This song comes from the The Green Album, the grown- up-bands-cover-the-Muppets album. I can’t remember if I knew this song to begin with or if I have just listened to this record enough that it sounds so familiar.
Although MMJ have been getting into some crazy electronic and heavy music as of late, this is a very mellow song. It opens with a banjo! And while more instruments come in, it stays pretty true to what you’d think the Muppets would sing.
(Aha, thanks internet. It appeared in Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas). It’s a really pretty song (Paul Williams knew his way around a ballad, huh?) and this is a very nice cover.
[READ: April 16, 2011] Babymouse: Beach Babe
This the third Babymouse book opens with Babymouse dreaming (of course). But this time she’s dreaming of surfing! And she can hang ten (and other surfing lingo) with the best of them. Until a card says “Too Terrible to See.” But when she wakes up she has wonderful news…it’s the last day of school!
We also see, to my understanding, the first real encounter with Squeak, Babymouse’s little brother. When Babymouse runs for the bus, Squeak follows her calling out her name. She tells him to go home and we see poor Squeak by the side of the road, looking dejected.
But we’re soon back at school, and during the film strip, Babymouse imagines she is the Little Mermaid. But when she wakes up, the bell rings and school’s out for the summer!
When her parents tell them they’re going on vacation, she has an instant flashback to their terrible vacation last year (and the lack of “facilities” at the camp ground). But this vacation is going to be different–they’re going to the beach! And she is super excited…until the drive takes for-
ev-
er.
There’s even a surprising dream sequence about all the trees that she sees on the way down.
When they finally arrive, there’s all the usual beach fun and danger (sunburn!) and Babymouse gets to try her hand at surfing like in her dreams.
It was right around this time that I guessed that the beach that Matthew Holm was drawing was at the Jersey Shore. And indeed, it is. The end credits say that the Holms used to vacation at the Jersey Shore.
The book ends with that other classic childhood trauma–having a younger sibling and getting tired of playing with him or her on vacation. When Babymouse complains about Squeak once too often, he takes it very personally. And suddenly the story becomes a little frightening and quite touching.
For a snarky series, this one is surprisingly moving. I wonder if having this book third helped establish that sensitive side of Babymouse (which seems to be missing in later books). Good for you Babymouse!
After Ulver’s first CD, they jumped around in genres (their second was a kind of folk CD and their third CD was more black metal–I have not heard either one). Their 4th CD was the William Blake CD of crazed experimental music. And then they released this EP. And I can’t think of too many bands who keep their fans guessing as much as these guys do. This EP is full on electronica. Dark electronica, yes, but still, it’s all electronic.
There are four songs. The first one, “Of Wolves and Vibrancy” is like rocking dance song from the 90s (like The Prodigy). The drums are quite intense. While the second song, “Gnosis” is a slower, more ambient track. There are still loud drums, but the pace is slower and less manic. At around the 6 minutes mark vocals come in. They sound like some of Metallica’s chanting voices on later albums.
Track three, “Limbo Central (Theme from Perdition City)” is less than 4 minutes long. It’ s another dark electronic soundtrack with more great drums.
The final song, “Of Wolves and Withdrawal” is almost 9 minutes of very quiet noises that grow louder in pulses. It seems to be three sections of different pulsing sounds. The first time I listened to it, the opening was so quiet that I thought it was just all silence so I fast forwarded through the whole thing. But because the pulses are so mechanically timed it didn’t even register as noises while as fast forwarded. I finally had to turn it up pretty loud before I heard all of it.
I was tempted to say that going from that first Ulver album to this one is a massive change. But it seems that every Ulver record is a whiplash of stylistic changes. Nevertheless, this is about as far from black metal as you can get and still be dark and scary.
[READ: November 4, 2011] “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars”
This is one of Díaz’s short stories that does not appear in Drown (it came out about two years after Drown). It has been frequently anthologized, however, which makes it a pretty important story.
There’s a reason why I like to read author’s works in chronological order, and reading this story now confirms that for me. The story, written in 1998, is the fictionalization of the essay, “Homecoming with Turtle” that I reviewed a few weeks ago (the one that I said pertained to Oscar Wao because of the turtle). Well, there’s no turtle in this story, and there’s no dentists, but the rest of the story is pretty much the same as his nonfiction account.
