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Archive for the ‘Kishi Bashi’ Category

Roddy Doyle–The Snapper (1990)

Posted in Babies, Colm Meaney, Drinking, Dublin, Ireland, Irish Writer, Kishi Bashi, Marriage (Happy), Parenting, Pregnancy, Roddy Doyle, Short Books, The Snapper on August 19, 2013| 3 Comments »

snapperSOUNDTRACK: KISHI BASHI-“Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!” (2013).

kishiI’m still really enjoying Kishi Bashi’s debut album 151a, so it’s a treat to get a new track from him.  This one is a 7″ (and apparent digital download).

It doesn’t depart radically from Kishi Bashi’s formula (high vocals, violins and bouncy, exuberant melodies).  Although this song just has…more.  More instruments, more layers, more everything.

The biggest surprise comes around two minutes in when some of the layers drop out and we get this really cool bass (which reminds me of Paul Simon) that propels the song along.  But that’s a fleeting moment amidst the swirling and swelling violins.

Kishi Bashi is one of those artists who seems to release a lot of singles and digital releases and unless they get compiled somewhere, NPR podcasts are the only place I’ll ever hear them.  Nonetheless, I’m delighted to get to jam to this one.

[READ: August 19, 2013] The Snapper

When I first got into Roddy Doyle (around 1993), I read all three of the books that are considered the “Barrytown Trilogy” (which I have just learned, thanks Louise, that there’s going to be a fourth) very quickly.  Doyle’s writing in these books is very fast and very funny–tons of dialogue that flow easily and wittily.

The Snapper was also made into a film (not as popular as The Commitments, but much funnier–check it out just to see Colm Meaney down a pint).  And Doyle’s writing is just as sharp and screenplay-friendly as The Commitments was–which makes it a real joy to read.

Although this is considered part of a “trilogy” there’s very little connection to The Commitments.  The family is the same but Jimmy Rabbitte, the protagonist of The Commitments, is a minor character in The Snapper (I’m actually not sure if it is set before or after The Commitments).  [Oh and in the movie, the family name had to be changed from Rabbitte to Curley because the company that made The Commitments owns the rights to Rabbitte (Jaysus!)].  This book is about Jimmy’s sister Sharon and, for the most part, their da, Jimmy Sr.  [There’s a slew more members of that family–Veronica their mammy, Darren, the twins Tracy and Linda, Les, and of course, Larrygogan, the new pup.

So, what the hell is The Snapper about?  Well, “Snapper” is a slang for baby (apparently).  And it seems that young Sharon (19) has gotten herself “up the pole” (pregnant).  The surprising thing about the story is the family’s reaction.  It is largely positive.  She won’t say who the father is, and after the family accepts that, things seem largely fine.

Sharon is afraid to tell her friends, but even they, including her best friend Jackie, take it well (especially after a few drinks).  So where is the conflict? (more…)

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Hanna Pylväinen–We Sinners (2012)

Posted in Boredom, Cars, Decadence, Hanna Pylväinen, Harper's, Kishi Bashi, Religion, Sex, Shoplifting, Tiny Desk Concert on September 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KISHI BASHI-Tiny Desk Concert #215 (May 10, 2012).

A few days after the concert at the 9:30 Club, K Ishibashi stopped in at the NPR offices to record a Tiny Desk concert.  The Tiny Desk  concerts are always fun–incredibly intimate and always well recorded.  He plays three of the five songs that he played at the 9:30 Club, and while they sound quite the same, there are little differences.

I find it very cool how similar they sound–since most of the sounds he makes are with his voice, it’s quite cool that he has that much control.  But I also like that he varies things a bit (although it sounds like a slightly flat note that plagues “Atticus in the Desert”).

What’s interesting is that although he doesn’t play things very differently, the feel of “I am the Antichrist to You” is quite different in the Tiny Desk setting.  I don’t really understand why, but it sounds very different, and equally wonderful.

