehouse of Horror has four stories!  The first thing you have to get used to in Simpsons comics is that the characters don’t look like the ones on TV.  This is deliberate–they get different artists to draw the pages, so the artist’s own style comes in.  The characters are obviously The Simpsons; it’s amazing how many liberties can be taken with icons and have them still be recognizable.

The first story is a parody of Evil Dead.  Homer takes the family to a cabin in the woods where Henry K. Duff created the secret recipe for Duff beer.  But when the recipe is read aloud…the spirit of the beer possesses the family.  This story is actually kind of gruesome, although my five-year old enjoyed flipping through the pages.  The twist at the end is completely unexpected and wonderful. (more…)

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Kevin Barry–“Ox Mountain Death Song” (New Yorker, October 29 & November 5, 2012)

Posted in Cancer as plot device, Death, Irish Writer, Kevin Barry, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, New Yorker, Short Story on October 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: !!!-Live at KEXP, May 3, 2007 (2007).

!!! play a funky dance party music.  It’s certainly not Top 40 dance, as it throws all kinds of elements into the mix.  I have one of their early EPS but I haven’t listened to much more from them.  This show is from 2007, so I don’t know how much their sound has changed these last five years, but this is a cool and interesting set.

“Myth Takes” has a great bass line while “Heart of Hearts” has a steady beat with 70’s retro keyboards and cool guitar sections.  The jam at the end of the song is great.  “Yadnus” has a slinky feel until the screamed chorus (and there’s one member with a great scream) makes the song rock hard.

The entire set feels like a rollicking party.  I’ll bet they are a lot of fun to see live.

This band is especially hard to search for (search engines don’t know what to do with “!!!”) so the link is here.

[READ: October 26, 2012] “Ox Mountain Death Song”

This was a very brief story set in Ireland.

It was constructed as two parallel narratives: one about a policeman Sergeant Brown, and one about a criminal, Canavan.  Canavan  comes from a long line of criminals–thieves, sexual abusers, violent thugs, and he is no exception   And as soon as the community learns that he has a deadly cancer, they prepare for the worst from him, because what has he got to lose?

Sergeant Brown has dealt with his family for years.  He’s old now–fat and tired and soon to retire, but he wants this guy before he does anything worse.

Brown speaks to an older woman who was recently beaten up by him.  She protects him for a while until she finally reveals his hiding place–in the Ox Mountains.   (more…)

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Shani Boianjiu–“Means of Suppressing Demonstrations” (New Yorker, June 25, 2012)

Posted in Death, Fanfarlo, New Yorker, Shani Boianjiu, Short Story, Violence, War on October 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: FANFARLO-Live at SXSW, March 19, 2010 (2010).

I only know of this band at all from Bob Boilen on NPR, who really liked one of their more recent songs.  This set is from Gisbson’s Showroom in Austin during SXSW.  They play six songs from their debut, Reservoir.

Fanfarlo use all kind of instrumentation to create a very full sound–horns, strings, male and female vocals and of course, bass and drums.  This set makes them seem like they were ahead of the game on bands like Mumford and Sons–there’s a kind of orchestral/folkie pop feel (of course the trumpet is very different from the banjo).  Indeed, they remind me a bit of Beirut.

I rather enjoy this set.  I really like “The Walls are Coming Down” and “Harold T. Wilikins.”  It’s a fun dose of folkie indie rock.  Although I don’t see myself getting their album or anything.  This may be just the dose of Fanfarlo that I need.  You can get the set from NPR here.

[READ: October 19, 2012] “Means of Suppressing Demonstrations”

I’ve been putting this story off for a long time (it came out in June).  The image that accompanied the story, three youths approaching a military barricade just didn’t appeal to me. But the story proved to be really interesting.

It is broken into four sections: Shock, Tear Gas, Rubber, Live Fire.  Each of these is a progressively more dangerous means to suppress demonstration.

But here’s the strange thing–the three youths in the drawing are asking to be suppressed.  They want to get in the paper, they want to be heroes.  So these three Palestinians approach a barricade manned by the Israeli army.  The barricade is at Route 799, which, for the soldiers is a low-traffic, fairly cushy assignment.

The main army guard is Lea, a woman who is soon to be done with her time.  She is looking forward to the end of her time, although she has rather enjoyed the company of Tomer who calls her Lea during the day and Officer at night when they are in bed together.  Route 799 is typically a very quite post until these three come up and politely say that they are demonstrators and wish to be suppressed. (more…)

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Michael Crummey–“The Small Hours” (The Walrus, October 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Cancer as plot device, Death, Depression, Drinking, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Michael Crummey, Short Story, Tame Impala, The Walrus on October 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TAME IMPALA-Live at KEXP April 22, 2011 (2011).