After saying all of that though, what’s fun about reading this out of order is that since I know what the “truth” is about this situation, it’s fun to see what he has massaged into fiction.
So in this story, Yunior has been dating Magdalena for some time. Magda is a good girl: wouldn’t sleep with him until they had been dating awhile, took him to church, introduced him to her parents, the whole bit. And he really loves her. The problem is that they only see each other once a week.
So, when a hot girl starts working at his office and she tells him that her man doesn’t treat her well and Yunior confides that the sex with Magda isn’t very good, well, things happen. But they didn’t happen very often or for very long and Yunior tried to forget it. Until the girl sent Magda a letter. A very detailed letter. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: NEIL YOUNG AND THE INTERNATIONAL HARVESTERS-A Treasure [NY Archives 09] (2011).
Continuing with the randomly numbered Archive releases, Neil Young has released A Treasure, the sixth release (which is labelled #09) in the Performance Series. This is with the Neil Young band called the International Harvesters.
I had never even heard of this iteration of a Neil Young band–they toured during 1984/5 for the Old Ways album. This is an album that I barely knew but is one that Sarah loved, so this one is more for her than me. The band is a very country band–fiddles and slide guitars and all that. Neil’s even got a twang in his voice. But even with that, (it’s not my music of choice), this album has a lot of great stuff on it (including five previously unreleased songs).
There are a number of real country songs on this disc–“Amber Jean” and “It Might Have Been” are straight-up country. Although “Are You Ready for the Country” (which has some major country trappings like that fiddle solo) is actually a bit more of a countrified Neil Young song than a country song per se. “Nothing is Perfect” is a kind of group sing along. The kind of song that you might hear at the end of the night at a pub.
Despite this being the Old Ways tour, there are only two songs from that album here. “Bound for Glory” is the song I knew best from this era. And it is indeed a very country song (that steel pedal guitar!). “Back to the Country” is the other one, and it, too is a true country song.
“Let Your Fingers Do the Walking” and “Flying on the Ground is Wrong” are different takes on country songs. The funny thing is that “Flying” (which was originally a Buffalo Springfield song) has a very Neil Young guitar progression built in, during the “I miss you” parts. He does this very simple chord progression which he uses quite a lot in his songs.
“Motor City” is (another) song about cars. He may have more songs about cars than Springsteen. This one is all about his old cars and how “there’s too many Toyotas on the road.” It’s super catchy, even as I listen to it in my Prius. “Southern Pacific” is another song that gets a good honky tonk treatment. It’s seven minutes long with lots of solo. This is the kind of country-style music I prefer and this one is great with wonderful runs from the fiddles. Both of these songs appeared on Neil’s Re*Ac*Tor album.
“Soul of a Woman” is more of a blues song, with some country inflections. And the final song “Grey Riders” is a wonderful stomping track. It has a great riff and the strings really complement the song. After all of that country, this song has some awesome screaming guitars on it. And if you like your Neil rocking, it is absolutely worth it for this song.
The newspaper article that’s included with the set refers to a show during this tour and, not to grouse about a record, but the show it describes sounds awesome–a few old Neil classics at the end of the set which really whetted my appetite for some of those other songs with this band. But this seems to be a truncated version of that set list. Nevertheless, as I said, this isn’t my favorite era of Neil’s music, but the band sounds really great. And these songs shine very nicely. It’s an enjoyable and unexpected addition to his archives.
[READ: October 20, 2011] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
I managed to get on the promotional mailing list for this book and so in addition to the free pencils (awesome!) and posters (3 in my son’s room), I also received an email update about the release almost daily.
I was a little less than 100% happy with the previous Wimpy book. I liked it, but I didn’t love it as much as the first couple. But man, this one came roaring back on all cylinders and it is one of the best in the series.
Three things really work to make this one so great:
One: the return to school and a host of new school-related problems. Although it’s funnier for me since my son is in school now, the issues are general enough that anyone can really laugh about them.
