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Archive for the ‘Magazines’ Category

Fernanda Melchor–“Spellbound” (Harper’s March 2020)

Posted in Excerpt, Femicide, Fernanda Melchor, Harper's, Lucky Daye, Mexico, Murder, NPR/PRI/PBS, Raphael Saadiq, Sophie Hughes, Tiny Desk Concert, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Translation, Witches on March 10, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RAPHAEL SAADIQ-Tiny Desk Concert #920/Tiny Desk Fest October 31, 2019 (December 5, 2019).

This Tiny Desk concert was part of Tiny Desk Fest, a four-night series of extended concerts performed in front of a live audience and streamed live on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Back in October, NPR allowed fans to come watch some Tiny Desk Concerts live.  October 31st was R&B night featuring Raphael Saadiq.

Saadiq did a Tiny Desk Concert in 2009 and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  It was a stripped down show–more acoustic than R&B and I was really impressed with his guitarist Rob Bacon.  I either forgot or didn’t know that he “lit the fuse for soul’s popular revival as the lead for Tony! Toni! Tone!”

Well, Bacon is still with him and he is the highlight of this set for me.

This was  the final Tiny Desk Fest show and it runs just over 30 minutes, with Saadiq playing seven songs.

“I’m Feeling Love” is slow and sexy with some quiet wah wah (from Bacon and Saadiq) guitar running through it.  I rather enjoyed this part

I live my life like Willy Wonka
It’s that TV Edith Bunker
Uncle Fred and Jimmy Walker
George Jefferson had that walk

After this first song Saadiq brings out a special person.  After a big introduction it turns out to be Lucky Daye (whom I’ve never heard of) although the blurb says he is a “rising soul singer and songwriter.”

They sing Saadiq’s song “Be Here.”  I liked Saadiq’s voice last time but I found Lucky Daye’s voice to be way too poppy for my taste.  But this song features some funky slap bass DaQuantae “Q” Johnson and cool synths from Daniel Crawford.  Without question, though, the highlight is Rob Bacon’s ripping guitar solo.

Up next is my favorite song of the set.  It’s called “This World Is Drunk” (and the people are mad).  It is slow and pretty, with thoughtful lyrics.  I like the story telling better than the macking.

Lucky Daye comes back out and they’re going to do two of his songs. He says he wants to sing “Call,” but Saadiq says No, let’s do “Love You Too Much” first.  Daye sings and I really don’t think much of this R&B ballad.

I like “Call” better because Bacon switches to acoustic guitar and there some nice percussion (rim shots) from Alvin Ford.  I feel like this song is a bit less poppy and more interesting.

Before the last song Saadiq jokes about when he played there ten years ago: “it was really a tiny desk.”

“And honestly we were kinda complaining about it,” Saadiq laughs, recalling that performance in 2009, back when hosting intimate little concerts behind Bob Boilen’s desk was still a fledgling idea at NPR Music. “Like, we kinda didn’t wanna do it,” he admits in hindsight. It wasn’t until the video-taped version of his set hit the Internet and began picking up views that the lightbulb went off for Saadiq, too. “It’s like probably the biggest streaming I ever had, so it’s kinda good to be back — not kinda good; it’s really good to be back.”

The final song, “Still Ray” was inspired by southern marching bands… black colleges.  I didn’t go to one of those and my school did not have a marching band.  But one day I was gonna put a tuba in my song and it was gonna be the main thing in the song.  They asked where the hook?  The hook is the tuba!

Brent Gossett comes out (technically with a sousaphone) and I really like this song a lot.  He’s right, the tuba is the hook.  Near the end of the song he cuts out the music:  Just me and the tuba.  I’ve been waiting for this my whole life!

I still prefer his 2009 set, but there’s no denying Saadiq’s charisma.

[READ: March 1, 2020] “Spellbound”

This is an excerpt from the novel Hurricane Season translated by Sophie Hughes.

This except opens with an estate, agent saying that the woman never really died, even though her body was found in the irrigation cancel. They say she changed shape as she was being stabbed.  Perhaps she was a bunny or a lizard or bird.

But once her body was found people were quick to break into her house to see if they could find treasure.

The say Rigorito and his men broke down walls and dug up the floors. They even broke down the door of the Old Witch in the back of the room–where the Old Witch’s mummy lay preserved.  The mummy crumbled in front of them and those men fled town never to return.

