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Archive for the ‘Funny (strange)’ Category

Karen Dolby–History’s Naughty Bits (2013)

Posted in 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Ben Franklin, Charles II, Essays, Fears, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gem Club, Gender, Giacomo Casanova, Henry III, Henry VIII, History, Humiliation, James Boswell, Karen Dolby, LGBTQ, Lucretius, Marquis de Sade, Marriage Trouble, Masturbation, Oscar Wilde, Pornography, Prostitution, Religion, Romance, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Pepys, Sex, Sexism, St. Augustine, Tiny Desk Concert, Yuck! on May 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

naughty SOUNDTRACK: GEM CLUB-Tiny Desk Concert #181 (December 16, 2011).

gem clubGem Club is a quiet band.  During this set there are three members:  Christopher Barnes on keyboards and lead vocals, cellist Kristen Drymala and vocalist Ieva Berberian (who is eerily silent and still for much of the performance).

The first song, “Animal” features Barnes on keyboards, playing a simple melody and Drymala, playing a low and loud cello to accompany (when her first note comes in, it’s really striking).  She also sings a wonderful harmony vocal.  Barnes’ voice is almost a whisper, but between his voice and the vibrato on the keys, it sounds really big (but still quiet).  I really enjoyed the way the only “melody” she played on cello was at the very end of the song–a brief riff to signal the end.

“Breakers” opens with some rough cello playing and then a gentle echoed keyboard.  Ieva Berberian didn’t do anything in the first song, she just hovered mysteriously in the background. But for the second song she hits occasional tambourine notes (which sound practically like explosions amid the delicate echoing keyboards).  Perhaps the most interesting part of the song is watching Drymala tap on some  colorful bells with her foot to create a lovely melody.

For the final song, “252” Barnes says it is kind of a beast, (although it doesn’t sound any more complex than the previous two to me).  The piano is echoed and Ieva Berberian finally sings backing vocals.  Her voice is a little haunting and it works very nicely with Barnes’ voice.  The melody is beautiful.

Incidentally, the blurb says that this is the first time they’ve amplified a singer’s voice (they ran his voice through a chorus pedal to give it that otherworldly echo).  I have been listening to a lot of loud music lately, and this was a perfect counterpoint.

[READ: December 20, 2015] History’s Naughty Bits

This is the kind of book that promises to be very funny.  And then it turns out to be mostly funny but also rather scholarly.  Which is not bad thing, it’s just not as raucous as one might have imagined.

Dolby begins by dismissing the idea that “naughty” things are a recent invention and then proceeds to go through the history of human culture to show examples of things that would certainly be considered naughty today (some are quite shocking).

She starts with Classical Greece where women were expected to remain chaste, except for hetairai, high-class courtesans, who were well-educated and respected.  That’s some choice.  Adultery was considered less of a sin if was committed with a prostitute. (more…)

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Craig Thompson–Space Dumplins (2015)

Posted in Adventure, All Songs Considered, Aoife O'Donovan, Babies, Children's Books, Chris Thile, Craig Thompson, Edgar Meyer, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Marriage (Happy), Muppets, Outer Space, Poo, Sesame Street, Stuart Duncan, Supernatural, Surreal, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuck! on May 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

spacedump SOUNDTRACK: YO-YO MA, EDGAR MEYER, CHRIS THILE AND STUART DUNCAN-Tiny Desk Concert #175 (November 17, 2011).

yoyoYo-Yo Ma might be the most well-known cellist in the world.  I suspect that everyone has heard of him.  But it’s likely that people don’t know just how diverse his musical range is.  As the NPR blurb says:

He’s reached out to a broad range of musicians (and Muppets) to play not just Bach and Beethoven, but also Brazilian samba, Argentine tango, jazz, songs from Sesame Street and a smorgasbord of Asian music with his Silk Road Ensemble. American roots music also figures into Ma’s melting pot: He teamed up with double-bass master Edgar Meyer and fiddler Mark O’Connor 15 years ago for the gentle new-grass album Appalachian Waltz.

For this 2011 venture called The Goat Rodeo Sessions, he has created another Americana album, this time with mandolin master (and multiple Tiny Desk Concert player) Chris Thile.  Meyer is back on double bass and they have added Stuart Duncan on fiddle.

