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Archive for the ‘Drinking’ Category

Diane Cook–“Bounty” (Harper’s, August 2014)

Posted in Diane Cook, Drinking, Edmar Casteneda, End of the World, Harper's, Short Story, The Last Man on Earth, Tiny Desk Concert, Violence on May 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

augustSOUNDTRACK: EDMAR CASTANEDA-Tiny Desk Concert #46 (February 8, 2010).

edmarOne thing that’s awesome about the Tiny Desk Concerts is that they give me an intimate look at a band I love.  The second awesome thing is when you get to see an artist who is truly amazing, but whom you realistically would never encounter anywhere else.

Edmar Casteneda plays the Colombian harp.  And he plays the harp like no one else I have ever heard.  His genre is Latin jazz He uses the bass strings for rhythm and the high strings like a guitar.  And most interestingly is the way he uses his hands like a percussive addition on the strings.  I’ve never seen anyone else play the harp (usually an ethereal instrument) so aggressively before.  He sounds like several people playing at once.

Between songs he explains traditional Colombian harp playing and improvisation.  He demonstrates the way his version is different from the traditional way of playing.  And then he explains the fretboard on the harp which allows him to create sharps (which is pretty cool).

He only plays two songs, but the set is 15 minutes, so these are long songs.  And they are really gorgeous.  I prefer the first song, “Entre Cuerdas” to the slightly more new agey sounds of “Jesus de Nazareth,” although they are both mesmerizing.  At around 10 minutes, his hands are simply a blur–how does he know what strings he is hitting?

It’s kind of a shame that the dominant camera angle is face on because you really can’t see what he’s doing all that well, and his hands are really marvelous.  But it’s a small quibble with such an enjoyable performance.

Without a doubt check this out.

[READ: April 4, 2015] “Bounty”

This story begins with a flood and a dead body.  And very few other people left alive.

We have been watching The Last Man on Earth on Fox and this idea of the last person on earth is being explored on that show.  Interestingly, in this story, things are different. The owner of the house isn’t the last man on earth.  In fact, while he is safe on his mountain top house (while water levels are rising), people keep coming to his door asking for food or water.  And he is pissed about it.  He slams the door in their faces and yells at them to get lost.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a story about the end times in which someone was so unpleasant.

There’s a house on another hill not far from him.  And that house is absolutely full of refugees.  This is the main character’s neighbor–and they don’t like each other.  This generosity gives the protagonist even more reason not to like his neighbor. (more…)

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Alex Pugsley–“Changeling Girl” (The Walrus, April 2015)

Posted in Alex Pugsley, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Drinking, Kevin Hearn, Ramones, Rheostatics, Short Story, The Walrus, tagged on May 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

walrusaprilSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Ted’s Wrecking Yard Toronto, ON (May 29 2001).

bye byeThey marked the final two nights that Don Kerr would play drums with the band (after six years) with two nights at Ted’s Wrecking Yard.  [Technically, they reveal at the end of the next show that there is a final show in a few days, but that somehow it doesn’t count].

The two shows together are a simply fantastic collection of Rheostatics music.  Don created the setlists for both shows.  The one downside on this recording is that one of the guitars was recorded very low (although Darrin, the site’s commander, has remixed the show so you can barely tell).  On the plus side, it means that you can hear Dave’s amazing rhythm guitars very well.  Another major plus is that Kevin Hearn plays on this night, and the set list reflects Kevin’s keyboards and songwriting contributions to the band.  This means a bunch of stuff from Harmelodia (including “Home Again” and “Monkeybird” and “The Harmelodian Anthem.”

Don is leaving to tour with Ron Sexmith.  In the middle of the set Don says that he is leaving because Ron has better coke (Kevin chimes in and asks if he needs a keyboard player).

The band is also in great spirits and, to send off Don in a great way, they are really at the to of their game–having fun yes, but committing a fantastic set to tape (these shows were originally going to be released on disc but fifteen years later, that seems unlikely).

The whole show is great.  But some observations: “Four Little Songs” is actually “Five Little Songs” tonight with Kevin getting a verse.  They also ask him about Lou Reed, and Kevin tells a story about meeting Lou for pizza.  And they joke about hot knives.  Kevin eventually did tour with Lou in 2009.

The setlist is a wonderful selection of old and rare songs.  I barely even recognized “The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos” and can’t imagine when they played it last.  They also play “The Reward” which is an underplayed gem–they even remark that they forgot how to play it.

