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Charles Dickens–A Christmas Carol: In Prose: Being A Ghost Story of Christmas (1845)

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, Danú, Ghosts, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Patrick Kavanagh, Short Story, Supernatural on December 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: DANÚ: An Nollaig in Éirinn: Christmas in Ireland Live in Concert (2010).

danu cdWe saw Danú perform a Christmas show last year.  The show was wonderful, so we bought the CD.

The CD is a live show much like the one we saw, so not only is it a Christmas album, but it’s a nice memento of the show.  Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh’s voice is beautiful–a soaring, angelic sound and the performance of the band is amazing.

The disc is a mix of beautiful ballads (Irish specific and those familiar to all) and rollicking instrumentals.  The ballads, most sung by Muireann include “The Wexford Carol” (a traditional song); “Angels We Have Heard on High” (gorgeous–with audience participation); “Le Coinnle na nAingeal” a lovely, slow ballad about putting candles in the window

n Irish and English) and “Le Coinnle na nAingeal.”  She even got the audience to sing along to some of the Irish words in “The Boys of Barr na Sráide” and, of course, we all chimed in on “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

The rollicking numbers include “The Slide Set” (Scartaglen Slide and two reels: “The Hunters Purse” and “The Reconciliation”); “Round the House Set” (some fun dance numbers); and “The Polkas.” “Apples in Winter/The Frost is All Over” is a charming instrumental, the second half of which is all about the button accordion (amazing playing!).

Some other songs include “A Christmas Childhood” is a spoken poem by Patrick Kavanagh set to a piano melody.  “The Boys of Barr na Sráide” is an anthem from Kerry in which boys hunt for a wren on the feast of St Stephen. It is a slow song and the was much audience participation when we saw them.  “Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake” is a very funny tale about a deadly Christmas Cake–a fun sing along with silly lyrics.

The show and disc end with “Oíche Chiúin/Silent Night” a lovely rendition that segues into an amazing bodrhan solo (Martin O’Neill is fantastic–the sounds he gets out of this one drum are staggering).  It ends with a whooping song called “Contradiction.”  The encore is a beautiful duet called “The Parting Glass” and, since no Irish set should end in a mellow way, “The Christmas Eve Reel” ends with a wonderful stomping song.

The show was fantastic and the CD is great too.  There’s no between-song banter, which is a shame, but which also keeps the set a reasonable length.  It’s a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas, even if there’s not many familiar Christmas songs.

[READ: December 10, 2014] A Christmas Carol

Obviously, I know A Christmas Carol.  Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future etc.  I have seen the play, I have listened to Patrick Stewart’s reading and I’ve seen nearly every movie and TV version. But I have never actually read it.

I found the story to be really enjoyable.  And for Dickens, the story is pretty compact. There are few moments where he throws in a lot of extra bits and pieces, but the action moves pretty swiftly.

I think one thing that I was surprised by was that Scrooge is moved by the very first spirit that comes along.  In my memory he isn’t that impressed by the first one, but in the story he is ready to give in after his trip to his childhood.  I was also surprised to see that Scrooge’s nephew plays a pretty big role at the end. In my memory (or maybe in condensed versions—or the Grinch, anyhow), Scrooge eats with the Cratchits.  But no, he sends them the goose with no word given (and we never see their reaction) and then has dinner with the nephew who invited him early in the story (Dickens is nothing if not tidy in cleaning up loose ends). (more…)

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Charles Dickens–The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home (1845)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Short Story, Supernatural on December 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: STARS OF CHRISTMAS (2008).

starsxmasI believe that I bought this collection because it was cheap–a new disc of interesting mixes for Christmas  Well, given the artists on the cover (my cover is actually different, but similar), I had no idea that I was in for a largely classic/formal collection of songs.  True I probably should have looked at the list, but for a cheapie Christmas CD it seemed safe.

The first several tracks are done is very operatic style.  Many other tracks are done in an almost church-like atmosphere.  Nothing inherently wrong with these versions, indeed, many of them are quite lovely but they’re not what I like in Christmas songs and, frankly there’s too much of it on this disc (it’s nearly an hour long).

MARIO LANZA-“I Saw Three Ships” and SERGIO FRANCHI-“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” Operatic and JOHN DAVIDSON-“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” are all very formal and operatic.  ED AMES-“Joy to the World” is also operatic and it adds a backing vocal chorus.

Somewhat less operatic but still formal are PERRY COMO-“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” and ANDY WILLIAMS-“Angels We Have Heard on High.”  This all makes sense as these are religious Christmas songs.  Even the CAROL LAWRENCE and ROBERT GOULET version of “Carol of the Bells” features Goulet’s ponderous voice.  (It’s a nice version, but Lawrence can’t quite match him).

After these, the mood lightens somewhat.  DANNY KAYE-“Deck the Halls” is a bit more fun (as Danny Kaye would be).  And then comes the big WTF moment–AIR SUPPLY? doing “The First Noel.”  Their version is fine and doesn’t sound too out of place here.

