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Archive for the ‘Magazines’ Category

Austin Smith–“Leap Day” (Harper’s, August 2015)

Posted in Alan Sparhawk, Austin Smith, Brokeback Mountain, Gaelynn Lea, Harper's, LGBTQ, Low, Short Story, Suicide, The Murder of Crows, Tiny Desk Concert, Tiny Desk Contest on March 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

augSOUNDTRACK: GAELYNN LEA-Tiny Desk Concert #514 (March 11, 2016).

graeGaelynn Lea won the Tiny Desk Contest and within a few days she was ready to appear for her formal Tiny Desk Concert.

She began her set with the prize winner, “Someday We’ll Linger In The Sun.”  The song was beautiful and haunting in the video, and it sounded just as good live.  She joked that with a loop pedal you have to be perfect, and it was.  Watching her play these notes is even more interesting than hearing them.

Gaelynn is clearly a little nervous, but she is still charming as she tells us how she got started in the music world.  She started fiddling because she had a crush on a boy who fiddled.  Simple as that.  She had been in a number of bands in Minnesota.  Then someone gave her a looping pedal and that changed everything for her.

She says that she began experimenting with the old and the new, and that the looping pedal allowed her to do things like play “Southwind.”  The song is 100 years old.  She loops a beautiful melody and then plays an excellent solo over the top it.  I think there’s something about the way she plays–her bowing seems to make her violin sound more like a cello or something–that makes her notes sound more haunting than another violinist might.

After the first two songs, Bob comes out to introduce Gaelynn.  He explains that she is a violin teacher and she has been playing for years and years.  And then he explains that she’s going to have accompaniment for the next two songs–Alan Sparhawk from Low!

Here’s how they met.  Gaelynn was playing at a farmer’s market with a guitar player.  Alan Sparhwawk who is also based in Duluth, MN, heard her playing.  Some time later, he called her (while she was at a wedding) and asked if she’d want to work on a project with him.  They made musis for a silent film and then formed the band The Murder of Crows.

And so Alan joins her for the last two songs.

“Bird” is an upbeat song with a lively lopped violin riff.  Alan plays slow guitars which flesh out the low end.  And then Gaelynn sings as the violin loops and Alan plays low notes.  Alan takes the second verse and then Gaelynn sings a round over the top of his voice.  It’s quite lovely.

She says she never wrote any songs until she met him, and she’s very grateful.

The final song is “Moment of Bliss.”  I really like the melody and vocal line of this song.  And again, the lyrics are really thoughtful.  Sparhawk’s slow guitar and low harmony voice really add depth to this lovely five minute song.  When she plays a looped solo at the end, it’s really beautiful.

[READ: January 25, 2016] “Leap Day”

I don’t think I’ve read too many stories where the plot of a movie is as instrumental to the story as it was in this one.

And when I say that that movie is Brokeback Mountain, it gives you a ton of context clues.

The story is a simple one.  Ernie Boettner is climbing up a grain silo in February.  And then we find out why.

Ernie is a farmer.  The townspeople of Park City, Illinois noticed that he seemed to get a lot of visits from the veterinarian Chester Bradbury.  There was nothing wrong with that per se, but it seemed like sometimes the vet’s truck was there over night.  Which seemed unusual. (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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Fiona McFarlane–“Buttony” (New Yorker, March 7, 2016)

Posted in Bob Dylan, Fiona McFarlane, Laura Marling, New Yorker, Noah and the Whale, Set at School, Short Story, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Tom Petty, Violence on March 7, 2016| Leave a Comment »

march7SOUNDTRACK: NOAH AND THE WHALE-Tiny Desk Concert #147 (August 10, 2011).

noahI know Noah and the Whale a little.  I don’t think I realized they were from England, especially since the lead singer/guitarist looks so much like Ben Stiller (with a big fro).  I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard from them, although I can’t say I know that much about them (although  see that Laura Marling was briefly in the band).  For this Tiny Desk, there are just two men (one Noah, the other the Whale, perhaps?  No, Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar), and Tom Hobden (violin, vocals).

Evidently they had a drummer but he left the band to pursue academic success so they enlisted a dreaded drum machine.  (In the blurb, Stephen Thompson talks about how shocked everyone as to hear it).  The one bad thing about the machine of course is that it limits then from playing anything spontaneously.  But they sound very good even with the machine.

