Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Hitler’ Category

David Cross (Merriam Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, April 3, 2016)

Posted in Alvin and the Chipmunks, Arrested Development, Cigarettes, Comedy Album, David Cross, Funny (ha ha), Guns, Hitler, Holidays, Merriam Theatre, Mr Show, Murder, Philadelphia, PA, Political Humor, Politicians, Racism, Religion, Yuck! on April 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 3, 2016] David Cross

cross I have enjoyed David Cross since the old days of Mr. Show, and the as Tobias on Arrested Development and even in Alvin and the, well, actually I’m just happy for him that he got a lot of money for it.

When he released his previous stand up album, Bigger and Blackerer, Sarah and I listened to it in the car on a long trip and we had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.

So when I heard he was touring I thought it would be fun to see him live.  And, yes, it was.

But we ran into a few bumps along the way.  We had to leave very late because our babysitter had car trouble.  She arrived just late enough that we weren’t sure if it was worth still driving the hour to Philly.  We decided if traffic was terrible we would just stop somewhere and have dinner instead.  I even called the Theatre to see if there was an opening act (nope) and if the show really started at 7:30 and not 8 (yup, he would start at exactly 7:30).  Traffic was light and the GPS said we’d get to the garage at 7:35.  I missed the turn for the alley that our garage was on, and then we got slightly lost on the walk from garage to theater and as we got there at 7:40… there were still a whole bunch of people milling about in the lobby.  And then they flashed the lights telling us to get to our seats.  We missed nothing!

And we even got to tsk at people who arrived later than us.  Cross even joked that he would wait to start his joke because “it’s not fucking distracting or anything” when people are being seated.  I was frankly shocked that people seemed to still be arriving around 8PM! (more…)

Read Full Post »

Carla Jablonski & Leland Purvis–Victory: Resistance Book 3 (2012)

Posted in Carla Jablonski, Charlie Siem, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Hitler, Jascha Heifetz, Leland Purvis, Leopold Godowsky, Marriage (Happy), Nazis, Niccolò Paganini, Ole Bull, Revenge, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Trilogy, Violence, War, Yehudi Menuhin on December 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

resist3SOUNDTRACK: CHARLIE SIEM-Tiny Desk Concert #134 (June 15, 2011).

siemWhen he was 3 years old, Charlie Siem heard violinist Yehudi Menuhin play Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. That was all it took to inspire him to pursue the violin. Siem studied at Eton and the Royal College of Music, and now he plays one of Menuhin’s old violins—a stunning 1735 Guarneri del Gesu.  Upon describing this centuries old instrument he says “it helps me a lot when I’m doing my… little thing.”  He is also greatly amused when NPR’s Stephen Thompson asks if he can borrow it.

Siem recently discovered that he’s related to the 19th-century Norwegian violin virtuoso and composer Ole Bull. So he started off his Tiny Desk show with Bull’s bucolic Cantabile.  His introduction is great.  He says that Bull was a precursor to Paganini, who emigrated to the States and set up a colony on Pennsylvania.  He calls him a “really crazy guy.”  It’s a beautiful piece with occasional really high notes.  This violin seems to have an unreal sound to it, bringing it what sounds like harmonic notes or something.

Paganini’s Introduction and Variations on Paisiello’s “Nel Cor Piu”  (an aria from a now-forgotten Paisiello opera), contains a grab bag full of violin special effects.  This is just incredible.  His fingers move faster than can be believed.  There are trills all up and down the neck, there’s pizzicato plucking with his left hand (how?).  In a section of “harmonics” he even whistles the final note.  It’s amazing to watch.

Leopold Godowsky: Alt Wien (“Old Vienna”) (arr. Heifetz)  This is a lovely piece with lots of high keening notes in an arrangement by the incomparable Jascha Heifetz.

It’s amazing that Siem can be so good and yet somehow I’d never heard of him.  His kind of virtuosity is amazing.  And, as it turns out he’s a total hunk with a deep resonating actor’s voice as the pages of Italian Men’s Vogue magazine.  He’s also the 2011 spokesman for Dunhill, the men’s fashion house.  The write up says that for his Tiny Desk Concert appearance, you could say Siem dressed “casual, but with an understated elegance,” right down to his left-hand pinky, with its pink-painted fingernail.

I definitely need to hear more from him.

[READ: December 8, 2015] Victory

This final book in the trilogy sees the culmination of French Resistance against the Nazis.