Tame Impala play great swooping psychedelic tracks.  Their album is a wonder of retro modernism–sounding like you’ve heard it all before, but not quite.  I had no idea that they’d be able to duplicate that sounds so effortlessly in concert.  This small setting does nothing to diminish  their epic sound   “Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind” is as soaring as ever.  They throw a little jam on the end of “Solitude is Bliss” which really changes the sound of the song and shows that they don’t only play fuzz.

The interview is amusing because he forgets to take the echo off his voice for the first few questions.  And we learn that the band plays barefoot.

“It’s Not Meant to Be” and “Desire Be Desire Go” are paced a bit slower and more ponderous than the record.  I don’t love it as much this way, but I imagine it works well live.    But overall, it’s a great set, check it out.

[READ: October 20, 2012] “The Small Hours”

This is the story of a writer losing his father.  Justin’s father suffers from Leukemia–there’s a very nasty description of what happens when you have cancer in your spine.  And he is not expected to live long.  Justin is walking around in a fog.

He goes out with his writer friends (one is very pushy, trying to get him laid and wondering when he’s going to write the book about his dying father–Justin wonders when she will write her book about Justin and his dying father.  They spend the small hours together trying to get through the ordeal.

There’s also a tender scene between Justin and his mother as they look through photos.

But overall, I feel like the story was both too long and too short.   (more…)

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Douglas Coupland–Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work! (2010)

Posted in Annie Hall, Biography, Books about writers, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, CBC Radio 3, Consumerism, Death, Depression, Douglas Coupland, Extraordinary Canadians, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Marshall McLuhan, Short Books, Silversun Pickups, Smashing Pumpkins, Technology, The Future on October 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SILVERSUN PICKUPS-Live on KEXP, May 11, 2012 (2012).

Following the other day’s review of Silversun Pickups, I have this more recent show.  In this one, only two members of the band are here–singer/guitarist Brian Aubert and bassist Nikki Monninger for a stripped down acoustic show.

This set is much more enjoyable than the older set.  The songs are certainly stronger, especially “Bloody Mary” and “The Pit.”  But there’s also something refreshing about hearing this band who is usually so fuzzed out sounding clean and simple.  I wouldn’t want an entire acoustic album from these guys, but it’s so dynamic in this version.  You can really hear the construction of the songs in this simple setting.

And the rapport between Brian and DJ Cheryl Waters is relaxed (they are very funny) and engaging–I really want to like these guys.

It’s interesting that in the five years from the previous set the Billy Corganisms have not gone away at all, but I guess one can’t help what one’s voice sounds like.  It’s kind of hard to get past that, but it’s not impossible, and the songs are so good, you can overlook it.  This makes me want to check out their latest album.  You can hear it here.

And for  those who watch TV, Silversun Pickups were on Up All Night this week (in a very weird mash up of pop culture).  Is that how lesser known bands get publicity, or was that meant to be a draw for the show (I don’t know how popular they are–Sarah had never heard of them).

[READ: October 18, 2012] Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work!

I had not heard of this book until I saw it in my local library.  I wasn’t prepared to read another biography of Marshall McLuhan, and indeed, this isn’t one.  This is the American edition of Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall McLuhan with a spiffy new title.  And it is virtually identical.

There are several things that were in the Canadian edition that were left out of the American edition (although they did leave in all of the “u”s in words like “colour”).

The things that were left out are: (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Timequake (1997)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Biography, Culture Shock, Death, Funny (ha ha), Futility, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, Morality, Nada Surf, Short Books, Utopia, Violence on October 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: NADA SURF-Live at KEXP January 30, 2008 (2008).

Nada Surf is criminally underrated and shamefully treated as a one-hit wonder for a song that sounds nothing like the rest of their work.

This four song set at KEXP features four acoustic renditions of songs from their wonderful  album Lucky.  The songs are stripped down, but the harmonies are all there.  The only song that really suffers in this format is “See These Bones,” which is a little less spirited than the recorded version (although the harmonies stand out even better).

They are also funny guys and very personable, as the interview shows.  This set is definitely worth downloading.  You can get it here.

[READ: October 6, 2012] Timequake

Timequake is Kurt Vonnegut’s last novel.  It is very much unlike any of his other novels because it is actually more of a fictional memoir than a novel.

There are two main characters in the book–Vonnegut himself and Kilgore Trout.  Vonnegut talks about his life a lot–and if you know anything about Vonnegut’s life, you know that the details in the novel are accurate.  At the same time, he talks about Trout’s life, specifically the end of his life and how he went from being a destitute bum to a celebrated and oft-quoted author.