There’s a sort of Tom Petty/Bob Dylan vibe to the first song with the super catchy spelled out chorus of “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”  When the violinist sings harmonies, the  song sounds especially good.

He ends the first song by saying, “It’s most peculiar, this event.”

“Blue Skies” does not have the drum machine.  It is a mellow, pretty song with Fink’s delicate voice singing a breakup song.

“Waiting for My Chance to Come” is a upbeat song (with drum machine).  Fink switches to acoustic guitar giving this a bigger more vibrant folk sound.  It’s really catchy and fun to sing along to.

I remember the last time I listened to Noah and the Whale (from an NPR show covering the Newport Folk Festival), I wanted to hear more from them.  And once again I do, although perhaps with a full band (and yes, they have broken up).

[READ: March 3, 2016] “Buttony”

I re-read what I had written about McFalane’s previous story which I read in 2013. I enjoyed the first section (which was very short) but felt a little less grand about the second half.

This story (although it was much shorter) had a similar quality.

The story is only two pages and the first part is so charming.  It is set in a school.  The teacher allows her students to go outside to play “buttony.”

The game is a simple one, but it has some kind of near magical significance for the kids. (more…)

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Luke Mogelson–“Total Solar” (New Yorker, February 29, 2016)

Posted in Amanda Shires, Culture Shock, Death, Luke Mogelson, New Yorker, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Translators, Violence, War, Yuck! on March 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

2292015SOUNDTRACK: AMANDA SHIRES-Tiny Desk Concert #146 (August 3, 2011).

shiresAlthough the blurb suggests that I might know Amanda Shires, in fact I do not.

Shires has a powerful non-vibratoed voice and she plays several different instruments–what looks like a giant ukulele as  well as the fiddle.  She’s accompanied by Rod Picott on the guitar.  He really seems to flesh out her instruments very well.

As to her sound, she explains before the final song, “I do have one happy song, we’re just not going to do it.”

The most remarkable thing about the first song, “Swimmer…” is her excellent whistling of the main melody.  It is piercing and very catchy.  Actually the whole song is quite pretty

Before starting the second song she asks if they are in a fast mood or slow mood.  When the answer is fast, she immediately says they’ll play “Shake the Walls.”  I really liked how the opening notes were plucked and strummed on the violin.  The song is pretty simple and quiet until she plays a noisy violin solo in the middle which really livens things up.

Before the final song she asks if they’d like a song about suicide.  Someone whoops in assent and they laugh.  So she says they’ll play a song about trains. (“when you need a train, it never comes”).  I really like the chord progression in the chorus.

Despite the downer music, the duo clearly had a fin time.  Picott ends by saying “Its hard playing for smart people instead of our usual crowd.”

[READ: March 6, 2015] “Total Solar”

The protagonist of this is a journalist in Afghanistan.  He has been speaking with a researcher from the United Nations Ornithological Department, who keeps introducing conversations with “If you really want something to write about…”

But rather than taking notes, he is drawing pictures of himself committing suicide in various gruesome ways.  This relates to his writing a story about a contractor who’d been executed in a new way–using wire rather than a knife.

Yes the story is pretty brutal. (more…)

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Don DeLillo–“sine cosine tangent” (New Yorker, February 22, 2016)

Posted in Don DeLillo, Excerpt, Julien Baker, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Parenting, Tiny Desk Concert, Torres on March 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

CoverStory-2-22-16-879x1200-1455509711 SOUNDTRACK: JULIEN BAKER-Tiny Desk Concert #513 (March 7, 2016).

julienI had never heard of Julien Baker before this Tiny Desk Concert.  Indeed, she looks young enough that perhaps this is her first concert (it isn’t).

Baker plays a lovely, slightly echoey, but otherwise very clear electric guitar.  Her tone is so clear and quiet.  And her voice is also incredibly delicate.  Watching her play and sing it’s amazing you can hear anything at all, and yet she does not wilt in any way–her music is delicate but not whispered.

As with many players these days, she uses a looping pedal to great effect.  For the first song, “Sprained Ankle” she loops the lovely harmonics at the beginning of the song and then allows for the multiple layers to play.  Her vocals are as gentle as the harmonics, and yet, again, not whispery.  At barely 2 minutes, the song leaves you wanting more.

