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Archive for the ‘Film & TV’ Category

Mark Millar & Frank Quitely–Jupiter’s Legacy Book One (2015)

Posted in Built to Spill, Frank Quitely, Graphic Novel, Mark Millar, Superheroes, Supernatural, The Incredibles, Violence on October 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

jup[iterSOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-The Normal Years (1996).

btsnormalIn 1996, Built to Spill signed with a major label.  In the meantime, K Records, released this collection of early singles and rarities (not bad for a band with two albums out).

It’s not a bad collection, but it’s also not terribly essential.”So & So So & So from Wherever Wherever” is a very good song, with a weird almost seasick guitar intro and then some big heavy guitars in the chorus.  It, like most of the songs here, is pretty lo-fi.

“Shortcut” is a fast and simple song and is only 90 seconds long.  “Car” is the original version of the song from Love.  This one has no strings and is “Some Things Last a Long Time” is a Daniel Johnston song.  It opens slow with “ah ah” backing vocals and slow guitars although at 90 seconds the guitars kick in and pick up the noise.

“Girl” is done on an acoustic guitar song.  It seems very honest and confessional with the lyric that he would like “someone I can talk to; someone I don’t have to talk to.”

“Joyride” is like the opposite of “Girl.”  It’s probably my favorite song here–sloppy and funny, with a great line: “I screwed her and she screwed me but we never once had sex.”  And the whole second verse talks about the structure of the song, including which chords are being played.  It even includes a car crash.   “Some” is a live recording that opens with slow pounding drums and a long solo to start.  It mellows out by the end.

“Sick & Wrong” is an early single with a surprisingly funky bassline.  “Still Flat” comes from the Red Hot & Bothered collection, so it sounds better recorded than the other songs.  It also has a trombone.  The final song, “”Terrible/Perfect” starts slow but builds big and ends with a long mellow instrumental section.

While there are certainly some good songs here, it’s really for the die hard fan.

[READ: September 29, 2015] Jupiter’s Legacy

Jupiter’s Legacy Book One collects books 1-5 of the Jupiter’s Legacy series.

I didn’t love the artwork of this story.  There was something about it that I found disagreeable.  And it made my initial impression of the story less than great, too.  There is a bunch happening all at once that needs to be unpacked and I was a little distracted by the art.

But the story is so good.  It takes ideas that have been bandied about recently–What do superheroes do if there are no more super villains?  What do the children of superheroes do?  And what would happen if superpowers become illegal–and adds a personal drama (and a very elliptical storytelling style).

The story opens in 1932.  A group of people are requesting transportation to an island which the ship’s captain says simply isn’t there.  The leader, Sheldon, has had a dream about it being there and everyone (including his brother William) trusts his visions completely.  And they do find the island just as Sheldon imagined.

Then we flash forward to 2013.  We see two young people who look a bit like the earlier men and women.  It turns out that they are the son and daughter of the 1932 folks.  They are celebrities living in Los Angeles, and they looks somewhat the worse for wear.  Meanwhile in Vermont actual superheroes are battling Blackstar.  And that’s when we see Sheldon is one of those superheroes.  He has gray hair but, well, he’s a superhero–in tights a cape and he is known as Utopian.  He is super string and has a cool ability of removing a person’s mind from their body and putting it in a safe place while that person’s body is getting pummeled.  This prevents them from fighting back. (more…)

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Mark Millar & John Romita, Jr.–Kick-Ass (2010)

Posted in Built to Spill, Caustic Resin, Graphic Novel, John Romita Jr., Kick-Ass, Kicking Giant, Mark Millar, Superheroes, Violence, Yuck! on September 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

kickassSOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL CAUSTIC RESIN (1995).

caustic This is one of those CDs that I used to see all the time back when I shopped at Tower Records in Boston.  Either they had a lot of copies of it or it was always at the front, or something.  But I never forgot the title of this EP, which I only purchased a few years ago.

The title is funny because it is indeed a merging of Built to Spill and Caustic Resin.  But it’s not a split single with the two bands playing.  Rather, it is Doug Martsch from Built to Spill playing with the three guys from Caustic Resin James Dillion on drums, Tom Romich on bass and Brett Netson on guitar and vocals on “Shit Brown Eyes.”  (Remember how Doug was planning to have different musicians on each album?).