That’s what some people say. (more…)

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Anne Enright–“Night Swim” (New Yorker, March 9, 2020)

Posted in Anne Enright, Balún, Drinking, Ireland, Irish Writer, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Parenting, Sex, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert on March 9, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BALÚN-Tiny Desk Concert #927 (December 20, 2019).

When I first listened to this Tiny Desk, I was delighted by the gentle way it started–pretty acoustic melodies on slightly unfamiliar instruments.  Although I usually enjoy noise and chaos, I really hoped that this whole set would stay like this.  And (for the most part) it did.

The set opens with sampled birdsong as “Vaivén” begins with a beautiful melody from Noraliz Ruiz on the Puerto Rican cuatro.  She’s joined by Enrique Bayoán Ríos-Escribano on the charango.  It’s a beautiful short piece that segues into “La Nueva Ciudad” and that’s when things changed a bit with the addition of electronics.

Their mix of traditional instruments with electronics creates not just a sonic treat but also a visual feast, as our eyes dart from one instrument to the other, drawn in by a Puerto Rican cuatro and a makeshift drum set.

Indeed

It’s impossible to not be drawn in by the visual specter of Balún. The band has refined their electronic roots with their turn toward self-discovery on beautifully crafted studio albums, and this set behind the Tiny Desk shows how expertly they deliver the same meticulous, artful music live.

“La Nueva Ciudad” opens with electronic-sounding percussion as Ríos-Escribano and drummer Shayna Dunkelman both scratch percussion instruments.  Then Ríos-Escribano plays a hand drum and José A. Olivares plays a little synth device as the melody unfolds.

Then we finally hear singer Angélica Negrón (with the purple hair).  She has a soft, high voice as gentle as the instruments around it.  Her voice is warm and inviting even if you don’t speak Spanish (it might make you want to learn).

For verse two Darian Thomas kicks in the violin with the charango adding its chords.  It’s a wonderful song, complex and fun.

Balún is from Puerto Rico and they dedicated the third song “El Espanto” to their island home.  Negrón says “El Espanto” is about cleaning up the bad energy and starting from scratch.    It opens with a fascinating percussive intro

I didn’t expect to be greeted by a mysterious, eighth member who made an appearance at the start of “El Espanto” in the form of programmed solenoids that struck the bottoms of pots and pans to create a rhythmic intro to one of their brilliantly crafted songs, mixing the folkloric with the modern.

The song starts with a weird synth sound (like an electronic folk instrument) which, along with the violin, pokes out the melody.  Electronic percussion fleshes out the staccato notes.  Midway through the song it gets huge with guitars, synths, who knows what else.  It brings a great alt rock sound and a hugely catchy melody (and Negrón’s voice is perfect for it).  Then the cuatro takes over the melody again.  The middle of the song has a ripping guitar solo from Raúl Reymund with Darian Thomas playing some wild violin.

I love that everyone sings along gently until the end of the song, when it’s a total freak out with loud electronic drums, noisy guitar, wild violin and all kinds of shaken percussion.  It’s the chaos I wanted after all!

Balún is part of a vanguard of bands that is expanding the musical landscape of Puerto Rico and it is a treat to watch them up close as they create an actual bridge between the ancient and the modern, set against a rich tapestry of vocals that extoll the virtues and challenges facing their beloved island these days.

“Punto De Encuentro” ends the set. It’s a new song.   Noraliz Ruiz picks up the bass (the first time a bass is used).  It opens with all kinds of electronics starting the song which turns onto a quiet, pretty ballad.  Thomas plucks the melody on the violin along with the synths.  Then the churango comes back with the bowed violin and all the while the complex percussion keeps the song moving along.

I had never heard of this band before this set and they totally won me over.  I’m looking forward to checking out their albums.

[READ: March 2, 2020] “Night Swim”

This story is set in Ireland.  I only find this surprising because in the story the narrator goes more or less skinny dipping which was something I didn’t think you could do in Ireland (do the lakes ever get warm enough at night?)–at least I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before.

But although that is the title and a crux of the story, it is not the entire story.

The story opens with the narrator, Michelle, driving her son Ben to a friend’s house.  Ben doesn’t talk much in general, but he seemed to open up in the car (I found that to be true about my own kids).

Michelle had not been to this friend’s house and was following the GPS map.  She was familiar with the area but not the route itself.

While she was driving, Ben began asking her “would you rather” questions: Would you rather drink a cup of lava or be drowned in a lava lake.  She doesn’t enjoy the game, but he is quite insistent.

When she answers she would rather neither of those things, he just repeats the question.

