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Archive for the ‘Humiliation’ Category

Jill Sexsmith–“Airplanes Couldn’t Be Happier in Turbulence” (The Walrus, May 2015)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Horses, Humiliation, Jill Sexsmith, King Kong, Marriage Trouble, Neurotics, Rheostatics, Ron Sexsmith, Short Story, The Walrus, tagged on May 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

2015-05SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Ted’s Wrecking Yard Toronto, ON (May 30, 2001).

twyFor this final show with Don Kerr, the band played for what seems like ever.  Darrin says he edited out any quiet bits so the show could fit on two discs, which it does.  And even at that it’s still about 2 and a half hours long.

Only five songs are repeated from the previous night (and they are all from the new album, except “Stolen Car,” which Martin sings on this night) and “Take Me in Your Hand” which is pretty awesome.  There’s also no Kevin on this night, so the set is full of a few of the more rocking songs (as opposed to the Harmelodia stuff).

 After a rocking “Fat” they play two rarely played songs “Remain Calm” and “The Idiot.”  But the set list is just a perfect collection of the songs that I love most: “Aliens,” “King of the Past,” “Saskatchewan,” “California Dreamline,” “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” and “Horses.”  Wow.

Some notes: “There’s an awkward introduction to “The Idiot” which they hadn’t played in a long time.  The “Aliens”/”King of the Past ” pair is great.  I also loved the way they run right into “Mumbletypeg” while Martin is still feed backing the previous song.  “Horses” has an angry chant from Dave (the “facts” chant) and you can really hear DB wailing on the acoustic guitar at the end of “Stolen Car.”

Don gives a nice thanks (he says he’s about to cry) and they open “Take Me in Your Hand” with a jaunty “Ob La Di” riff and lyrics about Don.

There’s a lot of banter, including an Ed the Sock joke (“Don Kerr fired by Ed the Sock.”)  It’s a wonderful ending to a wonderfully time with Don Kerr.  Incidentally, Ted’s closed in 2001 as well, and the band, who played many multinight sets there moved their Green Sprouts Week to The Horsehoe.

This is a great show, and the sound is outstanding.  And since Don is leaving to play with Ron Sexsmith, here’s a story by Jill Sexsmith (presumably unrelated).

[READ: April 25, 2015] “Airplanes Couldn’t Be Happier in Turbulence”

I enjoyed the way this story began with some very down to earth information and then ends in a preposterous and yet still strangely believable situation.  It’s about exasperation and the need to do something, anything, when everything feels out of control.

Madison (it’s hard to believe that there are grown women with that name) has wanted to scale the Empire State Building ever since she watched King Kong as a kid.  Her husband, Frank, is a grounded individual, an actuary who is full of facts and statistics.  When she says she want to go there, he says “There’s a 0.28 percent chance of getting pistol whipped” in New York City.  He also quips, I suppose you want a  pony, too.  She jokes that she does, although she is afraid of horses–especially ponies, the “kneecap biting form of the horse” (I can attest to this, having been bitten on the kneecap by my neighbors supposedly nice pony).

Madison has never taken a vacation from her job.  She is anxious at the thought of empty days in front of her.  Her boss and coworkers keep trying to get her to go.  This year for her birthday she and Frank are going to New York City.  Her boss throws a going away party even though two of the four days are on the weekend. (more…)

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Amelia Gray–“Labyrinth” (New Yorker, February 16, 2015)

Posted in Amelia Gray, Humiliation, Ian Anderson, JEFF The Brotherhood, Jethro Tull, Myths, New Yorker, Short Story on February 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ny216SOUNDTRACK: JEFF The Brotherhood–“Black Cherry Pie” (2015).

jeffJEFF the Brotherhood is back with a new album.  The first song I’ve heard from it is called “Black Cherry Pie.”  It is a slow, heavy, nihilistic track with slightly more instrumentation than the usual duo set up.

And then at 40 seconds, there’s a FLUTE SOLO!