She talks about doing a new song for them called “Sad Song #11” since “I already have ten sad songs.”  She thanks everyone for their “courteous laughter.”  And then plays another beautiful song now officially titled, “Funeral Pyre.”  She has a very nice way with words: “Ash for a decorative urn you keep on your mantelpiece like a trophy for everything.”  There’s a beautiful layered guitar solo at the end too.

The introductory guitar lines from “Something” are really lovely–her sound is just so clear–and once again, the song is beautiful and haunting with her repeated lyrics sounding more powerful with each go around.

The blurb about the show references Torres, and I totally see the deference.  They don’t sound anything alike in that Torres is brash and loud, but they have that same up-close and intimate vibe.  For Baker, it makes you want to lean is as she sings.

[READ: February 17, 2016] “sine cosine tangent”

I have always meant to read more from DeLillo, I just never do.

And while I have enjoyed all of the things I have read by him, I didn’t love this story so much.  Okay, I’ve since found out that this is an excerpt, which changes things.  I’ll keep my review the same but with bracketed realizations pertaining to the novel.

This is the story of a young man (his age in the story is unclear to me, and I’m not sure how much distance separates the present from the past [presumably this is covered in the novel]) and his relationship with his father.  His father is a successful businessman but the son says that he “shaved a strip of hair along the middle of my head, front to back, I was his personal Antichrist.”

His father left when he was 13, although he never found out why.  Years later, he sees his father, Mr Ross Lockhart on the TV, discussing the ecology of unemployment in Geneva. (more…)

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George Saunders–“Mother’s Day” (New Yorker, February 8 & 15, 2016)

Posted in Death, Funny (ha ha), George Saunders, Monsieur Periné, New Yorker, Parenting, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert on March 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »

282016SOUNDTRACK: MONSIEUR PERINÉ-Tiny Desk Concert #512 (March 4, 2016).

perimne I feel like it’s been a while since NPR’s Felix Contreras has had a Tiny Desk for a band playing Latin American music.  And Monsieur Periné (French name and all) plays some really fun Latin American music.  They are from Colombia, which is evidently known for its Afro-Colombian cumbia.

But they don’t play strictly cumbia.  Their long set plays around with tempos and styles.  It is fun, fun, fun with a lot of swing and big horns.  There’s some great electric guitar and electric upright bass and two fantastic drummers. There’s even a 1920s jazz feel to some of their music (the guitars especially)

This is all set behind the lead singer’s beautiful voice (and the guys’ harmonies).  And the great riffs from the saxophone nad trombone.

The first song “Nuestra Canción” (Our Song) opens slowly with several different tempos.  I love that once the singing starts,  the two guitars play very different things that works so well together.  I like watching the drummer and percussionist playing the same rhythms.  And it’s especially interesting when this six-minute, very jazzy-feeling song (albeit it sung in Spanish) takes a turn in the middle of the song to sound very cumbia.

“Sabor A Mi” (Taste of Me) is a bolero–very dancey.  The guitarist has switched to a twelve string instrument with a very small body.  I assume it’s a guitar but who knows. The lead guitar is actually played on an acoustic guitar outfitted with a pick up.  The sax player has switched to clarinet and the clarinet and trombone y play a great melody together.

“La Muerte” is 7 minutes long with a spoken introduction.  This made me very curious because the introduction is in Spanish for a song that she sings in part in French (and in Spanish).  The horns sound great on this song.  And the guitar solo comes in it a has very surf guitar sound while still saying very Latin American.  There’s a long instrumental section that slows things down and then they come blasting out with their great riffs.

This band is a lot of fun and would be great at a party.

[READ: February 4, 2016] “Mother’s Day”

I have really been enjoying the work of Saunders lately.  I particularly enjoy his darker comic pieces, but there’s something about his non funny pieces that is also pretty grand.

It’s never clear if you’re going to get funny Saunders or not when you start a story.

This one even seems like it might be funny as we slowly learn more and more about one of the Mothers featured this Mother’s Day.