When he asks if she would rather drown in a lake or be strangled in the dark, she flashes back to the titular night swim. (more…)

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Jordan Kisner–“Ring of Fire” (Harper’s, March 2020)

Posted in End of the World, Essays, Harper's, NPR/PRI/PBS, Phones, Raveena, Spam, Tiny Desk Concert on March 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RAVEENA-Tiny Desk Concert #922 (December 9, 2019).

Raveena’s music is so soft and delicate, so Lite-FM that I hated listening to it.  But once I watched the video and gave it my full attention, it was another story.    Because Raveena is full of 70s trippiness, delightful psychedelia and a lot of love.

From the moment Raveena Aurora stepped into NPR’s Music Department and looked at the Tiny Desk for the first time, she was ready. The Queens, N.Y. singer-songwriter and her team showed up early (which rarely happens) to meticulously arrange her stage props of homemade mushrooms and flowers, in the already endearingly cluttered space. These extra touches were meant to make clear that this performance would be all about community and safe spaces.

Her three songs are warm and enveloping.  I’d never have guessed they were born of pain.

“A lot of my music talks about growing out of these really traumatic experiences,” Raveena told the audience once the cameras started rolling. “And if you’ve ever gone through something similar that I talk about in my music, I just want you to know that in this space that we’re in, you’re extremely, extremely loved.”

She plays three songs from her debut album Lucid.

This includes “fan-favorite single “Honey,”” “Bloom” and “Still Dreaming”

Once again I am amazed to hear that a musician has a following and I’ve never heard of her.

Raveena herself is very sweet and loving and the music feels warm and echoey.   There’s delicate guitars from Tiana Ohara and twinkly synths from Cale Hawkins (who plays music while she speaks, as if she is speaking from a dreamy otherworld)  And of course, drummer Tyler Newson on drums keeps everything smoothly.

She is assisted by two backing vocalists, Gayathri Menon and Ada Obieshi who add a ton to her sound, although Raveena’s voice is really quite pretty.

 the rising star cultivated her range by growing up on Minnie Riperton, Sade and Asha Puthli, India’s ’70s disco queen

But my favorite person to watch was bassist Aaron Liao.  He is in a state of bliss.  So much so, that it inspired a comment on You Tube (I usually don’t watch these on YouTube, preferring the NPR site and I almost never read the comments, but this one stood out).

My man on the bass is a whole vibe by himself.

And Liao even wrote back:

AYEE!!! Thank you!! I have the best job in the world

I love how much this set won me over once I settled down and paid attention to it. Go Raveena!

[READ: March 1, 2020] “Ring of Fire”

I was interested in this essay because I’ve had similar calls (as most people probably have) but it never even occurred to me to ever answer unknown calls from California.

Kisner says that his parents live in California, so an unknown number in California could be an emergency.

But when he answered, he heard he voice was clearly a recording.  The man said “First they deceived you, then they oppressed you.”  It sounded like a Pentecostal preacher.  “There is a person keeping you in this situation.  Press the numerical option 1; press 1 now.”

He has picked up a few times and the messages are not the same, but they are similar.

After the message different voice says if you’d like to continue, press 1 if you’d like to no loner receive these calls press 4.

He knows he should press 4 (or maybe he shouldn’t) but he wants to press 1 to see what happens. (more…)

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David Means–“The Red Dot” (Harper’s, Decemebr 2019)

Posted in BJ The Chicago Kid, David Means, Death, Harper's, Marriage Trouble, NPR/PRI/PBS, Short Story, Suicide, Tiny Desk Concert on March 6, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: BJ THE CHICAGO KID-Tiny Desk Concert #907 (November 6, 2019).

At first I thought I might enjoy this Tiny Desk Concert because the first song “East Side High 2012 & Forever” was kind of soulful.  There’s some great guitar work from Jairus “Jmo” Mozee and some grooving bass from Joe Cleveland.   The song ends after a bout a minute and a half.

And I really liked the bass line that started the next song, “Good Luv’n.”  Although I didn’t like BJ’s singing style as much on this one.

I also didn’t realize that he was playing a huge medley of songs:

BJ the Chicago Kid took the roughly 15 minutes we generally allot for a Tiny Desk performance as a challenge. The 34-year old R&B mainstay used his moment at the desk to fit in as many of his most cherished songs as possible — Nine songs in 17 minutes to be exact.

I also had no idea that he was famous or had had a lengthy career.

To get the job done, BJ jumped around his 10-year discography, weaving deep cuts and covers from his early Pineapple Now-Laters days with contemporary cuts like “Church” off his major label debut, In My Mind, to heartfelt odes from his latest project, 1123. 