We learn in the introduction that it has been four years since the occupation began and although victory seems within sight, things have been getting worse.  There’s hardly any food or resources and the Nazis are growing even more angry and vicious.  On June 6, 1944 the Allies landed in Normandy.  But they had a lot of fighting to do before they could liberate Vichy.

As this book opens we see Paul called into the prison because of his drawings.  He looks older now (a great detail on the drawing) and he finds it much easier to lie to the guards.  After an interrogation, Lucie’s father–the policeman we saw in the previous book who seemed to turn a blind eye to Paul’s activity–accuses him of sneaking around to see Lucie.  Paul catches on quickly that the man is helping him and when they are free together, Paul learns that there are people on his side who he never suspected. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Carla Jablonski & Leland Purvis–Defiance: Resistance Book 2 (2011)

Posted in Carla Jablonski, Charles de Gaulle, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Hitler, Leland Purvis, Marriage (Happy), Nazis, Paul Simon, Philippe Pétain, Revenge, Short Books, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Tiny Desk Concert, Trilogy, Violence, War on December 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

resist2SOUNDTRACK: SIERRA LEONE’S REFUGEE ALL STARS-Tiny Desk Concert #118 (April 6, 2011).

sierraSierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars are famous for their story.  Its members met in refugee camps during Sierra Leone’s civil war and formed a band to spread joy during an otherwise difficult time.  But the band’s music is what has stood the test of time.  Ten years, two albums and an award-winning documentary later, these eight men are still riding that upbeat reggae groove.

The band consists of three drummers (all with hand-held drums) and one percussionist.  There’s 2 guitars (one electric and one acoustic) a bass and everybody sings.  Their music has a reggae feel, although it’s not exactly reggae, I don’t think.

“Jah Come Down” opens the show. The acoustic guitar keeps the melody while the electric guitar plays a riff throughout.  Occasionally the bass comes in with a cool line or two adding a nice low end.

“Living Stone” has a different singer (the percussionist).  His vocals are a bit more mellow, as this song is.  It’s amazing to see the age range of the players.

“Tamagbondorsu (The Rich Mock The Poor)” is the final song.  It opens with a guitar lick that reminded me of Paul Simon’s Graceland until i re-thought and realized that Graceland sounded like this.

The songs are fun and lively, perfect for dancing (as the singer does during the long instrumental outro).  Most reggae sounds the same to me, and these three songs do tend to blend together quite a lot.  But the music is fun and the players’ skill is undeniable.

Here;s to ten more years.

[READ: December 4, 2015] Defiance

This book is set three years into the Nazi occupation of France.  Things are sort of the same but worse for the residents of Vichy.  Neighbors inform on neighbors, and some residents collaborate with the Germans (and are more successful because of it).  And then in 1943, a new French-based Nazi police force called the Milice begin keeping watch over their own people

This aggressiveness causes more resistance, of course. And Paul has been drawing detailed and insulting pictures and posting them all over town (which is making the Milice quite upset).

Of course the kids are taking more aggressive stances now, too.  Some say that the posters are causing more harm because it makes the police mad.  But other kids’ parents have joined the police–some of whom are nice to the kids.  Even Paul’s sister, Marie, believes what her teachers say about Marshall Philippe Pétain (there’s a lesson about Pétain at the end of the book) and his governance.  And no one is going to say anything about the Resistance.   (more…)

Read Full Post »

Carla Jablonski & Leland Purvis–Resistance (2010)

Posted in Carla Jablonski, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Hitler, Leland Purvis, Luisa Maita, Marriage (Happy), Nazis, Revenge, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Trilogy, Violence, War on December 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »

resistSOUNDTRACK: LUISA MAITA-Tiny Desk Concert #100 (December 26, 2010).

maitaI’ve not heard of Maita.  The NPR write up speaks about the electronic flourishes and deep grooves of her songs.  Felix Contreras worried that their stripped down ensemble (only guitar, bass and fascinating bongos) would have a hard time creating that sound.

And in one way they do.  Except that it’s clear they didn’t even try.  Rather, they play a simple, but engaging kind of mellow Brazilian dance music.  In the first song, “Ai Vem Ele,” the guitar and bass play the same grooves except when they each take some meandering moments.  The percussion keeps a quiet but steady rhythm and Maita sings vocals and accent notes all over the place to keep the song interesting.  I really enjoyed at the end of the song when the bassist played exactly the vamping solo that she was singing.

“Alento” is a much faster song, with quickly sung lyrics.  It allows for rapid guitar playing and more uptempo feel.