And then there’s the matter of the timequake.  In 2001, there was the first timequake.  The world stopped expanding and moving forward and instead flashed back to 1991, where everyone picked up exactly where they were on that date in 1991, and relived every detail of their lives in exactly the same way.  Only this time they knew what was going to happen.  So every person lived on autopilot through every day for the next ten years–all the good and all the band (like the man who spent several years in prison and had to relive those years all over again).  Even the dead were resurrected and relived their days.

It’s an interesting concept and yet in the end it’s really not that interesting of a topic.  In the Prologue, Vonnegut says that he had originally written Timequake (which version he calls Timequake One) with that very premise, and that Vonnegut himself made a cameo. And yet I can see that it wouldn’t really have worked as a very good novel–unless he made up ideas for what happened to everyone and we the readers lived them for the first time– or something.

But so he bailed on that novel, but he certainly left parts of it intact for this one.  And rather than a cameo, Vonnegut features largely in this one. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Hocus Pocus (1990)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Anarchy, Culture Shock, Death, Funny (ha ha), Futility, Kurt Vonnegut, LGBTQ, Marriage Trouble, Morality, Nirvana, Portishead, Prison, Public Enemy, The White Stripes, Utopia, Violence on October 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:  PUBLIC ENEMY-Live at All Tomorrow’s Parties, Convention Hall, October 2, 2011 (2011).

NPR was cool enough to record and provide as a download most of the shows at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in Asbury Park, NJ.  (Portishead wouldn’t allow their show to be recorded, sadly).  But Public Enemy was a welcome surprise!
This tour is in celebration of the anniversary of Fear of a Black Planet.  And they play most of Fear and a lot of other things too (with almost nothing from their 2000 era CDs.

I can remember back in the early days of rap that it was hard to imagine what a rap show would be like live since they didn’t play instruments and much of the music was sampled.  Well, PE has musicians on stage and they have DJ Lord filling in for Terminator X behind the turntables (big shoes to fill, but done largely well–especially his fun “solo” in which he samples The White Stripes and Nirvana–although he should have mixed in Portishead, no?).  And mostly they have the personalities of Chuck D and Flavor Flav.

I suspect that this show would be a bit more fun to watch than it is to listen to–Flavor Flav’s antics don’t always translate well without his visuals.    Like when he asks the audience if that can all say “Ho” (which he eventually holds for 33 seconds!), it seems like a delay tactic in audio, but is probably fun to witness.

What’s especially cool about the show is that PE play so many songs, including small snippets of songs as segues to other ones (like the seventy second version of “Anti-Nigger Machine” that intros “Burn Hollywood Burn” which is practically hardcore) or the minute and a half of “He Got Game” that follows “Night of the Living Baseheads.”  I like that they even threw in some skits from the record like “Meet the G That Killed Me” and “Incident at 66.6FM.”

But of course the real joy is the full length songs, “Brothers Gonna Work It Out,” “911 is a Joke,” and of course “Bring the Noise” and “Fight the Power.”

Some of the improv sections don’t work all that well, the guitar solo in “Power to the People” leaves something to be desired (Khari Wynn maybe a legend, but he;s no Vernon Reid),  although the  “Jungle Boogie” riff is cool.   But the improv with guest drummer Denis Davis was pretty bad ass.  Flavor Flav hopped on the drums and was quite good for “Timebomb.”  We also got to meet Flav’s daughter Jasmine.  And Professor Griff was there too.

It’s also interesting that they keep saying they have no time left in the set (Portishead is next) but they play for at least 30 minutes after this.  Including a wonderful “By the Time I Get to Arizona and the set ending “Fight the Power.”

Chuck D has still got it and Flav is just as crazy and fun as ever (even if his screams and yos seems out of tune from time to time).  Of course, Flav has to get the last word in by raging  on for six and a half minutes  at the end (and about six-minutes in the beginning as well where he gave himself props about his reality show.

It’s a really good set–a little distorted from time to time, but really solid.  Here’s a link to the downloadable show.

[READ: October 2, 2012] Hocus Pocus

This book may have put me over the edge in terms of Vonnegut exhaustion.  I bought this book some time in 1992, but I never read it. It’s been in my house for twenty years and it was about time I read it.

But as I’ve been noticing, each Vonnegut book has been getting darker and more misanthropic.  And this one is no exception.  The construction of the book follows Vonnegut’s cut and paste style but it feels even more shuffled and indirect than usual (more on that later).  In many of Vonnegut’s books, the “climax” occurs somewhere in the middle and he fills in the details later.  For this one, the climax came around h.and I wouldn’t have felt like I missed anything.