Two: the return of Rowley. I feel like he was sorely missed when he and Greg were fighting. He’s not a great character on his own, but he rubs Greg the wrong way enough to bring out some great humor.
Three: The increasing power of Manny. I don’t understand Manny at all, I don’t even know how old he is. He’s like a really really tiny kid, which makes me think that he’s a baby. And yet he is so smart and totally has the run of the family. That has been obvious in the past with the tantrums he threw to get what he wanted, but now he is combining his evil genius with a sophisticated mind to really wreak havoc on the Heffley household (he changes passwords all over the house, for instance).
So this book is all about Christmas break and snow (hence the title). I love that it starts with the Heffley version of Elf on a Shelf (but this one is even more creepy because it’s a homemade doll from Greg’s mom’s childhood). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC–Alpocalypse Bonus DVD (2011).
Included with the new “Weird Al” disc is a DVD of videos from the disc. Only one of them is a video proper in that Al himself is in it. The rest are animated. Although of the animated ones, the one for “CNR” is, I believe, an “offical” video release (they were all official, but “CNR” was sort of a pre-album video).
All of the videos are of good quality and are well crafted with varying degrees of fidelity to the song. The one bad thing about these animations is that Al’s own videos are usually so spot on, they are often funnier than the song itself. So, having these, what I think of as tossed off animations–even though clearly a lot of work went into them–is a bit of a bummer.
Having said that, the video for “CNR” is great–cut-out animations of Charles Nelson Reilly doing outrageous things, like the song says. “TMZ” was directed by Bill Plympton. I like Plympton’s animations quite a lot and have for a long time. And this one is pretty funny, although I find that his videos are often repetitive and don’t really hold up for a whole song. “Skipper Dan” is a good Flash-type animation and it very effectively conveys emotions with such simple animations. And the fidgety to adventureland is also really good.
The “Craigslist” video is the only one in which Al appears–dressed like Jim Morrison, of course. The video has a great mid-70s feel with nonsensical cuts to Native Americans and westerns as well as swirly splotches and lights. It’s not a “funny” video per se, except fo how accurately it apes the original style. “Party in the CIA” is surprisingly violent (Al’s videos are often cartoonishly violent, but this one is pretty specific, of course with the animations it’s not so bad but it’s a lot more real than Al usually is). “Ringtone” follows a few character storylines and looks good.
“Another Tattoo” is enjoyable because it cycles through a series of really funny (cartoon) tattoos. Perhaps a series of regrettable tattoos would have been even funnier. “If That Isn’t Love” to me undermines the song somewhat as it shows a less sincere declaration of love. I think of the narrator of the song as clueless, but the video portrays him as devious.
“Whatever You Like” is creepy–there are a lot of real photos that are animated (the main woman’s mouth is utterly grotesque!). Finally “Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me” is majorly disappointing because all it is is the lyrics animated. True the animation is clever, but really, it’s just the lyrics. A lot could have been done with this video. Opportunity wasted.
So, all in all, these videos aren’t amazing. Certainly they pale in comparison to Al’s greatest videos. But there is certainly some amusement value.
[READ: November 15, 2011] Babymouse: Monster Mash
I missed this Halloween-themed book in time for the holiday, so I’ve saved it for the end of Thanksgiving.
The first thing you’ll note when you look at the book is that it is not black and pink! For Halloween, the whole book is black and orange. It’s a cute idea.
For Halloween, Babymouse wants to be a big scary monster (and she even has a cool, scary mask). But Felicia Furrypaws point out that it’s a rule that girls must be pretty for Halloween. Babymouse is appalled at this idea and decides to go ahead with her (very cool) scary costume ideas anyhow.
But when she lets it slip that her parents are letting her have a Halloween party and everybody wants to come, Babymouse is torn. She’s excited that people want to come, but when Felicia insists on coming, and insists she dress like a princess…. (more…)
The first Grinderman album was a sleazy delight. And this Grinderman is much of the same sleazy heavy rock, although it’s slightly different. It opens with “Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man” which lets you know that Grinderman are still dirty and sleazy. The song just rocks. Screaming blistering rock.