I can honestly say I never expected to see Yo-Yo Ma on a song called “Quarter Chicken Dark” but there he is, playing along as Thile begins the song on the mandolin.  The cello, fiddle and bass are all bowed so, despite the mandolin, the song feels a bit more classical (Thile has also made classical music on the mandolin, so the pairing actually makes a lot of sense).  I think Thile comes off as the star of this song with a wild solo in the middle.

For “Attaboy,” the mandolin starts the song again, but pretty quickly the strings dominate.  There’s a beautiful opening by Ma and a great fiddle interplay in which Duncan hints at the big Irish section he’s going to play.  There’s some wonderful fast mini solos from all of the instruments, including the bass, and then the whole song switches to a jig with Duncan playing a very Irish riff while Duncan and Ma keep the low notes coming.   Incidentally, I believe that Thile and Duncan are playing the exact same solo by the end, which sounds great.  But it’s watching Yo-Yo Ma’s fingers and bow move so fast that is really amazing.

For the final song “Here and Heaven” Aoife O’Donovan joins them on vocals.  And for a chance of pace Duncan switches from fiddle to banjo.  (Although mid way through the song he switches back to fiddle).  Donovan and Thile sing the song together.  On the first verse they are a little too quiet.  But once they start belting out they are fine.  This song is catchy and fun and the vocals really do change the feel of their music.

It’s clear that these accomplished musician are having a lot of fun together.  Meyer and Ma actually wave to each other during the second song, and Thile makes lots of little jokes.  And when he introduces Aoife, it’s funny to hear Yo-Yo Ma cheer like a little kid.

While Yo-Yo Ma if probably the most famous musician here, I like them all, and I’ll honestly listen to Thile do anything.

[READ: August 29, 2012] Space Dumplins

Craig Thompson has created a pretty diverse collection of books.  From the serious and beautiful Habibi, to the weird-looking and sad Goodbye Chunky Rice to this trippy sci-fi story.

The story is about Violet Marlocke, a young girl who lives out in a space trailer park.  Her father is a space lumberjack (whatever that means) and her mom is a seamstress.  They are poor but pretty happy, and that’s okay by Violet, since family is everything to her.

But as the book opens we learn that space whales (okay, I’ll stop putting “space” before everything, because he doesn’t) have just eaten her school.  The whales have been rampaging all of the planets in the area. At first Violet is happy to have no school but her parents have to do something with her.  So her mom brings her to work at Shell-tar where they try to see if she can enroll in the state of the art school there.  She can’t because her dad has a criminal record (and he’s opposed to the fancy school anyway).

While Violet is looking around, she meets Elliot Marcel Ophennorth, a small chicken who is incredibly smart (and has visions of the future).  We also meet Zacchaeus, the last Lumpkin in the world. He works at the dump.  Violet quickly befriends them both, although they don’t all get along very well at first.

Two things then happen pretty quickly back home.  Violet and her dad buy an old piece of junk space bike to fix up and Violet’s dad takes on a dangerous job to make some more money. (more…)

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James Kochalka–The Glorkian Warrior Eats Adventure Pie (2015)

Posted in #10yearsof01, C., First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, James Kochalka, Other Lives, Outer Space, Pie, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert, Yuck! on April 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

glorkpieSOUNDTRACK: OTHER LIVES Tiny Desk Concert #150 (August 18, 2011).

otherlivesI didn’t know Other Lives before this Tiny Desk, but I really liked this one a lot.  It’s a little hard to get past the lead singers incredible facial hair, but his voice is great and the backing vcoals are excellent too.  I loved the combination of instruments and, yeah, pretty much every thing else about this set.

I enjoyed that at the beginning of the first song, “For 12,” the drummer is playing his lap.  The female backing vocalist (whose voice is great) is playing the cello.  The chorus–when everyone sings high notes—is wonderful.  And I love that the drums, once they kick in, are predominately floor tom and rims.

After the song and the polite applause the singer comments, “It’s so somber in here, we need a dance party after this.  And a bunch of caffeine.”

For “Old Statues” the cellist switches to autoharp, which makes a wonderful harp-like sound.  Again the backing vocals are lovely.  I love that she does a series off perfect oooohs as a backing note for his singing on the first verse.  There’s also a harmonium on this track (I can’t believe how many bands use the harmonium).    I love the intensity of the middle section too.