Watching the Tiny Desk show is also neat–I’ve never seen anyone strum chords on a violin before.   And watching all of the technical adjustments is very cool too.  I’ve definitely become a fan of Kishi Bashi.

[READ: August 28, 2012] We Sinners

This has got to be the fastest turnover I’ve ever had where I read a short story and then read the author’s novel.  Well, it turns out that “Jonas Chan” was not a short story, but an excerpt from this novel.

The novel is a series of short stories about the same family.  I’m reluctant to brand it one of those connected-short story novels, but I think it really is.  Each chapter has a title and a specific focus and, as the excerpt showed, each chapter can work independently–although having all of the information certainly fills out the story.  (Unless I am mistaken, a few things that really depend upon the rest of the book were left out of the excerpt).

The novel is about the Rovaniemi family.  They are a very traditional Finnish family living in the midwest United States.  More than just Finnish, they practice Laestadianism, a very conservative kind of Lutheranism that is unique to the Finns.  There are nine children in the family (and 11 chapters in the book), and the novel follows them through about 18 years (the youngest, Uppu, is born in the first chapter and the second to last chapter is about her leaving for college.

There’s even a handy family tree:

WARREN  –  PIRJO  (parents)

BRITA  TIINA  NELS  PAULA  SIMON  JULIA  LEENA ANNI  UPPU

There isn’t an overall plot so much as an evaluation of this traditional family and how modern life impacts them.   And wisely, the book opens with the oldest daughter.  This (as opposed to first looking at the parents) allows us to see what kind of difficulties the kids will have with their religion.  We see Brita in school facing a tough decision.  The Laestadian religion doesn’t permit dancing (or TV, or much of anything).  And Brita has to inform her “boyfriend” that she can’t go to the dance because she isn’t allowed.  When Tiina finds out that Brita revealed their religious secret she freaks out that people will know about her too. (more…)

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Simon Rich–Elliot Allagash (2010) & “On Book-Writing” [New Yorker, May 18, 2010]

Posted in Advice, All Songs Considered, Boredom, Contests, Funny (ha ha), Jean-Dominique Bauby, Kishi Bashi, New Yorker, Set at School, Short Books, Simon Rich, YA Books on September 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KISHI BASHI-Live at the 9:30 Club May 1, 2012 (2012).

I had never heard of Kishi Bashi before this concert.  Kishi Bashi is a one man band headed by K. Ishibashi.  He plays violin and sings and, as is the trend it seems, he records and loops his own beats and melodies.  Whether or not this is overdone by others, Kishi Bashi does an amazing job.  His songs are powerful and his soaring falsetto is fantastic.

I find myself singing lines from “Atticus in the Dessert” all the time.  And who could resist the title “I am the Antichrist to You.”  Hearing him pull this stuff off live is really impressive.  When he’s not sampling and beatboxing, his violin is gorgeous–I never really understood the folks who could violin and sing at the same time, but he does it wonderfully.  He’s got a funny, charming stage presence and this whole brief set is really enjoyable.  Check it out (audio and video!).

[READ: September 1, 2012] Elliot Allagash

I really enjoy Simon Rich’s humorous pieces.  But somehow I totally missed that he had written a novel (or two–the second one came out in August).

This novel eschews Rich’s humor style–there’s no absurdist takes on life–and focuses on a plot. The plot is pretty straightforward.  Seymour Herson is a middle school loser–everyone picks on him.  In a nice twist on the high school loser, Seymour’s family is pretty cool.  They play Monopoly every Friday night, they eat together and are generally supportive of each other.  While they might be somewhat geeky, they are not played as straw men for Seymour’s problems.

At his school there are three rows of lunch tables.  The popular kids sit at the first row.  The rest of the kids sit at the second row.  And Seymour sits in the final row.  By himself.  In part that is his plan, so he can score a minimum of 5 chocolate milks at lunchtime without the other kids seeing.  Then one day Elliot Allagash sits next to him. (more…)

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