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Archive for the ‘McSweeney’s’ Category

Miriam Toews–All My Puny Sorrows (2014)

Posted in Canadian Content, Depression, Funny (ha ha), Hospitals, Matthew Zapruder, McSweeney's, Mennonites, Miriam Toews, Missy Mazzoli, Music, Parenting, Roomful of Teeth, Sex, Suicide, Victoire, Wilco on April 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

ampsSOUNDTRACK: MISSY MAZZOLI-Vespers For A New Dark Age (2015).

missymazzoli_sq-80d1109aad30ab9a4bfe1a45d5c82d99354bc079-s400-c85Missy Mazzoli’s Vespers for a New Dark Age, is a 30-minute suite for singers, chamber ensemble and electronics. The piece was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the 2014 Ecstatic Music Festival.

It’s a fascinating mix of traditional and contemporary instruments.  And there’s a surprise musician as well: Martha Cluver and Virginia Warnken Kelsey from Roomful of Teeth, provide operatic soprano voices.  Mazzoli’s own ensemble Victoire, provides the music while Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche adds percussion and thunderous pounding.

As the suite opens, electronic chimes sound before the beautifully soaring voices come in (I don’t know who is who).  The instrumentation is complex and the vocals are often in English (but operatic and not always obvious to hear). There’s some great rising and falling notes from various instruments.

The first piece is called “Wayward Free Radical Dreams” and I like the surprise of the simple English phrase “Come on, come on come on” A bell ringing is the segue into part 2, “Hello Lord.”  Over a lonely flute and some synths, the vocalist sings a poem by Matthew Zapruder for lines like: “hello lord / sorry I woke you / because my plans / are important to me / and I need things / no one can buy / and don’t even know / what they are / I know I belong / in this new dark age.”

I love the rising and falling notes of “Interlude 1″ over the fast violin moments.  “Come On All You” opens with some ticking hi-hats and squeaky violins.  There’s a lot of drums in this song—some punctuate the melody until the soprano voice takes over and then around 4 minutes into the section, the drums burst to life.  “New Dark Age” has some moody synths under the soaring voices and “Interlude 2” opens with the sound of big deep bells.

“Machine” has a mechanical staccato feel in both strings and voices.  When it returns to “Come on Come on” refrain (this time with two voices), it’s very cool.  The “Postlude” ends the piece with moody strings and distorted mechanical sounds that overwhelm the voices at times.   The piece ends on an up note but not in an overwhelmingly happy feeling.

The final piece on the disc is not part of the suite, although it fits in sonically.  It is called “A Thousand Tongues (Lorna Dune Remix)” and it has echoing pianos and overlapping synths.  While this piece is pretty it is probably the least interesting of the disc.  Perhaps because there are fewer voices and more synth melodies.  Perhaps because it is a remix.  The song feels fine, but not as compelling as the suite.

I was happy to discover his disc, which really explores different classical motifs.

[READ: March 15, 2015] All My Puny Sorrows

As with many books, but especially those published by McSweeney’s, which I always read, I didn’t really know what this was about.  I can pretty much guarantee it would not have been high on my list had anyone told me it was about dealing with a suicidal sibling.

But what’s great about the McSweeney’s imprint is that they gather such a wide variety of books and most of them are of such good quality that I know I won’t be disappointed.  And this book not only didn’t disappoint, I found it really fantastic.

The story is fairly simple, although from my perspective it was also fairly exotic.  The main action of the book takes place in present day Winnipeg.  But there are flashbacks to the main characters’ childhood in 1979.  And the way it opens–with the family watching as the house that their father built is put on the back of a truck and driven away is one of the more memorable opening passages of a book that I’ve read.

The family consists of the narrator  Yolandi, her older sister Elfrieda and their parents.  And, perhaps most exotic to me they are Mennonites.  Their family is not entirely pious in the tradition in their town–they are seen as somewhat less than observant.  Things were made even worse by the deliberately provocative nature of Elf.  She was creative, she loved to read and she had a real sense of outrage.  The church pastor once accused her of “luxuriating in the afflictions of he own wanton emotions.”  She embraced poetry, particularly the line “all my puny sorrows” and decided it would be her slogan.  So she began spray paining AMPS all over the town. (more…)

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Stephen Dixon–“Two Parts” (Harper’s, January 2015)

Posted in Harper's, McSweeney's, Old Age, Regrets, Rheostatics, Sex, Short Story, Stephen Dixon, tagged on March 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

harp jan SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-CBC Studios (1999, 2000 or 2001).

cbcrheoThis is a hard event to document.  According to the Rheostatics Live website, this show was broadcast on Sonic 102.9 in 2000, but it appears to be a rebroadcast of a live show that the band recorded at CBC2 Studios in 1999 or, possibly, even in 2001 (according to the link to the video below which states Rheostatics CBC In Session October 26 2001 Just Concerts. Vancouver BC Studio 2, although that may just be a cut up version of the audio–so confusing!).

Whatever the case, the sound of this in-studio live show is tremendous.  It is one of the few instances where you can totally hear Dave’s acoustic guitar in the mix.

Kevin Hearn is there too, so they play a number of songs that they might not be able to without him.  And Michael Philip Wojewoda is on drums. (This complicates my understanding of the recording too, since Don left in 2001, but MPW often played with them anyway).

The audio version contains eight songs and two interview segments.  The interviews are funny (of course) and informative (although Tim sounds totally high), but it’s the music which is the highlight.

They play “Wieners and Beans,” “Martin’s Waltz (Blue Hysteria)” and “Kevin’s Waltz” form Music Inspired by the Group of 7.  They play “Easy to Be with You” “Monkeybird” and “Song of the Garden” from Harmelodia and then “Stolen Car” and “P.I.N.” as “new” songs.

The video below (which is the best video version of these recordings I’ve seen) has “Song Of The Garden” “Easy To Be With You” “Martin’s Waltz (Blue Hysteria)” “Stolen Car” and “Wieners and Beans.”  No word where the other three songs went.  But I love watching the video to see the way Martin makes the crazy sounds out of that little Steinberger guitar.

This is the last Rheostatics show I have for 2000.   I’ll be resuming with some shows from 2001, including Don Kerr’s final shows in a few months.

[READ: March 9, 2015]: “Two Parts”

I have only read two things by Dixon–the two McSweeney’s-released books I and End of I.

This story is a reflective look at regrets and decisions. It is told, as you might guess, in two parts.  He asks if he should start with his father or with Lotte.  He decides to start with his father.  He says he was thinking about something and he decided to talk at Abby about it. This framing device is used throughout the story.

The story about his father is from back when he was about ten and his father was about 51.  His father had always been in good health, but he had a temper.  Especially when it came to the narrator.  And while the father never hit the narrator with his hand, he did whack him with a rolled up newspaper. (more…)

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Alejandro Zambra–“Family Life” (Harper’s, Febraury 2015)

Posted in Alejandro Zambra, Big Sugar, Harper's, McSweeney's, Megan McDowell, Rheostatics, Sex, Short Story, Translation, tagged on March 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

harp febSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Scherzo Pub, Kingston, ON (October 15, 2000).

rheoscerzoThis show has some fun art work to go with it.  The notes say:

“Rare original drawing by local artist “tully” drawn during the october 15 2000 rheos gig at the now defunct scherzo pub, kingston, ontario. the story goes that “tully” goes to shows, does a drawing of the band, and just leaves it on a random table for someone (like me!) to find it. i actually found it on the floor!”

The other joke on the set list over here is the Smoke that carp joke which is from Martin talking about something before the set even starts.

They play a lot of songs from the then unreleased NotSS.  The version of “Four Little Songs” is crazy fun–lots of wildness, and a superfast ending.

In addition to playing “Majorca” they play two songs from Introducing Happiness and then talk about Martin’s guitar with the maple leaf on it.  They challenged Gordie Johnson from the band Big Sugar to put a leaf on his guitar. Dave says that not only did he put the leaf on his guitar (on the back) but he plays O Canada at every show now.

In the middle of “Junction Foil Ball” Dave talks about how much he struggled to get the riff (earlier Martin said Dave was very proud of the riff).  It’s a very lengthy talk with demonstration about the riff–quite amusing.

The end of the show has what sounds like an acoustic unplugged set.  Not quite acapella, but Don is only playing the tambourine.  It sounds like perhaps they are in the crowd or near the crowd or something.

Srheoscerzo2o for “Record Body Count,” the crowd sings along beautifully and “Bead, Meat, Peas and Rice” is also done in this format.  For “Northern Wish” Martin say he’s going to start it acoustic while the rest of the band goes back to their instruments.  It’s a great version of the song. In fact all three are wonderful, and it’s cool to hear them sounding so different.

There’s another long chat from Martin about Burton Cummings and how they saw him playing a casino.  It’s very funny.  Then he insists on a “golden drag” on his cigarette before starting the next song.

The disc ends oddly with “Take Me in Your Hand” also done in that acoustic format as the earlier songs–which makes me think it should have been earlier and was placed at the end by mistake.  It sounds great either way.