The EP has four songs totaling about 25 minutes.

“When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough” is over 9 minutes long.  It opens with a lot of instrumental stuff until about 3 and half minutes when the title lyrics come in as does the organ.  By 5 and half minutes the song doubles in speed and builds with some great soloing.

“One Thing” has loud and screamed vocals from Martsch (probably the only BtS song like that). There’s a lot of wild psychedelic keyboard work in the middle of the song which alternates with a lengthy guitar solo.  They pack a lot of jamming into five minutes.

“Shit Brown Eyes” was written by Caustic Resin.  It’s a fairly conventional sounding song.  There’s lots of guitar work and dual vocals.  It’s a little chaotic, but there’s more beautiful soloing toward the end.

The final song is a cover of Kicking Giant’s “She’s Real.” The song is also fairly conventional (I don’t know the original) but they stretch it out to 8 minutes.  It has a slow and mellow opening.  There’s a lengthy fairly quiet guitar soloing section and then the end has a rocking section repeating “be my, be my baby” (but not a cover of the original).

This is an interesting EP, and might serve as an introduction to Caustic Resin (who I don’t really know) more that Built to Spill.  It’s certainly not their best album, but “When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough” is really fantastic.

[READ: July 20, 2015] Kick-Ass

I really enjoyed the movie of Kick-Ass.  I knew it was from a comic book but I’d never seen the book before.  And then I walked right past it in the library and had to check it out.  This book collects issues 1-8 of the first series.

The movie is changed in different ways (made more “upbeat” mostly) but the story line is pretty consistent.  Dave Lizewski is a fairly  normal kid.  He’s not a jock, but he’s not picked on either.  He likes comic books but isn’t a major geek.  He crushes on a hot girl and she won’t give him the time of day–pretty standard fare.  But he wants something more.  And he wonders why no one has ever tried to become a super hero for real.  Obviously there’s no magic or superpowers involved, just a costumed avenger helping people?  Why not?

So he decides to do it.  He puts on a scuba suit an and a mask and heads out. Now, unlike every superhero, he has no major back story.  His mother is dead, but from an aneurysm, so there’s no revenge.  And his dad is pretty cool, so there’s no struggle there.  He just wants some excitement.  And he finds it.  He runs into some kids spray painting on a wall.  He has no fighting skills, and he gets the crap beat out of him.  And as he flees, he is hit by a car.   He winds up in the hospital, barely alive. (more…)

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Critical Insights: David Foster Wallace (2015)

Posted in Aengus Woods, Aisling O'Gara, Alexander Resar, Áine Mahon, Biography, Built to Spill, Charles Nixon, Chuck D, Claire Hayes-Brady, David Coughlan, David Foster Wallace, Don DeLillo, Eschaton, Essays, Ira Nadel, John Ashbery, John Barth, Jorge Araya, Julia Kristeva, Kiki Benzon, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Mark Sheridan, Modest Mouse, Philip Coleman, Racism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ron Callan, Scholarship, Sexism, Steve Gronert Ellerhoff, Tennis, The Simpsons, The Velvet Underground, Thomas Pynchon, Tim Groenland, William Gaddis, William Gass, Word usage on September 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »

dfwSOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-Ultimate Alternative Wavers (1993).

Bts I am going to see Built to Spill this Friday.  I was supposed to see them back in 2001, but then some bad things happened in New York City and their show was cancelled (or I opted not to go–I see on Setlist that they did play that night).  Since then, I have enjoyed each new album more than the previous one, so I am really excited to see them.

I thought it would be interesting to revisit their earlier records.  In reading about the band I learned that Doug Martsch was in Treepeople (which I didn’t know and who I don’t really know at all).  I also learned that his plan for BtS was to have just him with a different line up for each album.  That didn’t quite work out, but there has been a bit of change over the years.