Changing the tone somewhat, JULIE ANDREWS-“Patapan” I don’t really know this song very well.  Andrews does a lovely version of it.  It’s strange that there are two Christmas songs about drums.  And THE LENNON SISTERS, who I quite like, do “Silent Night.”  Their version is sweet and relaxing and reminds me of the singers from O Brother Where Art Thou?  JOSE FELICIANO-“The Cherry Tree Carol” is another song I don’t know.  This version is weird here since it’s on acoustic guitar with Feliciano’s delicate voice.

The best song on the disc is ARTHUR FIEDLER-“Sleigh Ride”.  This is the classic instrumental with strings and sleigh bells.  I’m surprised by the instrumental version of “Jingle Bells” by CHET ATKINS.  It’s guitar based and slightly countryish, but there’s no way to guess it’s from him.  EDDY ARNOLD-“Jolly Old St. Nicholas” is a song I vaguely know.  It also has country tinges.  It’s an unusual song what with asking Santa what he;s going to give you.

JIM REEVES-“O Come All Ye Faithful” changes the tone again.  This song is done on pipe organ.  It sounds like it was recorded in a church (which makes sense).  LORRIE MORGAN-“O Holy Night” I dislike this version quite a lot.  It feels rather pretentious and she does some weird melodies at times.  BURL IVES-“O Little Town of Bethlehem”  I like Ives, but not on this song.  It’s too slow or something.

The final two songs are just awful to me (which I know people will yet at me for saying)  GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS-“Away in a Manger” and ARETHA FRANKLIN-“Ave Maria.”  I’m not a big fan of Knight as it is, although I do usually like Aretha.  But man this version of “Ave Maria” is dreadful.   She starts wailing, horrible trills that are way out of place on this song.  And it’s nearly 7 minutes long.  Gah, what a dreadful way to end the album

So, there’s a few good songs here.  There’s a couple of nice version that might fit on a mix and then there’s some horrors.  Probably worth the $1.99 I paid for it.

[READ: December 10, 2014] The Cricket on the Hearth

I was unfamiliar with thsi story before reading it.  The author of the introduction to the book (Eleanor Farjeon) says she likes it better than “A Christmas Carol.”  I can see some reason for liking it more, but it’s not quite as impactful.

It’s a strange story with hidden identities, true love, fake love and crickets.

The story begins at John Peerybingle’s house.  He is a carrier, basically a mailman.  He is married to Dot and they have a new baby boy.  Their nanny, Tilly Slowboy (Dickens is none to subtle about names, eh?), is a simple girl who seems to have a knack for either smashing the baby’s head on things or just barely missing his head when she turns around.  When the story starts, John has just returned from his latest travel, and he is happy to be home.

Dot talks about the cricket that is chirping so loudly at the hearth (there’s a question from the narrator as to whether the cricket or the kettle made the noise first, and he maintains that it was the cricket).  Dot thinks fondly of the cricket, especially when John is away. She imagines that the cricket is looking over them every time it chirps. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–Christmas Stories [1-6] (1850-1853)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Set at School, Short Story on December 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

storiesSOUNDTRACK: CHRISTMAS: 16 Most Requested Songs (1992).

16This album features 16 “most requested” songs, but I don’t believe that they are the most requested versions of these songs.  These versions come from Colmbia’s back catalog and as such, none of them features any of the real Christmas heavy hitters.  Not that the version are bad, they’re pretty much all really good, they’re just not the “classic” versions.  Well, except for one or two.

GENE AUTRY-“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Starting with the “You know Dasher and Dancer” verse, this is a nice, traditional version of the song and one I don’t hear as much as I’d think I would.  DORIS DAY-“Here Comes Santa Claus” Opens with a nice booming Ho Ho Ho from Santa. I like that there are ample sleigh bells in the song, even if the words are vaguely menacing (somehow even more so in this version). I’ve also always found the aggressively religious aspect of the song about Santa to be a bit peculiar.  JIMMY BOYD-“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” This is an inherently goofy song and I don’t care for the “serious” rendition this is given.  I also don’t care for songs sung by “kids.” Although I do admit to thinking this song was cute when I was a kid.  ROSEMARY CLOONEY-“Winter Wonderland” This version is a little too precious for my liking.

GENE AUTRY-“Frosty the Snowman” This is another straight reading of this silly song—very children friendly and a good version.  JOHNNY MATHIS-“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” I don’t care for Mathis’ voice so I don’t like this version.  THE RAY CONIFF SINGER-“Silver Bells” This is ajoyful, sweet rendition of the song, even if it is extremely uptight sounding. (it evidently comes from “The Lemon Drop Kid”).  ROBERT GOULET-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (from “Meet Me in St. Louis”).  Goulet’s voice is pretty magnificent, it might even be a little too much for this little song.  PATTI PAGE-“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” This is a version with kids singing along. And with Patti telling them to behave, it also has a menacing feel to it. I guess Santa really could be kind of a nasty guy huh?  MITCH MILLER & THE SING-ALONG GANG-“The Twelve Days of Christmas” It’s hard to make this song not sound really tedious, but these guys do it pretty fast and in a very specific, marching style. It’s almost military in it’s seriousness, which does take some of the romance out of the song, but I like it nonetheless.