This is definitely a great show and one for any Rheos fan to enjoy.

[READ: March 5, 2015] “Family Life”

I had recently read something about Zambra that made me want to read him, and then, here he was in Harper’s.  I like serendipity.

This story was translated by Megan McDowell, and I gather is part of a collection of stories called My Documents which will be out soon from McSweeney’s.

This story is a simple one, although it has an unusual beginning.

Martín is headed to a house for a job.  He is to house-sit for a family while they are away for four months.  I enjoyed the way the family members were laid out for us to meet: in alphabetical order: Bruno, the husband, Consuelo the wife (well, actually not the wife, because they never married although they act like a married couple) and Sofía their daughter.

We learn that Bruno sand Martín ‘s fathers were cousins.  Martin’s father has just died.  They barely know each other, although they did know each other when they were kids.  But Bruno tries to strengthen this familial connection, because it builds trust.  Otherwise they have a stranger in their house for four months.

When Martín arrives Sofi runs past him (“These days kids don’t say hi”) chasing the cat Mississippi.  Consuelo is friendly and gives him instructions, which largely entail looking after the cat (who has a swinging door which is open all the time).  When Martín looks at a large hour glass, Sofi runs up and says it last 12 minutes.

To pass the time Martín plays Sofi in chess.  And when they get bored, he changes the rules so that the object is to get beaten, which Sofi enjoys more.

While Sofi is going to bed, Martín and Bruno talk.  Bruno suggest that he “use the time to have ago with one of the neighbors.”  Martín thinks (but thankfully doesn’t say out loud) that he’s like to have a go with Bruno’s wife.

After they leave, Martín discovers a photo of Consuelo and puts it up on the wall.

Martin plans to try a different route every day (different stores, different roads) so as not to make an impression on anyone in the town. But one day Mississippi doesn’t return from his nightly stalking.  Two days go by and Martín grows concerned. So he puts posters up around town.  But when he emails Bruno he doesn’t say anything.

A few days later he sees that someone has posted lost dog posters up over each one of his lost cat posters.  He calls the number (while drunk) and talks to Paz, the woman who put up the posters. He complains about what she has done. The next day she does around moving her posters off of his.  He gets some courage and goes to talk to her about their lost animals.

A week later he sees a dog that looks like hers and he calls her.  They go looking for the dog but don’t find it.  Then, after a month, Mississippi returns. He is beaten up , bloody and gross.  Martín takes him to the vet and gets medicine that he must apply to Mississippi every night.  When Paz calls him, he tells her about the cat and she comes over.

Paz scrutinizes his house–the photo of Consuelo–and he creates and elaborate fiction about his former life with Consuela and their daughter.  How they are broken up and he is reluctant to date.  Later, they have sex and start seeing each other every day.

Things are going quite well, although of course, it is all based on a lie. And the time of Martín’s departure (and Bruno’s family’s return) is coming up.  But the sex is great and he really like her.  She even invites him to go to a wedding with her.

What will happen when it’s time for Bruno and Consuela to return?

This is an unusual story (I guess) to start with because I’m not sure if Zambra’s other fiction is anything like this.  This story was erotic and a bit salacious and was predicated on a lie.  I enjoyed the idea of the main character being someone else and then realizing that he could be that person forever.  (Even if that’s not an original concept).  But Zambra’s handling of the story was really good and I’m interested to read more from him.

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Cory Doctorow–Information Doesn’t Want to be Free: Laws for the Internet Age (2014)

Posted in Amanda Palmer, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Cory Doctorow, Crash Test Dummies, Law, Luke Doucet, McSweeney's, Neil Gaiman, Rheostatics, Short Books, Stompin' Tom Connors, Technology, Threats, Veal, Whitehorse, Wil Wheaton, tagged on March 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

information_cover_FINAL_webSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Vertigo, Victoria British Columbia, (January 21, 2000).

21Jan2000I recently learned that the Rheostatics Live website has added dozens of new (old) shows.  It has been almost exactly a year since I last did a tour of some of these live shows, so it was time to move into 2000 (with one new show added since I last looked).

As of 2000, the band is still touring the Harmelodia album, and the set has a lot of songs from that album.  I recently relistened to the album (something I don’t listen to all that much).  I was surprised to hear how many songs had narration–which pretty much precludes them from playing them live.  So that explains why they focus on just a few songs live.