It’s amusing to see them use an iPhone tuner before the final song

“Dust Bowl III” has a cool picked guitar riff (reminds me a little of Neil Young).  There’s more harmonium on this track.  The cellist plays the autoharp upright instead of flat for this song—I wonder why.  The rumbling floor toms are great for this song as well.  And when the full band does the haunting ooohs at the end, it’s really great.

I definitely need to check out more by them.

[READ: January 26, 2016] The Glorkian Warrior Eats Adventure Pie

This Glorkian Warrior story is similar to the previous one in that it is pretty crazy.  As it opens, the Glorkian Warrior and his backpack are riding a giant worm.  They are trying to destroy the worm, but while they are riding it, the tail pieces start popping–they are being shot by Buster Glark (who looks like the Glorkian Warrior but has only one eye).  He also a has a talking backpack (who says “they’re stupid, right boss”) to which the Glorkian Warrior’s backpack says “Don’t say stupid, it’s a swear”.

The head of the worm flies off to destroy another pie factory.

When the Glorkian Warrior gets home, baby alien (from the previous book) lands on his head and starts sucking his brains.  Backpack is concerned about this, but Glorkian Warrior says that all of his intelligence comes from his elbow anyhow.  And there is much fighting by the elbow. (more…)

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James Kochalka–The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza (2014)

Posted in #10yearsof01, C., First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, James Kochalka, Nellie McKay, Outer Space, Pizza, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert, Yuck! on April 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

glorkpizza SOUNDTRACK: NELLIE McKAY-Tiny Desk Concert #117 (April 4, 2011).

nellieNellie McKay is a singer I’d never heard of.  She is a blonde woman in a kind of yellow kimono and looks like she might be a funny folk singer as she plays a ukulele which is cut to look like an electric guitar.  But rather unexpectedly, she and her band burst into a reggae song.

McKay is, according to the blurb, an audacious artist who once devoted an entire album to Doris Day songs.  And now she writes a pretty authentic sounding Caribbean jam.  “Caribbean Time” has all the trappings of an island song–reggae guitars, bongos, and heavily wah-wahed guitars.

Between the songs, she makes some unexpected comments.  Like she says that she decided that a good sketch would be people sitting around a table asking for things and confessing at the same time, “Pass the syrup my father beat e as a child.”

When they start “Beneath the Underdog” the guitarist doesn’t start on time.  He says “Sorry, I forgot where we were for a second.”  She replies, “We’re in Washington D.C. fighting the man.”

“Beneath the Underdog” is a little less reggae influenced but still has a very tropical, light sound.  And her lyrics are wry and amusing, “beneath the underdog, that’s where I’m comfortable.”  It’s poppy and fun.  She even plays a keyboard solo with notes that sound kind of like steel drums.

“The Portal” is a ballad.  It’s much more traditional sounding, although with the same inflections that McKay has used on the other songs.  Her voice is quite distinctive without being unusual.  This is a somber song, but even while singing it she looks like she’s about to laugh.

And she caps off the set with an other weird  moment where she introduces her band and mispronounces her guitarists last name and seems to have a really hard time saying it.  She apologizes, “I was stoned when I met him.”  As the camera dims she says, “Thank you for fighting the good fight.  We are the silent majority but not so silent, we’re just quiet and tasteful.”

I found her to be quite engaging and charming.  I wonder if she’s still making music.

[READ: January 17, 2016] The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza

I have enjoyed everything I’ve read from John Kochalka.  His drawings are deceptively simple and his books are stupid but ultimately clever (and funny, either way).  His adult books are pretty over the top vulgar (don’t let your kids see them), but his kids books are very funny and perfectly juvenile.

This is his first book for First Second, and the first in a trilogy about the Glorkian Warrior.

Our copy also has an autograph for C.–our Vermont cousins sent it for his birthday (Kochalka is the artist laureate of Vermont, you know).