There’s a funny bit where Kevin starts a new song called “guitar changes” while one of the guitarists is yes, changing guitars.  It’s great to have an improv artist like Hearn in your show.  For a real surprise (and for reasons unspoken), Dave sings “Stolen Car,” something I’ve never heard before.  Since Martin’s voice is unique, it’s a very different performance–more melodic with fewer high notes.

They end the set with “The Pooby Song,” a piece of nonsense which is introduced with a long discussion of “pooby” for Kevin’s benefit.

It’s an amazing show.  At some point Dave says they are going to play for a long time–and someone tells him it’s already 1 AM. Wow..

[READ: March 17, 2015] “Changeling Girl”

The girl in the title is not actually a person in the story (which I was rather was looking forward to).  Rather, she is the title of a song by the punk band that this story is about (they are called The Changelings).

The first person story recounts the rise of the band.  And the opening pages are full of the excitement that loving a kind of music and really embracing it can bring.  It is described as a kind of montage as kids play The Clash and kids try to out punk each other with clothes or hair or names like Beamish Mingo, Helen Hopday and even Gash Ragged.

The impressive thing–especially given that I assume the time frame is the early 80s–is that the band is multigendered.

Once the story settles down into their first gig, though, it seems to lose some steam. After the initial rush wears off, we have to slow down–that middle slow section, right? (more…)

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Karl Ove Knausgaard [Knausgård]–“My Saga: Part One” (New York Times Magazine, February 25, 2015) [translated 2015]

Posted in Biography, Diana Gameros, Drinking, Foreign Books, Ingvild Burkey, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Karl Ove Knausgård, Peter van Agtmael, The New York Times Magazine, Tiny Desk Concert, Tiny Desk Contest, Translation, Travel, Yuck! on March 3, 2015| 1 Comment »

01cover-articleLarge-v3SOUNDTRACK: DIANA GAMEROS-“Ligerita” (Tiny Desk Contest Runner-Up 2015).

ligeritaLast 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.

Diana Gameros doesn’t do anything flashy or fancy in this video.  She simply plays the acoustic guitar (amazingly) and sings.  And man, does she have a beautiful voice.  Even more impressive is the way her guitar begins as delicate finger-picked melody in the verses and then transforms into a rollicking Spanish guitar style beauty for the chorus—the way she uses her right hand for the chord playing is great.

This is an absolutely beautiful song, and I was happy to read that she was recently featured on Alt.Latino.

I’m not sure what relaxing location she is in, but it’s nice little room. And even her cat—Lulu—seems to have enjoyed the song.

[READ: February 26, 2015] “My Saga Part One”

I didn’t know that Karl Ove had written this piece for the New Yorke Times magazine until someone brought it to my attention.  I was pretty excited to read it because Book Four of My Struggle isn’t due out until April and I think I’m going through Karl Ove withdrawal.

This first part of the story (because of course it would have to be in two parts) was, I have to admit, a little disappointing.  It features everything that I’ve come to expect from Karl Ove–minutiae, history, shock at people who are unlike him, and a general misanthropy.  But it almost feels like Karl Ove lite–like the Times asked him to write a piece like My Struggle, but, you know, more suitable for a newspaper.  Which may even be how they phrased it.  Of course, it may also be the translation.  Unlike the books, this was translated by Ingvild Burkey.  It’s not that the translation is bad, it seems perfectly fine to me, but the story isn’t as compelling in some way, and perhaps Don Bartlett knows how to capture Karl Ove’s voice better? (more…)

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The Oatmeal–5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (and other useful guides) (2011)

Posted in Drinking, Esquivel, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Katamari Damacy, Seinfeld, The Oatmeal, Video Games, Violence, Wendy Carlos, Yuck! on February 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

oatmealSOUNDTRACK: KATAMARI DAMACY SOUNDTRACK (2004).

katamari In the xkcd post from yesterday Munroe made a joke about driving to Katamari Damacy.  I didn’t know what that was (well, I figured it was a video game, of course). It turns out to be a puzzle type game for PS2.  Since we have a Wii, I’ll never get to play it.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the groovy soundtrack.

The soundtrack to this game incorporates real, interesting music instead of an 8-bit-sounding theme (it won awards back in 2004).  And it is really wild and fun.

I’m focusing on the first two tracks, because there’s just too much to deal with here, but the whole things is trippy and interesting (and most songs are over 3 minutes).