ANDY WILLIAMS-“Sleigh Ride” Andy Williams has a quintessential Christmas voice.  I’m glad Columbia has him for this collection. It’s fast fun and joyful. ANGELA LANSBURY, FRANKIE MICHAELS, JANE CONNELL and SAB SHIMONO-I love that Lansbury has such a great singing voice since in my mind she’s only ever been Murder She Wrote. And she wails this. (This version comes from “Mame.”  I didn’t know it came from a musical.  And I love th eline that I never noticed before: “But it’s one week past Thanksgiving Day now”).  MEL TORME-“The Christmas Song” The Velvet Fog’s version is quite nice, but doesn’t quite match Nat “King” Cole’s for pure classicness (although, huh, Torme wrote the music for this song).  TONY BENNETT-“White Christmas” I’m not a big fan of Tony Bennett and I don’t like this version of this song—it’s too spread out.  JULIE ANDREWS-“Silent Night” a very pretty and pure version of this song. Although I don’t find it as moving as other versions.  MAHALIA JACKSON-“Joy to the World” I know she’s a legend, but I really don’t like Mahalia’s versions of songs—she’s a just too over the top for me.

So, overall, this is a good, if safe collection of Christmas songs. Not my favorite bunch but a lot of good versions here, and one or two great ones.  And there are even a couple of under-played ones.

[READ: December 8, 2014] Christmas Stories

I intended to read A Christmas Carol last year during Christmas time but since we saw the play, I decided not to.  So this year I figured I would read as much of Dickens’ Christmas Books as I could during the month of December.  Then I misplaced Christmas Books, so I picked up Christmas Stories.

Christmas Stories does not include “A Christmas Carol.”  Rather, it includes 21 “stories”  ranging from a few pages to over a hundred pages long.  They appeared in Household Works, a publication which Dickens created to “bring himself even closer to his many followers.”

I chose to write about these first six together because they are the shortest pieces in the book and they can kind of be lumped together.  These are strange pieces because they are not really stories.  They are more like nostalgic or even moralistic moments in which Dickens conveys the Christmas spirit through some characters.

For frame of reference Dickens was born in 1812.  He wrote Oliver Twist around 1839 and “A Christmas Carol” in 1843. (more…)

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Gerry Alanguilan–Elmer: a comic book (2010)

Posted in Anarchy, Culture Shock, Death, Eddie Vedder, Fears, Funny (strange), Gerry Alanguilan, Graphic Novel, Marriage (Happy), Morality, Patti Smith, Peaches, R.E.M., Religion, Sci-fi, Scientists, Surreal, Threats, Violence on October 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

elmer SOUNDTRACK: R.E.M.-Collapse into Now (2011).

R.E.M._-_Collapse_into_Now“Discoverer” opens this disc with ringing guitars–not exact R.E.M. replicants, but familiar.  And then Stipe comes in and the refresher course in R.E.M. begins.  Collapse Into Now proved to be R.E.M.’s final album, and while some of their latter albums weren’t great, Collapse seems to revisit everything that was great about R.E.M. and tries to spread it all over this album.

The blueprints for classic R.E.M. songs form the structure of a lot of these songs, with chiming guitars, and Stipe’s recognizable vocals.  “All the Best” sounds like classic R.E.M. (although Stipe’s delivery is more current sounding).  It also fits in well with the faster songs from Accelerate and is only 2:46.  But it’s “Überlin” that really sounds like a classic R.E.M. song.  That notable guitar style with Stipe’s very specific delivery style.  And then come Peter Buck’s harmonies.  It sounds like a good outtake from, say, Automatic for the People.

Stipe tends to do a lot of his sing-speaking on this album (and i think the one thing I don’t like that much about the album is that early R.E.M. seemed to obscure Stipe’s vocals and lyrics a little bit, giving them an air of mystery.  Whereas the newer records are all pretty well laid bare).  So “Oh My Heart” has Stipe almost speaking his poetry.  It’s got mandolin and Buck’s mildly annoying backing vocals (I’ve never thought that about his backing vocals before).

An Eddie Vedder cameo is utterly wasted on “It Happened Today,” you can barely hear him as all he does is backing crooning near the end of the song (and frankly the “hip hip hooray” chorus is lame).  “Every Day is Yours to Win” is a pretty slow song.  It doesn’t amount to much but the melody is really beautiful.  “Mine Smell Like Honey” is a crazy bad title, but it’s a great rocking song, really hearkening back to classic R.E.M.–ringing guitars and Stipe’s vaguely disguised voice.  “Walk it Back” is another slow ballady type song and is really pretty.  While “Alliagtor_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter” is a rocker with Peaches singing and speaking backing vocals.  “That Someone is You” follows up with another speedy track.

I tend to dislike the really slow R.E.M. songs, so “Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I” doesn’t do much for me.  The disc ender, “Blue” reminds me of Out of Time‘s “Country Feedback” (I keep waiting for him to say “I need this”).  And the Patti Smith backing vocals recall “E-Bow the Letter.”  “Blue” is meandering and unfocused but Buck’s atmospheric guitars are quite effective, even if the song itself is nothing special.  I don’t quite get the coda of tacking the opening chords of the album on to the end, but whatever.