The premise of this book is painfully simple.  We meet the Glorkian Warrior who is, well, dumb.  His backpack talks to him and tries to get him to be less dumb.  And to be more heroic. (more…)

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Joshua Cohen–“From the Palo Alto Sessions” (Harper’s, May 2015)

Posted in Excerpt, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gaelynn Lea, Gavin Bryars, Harper's, Huh?, Joshua Cohen, Technology, Tiny Desk Concert, Tiny Desk Contest on March 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

may2015SOUNDTRACK: GAELYNN LEA-“Someday We’ll Linger In The Sun” (TINY DESK CONTEST WINNER 2016).

gaelynnYou never know what is going to win the Tiny Desk Contest–there are so many genres represented.  Will it big a big rocking band, a scrappy bluesy band, will it be a sweet lullaby, or, unexpectedly, will it be a haunting song by a woman with a fiddle.

Gaelynn Lea plays a violin which she loops.

As the song opens, the first violin notes are slow and haunting, almost hesitating.  Then she plays harmony notes over those (the spareness here reminds me of Gavin Bryars’ “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.”  Then she plays some pizzicato notes over the top of these.  It’s a beautiful, haunting melody.

After a minute her voice comes in.  It is unexpected.  It sounds slightly off, and yet somehow even more hauntingly beautiful for it.  Especially when she gets to the simple “chorus” of “and I love you.”  The melody doesn’t change through the song, that constant repeating riff, those slow pulls on the bow, the intermittent pizzicato notes and Lea’s voice continue as lyrics flow over you.

And what lyrics:

Our love’s a complex vintage wine
All rotted leaves and lemon rind
I’d spit you out but now you’re mine

Don’t tell me we’ve got time
The subtle thief of life
It slips away when we pay no mind

We pulled the weeds out til the dawn
Nearly too tired to carry on
Someday we’ll linger in the sun

Man.

After a few verses, she plays a solo over the top of it all.  It is as aching as the rest of the song.  Try not to cry while listening to it.

You can watch the video here.

[READ: January 8, 2015] “From the Palo Alto Sessions”

This is an excerpt from Cohen’s Book of Numbers.  I vaguely know Cohen (his first book Witz, was 800 pages and BoN is almost 600), but I don’t really know his writing.

This excerpt (I don’t know where it comes from the book) is a bit hard to get into: “Toward the end D-Unit had been working on the touchscreen.  Do not interrupt, we do not digress.”  Turns out that D-Unit is a person and the narrator is plural (or the royal we).  The story follows as “we” investigate D-Unit’s house and computer supplies.

There’ s a ton of tech speak, as well as what appears to be slang (I never figured out what “cur” meant in this book).

The language just piles up with sentences that build and stop and resume in another way.  I enjoyed this: “This career vegan who after his wife left him for a woman stuffed his freezer with enough cuts of venison to make 1.33 deer.” (more…)

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Adam Erlich Sachs–“The Philosophers” (New Yorker, February 1, 2016)

Posted in Adam Erlich Sachs, Carole King, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Lake Street Dive, New Yorker, Short Story, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert on March 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

216SOUNDTRACK: LAKE STREET DIVE-Tiny Desk Concert #511 (February 29, 2016).

lsdLake Street Dive are a trendy band all of a sudden (they’ve been around for ten years, evidently).  And what’s not to like about them?  Lead singer Rachael Price has a powerful soulful voice and she’s really pretty.  Their harmonies are really excellent.  And their songs are fairly simple and easy to follow.

And I can’t stand them.

They push all of my button.  I don’t like Price’s soulful voice (even though it is really powerful and sounds great–I just don’t like it).  I don’t like the way their backing vocals are vaguely do-wop, a sound I don’t like in general.  And I don’t like the way they veer towards country.

I should like them–this set is fun and the crowd is really into it.  Price sounds rather like Carole King, I love that the drummer uses brushes and that he wrote the first song.  I love that the bassist plays an upright bass and that she wrote the second song and sings lovely harmonies.  And I like that the guitarist plays a trumpet solo on the final song.

I even like the lyrics to the final song, “thank the good lord for those godawful things that brought you right back to me.”  Except that they sing that line about 50 times in the song.

I’m already tired of them and I expect that I’ll be even more sick of them before the year is out.

[READ: January 27, 2016] “The Philosophers” 

I don’t know Adam Ehrlich Sachs at all, and I have to say I was pretty surprised by this story.

It seemed like it would be pretty serious, what with that title and all.  It also seemed to have three “sections.” So I was expecting something pretty intense.

But instead, it was three humorous short stories called “Our System,” “Two Hats” and “The Madman’s Time Machine.”