“Nanana Katamari” is the opening song.  It’s upbeat and bouncy, with a simple Nanana vocal line (with some mild beatboxing in between).  It introduced the melody that runs throughout the disc (in various permutations).  After the first few lines, an 8-bit synth line comes in, making it seem like it’s a typical video game soundtrack.  But this is just the intro–and it lasts for just under 90 seconds.  But when “Katamari on the Rock” opens, with some weird glitchy sounds and drums, you have no idea what you’re in for.  Soon, the music turns The music is jazzy and boppy with a kind of Esquivelish “wha??” feeling.  There’s singing, there’s big flourishes and little comments (yea!) and it just sounds fantastic.  I can’t even imagine how this works in the game.

“The Moon and the Prince” is also glitchy sounding, but with some fun spoken (Japanese?) words and a fun beat.  There’s also tracks called “Katamari Mambo” and “Last Samba” showing a vast diversity in musical styles.  And, this being a (Japanese) video game, there’s also some really weird things like the 3 minute “You Are Smart” which is just a synthetic robot saying the title words over and over on top of an electronic riff.  Or “Katamari March Damacy” which sounds like a Wendy Carlos synth song with electronic voices.  Or “Wanda Wanda” which is mostly people saying Wandubadubaduba over and over with some really weird and cool synth music accompanying it.  And yet “A Crimson Rose and a Gin Tonic” opens with the drums of a classic jazz song (the one that Woody Allen uses all the time) and even seems to reference “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”  The Japanese female singer could be singing in Japanese or just scatting, but it doesn’t matter because it sounds great.

There’s even a pretty love song (sung in English) called “Que Sera Sera (not that song, no).  I saw someone on a forum say that he wanted to play it at his upcoming wedding (wonder how that worked out).  It opens with a pretty piano melody and some nonsense syllables before the lyrics come in:

I know you love me
I wanna wad you up into my life
Let’s roll up to be a single star in the sky

I hear you calling me
I wanna wad you up into my life
Let’s lump up to make a single star in the sky
To you, to you

The fact that on different tracks, the singers sing in both Japanese and highly accented English adds an incredible quirkiness to the mix.  As does “Cherry Blossom Color Season” which is sung by children.  The penultimate song “Katamari Love” song is probably a cheesy pop metal song but since it’s sung in Japanese (which means I don’t have to know what the lyrics are) and has a total ROCK STAR feel, I love it.

It’s a fascinating soundtrack, one that was not intended to be listened to with out the game (I assume) and yet one which works quite well on its own.  And opens up some interesting cultural mash ups.

[READ: February 11, 2015] 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth

This weekend is all about old(ish) books of things compiled from the internet which you can already find for free online.

I love The Oatmeal.  Or, as I found out when reading this book, I love the Oatmeal when people send me their favorite jokes.  Because The Oatmeal has some simply outstanding jokes, but there are a lot of jokes in this book that I thought were just okay–not as hilarious as his best stuff.  Which makes me a judgmental jerk, and I acknowledge that.  But the titular joke about punching dolphins is so poor compared to the rest that aside from the shock value, I can’t imagine why it would be chosen for the title.

The best The Oatmeal jokes are linguistic and/or angry.  But there is a whole side category of surprising informative cartoons about various subjects: beer, coffee, cheese (disgusting and true) and many other subjects. (more…)

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Julie Maroh–Blue is the Warmest Color (2010) [translated 2013]

Posted in Death, Dreihunderttausend Verschiedene Krawalle, Drinking, Germania, Graphic Novel, Ivanka Hahnenberger, Julie Maroh, Laibach, LGBTQ, Sex, The Rolling Stones, Translation on February 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Cover_Blue_Angel_MarohSOUNDTRACK: LAIBACH-Sympathy for the Devil (1988).

sympathyAfter recording Let It Be, Laibach decided to tackle another sacred cow–the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.”  “Sympathy” is my favorite Rolling Stones’ songs and even so, I love this incredibly different version of that song.

The Laibach version does everything that they did to Let It Be–changing tempo, deep spoken vocals, marching beat and chanting and they do it eight times.

This is an album/EP (it’s 50 minutes long) and it features several (quite different) versions of the song as well as some recordings by Laibach side projects Dreihunderttausend Verschiedene Krawalle and Germania.

I’ve broken the track listing down by artist, although on the disc, they are interspersed a bit more which adds to the variety.

Laibach: “Sympathy for the Devil” – Done in a big bombastic style–with deep spoken words.   I love the way the horns (after the second or third verse) bring in this cool militaristic/triumphant feel.
Laibach: “Sympathy for the Devil (Time for a Change)” – This version isn’t that different.  The music is minimal–the keyboards are stripped away, although the triumphant horns seem louder and the hoo hoos seems to be more present in the mix.  There’s some wild orchestration in the middle and some very cool tubular bells at the end as well as an instrumental denouement.  I think I prefer this version.
Laibach: “Sympathy for the Devil (Dem Teufel zugeneigt)” – Features some quotes from Kennedy and is spoken in German (with sitar (!) accompaniment).  The remaining verses are done in the original deep voice.