So basically this album feels like some mostly great outtakes from earlier R.E.M. albums. And there’s really nothing wrong with that (well there would be if R.E.M. was still trying to release a lot of new music).  But since the band was ready to call it quits anyway, it’s a nice recap of their career.  True, I’d rather listen to their earlier records, but you could definitely throw most of these songs into a mix with the earlier ones and they would sound perfect.

[READ: October 25, 2014] Elmer

Elmer has a  chicken on the cover.  It also features this quote at the top of the book: “It’s the Great Filipino Novel, with chickens.”  What to expect from this book?  Well, chickens, obviously, but I never would have guessed what this book contained.  Indeed, this book is pretty mind-blowing (in a good way).

It has a simple premise, which seems comical but is actually taken very seriously: what if chickens became “aware” and learned to speak?  It sounds funny, right, but Alanguilan really explores this issue seriously–if a species of animal that we normally eat suddenly talked to us en masse, how quickly would we deal with this, and what would humanity’s reaction be?  It tackles issues of slavery and racism and pushes them further.  And while the “change” takes place in 1979, it addresses contemporary society with an inquisitive glare.

While there is some humor in it, this is a serious book.

Jake Gallo is a modern chicken (the book is set in 2003–two decades after chickens became “human”).  He has just been rejected for a job, and he pulls the race card (this would be the hilarious reveal that our main character is a chicken).  While he’s feeling sorry for himself, he gets word that his father, Elmer, is dying and he returns home to be with his mother and family.  On the way home he runs into Farmer Ben, the farmer who helped to raise Elmer’s family.  And he is genuinely glad to see Jake.  Jake seems somewhat put off by Farmer Ben and declines his offer of a ride. (more…)

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Nathan Rabin–Weird Al: The Book (2012)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Food, Funny (ha ha), Insane Clown Posse, Marriage (Happy), Nathan Rabin, Phish, Smarty Pants, UHF on October 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bookSOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“Belevdere Cruisin” (1976).

belevder This is the first song that Al recorded and submitted to Dr. Demento.  And it was a huge success.  I hadn’t heard it before (it’s not on his box set (not so surprisingly)).

It is a fairly straight song.  It’s a funny (kind of) song about riding in a Plymouth Belvedere.  I imagine the premise of the song is funnier if its 1976 and you see lots of big old Belvederes on the road (when I looked for pictures online, most of what I got was beautifully restored classics, which undermines the humor here).  Although judging from the promo photo above they’re not exactly a sexy car.

It’s a fully realized song played entirely on the accordion.  The song opens with an intro from Hungarian Rhapsody #2 adding faux drama to the funny ditty. And then Al sings about his family’s car and how much he loves it.  So there’s lines like: “just the thought of a Pinto leaves me shaking” and the nascent smart alec: “Watch me pass that Porsche on the right.”    The chorus gives us the truth: “In a Belvedere I can really get my thrills.”

And while the song doesn’t do anything too weird, there is a funny moment where he sings, “Datsuns ain’t worth a fudge…sicle, no.”

It’s a charming little ditty that in no one prepares one for the mad genius that he would become.

[READ: October 12, 2014] Weird Al: The Book

This biography of Weird Al is written by Nathan Rabin.  I actually read Rabin’s more recent book about Phish and Insane Clown Posse in which he talks about writing the Weird Al book (and how he was a in a dark place when he wrote it).  Having recently watched a bunch of biographical stuff about Weird Al (he’s everywhere lately), there was really nothing new in this book for me.  I should have read it when it came out, duh.

In fact, nearly everything that is mentioned in the book is in the TV specials. The biggest addition that Rabin adds, and its a good one, is his personal insights into Al (he had thanked Al on his memoir).  Most enjoyably, it’s nice to hear someone praise Al’s original songs–sometimes even more than the parodies.  Al’s originals have always been clever and fun and, while fans already know it (and its fans who will buy this book), it’s nice to see it in print as well. (more…)

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Karen Green–Bough Down (2013)

Posted in Art, Books about writers, Death, Dogs, Karen Green, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Parick Hamilton, Poetry, Poets, Protomartyr, Punks, Suicide on September 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

boughSOUNDTRACK: PROTOMARTYR-Under Cover of Official Right (2014).

martyrMy favorite description of Protomartyr is that the three younger guys ran into their old high school math teacher at a bar and asked if he wanted to sing with their band.  Protomartyr are a heavy band from Detroit (and none of the above is true about them, but check out the picture below for how true that seems).

The lyrics are dark, literary and sometime quite funny.  The music is a sort of post punk.  The drums are amazing with all manner of complex patterns.  The guitar is angular and precise, eking out notes and then blasting away on gorgeous ringing chords.  The bass plays patterns–not simple notes.  His is a great counterpoint to the guitar.  And then there’s the voice.  Gruff, worldly, knowledgeable and occasionally angry.  But mostly he sings in a kind of spoken word style, telling of his distrust with…well, whaddya got?

