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Archive for the ‘Miley Cyrus’ Category

Rose Cooper–I Text Dead People (2015)

Posted in Coronavirus, Death, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Huh?, Humiliation, Miley Cyrus, Quarantine, Rose Cooper, Set at School, Technology, The Flaming Lips, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert on March 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MILEY CYRUS–Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #161 (January 28, 2021).

I’m quite torn about Miley Cyrus.  I respect her individuality and her desire to push boundaries (and her Happy Hippie Foundation [created to rally young people to fight injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations] is pretty great).  But sometimes I don’t always love her choices.

In all that time I’ve never given much attention to her music.  She was a pop singer (or worse, a country singer) and that was that.

Now, after getting mixed up with The Flaming Lips, who even knows what she’s up to.

For her Tiny Desk Concert (I can’t believe it’s barely over 11 minutes when so many other have done them over 20) she has built a tiny room, complete with a bed and a window and posters on the wall.  The room itself is probably three feet high and Miley, bedecked in a fascinating array (fake, one assumes) furs an leopard skin pants and a big hat and glasses.

The blurb gives rather an extensive narrative to Cyrus’ video

Here, the scene opens with Cyrus, dressed head to toe in rock-star faux fur, in what looks like a teenage girl’s bedroom. But the perspective in this pink-and-purple space feels a little … odd.  As Cyrus sings, it becomes clear that this is her Wonderland – like Alice full of magical cake, she’s grown to exceed her surroundings. By the end of this three-song set, Cyrus reveals that it’s the adolescent enclave that grew too small for her, not the other way around.

That give a lot of credit to a little video.  But whatever.  First she lounges on her bed and sings a pretty intense version of Mazzy Star’s “Fade into You.”

The original was pretty chill (and maybe a little boring) and Miley inject some powerful screams in the middle and her voice gets all raw.  It adds some drama to an otherwise chill song.  Or as the blurb says

a hazy psychedelic anthem that she infuses with just the edge of the next day’s hangover.

Up next are two songs from her latest album.

The two songs from Plastic Hearts that follow are her own bids at classic-rock timelessness.

In “Golden G-String” Cyrus assesses her own life in the spotlight with Leonard Cohen-esque charm.

She takes off her coat and hat (the video ifs filmed from different angles and there’s some overlapping edits.

This song is really quite catchy.  I think Id like to hear the album version.

And “Prisoner” is the power ballad that lets Cyrus really break out – as she leaves the tiny room — just a box, it turns out, on a soundstage – and joins her band,

Her poor band is never really on camera. It pans around a little before prisoner–you see some hands and some hair of Stacy Jones: drums; Mike Schmid: keys; Max Bernstein: guitar; Jamie Arentzen: guitar and Joe Ayoub: bass.

“Prisoner” sounds like a classic rock song-maybe from Heart or Fleetwood Mac.  This album is getting some good accolades and I might just have to check it out.

[READ: March 18, 2021] I Text Dead People

We brought this book home from the library for my daughter, but I found myself reading and (sort of) enjoying it.

Annabel Craven and her mother have just moved from Sacramento to this small town.  They moved because Annabel’s Uncle died and left his house to them.  Since they lived in a tiny apartment in Sacramento, her mom figured it was a step up.  Except that their new house is actually a creepy old “haunted” house that is adjacent to a cemetery.

On her first day of school, Annabel took a shortcut through the cemetery where she found a phone.  She had recently broken her phone and her mother was trying to teach her the value of things by making her save up for a new one.

Obviously, she will return this found phone to its owner, but until then, it might be nice to be able to communicate with people  Sadly, the phone has no power so she couldn’t locate its owner anyhow. (more…)

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Mike Maihack–Cleopatra in Space: Book Five: Fallen Empires (2019)

Posted in Adventure, Bob Dylan, Cats, Children's Books, Death, Death Cab For Cutie, Egyptology, Funny (ha ha), Jeff Buckley, John Mulaney, Mike Maihack, Miley Cyrus, Nirvana, NPR/PRI/PBS, Stephen Colbert, Threats, Time Travel, Tiny Desk Concert, Tiny Desk Contest, Unfinished series, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on January 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: J.S. ONDARA-Tiny Desk Concert #937 (January 24, 2020).