Lucky’s notes for this show state: The Rheos were on a short west-coast swing and they played in Whistler the night before this show. In fact, the inspiration for ‘Satan Is The Whistler’ (from their following album) came from this trip, as Martin remarked something along the lines of ‘They are a bunch of Fascists in Whistler!’.

This is a really good set.  The sound quality is excellent and the band is in very good form.  There’s some great harmonies on “Loving Arms” and Martin really rocks the guitar on “I Fab Thee.”  “Junction Foil Ball” sounds awesome here–a good breakdown in the middle.  And it’s a rare sighting of “Oneilly’s Strange Dream” and a replay of “Good Canadian.”

It’s always fun when the band is feeling chatty.  In this show they joke about the Crash Test Dummies and even sing, “Superman never made any money saving the world from Crash Test Dummies.”  They also have fun with “My First Rock Show” with talk of blood on the seats.

The band has some technical failures, and they play a Stompin’ Tom song (“Bud the Spud”) while they get fixed.  But it doesn’t mess them up as they play a killer version of “Stolen Car” with a great solo.

Luke Doucet (now of Whitehorse, then of opening act Veal) plays during “Legal Age Life” and the band jokes about the Vealostatics.

The whole show ran for nearly two hours.  It’s a great set and the first of two nights at Vertigo.

[READ: February 10, 2015] Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free

This short book is Doctorow’s plea for Copyright common sense, Net Neutrality and internet freedoms (among other things).  Of course Net Neutrality just passed–hurrah!– which makes this book less urgent but no less spot on and worth remembering while going forward.

Doctorow starts each section by stating his three laws:

  • “Anytime someone puts a lock on something you own, against your wishes, and doesn’t give you the key, they’re not doing it for your benefit.”
  • “Fame Won’t Make You Rich, But Yo Can’t Get Paid Without It”  (or as Tim O’Reilly said “The problem for most artists isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity.”)
  • “Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free, People Do.”

(more…)

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Grantland Quarterly, Number 11 (2014)

Posted in Advice, Afternoon Delight, Alex Pappademas, Amos Barshad, Andrew Sharp, Andy Greenwald, Baseball, Basia Bulat, Basketball, Ben Lindbergh, Bill Barnwell, Bill Simmons, Books about music, Books about writers, Bryan Curtis, Chris Ryan, Culture Shock, Daniel Kellison, Danny Chau, Dave McKenna, Death, Emily Yoshida, Essays, Football, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Grantland, Harris Wittels, History, Hockey, Holly Anderson, House of Cards, In a World, Jason Concepcion, Jason Schwartz, John Lopez, Jonathan Abrams, Jordan Conn, Katie Baker, Kirk Goldsberry, Looking, Louisa Thomas, Mark Harris, Mark Lisanti, Mark Titus, McSweeney's, Molly Lambert, Nostalgia, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rafe Bartholomew, Rany Jazayerli, Rembert Browne, Robert Mays, Sean McIndoe, Shane Ryan, Steven Hyden, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Top Chef, Veep, Violence, Wesley Morris, Work of Art, Wrestling, Wu-Tang Clan, Zach Lowe on February 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

11SOUNDTRACK: BASIA BULAT-“Tall Tall Shadow” and “It Can’t Be You” live at Polaris Music Prize (2014).

basiaSwinging to the other side of the musical world from Tanya Tagaq, Basia Bulat also performed at the 2014 Polaris.  I like Bulat a lot, she comes across as a sweet singer (no idea if she is actually sweet).  And I love that she can make really complex songs out of such random instruments (she plays autoharp, hammered dulcimer and others).

In this performance, she is fairly traditional for “Tall Tall Shadow” on the piano (although the french horn accompaniment is a nice twist), but “It Can’t Be You” on charango really highlights just what you can do with, essentially, a souped up ukulele.

“Shadow” highlights her voice which she holds for some quite long notes.  The song is really pretty with a great chorus.  “It Can’t Be You” is just her and the charango (which looks like a ten string ukulele but is Andean in origin).  It’s quite a song–her voice and that instrument are lovely.

[READ: February 4, 2015] Grantland #11

I enjoyed this issue quite a lot, even if I didn’t know who half of the people profiled were (and won’t remember them in two days time).

I am very curious why Grantland is just so obsessed with basketball than other sports.  It’s a little crazy how one sided these books tend to be.  They obviously love all sports but the preponderance of NBA articles is really staggering.

I do wish there’d be a bit more about TV and movies (and even more about the shows that I watch), but it is a fun way to learn about shows I would never watch.  And maybe that’s why I like these books so much, it’s my chance to vicariously enjoy sports without having to care about any of it (especially since it is all a year old, I never know if anything they talk about actually came to fruition or not).