The lyrics are crazy–glass in my teeth, driving vans off cliffs, knives in eyes, with the simple chorus of “black cherry pie.”

And then just as you sorta forget that here was a flute solo (although it is hard to forget), a second one comes up at around 3 minutes.  And since you can’t help but think it sounds like Jethro Tull, I’ll tell you that that flute solo is by Mr Jethro Tull himself–Ian Anderson!  Huzzah!

As you can see by the photo, the Brotherhood has always been fans of Jeffro Tull, so this is a nice flourish.

[READ: February 15, 2015] “Labyrinth”

This is the first story I’ve read by Amelia Gray.  Now, any story that is called Labyrinth pretty much invokes the idea of a maze and a minotaur.  In this short work (only two pages) Gray takes these basic ideas and twists them in an interesting way.

Dale is a local farmer who holds and annual Pumpkin Jamboree to raise money for the fire department.  It features a hayride, face painting and a corn maze.  The narrator, Jim, tells us that Dale had recently been reading about Hellenic myths, and that this year he wanted to do something different with his maze. So he’s made a labyrinth.  The difference?  In a labyrinth, there’s only one road and it leads to only one place.

The folk are disappointed saying that there’s no point if you can’t get lost.  And they’re even more upset when he says that each person must go in alone–there’s no way folks are letting their kids go in alone.  Even when Dale says that people believe the center of the labyrinth possesses magic, allowing you to discover the thing you most desire, the folk start to wander off.  But Jim, feeling bad that Dale went to so much trouble, volunteers. (more…)

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Randall Munroe–xkcd: volume 0 (2009)

Posted in Chastity Belt, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Math, NASA, PJ Harvey, Randall Munroe, Scientists, Smarty Pants on February 21, 2015| 1 Comment »

xkcdSOUNDTRACK: CHASTITY BELT-No Regerts (2013).

regertsChastity Belt’s debut full length returns to the lineup of the first EP: Julia Shapiro (guitar, vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar), Annie Truscott (bass), and Gretchen Grimm (drums).  But it retains some of the more full sound of the second EP.  It’s a really interesting album with a lot of diverse styles that are all held together by Shaprio’s voice.

I love the complexity of “Black Sail” which has some jangling guitar and an interesting lead riff at the same time–and which exudes a more psychedelic feel.  “Seattle Party” is up next and between the two songs, they clock in at 8 and a half minutes, which is funny since the next four songs total less than that.

“James Dean” (re-recorded from that first EP) sounds better here–you can make out the lyrics better and it’s less staticky.  It really highlights their great short song writing skills.  “Healthy Punk” has a quick sound, with an almost ska-like rhythm.  “Nip Slip” is a funny song about wanting some chips and dip (with appropriate sound effects–the whispered chorus is really quite funny too).  “Full” is a rather spare song that changes things up a bit.

“Happiness” is a slow song that I don’t love, but it’s followed by the awesome “Giant (Vagina)” which takes PJ Harvey’s “Sheela na Gig” to an even more unexpected place–it’s funny and funnier.  “Pussy Weed Beer” is about well, pussy weed and beer–a fun song for one and all.  “Evil” ends the disc with a bright happy guitar sound–belying the “evilness” of the narrator.

Not every song is great, but there’s plenty to like about this weird album.  And the new single from their soon to be released album sounds even better.

[READ: February 10, 2015] xkcd volume 0

After reading Monroe’s What If? [which, in a cool, utterly intentional time bending way will be posted two days from now], I saw that he had a previous book called xkcd.  This is also the name of his website. I had passing familiarity with xkcd, but didn’t know all that much about it.  I’ve mostly been sent links to it rather than actively going there.  And it turns out it’s not that friendly of a site anyhow.  But there is a lot of funny to be had there.

xkcd is primarily a bunch of stick figure characters getting involved in a few kinds of situations: romantic (or unromantic), mathematical and sci-fiction/sci-reality issues.  Or as he sums it up:

Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).