Now, fans of old Nick Cave and The Birthday Party know that Nick is no stranger to noise and dissonance. Some of these songs harken back to those days–the music (on”Worm Tamer” is crazy–feedback squalls and trippy organ) and yet they never veer into chaos. They are tightly controlled but with wonderfully loose edges. It also features the wonderful lyrics: “My baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster–two big humps and then I’m gone”). “Heathen Child” is a loud, raucous, blasphemous treat, one of the best on the disc.
“When My Baby Comes” slows things down a bit and actually veers terribly close to Bad Seeds territory (which isn’t a bad thing by any means, but Grinderman is supposed to be an escape from that, right?). The song loudens up, though and a really cool slippery bass propels it for the rest of its 7 minute length. “What I Know” is like a slow prose poem, but it is followed up by the blast that is “Evil!” a wonderfully brash 3-minute blast of noise rock. The chanting backing vocals are wonderfully evil. “Kitchenette” ups the sleaze factor nicely.
“Palaces of Montezuma” is another mellow song–also very Bad Seeds like. It seems like it would be long (like it would keep building), but it’s only 3:30. “Bellringer Blues” ends the disc with some cool backwards guitar and more chanted vocals (definitely the signature sound of Grinderman). It ends this awesome disc on a very high note.
[READ: November 18, 2011] “The Climber Room”
I really enjoyed Lipsyte’s The Ask, so I ‘m delighted to see him with a new short story. This one concerns a young (but no longer that young) woman named Tovah. She has taken a job at a daycare center called Sweet Apple. As the story opens, Tovah meets the other main character of the story, a man whose name she (hilariously) mishears as Randy Goat. It turns out that Randy Gauthier is a rich man whose children have all gone to Sweet Apple and his new girl Dezzy is now enrolling.
Tovah isn’t trained for this job–she’s just there part time–and either despite or because of this, Dezzy takes to her immediately. On a day that Tovah is not there and Dezzy fell off the Climbing Room (a jungle gym) she cried and cried for Tovah. Mr Gauthier spies Tovah the next day and informs her that he has switched her schedule so that she will only be there when Dezzy is there. Tovah is (understandably) freaked and a little pissed. But when he tells her to Google him, she learns why he can have such sway over things. (more…)
Weird Al’s new album seems, believe it or not, a bit more mature (within reason, obviously). When I first started listening to Al, he appealed to the 8th grader in me. And while his jokes are often still childish and silly, he brings a certain older perspective now (he’s like 52 right?). So this album, again, is silly and funny, but actually deals more realistically with issues like love (again, within the confines of a parody song).
I was also thinking that Al has always been pretty PG, a bit violent, but always cartoonish. But as pop songs get more PG-13 and even R, Al has had to adapt, whether on purpose or not. I mean, in his medley he sings “Womanizer” and “Blame it on the Alcohol,” certainly not appropriate for 8th graders, and yet those original songs are, indeed, popular hits.
But enough seriousness. On to the music. “Perform this Way” a parody of Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” is a weird parody in that it seems like a direct comment on the artist herself. I guess “Smells Like Nirvana” was as well, but it’s one of the rare Weird Al songs that’s not really self-contained–or actually it is self-contained but the joke works better if you know the singer. And if you don’t know Lady Gaga, this one is kind of flat (catchy as heck and quite funny though). “CNR” is a great White Stripes style parody. It gets funnier with each listen and the music is great. And the idea of Charles Nelson Reilly doing any of these things is chuckle inducing.
“TMZ” is the first of two internet based songs. Which is funny in and of itself. He makes fun of celebrities and the culture of celebrity. “Skipper Dan” proved to be very funny for us as we had recently gone to Disneyworld and wondered if the boat tour guides got to improv any jokes (I gather they don’t). “Polka Face” is one of Al’s great polka mash ups. This one was really enjoyable even though I knew virtually none of the songs (which may be a first). “Party in the CIA” is a parody of “Party in the USA” a song I don’t know at all. Based on Al’s version I think the original seems really dull .