WXPN has been playing J.S. Ondara quite a lot since his album came out.  And while the DJs would often give some details about his life story, he gives a bit more here.

J.S. Ondara’s journey to the Tiny Desk is a fascinating one. From his home in Nairobi, he listened on his sister’s radio to American artists, including Nirvana, Jeff Buckley, Death Cab For Cutie and, most importantly, Bob Dylan. He wanted to be a folk singer, so he moved to Minnesota, Dylan’s home state.

In between songs he narrates his life in a wonderfully comically understated style.

Ondara told us his story. “I remember, at one point, someone told me about this contest that you guys do called ‘the Tiny Desk Contest.’ And I was, at the time, desperately trying to be a folk singer. And I’m not quite. I’m not a big fan of contests, but I like NPR. So I figured I’d give it a shot. And I’d just written that song, ‘Lebanon.’ So I made a video of me playing that song, and I submitted it. And I suppose that things didn’t go quite in my favor. So I figured I’d find a bit of a roundabout way to get here, which involved making a record and touring it relentlessly and stalking Bob [Boilen] all around South by Southwest. (I actually didn’t do that part.) I was thinking about it. And now I’m here. The journey would have been a lot shorter had I just won the bloody contest. It’s on me, not you, I suppose, I should have written a better song.  But in the very wise words of Miley Cyrus, ‘it’s not about how fast you get there, it’s about the climb.’  I can’t stop quoting that song, it’s one of those words even when I don’t want to.”

“Lebanon” is a slow ballad with Ondara’s unique singing style (S. and I genuinely didn’t know if Ondara was a man or a woman upon hearing his song “Saying Goodbye” because his voice is so multivaried.  I really like the passion of the lyrics and how it is countered with the slowness of the music.

In the water, fire
I’ll go wherever you go
In the valley, in the canyon
I’ll go wherever you go
Hey, love, I’m ready now
Can’t you see this riot
Inside of my veins
Hey love, I’m overcome
By desire
How must I wait?
Up next is “Days of Insanity” with this fascinating lyric

There is a bear at the airport, waiting on a plane
There is a cow at the funeral, bidding farewell
There is a goat at the terminal, boarding the C-train
There is a horse at the hospital, dancing with the hare
Somebody call the doctor, from the university
Somebody call upon the witch and the wizardry
Somebody call the rabbi, the pastor and the sheikh
Coz we are coming on the days of insanity
The days of insanity.

In talking about this song he says it is such a rich time to be a folk singer in America.  He wrote the song while making the record.  He was watching videos of kittens and puppies as he does every night before bed and the video suggested watching Stephen Colbert with John Mulaney.  Mulaney took a trip to Japan and described things in America as being like seeing a horse loose in a hospital.  It’s like something no one’s ever seen before.  Ondara encourages us to watch the clip and he is right–it is hilarious!

“Saying Goodbye” is the song that’s been getting the airplay.  It’s passionate and powerful and when he sings in the higher register it really is otherworldly.

This live version is quite a revelation.  His delivery is different–much more slow and deliberate.  But he can still hit that glorious high notes..

Amazingly, Tales of America was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Americana Album (not bad for a guy from Kenya).  Sadly it didn’t win.

[READ: January 30, 2020] Cleopatra in Space Book Five

It took Maihack seventeen months to make this book!  He says that sixteen of those months were spent growing the beard on his author picture.

This story is action-packed with some fascinating twists and turns.  Consequently, seventeen months is a long time to go between books.  Fortunately, Maihack’s quality of illustration and storytelling has maintained its high standards.

The book opens with a flashback to the moment when Cleo first disappeared from Gozi while they were having target practice (back in book 1).

The actual story has followed Cleo on her adventures.  But now we see what happened to Gozi.  He was attacked by … someone … and imprisoned.  Gozi believes that whatever happened to Cleo–it was her choice not to return and help him.