“Our System” plays off the story that a person who loses the ability to use his muscles is still able to communicate through a blink or a tap or something.  And it follows the life story a of a philosopher who is so afflicted.  The man tries to communicate his life’s philosophy to his son.  But since the disease is hereditary, his son gets it too.  Then he has to learn a way to communicate with his own son.

It seems rather ponderous at first but then it quickly grows absurd as we see multiple generations trying to transcribe those initial thoughts.

“Two Hats” explores the idea of a person who wears two hats and how maybe the hats themselves are essential for him to be able to keep his jobs separated.  Again, it starts out somewhat reasonable but grows more and more absurd, with bigger and bigger hats.

The final story is “The Madman’s Time Machine” which was my favorite.  It is indeed about a time machine and whether the man who made it is crazy or not.  I really enjoyed the way it was written and the way it did so much in such a little space.  The conclusion was really well done.

I can see enjoying short pieces from him from time to time.

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The Amoeba People–The Complicated Saga of Eggnog and Yule Log (2011)

Posted in Christmas, Christmas Album, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Short Story, The Amoeba People on December 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

eggnogSOUNDTRACK: THE AMOEBA PEOPLE-“The Night The Hippies Hijacked Christmas” (2010) “Christmas Ferret” (2010) “Robotic Christmas Tree” (2014).

roboticA few years ago I backed The Amoeba People in a Kickstarter campaign.  And they sent me a booklet and CD of The Complicated Saga of Eggnog and Yule Log.  I had been putting off listening to it until the holidays because it seemed perfectly holiday themed.

But as it turns out, the entire collection (four songs) is sort of tangentially Christmassy.  Since they do have three specifically Christmas songs that they have also released, I’ll mention them first.

Of the three, the promisingly titled “The Night The Hippies Hijacked Christmas” is my least favorite.  It’s overly long and uses music to fight music.  But it is “Christmas Ferret” that really steals the show.

When coal isn’t enough for someone who has been naughty at Christmastime, why not send them a present that will bite back. The way the song is sung–in a weird falsetto and staccato delivery (making it almost like a hymn) is fantastic.

The newest song is “Robotic Christmas Tree,” a dancing riotous song about trees attacking people on this festive holiday:

You think your tree
Is perfectly organic
But on Christmas Day
There will be widespread panic!

It’s a fun song, although it doesn’t quite match up to “Christmas Ferret” either.

[READ: December 21, 2015] The Complicated Saga of Eggnog and Yule Log

This collection comes with four songs.  The booklet includes the lyrics to all four songs, but it also includes two extra texts.  One is the diary musings of Uncle Leon for his extra verses to “Omaha.”  But the real treat is the extended story of Yule Log and Egg Nog.

But first the songs:

“Uncle Pat” is a great bouncing song.  It’s about Uncle Pat who claims to be Irish but isn’t (the song has a fun traditional Irish feel to it).  He tells stories about his life which everyone knows to be lies.  It’s really quite funny (we also get Uncle Pat’s recipe for egg nog, both the kid friendly and the super unfriendly versions!)

“Eight Nights of Bowling” is about how three rabbis spend their Hanukkah nights: “ten pins, eight nights you know it’s really out of sight.”  This is an unexpected punk blast.

The final song is sung by Crazy Uncle Leon (who is also mentioned in their earlier song “Cosmology, Your Futon and You”).  There’s a long opening in which Leon talks to his nephews.  He asks them why they have coats on.  And they say it’s 68 degrees in Hollywood, a really cold winter.  He is appalled and then proceeds to sing to them his tales of winters in Omaha.  Well, not tales so much as just a few words and a lot of chorus (Leon can’t think of many words as you can see from his diary entry).

The title song is actually quite short.  Eggnog wants to play, but Yule Log is angry and wants to fight.   But eggnog says “I don’t want to fight him/Like me he’s a seasonal item.”    The song is slow and sweet until it becomes fast and punky (with the same words both times).

But so much is left to wonder about with this song.  Why is Yule Log so mad?  Well, thankfully, the booklet tells us the full story.

In the fuller version,

Tchristmasferrethe logs piled on the rack congratulate the Yule Log on being picked to be used for the Christmas fire.  They say that only one log is given such an honor.   But Yule Log is pragmatic–what does it matter if I’m chosen, we’re all gong to be burned anyway.