The story is told in that strangely detached way that Saunders has where it seems like what seems like a third person may actually be the inner monologue of the narrator.  But told at a distance?  “Paulie had flown in and Pammy had taken her to Mother’s Day lunch and now was holding her hand.  Holding her hand!  Right on Pine.  The girl who once slapped her own mother for attempting to adjust her collar.” (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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Tatyana Tolstaya–“Aspice” (New Yorker, January 25, 2016)

Posted in Anya Migdal, Aspic, New Yorker, Short Story, Tatyana Tolstaya, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation on March 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

1252016SOUNDTRACK: BRUSHY ONE STRING-Tiny Desk Concert #510 (February 27, 2016).

brushyAlthough I don’t know where the “Brushy” part comes from, the “One String” part of Brushy One String’s name comes from the fact that he plays a guitar with one string.  A low E string.

Obviously, then, the songs are pretty simple.  Most of them are just one or two notes.  They are more or less bluesy and the main selling point of his music is his voice.

“Destiny” is the first song. I really like the middle of it where he scats in a cool accented…something.  The song begins as a fairly simple blues riff with Brushy’s vocals.  But when he gets to the chorus, he does some great things with his voice to make it really powerful.

“Chicken in the Corn” is a YouTube sensation with nearly 9 million views.  It’s fast and wild.  This song has a bit more of percussive quality as he keeps a beat on the guitar while playing his one string.  This song also has a cool scat section and multiple single styles.  It’s pretty fun.

“No Man Stop Me” is a slow song.  It’s a spiritual song and it’s way too long.  There’s a lengthy recitation and a lot of repetition, and or a song this much, it’s just too much.

[READ: January 19, 2016] “Aspice”

This is a very short story (one page translated by Anya Migdal) that is all about making Aspic.

The narrator is a woman who dreads making the annual aspic for the holiday dinner. “It’s a special kind of religion, making the aspic.  It’s a yearly sacrifice though we don’t know to whom or for what.  For some reason it must be done.”

And then in first person present she talks about the steps involved. (more…)

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Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics (2014)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Anders Nilsen, Canadian Music, Carol Tyler, Charles Sorley, Constellation Records, Danica Novgorodoff, David Hitchcock, Death, Do Make Say Think, Drawn & Quarterly, Eddie Campbell, Edward Thomas, Francis Edward Ledwidge, Futility, Garth Ennis, George Pratt, Graphic Novel, Hannah Berry, Hunt Emerson, Isaac Rosenberg, Isabel Greenberg, James Lloyd, Kathryn Immonen, Kevin Huizenga, Liesbeth De Stercke, Lilli Carré, Luke Pearson, Mad Magazine, Morality, Osbert Sitwell, Pat Mills, Patrick MacGill, Peter Kuper, Phil Winsdale, Poetry, Poets, Radiohead, Robert Graves, Rudyard Kipling, Rupert Brooke, Sammy Harkham, Sarah Glidden, Siegfried Sassoon, Simon Gane, Stephen R. Bissette, Stuart Immonen, Syriana, Tamara Williamson, Thomas Hardy, Violence, War, Wilfred Owen, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, World War I, Yuck! on February 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

aboveSOUNDTRACK: DO MAKE SAY THINK-& Yet & Yet [CST020] (2002).

DmstandyetandyetAfter the previous album, keyboardist Jason McKenzie departed the band.  I’m not entirely sure how this impacted the band, but this album is warmer and a little more delicate feeling.  It’s also their first album that was recorded all in the same place (in band member Justin Small’s house).

The disc opens with static and effects before a jazzy drumbeat comes in.   “Clasic Noodlanding” is mellow with a complex (for them) riff on the guitar and nice washes of keyboards.  It is primarily atmospheric until about two minutes in when it suddenly changes with the introduction of a great bass line.  And then this atmospheric song turns really catchy. The five and a half-minutes feel too short in this song.

“End of Music” opens with jazzy drums and keyboards.  It’s a slow piece that stretches to nearly 7 minutes.  About half way through the song, the drums come crashing in and a brighter, noisier melody takes over.  This end section is really catchy with some great chords and excellent drumming.

“White Light Of” opens with a cool slow bass line and drum pattern.  As the song grows in complexity I like the new bass rumble that is added and the way the guitar lines seem to intertwine. About half way through horns get added to the mix, quietly at first and then they slowly take over the song. About five minutes in the song comes to abrupt halt with some interesting echoed effects on the drums. It resumes again with a stranger version of the song—it feels unsettled and really interesting, with a nice riff interspersed with one that feels off somewhat.