Both most of these songs fell into that sexy R&B singing style with vaguely (or explicitly vulgar lyrics).  “Aiight” has some nice twinkling keys from Delvin Brumfield.

“Church” has these fascinating lyrics: “she want to drink, do drugs, and have sex tonight, but I got church in the morning.”  I really like the addition of the violin from Peter Lee John on these songs–it definitely adds a new sound to R&B.

During “Love Inside” he tells Tony “Rico” Nichols on the drums:  “Rico take me away.”

“Turnin’ Me Up” is musically the most interesting song, and I like the way the chords swell as it takes him to his happy place.

“Get Away” features some sampled backing vocals and this is more of a rapping style song.  This song is especially vulgar (when we fucking, when I’m freakin you) which I find weird in this style of seduction song, but which apparently no one else does.

“Can’t Wait” is a slow broody number about how much he hates waiting for love.  Then comes “Too Good”

I liked about half of this set, although I feel like most of these songs blended into each other as one long 17 minute song.

[READ: February 15, 2020] “The Red Dot”

I really enjoyed the conversational nature of this story.  The telling and retelling of it adds an extra layer of puzzlement to it.  Plus phrases like this are fun:

Now do you want to hear the weird part? she said.  Yes, give me the weird part, I said.

The narrator talks about listening to Anna talking about a man named Karl–a casual acquaintance for both of them.

Karl owned a restaurant called Gist Mill, “where you go to get the gist of good food”.  Karl was skinny and used to run along the river.  Anna assumed running as his way of dealing with his divorce–his wife left him for a guy who designed toothpaste tubes.

When Karl finished his run, he would sit by the river, close his eyes and meditate.  When he opened his eyes, everything was clear.  But on this one instance that he told Anna about, he saw a red dot on the river.  The dot was getting closer. (more…)

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Adam Levin–“Kid Positive” (New Yorker, March 2, 2020)

Posted in Adam Levin, Death, Huh?, Humiliation, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Rabbits, Rio Mara, Short Story, Snakes, Tiny Desk Concert, Turtles, Violence, Yuck! on March 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: RIO MARA-Tiny Desk Concert #906 (October 25, 2019).

Rio Mara sings (and speaks) entirely in Spanish for this Tiny Desk.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy this if you don’t know Spanish.  The musical is wonderful–full of percussion and a wonderfully vibrant wooden marimba that feels utterly tropical.

Rio Mira takes its name from a river that separates Ecuador and Colombia and empties into the Pacific Ocean.

For just about fifteen minutes, the members of Rio Mira created a living and very melodic connection to Africa. Set behind a large marimba — and drums that are unique to their corner of the world — the members of the band performed music that is the legacy of enslaved people who were in both Ecuador and Colombia.

Rio Mira’s three songs in this performance are dominated by the marimba and accompanied by drums from both Europe and Africa. “La Pepa de Tangaré” references the culinary joys of life and, like the rest of their set, celebrates life along the river: soft breezes, loving friends, the embrace of Africa and, of course, lots of festejando (partying)!

Karla Kanora sings lead vocals, while Esteban Copete plays the amazing marimba.

Introducing the band (and the instruments) we meet Carlos Loboa on the cununos (a hand drum that looks like a conga).  Tito Ponguillo on the bombo hembra (a two headed drum that you wear on a strap), while Sergio Ramírez plays the bombo macho (the “male” version of the two headed drum). Fernando Hurtado plays the shaker and sings.

Benjamín Vanegas sings lead on “Román Román” with a fun and enjoyable style.  The chorus is really catchy. The middle has an extended spoken part.

If you’re a little rusty on your college Spanish classes, the extended narration in “Román Román” tells the tale of a village man who has healing powers and challenges death.

For the final song “Mi Buenaventura” Fernando Hurtado sings.  It is a fast song with the marimba going wild.  I really appreciate how very different each singer’s style is amid all of this fun percussive music.

[READ: March 1, 2020] “Kid Positive”

I really enjoyed Adam Levin’s massive book The Instructions.

This story is the first thing I’ve read by him since that, and while I love his writing style I hated the content of this story.

Each section of the story shows a year in Adam’s childhood with a title to accompany it.  Like Shitty Little Tevye, Big Brother, 1980.