My CD did not come with a lyrics sheet (although I believe the LP does), so I don’t exactly know the words to these songs.  I can certainly guess though.

The disc opens with a sinister chord that slowly rises, only to be replaced by a jangly open guitar chord and then a very lengthy riff.  And then the deadpan vocals comes in.   “Shade goes up shade goes down, one of my dead moves.” And that sets the tone (that song along with many other is a reference to a novel: in this case Patrick Hamilton’s Hangover Square). I love the way the second song “Ain’t So Simple” opens with an interesting drum rhythm and these great lyrics, “Hello there, you are all witnesses to a kind of confrontation between me and these three men.”  The lyrics are basically an attack on the other guys in the band: “this thing that sits behind me: jumped up homunculus, and yet he sings so sweetly.”  The guitar is quiet and complex with an interesting riff.  Then the bridge bursts forth with all kinds of chaos and noise and a faster riff.  The song ends somewhat positively, “guess I will keep him around, until the next song.”  And it ends with the same drums that opened the song.

Most of the songs are just over 2 minutes.  “Want Remover” is pummeling rock, heavy and distorted.  “Trust Me Billy” reintroduces a spiralling riff but with a heavier drum.  “Pagans” is only 1:11, with a very sparse sound.  “What the Wall Said” slows things down (it clocks in at 3:11).  It has a slow intro that is mostly bass.  When the chiming guitars come in, the drums follow and the songs picks up speed.  It has one of my favorite lyrics: “What will you miss? Alice in Chains played on repeat–not feeling great, you’re 20%.”  Followed by morning ringing guitars.

“Tarpeian Rock” is set to a cool bass line.  It’s basically a list of people who should be “thrown from the rock” “greedy bastards, emotional cripples, gluten fascists” etc.  “Bad Advice” opens with a smacking drum sequence and ringing guitars.  It’s angular and prickly until about half way through when it suddenly slows down with the simple “bad advice” chorus.  “Son of Dis” is a blistering punk song.  Barely over a minute, it is a relentless blast.

There’s something about the guitar sound on “Scum, Rise” that is so unguitar-like, I’m totally intrigued by it.  And the repeated simple chorus of “scum…rise” is pretty hard not to sing/speak along to.  “I Stare at Floors” is another fast rocker.  “Come and See” has more great weird chords (with a vibrato put on them for extra weirdness.”  It’s another fantastic song, with the chorus introducing a brand new drum sequence and a super catchy but dark chorus: “And I’ll try to live defeated, come and see the good in everything.”  I can’t decide which section of the song I like better.  Well, maybe it’s the repeated third part where the drums come bashing alive to really emphasize that section.

“Violent” is another slower song, with a lonesome riff and sparse drums.  The vocals are so almost-flat that it makes the lyrics “if it’s violent…good” seem even more dark than they might otherwise.  “I’ll Take That Applause” opens with a sample of someone singing something, maybe?  Garbled, rather creepy sounding voices introduce a big ringing chord.  The song introduces a piano buried under the chorus of “nothing ever after.”  And then you press play again and listen to the whole thing again.

I simply can’t stop listening to this album.

proto

[READ: September 15, 2014] Bough Down

Karen Green is a visual artist and poet.  She was married to a man who hung himself, and this collection address that horrific incident almost exclusively.

Green’s poems aren’t structured like poems (meaning that they are blocks of text and have no concern for line breaks or rhyme scheme).  Nevertheless the words she has used are quite powerful and evocative and do everything that good poetry should do.

Interspersed within the poems are small images.  Most of the images are cut up pieces of text arranged but also obfuscated by what looks like a gauzy white paint (in the same way that the book has a gauzy white slip cover (nicely done)).  I don’t know what the actual size of her prints is, but I wish they were bigger in the book.  It’s really hard to see the details that are clearly there.  And I know that hiding is part of the point, but if it were bigger it would certainly be easier to understand.  I’m fascinated by her use of dollar bills as well as other tiny objects (fingerprints? stamps? boxes?).

Most of her poems are untitled; those which are titled have “jazz standards” as titles.  Like “summertime and the living” or “let’s call the whole thing off.”  This jibes nicely with one of the “characters” in the poems, a woman called “the jazz lady.”  For indeed, although I’m reading this as a series of poem, there is so much continuity between poems, that it almost reads like a novel as well.  If nothing else, there seems to be time passing between the poems.  And while the story itself is unfinished, it does imply that things will be moving forward.