“Chinatown” opens unlike any DMST song.  The bass sounds electronic and skittery with some interesting keyboard sounds over the top (it actually sounds a bit like later period Radiohead).  The song is slow and moody for all of its 5 and half minutes with keyboard washes and skittery guitars.  There are quotes thrown in throughout the song but I can’t tell what they are saying.  This song was features in the film Syriana.

“Reitschule” is one of two songs that are 9 minutes long. It opens with a slow meandering guitar line interspersed with another guitar playing an interesting counterpoint.  A cool bassline comes in around 2:30 which takes the song in a new direction.  Horns propel the song along until about 4 minutes when a jangly guitar takes over the song. It builds with some abrasive guitar chords until everything washes away except the bass.  And then it rebuilds as something else.  Distant horns play in the back as the guitars play overlapping lines.  It’s an epic song that demonstrates how much this band can do.

“Soul and Onward” has a pretty conventional melody line. It’s warm and friendly It also features wordless vocals by Tamara Williamson. I love the little tiny guitar lick that works as a bridge between the two sections.  This is my favorite song on this record.

“Anything for Now” is the other 9 minute song. It is slow and pastoral to start with a beautiful multi-guitar piece with gentle drums. At around 4:30 all the instrument vanish except for a single organ note. It plays for a bout a minute and it seems like the disc will end that way but then the chords build up again from the drone.  An acoustic guitar lick begins around 7 minutes in and runs through the end of the song.

Overall this album is more mellow than their previous discs, and there are some amazingly beautiful sections of music on this album.

[READ: February 8, 2016] Above the Dreamless Dead

I’m continuing with books that I wouldn’t normally read, to celebrate First Second’s #10yearsof01 challenge and to read something out of my comfort range.

This is a collection of poetry about World War I, written before during and just after the war.  Each of the poems is illustrated by a different contemporary artist.

As you can imagine, the book is pretty gloomy.  But the poetry is pretty spectacular and the illustrations were really interesting.  Obviously this book is not going to be a happy one.  But some of the artists do add a more positive spin on the poems (while some are just brutally violent as well). (more…)

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Alice McDermott–“These Short, Dark Days” (New Yorker, August 24, 2015)

Posted in Alice McDermott, Band of Horses, Death, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ivan & Alyosha, New Yorker, Religion, Short Story, Suicide, Tiny Desk Concert on February 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

aug24SOUNDTRACK: IVAN & ALYOSHA-Tiny Desk concert #109 (February 7, 2011).

ivanIvan & Alyosha are a five piece (no one is named Ivan or Aloysha) consisting of Tim Wilson (lead vocals) Ryan Carbary (guitars) Pete Wilson, (Tim’s brother), Tim Kim (acoustic and electric guitars) and drummer Cole Mauro).  They play bouncy folk (I assume that their non-Tiny Desk sound is bigger than two acoustic guitars and a tambourine).

“Beautiful Lie” is the first song.  The lead singer has a gentle falsetto and the other guys add nice harmonies (especially during the oooooooohs).

As they introduce “Easy to Love” Wilson says they recorded it at 2AM in their last half hour at the studio.  And it wound up being the song people like most.  It’s easy to like, with a fun clap-along and a simple electric guitar solo.  Again, I assume the actual song is bigger than this.

“I Was Born To Love Her” is a good jam (their words).  It completes that folks sound with two guitars and lovely harmonies.  They’d be a great opener for Band of Horses.  I’d see that tour.

Incidentally, the band name comes from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.

[READ: February 3, 2016] “These Short, Dark Days”

I was planning on saving this story to put it sequentially with the other New Yorker stories that I’ll be posting in the weeks to come.  But this story is set on February 3, so why not post it on that short, dark day, since it is that day, anyhow.

This story begins with a suicide.  A man sees his wife out the door, then covers the windows and door gaps, pulls the gas hose off the stove and brings it with him into the bedroom (who knew the hose would be that long).

The next section of the story jumps to much later as we see a nun, Sister St. Savior, walking down the street.  She is tired and aching from begging all day. But she smells the smell of an extinguished fire and she knows in her heart that she must go there and help.  I love that when she arrives, everyone defers to her.  One of the men even acts as if he has sent for her, when clearly she came of her own design. (more…)

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