Their debut album is surprisingly cohesive and right in line with their newer material.  It’s not to say that they haven’t changed or grown, but there’s a few songs on here that with a little better production could easily appear on a newer album.  Martsch’s voice sounds more or less the same, and the catchiness is already present (even if it sometimes buried under all kinds of things).  And of course, Marstch’s guitar skill is apparent throughout.  The album (released on the tiny C/Z label) also plays around a lot with experimental sounds and multitracking.  When listening closely, it gives the album a kind of lurching quality, with backing vocals and guitars at different levels of volume throughout the disc.

But “The First Song” sounds like a fully formed BtS song–the voice and guitar and catchy chorus are all there..  The only real difference is the presence of the organ in the background.  “Three Years Ago Today” feels a bit more slackery–it sounds very 90s (like the irony of the cover), which isn’t a bad thing.  The song switches between slow and fast and a completely new section later in the song.  “Revolution” opens with acoustic guitars and then an occasional really heavy electric guitar riff that seems to come from nowhere.  The end of the song is experimental with weird sounds and doubled voices and even a cough used as a kind of percussion.

“Shameful Dread” is an 8 minute song.   There’s a slow section, a fast section, a big noisy section and a coda that features the guys singing “la la la la la”.  Of course the most fun is that the song ends and then Nelson from The Simpsons says “ha ha” and a distorted kind of acoustic outro completes the last two minutes.

“Nowhere Nuthin’ Fuckup” is one of my favorite songs on the record.  There’s a sound in the background that is probably guitar but sounds like harbor seals barking.  I recently learned that the lyrics are an interpretation of the Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin.”  They aren’t exactly the same but are very close for some verses.  The rest of the music is not VU at all.  In fact the chorus gets really loud and angular.  I love the way the guitars build and then stop dramatically.

“Get a Life” opens with a wild riff that reminds me of Modest Mouse (who cite BtS as an influence), but the song quickly settles down (with more multitracked voices).  I love how at around 4 minutes a big swath of noise takes over and it is resolved with a really catchy noisy end section.  “Built to Spill” starts out slow and quiet, and grows louder with a catchy chorus.  In the background there’s all kinds of noisy guitars and superfuzzed bass.

“Lie for a Lie” is pretty much a simple song with s constant riff running throughout.  The verses are catchy, but the middle section is just crazy–with snippets of guitars, out of tune piano, a cowbell and random guitar squawking and even shouts and screams throughout the “solo” section.  “Hazy” is a slow song with many a lot of soloing.  The disc ends with the nine minute “Built Too Long, Pts 1,2 and 3”  Part 1 is a slow rumbling take on a riff (with slide guitar and piano).  It last about 90 seconds before Part 2 comes in.  It has a big fuzzy bass (with a similar if not identical riff) and wailing guitar solos.  Over the course of its five or so minutes it get twisted and morphed in various bizarre ways.  With about 30 seconds left, Chuck D shouts “Bring that beat back” and the song returns, sort of, to the opening acoustic section.

While the album definitely has a lot of “immature” moments (and why shouldn’t the band have fun?) there’s a lot of really great stuff here.

btstix

[READ: September 26, 2015] Critical Insights: David Foster Wallace

It’s unlikely that a non-academic would read a book of critical insights about an author.  Of course, if you really like an author you might be persuaded to read some dry academic prose about that author’s work.  But as it turns out, this book is not dry at all.  In fact, I found it really enjoyable (well, all but one or two articles).

One of the things that makes a book like this enjoyable (and perhaps questionable in terms of honest scholarship) is that everyone who writes essays for this collection is basically a fan of DFW’s work.  (Who wants to spend years thoroughly researching an author only to say means things about him or her anyway?).  So while there are certainly criticisms, it’s not going to be a book that bashes the author.  This is of course good for the fan of DFW and brings a pleasant tone to the book overall.

For the most part the authors of this collection were good writers who avoided a lot of jargon and made compelling arguments about either the book in question or about how it connected to something else.  I didn’t realize until after I looked at the biographies of the authors that nearly everyone writing in this book was from England or Ireland.  I don’t think that makes any difference to anything but it was unexpected to have such an Anglocentric collection about such an American writer (although one of the essays in this book is about how DFW writes globally).