The pieces about the jazz lady are interspersed with the stories about “you.”  The jazz lady “is in first or third person.  She is keeping secrets and everyone who loves her is tired of them.”  In “Black and blue and” it begins “No one knows how the jazz lady ended up in the hospital again.”  I took the jazz lady to be Green, or perhaps just someone else Green knew. (more…)

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This is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death (2013)

Posted in Aaron Diaz, Ada Hoffmann, Alexandra Douglass, Alice Duke, Anthony Clark, Becky Dreistadt, Ben McSweeney, Bill Chernega, Braden Lamb, Brigita Orel, c. billadeau, Cancer as plot device, Carla Speed McNeil, Carly Monardo, Chandler Kaiden, Chris Schweizer, Claire Hummel, D.L.E. Roger, Daliso Chaponda, Dana Wulfekotte, Danica Novgorodoff, David Malki, Death, Demons, Diarrhea Planet, Disease, Drinking, Drugs, Dustin Harbin, Ed Turner, Emily Partridge, Erika Hammerschmidt, George Page III, Gord Sellar, Grace Seybold, Graham Annable, Greg Ruth, Hollan Lane, Horror, Humiliation, Indigo Kelleigh, John Chernega, John Takis, Karen Stay Ahlstrom, KC Green, KEXP 90.3 FM--Seattle, WA, Kris Straub, Kyle Shoenfeld, Law, Leela Wagner, Les McClaine, Lissa Treiman, Liz Argall, M. Bennardo, M.J. Leitch, Mad Scientists, Magic, Marleigh Norton, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Martin Livings, Meredith Gran, Mike Dawson, Mike Peterson, Nathan Burgoine, Nick Abadzis, Ramón Pérez, Rebecca Black, Ren Warom, Rhiannon Kelly, Richard Salter, Ryan Estrada, Ryan North, Ryan Pequin, Sam Bosma, Sarah Pavis, Shari Chankhamma, Short Story, Threats, Toby W. Rush, Tom Francis, Tony Cliff, Trudy Cooper, Tyson Hesse, Violence, Yuck! on September 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

how you dieSOUNDTRACK: DIARRHEA PLANET-“Lite Dream” Live on KEXP (2014).

dpHow to pass up a band with a name like this?  Well, it’s pretty easy, actually.  Who would even want to say their name?

The name conjures images, no, let’s not go there.  The name conjures music that is just abrasive and rude–ten second punks songs.  But in reality, their music is pretty traditional old school heavy metal.  They have 4 lead guitarists after all! (There’s 6 guys in the band altogether, surprisingly, there’s no women).   One of the lead guitarists even plays with his teeth (for a few seconds).

This song is about heavy metal, although I’m not sure what about it.  There’s some big riffs, solos galore.  There’s even a classic 80s style dual lead guitar solo.  There’s big loud drums.  There’s feedback.  It’s everything you think of as heavy metal, with a seeming wink and nod thrown in.

This is basically a goofy feel good band, playing fast heavy metal.  Shame about the band name, though, really.

Watch it all here.

[READ: spring and summer 2014] This is How You Die

It is quite disconcerting to open a Christmas present from your wife and have the first thing you see be the words “This is How You Die.”  To then look at her confusedly and try to interpret the look of excited delight on her face as she wonders why you’re not excited.  Then she explains that it is a sequel to the interesting collection Machine of Death that you both had read several years ago (but which I evidently never posted about).  Sighs of relief and then Christmas can proceed with more merriment.

So over the course of the new year I read these stories and I enjoyed most of them quite a lot.

The premise of the book is that there is a Machine of Death.  This machine states how you will die, but it does not give you a time, place or real definition of what it means by hope you will die.  Statements seem obvious but may in fact be different in some twisted way.  As it says on the back of the book, OLD AGE could mean either dying of natural causes or being shot by an elderly bedridden man in a botched home invasion.  The book revels in the irony that you can know how it’s going to happen , but you’ll still be surprised when it does.

The way the machine works is that you insert your finger, it takes a blood sample and gives you a card with the way you die printed on it.  No matter how many times you do it you will get the same result.  These are the guidelines, and each author made a story with just that set up.

Pretty cool right?  The first collection was really great.  And so is this collection, done by writers and cartoonists that I had never heard of before.  There are 34 stories and 12 comic strips (it’s a hefty collection).  Because each story is basically about how a person dies, I had to think about how best to review the book–without giving away any twists.  So I think the title and a very brief plot will have to suffice.

There’s even a funny promo video for the book (at the end of the post). (more…)

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T. Cooper–Real Man Adventures (2012)

Posted in Chris Pureka, Dynasty Handbag, Eminem, Fears, Geo Wyeth, Girls Against Boys, Hem, Indigo Girls, Marriage (Happy), Marty Cooper & The Rifters, McSweeney's, Memoirs, Our Lady J., Peg Hambright, Rick Moody, Rocco Katastrophe, Sarah McLachlan, Scott McCloud, Scott Miller & The Commonwealth, Sexism, Short Books, Soce the Elemental Wizard, T. Cooper, The Julie Ruin, Threats, Thunderegg, Transgender, Violence on May 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tcoop-realmanSOUNDTRACK: REAL MAN ADVENTURES: A Collection of (Mostly) Original Songs by (Entirely) Original Artists–All Inspired by the Book. (An Album! A Book! A Shark!) (2012).

realcdThis soundtrack came with my copy of the book, although it can be ordered separately as well.  It is a varied collection of music in many different genres.  The one thread is that many of the performers are either transgendered or are openly gay or some variation in between.  And lyrically the songs are based on chapters from the book (some literal and others use the book as a jumping off point).  No one can be expected to enjoy the whole disc (the musical styles are just too different), but there’s some really enjoyable and interesting music here.