I have to admit I was more than a little confused as to just what happened next, [Gozi explains things later on].  In the montage of events, there’s a spaceship and lots of cats (I suspect that if I had read the other books more recently this would be more clear).  In whatever happened, Gozi is badly burned and the pain never goes away.  He was wrapped in bandages but that didn’t really help at all.  Then we see exactly what happened to make Gozi turn into Octavian and to agree to use the Lion’s plasma to carry out the ruin of the galaxy. (more…)

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Letters to Cleo (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 14, 2018)

Posted in 10 Things I Hate About You, American Hi-Fi, Boston Phoenix, Care Bears, Cheap Trick, Doc McStuffins, Firewater, Generation O!, Happy Birthday, Josie and the Pussycats, Letters to Cleo, Melrose Place, Miley Cyrus, Nick Lowe, Philadelphia, PA, Scooby Doo, Underground Arts, WFNX 101.7 FM--Boston, MA on November 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 14, 2018] Letters to Cleo

When Letters to Cleo first put out Aurora Gory Alice back in 1993  I was really excited about them.  They were punky and fast but they were poppy and intriguing.  The chorus of “Here & Now” is somehow really catchy and impossible to sing.  I lived in Boston, they were based in Boston.  They were getting much buzz in the Boston Phoenix and on WFNX (“Here & Now” was inescapable–it was even used on Melrose Place).  And their name was weird and mentioned my childhood dog (Cleo).  I also thought their album title was funny so I bought a copy on Cherry Disc records (one of dozens of CDs I bought on an indie label only to later find out the major label pressing aided like five more songs and a gold chain or something).

Their second album had an even weirder name Wholesale Meats and Fish but was equally as strong, if not stronger.  Their third album was the amazing Go!–it added so much depth to their songwriting and was really just fantastic.

Then they appeared in 1999’s movie 10 Things I Hate About You.  They had songs on the soundtrack and were filmed playing “I Want You To Want Me” over the closing credits.

Wikipedia says that “the band then recorded 13 new original songs for the Kids’ WB cartoon, Generation O!, which aired from 2000 to 2001″ and which I’ve never heard of.

Then they broke up. (more…)

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American Hi-Fi (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 14, 2018) [LETTERS TO CLEO]

Posted in American Hi-Fi, American Pie, Hum, Iron Maiden, Letters to Cleo, Miley Cyrus, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on November 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 14, 2018] American Hi-Fi

Back in 2001, I thought that American Hi_Fi’s single “Flavor of the Weak” was great.  And I still do. It’s a funny and self deprecating look at young love.  And it’s catchy as all heck as well.

American Hi-Fi got lost for me amid the power pop surge of the early 2000s.  There’s only so many catchy rocking songs you can absorb, after all.  And I basically forgot about them.  They put out a couple of discs and then wound up taking four or five years between the others.  They haven’t released anything new since 2014, so I was a little surprised that they were opening for Letters to Cleo.

Then I read that Stacy Jones, the lead singer and guitarist for American Hi-Fi was the original drummer for Letters to Cleo and he’d be playing with them on LtC’s short 2018 tour (5 shows).  Well it made perfect sense that his other band would open for them.

They played six songs from the debut (which all sounded slightly familiar), three songs from the follow up, a “rarity” and a song from their last album from 2014.

The band sounded great.  Stacy is a terrific front man.  And even though they used to play stadia (and Jones now works with Miley Cyrus apparently), he really seemed to enjoy playing in this tiny club with a rabid fan base.  Because even if I didn’t remember their songs, nearly everyone around me sure did, and they went bananas.

The guy who was next to me was about 6 foot 3 and a large dude.  He was completely hammered.  We around him were lucky that he had a buddy with him to hold him up–and he literally was holding this guy up, moving his arm when it almost hit someone else).  But this guy was so into the show, it was almost cute (almost).  His friend said he liked LtC even more, although he was so drunk he couldn’t make it through the set break and started to spit up a bit (not throw up, thankfully) and his buddy had to drag him off to the side.  At least I didn’t get thrown up on during Letters to Cleo.

Their set made me wonder what happens to bands that they get left by the wayside like that.  They sounded great, they were still tight and the fans loved them. Their songs were poppy and would fit in with modern rock radio now.  The music business is pretty inexplicable.

“Scar,” “Surround” and “Hi-Fi Killer” from the first album rocked really hard, but it was “The Breakup Song” from the second album that made the audience go nuts (this was a single that I might not know, but it was so simple and catchy that by the end I was sure I had heard it a million times).  It had that whole bratty pop punk vibe that was huge circa 2003.

“Safer on the Outside” was very familiar to me.  I’m not sure if it was ever a single, but it’s a pseudo-ballad that I could see being a hit.