Philip Coleman is the editor and he write three more or less introductory pieces.  Then there are two primary sections: Critical Insights and Critical Essays. (more…)

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Mark Mothersbaugh–Myopia (2014)

Posted in Adam Lerner, Booji Man, Cary Levine, Devo, Human Highway, Maria Elena Buszek, Mark Mothersbaugh, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Neil Young, Pee Wee's Playhouse, Sex, Shepard Fairey, Steven Wolf, The Lego Movie, The Royal Tenebaums, Violence, Wes Anderson on September 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

myopSOUNDTRACK: DEVO-“Satisfaction” (1977).

devoThis has to be the most audacious cover of its time.  Devo took one of The Rolling Stones’ more beloved song and turned it into a weird, angular piece of art.

The original has a simple riff, a surprisingly slow pace an a slinky, sexy groove.  Devo has sped it up and, most importantly, made it angular and complete unsexy.  I have been listening to this song over and over trying to figure out what is going on.

The drums are consistent but there’s all kinds of interesting sounds in the drums.  The guitar and bass are doing one or two repetitive riffs that don’t quite make sense individually, but work well together.  The bass line itself is just fascinating–how did anyone think of that?

Lyrically, the song is the same, but instead of sounding like a guy who is trying to score, he sounds insane.  And the babybabybabybabybabybaby section is hilarious and weird.  Then they throw in a modified “Satisfaction” riff loud on the guitar at the end with the band chanting “Satisfaction.”  Talk about deconstruction.

No Devo song would be complete without the visual element.  All five of them wearing their plastic hazmat suits, moving in stiff/jerky motions, more robot than human.  And of course, Mothersbaugh himself looks crazy with swim goggles on and mussy hair.  Then they show his modified guitar–the first item in close up.  There’s duct tape all over it, and extra knobs and some kind of square bottom section.  It seems impossible that it is making the sounds that he is shown playing on it since the strings (or is it just one string?) seem so loose.

There’s the guy doing flips (Wikipedia tells me he is dancer Craig Allen Rothwell, known as Spazz Attack, whose signature dance move was a forward flip onto his back).  And of course, there’s an appearance by Booji Boy sticking a fork in a toaster.

What on earth did Mick and the boys think of this?

This cover was done in 1977 and it is still remarkable today.

[READ: September 1, 2015] Myopia

We saw Mothersbaugh’s Myopia show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.  In retrospect I would have loved to spend more time there (although the kids probably wouldn’t have).  So when I saw that there was a book for the show, it seemed like a worthwhile investment.

And this book is a fascinating and comprehensive look at Mothersbaugh’s life and output as a visual artist and a founder of Devo.

Mark was a quiet kid and he was legally blind when he was born.  It wasn’t until he was around 5 that he got a pair of glasses which totally changed his world.  He was always artistic and rebelled against convention.  His world was greatly expanded when he went to college.  But he was at Kent State when the four students were killed by the National Guard. This affected him profoundly and send him investigating the world of devolution.

Of course most people know of Mothersbaugh from Devo–who were huge in their own way in the 1980s.  I was a young lad at the time and while I liked “Whip It,” I never thought they were cool (if only I knew).  But before creating Devo, Mothersbaugh was creating all kinds of visual arts.  He was doing print making at college, he was doing postcard mailers to people. It was only when he realized how much cheaper it would be to make music than to constantly be making print items that he devote some energy to Devo instead. (more…)

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Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, Gordan Sudzuka–Wonder Woman: Volume 6: Bones (2015)

Posted in Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, Goran Sudzuka, Lawrence Arabia, Myths, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Wonder Woman on September 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

vol6 bones SOUNDTRACK: LAWRENCE ARABIA-Tiny Desk Concert #75 (August 23, 2010).

lawLawrence Arabia are from New Zealand.  I don’t know what their album sound is like, but in this Tiny Desk, they play a sort of country folk.  With outstanding harmonies.

“I’ve Smoked Too Much” has some lovely “Do Do Doo’s” and the “ooohs” behind the second verse are just perfect.  I also like the way the bridge ratchets up the songs from the early country vibe to a more rocking feel.  Of course, with percussion provided by a shaker egg and tambourine, it’s impressive that they can get as rocking as they do.