 OUR LADY J. “Picture of a Man” (live)
I’d never heard of Our Lady J., but she is a transgendered classical singer and has worked with some of the greats in theater. The song opens with a piano solo for one minute.  It acts as an introduction to this theatrical piece (with big backing vocals) about what a man “really” looks like. I love the diversity in this song. It gets really big and quite over the top.

RICK MOODY-“The Closest I Ever Came to Writing a Poem”
Yes, writer Rick Moody wrote this thoughtful song. The music is simple, stark piano with Moody singing gently. It’s quite pretty.

SOCE, THE ELEMENTAL WIZARD-“He Will”
This is a rap song (in the style of Eminem), which addresses Cooper’s troubles with  getting a passport (the lyrics are taken mostly from the book). The rapper has fast flow and the lyrics are complex and interesting, although I don’t really like his delivery that much.  Still, it’s a great lyrical song. Soce is one of the few openly gay rappers.

T. COOPER & PEG HAMBRIGHT-“Interlude: high School”
A 34 second piano, well, interlude with words from the book.

HEM-“The Beautiful Sea”
This is a pretty song, reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan. Hem have a bit more oomph than Sarah, but are equally as pretty. This song was way too short.

THUNDEREGG-“The Guest Star of the Rest Stop”
This is a country(ish) song, with a vaguely out of tune guitar and slow droning vocals. I’d not heard of them before but I see they have dozens of records out. At 5 minutes, I found this one a little long.

T. COOPER & PEG HAMBRIGHT-“Interlude: College”
Another simple piano melody with words from the book.

SCOTT MILLER & THE COMMONWEALTH-“12th Man”
Another country song, this one about (not) playing football (always being the 12th man). It’s a sweet and sad song. Miller also has a number of albums out even though I’ve not heard of him either.

GEO WYETH-“Target Practice”
This song starts as a weird electronic track with sampled voices and then it morphs into a spare keyboard track with Wyeth’s kind of high vocals. It reminds me a bit of the Mountain Moats, but with keyboards instead of guitar. And I don’t like it as much.

CHRIS PUREKA-“Old Photographs”
Pureka has a lot of albums out too (and I thought I knew music). She is a delicate folksinger (until she really starts belting out the words at the end) reminding me of one half of the Indigo Girls. This was a really good, rather dark song.

DYNASTY HANDBAG-“One Man”
This is a sinister electronic/rap song detailing the fears of violence in the trans community.  Dynasty Handbag seems to be a loose cannon with some very interesting videos out there.  Definitely check her out.

T. COOPER & PEG HAMBRIGHT-“Interlude: My 20s”
This interlude is done on accordion.

THE JULIE RUIN “Girls Like Us” (Vag Vocal Version).
This is Kathleen Hannah’s band The Julie Ruin with special guest Vaginal Crème Davis (possibly not her given name) on vocals. Davis’ vocals are way over the top, but surprisingly not that different from the originals’ mocking tone (and cheesy synths).

SCOTT McCLOUD-“On My Darker Days”
McCloud is in Girls Against Boys.  This song is dark electric guitar (very processed) with virtually no percussion. The vocals are whispered as well.  I enjoyed the beginning but then felt it was a little samey and felt a little long even though it’s only 3 minutes.

ROCCO KATASTROPHE-“F.E.A.R.”
Katastrophe is a rapper (one of the first openly transgendered). His flow is strong and his lyrics are great. I don’t care for his backing music that much.  For although it is appropriately ominous, it feels a bit anemic.

MARTY COOPER WITH THE RIFTERS-“May You Always Ride in the Sunlight”
This sounds like an old timey cowboy song (I can’t find much else about Marty Cooper).  It’s a sweet song that would fit well at the end of any mix cd of good feeling songs. Even if you don’t like the genre, it’s hard not to like this song.

So this proves to be an interesting mix of songs, with a lot of ne (to me) artists.

[READ: May 1, 2014] Real Man Adventures

I didn’t know T. Cooper before receiving this book from McSweeney’s.  Cooper has written several novels although I didn’t recognize any of them when I looked them up (Lipshitz 6 sounds familiar though).  This book is a memoir.

What’s interesting is that Cooper talks about trying very hard to avoid reviewers referencing his past, and yet with this memoir he has completely outed himself.  I was going to try to not write about his past out of deference to his preferences, but since this memoir is all about his past it’s impossible not to.

So, if you know T. Cooper’s writing and you don’t want to know anything about his past, stop reading this and don’t read the book.

I know that I’ve made that enticing, which I didn’t mean to do.  And who knows, maybe fans of his writing already know this. (more…)

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Amy Fusselman–8 (2007) [reissued 2013]

Posted in Amy Fusselman, Babies, Black Ox Orkestar, Canadian Music, Constellation Records, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Marriage (Happy), McSweeney's, Memoirs, Short Books on May 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

8 SOUNDTRACK: BLACK OX ORKESTAR-Nisht Azoy [CST038] (2006).

cst038webOn the second (and so far final) Black Ox Orkestar album, the songs are longer and the whole disc has a more polished feel.