The he said the next song was from “one of the American Pie movies, I think we had a song on each soundtrack.”  But the best intro was when he said that they ripped off the introductory drum riff from Iron Maiden (true); however, when the drummer played it the first time, he messed it up and they had to do it again.

“Portland” had a different sound than the other songs–not radically different, but a different style of song writing, which makes sense since it was written 13 years.  It had a few more delicate moments and an actual guitar solo.  “Another Perfect Day” is all acoustic and cello on the record.  But there was none of that here, just a slow intro before the mid-tempo song segued into the fun drum intro and bratty woah-ohing of “The Art of Losing” (hey ho, let’s go, I’m gonna start a riot, you don’t wanna fight it // one, two, fuck you, don;t tell me what to do I don’t wanna be like you) which ends with a shout out to “we’re the kids in America.”

As the set was ending I was thinking that I knew they had a hit single that I liked.  I just couldn’t remember what it was called.  When Stacy started singing “Stars” I thought, oh right, this song.  But my memory banks knew this wasn’t them (“Stars” is by Hum from 1995).  So after that intro verse when he switched into “Flavor of the Weak” it all came flooding back.  It sounded great and reminded me why I liked these guys so much back then.

They ended the set with “Happy,” a noisy romp with a great heavy bass line and rough guitars.  Midway through the song, Stacy grabbed a drumstick and shoved it under his guitar strings and began making all kinds of cool sounds for a mid-song diversion.

There set was great and a lot of fun and I’ve been listening to their older stuff again, and enjoying it quite a bit.

SETLIST

  1. Scar *
  2. The Breakup Song ∀
  3. Surround *
  4. Safer on the Outside *
  5. Vertigo ⊗
  6. Hi-Fi Killer *
  7. Portland ß
  8. Another Perfect Day *
  9. The Art of Losing ∀
  10. Stars (song by Hum…snippet played as segue into next song)
  11. Flavor of the Weak *
  12. Happy ∀

* American Hi-Fi (2001)
⊗ American Pie 2 soundtrack (2001)
∀ The Art of Losing (2003)
ß Blood and Lemonade (2014)

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Chuck Klosterman–X: A Highly Specific, Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century (2017)

Posted in #ITMFA, #RESIST, Advice, Basketball, Beverly Hills 90210, Books about music, Books about writers, Breaking Bad, Cee-Lo Green, Charles Schulz, Chuck Klosterman, Creed, Danger Mouse, Death, Decadence, Depression, Drinking, Drugs, Essays, Football, Gnarls Barkley, Guns n' Roses, Harry Potter, History, Idiots, Jimmy Page, Jonathan Franzen, Kiss, LCD Soundsystem, Lou Reed, Mad Men, Metallica, Miley Cyrus, Music, Nickelback, Nostalgia, Pavement, Peanuts, Radiohead, Rolling Stone, Rush, Spin, Sports, Superstitions, Taylor Swift, Technology, The Future, The Sopranos, The Velvet Underground, The Wire, Tiny Desk Concert, Usain Bolt, Van Halen on March 17, 2018| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JOHN PRINE-Tiny Desk Concert #717 (March 12, 2018).

For all of the legendary status of John Prine, I don’t really know that much about him.  I also think I don’t really know much of his music.  I didn’t know any of the four songs he played here.

I enjoyed all four songs.  The melodies were great, the lyrics were thoughtful and his voice, although wizened, convey the sentiments perfectly.

The blurb sums up things really well

An American treasure came to the Tiny Desk and even premiered a new song. John Prine is a truly legendary songwriter. For more than 45 years the 71-year-old artist has written some of the most powerful lyrics in the American music canon, including “Sam Stone,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Hello In There” and countless others.

John Prine’s new songs are equally powerful and he opens this Tiny Desk concert with “Caravan of Fools,” a track he wrote with Pat McLaughlin and Dan Auerbach. Prine adds a disclaimer to the song saying, “any likeness to the current administration is purely accidental.”

I thought the song was great (albeit short) with these pointed lyrics:

The dark and distant drumming
The pounding of the hooves
The silence of everything that moves
Late in night you see them
Decked out in shiny jewels
The coming of the caravan of fools

That song, and his second tune, the sweet tearjerker “Summer’s End,” are from John Prine’s first album of new songs in 13 years, The Tree of Forgiveness.