They only play two songs (about 8 minutes long), but it really shows the kind of range she is capable of.

[READ: December 1, 2015] Resistance

This First Second graphic novel is about the Nazi occupation of France.  It’s not exactly light reading and yet Jablonski has taken this incredibly dark story and found an excellent and compelling narrative about one family who works as part of the resistance to fight back against their oppressors.

This is the first book in a trilogy and I am curious to see what the next two books bring as this story was nicely wrapped up but there are so many more stories which could be told.

Jablonski also helpfully sets up the situation in the introduction.  She explains how France was split in two as a result of the armistice agreement.  She gives a very brief but powerful explanation for why they would agree to splitting their country in half.  Paris and the upper portion of France became Occupied while Vichy and the southern part of France were “Free” (but still with a large Nazi presence).

This story is about an average family.  Paul Tessier and his parents and little sister live in the free part of France. Paul is an artist, and I love the way Purvis juxtaposes Paul’s art with what is actually happening (placing Paul’s “drawing” in the middle of the action so we know he is observing everything. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Simon Rich–The Last Girlfriend on Earth: And Other Love Stories (2013)

Posted in Beer, Christmas Album, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Gods, Hitler, Humiliation, Kissing, Man Seeking Woman, Marriage Trouble, Morality, Myths, NASA, New Yorker, Religion, Sex, She & Him, Short Books, Simon Rich, Zooey Deschanel on December 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

lastgSOUNDTRACK: SHE & HIM-A Very She & Him Christmas (2011).

shehimI love the packaging of this disc (the envelope with the Christmas letter/liner notes is charming).

I really enjoyed Zooey Deschanel’s singing in Elf, I thought it was really pretty and surprisingly unaffected.  So it’s not too surprising that she stared making records herself.  And M Ward seems like a perfect accompaniment to her slow, rather old school style of singing.

I have a hard time getting into the She & Him records though.  They’re just, yes, too slow for me.  The tempo is perfect for her voice, which is naturally very pure and clean.  And she even has a good crooning style, I just need the songs to be a little peppier.  Or like on “Run Run Reindeer,” I find her version is kind of abrupt, perhaps she doesn’t really hold her notes for very long which I find disconcerting.

I like the first two songs, “The Christmas Waltz,” and “Christmas Day” because they are songs I didn’t know already, so I had no expectations.  “Christmas Wish” is really nice with Ward taking lead vocals.   As for Zooey’s leads, I like “Sleigh Ride” quite a lot.  And their version of “Silver Bells” on ukulele is just beautiful.

This collection of songs is quite nice, if not a little too mellow.  It sets a mood and follows through all the way, which is good.  I really do wish I liked it more.

[READ: December 5, 2014] The Last Girlfriend on Earth

I love Simon Rich, but sometimes I lose touch with just how many books he releases.  So when he was on Seth Meyers the other night I learned that he had a new book out, which was great.  But then I also learned that I missed his last two books!  Jeez.  One is a novel and this one is a collection of short stories.

I have said before that I love Rich’s really short pieces–he is so good with a set up and punchline.  Most of these stories are longer, and they are pretty much all very funny indeed.

The book is set up in three parts: Boy Meets Girl, Boy Gets Girl and Boy Loses Girl.  And indeed, the stories in each section do match up to that general setup (it’s quite clever) although they are not connected to each other.  Several of these stories appeared in the New Yorker and it was fun to read them again and to see them in this new context.

Incidentally, they are making a TV show based on this book, airing in the new year on FXX, called Man Seeking Woman–I hope it’s good. (more…)

Read Full Post »

B. J. Novak–One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014)

Posted in Alternate Reality, B.J. Novak, Books about writers, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, Elvis Presley, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Humiliation, Jealousy, New Yorker, Short Story on December 4, 2014| 1 Comment »

one moreSOUNDTRACK: OLD NAVY HOLIDAY HITS (2003).

oldIt seems that every year stores release their own Christmas mixes.  I feel like Old Navy was one of the first stores to do so (especially in their weird retro style).  What is surprising is just how much I enjoy this compilation.  It has a great mix of traditional and unusual.  There’s some cool remixes, there’s some unexpected “space-age” tracks and it’s just boppy and light and fun.  Until the end where they go for an unusual (although it somehow makes sense for Old navy) but unenjoyable song to end it with.