It helps to know that Munroe used to work for NASA (although not as like an astronaut or anything), and that he has a very scientific/mathematical brain.  So much so that a liberal arts major such as myself found many many of these comics to be waaaaay over my head.  Of course, he also has cartoons about Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer, so we can’t all be smug bastards, can we?

I laughed a lot at this book, and of course I scratched my head in confusion a lot too, but that’s okay, the ratio of humor to huh was high (there’s some basic math, right?). (more…)

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Raina Telgemeier–Smile (2010)

Posted in Biography, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Humiliation, Parenting, Paul McCartney, Raina Telgemeier, Set at School, Teeth, The Beatles, YA Books, Yuck! on February 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

smileSOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES–Let It Be…Naked (2003).

220px-LetItBeNakedI talked about this once before and mentioned how I was anticipating a huge difference between this version and the original.  But really, most of the changes are quite subtle.  Reading a bit more about it, it seems like McCartney mostly wanted to fix “The Long and Winding Road” and then took the time to tweak little things (he fixes some bum notes for instance).

This seemed like a chance for Paul to take the record back from Phil Spector, although I guess Spector didn’t really do all that much to the album—he really only tweaked four songs: Across The Universe, I Me Mine, Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road.  And so Paul removes Phil’s hand on those–and those are really the most notable changes.  As for the rest of the disc, he took out all the chatting between and silly songs (Dig It and Maggie Mae) and adds “Don’t Le Me Down,” from the rooftop concert.

I assume that if I were a Beatles die hard, I would immediately notice all of the changes on this disc.  But, for a casual listener, here’s what I noticed: “Get Back” is even shorter than the original.  “Dig a Pony” is the same rooftop, although it seems to be mixed better.  “For You Blue” has a bit more acoustic guitar but is otherwise not too different.

“The Long and Winding Road” has the most notable changes.  The strings and chorus are removed.  The dramatic BUH BUH before the chorus is still there–almost more pronounced on the organ.  I like this version more than the original, although I have to say it sounds an awful lot like Wings or McCartney solo in this version.

“Two of Us” doesn’t sound all that different—a little cleaner maybe.  “I’ve Got a Feeling” sounds a bit cleaner too–apparently it is a composite of the two versions from the rooftop concert.  “1 after 909” sounds about the same–a little cleaner and with out the Danny Boy at the end.  This version makes it sounds even more like an “old” song since the rawness of the recording has been removed.

“Don’t Let Me Down” was not on the original.  This version was taken from the rooftop concert.  And it sounds great here.  Strange that it wasn’t included in the first place.  “I Me Mine” removes the chorus and overdubs, and sounds a bit more rocking.  “Across the Universe”–I like this version a lot better.  It’s much cleaner and really lets the music shine, rather than there being so much echo on it.  “Let It Be” is stripped down as well, and the guitar solo sounds a little different.

In general, I like this version better, although I do miss the funny bits a little.  This feels more like a record than a soundtrack to a film.  But again, the changes aren’t that substantial overall.

[READ: January 10, 2015] Smile

I had heard of this book–I’d heard that it was a huge sensation.  Of course it wasn’t really on my radar of books, so I wasn’t really sure what it was about.  I read an interview with Telgemeier recently which made the book sound really interesting so I decided to check it out (and was frankly surprised that there was a copy in the library).

And I really liked the book a lot.  From the little I knew about it, I assumed it was just her life with braces (and from the interview, I gathered that her little sister was really a pain–she apparently is a big presence in the sequel).  Well, the sister is a pain, but that’s mostly in the beginning of the book (the sister is very funny and they tease each other mercilessly).  Yes, the book is about braces, but it ‘s about much more than that.

Oh and it’s also autobiographical, which was pretty obvious.