He introduces this song by saying that.  This one is a pretty song.  It might drive you to tears.  He wrote this with Pat McLaughlin.  We usually write on Tuesdays in Nashville because that’s the day they serve meatloaf.  I love meatloaf.  We try to write a song before they serve the meatloaf.  And then eat it and record it.

For this Tiny Desk Concert John Prine also reaches back to his great “kiss-off” song from 1991 [“an old song from the 90s (whoo)…  a song from the school of kiss off 101”] called “All the Best,” and then plays “Souvenirs,” a song intended for his debut full-length but released the following year on his 1972 album Diamonds in the Rough. It’s just one of the many sentimental ballads Prine has gifted us.

He says he wrote it in 1968…when he was about 3.

Over the years, his voice has become gruffer and deeper, due in part to his battle with squamous cell cancer on the right side of his neck, all of which makes this song about memories slipping by feel all the more powerful and sad.

“Broken hearts and dirty windows
Make life difficult to see
That’s why last night and this mornin’
Always look the same to me
I hate reading old love letters
For they always bring me tears
I can’t forgive the way they rob me
Of my sweetheart’s souvenirs”

The musicians include John Prine, Jason Wilber, David Jacques and Kenneth Blevins.

 

[READ: December 11, 2017] X

I really enjoyed Klosterman’s last essay book, although I found pretty much every section was a little too long.  So this book, which is a collection of essays is perfect because the pieces have already been edited for length.

I wasn’t even aware of this book when my brother-in-law Ben sent it to me with a comment about how much he enjoyed the Nickelback essay.

Because I had been reading Grantland and a few other sources, I have actually read a number of these pieces already, but most of them were far off enough that I enjoyed reading them again.

This book is primarily a look at popular culture.  But narrowly defined by sports and music (and some movies).  I have never read any of Klosterman’s fiction, but I love his entertainment essays. (more…)

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Greg Jackson–“Wagner in the Desert” (New Yorker, July 21, 2014)

Posted in Autumn Defense, Ben Goldwasser, Birdflower, Black Pus, Chuck Inglish, Def Rain, Dr. Dog, Drinking, Drugs, Electric Würms, Fever the Ghost, Foxygen, Grace Potter, Greg Jackson, J. Mascis, Julianna Barwick, Maynard James Keenan, Miley Cyrus, Moby, Morgan Delt, My Morning Jacket, New Fumes, New Yorker, Phantogram, Pitchwafuzz, Puscifer, Sex, Short Story, Spaceface, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Sunbears!, Tegan and Sara, The Beatles, The Flaming Lips, Treasure Mammal, Wilco, Zorch on February 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

july21SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS 2014-With a Little Help from My Fwends (2014).

fwendsAnd speaking of covers.

Probably the least anticipated album of 2014 was the Flaming Lips’ cover of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Although the biggest surprise (mostly in a bad way, it seemed) was Wayne Coyne’s embrace (metaphorical, we hope) of Miley Cyrus.  The fact that Cyrus appears on this record at all totally overshadowed the fact that so many other people and bands appeared here as well.  I literally had no idea at the names that contributed to this electronic psychedelic re-imagining of a very psychedelic album.

The biggest overall difference between the two is that the Beatles’ psychedelia was conveyed through organic instruments–strings, horns, sitar, piano–while The Fwends version is almost entirely electronic.  This of course means that the album sounds very different from the original.  But what I think makes the album a success overall is that the various artists involved all bring a slightly different vision to the proceedings.  This makes it less of a Flaming Lips record and more of a Friends of Lips-style psychedelia collection.  I’m not even sure why it’s a Flaming Lips record, except that they are credited with playing on a bunch of songs (and presumably produced it–which explains some of the excess noise on the record).

Obviously, they are not trying to improve on the original.  And obviously, die-hard Beatles fans are appalled at this travesty.  But anyone who knows the Beatles knows that they were all about experimenting themselves.  Rather than getting mad about this, perhaps listeners should see that  they are having fun with the originals–sometimes staying faithful, sometimes exploring other ways to do songs, and sometimes just throwing everything out the window for a chance to jam.  And some versions you may even like.