In this flashback, we see a young Adam enjoying it when his parents had friends over to dinner.  He would crawl through their legs to get to the bathroom and they would joke…  Is there a dog in here?  On one occasion, he came back from the bathroom singing what he thought was his father’s favorite song “If I Were a Rich Man.”  (It wasn’t his favorite song).  Adam sang it and the adults all thought it was cute except for his father, who said “Okay.”  But he didn’t mean it, it wasn’t okay.  Adam climbed back under the table and continued to sing and his father said “he’s acting like an idiot, a real fucking idiot.”

In Puppet, 1981 a puppet that Adam enjoyed watching on TV said “I think therefore I am.”  This existential phrase upset Adam and he worried that if the puppet thought he was real, how did he know if anyone was real.  Maybe his mother was a puppet too.

The Rabbits, 1982 section is a terrible part about baby bunnies dying.

In Turtle and Sensei, 1984, there;s a story about a dying (probably) turtle and how he wanted to name it Mergatroid.   The other part is a bit funnier–about his family going to see a sensei perform a demonstration. His father did not believe it–saying the board was perforated.

Adam told people about this event and then made up that at the end of the demonstration his father went to shake the sensei’s hand but then pulled him close and whispered in his ear.  When he let go, the sensei looked afraid.

In The Frost and the Frogs, 1985-86 he talks about throwing his cat.  What the hell is wrong with this story. They also kill a snake.

In Hum, 1988, all of the kids push Giles Crowley because when they do he would said “Hum.”  So they would shove him to see how many Hums he would say.  If they shoved him harder and he stumbled four steps, he would say “Hum um um um.”  It’s possible he enjoyed the attention.

Throughout, the narrator says things like

Had you asked me if I thought Giles Crowley had feelings, I would probably have told you that I had feelings because that would have addressed what I would have thought you were secretly trying to get at with your question and I’d have wanted you to know that I was smarter than you.

The story ends with Splash Pad, 2015.

Adam is grown up and married.  They are hanging out with friends who have kids at a Splash Pad–a giant fountain for kids to frolic in. The kids have a great time. The pleasure is contagious and Adam realizes that he is positive about kids–he is kid positive.

Adam was so pleased with the way the kids played so nicely that he told his friends that kids now played so much nicer than they did when they were kids.  He hoped these good childhood memories would foster

deep with them greater capacities for kindness and decency than the people of our generation possessed and that, down the line, these greater capacities for kindness and decency would grant these kids the strength they’d need to neutralize and overcome what would otherwise be our generation’s malforming influence and eventually turn the whole country, perhaps even the whole world, into a safer and friendlier place.

Are you making fun of our children, they asked.

Its nice to see that a seeming sociopath like that kid actually turned out okay.  But I’m still not a fan of this story.

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David Sedaris–“Unbuttoned” (New Yorker, March 2, 2020)

Posted in CHAI, David Sedaris, Death, Essays, Funny (ha ha), Hospitals, Kawaii, New Yorker, NPR/PRI/PBS, Nudism, Old Age, Parenting, Tiny Desk Concert on March 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: CHAI-Tiny Desk Concert #905 (October 23, 2019).

What sounds like circus music plays as four women dressed in hoods with colorful bangles run out behind the desk and start dancing.

The lyrics begin: C-H-A-I.  CHAI.  We are CHAI.

The choreography continues for about a minute and a half when they take off their robes to reveal the four of them wearing matching pink and orange outfits.

The quartet made its grand entrance wearing hooded pom-pom outfits, with loosely choreographed dance moves, while the band’s song “This Is CHAI” played boombox style. It felt adorable. But once the hoodies came off, revealing their matching pink, crop top uniforms, the serious fun began.

In yet another example of how the best Tiny Desk Concerts are unfairly short, this super fun and adorable set is not even 11 minutes long.

Although CHAI does manage to play 4 songs in that time.

My face hurt from smiling so much! That’s what I remember most about CHAI’s Tiny Desk. CHAI is a sweet, colorful blanket of joy. These four women from Japan — twin sisters Mana and Kana, along with Yuna and Yuuki — are on a mission to expand the conventional notion of what we think of as “cute” or “kawaii” as it’s called in Japan.

They open with “Hi Hi Baby.”  Yuna plays drums while Mana and Kana start singing.  Then Yuuki starts playing the bass–a fast rumble while Mana and Kana keep singing (and doing choreographed arm gestures).

Their voices are high and they are decked out in pink.

CHAI’s music leans punkish, and the outfits quite pinkish. The songs played at the Tiny Desk come from both the band’s 2017 album Pink and the 2019 album appropriately named Punk. The group’s lyrics bounce back and forth from Japanese to English, often in the same sentence.