So, Raina is in 6th grade and she is scheduled to get braces.  She is freaked out about this, of course, because everyone makes fun of people with braces.  (Although they never made fun of me and I understand they don’t anymore, but we’ll see if my kids need them).  Although she has lots of friends, so they should support her. (more…)

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Simon Rich–Spoiled Brats: Stories (2014)

Posted in Fantasy, Fears, Fiona Apple, Funny (ha ha), Guster, Humiliation, Morality, New Yorker, Religion, Sex, Short Story, Simon Rich, The Beatles, Yuck! on February 11, 2015| 2 Comments »

spioiledSOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Let It Be (1970).

letOf all the fascinating details about Beatles releases, I don’t think any are more fascinating than the details about Let It Be.  I’m not even close to understanding everything that went on here.  But in a nutshell, it seems that they went into the studio to record an album called Get Back. They were even going to film the whole things.  It got scrapped.  Some members quit the band then rejoined.  And then they recorded Abbey Road.

And then the band did a concert on a rooftop (almost exactly 46 years ago!).  And soon after they broke up. Then some producers decided to release Let It Be as a soundtrack to the documentary made about their recording.  They used some of the material from Get Back and some from the rooftop concert and then Phil Spector got involved and put all kinds of strings on everything and then the album was released in the UK on my first birthday.

There’s lots of snippets of dialogue which seem designed to make it feel like a soundtrack (which it doesn’t).  There’s really short snippets of songs, there’s raw live songs, there’s overproduced string laden songs.  It’s kind of a mess.  But in there are some good songs too.

“Two of Us” is a pretty folkie number that I like quite a lot although I first became familiar with it from a Guster cover (which is pretty fine.  I never quite understood the title of “Dig a Pony,” but it’s a big weird sloppy song. It’s kind of fun to sing along to—especially the falsetto “Beeeecause.”  This song was recorded from their rooftop concert and it feels rawer than some of the other songs.

“Across the Universe” is a lovely song.  Evidently Lennon didn’t contribute much to Let It Be, so they threw this on to give him more content.  I actually know this more from the Fiona Apple version (which I think is actually better than this processed version). I don’t really care for the strings and echoes feel on this version. “Dig It” is a short piece of nonsense. It was exerted from a lengthy jam but for some reason only this little snippet was included on the record–it sounds odd here.

“Let it Be” is quite a lovely song. I don’t really care for the Phil Spectorisms that were done to it—the strings and choruses seem a bit cheesy.  At the same time, the guitar solo (which is quite good) sounds too raw and harsh for the song.  “Maggie Mae” is a traditional song, another bit of fun nonsense.  I like “I Me Mine,” it’s rather dark and the chorus just rocks out.  “I’ve Got a Feeling”, was also recorded on the roof, so it feels raw.  There’s some great guitars sounds on it. Evidently it was initially two songs, and Lennon’s part (the repeated “everybody” section) was added to it.

“One After 909” sounds so much like an early Beatles song–very traditional rock and roll (which means I don’t really like it).  Although the version is raw sounding (it was also recorded from the rooftop) so that’s kind of cool. Huh, Wikipedia says “the song was written no later than spring 1960 and perhaps as early as 1957, and is one of the first Lennon–McCartney compositions.”   “The Long and Winding Road” is where all the controversy comes from.  McCartney hated what Phil Spector did to his song.  He HATED it.  And I have to agree.  It sounds nothing like the Beatles–it sounds very treacly and almost muzaky.  It feels endless.  At the same time, I’m not even sure if the song is that good–it’s so hard to tell after all these years. I think it kind of rips off the transition in “Hey Jude” which was used to much better effect.

“For You Blue” is a simple blues. I like it better than most of the Beatles’ blues, perhaps because of John’s slide guitar (and the funny comments through the song–which makes it seem like the band actually liked each other).  “Get Back” ends the disc as a fun rollicking romp.  I really like this song, although I’m surprised at how short it seems–I thought there was a lengthy outro.  The end of the song (and the disc) has John asking if they passed the audition–lots of fun going on in this contentious recording session.