300.000 V.K.: “Sympathy for the Devil (Anastasia)” or “Anastasia” – Sirens open this song as pianos lull us into a sense of peace before the chaos of sampled music and loud beats takes over.  Even though it has really nothing to do with “Sympathy” the “oh ohs” from the Laibach version are also sampled.
300.000 V.K.: “Sympathy for the Devil (Soul to Waste)” – Vocals slowed down even more, sounding deeper than Laibach (in fact he kind of sounds like Andre the Giant).  I’m not even sure what he’s saying in the beginning (the “Sympathy” lyrics do kick in properly at some point).  It does have the same feel as the Laibach version but faster and even more dancey.  The female backing hoo hoos are a nice lightening touch.  There’s also a rocking guitar solo.
300.000 V.K.: “Sympathy for the Devil (Soul to Waste – instrumental)” –Just an instrumental dance version of the above, probably the least interesting on the disc.  Twice as long as the non instrumental version.

Germania: “Sympathy for the Devil (Who Killed the Kennedys)” – This song opens with an interviewer asking if someone has a theory about who killed Kennedy.  The answer is a sullen no.  This interviewer pops up throughout the song repeating the questions and then asking about mixing drugs.  There are all kinds of samples buried in the mix (I hear “All You Need is Love”).  The lyrics are whispered by a female vocalist while the original Jagger vocals are played quietly behind her.  The deep male voice comes in too.  The music is kind of a discoey dance version of the Laibach bombast.
Germania: “Sympathy for the Devil (Who Killed the Kennedys – instrumental)” – Only has a little of the spoken word business–it is basically just a dance remix.

So even though these versions are all basically variations on a theme (and yes 50 minute scan get a little maddening), the variety is pretty impressive (especially since they reuse many of the parts in the different versions).  No one is going to love this version more than the original, but all these years later, I still think it’s pretty cool.

To see the original Laibach version in all its glory, check out this video which I’ve not seen before:

 

[READ: January 17, 2015] Blue is the Warmest Color

I was intrigued enough by Maroh’s Skandalon, that I wanted to check out her earlier book, Blue is the Warmest Color.  I had no idea that it was a really big deal or that it has been made into a movie.

This book, which was translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger, is about a woman who is sure of her sexuality until she meets a woman who changes her mind.

The book is incredibly moving and touching, and it is told in a way that gives you the (sad) end right up front, although the end is not exactly what you think it is.  It’s incredibly well done.

As the book opens up, we see that a woman is riding a bus to go to her lover’s house.  There are superimposed words from her lover’s diary which says that when the woman on the bus (Emma) reads these words, the writer will be dead.  As the first sequence ends, we read: “I love you Emma, you are my life.  Signed Clementine.”  Emma has gone to Clementine’s parents house (where Clementine was living) to retrieve the diary.  Her parents are not happy with Emma.  And they seem to blame her for Clem’s death.

The book is kind of a visualization of Clementine’s diary from when she received it on her 15th birthday until her final entry. (more…)

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Julie Maroh–Skandalon (2014)

Posted in David Homel, Drinking, Drugs, Graphic Novel, Julie Maroh, René Girard, Sex, The Beatles, Translation on February 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

skandSOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Abbey Road (1969).

220px-Beatles_-_Abbey_RoadWithout knowing the history of The Beatles and their recordings, you’d never know the acrimony that was created by this record and Let It Be.  This record doesn’t really seem all that different from their other records, but it in part caused the band to break up.

The opening of “Come Together” is unique in music, it sounds so unusual and so unlike the Beatles.  I love it.  This song seems to be psychedelic in lyrics but very standard rock in music.  It’s a cool mix.   “Something” is a beautiful song (I had no idea it was written by Harrison!)

“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is another goofy Paul song–he really was quite silly.  I like it, it’s fun.  But the other Beatles hated it–Lennon said it was “more of Paul’s granny music” and left the studio for two weeks.  Harrison was also tired of the song, adding “we had to play it over and over again until Paul liked it. It was a real drag”. Starr was more sympathetic to the song. “It was granny music”, he admitted, “but we needed stuff like that on our album so other people would listen to it.”

Even though “Oh Darlin!” is not usually my style (doo wop), I really like the song a lot–probably because of how raw McCartney gets his voice by the end.  “Octopus’ Garden” is of course a goofy fun song–Starr wrote it.  It takes some of the seriousness out of the album, but it’s always fun to sing along to.