For “N.E.O.” Yuna sits at the drum kit and plays a cool, complex pattern while Yuuki’s bass brings in a great low funky riff.  Kana adds some guitar licks as they sing in a kind of staccato style (in harmony).

The song ends and the three of them raise their arms and say We are CHAI!

“Fashionista” is one of these songs where you can tell it’s Japanese and English.  There’s big thumping bass as the vocals kinds of whisper the lyrics.  I don’t know what they’re saying–except the chorus “we are fashionista.”  There’s some cool chunky guitar and a great sliding bass (their bass sound is terrific).  Mid-song Kana plays guitar by itself while singing before the band jumps back in together.

Before the last song.  They introduce themselves:

I’m Mana and I’m Kana and we are twins!   Same face!  Same face!
I’m Yuna and I’m Yukki.  We are … not twins.

CHAI chose “Future” for the final song, with more lyrics to brighten my smile and the smile of those around me.

“This is just my FUTURE！
This song about us forever！
Are you ready？
Never seen before！
It’s just what I imagined！
Come on!”

For “Future” Kana plays a futuristic synth sound while Yuuki plays a slow, low bass and Yuna hits the drums and percussion with her hands.

I’ve been looking forward to this Tiny Desk and it did not disappoint.

[READ: March 1, 2020] “Unbuttoned”

This is a another essay about Sedaris’ father.  Sedaris’ father is 96 and quite frail.

David himself was in the hospital about to undergo “a pretty disgusting procedure: in a few hours’ time, a doctor was scheduled to snake a multipurpose device up the hole in my penis” when his sister called to say that their father was dying.

The urologist said the device had a camera that showed what was going on inside: There’s your sphincter!

He says his previous exam like this involved his prostate

I’m fairly certain it involved forcing a Golden Globe Award up my ass.  I didn’t cry or hit anyone, though.  Thus it annoyed me to see what he English radiologist who’d performed the test had written in the comment section of his report: “Patient tolerated the trans-rectal probe poorly.”

They bought next-day plane tickets for the U.S.  En route DAvid learned that his father had been taken out of intensive care and sent back to his Assisted Living Facility.

When his father woke up, David said “I figured you’d rally as soon as I spent a fortune on last-minute tickets.”  He said he knew “that if the situation were reversed he’d gave stayed put, at least until a discount could be worked out.” (more…)

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Jeremy Whitley & Emily Martin–Princeless: Volume Five: Make Yourself Part One (2016)

Posted in Action Lab Comics, Dragons, Dwarfs, Elves, Emily Martin, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Fears, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Goblins, Graphic Novel, Jeremy Whitley, LGBTQ, Monsters, Ongoing, Parenting, Sexism, Shapeshifters, Twin Peaks, Uncut, Wilco, Wolves, YA Books on February 23, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: TWIN PEAKS-“Spiders (Kidsmoke)” (from WILCOvered, UNCUT Magazine November 2019).

The November 2019 issue of UNCUT magazine had a cover story about Wilco.  It included a 17 track CD of bands covering Wilco (called WILcovered or WILCOvered).  I really enjoyed this collection and knew most of the artists on it already, so I’m going through the songs one at a time.

This was the last song on this compilation and it’s my favorite.

There’s a lot of Wilco songs that I like and “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” is way at the top.  The song is really long and doesn’t change a lot but the changes are fantastic.  One of the great things about the song is Nels Cline’s insane guitar work throughout–noisy and seemingly uncontrolled, but somehow fitting in perfectly with the 1-2-3- bass line.

This version by Twin Peaks is as good, if not slightly better than the original.  I say that because the band sounds a little fuller during the verses which I like (although it does make the change to the noisier section less dramatic).  And Nels Cline;s guitar work is more interesting than the Twin Peaks version–although they do some cool things too.

I think Twin Peaks has a bit more of the heavy alternative sound the I like.  The vocals are great, the guitars are great.  I’ve now listened to both versions back to back and I like them both!

This cover actually made me investigate Twin Peaks more and I was bummed to find out that they had just played a show in our area after I had listened to this song.

Next time!

[READ: February 20, 2020] Princeless: Volume 5

This book opens with Adrienne and Bedelia enjoying a cleansing bath in a lake (I assume).  While they are getting clean, Adrienne mourns the state of her hair.  How often she has tried to straighten and control the knotty curls on her head.  And after some serious thought, she has Bedelia shave it all off.  I love that when she pops out of the water newly shorn, she looks gorgeous–well done Emily Martin.  On a less great note, there’s a scene in the water where Bedelia, who is a strong and rugged half-dwarf lets not forget, is drawn with a waist that would be about 10 inches across in real life–bad form Emily Martin.