This issue covers January-March 2014 (it’s fun reading about things almost exactly a year apart–to read about Oscars and Super Bowl stuff but have it be last year’s Super Bowl (especially since it too had the Seahawks) was very trippy indeed).

(more…)

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McSweeneys #47 (2014)

Posted in Alex Ryan Bauer, Bill Cotter, Bob Odenkirk, Carson Murdach, Christmas Album, Drinking, Flash Fiction, Humiliation, Jason Polan, Jealousy, José Luís Peixoto, Josephine Rowe, Justin Bigos, Kathryn Davis, Kawai Strong Washburn, Lynn Coady, Marriage Trouble, Mary Margaret O'Hara, McSweeney's, Mona Simpson, Sex, Shirley Jackson, Short Story, Surfing, Surreal, Thomas McGuane, Threats, Violence, Yuck! on December 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »

47_2_(1) SOUNDTRACK: MARY MARGARET O’HARA-Christmas E.P. (1991)

marymarMary Margaret O’Hara is a fascinating recluse.  She released a cool, weird  album in 1988 then did nothing for three years when she released this Christmas EP.  Since then she hasn’t really released anything (except for a soundtrack).

O’Hara’s voice is her most notable feature (she warbles and swoons and is almost otherworldly–sometimes crazily so).  She is the backing shrieker in Morrissey’s “November Spawned a Monster.”  So one expects a pretty weird Christmas album from her.

 But it’s actually fairly conventional and I have to admit a bit dull.  “Blue Christmas” is just too slow for me.  O Hara’s voice doesn’t have any oomph here.  The cheesy violin solo doesn’t help either.  “Silent Night” is, I feel, too pretty of a song for O’Hara’s voice which wobbles in weird ways for this track.  “What Are You Doing New Years Eve?” suffers from the same as everything else on this disc–it’s too slow and languid.  I know this song can be wistful, but I need this to be faster.  “Christmas Evermore” fares the best on this disc because it isn’t familiar (to me).  The music is a bit more uptempo (if still eccentric).  And you don’t have other version to compare it to.

So, overall this proves to be a somewhat disappointing EP.

[READ: December 5, 2014] McSweeney’s 47

I love McSweeney’s issues that come in boxes with lots of little booklets.  It somehow makes it more fun to read the stories when they are in little booklets with individual covers.  In this instance, all of the booklets look basically the same–ten different cool pencil (and red) drawings on the cover done by Carson Murdach and a red back cover.  The outer slipcase art is by Jason Polan.

There are ten booklets.  One has a few letters and the rest are short stories.  There’s even a surprise in here–the very exciting discovery of two lost Shirley Jackson stories.  But there’s also the slightly disappointing realization that two of the books contain excerpts from McSweeney’s books (which I already own).

LETTERS: (more…)

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Bob Odenkirk–A Load of Hooey (2014)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, Funny (ha ha), McSweeney's, Poetry, Political Humor, Religion, Unreliable narrator on November 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

hooeySOUNDTRACK: Songs for Stuffing: A Thanksgiving Mix (2011).

turkey_wide-5d9e8a59bec66b4815045e86e4267da98ecc9263-s1900-c85There are not too many Thanksgiving songs.  But our friends at NPR created this Thanksgiving mix back in 2011.  It seems to lie dormant for much of the year but they bring it back at a seasonally appropriate time.

I have to admit I have not actually listened to it (at least not yet).  But it includes this rather broad selection of artists (designed to please or alienate everyone on Thanksgiving).

A Band of Bees • Amadou & Mariam • The Andrews Sisters • Louis Armstrong • The B-52’s • The Beatles • Ludwig von Beethoven • William Billings • Willie Bobo • Bow Wow Wow • Greg Brown • Cab Calloway • Cyrus Chestnut • Guy Clark • Nat King Cole • Joe Craven • Joseph Curiale • Guy Davis • Champion Jack Dupree • Bob Dylan • The Flaming Lips • Dave Frishberg • William DeVaughn • Rick Gallagher • Dizzy Gillespie • Johnny Griffin • Patty Griffin • Golden Smog • Benny Goodman • Arlo Guthrie • Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass feat. Ozomatli • Herbie Hancock • Bill Heid • David Holt • The JB’s • Jay & The Techniques • Louis Jordan • Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan • Paul Lingle • Lyle Lovett • Eric “Two Scoops” Moore • New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble • Harry Nilsson • Tim O’Brien • Lee “Scratch” Perry • Michelle Shocked • Dmitri Shostakovich • Southern Culture on the Skids • Spearhead • Still on the Hill • Rufus Thomas • Traffic • Bobby Troup • Jay Ungar & Molly Mason • Warrant • Ethel Waters • The Wiyos • “Weird Al” Yankovic

You can hear the mix streaming on NPR.