So it’s not the best career ending disc, although I guess as a soundtrack it’s pretty good.  I’ve never seen the film, and I’m kind of curious to after having walked through all of these Beatles albums.

[READ: January 19, 2015] Spoiled Brats

I probably read too much Simon Rich too close together, but it’s so hard to resist him.  I’ve said before that I enjoy his shorter pieces the most, but there were some longer ones in this one which were really good as well.

This is the first book where I thought that Rich went a little too dark (although not as dark as Sarah thought he did).  That’s sort of the point of the book, though, to look at people (especially people named Simon Rich) who are horrible human beings.

“Animals” [New Yorker, April 10, 2013] opens from the point of view of a class hamster.  He is tormented by the children in the class and he knows that when Simon Rich is supposed to feed and give them water that their lives might just be over.  The Simon character is hilarious, and it’s nice to see that revenge is sweet.

“Gifted” wonders what if a child isn’t so much gifted as Satanic–how many euphemisms will be used for this one child?

“Semester Abroad” is the diary of a girl who has gone abroad–to another planet.  And how her insensitivity is handled during an intergalactic crisis.  I enjoyed this one a lot. (more…)

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J. Robert Lennon–“Breadman” (New Yorker, January 19, 2015)

Posted in Humiliation, J. Robert Lennon, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Primus, Short Story on February 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

1-19SOUNDTRACK: PRIMUS-Green Naugahyde (2011).

greenAfter the EP and tour, the reunited Primus (with Jay Lane still on drums) made Green Naugahyde.  And the album sounds fantastic.  They veer away from the longer jammier songs and get back down to business–it’s also notable that Ler contributed music to a number of songs.  I reviewed it a while back when it came out and I’m pretty much all in agreement with what I said then.  I was a little critical of a few things which I find less annoying now.  I still admit to not loving Les’ deeper singing voice, but it seems here to stay.

Some thoughts from the original post edited with new feelings added

As  they have done before, this album opens with a brief instrumental “Prelude to a Crawl” which sort of sets the tone for “Hennepin Crawler.”  As soon as “Hennepin” opens you know that this is classic Primus–bass loaded and crazy rhythms.  But it’s also apparent that Les is bringing some of the weird effects he’s been playing with in his various other bands to Primus–the bass is wonderfully distorted with crazy effects.  I love that he’s also playing harmonics on the bass.  It’s really hard to tell what is the guitar and what is the bass on this song.

Having said that, there’s some great musical ideas here.  I love the riff of “Last Salmon Man” (again, the lyrics are hard to decipher) and the way it changes from verse to bridge.  “Eternal Consumption Engine” is a great title.  It’s the first song where Les’ old vocals come back, and it’s nice to hear him.  It’s funny and frenetic.

“Tragedy’s A’ Comin’” is classic Primus, a funky rubber bass line, and group vocals.  I think what I really like about it is the openness of the music–so that you can really hear the fun things that original drummer Jay Lane  is doing.  There’s a live break in the middle of the song which is unusual and seems mostly to be for a bass solo.

When I recently wrote my thoughts on “Eyes of the Squirrel” they were exactly the same.  It is probably my least favorite song which is a real shame because the opening bass riffs are INSANELY wonderful!  I don’t know how anyone can play that fast.  I really like the way the song opens.  But it just seems to drag.  “Jilly’s on Smack” I like less this time around, although it does have an earworm quality to it.

So after two meh songs, the rest of the disc is great.  “Lee Van Cleef” is a fun stomper about missing Lee.  “Moron TV” is infectiously catchy (especially the dang a dang a dang a dang dang part) and the lyrics are wonderful.  The spoken word/jam section is also really fun.

“Hoinfodaman” is awesome and listening to Les pitch for fake products is hilarious.  It also features what may be a first for Primus: guitars in the lead melody line.  I especially love the crazy (and I think rather funny) guitar line that works as the bridge, it’s one of my favorite Primus songs.  As is “Extinction Burst” which ends the album on a major high note.  The harmonics from the bass jump into the really heavy main riff.  And Ler’s bizarrely fiddly guitar section is great–easily comparable to any of Les’ fiddly nonsense.  And on top of that, the outro is just great.