PEGGY LEE-“Winter Wonderland” A great, slightly space age version of this song.
ANDY WILLIAMS-“Sleigh Ride” I do love an Andy Williams Christmas song—earnest and clean and lots of fun.
HOLLY COLE-“Christmas Is” I don’t know this song that well.  It’s a fun, different Christmas song, done on a jaunty piano.
ELLA FITZGERALD-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” I love Ella, and I love the horn blasts as the song opens and closes.
PATTI PAGE-“Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” I don’t love this version, which is surprising as I love this era, but I think I don’t like her voice that much.
CAPITAL STUDIO ORCHESTRA-“Cha Cha All the Way” one of my favorite swinging weird holiday songs.
THE PENGUINS-“Jingle Jangle” has a fun “native” beat to it. It’ sa n odd song and I don’t love the singer’s voice, but the music is fun.
RAMSEY LEWIS-“The Twelve Days of Christmas” a piano instrumental that sounds nothing like the song…fun though and appropriately Christmassey somehow.
DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES-“The Land of Make Believe” I didn’t even realize this was Diana Ross—the production is so low key. And the shuffle beat and strings seems very much unlike the Supremes to me. It fits in well with these songs.
DUKE ELLINGTON-“Jingle Bells (Robbie Hardkiss Remix)” I love this remix a lot, it’s one of my favorite Christmas songs.
JACK JONES-“Mistletoe and Holly” another retro-seeming, very clean-sounding song. It’s kind of mockable but fun at the same time—like the best Christmas stuff.
MARVIN GAYE AND TAMMI TERRELL-“Two Can Have a Party” I really don’t like this song in general and it doesn’t feel holiday enough for this disc.  But it’s a harmless end to an otherwise fun collection of Christmas songs.

[READ: December 1, 2014] One More Thing

I really enjoyed Novak’s short piece “The Man Who Invented the Calendar” in the New Yorker (which is included in here). So I was pretty excited to read this collection of his “stories.”

There’s over 60 stories in this book. Many of them are really short (some are just a few lines).  And typically the shorter the pieces the funnier they tend to be (the super short ones are pretty much a perfect set up for a punchline).  But interestingly, there are several really long pieces (some over 10 pages) and these are more thoughtful and, while kinda funny, not meant to be laugh out loud funny.  It’s an interesting mix.  It’s especially interesting because at the end of the book, he has a piece called “Discussion Questions” in which he asks:

Did you flip through the book and read the shortest stories first?   The author does that, too.

If you do that, you will laugh a lot at the beginning and then have precious few laughs at the end, so don’t do that! (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kurt Vonnegut–Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage (1991)

Posted in Blivit, Books about writers, Boredom, Communists, Essays, Funny (ha ha), History, Hitler, Holocaust, Humiliation, Interviews, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Vonnegut, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Morality, Nazis, Pornography, Pulp Fiction, Religion, Suicide, Technology, The Future, The Statler Brothers, Violence, War on June 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

200px-FatesWorseThanDeathSOUNDTRACK: THE STATLER BROTHERS-“Flowers on the Wall” (1965).

flowersonthe Vonnegut mentions this Statler Brothers song in Palm Sunday as well.  I know this from Pulp Fiction–a song that I found very amusing and never would have guessed was a classic country song.  Country music was very different in 1965 than it is now.  I don’t even know if there was a folk or bluegrass category back then, and this song, with its banjo and bouncey acoustic guitar is a great example of the kind of country music I like.  And those harmonies!

This song certainly seems to be about insanity–about a man counting flowers on the wall, playing solitaire with a deck of 51 cards, smoking cigarettes and watching Captain KAN Kangaroo.  Don’t tell him he’s nothing to do.  What a weird little song.  And man is it catchy.  No wonder it was a #1 hit.

[READ: May 31, 2013] Fates Worse Than Death

After reading Palm Sunday I learned that Fates Worse Than Death was a kind of autobiographical sequel to that non fiction book.  I also learned that the two essays that make up Nothing is Lost Save Honor which is impossible to find (and for which I can’t even find a cover) are available in FwtD.  However, since there is no real contents or index, you do have to read the whole thing to find out which chapters contain the essays.  Or you can just look here and see that “The Worst Addiction of Them All” (which was published in The Nation) is in Chapter XIV and “Fates Worse Than Death” appears in Chapter XV.