“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is quite a shocking song especially after “Octopus.”  I’ve always liked the way the end cuts off seemingly in the middle of nowhere–even Clark last night listening to it said That was weird about the end.  It’s a fairly simple song (there are hardly any words), with a bluesy section a kind of prog rock section and it goes on forever.

“Here Comes the Sun” is a song that I knew as a kid which I never connected to the Beatles until I was in college.  My mom loved the song, but didn’t really like the Beatles, so I’ve always just assumed it was some folk song.  It’s a really pretty song (by Harrison).

“Because” has an interesting chord progression and is very cool with the multilayered voices.

“You Never Give Me Your Money” is a fun bouncy song that begins as a mellow piano song and then turns very jaunty.  Then comes some great guitar solos and a rocking ending.  This song begins what is considered the medley at the end of the album.  This song itself has so many parts that it could be a medley itself.  The remaining songs are all between 1 and 2 minutes all blend into each other.

Starting with “Sun King” which is quite pretty with lovely harmonies and Italian lyrics at the end.  I never knew “Mean Mr. Mustard” was called that.  It’s a bouncy song about a nasty guy.  It quickly jumps to the fast “Polythene Pam” which is barely over a minute.  Then come four songs written by McCartney, “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” a super catchy song with great harmonies–it’s just under 2 minutes long and it merges into “Golden Slumbers” which I always assumed was just the introduction to “Carry That Weight” (as they always seem to get played together on the radio–which makes sense since together they are 3 minutes long).  The medley ends with “The End” which features a Ringo Starr drum solo and a rocking guitar solo.

At the end of the album and not part of the medley is “Her Majesty” a 38 second song.

Abbey Road is a pretty near perfect album.  There’ s a couple of goofy songs which kind of undermine the intensity of the record, but they are also really fun to sing along to, so that makes it okay in my book.

[READ: January 7, 2015] Skandalon

Maroh wrote and illustrated this book (translated by David Homel) about a rock star and his attempts to deal with (or not) the increasing fame he gets.

The artistic style she uses is really interesting–I assume it is all painted with very heavy paints.  It is occasionally “sloppy” but it is always effective and quite powerful in the images it creates.  It also reads very European to me, which I find interesting (given that she is in fact French).

As the book opens, we a singer Tazane on stage with his adoring fans.  And then, at a pres conference he plays up his diva act and walks out on a question he finds impertinent.

In the tradition of the Wall and Jim Morrison, Tazane tries harder and harder to get a reaction out of his fans, or maybe just to alienate the  fans and the press. He sings songs with lyrics like “I feel nothing about people.  I feel nothing about myself.”  And his “public image” (a phrase he hates) gets damaged every time he speaks. (more…)

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Greg Jackson–“Wagner in the Desert” (New Yorker, July 21, 2014)

Posted in Autumn Defense, Ben Goldwasser, Birdflower, Black Pus, Chuck Inglish, Def Rain, Dr. Dog, Drinking, Drugs, Electric Würms, Fever the Ghost, Foxygen, Grace Potter, Greg Jackson, J. Mascis, Julianna Barwick, Maynard James Keenan, Miley Cyrus, Moby, Morgan Delt, My Morning Jacket, New Fumes, New Yorker, Phantogram, Pitchwafuzz, Puscifer, Sex, Short Story, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Sunbears!, Tegan and Sara, The Beatles, The Flaming Lips, Treasure Mammal, Wilco, Zorch on February 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

july21SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS 2014-With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014).

fwendsAnd speaking of covers.

Probably the least anticipated album of 2014 was the Flaming Lips’ cover of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Although the biggest surprise (mostly in a bad way, it seemed) was Wayne Coyne’s embrace (metaphorical, we hope) of Miley Cyrus.  The fact that Cyrus appears on this record at all totally overshadowed the fact that so many other people and bands appeared here as well.  I literally had no idea at the names that contributed to this electronic psychedelic re-imagining of a very psychedelic album.

The biggest overall difference between the two is that the Beatles’ psychedelia was conveyed through organic instruments–strings, horns, sitar, piano–while The Fwends version is almost entirely electronic.  This of course means that the album sounds very different from the original.  But what I think makes the album a success overall is that the various artists involved all bring a slightly different vision to the proceedings.  This makes it less of a Flaming Lips record and more of a Friends of Lips-style psychedelia collection.  I’m not even sure why it’s a Flaming Lips record, except that they are credited with playing on a bunch of songs (and presumably produced it–which explains some of the excess noise on the record).