The rest of the decorations are appalled by this attitude.  The Christmas Tree shames him saying that everyone plays a part in the Christmas tradition.  And one of the chocolate Santas says that Yule log is lucky that the Santa is stuck in the bowl or he would punch Yule Log.

As they were arguing they had to hush quickly because they head someone coming. But it wasn’t a person it was a fetching yellow carton with skinny legs and arms.   He wishes everyone a happy holiday and says that he is Eggnog.  He wishes everyone good cheer but Yule Log wants nothing to do with it.  He tells Eggnog that he is just going to be drunk tomorrow so what is he so cheerful about?

Eggnog says its better to be drunk than to go sour.  Yule Log is dismissive.

Eggnog then posits that they can fight or they can play holiday games.  The only game Yule Log is interested in is beating up Eggnog.

So what happens on Christmas Day?  Will they meet their fate?  And if so, whose attitude is better?

This is something to ponder while you sit by the fire and enjoy your own Egg nog.  Happy Christmas.

 

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Zoyka’s Apartment (Berlind Theatre, Princeton, NJ, November 19, 2015)

Posted in Beer, Berlind Theatre, Boris A. Morozov, Bronson Pinchot, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gender, Play (Drama), Princeton, NJ, Revenge, Russia, Sex, Sexism, Surreal, Unfinished, Zoyka's Apartment on November 20, 2015| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 19, 2015] Zoyka’s Apartment

zoykaI was offered free tickets to this show.  I read a brief review, saw the word “farce” and decided it would be fun to go to it.

This play was written by Mikhail Bulgakov, an author I’ve heard of but know little about.  Turns out that all of his plays were banned by the Soviet government.  Including this one, even though it was not an anti-Soviet play.  After the banishment, he wrote to Stalin requesting permission to emigrate, but was denied.

As this play opens, there is a lectern at which an announcer reads a 1990 review of the play by Frank Rich in the New York Times (which you can read here).  Perhaps the most fascinating thing that I heard from the review was this:

Boris A. Morozov’s production of Mikhail Bulgakov’s ”Zoya’s Apartment” at the Circle in the Square. Mr. Morozov is resident director of the Maly Theater in Moscow. His New York cast is headed by such actors as Bronson Pinchot.

Since Pinchot is my new favorite audio book reader, I immediately paid attention. (more…)

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Brendan Connell–Jottings from a Far Away Place (2015) [prepub]

Posted in マキシマム ザ ホルモン, Brendan Connell, Death Note, Food, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), John Zorn, Maximum the Hormone, Religion, Sex, Short Story, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Surreal, Violence, Virginity (Loss of), Yamantaka Eye on November 16, 2015| 1 Comment »

jottingsSOUNDTRACK: マキシマム ザ ホルモン–“え・い・り・あ・ん” (2013) [MAXIMUM THE HORMONE-“A.L.I.E.N” (2013).

maxi2This Japanese band has gained some ground in the United States (having two of their songs used in the anime Death Note).  They are a heavy, heavy metal band which explores many different genres.

This song begins with a heavy metal guitar riff.  When the song proper starts, it is clearly a heavy song sing in Japanese.  The second vocalist (who screams like Yamantaka Eye with John Zorn) screams in an unmistakably Japanese way.  And at 1:15, the song slows down into a very heavy almost mosh.

So far so good.  The first big surprise comes at 1:44 when the song is hijacked by a funk metal bass line and the follow up section is a less scary sounding but still heavy metal.

And then it’s back to the speed and noise once more, complete with a pause and a “Go!” and then a series of “He!y Hey! Hey!” metal chants.

maxiBut the real surprise comes at 3 minutes when the whole song slows to a sweet section with whispered vocals by the (female) drummer?  And then the entire song switches to a sweet song–delicate guitar and super sweet vocals with the new lyrics “Stop Stop Winny Upload.”  The boys come back in, but now they are playing along to this poppy (but guitar heavy) “Stop Stop Winny” section.

This runs on until the end of the song which has the band members conversing in Japanese (about what, I have no idea).