It feels less like friends gathered on a night for music (which is what the first one seemed like) and more like a band playing the music in the studio.  There’s more precision in the instrumentation and more instrumentation overall.  The voices,  like on “Bukharian” are layered, bringing in bass voices that didn’t appear before.  The album also feels a bit more like a GYBE type of project–more building, more epicness.  “Tsvey Taybelakh” [Two Doves] is over 7 minutes long.  And even though a song like “Az Vey dem Tatn” [Sad Is the Father] is clearly Yiddish (the vocals are the big giveaway) they sound like more than folk songs, they sound bigger, more “important.”

“Violin Duet” has a slow mournful piece and then a sprightly fun dance piece.  “Ratsekr Grec” is a big instrumental dance piece that  sounds familiar but is not the song I’m thinking of (which is from a movie, I believe).  The 7 minute song actually has elements that feel a bit like Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” (with clarinet).  And the final song “Golem” begins like an epic with slow guitars and strings in a very traditional melody.  It has a number of false endings at around 3:30 and again at 5 minutes.  And since album has some translation of the lyrics, (which are still sung in Yiddish) we can see the lyrics move beyond traditional Yiddish yet are firmly grounded in them:

“We made a new golem/ We created our guard/ Without soul and without mercy/ He watches the gate/ Like the cameras on the fence/ Like the barbs on the wire/ Like the concrete barricades/ He becomes landscape/ But no. It can’t go on/ No. It can’t go on/ Not like this…,”

Again, if you don’t like traditional Yiddish music (or vocals sung in Yiddish) you won’t like this, although the adventurous may want to give it a chance.

[READ: May 6, 2014] 8

The cover above is actually not the cover of the version I read.  The McSweeney’s Two Books in One does not seem to have this cover for 8 anywhere (which is a shame because I like the way the covers of each book parallel each other (and make the infinity loop as well)).   Interestingly, the original version of the book featured the subtitle: “All True, Unbelievable.”  And that might be useful to include here too.

Amy Fusselman’s 8 is a sequel of sorts to The Pharmacist’s Mate.  In that book, she wanted to get pregnant.  In 8, she not only successfully gave birth to the boy from that first book, she has also had a second child.   And like many new parents, she understands that no matter how much you wanted children, sometimes for your own sanity you need to hide from them to have a few minutes to yourself.  It’s refreshing to read a normal person write about her children.  Especially when she and her husband try (and fail) to do sleep training.

But fortunately, that is not all Fusselman talks about.  She also talks about when she was raped as a shockingly young girl.  This tragic story is dealt with in a variety of ways and, surprisingly, never in a particularly dark or somber manner.  She calls her assailant “My pedophile” and spends a lot of the book working with alternative healers to come to grips with what happened to her.  And while this story is obviously hugely important in her life, it doesn’t seem to cloud everything she does.  (more…)

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Amy Fusselman–The Pharmacist’s Mate (2001) [reissued 2013]

Posted in Amy Fusselman, Black Ox Orkestar, Constellation Records, Marriage (Happy), McSweeney's, Memoirs, Pregnancy, Short Books, War on May 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

pharm SOUNDTRACK: BLACK OX ORKESTAR-Ver Tanzt? [CST029] (2004).

cst029webBlack Ox Orkestar play traditional Yiddish music in a somewhat untraditional manner.

There are half instrumentals and half songs with vocals sung in Yiddish (which means I don’t know what they mean).  According to the Constellation website they are a: blend of originals and new arrangements for pieces pulled from various Eastern European songbooks.  And since the members come from “punk-rock, free-jazz, and other liberation musics,” it’s an approach to this music that may interest people who don’t normally like traditional music (and may turn off those who do).

.  I can’t really speak to the music, as I’m quite unfamiliar with it.  I prefer the instrumentals because I like the way the music tends to interweave.  Like “Cretan Song” which is a rollicking fun song like the Yiddish equivalent of an Irish seisún.  And yet. some of the vocals songs are really enjoyable too, like “Toyte Goyes in Shineln” which has a great melody and feels very familiar to me.  While “Ver Tantz?” begins as a slow melancholy song and turns rambunctious–almost chaotic.

Enjoyment depends on an appreciation for tradition Yiddish music, of course.

[READ: May 5, 2014] The Pharmacist’s Mate

I read this book a few years ago.  I read it again because McSweeney’s reissued it with Fusselman’s other book 8 on the flip side.  I wanted to read 8 and decided that since Pharmacist was so short I would read it as well.

And I’m glad I did because while they are not related exactly, they both work as a form of non-fiction and 8 is a nice postscript to what she talks about in Pharmacist.

As with most genre defying books, this is more or less a memoir, although it is written in a somewhat strange format–each small section is numbered (and eventually all the numbers turn into 1s because she realizes that she is starting anew with each section.

The Pharmacist’s mate of the title is her father, now deceased.  She includes notes from his time in the war as a sort of parallel to what’s going on with her own life. She very much wants a baby.  And through the book we see her engage in multiple ways of conceiving from natural to in vitro.  And then we read her angst about becoming a parent  And losing a parent. (more…)

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