In this book, the main character, Eugene Debs Hartke  is a Vietnam vet (usually his protagonists are military men, and Vonnegut has criticized Vietnam a lot, but this is the first time he’s had a Vietnam vet as protagonist).  He married his wife and had a wonderful family until he learned that his mother in law had a disease that made her crazy–but it only kicked in later in life, after he married her daughter.  And that his wife has the same disease–so by the middle of the story both of the women in his life are crazy “hags.”  And, like in his other stories, his children hate him. (more…)

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Paul Legault–The Emily Dickinson Reader (2012)

Posted in Death, Emily Dickinson, Funny (ha ha), John Doe, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, McSweeney's, Paul Legault, Poetry, Poets, Sex, Short Books, Translation, X on September 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JOHN DOE AND EXENE CERVENKA at KEXP December 31, 2010 (2010).

X toured the Los Angeles album back in 2010–the 30th anniversary of the album.  John Doe and Exene Cervenka came to KEXP to do an acoustic set and to talk…a lot.  The DJ tells them of when he saw them at age 16.  He had his camera and wanted to be a rock photographer.  He was getting pushed around in the pit and Exene pulled him onstage (he got great photos which I’d love to see).  Surprisingly, Exene does not seem as moved as one might expect by that story.

This is a simple, acoustic set–John with his guitar and he and Exene singing.  They play a few songs from across their career: “Because I Do,” “In This House That I Call Home” (a personal favorite), “True Love” (another favorite) and “See How We Are.”  John still sounds great, although Exene’s voice sounds a little worn on “Because I Do” and is actually hard to listen to on “True Love.”

There’s some really long interviews–talking about drugs and The Germs and the heyday and how Exene can’t wait for 2011 to start.

[READ: August 27, 2012] The Emily Dickinson Reader

This book is “an English-to-English translation of Emily Dickinson’s Complete Poems.”  What?  Well, basically Paul Legualt has taken all of the “poetry” out of Dickinson’s poems and has left us with what the poems might mean to contemporary readers.  But he also reduced them to basically one line summaries as well–or as McSweeney’s says: “ingenious and madcap one-line renderings.”

So you get “translations” like: #314

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.

Which Legault translates as: “Hope is kind of like birds. In that I don’t have any.” (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Bluebeard, the Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916–1988) (1987)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Art, Big Black, Charles Perrault, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Culture Shock, Death, Funny (ha ha), Futility, Jackson Pollack, Japandroids, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, Morality, Violence on September 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JAPANDROIDS-Live on KEXP, June 16, 2009 (2009).

Back in 2009,  one of the guys from Japandroids had surgery and they had to cancel some dates.  That’s only relevant to this because when this set is over, the guitarist is bleeding from his scar.

Japandroids are two guys and they make a lot of noise.  I can recall jamming on guitar with my friend on drums and even when we were totally in synch, we never sounded this good.  It really sounds like there are four or five people playing.  This set has three songs from their debut album and an amazing cover of Big Black’s “Racer X.”

The three  songs are very good and the guys pay hard and fast and, as I said, they sound amazing.  It’s a great set.  You can hear the whole thing here.  There’s also video of the performance.  It’s broken  into two parts.  This is part two, with the blistering cover of “Racer X.”

[READ: September 17, 2012] Bluebeard

I’ve mentioned this book a few times in the last couple of days as something that I’d been struggling with.  And, indeed, I found it to be a little slow going.  I was excited to start reading it because, as the subtitle says, this is an autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, an artist who appeared in Breakfast of Champions–I love that Vonnegut keeps working within his own universe.  But there was something about the early pages of the story that were just not that compelling.

Rabo is having a hard time getting his book going, and while that is a dramatic effect, I had a hard time getting into the book too.  It’s not that complicated of a story.  There are really only about a half dozen characters in the book:

Rabo–he is an American Abstract Expressionist painter (contemporary of Jackson Pollack, Jasper Johns, et al).
Circe Berman–she is an author who writes under the pseudonym Polly Madison (ha).  Madison’s books look at the real life of American young people and are staggeringly popular.
Paul Slazinger–Rabo’s next door neighbor who spends most of his time in Rabo’s house, although he and Rabo mostly ignore each other.  Slazinger is a writer with a decades long writer’s block.
Dan Gregory–a famous artist for whom Rabo apprenticed.  Gregory was such a good detailist that he once created a perfect forgery of a bill (on a dare).  Gregory was also a terrible racist and philanderer and treated Rabo with contempt at best.
Marilee Kemp–Gregory’s mistress and sometime muse.  She inadvertently sends Rabo an encouraging letter on behalf of Gregory and then she and Rabo begin a writing relationship which blossoms when they eventually meet. (more…)

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