In book two, Devin and Kira are trotting along (with the tough Kira getting nauseous on the back of a horse).  When suddenly Kira smells… an elf.  And it is her duty to kill it.  Kira dives on the elf’s travelling companion, who is Prince Wilcome.  The elf, named Tempest, quickly disarms Devin and takes his sword.  They are at an impasse.

Next we jump to the dwarf kingdom.  There are two male guards out front discussing music and almost come to blows during their argument, calling each other girlie and arguing which one is the real man.  But when another dwarf comes along shouting Dragon, we find out that the dwarf dragon slayers are all women.  They prep themselves and get ready to make dragon stew.  After a kiss between Benna and Gretta they fling the dwarfs through the air from a catapult. (more…)

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Jeremy Whitley & Emily Martin–Princeless: Volume Four: Be Yourself (2015)

Posted in Action Lab Comics, Dragons, Elves, Emily Martin, Failure, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Fears, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Goblins, Graphic Novel, Grimmorax, Handsome Family, Jeremy Whitley, Monsters, Ongoing, Sexism, Shapeshifters, The Simpsons, Uncut, Vampires, Wilco, Wolves, YA Books, Zombies on February 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: THE HANDSOME FAMILY-“Capitol City” (from WILCOvered, UNCUT Magazine November 2019).

The November 2019 issue of UNCUT magazine had a cover story about Wilco.  It included a 17 track CD of bands covering Wilco (called WILcovered or WILCOvered).  I really enjoyed this collection and knew most of the artists on it already, so I’m going through the songs one at a time.

I’ve know of The Handsome Family for a long time, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard them before.  “Capitol City” is also a bit of a mystery.  It appeared on a Wilco bonus disc (for the deluxe edition of The Whole Love).  I assumed it had something to do with The Simpsons, but I guess it doesn’t.

This is a kind of honky-tonk version with banjo and “gadgets” as part of the lineup.   It’s fun with lots of weird sound effects swirling around this otherwise conventional song.

I wish you were here. Better yet, I wish I was there with you.

[READ: February 20, 2020] Princeless: Volume 4

Sir Gahiji the Hunter has learned that Adrienne is actually not dead and is in fact the knight they are all after.  He shares this information with the Black Knight. They instantly fight and the Black Knight knocks out Gahiji (or Cat Hat, since he wears a wolves’ head on his head).

Adrienne and Bedelia are headed for Grimmorium Swamp.  Bedelia tells of some horrible things that live there: flesh eating goblins, swamp creatures, electric fish, squirrels… real live squirrels! (The squirrel revelation is pretty great).

Back at the castle, the King grabs Devin and brings him along to the forest where the encounter the remains of the Queen’s carriage.   The King says he thinks the Black Knight is responsible.  The King then introduces Devin to the wolves (Kira scares the daylights out of him).

Amazingly Devin and Kira soon bond well enough.  The leader of the wolves says that he wishes his daughter were inquisitive like Devin. The King says he’d rather have Kira in battle–he’s seen rabbits with more courage than his son.  In the background we see Kira and Devin climbing all over his mother’s empty chest.  When he comes out he stands tall and says “I’m going on a quest to save my mother!” (more…)

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Jeremy Whitley & Emily Martin–Princeless: Volume Two: Get Over Yourself (2013)

Posted in Action Lab Comics, Dragons, Emily Martin, Failure, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Fears, Feminism, Graphic Novel, Jeremy Whitley, Norah Jones, Puss N Boots, Sexism, Shapeshifters, Uncut, Wilco, Wolves, YA Books on February 21, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: PUSS N BOOTS-“Jesus, Etc.” (from WILCOvered, UNCUT Magazine November 2019).

The November 2019 issue of UNCUT magazine had a cover story about Wilco.  It included a 17 track CD of bands covering Wilco (called WILcovered or WILCOvered).  I really enjoyed this collection and knew most of the artists on it already, so I’m going through the songs one at a time.

This was my introduction to Puss N Boots, a group consisting of Catherine Popper, Sasha Dobson and …Norah Jones?  They’ve been getting some buzz lately (of course) and it’s interesting to have my first exposure to them through this cover of one of my favorite Wilco songs.

This has a great slow rocking sound.  It’s got minimal instrumentation (no drums), just electric guitars and bass.  The women harmonize really nicely.