“Ringtone” is a Queen style parody which I like quite a bit although I particularly do not like the way they sing the word “ringtone.” The rest is spot on though–especially the solo. “Another Tattoo” is great–Al is so good at doing R&B and rap songs–the voice, phrasings and echoic recordings are spot on. And this song is really funny. “If That Isn’t Love” is the song I was talking about in the beginning, about being more mature. It’s kind of a follow up to “You Dont Love Me Anymore” in which he shows how much he loves this new girl, but it’s less over the top and yet still funny. This example shows the joke but how it’s aimed at a more sophisticated 8th grader:
And when you’re telling me about your feelings I try not to yawn
And when we’re at parties I don’t talk about your spastic bladder
or
And I almost never pretend you’re someone else when I’m making out with you
Quite different from “Another One Rides the Bus.”
“Whatever You Like” is a parody of a song called “Whatever You Like” which I don’t know. It has to be the first parody of a song with the same title. That bothers me a little, although I have no idea what the original is about. I do like this one quite a bit. “Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me” is very funny and over the top. It’s another email/spam joke but my favorite line is vaguely sophisticated and makes me laugh every time
And your two million loser friends all have my address now because you never figured out the way to bcc:
The fact that it works perfectly with the rhythm of the song, rhymes right on and is a surprisingly clever joke is just stellar.
I’ve saved “Craigslist” for last because I think it’s just great and I can’t imagine how the idea for this was generated. How do you go from talking about Craigslist to thinking Jim Morrison? I’m imagining a session in which someone was making a joke about a letter to Craigslist that they read in various voices and then did it ala Morrison and the whole thing just blossomed from there. But heavens if the music isn’t spot on and the song is funny without being novelty-funny. You could easily play it on classic rock radio (if you can find such a station) and Doors fans would like it.
This is one of the first Weird Al albums where I knew very few of the songs parodied. I don’t follow pop music, so that makes sense, but it really shows how out of touch I am with culture. I also read a review talking about how the jokes are kind of old (making fun of Craigslist is so 2005). But Al puts out a record every three years and if the songs aren’t timely, the subjects can have more lasting appeal. Al seems to know what has staying power, so even if it’s not current it’s still funny.
And the band, as always, sounds fantastic. As does the recording quality–the Doors sounds like the Doors, The White Stripes sounds like The White Stripes. It’s very well done.
[READ: November 11, 2011] Camp Babymouse
In this Babymouse book, she goes to summer camp. And as the voice- over points out, what on earth would Babymouse be doing at camp? She hates everything that you do at camp.
But she’s excited to go and has a fantasy of being a great scout!
Stories always make summer camp seem like hell. And this one is no exception. It starts when Babymouse gets to her cabin and has to climb to the tippy-top bunk (a great fantasy sequence of King Kong comes in).
The “plot” of the story is that the campers are trying to win the most points for the week. The winners get a prize and the losers have to wash dishes. Typically, Babymouse causes some major catastrophes (a Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde sequence provides a good laugh as does a wonderful Moby Dick fantsy during the canoeing competition). (more…)
OK Computer is one of the best records of the 90s. Every time I listen to it I hear something new and interesting. So, why on earth would anyone want to cover the whole thing? And how could you possibly do justice to this multi-layered masterpiece?
I can’t answer the first question, but the second question is more or less answered by this tribute which was orchestrated by Stereogum.
The answer is by stripping down the music to its bare essentials. When I first listened to the songs I was really puzzled by how you could take a such a complex album and make Doveman’s version of “Airbag,” which is sort of drums and pianos. Or gosh, where would you even begin to tackle “Paranoid Android?” Well Slaraffenland create a bizarre symphonic version that excises many things–in fact half of the lyrics are missing–and yet keeps elements that touch on the original. But it’s an interesting version of the song and shows a bizarre sense of creativity. And that is more or less what this tribute does–it makes new versions of these songs.
Mobius Band make a kind of Police-sounding version of “Subterranean Homesick Alien.” Again, it radically changes the song, making it a fast and driving song (although I don’t care for the repeated “Uptights” and “Outsides” during the verses).