The blurb only gives me the name of the lead singer (as the band is his and he says it is “his” album), so for everyone else I have to resort to instruments.  Thus Lead singer/guitarist James Milne and tambourine player have nice beards, but the shaker player has an amazingly thick beard.

“The Beautiful Young Crew” opens with Milne saying he had a morning voice problem and it isn’t as deep as it should be.  But he overcomes that with some nice humming.  The lyrics are amusing: “They love each other, but they hate each other, they’re afraid of each other because they want to screw each other.”   There’s some more lovely harmonies (dah dah dahs).  And then the electric guitarist now plays a gentle trumpet solo (thoughtfully facing away from the microphone).  At the end of the song, Bob thanks him for dropping the spit on the floor.  The trumpeter says it is condensation which makes Bob laugh.  And then the trumpeter delicately wipes it up with a tissue.

Before the third song, Bob asks about the album title, Chant Darling.  Milne says that he was in a covers band called The Chant Darlings.  He likes how it sounds so different in America (in New Zealand ChAHnt DAHrling) in America ChEHnt darlin’ (with a southern accent).

“Apple Pie Bed” has a more conventional structure–very rock and roll.  But the harmonies (ahhs and ahhs and the repeating of the lyrics) elevate everything.

The harmonies on the final song “Like a Fool” are the best yet with multiple parts.  And this song is just Milne on guitar and lead vocals.  But the three other guys really flesh out the song.  I’m curious to hear what these sound like on record–is there more to them?

[READ: May 29, 2015] Wonder Woman: Volume 6: Bones

After reading the Sensation Comics book of Wonder Woman short stories I was intrigued to read this book.  I actually assumed it was Vol. 6 of the same series, but indeed it is not.  This is Volume 6 of another series that I don’t know.  I’m not sure if the previous volumes are different story arcs or not.  The back of the book suggests that this is the end of the series (it collects Wonder Woman 30-35 and Secret Origins 6).  So at least I know how it all ends.

This series was written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Cliff Chiang and Goran Sudzuka.

The previous volumes have set up that Wonder Woman is an Amazonian named Diana.  She is the daughter of Hephaestus.  The Greek gods play a huge part in this story.

They live on Paradise Island, where only women are permitted.  The crux of this story concerns the birth of a baby boy (named Zeke) to, I assume, a human-only mother (there’s some backstory alluded to which I don’t really know). (more…)

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Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman Volume 1 (2015)

Posted in Amanda Deibert, Amy Mebberson, Batman, Cat Staggs, Corinna Bechko, David A. Williams, Dean Haspeil, Ethan Van Sciver, Gabriel Hardman, Gail Simone, Gilbert Hernandez, Ivan Cohen, J. Giels Band, Jason Bischoff, Marcelo do Chiara, Marcus To, Marguerite Sauvage, Neil Kleid, Ollie Masters, Peter Wolf Crier, Rob Williams, Sean E. Williams, Sexism, Superheroes, Tiny Desk Concert, Tom Lyle, Wonder Woman on September 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

wwSOUNDTRACK: PETER WOLF CRIER-Tiny Desk Concert #74 (August 17, 2010).

pwcWhen I saw the name of this band, I assumed it was Peter Wolf, the former lead singer of the J. Giels Band.  But indeed it is not (confusing much?).  Rather, it is a singer named Peter Paisano and his drummer Brian Moen.

They play three songs.  Paisano has a good voice.  But to me the highlight of this show is the drums.  Moen uses this really heavy-looking set of “brushes” that bring a deep resonance to his drums.

“Untitled 101” is short (all the songs are short with no guitar solos).  I like the breakdown when it’s just the drums.  “Saturday Night” he dedicates specifically to Bob Boilen.  It is a bit more dramatic in delivery.  The end has some nice hummed parts, but I find the sounds that Peter makes to be unsettling (more of a grunt than a hum), especially compared to the normal hums of Moen.  “Crutch & Cane” has a bit more of that unusual pronunciation, which I think I find more upsetting than interesting.

This was a short set, but I’m not likely to track down more from them.