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” featuring My Morning Jacket, Fever the Ghost & J Mascis
The song starts out with a goofy falsetto rendition of the song which makes it seem like the whole album is going to be a big joke (I assume this is Fever the Ghost whom I don’t know).  But I loved the way the “record” slows down to let MMJ take over with a great noisy, respectful chorus.  The song could certainly use more MMJ.  When “Billy Shears” is introduced, it turns out be J Masics playing a totally song-inappropriate wailing guitar solo.
“With a Little Help from My Friends” featuring The Flaming Lips, Black Pus & Autumn Defense
I love that Wayne sings this verse (about being out of tune) with an auto tune on his voice.  He sings it really quite lovely.  I even enjoy that the response verses are done in a kind of out of tune crazy way.  But the problem is that they are too much–it turns the song into too much of a joke (which is to be expected form a band called Black Pus, I suppose).  It’s a shame because the idea could work really well if it didn’t sound like someone crashing a party.  Autumn Defense is a side project from the bassist for Wilco, and I assume he does the lovely harmony vocals.
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” featuring The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus & Moby
Miley so overshadows everyone on this song that I didn’t even realize Moby was on it.  Miley sounds really quite good in this version–not all that dissimilar to John’s falsetto voice on the original.  The removal of the big drum before the chorus is distressing, although I do like the replacement, the echoed “gone” part (which must be Moby).  I like that they are having fun with the song (the repeat of “Marshmallow Pie” is cute) I just wish the chorus wasn’t mixed so loud that it is so distorted.  I hate that about recent Lips releases, why do they do it?
“Getting Better” featuring Dr. Dog, Chuck Inglish & Morgan Delt
Dr Dog sounds great in this version, although I find Inglish’s recitation (in which he can’t seem to hit any notes on the few times when he  “sings” to be rather unsettling).  I don’t know Morgan Delt, but I find his trippy vocals to work quite well.
“Fixing a Hole” featuring Electric Würms
Electric Würms are the side project of Flaming Lip Steven Drozd.  This is claustrophobic but quite appropriate for the song (I wish it were a little cleaner though).
“She’s Leaving Home” featuring Phantogram, Julianna Barwick & Spaceface
This is a great, delicate version of this with Phantogram and Barwick sharing lead vocals duties.  It’s quite lovely.
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” featuring The Flaming Lips, Maynard James Keenan, Puscifer & Sunbears!
Maynard does a great job reciting the song.  The song is not necessarily more trippy than the original (which is pretty trippy), it’s just a lot more electronic-sounding.  It’s a weird but cool rendition of the song.
“Within You Without You” featuring The Flaming Lips, Birdflower & Morgan Delt
I don’t know Birdflower, but she does a great job in a higher register with the Indian melody (it’s all electronic and not traditional Indian instrumentation but it sounds cool).  Delt sings alternate leads and is a good counterpoint.
“When I’m Sixty-Four” featuring The Flaming Lips, Def Rain & Pitchwafuzz
I don’t know Def Rain or Pitchwafuzz, but I think Def Rain is doing the voice.  The robotic voice that sings this song is kind of fun–a little too much at times, but overall fun.
“Lovely Rita” featuring Tegan and Sara & Stardeath and White Dwarfs
Tegan and Sara have fun with this song while the noise from Stardeath is much darker than the original.
“Good Morning Good Morning” featuring Zorch, Grace Potter & Treasure Mammal
This song is a little wild (although so is the original).  I don’t know any of the artists involved in it.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” featuring Foxygen & Ben Goldwasser
Foxygen takes this one minute reprise and turns it into a five minute jam session. It has nothing at all to do with the original and it is a weird way to delay the final song.  I don’t know what Goldwasser contributes.  If you can get past the fact that it sounds nothing like the original, it’s an interesting noisy jam.
“A Day in the Life” featuring The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus & New Fumes
Wayne and Miley duet on this, with again, Wayne taking the vocals seriously.  Wayne does the “John” verses.  The switch to Miley’s take on the “Paul” verses is a pretty big shock the way it sounds so stark and electronic.  There’s a few too many echoes on her part, but again, Miley does pretty well with a detached reading.  And because The Lips are purposefully difficult, the end gets cut off before the final famous crescendo.