The last time I read a bunch of Vonnegut together I got a bit burnt out on him and the same thing happened here.  The problem with Vonnegut’s nonfiction is that he tends to repeat himself.  A lot.  And while this book is ostensibly about the 1980s, he talks an awful lot about his family and his friends from the war and his other literary acquaintances., like he did in Palm Sunday.  In a number of places, he says that he doesn’t like to read himself in English, and it would seem that he doesn’t proofread to see if he said something already either.

This is not to say that the book is not worth reading.  Indeed, if you read Palm Sunday in the 80s and then this one in the 90s, you might not remember all of the details that pop up again, but when you read them days apart…well. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kurt Vonnegut–Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage (1981)

Posted in Arthur C. Clarke, Blivit, Bob Elliot, Books about writers, Boredom, Communists, Daily Sun, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Gore Vidal, History, Hitler, Holocaust, Humiliation, Interviews, Jonathan Swift, Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Mark Twain, Mark Vonnegut, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, NASA, Nazis, Pornography, Pulp Fiction, Ray Goulding, Religion, Short Story, Technology, The Future, The New York Times, The Statler Brothers, Violence, War, William F. Buckley on June 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

PalmSundayFrontandBackSOUNDTRACK: THE STATLER BROTHERS-“Class of ’57” (1972).

stalerI don’t know much about The Statler Brothers.  They are considered country, although this song is hardly country–it’s more folk with some bluegrass and, the real selling point–great harmonies (especially the bass singer with the big mustache).

The song is a wonderful coming of age song, sad and funny with a list of what happened to everyone in the class of ’57.  Like:

Betty runs a trailer park, Jan sells Tupperware,
Randy’s on an insane ward, Mary’s on welfare.
Charlie took a job with Ford, Joe took Freddie’s wife,
Charlotte took a millionaire, and Freddie took his life.

John is big in cattle, Ray is deep in debt,
Where Mavis finally wound up is anybody’s bet.

But the kicker comes at the chorus:

And the class of ’57 had its dreams,
Oh, we all thought we’d change the world with our great words and deeds.
Or maybe we just thought the world would change to fit our needs,
The class of ’57 had its dreams.

And then at the end:

And the class of ’57 had its dreams,
But living life from day to day is never like it seems.
Things get complicated when you get past eighteen,
But the class of ’57 had its dreams.

Vonnegut quotes the entirety of this song in the book and I’m glad he did, it’s a very moving song and really captures American life.

[READ: May 26, 2013] Palm Sunday

After writing several successful novels, Vonnegut paused to collect his thoughts.  And Palm Sunday begins: “This is a very great book by an American genius.”  It is also a “marvelous new literary form which combines the tidal power of a major novel with the bone-rattling immediacy of front-line journalism.”  After all the self praise, he decides that this collage–a collection of essays and speeches as well as a short story and a play which is all tied together with new pieces (in TV they would call this a clip show)–this new idea of a book should have a new name and he chooses: blivit (during his adolescence, this word was defined as “two pounds of shit in a one-pound bag.”  He proposes that all books combining facts and fiction be called blivits (which would even lead to a new category on the best seller list).  Until then, this great book should go on both lists.

This book is a collection of all manner of speeches and essays, but they are not arranged chronologically.  rather they are given a kind of narrative context.  What’s nice is that the table of contents lists what each of the items in the book is (or more specifically, what each small piece is when gathered under a certain topic).

Chapter 1 is The First Amendment in which he talks about Slaughterhouse Five being burned and how outraged he was by that–especially since the people so anxious to burn it hadn’t even read it (and the only “bad” thing is the word motherfucker).  The first speeches included are “Dear Mr. McCarthy” to the head of the school board where his books were burned and “Un-American Nonsense” an essay for the New York Times about his book being banned in New York State.  The next two are “God’s Law” for an A.C.L.U. fund raiser–it includes his confusion as to why people don’t support the A.C.L.U. which is working for all of our own civil liberties. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kurt Vonnegut–God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (1999)

Posted in Advice, Bombs, Books about writers, Consumerism, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Death, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Holocaust, Isaac Asimov, Isaac Newton, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage (Happy), NPR/PRI/PBS, Sexism, Short Books, Suicide, Violence, War, William Shakespeare, WNYC--93.9 New York on September 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CYMBALS EAT GUITARS-Live on KEXP June 18, 2009 (2009).

Cymbals Eat Guitars are from Staten Island (with members from New Jersey).  They have released two albums, although this recording is from after the release of their first album.    They play four songs:  “And the Hazy Sea,” “Cold Spring,” “Tunguska,” and “Wind Phoenix.”   They are noisy songs (mostly) with squalls of guitars (squalls is a good word since two of the guys are from Manahawkin, New Jersey.