It is one of the most jarring songs I’ve heard, combing at least five genres in its 5 and a half minutes (and several of their other songs do this too (check out “Yoshu Fukushu”).

maxi3This is to say nothing of the video, which opens with the band playing in a live setting.  The  guitarist has long hair and a beard and sings the first verses.  The short-haired singer sings the really fast growly stuff and the bassist has a nifty side shave.

As the funk metal stuff starts, the band switches to a studio scene in which, why not, they all grow extra heads and limbs.

The Stop Stop Winny section switches from a segment with the drummer in a wedding dress singing gently.  And then the final section shows the band in a psychedelic set with little kids and balloons.

It’s fantastic.

[READ: November 13, 2015] Jottings from a Far Away Place

Brendan Connell has this new book coming out (on December 1st) from the wonderfully named Snuggly Press.  (I love that it says This is a Snuggly Book) on the title page verso.

Connell has written all kinds of books in his career but this one is something of a new style in his vast oeuvre.  The title word “Jottings” is a giveaway because so many of the parts of the book are very short–notations, indeed, jottings, that may or may not relate directly to the rest of the pieces.  I found the book a little challenging to read at first because of this.  However, when I wrapped my head around what was going on, it really gelled.  And when I read it a second time, with this in mind, it worked beautifully.

Connell has created a kind of labyrinth of a book in which some fragments lead to dead ends, but other fragments lead to longer stories.  And when you hit on the right path you are rewarded with a longer story that is as well written (Connell’s eye for detail is, as always, exceptional) as it is interesting.  But unlike the mythological labyrinth, there is no Minotaur if you take a wrong path–rather there is just a fragment that forces you to think about where it might belong. (more…)

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Claire Cock-Starkey–How to Skin a Lion: A Treasury of Outmoded Advice (2015)

Posted in Africa, Anachronisms, Birds, Claire Cock-Starkey, Disease, Elephants, Essays, Etiquette, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Greed, Guns, History, How to, Lions, Los Lobos, Nature, Tiny Desk Concert, Yuck! on November 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

skin SOUNDTRACK: LOS LOBOS-Tiny Desk Concert #90 (November 10, 2010).

loslobosI don’t really know all that much about Los Lobos.  I frankly got sick of them because of “La Bamba” (which came out 20 years ago!) and I don’t think I’d ever heard much else by them.  So I wound up enjoying this Tiny Desk much more than I anticipated.

The one big problem with this tiny desk is that the drummer is playing one of those plastic mail bins and it sounds awful.  Especially on the first song.  I think anything would have had a better drum sound than that.

I really enjoyed the first song “Burn It Down.”  It has a propulsive minor key structure and an excellent bass line.  I would never have guessed it was Los Lobos, but that may be because it’s not the singer I most associate with them (he sings on the next two songs).

“Yo Canto” is a cumbia, sung by a different guy (in Spanish) who also plays lead guitar.  The mail bin sounds better on this song because of the placement (and use of) a cowbell.  The singer sounds amazing.  I rather like the riff that underlines the song.

Those two songs are from their then latest album.  And the band sounds really good all these years on.

The final song is “Don’t Worry Baby.”  It has the same singer as the middle song (this time in English) although it is a pretty standard blues song that I found just okay.  It also features a bunch of saxophone.  I didn’t realize that it was from their major label debut in 1984! and is something of a classic.

So three songs, all of them enjoyable, from a band I didn’t really think I’d enjoy.  The funniest part is just before the show stops and someone asks, “Okay, where’s the beer?”

[READ: October 1, 2015] How to Skin a Lion

This book sounded awesome–I love outdated things that we can laugh about now (because I’m a superior git, of course).

But this book proved to be not all that funny.  The outmoded advice wasn’t treated comically exactly (well, some was), rather it was looked at rather seriously–some as good advice that still stands, some as crazy advice that is way outmoded and a few things that are, yes, just comical.

Cock-Starkey (insert joke here) says that this is a collection of materials from the vast archives of the British Library.  It culls from medieval manuscripts, Victorian manuals and self-help guides from the early 20th century.  She explains that the book aims to reveal the secrets of lost arts, remind us of how modern conveniences have changed our lives, recall the complexities of etiquette, highlight changing attitudes and beliefs and furnish us with still useful tips and guidance.

Although she also points out that readers should be advised that some pieces of advice contained herein have stood the test of time better than others. (more…)

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