[READ: May 26, 2015] Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman

I was never a big fan of Wonder Woman when I was growing up (I was a boy after all).  I never watched the show, really.  As it turns out, I had no idea about Wonder Woman’s origin story, which is totally fascinating (I also don’t know if it was ever introduced in the TV show).  Turns out that Wonder Woman’s real name is Diana.  She was a Princess on the Amazonian island of Paradise.  An island where only women lived.  And, most interestingly, she was made from clay when her mother could not bear a child of her own. Whoa!

So this book is a collection of short stories by different artists with very different styles. (more…)

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Richard Ayoade–Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey (2014)

Posted in Biography, Boom Goes the Neighborhood, Funny (ha ha), Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Hot Sauce II: Afterburn, Inside the Actor's Studio, Interviews, Man to Man with Dean Learner, Richard Ayoade, Submarine, The Double, The IT Crowd, Tiny Desk Concert on September 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ayoade SOUNDTRACK: MAVIS STAPLES-Tiny Desk Concert #72 (August 9, 2010).

mavisMavis Staples is a legend.  She has been singing for decades.  And her voice still sounds amazing.

For this Tiny Desk Concert, it’s just her singing and Rick Holmstrom playing guitar.  Staples sings two songs from her then new album (recorded at Wilco’s studio).  In fact, the first song she sings “Only the Lord Knows” was written by Jeff Tweedy.  It’s a great bluesy number.  And Staples hits notes all over the place–it’s great.

Before the second song, she calls Rick Holmstrom “Pops Jr.” and he says “I wish.”

Next she plays “You’re Not Alone.”  There’s a funny moment after the first verse where she forgets the words–she shouts “don’t tell nobody.”  She says she was busy looking at all the friendly faces and got lost.  But she comes back and knocks the song out.

For a brief encore she does a few verses and a chorus of “I’ll Take You There.”  And you can hear the disappointment in the audience when she sings, “And that’s all for today” after a chorus.  She is happy and claps and does apologize saying “you all will make me hurt myself.”

It’s amazing how good Mavis sounds after all these years, and how she wins over the crowd in an instant.

[READ: July 15, 2015] Ayoade on Ayoade

Richard Ayoade is best known by me as Moss on The It Crowd.  Probably the most frequently asked question by me about him is how the Rhell you say his last name.  The book does not help with that, although online searches reveal eye-oo-WAH-dee to be pretty accurate.

Ayoade cracks me up whenever I see him.  And he even starts the funny before you open the cover of the book.  The cover sticker notes: “Once in every generation, a man writes a book.  This is that book. I am a man.”

I knew that Ayoade had recently released The Double (I read the screenplay), but I wasn’t aware of his previous film, Submarine.  (I have subsequently watched it and enjoyed it very much–it’s an unusually dark comedy about young love).  And these facts, along with maybe one or two others are what I gleaned from this book.  The rest is pure nonsense–a right silly lark, full of Ayoade’s outrageously self-deprecating wit and scathing comments about his own writing, acting and directing skills. (more…)

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Grantland Quarterly, Number 12 (2015)

Posted in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Alex Pappademas, Amélie Mauresmo, Andrew Sharp, Andy Greenwald, Andy Murray, Anthony David, Baseball, Basketball, Bela Fleck, Bill Simmons, Books about music, Books about writers, Bryan Curtis, Chris Ryan, Chuck Klosterman, Culture Shock, David Shoemaker, Death, Edgar Meyer, Essays, Game of Thrones, Grantland, History, Hockey, Jonah Keri, Jonathan Abrams, Jordan Conn, Katie Baker, Kirk Goldsberry, Kiss, Lana Del Ray, Louie, Louisa Thomas, Mad Men, Mark Harris, Mark Titus, McSweeney's, Molly Lambert, Nostalgia, OutKast, Rany Jazayerli, Rembert Browne, Sam Knight, San Antonio Spurs, Shane Ryan, Soccer, Stanley Cup, Steven Hyden, The Other Woman, Tiny Desk Concert, Violence, Wesley Morris, World Cup, Wrestling, Zach Lowe, Zakir Hussain on September 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

grant12SOUNDTRACK: BELA FLECK, EDGAR MEYER, ZAKIR HUSSAIN-Tiny Desk Concert #70 (July 26, 2010).

belaBela Fleck is a rather legendary musician, and yet I realized I don’t really know that much about him.  And somehow I never knew he was a banjo player (that’s a pretty serious omission on my part).  I had never heard of the other two musicians, although they are apparently world-class masters of the bass fiddle and the tabla.