Vampire Weekend, one of the few bands that I actually knew in this collection (and whom I really like) do a very interesting, stripped down version of “Exit Music, for a Film. The “film” they make is a haunted one, with eerie keyboards. Again, it is clearly that song, but it sounds very different (and quite different from what Vampire Weekend usually sound like).
“Let Down” (by David Bazan’s Black Cloud) and “Karma Police” (by John Vanderslice) work on a similar principle: more vocals and less music. The music is very stripped down, but the vocals harmonize interestingly. Perhaps the only track that is more interesting than the original is “Fitter Happier” by Samson Delonga. The original is a processed computer voice, but this version is a real person, intoning the directives in a fun, impassioned way. There’s also good sound effects.
Cold War Kids take the riotous “Electioneering” and simplify it, with drums and vocals only to start. It’s hard to listen to this song without the utter noise of the original. “Climbing Up the Walls” is one of the more manic songs on this collection, with some interesting vocals from The Twilight Sad.
There are two versions of “No Surprises” in this collection. Interestingly, they are both by women-fronted bands, and both treat the song as a very delicate ballad. Both versions are rather successful. Marissa Nadler’s version (the one included in sequence) is a little slower and more yearning, while Northern State’s version (which is listed as a B-Side) is a little fuller and I think better for it. My Brightest Diamond cover “Lucky.” They do an interesting orchestral version–very spooky.
Flash Hawk Parlor Ensemble (a side project of Chris Funk from The Decemberists) do a very weird electronic version of the song (with almost no lyrics). It’s very processed and rather creepy (and the accompanying notes make it even more intriguing when you know what’s he doing).
The final B-side is “Polyethylene (Part 1 & 2),” It’s a track from the Airbag single and it’s done by Chris Walla. I don’t know this song very well (since it’s not on OK Computer), but it’s a weird one, that’s for sure. This version is probably the most traditional sounding song of this collection: full guitars, normal sounding drums and only a slightly clipped singing voice (I don’t know what Walla normally sounds like).
So, In many ways this is a successful tribute album. Nobody tries to duplicate the original and really no one tries to out-do it either. These are all new versions taking aspects of the songs and running with them. Obviously, I like the original better, but these are interesting covers.
[READ: November 5, 2011] McSweeney’s #8
I had been reading all of the McSweeney’s issue starting from the beginning, but I had to take a breather. I just resumed (and I have about ten left to go before I’ve read all of them). This issue feels, retroactively like the final issue before McSweeney’s changed–one is tempted to say it has something to do with September 11th, but again, this is all retroactive speculation. Of course, the introduction states that most of the work on this Issue was done between April and June of 2001, so even though the publication date is 2002, it does stand as a pre 9/11 document.
But this issue is a wild creation–full of hoaxes and fakery and discussions of hoaxes and fakery but also with some seriousness thrown in–which makes for a fairly confusing issue and one that is rife with a kind of insider humor.
But there’s also a lot of non-fiction and interviews. (The Believer’s first issue came out in March 2003, so it seems like maybe this was the last time they wanted to really inundate their books with anything other than fiction (Issue #9 has some non-fiction, but it’s by fiction writers).
This issue was also guest edited by Paul Maliszewski. He offers a brief(ish) note to open the book, talking about his editing process and selection and about his black polydactyl cat. Then he mentions finding a coupon in the phonebook for a painting class which advertised “Learn to Paint Like the Old Masters” and he wonders which Old Masters people ask to be able to paint like–and there’s a fun little internal monologue about that.
The introduction then goes on to list the 100 stores that are the best places to find McSweeney’s. There are many stores that I have heard of (I wonder what percentage still exist). Sadly none were in New Jersey.
This issue also features lots of little cartoons from Marcel Dzama, of Canada. (more…)
Kiss lost me on this one. I had been a faithful fan for several years, even putting up with all of the haters in fifth grade. But once I heard that Kiss was releasing an “opera,” well the heck with that noise.
Now, granted, I had no idea it was a rock opera or that Tommy was a rock opera. I heard the word “opera” (thanks newspaper review that my grandmother showed me) and said, Nope. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who said Nope. This record tanked. It tanked so bad that the band almost went bankrupt.