I really like this version, although whoever is singing lead (Catherine or Sasha) has that weird thing that singers seem to be doing now where it almost sounds like a speech impediment on the letter r.  The way she sing skyscrapers so it almost sounds like skyskwrapers.  And cry sounds like cwry.

It’s a thing that I’ve heard a lot lately and I can’t quite wrap my heard around it.  It’s not an accent, but what is it?

Regardless, I do like this version.  The opening electric guitar is great and their voices work very well together.

[READ: February 19, 2020] Princeless: Volume Two

I like the artwork y in this book so much better than the first.  I feel like Emily Martin brings a whole new level of greatness to this series.  The coloring is also much more vibrant.  It’s possible that the printing I had for book 1 wasn’t very good, but this book is fantastic.

The book opens with Adrienne’s father speaking to the bravest knights of the land: Sir Rocks the Mighty; Sir Gahiji the Hunter (who wears a wolf head on his head); Sir Raphael the Handsome (a poet and a vampire); Sir Walsh the Braggart; Sir Zachary the Pure (who serves the gods); and The Black Knight, the king’s fiercest of friends.  They have been summoned to kill the knight who made off with Adrienne’s head and bring the head of her dragon.  Whoever can do so will win his daughter’s hand in marriage.  (Which daughter? someone whispers).

Devon is angry that his dad is doing this so he goes to talk to his mom.  But she has plans–she is leaving and going to visit her parents.  He can’t believe she is running away too.

Back to our heroines.  We see them flying on Sparky, with Bedelia hanging from a rope and swiping food from the cart of a thief who stole the food in the first place.  But Sparky isn’t the most coordinated of fliers and soon enough, Bedelia and Adrienne wind up in a tree.  Again.

They manage to regroup and are sitting near a fire eating their plunder when a dandy prince shows up.  His name is Roderick Lovelorn and he is a poet.  He calls her fair lady and i love that there’s a running joke that she is not fair–fair means pale and she is not pale, she has brown skin (and kinky hair) thank you very much.  He is heading home to his muse.  The lady whom all seek to see but none dare to touch.

As he goes on like this, Adrienne gets annoyed because she realizes that he is talking about…her sister Angelica. (more…)

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Jeremy Whitley and Mia Goodwin–Princeless: Book One: Save Yourself (2012)

Posted in Action Lab Comics, Canadian Music, Dragons, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Feminism, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Jeremy Whitley, Kacy & Clayton, Mia Goodwin, Sexism, Uncut, Wilco, YA Books on February 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KACY & CLAYTON-“How to Fight Loneliness” (from WILCOvered, UNCUT Magazine November 2019).

The November 2019 issue of UNCUT magazine had a cover story about Wilco.  It included a 17 track CD of bands covering Wilco (called WILcovered or WILCOvered).  I really enjoyed this collection and knew most of the artists on it already, so I’m going through the songs one at a time.

I was not familiar with Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum (a Canadian folk duo).

This song has a bit of menace in the delivery.  I’m not sure if it’s the way Kacy sings a bit like Aimee Mann or in the bass/organ combination.  The original is a bit more spare (although still minor key).

The guitar work (from Clayton) is very pretty, both the initial acoustic and then the sharper electric. There’s a great guitar solo mid-song.

I really like this version and will definitely check out more from this duo.

[READ: February 19, 2020] Princeless: Book One

After heaving read book three in this series, I figured I should go back and see how it all started.  This book collected issues 1-4.

This book opens with a cartoony drawing of a fairy tale.  A princess in a tower is saved by a handsome knight and they get married and live happily ever after.

On the next page, the little girl hearing the story says it is complete hogwash.

Then the girl, who is our heroine, Adrienne, lists the plot holes:

What kind of dragon dies from one blow?
How does the prince get the princess from the tower.  He climbed?  And then climbed down with her?  Because she sure didn’t with those toothpick arms.
And who would put a princess in a tower, what kind of grudge would you need against her to do that?
Plus, the cost of a tower would be more than her dowry!
You’re gonna put a dragon, a wild animal, in charge of your daughter.  What if it wanders off?  What if it kills her?

All she knows is when she turns 16 her parents better not put her in a….

cut to next page tower.  We see poor 16 year-old Adrienne locked in a tower guarded by a (very pink) dragon. The dragon is named Sparky and this dragon is not too scary.  Well, she is since she is a dragon, but she’s not as scary as some dragons.  I mean, she does manage to eat all of the knights who try to rescue the princess. (more…)

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