I also didn’t expect this Tiny Desk Concert to be so interestingly world-musicy.

This set is only two songs but each is about 7 minutes long and they are both very cool (and from the album The Melody of Rhythm).

Fleck’s playing is amazing, with a tone that is often unlike a standard banjo sound.  And I absolutely love the tabla–I am fascinated by this instrument.  The first song, “Bubbles” is an amazing demonstration of Fleck’s banjo.  About midway through he is playing in a decidedly middle eastern style (which works great with the tabla).  And when the bass starts getting bowed around 1:50, it adds an amazing richness to this already cool song.   There’s a cool bass solo (I love that the tabla pauses a few times during the solo).  The ending is just wonderful.

Before the second song, “Bahar” (which means “springtime”) they talk about being nervous, which is pretty funny.  This song opens with the bass fiddle’s bowed notes (including a very very high note).  This one seems to be a more solo-centered, with some elaborate work from Fleck after the introduction. And the tabla solo, while brief, is really cool to watch.  I prefer the first song, but the more traditional nature of the second song is a nice counterpart to the first.

[READ: August 24, 2015] Grantland #12

I enjoyed this issue as well.  This was mostly the spring and summer of 2014, which sounds so long ago, and yet so many things seem so current.

CHUCK KLOSTERMAN-“The Life and Times of Kiss”
I love this article about Kiss.  And I wrote about it back here.

WESLEY MORRIS-“Poison Candy”
This is about the disastrous state of female comedies.  It focuses on the movie The Other Woman which is ostensibly a female centered comedy but is entirely other.

BILL SIMMONS-“Sterling’s Fold”
A drumming down of Donald Sterling.  It’s hard for me to believe that this happened over a year ago.

ZACH LOWE-“Building the Brow”
An article about Anthony Davis of the Pelicans, who is proving to be better than anyone imagined. (more…)

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Felicia Day–You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) (2015)

Posted in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Felicia Day (author), Fredrik, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Geek & Sundry, Joss Whedon, Swedish Music, The Guild, Tiny Desk Concert, World of Warcraft on September 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

felciaiSOUNDTRACK: FREDRIK-Tiny Desk Concert #57 (May 3, 2010).

fredrikFredrik are a Swedish band.  They were a duo, then a sextet and then a duo again.  In this concert, they are in that duo state–Fredrik Hultin on vocals and guitar and Ola Lindfelt on electronics and percussion.

Their then new release was a dark album called Trilogi and was just the two of them.  They play two songs from that album and one form their debut.

“Ner” is quite dark, with the whispery vocals and the minor chord progression.  The simple thudding drum beat also keeps the song somewhat ominous.  Speaking of the drummer, he is using a microphone (into which he later whistles) as a drumstick (he hits the cymbal with it later).  But his main “drumstick” is a maraca.

“Locked in the Basement” is a bit louder but with the same percussion set up.  It maintains that ominousness (just see the title of song).  Although in the middle it quiets down to just a thumping drums and gentle guitar noises with Ola’s backing oohs.

“Black Fur” is a bit more upbeat (in the blurb Robin says it is a soaring song on their debut).  It is stripped down here and it quite catchy–almost upbeat and positive.  It’s quite different from the other two songs. You can hear their recorded version of it (when they were a sextet) here.

I enjoyed these songs, and wonder if Fredrik has continued as a duo in the last five years.

[READ: September 7, 2015] You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) 

Like most geeky folks, I love Felicia Day.  The Guild was an awesome show and her creativity behind it is really masterful.  And she was in Dr Horrible, which is how I found out that she was one of the slayers in the final seasons of Buffy.

So Felicia has the geek cred.  But I didn’t know anything about her.  And I wasn’t sure that I cared all that much.  I mean, Felicia is the bomb but do I need to know how she got to be that way?  Nevertheless, I was curious to see what she would put into this book.