But the album wasn’t just an album. It was mean to be a film (there’s even film dialogue on the record!) and Chris Makepeace (Woody the Wabbit from Meatballs) was meant to star in it–I love that the film credit info is left on the record packaging). What could this film have been like….if only it were made!
At some point I decided to buy the LP (Who even knows where I found it on vinyl) and I was surprised by how much I liked it. In fact, I find it much more preferable to Dynasty and Unmasked. It’s less pop oriented, and some of the tracks rock harder than anything since Love Gun. True, there’s weird pretensions on it, but even those are just experiments.
This album also features Eric Carr on his first Kiss record (what a strange place for such a heavy rocking drummer to start).
So yes the album does open with horns and fanfare (like an opera perhaps?), but the first song, “Just a Boy” is a gentle ballad sung by Paul. It’s certainly wimpy, but I rather like it (as I’ve said many times, I love Paul and his swelling choruses). And there’s some nice guitar work from Ace here.
“Odyssey” has strings and strings galore. It’s a pompous swelling song that harkens to Destroyer, yet goes in a very very very different direction. As a fan of epic pretentious music, I rather like it, but as a Kiss song it’s a disaster. Of course, I have always enjoyed the jokey “Once upon….not yet” line.
“Only You” is Gene’s first foray on this album. And I will state categorically that this period was not good for gene’s songwriting. His songs are really quite dull and boring (when you think of the crazy, complicated bass lines and things he was throwing on songs just a few years back, dull songs like this are a shock). What’s also a shock is that this song is a kind of gritty guitar song, again, much less wimpy than anything on Unmasked–fickle fans turned on the band without having heard the songs–sure they weren’t good songs, but they weren’t disco either.
“Under the Rose” is the exception to gene’s malaise. It begins softly with Gene’s whispered vocals not unlike “Man of 1,00 Faces” but the chorus is heavy and chanted, foreshadowing what they would do on Creatures of the Night (although Creatures was heavier and faster). The riff is also pretty solid, too.
“Dark Light” is Ace’s contribution to the disc. It has a pretty heavy opening riff as well. And the verse reminds me a lot of the kind of verse Ace has been writing for a while–simple chords with lots of words. The solo is pretty much literally a solo–very little in the way of backing music while Ace wails away. Shame it’s not a very interesting solo.
“A World Without Heroes” is a very gentle ballad by Gene. There’s a great commercial for this album in which you get to watch Gene sing this song.
The crazy thing of course is that he’s in demon make up. If this were Kiss without makeup no one would think it was weird, but I mean, look at him, why is he singing songs like this? It is once again an impressive display of Gene’s range though. Nice guitar solo, too.
“The Oath” is actually one of my favorite Kiss songs, no irony intended. I used to laugh at the lyrics, which yes are silly (but this is Kiss, come on). True, it’s an odd mix of really heavy guitars and pretentious falsettos (along with a bizarre keyboard/swirly third part). But there’s a bitching guitar solo and as I said, the guitars sound great. And Paul manages all of those different parts very well. It’s vastly underrated and worth checking out (especially if you like unexpectedly weird music).
“Mr. Blackwell” feels like a song from a movie. It tells a bit of a story of a bad guy. The music is incredibly minimalist (one note bass bits and very sparse guitars during the bridge and chorus). Lyrically it’s dreadful–“You’re not well/Mr. Blackwell/Why don’t you go to hell”, but at least Gene sounds like a demon delivering it. The solo is an amazing bit of noise though.
“Escape from the Island” is another high point on the record. It’s an instrumental, it’s fast and it’s heavy. And it’s got another great solo from Ace–it’s funny that Ace was dissatisfied with the direction of Kiss at this time because he gets to really show off on this disc.
“I” is another solid anthem from Kiss. It ends the album in an upbeat way and if it weren’t on this dismissed album it would be on any Kiss anthems collection. Paul and Gene both take turns singing and the chorus is chantworthy and fist pumpable. They should release it on a new album. They’re so into it in the recording that Paul even shouts “you feel it too, don’t you?”
There’s an interesting review of this album at Popdose. The bad thing is that the site has links to lots of MP3 demos from the album, but they’re all broken links. I’d like to hear those.