[READ: November 27, 2014] A Load of Hooey

Just in time for Thanksgiving, McSweeney’s has sent us A Load of Hooey.

Bob Odenkirk has been cropping up a lot lately (not as much as erstwhile partner and financially secure comedian, David Cross, mind you), and that’s a good thing.  There’s something about Odenkirk’s persona (crotchety, uptight, white guy) that is usually really funny.  He often elevates crappy sitcoms just by yelling at one of the characters.

This book is a collection of short pieces (most are 1-3 pages), including “unabridged quotations” and poems.  They cover a variety of subjects, but pretty much all upend expectations.  And, as one might expect from Odenkirk, there’s a lot of religious and political jokes as well.

The “unabridged quotations” allow Odenkirk to append something that removes the pomp from some famous quotations.  The poems are usually funny, twisted barbs at some subject or another.

But the main targets are religions and politicians. (more…)

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Alessandro Baricco–Mr. Gwyn (2014) [translated 2014]

Posted in A Tribe Called Red, Alessandro Baricco, Ann Goldstein, Art, Books about writers, McSweeney's, Morality, Short Books, Stars, Translation, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on November 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

gwynSOUNDTRACK: STARS-No One is Lost Tour EP (2014).

stars epStars are back with a new album and this downloadable 5 song EP.  There’s something about Stars’ aggressive pop sensibilities that I just love.  It’s the dual vocals, the big choruses and I’m sure to a certain degree it’s the darkness in the lyrics that compliment the poppy music so much.

The EP has five songs, “No One is Lost” and “From The Night” are from their new album.  “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It” is from their previous album The North.  There’s also two exclusive tracks: “Blue Is The Colour” and “From The Night” (A Tribe Called Red Remix).

“From the Night” has simple, keyboard note-driven verses which are obliterated by the dancey and even discoey chorus.  Surprisingly at the 4 minute point, it adds a third fast part which segues back into the catchy chorus.  “No One is Lost” opens with Amy Milan speaking French before the keyboards wash in.  It has a slightly faster pace than their usual fare.  But despite the bouncy music in the chorus, we get the twisted lyric: “put your hands up coz everybody dies” (that’s Stars in a nutshell).

“Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It” is less dancey (perhaps less discoey sounding is more accurate).  It’s got a real Stars feel to it (when Milan comes in at the chorus it is really angelic), and showcases Stars’ previous album very well.

The two new songs include the Tribe Called Red remix of “From the Night.”  I’m not that big a fan of remixes, but this one is pretty good.  I like the way they stripped the big chorus of the music and left it spare–which makes their catchy vocals seem kind of sinister.  I actually expected a bit more of Tribe’s signature sound put into the song, but that’s not really what remixes are all about, so I guess it’s no real surprise they didn’t.

“Blue is the Colour” is a dark sounding song as well, until the chorus comes in with some poppy keyboards and slinky guitars.  It’s very electronic sounding which I love in contrast to Torquil’s mellow vocals.  But at 6 minutes long, this song has many sections up its sleeve, and the twist at 4 minutes really turns the song into something else, with an almost epic feel.

It’s a great sample of Stars more recent work.  This link takes you to WXPN from which you can download the EP from NoiseTrade.

[READ: November 5, 2014] Mr. Gwyn

I loved this book.  It has been one of my absolute favorite books in years.

The premise is fairly simple.  A successful writer (Mr. Gwyn) has had three books published to much acclaim and financial success.  But one day he wakes up and decides that he is done writing. He crafts a list of 50 things he will never do again, and one of them is write a book which he publishes in the newspaper.  His agent thinks it is a great marketing scheme, but Gwyn is quite serious.

Gwyn then disappears from society for a while.  Only his agent is able to fin him (Gwyn and the agent are very close).

After a series of small incidents, Gwyn’s agent tracks him down at the laundromat.  He has sent his new employee, a young woman named Rebecca, to give him a phone through which they can talk.  Rebecca is respectful and Gwyn is fascinated by her.  Over the next few months, he and his agent only communicate via Rebecca.

One day, in order to avoid a rain storm, Gwyn ducks into an art gallery.  He has never really understood art.  But he becomes fascinated with the portraits there.  And he decides that his new “job” is that he is going to create portraits with words.  He calls his new occupation, “copyist.”  Obviously his agent freaks out about his–no one even knows what “copyist” means.  But Gwyn is determined.