I have to agree with my earlier assessment: this makes for one of Primus’ best releases overall.

[READ: January 29, 2015] “Breadman”

I haven’t read a lot of J. Robert Lennon, but everything that I’ve read I have enjoyed.  And I would like to read more from him.  This story was fantastic, both in the plot and the way it was written.

It starts more or less in the middle with the narrator saying that “Of course he’d seen them, his customers.”  He proceeds to describe exactly the kind of people you’d imagine would line up in front of an artisanal bake shop.  He says he wouldn’t have gone there in a million billion years, but “My wife sent me.”

And of course he was late.  Which means he was there ten minutes before the store opened, but if you got there less than 30 minutes ahead of opening time you were pretty much guaranteed to miss out on the special focaccia.  (The fact that the store is inside another store front is a wonderful detail).

While waiting on line for bread, he made a joke about Soviet Russia which didn’t go over well.  Clearly the Breadman was far too good for jokes like that. (more…)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And here is the final product

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

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

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

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

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

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Jonathan Franzen–Freedom (2010)

Posted in Basketball, Big Books, Birds, Books about music, Bright Eyes, Canadian Music, Christmas Album, Conor Oberst, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Crash Test Dummies, Death, Decadence, Drinking, Drugs, Environmentalism, Greed, Humiliation, Jonathan Franzen, Marriage Trouble, Minnesota, Morality, Neurotics, Political Humor, Poo, Punks, Religion, Sex, Yuck! on December 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

freedomSOUNDTRACK: CRASH TEST DUMMIES-Jingle all the way… (2002).

ctdEven though the Crash Test Dummies are often seen as a joke band or a one hit wonder (which I guess they are), I’ve liked them for a while (their earlier stuff a lot more than their later stuff, admittedly).  But it seemed like they’d have a fun take on Christmas music.

And it starts out in a comical sort of way with Brad Robert’s deeper-than-ever voice reciting about his life in Los Angeles, where it is warm and sunny at Christmas time.  I like that he rhymes 24th with up north.  The spoken section is quite loud in the mix (it sounds like he is right in your ear).  Unfortunately, that is the case when he starts singing too–he is uncomfortably loud in the mix and it sounds like he is holding back because of it–he doesn’t sound great and his voice sounds more comical than interesting.  Which is a shame because the music (with cheesey keyboards) is great.

Roberts sings lead on about half of the songs.  Ellen Reid sings lead on the other half except for a couple where they split lead duties.

The rest of Robert’s songs include: “Jingle Bells” (which is certainly comical–it sounds like a chain gang song with the “Hey!s” sounding almost like a prison chant).  It’s weird and cool though (even if his voice is once again too loud in the mix).  “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” has his voice mixed much better–he seems to be really singing.  And this version–a loungey/jazzy rendition is much great fun.  “God King Wenceslas” sounds proper (with Reid’s close backing vocals).  It has a pretty penny whistle keeping the song going.

Ellen Reid has a great voice and I love hearing her sing.  But in the first two songs she sings lead on in this disc she sounds like she is singing too slowly.  “O Little Town of Bethlehem” especially sounds like the music is going to pass her up at any minute.  I also don’t like the country vibe of the song.  “In the Bleak Midwinter” is also (intentionally) slow, which I don’t like.  Perhaps I just don’t like this song (although I do think the melody is lovely).  “The Little Drummer Boy” is beautiful and Robert’s bass backing vocals are perfect.  “Silent Night” is done in a countryish style, but I like this version.  Although normally this song can make me cry, this version absolutely does not–too honky tonkish.

The final song, “The Huron Carol” is quite formal and proper–just Reid and a piano opening the song.  It sounds very holy, very pretty.  When Robert’s bass backing vocals come in, it adds more depth to the song.  And it’s a lovely way to end.

[READ: October 30, 2014] Freedom

I read this a couple months ago and then got so caught up in reading other things that I never got around to posting about it.  And that’s a bummer because I really liked the book a lot and I fear that I won’t remember everything I wanted to say about it.

I had read a couple of excerpts from the book in the New Yorker (quite some time ago).  They were helpful in grounding the story for me, but they didn’t prepare me for the breadth of the story.  It follows one family, the Berglunds, through several decades, focusing on each of them in great detail as they navigate through the Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and a smidge of the Obama years.

The Berglunds are a liberal family.  They were among the first white families to move onto their urban street in St. Paul, Minnesota (after white flight to the burbs).  Patty is a charming (some say smug) homemaker and Walter is a lawyer (public defendant, naturally).  They have two kids, Jessica and Joey.  Patty dotes on Joey to an embarrassing degree (Joey is embarrassed by it, Jessica is infuriated by it and even Patty is kind of embarrassed when she really thinks about it).  At the same time she is rather neglectful of Jessica.  Naturally, Jessica becomes quite the success (loves reading, committed to the environment), while Joey rebels and finds all kinds of ways to disappoint them and make money.  (This isn’t a bad thing, but the family has plenty of money and Joey doesn’t need to (especially not the way he goes about it).  Not to mention Walter and Patty are not into the money for money’s sake thing.

The book opens that there was some “news” about Walter. He and Patty had moved to Washington DC two years earlier.  He clearly did something bad (we won’t find out until much later).  But that serves as an introduction to the Berglunds.  And then we go back to see them, years earlier, settling into St Paul. (more…)

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Simon Rich–What in God’s Name (2013)

Posted in Christmas Album, Funny (ha ha), Gods, Humiliation, Kissing, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Morality, Religion, Short Books, Simon Rich on December 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

rich nameSOUNDTRACK: AN OLDE WORLD CHRISTMAS (European Holiday) (1990?).

olde worldWhile yesterday’s Norwegian Christmas album was awesome, this one falls very very short.  The premise of the album is so promising: Christmas songs from around the world.  There are Spanish, French, English, German, Scandinavian and Italian songs here!

Well, the problem is that this entire record was recorded (apparently) by one guy on a keyboard with five preset sounds.  It is so disappointing.  I mean sure it’s pretty (sort of).  But there is no sense at all that these are different countries’ songs.

For instance, “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  Who knew that that was originally a French song?  Not me.  And in no way does this keyboard instrumental version of “Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes” convey that it is anything other than “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  How about the fact that we get “O Tannebaum” instead of “O Christmas Tree”?  Well, without words, what’s the difference?

So, there are pianoish sounds and harpsichordish sounds and a flute-ish sound.  And this would probably be a nice thing to put on as you were falling asleep on Christmas Eve and wanted visions of synthesized sukker plomme dancing in your tête.  Thank goodness I got it for 99 cents.

[READ: December 16, 2014] What in God’s Name

When I grabbed Simon’s Rich’s last story collection, I also grabbed this novel, assuming that, you know, it would be hilarious.  And it is.

This story is set in Heaven, Inc.  The CEO, God, is more interested in watching NASCAR than actuality attending to any miracles or crises on earth.  In fact, we learn that Earth was created primarily to produce Xenon, and that humans were just a pet project of some angels.

Angels, yes.  The entire story is written from the point of view of some angels working in heaven.

We meet Craig who has been in Miracles for a few years.  And there’s a new addition to the team Eliza who spent many years working in Prayer Intake but really wanted to move up to Miracles because it just sounded so much more interesting.