Obviously, they are not trying to improve on the original.  And obviously, die-hard Beatles fans are appalled at this travesty.  But anyone who knows the Beatles knows that they were all about experimenting themselves.  Rather than getting mad about this, perhaps listeners should see that  they are having fun with the originals–sometimes staying faithful, sometimes exploring other ways to do songs, and sometimes just throwing everything out the window for a chance to jam.  And some versions you may even like.

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” featuring My Morning Jacket, Fever the Ghost & J Mascis
The song starts out with a goofy falsetto rendition of the song which makes it seem like the whole album is going to be a big joke (I assume this is Fever the Ghost whom I don’t know).  But I loved the way the “record” slows down to let MMJ take over with a great noisy, respectful chorus.  The song could certainly use more MMJ.  When “Billy Shears” is introduced, it turns out be J Masics playing a totally song-inappropriate wailing guitar solo.
“With a Little Help from My Friends” featuring The Flaming Lips, Black Pus & Autumn Defense
I love that Wayne sings this verse (about being out of tune) with an auto tune on his voice.  He sings it really quite lovely.  I even enjoy that the response verses are done in a kind of out of tune crazy way.  But the problem is that they are too much–it turns the song into too much of a joke (which is to be expected form a band called Black Pus, I suppose).  It’s a shame because the idea could work really well if it didn’t sound like someone crashing a party.  Autumn Defense is a side project from the bassist for Wilco, and I assume he does the lovely harmony vocals.
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” featuring The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus & Moby
Miley so overshadows everyone on this song that I didn’t even realize Moby was on it.  Miley sounds really quite good in this version–not all that dissimilar to John’s falsetto voice on the original.  The removal of the big drum before the chorus is distressing, although I do like the replacement, the echoed “gone” part (which must be Moby).  I like that they are having fun with the song (the repeat of “Marshmallow Pie” is cute) I just wish the chorus wasn’t mixed so loud that it is so distorted.  I hate that about recent Lips releases, why do they do it?
“Getting Better” featuring Dr. Dog, Chuck Inglish & Morgan Delt
Dr Dog sounds great in this version, although I find Inglish’s recitation (in which he can’t seem to hit any notes on the few times when he  “sings” to be rather unsettling).  I don’t know Morgan Delt, but I find his trippy vocals to work quite well.
“Fixing a Hole” featuring Electric Würms
Electric Würms are the side project of Flaming Lip Steven Drozd.  This is claustrophobic but quite appropriate for the song (I wish it were a little cleaner though).
“She’s Leaving Home” featuring Phantogram, Julianna Barwick & Spaceface
This is a great, delicate version of this with Phantogram and Barwick sharing lead vocals duties.  It’s quite lovely.
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” featuring The Flaming Lips, Maynard James Keenan, Puscifer & Sunbears!
Maynard does a great job reciting the song.  The song is not necessarily more trippy than the original (which is pretty trippy), it’s just a lot more electronic-sounding.  It’s a weird but cool rendition of the song.
“Within You Without You” featuring The Flaming Lips, Birdflower & Morgan Delt
I don’t know Birdflower, but she does a great job in a higher register with the Indian melody (it’s all electronic and not traditional Indian instrumentation but it sounds cool).  Delt sings alternate leads and is a good counterpoint.
“When I’m Sixty-Four” featuring The Flaming Lips, Def Rain & Pitchwafuzz
I don’t know Def Rain or Pitchwafuzz, but I think Def Rain is doing the voice.  The robotic voice that sings this song is kind of fun–a little too much at times, but overall fun.
“Lovely Rita” featuring Tegan and Sara & Stardeath and White Dwarfs
Tegan and Sara have fun with this song while the noise from Stardeath is much darker than the original.
“Good Morning Good Morning” featuring Zorch, Grace Potter & Treasure Mammal
This song is a little wild (although so is the original).  I don’t know any of the artists involved in it.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” featuring Foxygen & Ben Goldwasser
Foxygen takes this one minute reprise and turns it into a five minute jam session. It has nothing at all to do with the original and it is a weird way to delay the final song.  I don’t know what Goldwasser contributes.  If you can get past the fact that it sounds nothing like the original, it’s an interesting noisy jam.
“A Day in the Life” featuring The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus & New Fumes
Wayne and Miley duet on this, with again, Wayne taking the vocals seriously.  Wayne does the “John” verses.  The switch to Miley’s take on the “Paul” verses is a pretty big shock the way it sounds so stark and electronic.  There’s a few too many echoes on her part, but again, Miley does pretty well with a detached reading.  And because The Lips are purposefully difficult, the end gets cut off before the final famous crescendo.