He spends the next few months getting ready–he rents a studio, buys furniture and specially ordered light bulbs.  And then he is ready to work.  But who will he his first portrait be? He finally settles on Rebecca–someone he knows a little and feels comfortable enough to ask to pose for him.  And this is where the story became fantastic. (more…)

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Carl Adamshick–Saint Friend (2014)

Posted in Amelia Earhart, Barenaked Ladies, Carl Adamshick, McSweeney's, Poetry, Poets on October 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

friend hand SOUNDTRACK: BARENAKED LADIES-Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan (2007).

I have seen Barenaked Ladies live a number of times.  At this point I think I have seen them without Steven Page more than when he was with them.  After listening to his solo album I remembered how much I loved Page with the band.  And even though they still do a great show, this CD/DVD combo reminded me how much…more fun…they were when Page was in the band (and how sad it is that a reunion seems impossible).

I had heard that the other guys in the band (notably Jim and Kevin) wanted more songwriting opportunities.  And whether or not that is true, it seems like they might since this is completely the Steven and Ed show.  They split lead vocals duties exactly in half (with two songs in which they share lead vocals).  Indeed, Kevin wrote “Sound of Your Voice” but Steven sings lead.  Although I have to say that Kevin Hearn absolutely shines with all of the instruments he plays here (he’s quite remarkable).

So this concert came on the Barenaked Ladies Are Me/Men tour in one of their biggest American fan locations–Clarkston, Michigan.

The CD is a collection of lots of older hits and a few newer songs.  I recall not loving this period of BNL as much, but the songs that are picked for this show from these albums are great: “Bank Job” one of my favorite new(ish) songs sounds great here.  And “Easy” is another great song from these two albums.  “Adrift” a pretty, slow song (which is here played on the banjo) and “Wind It Up” is fun because we get to see Jim Creeggan come down away from the upright bass and wander around with an electric bass.

They have the most fun with “Angry People” since they do a lengthy “skit/dance” at the end of the song in which they beat each other up (to a disconcerting prerecorded version of the song).  This is included in the audio CD with no explanation–the DVD clarifies the weird sound effects in the song).  Perhaps the most unexpected addition is the song “Powder Blue” which is a B-side to the “Pinch me” single.  It’s a bit of a slow down in the set, but it get s a pretty big reaction.

There’s some very funny fan interaction, like teasing the lady in the front row who is talking on her phone and point out (and singing about ) the guy who uses beer bottles as maracas.  (I also enjoyed seeing a guy with a Rush shirt near the front row).

They also do “For You” from Everything to Everyone.  This version is an interesting acoustic version with Kevin Hearn on mandolin and everyone gathered around the center mic.  They do “Be My Yoko Ono” in this format as well, which is quite fun (Hearn on accordion and Tyler on bongos).

No matter how often I hear “Brian Wilson,” I never get tired of it.  And while I’ve heard them live with not Steven Page singing it, it’s great to have his original voice doing it (and as always Creeggan’s bass is amazing).

The one thing that’s a bummer is that the DVD and the CD contain the same songs–in other words the DVD is pretty short for a concert.  According to Wikipedia, songs played at the show, but not included in Talk to the Hand include: “Maybe Katie”, “In The Car”, “Running out of Ink”, “Get In Line”, “Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel” [acoustic], “Alcohol”, “It’s All Been Done”, “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” and “Call and Answer.”  The DVD also falls a little short because there’s no crazy wacky end song where Tyler sings some crazy nonsense.

The bonus features include the five guys sitting in a room with an interview.  They talk about how Steve and Ed first started playing together.  And there’s a funny story about a guy with an ass on his head.  I also appreciated them talking about the greening of their tour.

But really, the saddest thing is that in the bonus features the five of them talk about how much fun they are having in the and and how long they’ve been together and other things that make Page’s split seem so much sadder.

[READ: October 10, 2014] Saint Friend

Saint Friend is the latest book in the McSweeney’s poetry series. This collection of poems features largely longer poems.  And I admit to not really enjoying longer poems–they often seem to lose either the plot or my attention.  Which I know is more likely my fault than the writer’s but so be it.

“Pacific” is evidently about Amelia Earhart.  It has a epigram from Earhart, but I didn’t realize it was about her (which is certainly my fault as I know really no details about her).  Each page is a part of a longer poem (there’s a black diamond at the bottom of each page making it seem like the end of a section or so).  The fourth section (about fog and being  at 8000 feet) sure makes sense as an Earhart poem.