The band has true progenitors in the indie rock scene–there’s sounds of Pavement, The Replacements,  even more melodic Sonic Youth .  They play noisy guitars and the vocals veer from softly sung to loudly screamed (often within the same line).    “Cold Spring” starts like a kind of shoegazery song and then after almost three minutes it turns into a  blast of pummeling rock with a noisy guitar section, before moving into a third more melodic section.

There’s   a lengthy interview with the band, where they give a shout out to New Jersey and seem genuinely surprised by the success they’ve had.  It’s a good show, and you can hear it here

[READ: September 25, 2012] God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian

Again, against my better judgment I brought this Vonnegut book home too because it was on the shelf (and it was very short).  I still haven’t finished Bluebeard yet, but I have been curious about this book for some time.  It references Vonnegut’s early novel God Bless You, Mr Rosewater, but it also name checks Dr Jack Kevorkian.  So just what is it?

Well, it is collection of radio spots that Vonnegut did for WNYC radio in New York back in 1998.  Vonnegut claimed that he went to Kevorkian’s facility, was strapped in and almost killed multiple times, but Kevorkian brought him back each time creating a near-death experience. And each time Vonnegut travelled through that “blue tunnel,” he would interview a dead person.

The people he interviews vary quite a lot in fame and stature: (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.–Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5 a Space Fantasy (1972)

Posted in David O'Dell, Death, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, NPR/PRI/PBS, Religion, Sci-fi, Sexism, Technology, The Flaming Lips, The Future, Time Travel, Violence on September 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Dark Side of the Moon live at Hangout Music Festival, May 2012 (2012).

Recently, the Flaming Lips and friends released a version of Dark Side of the Moon that was noisy and chaotic and resembled the original in some  ways but departed from it radically in others.  When Palladia aired this concert of the band performing the album in its entirety I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised that their rendition of the album is quite faithful to the original.  There’s plenty of Flaming Lips-isms in it, but it sounds a lot closer to the Pink Floyd version than The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches version.  And that’s a good thing.

I have to admit the audio wasn’t as clear as I would have expected (which is surprising for the Lips)–it was very hard to hear Wayne when he was talking.  That may have worked well for the singing though as he sounded almost exactly like David Gilmour on most of the songs.  The stage was also filled with people.  In addition to the four band members, there was a cast of dancers dressed like Swiss maids, there were some extra musicians  and two women.  One, dressed in a gold lame body suit (with wings) sang all of the wailing vocals on the album (and did a very good job) and the other I’m not sure what she did–neither woman was introduced during the aired set so I don’t know who they were.

Many bands throw things out into the crowd during a set, well, during “Money,” Wayne Coyne tossed out giant confetti balloons that were filled with actual money, allegedly $10,000 donated by none other than Dave Matthews.  That’s pretty intense and hopefully didn’t cause any damage.

Check Palladia for when they’re going to air it again.  I just learned that there is a You Tube video of the whole concert (more than just Dark Side of the Moon) and you can watch it here:

It’s a good fun set and shows just how much Stephen Drodz does on stage (I mean, seriously, check out the guitar he plays in “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”) and that Wayne’s hands must be either very cold or have no sensation.

[READ: September 24, 2012] Between Time and Timbuktu

I have been reading a lot of Vonnegut lately. I had it in my head that I would just blow through all of his books.  But I admit I’m getting a little burnt out.  Deadeye Dick and Galàpagos were kind of numbing and Bluebeard which I’m working through now is fun, but a little exhausting.  There’s no reason I should be ordering new Vonnegut books to read now, but I saw that the library had a copy of Between Time and Timbuktu (which is hard to find) and since I won’t be using that library for much longer, I decided to order it.

And I’m glad I did.  Between Time and Timbuktu was a TV movie made by compiling a bunch of scenes from Vonnegut’s first few books.  The basic script was by David O’Dell and Vonnegut himself had a hand in working on it (like “grafting the head of a box turtle onto the neck of a giraffe”).  And as the story progresses you can see some of the best set pieces from his novels.

But the framing device is new.  A man, Stony Stephenson has won a jingle contest for Blast-Off Space Food.  The TV crew appear at his house (and meet his mother in a dressing gown (she’s a funny character)) to break the news.  He gets dragged away and a few months later we see the blast off of the rocket.  When he gets into space, Stony will launch into the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum (the Infundibulum comes from Sirens of Titan). (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »