Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Harper’s’ Category

Joyce Carol Oates–“Suicide by Fitness Center” (Harper’s, June 2008)

Posted in Canadian Music, Funny (strange), Harper's, Joyce Carol Oates, Short Story, Stars, Supernatural, The Dears on July 17, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: STARS-Do You Trust Your Friends (2007).

Stars released Set Yourself on Fire in 2005. It was a surprisingly good and catchy pop album from a band I hadn’t heard of before. It was lyrically downbeat, and yet the choruses were sweeping and grand. A great paradox of a record that I liked very much.

Well, they gave the master tapes to a whole bunch of their Canadian band friends and had them remix or redo the songs. This collection is interesting in that the collective work is very strong and everybody makes a remix that is fresh and interesting. I didn’t know too many of the bands before hand (only The Dears) so the sound was pretty new to me. The Dears do an interesting thing with their track: they split their song into two songs, since the original had two distinctive parts. It’s a fun thing to hear.

Most of the roster comes from the Arts & Crafts label, so that may give you an idea of the sound; they include some dance remixes, some indie rock remixes and some straight ahead pop ones. Obviously, the original is better if only for the overall continuity, but this is an interesting and enjoyable listen in and of itself.

[READ: June 30, 2008] “Suicide by Fitness Center”

Joyce Carol Oates must talk in her sleep, and she must have a dictation service that records all of it. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Alex Stone–“The Magic Olympics: with tricks explained!” (Harper’s, July 2008)

Posted in Alex Stone, Arrested Development, Essays, Harper's, Illusion, Jens Lekman, Magicians, Paul Quarrington, Swedish Music on July 16, 2008| 5 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: JENS LEKMAN-Night Fall Over Kortedala (2007)

My friend Eugenie introduced me to Jens. She put a song on a mix CD for me, and I really liked it. I picked up his EP collection Oh You’re So Silent, Jens. And he just released Night Falls last year.

Jens’ voice is unique. He’s got a Swedish accent, and his sing-speaks quite softly, so some of the words are quite heavily accented. And, his songs are quite fantastic. The lyrics are bizarre and wonderful. While his songs aren’t funny, per se, there are a number of lines that are just hilarious, even on multiple listens. In the past his songs were more or less acoustic affairs. On this one, he expands somewhat with some brass on a few tracks, some hip-hop flavorings and well, just about everything else.

Lekman released a twenty minute DJ track on his website last year. And it’s clear that the mash up qualities of that release influenced his recording sessions for Night Falls. It opens with the orchestral pomp of “And I Remember Every Kiss,” and the catchy, if inscrutable “The Opposite of Hallelujah. ” This leads to the great “A Postcard to Nina” which provides Jens’ loudest moment of a screamed/sung “Oh God, what have I done! I just came here to have some fun.” There is no screaming on the simple, gorgeous “Your Arms Around Me,” even though he cuts of the tip of his finger in it. “Shirin” is all about his haircutter (hence the album cover) and the repeated name makes for a lovely chorus. And, I can’t not talk about the last song “Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo,” one of his most rocking songs (rocking being relative). It has a thrown-together, raucous feel, getting faster as the song moves along. It also has this wonderfully bizarre clarinet/saxophone/something line over the top of it that perfectly recalls an old-timey mournful swing band that you might hear at a church bingo function from thirty years ago. The song is funny and silly, and wholly enjoyable. And I can’t think of another song like it anywhere.

[READ: July 2, 2008] “The Magic Olympics”

There are two reasons why I’m mentioning this article. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Alice Munro–“Fiction” (Harper’s, August 2007)

Posted in Alice Munro, Antony and the Johnsons, Bjork, Canadian Content, Digression, Harper's, Marriage Trouble, Short Story, The Sugarcubes on September 17, 2007| Leave a Comment »

harpers.gifSOUNDTRACK: BJORK-Volta (2007).

volta.jpgOkay, so Bjork is from Mars. Volta is her newest album. I’ve been a fan of Bjork since the Sugarcubes, way back when. I’ve also really enjoyed her solo recordings. I used to get all of her singles and videos and things, but in recent years she seems to have released a new full length reissue of a concert or remastered disc on a monthly basis. So, I had to go cold turkey.

Then Volta came out. I saw a live performance of two of the songs on Saturday Night Live, and they were pretty different, even for her. It seems like Bjork has had a unifying sound on each of the last few albums. On Volta, it is a horn section. This is a more organic sound than some of her recent electronic releases. And, overall, I find that it doesn’t work all that well for her.

Bjork’s voice is, and I mean no disrespect because I love her voice, but it has many similar qualities to a horn. It is loud, she can hold notes for a long time, and it can often be quite brash. And, she is an alto, which many of the horns are too. So, I find that her voice blends in too much with the music. Whereas on previous records, her voice really stood out. There’s a similar problem in the duet with the ubiquitous Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons). Their voices are so similar, that any sense of conflict or drama is really lost. (I’m not mocking Antony’s voice. It is quite sublime on his own records, but I feel that it doesn’t do much for “Dull Flame of Desire,” even though the song itself is great.)

(more…)

Read Full Post »

George Saunders–In Persuasion Nation (2006)

Posted in Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dystopia, Esquire, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), George Saunders, Harper's, Luther Wright & The Wrongs, McSweeney's, New Yorker, Pink Floyd, Robson Arms, Sarah Harmer on August 31, 2007| 1 Comment »

persuasion.jpgSOUNDTRACK: LUTHER WRIGHT AND THE WRONGS-Rebuild the Wall (2001).

wright.jpgI first heard Luther Wright on an episode of Robson Arms, a weird, funny show on CTV in Canada. They were playing “Broken Fucking Heart” a fabulous country-punk song. So, I had to find out more about this guy, and it turns out he did a country-punk, but mostly country, version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. It was with much trepidation that I dared into this most unusual of covers, because I don’t really care for country, particularly, shudder, new country. But, wow am I glad I did.

It’s hard to know even where to start, but it is amazing how well the songs translate into a country motif. I’ve loved Pink Floyd’s The Wall ever since it came out. I have very fond memories of reading the lyrics on the record sleeve when I bought it back in 1979, sitting in the back of my mom’s car as she drove myself and my aunt back from the mall. And, I have a fond memory of the resurgence that it had for me in college when evidently every angsty boy in my dorm felt the need to play it ritually.

I was prepared for the worst, but I never had any regrets of this cover version. I’ve even played it to friends who’ve thought it was really good as well. It all sounds like a joke, but the musicianship is top-notch (Sarah Harmer is back with great backing vocals), and the appreciation of the original is evident from the start. I encourage you to track down this album if you like the original. Give Luther some of your cash!

[READ: August 20, 2007] In Persuasion Nation.

This completes my recent spate of books that I read about somewhere, and can’t remember where. I maintain that it was in The Week by a former Simpsons’ writer, but I have to wait about a month before that issue gets online so I can confirm it (boo!). At any rate, I was led to believe that this was going to be a book of funny essays. And, well, it’s not. It skewers contemporary society, and it has moments that are definitely funny in a hmmmm, sort of way, but laugh-out-loud funny this is not. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts