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Archive for the ‘Kathleen Edwards’ Category

Tony Abbott–The Secrets of Droon: Books 17-21 and SE#2 (2002-2004)

Posted in Adventure, Children's Books, Demons, End of the World, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Kathleen Edwards, Magic, Mamma Yamma, Mystery, Supernatural, Threats, Tony Abbott on April 17, 2012| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-“Eat the Alphabet” on CBC Kids’ Mamma Yamma (2012).

I love Kathleen Edwards.  I think she has a wonderful voice (there’s something just slightly off that I think is really great).  I love all of her songs, because lyrically she’s clever and at times a little dark.

This is the only children’s song that she has sung that I know of. I don’t think it’s based on any of her proper songs.  It’s a simple strummed electric guitar ditty with a catchy chorus (as befits a children’s song).  Lyrically the song is all about different kinds of foods that start with the different letters of the alphabet.

Of course, she gets off to a strange start because after doing A (apples and apricots) and B (broccoli and banana) she gets to C which is “for Cat and mine’s called Mr T”).  She gets back on track (feta cheese!).  Although she skips J&K (which aren’t that hard, frankly).  She also skips Q and then  T, U, and V (in a way that seems like it’s improvised, although surely it isn’t).

It’s fun that she ends with Y as Mamma Yamma, our favorite talking potato.  It’s not the greatest kids song, but it is certainly fun.

You can see it here:

[READ: January-February, 2012] The Secrets of Droon: Books 17-21 & SE#2

I established with my previous Droon post that I would write posts for the books in between the Special Editions.  The arcs may not be completed, but the Special Editions seem like a natural recapping point.

I’ve been reading this series to my son and he is totally hooked.  And I have to say by the next sequence of books I was really blown away by the twist that Abbott put into the series.  At this stage, each book is getting more intense, although they are all kind of formulaic.  By the end of Book 21, though, things start to change, and the series has just gotten better and better.

Book 17 is called Dream Thief.  It has the kids waking up with dreams of Jabbo.  And Eric wakes up with a silver stone in his hand–a stone that he brought from the dream world!  The action of this book is set in the Bangeldorn Forest, where the monkeys live.  They befriend Tweet and Woot and go to the Dark Lands. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Echo [through issue 20] (2010)

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Music, Death, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Kathleen Edwards, Math, Military, Research, Smarty Pants, Terry Moore, War, Yuck! on April 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS: Back to Me (2005).

This is Kathleen Edwards’ middle disc.  It continues in the vein of her first, although I think her voice sounds smokier and better.  The opening two tracks are stellar, catchy, snarky/funny and just fantastic.

She has a few mellower songs on this disc (and I’m not a big fan of mellow country folky music).  But as with some of my other favorite singers, her passion and her lyrics make even a slower song interesting.

“Summerlong” is another song that seems like it was a hit long ago.  It just sounds so comfortable and catchy that I feel like I’ve known it forever.   BUt even better is the slide guitar fueled “What Are You Waiting For?”

Strange as it sounds, I think I like her first album overall better than this one; however, there are more songs on Back to Me that I like more than those on Failer.  Whatever the case, Edwards is a great songwriter with a wonderful voice.  And I certainly look forward to more from her in the future.

[READ: April 3, 2010] Echo

I have been reading Echo since Issue 1.  But my subscription lapsed, and I wound up missing an issue.  So I put off reading it until I managed to get the back issue.  Which I finally did.  Phew!

And now I was lucky enough to read a huge chunk up through issue 20.  And I have to say tit is absolutely preferable to read Terry Moore in large chunks rather than one issue at a time.  (Of course, I’ll still be subscribing and reading as I go, because missing that issue killed me!).

Several new developments have occurred since Issue 11 or so.  The most important one is that it is clear that Annie and Julie’s DNA are merging.  Julie is able to hear more and more of Annie’s thoughts.  But also, because Annie has melded with this alloy (and the alloy is, for lack of a better scientific way to explain it…magic), Julie has gained healing powers (in addition to crazily explosive powers). (more…)

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Jim Massey & Robbi Rodriguez–Maintenance, Vol. 3: Fighting Occupants of Interstellar Craft (2008)

Posted in Canadian Music, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Jim Massey, Kathleen Edwards, Mad Scientists, Outer Space, Robbi Rodriguez, Supernatural, Technology, Threats, YA Books on January 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Live from the Bowery Ballroom (2003).

This is a live EP released just after Failer.  I assumed that the Bowery was the New York one, but I just leaned that it is a Ballroom in Vancouver.  The CD has three live tracks, two from Failer and a cover of an AC/DC song (!).

She sounds great, her band sounds great, and the quality of the recording is great.

Side two of the disc is a DVD.  It contains two videos: “Six O’Clock News” and “One More Song the Radio Won’t Like.”  Both videos are okay at best.  They are fairly pedestrian clips of her singing, close-ups of her face, shots of her singing standing in the street etc.  “Radio” is slightly more inventive in that there’s a vague sort of plot, but she gets to wear some wigs.  But the overlays of her in various wigs come about half way through and seem like an afterthought.  The songs are great, but the videos are just so so.

So, if you’re a fan, this might be worth finding.  But it’s not an essential addition by any means.

[READ: January 15, 2010] Maintenance Vol 3.

This is the latest (and possibly last?) volume in the Maintenance series.  Unlike the previous collections, this volume contains an entire story arc.  And it’s a good one.

The evil-looking creature from the final page of volume 2 has kidnapped the gorgeous TerrorMax secretary Mendy (just as Manny was about to ask her out!).  And Doug and Manny, janitors extraordinaire, are determined to get her back.  When they learn that a spacecraft will be required, they’re quite happy to know that a certain grumpy alien has one that he’s pretending not to remember how to start.  And the adventure begins. (more…)

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T. Coraghessan Boyle–“A Death in Kitchawank” (New Yorker, January 18, 2010)

Posted in Boredom, Canadian Music, Kathleen Edwards, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Nostalgia, T.C. Boyle on January 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Failer (2003).

I really enjoyed Edwards’ Asking for Flowers.  So much so that I decided I had to track down her earlier discs, too.  This is her debut album (aside from a self released demo type EP that I don’t think is available anymore).  And, no doubt, it will get re-released one of these days making the 500 holders of that first EP very cross indeed.

I’m very torn as to whether Edwards is a country singer or not.  My gut says no, because I like her so much.  And yet, there are many country tinges that sprinkle this disc.

But that’s really irrelevant, especially if you like the disc, which I do. The amazing thing about Edwards is that it’s hard to tell what disc her songs come from.  She has a singular style of writing and singing that makes her songs timeless.  This is not to say that she’s stuck in a rut by any means, because nothing sounds tired.

Edwards is a wonderfully talented songwriter, with a gift for storytelling and a wonderful twist of wordplay: “One more song the radio won’t like”; “And if you weren’t so old I’d probably keep you / If you weren’t so old I’d tell my friends / But I don’t think your wife would like my friends.”  And beyond that there are simply great songs: “Hockey Skates” is a wonderful metaphor (and a damn catchy song).  “National Steel” has a wonderful hook.

I really can’t get enough of this disc.  Or her follow-up either.

[READ: January 20, 2010] “A Death in Kitchawank”

My recent comment about T.C Boyle’s named being shortened from Coraghessan must have been an editorial choice by Harper‘s because here it is in full splendor in the New Yorker. I also find it odd when the same writer appears in two locations very close together. Is it like when an actor has a big movie out and appears in several periodicals in a month?  I suppose Boyle has a book coming out?

Whatever the case, I enjoyed this Boyle story quite a lot too. And, once again, it undermined my expectations of what he writes (so I guess my expectations should change by now, huh?).

This story is set in a lake community in Kitchawank, NY.   When the story opens we see a woman tanning herself to a golden brown (this is the first clue that it’s set in the 70s. Which it is).  We watch as the woman, Miriam, relishes her family’s life and their friends in their close-knit, Jewish, lakefront community. (more…)

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Ian Frazier–“Fanshawe” (New Yorker, November 2, 2009)

Posted in Canadian Music, Funny (ha ha), Ian Frazier, Kathleen Edwards, Neko Case, New Yorker, Short Story, The Tragically Hip, The Trews, Woody Allen on November 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

nySOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Asking for Flowers (2008).

flowersI first heard of Kathleen Edwards because of her duet with John Doe on “The Golden State.”  I thought her voice was great and I wanted to hear more.  I picked this album because it was her newest.

My first impression was mild.  I thought initially, great, I’ve gotten yet another Canadian country singer.  And yet, as with Neko Case, there’s something about Canadian country-tinged music that I really like (I’m not a fan of U.S. country, by and large).  And so, while there are trapping of country music on this disc (slide guitar is scattered throughout), after the third or fourth listen, something clicked and I fell hard for this disc.

While listening, especially on the more rocking songs, I kept thinking of The Tragically Hip.  And while I would not in any way say she sounds like the Hip, there is something about her sensibility, lyrically and tonally, that I think is very Hip-like.  She sings with great passion about moderately esoteric things and about Canadiana (referencing Gretsky in one song, titling another song “Oh Canada”).  And as The Hip have recently released a more folky album, the two could probably share a coffeehouse stage quite easily.

Edwards’ voice is beautiful.  But it wasn’t until I really started hearing her lyrics that it made the songs that much more intense.

“The Cheapest Key” is a rollicking song (that reminds me of The Hip in many ways).  Especially the lyrics: “A is for all the times I bit my tongue / B is for bullshit and you fed me some.”  And while I think the whole disc is great, it’s the trifecta of “I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory,” “Oil Man’s War” and “Sure as Shit” that makes this album amazing.  Lyrically, musically, passionately, they’re simply awesome.  Individually, each song is great, but together, the rocking humor of “Dough” followed by the moving sadness of “Oil Man’s War” and the mildly vulgar wit of “Sure as Shit” show such depth in just three songs.

She also pulls out a really powerful song in “Oh Canada.”  I recently wagged my finger at The Trews for being too preachy on their song “Gun Control,” Edwards tackles a similar subject by going in a different direction and by making poetry, not preachery: ” It’s not the year of the gun / We don’t say it out loud / There are no headlines / When a black girl dies / It’s not the lack of a sense / It’s called ambivalence.”

The final song, “Goodnight California” has a chord progression that sounds somewhat familiar, and yet the vocal line she lays on top of it is different, just off enough to be really enchanting.  And even though it is a slow moody piece, it has a fairly scorching harmonica (!) solo.

I’m delighted to see that she has other discs out because I can’t wait to hear more from her.

[READ: October 29, 2009] “Fanshawe”

This Shouts & Murmurs piece was really funny.  It was easily the funniest one I have read in a long time.  It reminded me a lot of early funny Woody Allen pieces (especially when he mentions what the mother died from).

The story is about Fanshawe.  He has just the one name (and comes from a long line of people named simply, Fanshawe.  (more…)

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