So is this a great record that people will listen to a lot? Nope.  Is it an interesting twist on a famous record?  Sure.  Is it enjoyable?  For the most part.  As long a you don’t think of it is a definitive re-make, and accept it as a way to raise money for a charity, which it did for The Bella Foundation.

[READ: January 28, 2015] “Wagner in the Desert”

This story reminded me in spirit of both Less than Zero and Generation X, but perhaps for Generation Y.

It’s about a bunch of friends getting ready to ring in the New Year in Palm Springs with a lot of drugs.

The narrator and friends were vacationing some friends from whom he had drifted.  Marta and Eli were trying to have a baby and were looking to do one more sort of wild night before it all became to real: “The Baby Bucket List they were calling it.”  So they all headed to Palm Springs, a group of “modern hustlers: filmmakers, ad writers (screen, Web, magazine), who periodically worked as narrative consultants on ad campaigns, sustainability experts, P.R. lifers, designers, or design consultants, social entrepreneurs and that strange species of human beings who has invented an app.”

Unlike the coke heads of the 80s, though: “We thought we were not bad people.  Not the best, a bit spoiled, maybe, but pleasant, inconstant, decent.”

The group were all paired off except for the narrator and Lily, who was pretty and neurotic, an executive in training.  And he soon filled the role of her gofer because “she needed a lot of things.” He had hoped to have sex with her–his only goal for the vacation.  But as of day three, they had only made out a bit. (more…)

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Colin Barrett–“The Ways” (New Yorker, January 5, 2015)

Posted in Colin Barrett, Death, Drinking, New Yorker, Primus, Set at School, Short Story, Video Games on January 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

jan5SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS–They Can’t All Be Zingers (2006).

zingersIt’s funny to think of Primus having a greatest hits album, although they did in fact have some hits.

I always think it’s interesting to see what albums are most represented on Greatest Hits collections–did a band become popular later in their career or did their success fade after a time?  In this case, the early stuff is very well represented.

There’s nothing from Suck on This, which isn’t too surprising since pretty much everything has been re-recorded, but you get three tracks from Frizzle Fry (a great album that I would think would be hard to choose three songs from), three from Sailing the Seas of Cheese and three from Pork Soda.  You even get three from Tales from the Punchbowl (I wouldn’t have thought “Electric Grapevine” would make it).

As the end of the first part of their career came into view, we get only two songs from The Brown Album.  There’s only one song from the hated (by Les) Antipop and I feel like a conciliatory nod to the reunion EP with “Mary the Ice Cube.”  I would have rather them put “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” on the disc as their cover of that song is only available as a video on any official release.

Perhaps the most fun thing about this release is the packaging, which, yes, looks like processed cheese.

[READ: January 23, 2015] “The Ways”

This was a strange story to me.  It is about three older teens who appear to be living on their own in what I gather is rural Ireland.  The oldest brother (Nick) is out of school and is currently working, the two younger siblings are still in school, although the youngest brother (Gerry) is always getting in trouble and the sister (Pell) basically just stopped going to school once their father died.

As the story opens, Pell gets a call that Gerry has been fighting and has been suspended.  She hitchhikes and then takes the bus into the city (which is a dozen or so miles away) to pick him up.  On the bus some of Gerry’s friends recognize her and give a her a bit of hard time, but she gives back just enough–asking why those guys are not in class–they say they were off messing about for the morning.  It’s clear that Pell takes no guff.

The next section shifts to Nick while he’s on a cigarette break at work.  There’ a funny bit about his coworker, a Chinaman named Sean.  When Pell and Gerry show up at the restaurant, he gives them so free food and tells them to hold on.  He tells Pell that the next time, the school should call him at work.  When Pell says she tried to call him when the school called their house, but that he didn’t answer, he says that he won’t answer when they call him either, but at least Pell won’t have to deal with it. (more…)

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Dave Eggers–“The Alaska of Giants and Gods” (New Yorker, November 17, 2014)

Posted in Boredom, Dave Eggers, Drinking, Fishbone, Funny (strange), Gabby La La, Les Claypool, Magic, Magicians, New Yorker, Nostalgia, Primus, Short Story, The Les Claypool Frog Brigade on January 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

nov 17SOUNDTRACK: THE LES CLAYPOOL FROG BRIGADE-Purple Onion (2002).

onionThis is the first and so far only studio album from the Les Claypool Frog Brigade (line up slightly different from the live albums).  I think it’s one of his best solo releases in terms of overall musical complexity.  The addition of Skerik on sax makes a world of difference to Les’ songs and even better is percussionist Mike “Tree Frog” Dillon on vibraphone–which adds a new level of depth to these songs.  Also having a backing vocalist seems to add even more to them.