“Near Real-Time” is a series of small poems–each one dated a day in February (except the last one).  I wish I knew context for these poems (was he doing a write a poem a day challenge or something?).  Also, not every day of the month is represented. (more…)

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John Brandon–Further Joy (2014)

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Canadian Music, Death, Football, Huh?, Humiliation, John Brandon, Marriage Trouble, Marry Me, McSweeney's, Mystery, Oddities, Pet Shop Boys, Short Story, South, Steven Page on October 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

joySOUNDTRACK: STEVEN PAGE-Page One (2010).

pageoneThis is the first proper solo album for Steven Page, former Barenaked Lady.  He did have a side projet while he was still a BNL guy, called The Vanity project, but this comes after he left the band.  As a lead songwriter for  BNL, this album sounds an awful lot like a BNL album.  But he does branch out a bit for better and worse, on a couple of songs.  I like that the record is designed sort of like a book.  And that there’s a library check out sleeve and that one of the names who checked out the “book” is Leland Palmer (ha).

“A New Shore” sounds like classic Barenaked Ladies, with a big chorus (and Page’s great voice), strings and even a whistling section.  If you imagine the harmony vocals are by Ed Robertson, this could easily fit on a BNL disc.  “Indecision” sounds like latter BNL with the “whoo hoos” and the way the verses really slow down the craziness of the chorus.  The big difference is the female backing vocals.  “Clifton Springs” opens with a ba da da section and a very catchy melody that sounds like a sitcom theme song (hey sitcoms, check this out!).  It’s a mellow song that really highlights Page’s voice.

“Entourage” is a kind of dance song.  It has a kind of Pet Shop Boys feel (or else I’ve been listening to the Pet Shop Boys too much).  It even has a line “I only love you when I’m drunk” which echoes Pet Shop Boys’ “You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk.”  But I love the way Page says “Alright” at the end of the chorus and it could possibly have been a dance hit.  It ends with a minute or so of a jazzy coda.  “Marry Me” could also be a theme (to the new show Marry Me, duh).  It’s energetic and poppy.

“All the Young Monogamists” has cello and violin and in some places, little else.  It’s quite a different sound for the album, like a minor orchestral piece.  It works mostly.  “She’s Trying to Save Me” is a great return to the bouncy single that BNL did so well.  “Over Joy” has a very sixties feel (the way Page’s voice is processed).  I believe it is also the same melody as the Barenaked Ladies song “Hannukah Blessings” which Page wrote.  And why not?  It’s very catchy.

“If You Love Me” has a very synthy 90s pop feel.  I can see it being on the far end of Page’s fun zone, but I don’t really like it.  When the song ramps up to the next notes around 2:50, it is excruciating.  On the other end of the spectrum is “Leave Her Alone” which opens like a big band number (and stays that way in the chorus) but has verses that are very electronic.

“Queen of America” is a big bouncy song, that I wish I liked more.  The final song, the five and a half-minute “The Chorus Girl” is a sad ballad (the kind that Page also writes very well).  The song seems to want to be an epic (with horns an extended coda), but I think it drags on a bit too long.

Anyone who misses Page in BNL will certainly like this album.  And those who are a little disappointed in the Page-less BNL newer records could easily mix half a dozen songs from this and some of the best songs from the newer BNL records into a very satisfying BNL+Page disc which would sound totally coherent.

[READ: April 25, 2014] Further Joy

This is Brandon’s first collection of short stories and I enjoyed them all quite a lot.  Brandon specialized in disaffected protagonists, settled and settling in the South.  And there is a nice amount of diversity in these stories.

The Favorite
In this story, Gardner returns to his home town after ten years of being away.  he was quite a success when he left, but his return is less than exciting.  He lives in small town that was big into high school football and he was glad to be away from it.  But now that he is back he goes to games with his mother. The locals are happy he’s back, they think it’s great that he returned to be with his mom and to look after her.   But he is miserable.

The only thing that makes the return palatable is seeing Ainsley.  They dated in high school but didn’t have a bad breakup when he left.  She is divorced now and single. She works in a doctor’s office and tells him stories about patients (despite it being against HIPPA–although she ever gives names).  Since he is short on cash, he uses some information that she gives him to bet on an upcoming football game (he was able to figure out one of the players from the injury she described). Now the question is, could he go through with the scheme.  He calls on a favor from another former friend who has never had much success.  It could all go horribly wrong, of course.  I really enjoyed this story a lot, and I loved the way the title played into the story unexpectedly.
(more…)

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