One of the best parts about the story is the way Rich envisions angels performing small miracles every day–adjusting the world without transgressing any of God’s major laws (gravity, physics, that sort of thing).  When an angel goes too far (like when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 pints in a game because God liked him and the angel wanted to impress Him), that angel gets punished.  So I loved watching the convoluted ways angels did things to make people act or react.  Small things to help avoid getting a paper cut or assist in catching a fish. (more…)

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Box Brown-Andre the Giant: Life and Legend (2014)

Posted in Andre the Giant, Biography, Box Brown, Christmas Album, Drinking, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Humiliation, Jealousy, Violence, Wrestling on December 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

andreSOUNDTRACK: STOCKINGS BY THE FIRE (2007).

stockThis is a Starbucks compilation (Starbucks is pretty good for Christmas compilations).  But I find that the overall vibe of this disc is too mellow for my liking.  Most of the songs are quite pretty, but it feels like a Christmas Party for one by your lonesome rather than a party proper.  Of course, the picture on the cover suggests a romantic night in, so maybe that’s the vibe they’re going for (it’s still kind of sad though).

RAY CHARLES & BETTY CARTER-“Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”  There’s are dozens of versions of this song.  I like this one fine, but it’s not one of my faves (although Ray has some good turns of phrase).  But I think Betty’s voice may be too squeaky for me.
SARAH McLACHLAN-“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” McLachlan has a beautiful voice, but I like her earlier more robust singing than her latter day TV Commercial songs.  So this winds up being very pretty but a little mopey.  It’s also way too long.
FRANK SINATRA-“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is also a little slower than I remember.  But I have to assume that if Frank did it this way, this is the tempo it’s meant to be.
HEM-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” has quiet, whispered version. It’s pretty, if rather stripped down (just piano and chimes).
ELLA FITZGERALD-“Sleigh Ride” is a great version, full of high spirits and fun.  Ella is awesome.
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT-“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” is also a slow version.  Perhaps this song is slower than I realize.  It’s a very Wainwright-sounding version with his wonderful warble.
HERBIE HANCOCK-“River” is pretty–Corinne Bailey Rae’s voice is lovely, although I don’t care for the jazzy accompaniment.

The next few songs are the highlight of the disc to me:
JACK JOHNSON-“Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer” is a great version.  Johnson’ voice suits this very well an I love that he added an extra verse about being nice to Rudolph.
THE BIRD AND THE BEE-“Carol of the Bells” has a wonderful trippy quality.  I found out last year that The Bird and the Bee do my favorite version of the 12 Days of Christmas, which is sadly unavailable on record anywhere.  But this version of “Carol of the Bells” has the same qualities that I love in the 12 days.  Love this version.
A FINE FRENZY-“Let It Snow” there’s something wonderfully breathy about this version that I like a lot.  It works very well with The Bird and the Bee song.
NAT KING COLE-“The Christmas Song” is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever.
DEAN MARTIN-“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” is another classic version of this track.

Those few tracks are the big highlight for me.
DIANA KRALL-“Winter Wonderland” I don’t care for the way she sings this although the musical accompaniment is cool. And I do like “frolic and play the Canadian way.”
MAHALIA JACKSON-“Do You Hear What I Hear?” I feel like I am supposed to really like this version, but I really do not like it at all. It is way too melodramatic
JOHN LEGEND-“It Don’t Have to Change” not my style of music at all, I’d skip this if it came up on shuffle.  It’s also not really a Christmas song even though it does mention Christmas.
AIMEE MANN-“White Christmas” Aimee tends to write beautiful downer songs.  And you can tell by the opening thuds of the rums that this is not going to be an uptempo thriller.  But Mann has a great voice and a great sense of arrangement and this song ends this quiet disc quite nicely.

[READ: December 4, 2014] Andre the Giant

I really enjoyed this biography of wrestler and actor Andre the Giant (released by our friends at First Second).  I’ve always been a fan of him, but I really didn’t know that much about him.  And, honestly I would never have wanted to read a whole biography about him.  So this was a perfect bite-sized chunk of information about the legend.

Brown opens the book with a discussion of the “fakeness” of wrestling.  It’s a great summary of the “controversy” and how it has been dealt with, especially now that Vince McMahon is running WWE.

And then we move on to Andre. (more…)

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