Psychotic circus music opens the saga of “David Makalster.”  It’s a riff on the news (where everything’s exactly as it seems).  The chorus is a fun vibraphone filled section–cheerful and fake.  It’s a decent song.   In true Les fashion, he follows it up with a Part II later in the disc in which the truth of the unhappiness is revealed.  Between the two songs it’s 11 minutes long which is too much for this one conceit, although I do like the way the part II revisits the first song in a different way.

But there’s so much else that’s so good on the record.  Like “The Buzzards of Green Hill” which opens with a jaw harp and some cool bass.  It’s a simple up and down riff that is incredibly catchy.  Later it’s got some great guitar and horn solos.  “Long in the Tooth” sounds like a Primus song, but the crazy sax noises turn this into something else entirely.  “Whamola” is a cool song that features Les’ work with the whamola, a one string instrument that features prominently on the song–it’s like a viola that you can do bends on.  It’s a great jam with Fish from Fishbone on drums and Skerik’s crazy sax as well.

“Ding Dang” sounds like it would be a silly song but it actually attacks all forms of prejudice–racist, homophobic ignorance all gets taken to task and then put to a rather cheerful-sounding chorus.  There’s some wild solos on this in song too.   Tolerance is a good thing.

“Barrington Hall” is an interesting creeping sounding song with vibes and bowed bass.  It feels like a kind of silly horror movie song.

“D’s Diner” opens with some backward percussion.  It has a creepy sinister bass line and some crazy vocal all about a yummy dinner.  It features Gabby La La on sitar and Norwood Fisher from Fishbone on bass.  “Lights in the Sky is an atmospheric song which is a bit too long.  “Up on the Roof” has a great slapping bass thing going on and the vibes solo is wonderful.

“Cosmic Highway” ends the disc with a pretty lengthy jam.  It has some great solos from the various instruments–I actually would have preferred this as an instrumental–I think it would have removed the slower parts.  But it’s a fun, trippy album closer.

And after this, Primus would (briefly) reunite.

[READ: January 19, 2015] “The Alaska of Giants and Gods”

In this story (which I imagine is the beginning of a new novel from Eggers), Josie has packed her kids into a (cheap rented) R.V. and has taken them to Alaska.

Josie used to be a dentist.  She was sued by a woman who claimed that Josie should have seen the cancer in her mouth.  Josie was so disgusted, she threw up her hands and said to take everything.  Which the woman did.  She felt the lower forty-eight states were full of cowards and thieves so it was time to get out.

And yet when they crossed the border, the Alaska she imagined was nowhere to be seen–no magic, no pure air, just a regular old city. (more…)

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Kristin Valdez Quade–“Ordinary Sins” (New Yorker, October 20, 2014)

Posted in Drinking, Humiliation, Kristin Valdez Quade, New Yorker, Pregnancy, Primus, Religion, Sex, Short Story, South Park on January 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

nyoct20 SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-“South Park” Theme Song (1997).

In 1997, Trey Parker and Matt Stone asked Primus to recsouthparkord a theme song for their new show South Park.  They joked that the show might not even be picked up, but whatevs–it could also be a hit.

Of course, it turns out that this show has probably made Les and the boys more money than anything else they’ve done.

Interestingly, the original song they submitted was 1 minute long (way too long for an intro) and rather slow and creepy.  Rather than have them edit it or re-record it, the South Park team just sped it up (and removed the solos, which they put at the end) and then asked Les to re-sing it.

So here is the original, rather creepy version of the theme song.

And here is the final product

[READ: January 10, 2015] “Ordinary Sins”

This is the story of Crystal.  Crystal works at a local parish as secretary.  She took the job thinking it would be temporary. Then she got pregnant unexpectedly (there’s no father around) and now she is stuck (and grateful that the church is keeping her on).

Her co-worker, Collette, totally disdains her and tries to make things unpleasant for her.  In fairness, Collette tries to make things unpleasant for everyone.

The priest at the Parish, Father Paul, is super nice and quite kind, especially to Crystal.  He seems to give her little bits of encouragement throughout the day.  He is a former alcoholic and from what Crystal can tell, he has more than made up for his sins and (since she knows everything about him, really) he seems pretty devoid of all sin at this point.

He encourages her to go to confession.  Eventually she does.  But during the confession, she confessed a bit more than she meant to, .  And since she knows he knew it was her–how could he not?–she tries to hide from him, believing that things will be weird.  And things do get weird, but they seem to be more weird because of Father Paul not what she said. (more…)

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