If you’re looking for salacious stories about working on Buffy, you won’t get them.  Aside from an intro by Joss Whedon, there’s very little information about her time on Buffy.  Rather, she talks about her childhood (which is fascinating) and her Guild making days and her post-Guild success.  And there’s a rather dark turn near the end.

But really, this book is all about empowerment (as the title hints at)–all about embracing your inner loves and following what you want to do.  In the book, which is chock full of pictures, she calls these coffee mug moment sand Photoshops her aphorisms onto mugs for our edification.  There’s also a lot of very funny pictures of herself from throughout her life. (more…)

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Kathy Page–“The Last Cut” (The Walrus, September 2015)

Posted in Black Widow, Canadian Content, Cancer as plot device, Deep Purple, Ford Pier, Frank Bonner, Hibakusha, Kathy Page, Neil Young, Paul McLeod, Rheostatics, Short Story, The Walrus, WKRP in Cincinnati, tagged on September 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

  uberSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Casbah, Hamilton, ON (November 12, 2005).

casbahThis is the first show of their’s that I’ve heard open with a kind of jazzy instrumental.  MPW is playing a jazzy beat on drums and Martin seems to be noodling on mellow chords (or is that Tim?).

And then they kick into a mellow version of “Bad Time to Be Poor” which I feel doesn’t sound quite right.  It may be the recording levels (the quality is crystal clear), but it feels very sharp and not very relaxed.

For “Aliens,” Martin forgot the words a bit.  And when he starts “The Tarleks” Dave interrupts after the first line to say that Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek from WKRP in Cincinnati) emailed him and said that he’s on an internet soap opera now.  Then they start talking about Green Day (who Martin describes as “chicken little punk”–the sky is falling but I’m drinking bottled water.  But he is mostly upset because instead of holding up lighters people are holding up their fucking cell phones.

Once again the “Song of the Garden” is punky–fast and fun.  They also have a ton of fun with “Four Little Songs.”  Ford Pier is playing keys again, and his contribution is an old song called “Nanaimo.”  He had asked if they should do “Mustang Sally” and Dave said that if they play that it will automatically be the worst gig ever.  And they throw in the (I believe intentionally) worst rendition of “Smoke on the Water” I’ve ever heard.  Later on, Martin throws in the riff from “Hey Hey My My” into “Feed Yourself” and as that song ends he starts singing the Neil Young song, but he’s got the words all wrong too.  It’s pretty funny, especially when he sings “It’s better to burn out than it is to fuck up.”

“Power Ballad for Ozzy Osbourne” has a lengthy intro about Billy Joe Rent–I have to wonder if this and the middle part of “Feed Yourself” about the dead body are impromptu things Dave makes up and then maybe sticks with.

“Satan is the Whistler” i sloppy but good.  Until they get to the fast section which totally falls apart.  Then they count off 1,2 ,3 4 and speed through it much better.

Martin talks about his CBC movie Black Widow, which I’d love to see.  Is it available for viewing anywhere?

Paul McLeod (his band Hibakusha opened, I believe) sings a great version of “Jesus was Once a Teenager Too.”  They follow it with a great version of “Stolen Car” (with some amazing backing vocals in the “marijuana” section.

In the previous show, “Try to Praise his Mutilated World” was amazing, but this one falls a little flat I’m afraid.  But it is all made up for by the hilarious synth “Record Body Count, Now!” done to the tune of “Everybody Dance Now.”

As the show comes to an end they play “Legal Age Life” and someone shouts “Take it, Ford,” and he seems stunned and then plays an incredibly lame (again, I believe intentionally) solo.

It’s a sloppy but fun show and comes up to their multi-night run at the Horseshoe.

[READ: September 10, 2015] “The Last Cut”

This is a very short story and an emotionally draining one at that.

The premise is fairly simple.  Eric, a hairdresser, is happily cutting his new client’s hair.  She is pretty and is willing to try a dramatic new cut, which he believes will really accentuate her looks.  He is mid-way through the cut when he gets a phone call.

It is Mrs. Swenson.  She is Renee’s client, but Renee is out for a couple of days.  Mrs. Swenson says that she needs to have her hair cut tonight.  And then there’s this dramatic line: “His throat and eyes ached. His chest, too. He wished he had found a way to say no to Mrs. Swenson.” (more…)

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