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Archive for the ‘Juliana Hatfield’ Category

Rivka Galchen–“Appreciation” (New Yorker, March 19, 2012)

Posted in Canadian Content, Consumerism, David Foster Wallace, Juliana Hatfield, Language, New Yorker, Now, Now, Rivka Galchen on March 29, 2012| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: NOW,NOW-“Dead Oaks” (2012).

How do you make a song that I want to listen to over and over again?  Easy chord changes?  Sure.  Add instruments as the song goes on?  Absolutely.  Have a simple chorus that’s easy to sing along to?  Indeed.  Bring in a harmony vocal to repeat the chorus?  Definitely.  But the best way?  Do all of those thing and make your song 90 seconds long.

Holy cow.   This song starts with simple acoustic guitars and a charming girly voice (not unlike Juliana Hatfield).  At 40 seconds the drums kick in for the chorus.  After one run through, a harmony vocal comes in with all of the “oh oh ohs” that make this chorus so irresistible.  And just as the song shifts back to the guitars for the verses…it ends.

And I had to listen to it again and again.  As will you.

[READ: March 27, 2012] “Appreciation”

The first thing I thought when I read this story was that it was like David Foster Wallace.  Superficially because it opens with a lengthy segment about finances and taxes and the IRS (which was the subject of his unfinished novel The Pale King).  But once the story started going, it had mannerisms that were similar to DFW’s occasional style–a kind of detached narrator (no names are given in the story) coupled with a very formal style and excessive detail (repeating information, including which “she” the pronoun refers to in parentheses after the pronoun, etc)..

None of this is to say that the story is bad or a rip off of DFW’s style.  Just that I noticed it immediately.  In the Q&A that accompanies the story, no mention is made of DFW.  So perhaps that style has simply been assimilated.  Which is cool.

But beyond style, there’s a lot to like about this story.  The title is a clever play on words.  The story is about a mother and a daughter.  The mother has paid for a lot of the daughter’s expenses in her life, including buying her a house which was worth much more when they sold it.  And so, with the title we have two meanings of the word “appreciate.” (more…)

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Greg Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days [#4] (2009)

Posted in Aimee Mann, Children's Books, Dan Zanes, Dar Williams, Del Fuegos, Jeff Kinney, Juliana Hatfield, Lou Reed, Summer, Video Games, X on October 23, 2009| 1 Comment »

wimpy4SOUNDTRACK: DAN ZANES-Night Time (2002).

zanesI’d only ever heard of Dan Zanes as the guy from the Del Fuegos (who probably got the biggest boost of their career when Juliana Hatfield sang about them in “My Sister”).  But once we had our first child, everyone told me to check out Dan Zanes’ “kids” records.  Night Time is one of our favorites.  It’s often played at night (obviously) as a good bedtime CD.

There a few rousing tracks on it but mostly it works as a mellow disc, perfect for winding down the day.  Zanes’ “kids” music is absolutely not just for kids (well, one or two tracks certainly are), because he uses his rock roots to play good roots rock (and folk).  Another fun thing about this disc (and most of his discs, in fact) is that he has a whole host of cool rock people to sing with him: Aimee Mann, John Doe (from X), Dar Williams and Lou Reed!

So, while you get a few traditional kids song (“Pay Me My Money Down,” “Rattlin’ Bog”) you also get a few traditional songs that work well for kids, but are fun for adults to sing along to (“Side by Side,” “What a Wonderful World,” “So Long (It’s Been Good to Know Yuh)”).  There’s also originals by Zanes (the fantastic “Night Owl,” “Smile Smile Smile” and the gorgeous closer “Linger for Awhile”) and some nontraditional songs (Zanes likes throwing in “world” music titles) like “Que Fortunidad,” and “Siyahamba”.

And it all sounds great.  There’s a horn section on a number of tracks, bringing a very rich texture.  But he also uses solo guitar or even mandolin.  And Zanes’ voice sounds fantastic.  He’s slightly gruff sounding, but in an endearing way.

I don’t know if I ever would have listened to these discs if it weren’t for having kids; but even if you don’t have kids, don’t let the “kids” label scare you away.

[READ: October 17, 2009] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

I was thrilled when this book came in the mail.  (Yes, we do order some books to keep).  I’ve enjoyed the whole series quite a bit, and there was so much hype about this book (it was ranked #1 at Amazon.com!) that I was very excited to get it.

This book’s title is something of a double meaning.  Dog days of summer, and also the animal itself (a dog features in several panels).  And so yes, the story takes place over Greg’s summer vacation.

The first half of the book I didn’t find quite as enjoyable as I wanted.  It’s not bad by any means, but a lot of the conflict from the other books is absent.  Because it’s summer, there’s no school conflict and for reasons that aren’t explained, Rodrick isn’t really in the story that much (maybe he’s on tour with Löded Diper) [which, yes, is still funny].  And Greg has a fight with Rowley, so they don’t speak for a while.

In many ways these are exciting developments because there’s a lot of newness in the storyline.  But, like a soft pillow, I missed my favorite conflicts! (more…)

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