[READ: October 30, 2011] “Homecoming, with Turtle”
This is an amusing piece of non-fiction from Junot Díaz. I’m grouping it with the Oscar Wao stories because it actually bears an impact on them. It’s about a visit that Junot took eleven years ago (from 2004) back to his homeland of the Dominican Republic.
He hadn’t been there in nearly twenty years and he decided to go with his girlfriend. Of course, like Yunior in the novel, Junot cheated on his girlfriend before their trip and one of her friends told her. This put some tension on their trip (and one even wonders why he persuaded her to go along after that).
Their trip began with a week volunteering in the DR for a kind of Doctors without Borders (but for Dentists)–they assisted dentists with extracting thousands of teeth. It’s a strange thing to do and a strange (but generous) way to start a vacation, but the exhaustion and camaraderie at least kept them from killing each other. (more…)
On the For the Kids Too! compilation, Nada Surf have a wonderful song called “Meow Meow Lullaby.” It’s got a beautiful melody and is a really adorable song. Lyrically it is very simple: “I am just a kitten, hardly fit my mittens, much too small I figure, one day I’ll be bigger.” And the chorus is predominantly the band singing the word “Meow.”
It’s a wonderful lullaby and we have put it on many of the mix CDs we play for the kids.
Not many bands can successfully transition to kids’ music (a trend that as a dad I am down with, even if it can be annoying). It’s clear that Nada Surf aren’t doing that–this is a one-off for a good cause. But this song is a winner.
[READ: October 27, 2011] Babymouse: Puppy Love
This is my sixth Babymouse adventure. It was quite different from the other ones which I’ve read (which is good). Rather than focusing on school or Babymouse’s friends, this one focuses exclusively on Babymouse’s pets.
Babymouse is a terrible pet owner. As the story opens we see that she has lost yet another goldfish. (We see the previous fish in order of their demise). Babymouse wants a new pet but she thinks that fish are too boring. She wants to move on to something bigger! (Despite her clear inability to care for pets).
Then we see the succession of pets that Babymouse acquires, as she builds up to a puppy–hamster, ferret, etc. My favorite part of this story was that Babymouse loses all of these pets (the hamster instructions say: “Do not leave cage open” which she reads a little too late), but we see where all the lost pets wind up–which was very funny indeed.
And then Babymouse gets her wish–sort of. A stray dog comes up to her and she adopts it. (more…)
This is a new song from Nada Surf’s new album (due out in January 2012). Nada Surf aren’t changing much from their tried and true sense of pop hooks, but this is a slower, statelier song (with strings!). It features a challenging-to-sing-along-with chorus (“I wonder what was that world I was dreaming of”).
It’s a bit longer and slower than my preferred Surf songs, although I can see it working well in the middle of an album. About two minutes in, the guitars kick in and the song really comes to life. It’s catchy and fun and has me excited for their new disc.
[READ: October 23, 2011] “Memory Laps”
This article came around the same time that our tickets for Sedaris’ upcoming performance at Raritan Valley Community College arrived in our mailbox (nicely timed, that).
It did make me wonder if I shouldn’t be reading anymore of these pieces, since I don’t want to spoil the humor of Sedaris live (although I think Sedaris is funniest when delivering his pieces–his monotone is just wonderful–even if I have heard them before). And plus, the show is not until April, so chances are I’ll have forgotten about it by then.
This essay is all about young David when he was on the swim team (this guy has done so much in his life–who knew he was a swimmer too?). The crux of the essay is that David’s father never praised him for his swimming; instead, he heaped tons of praise on David’s teammate Greg Sakas (I wonder if names have been changed in these essays).
True, Sakas was pretty great, and he won every meet, but even when, on that one freakish instance when David beat Greg, David’s father was unimpressed, saying that Greg must have been ill or something. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: MY MORNING JACKET-“Our World” (2011).
This song comes from the The Green Album, the grown- up-bands-cover-the-Muppets album. I can’t remember if I knew this song to begin with or if I have just listened to this record enough that it sounds so familiar.
I Just Read About That... 