So is this a great record that people will listen to a lot? Nope.  Is it an interesting twist on a famous record?  Sure.  Is it enjoyable?  For the most part.  As long a you don’t think of it is a definitive re-make, and accept it as a way to raise money for a charity, which it did for The Bella Foundation.

[READ: January 28, 2015] “Wagner in the Desert”

This story reminded me in spirit of both Less than Zero and Generation X, but perhaps for Generation Y.

It’s about a bunch of friends getting ready to ring in the New Year in Palm Springs with a lot of drugs.

The narrator and friends were vacationing some friends from whom he had drifted.  Marta and Eli were trying to have a baby and were looking to do one more sort of wild night before it all became to real: “The Baby Bucket List they were calling it.”  So they all headed to Palm Springs, a group of “modern hustlers: filmmakers, ad writers (screen, Web, magazine), who periodically worked as narrative consultants on ad campaigns, sustainability experts, P.R. lifers, designers, or design consultants, social entrepreneurs and that strange species of human beings who has invented an app.”

Unlike the coke heads of the 80s, though: “We thought we were not bad people.  Not the best, a bit spoiled, maybe, but pleasant, inconstant, decent.”

The group were all paired off except for the narrator and Lily, who was pretty and neurotic, an executive in training.  And he soon filled the role of her gofer because “she needed a lot of things.” He had hoped to have sex with her–his only goal for the vacation.  But as of day three, they had only made out a bit. (more…)

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Grantland Quarterly, Number 10 (2014)

Posted in 30 Seconds to Mars, Advice, Alex Pappademas, Andrew Sharp, Andy Greenwald, Andy Kaufman, Barack Obama, Baseball, Basketball, Bill Russell, Bill Simmons, Books about music, Books about writers, Boxing, Breaking Bad, Brian Phillips, Bryan Curtis, Charles P. Pierce, Chess, Chris Ryan, Chuck Klosterman, Connor Barwin, Counting Crows, Culture Shock, Daniel Kellison, Dave McKenna, Death, Emily Yoshida, Essays, Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes, Football, Fruitvale, Grand Theft Auto V, Grantland, Harris Wittels, History, Hockey, Jason Fagone, Kanye West, Karina Longworth, Kirk Goldsberry, Lady Gaga, LeBron James, Lou Reed, Mark Lisanti, McSweeney's, Miley Cyrus, Molly Lambert, Myst, Nirvana, Nostalgia, Patricia Lee, Pearl Jam, Peyton Manning, Rafe Bartholomew, Rany Jazayerli, Rembert Browne, Robert Mays, Sean Fennessey, Shane Ryan, Sinéad O'Connor, Soccer, Surfing, Tennis, The Eagles, The O.C., The Office, The X Files, Thomas Golianopoulos, Univore, Violence, Wrestling, Zach Lowe on September 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

10SOUNDTRACK: FATHER JOHN MISTY-Fear Fun (2012).

fjmI can’t get over how much I’ve been enjoying this album for the last two years.  Father John Misty is J Tillman from Fleet Foxes.

This disc is a gentle folk album with vaguely country leanings.  The arrangements are spare and yet the verses and choruses are so great to sing along to. “Funtimes in Babylon” has this infectious chorus: “I would like to abuse my lungs, smoke everything in sight with every girl I’ve ever loved.  Ride around the wreckage on a horse knee deep in mud.  Look out, Hollywood, here I come.”  “Nancy from Now On” has a great propulsive chorus with oohs and tinkling bells and pianos and Misty’s engaging falsetto.

I was introduced to this album by “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” which opens with the super catchy line, “Jeeeeesus Christ, girl.”  I love the big crashing drum sound he has here.  “I’m Writing a Novel” is a fun romp, with the great line “I’m writing a novel because it’s never been done before.”  “O I Long to Feel Your Arms Around Me” introduces a great organ sound.  It’s a full song at only 2 and a half minutes.

“Misty’s Nightmares 1 & 2” opens with a slide guitar and turns into a stomping song with more Ooohs and a great chorus.  “Only Son of the Ladiesman” has a great chorus with the fun couple: “I’m a steady hand, I’m a Dodgers fan.”  “This is Sally Hatchet” has cool guitar blasts and a great bridge.

“Well You Can Do It Without Me” is a countrified 2 minute stomper.  “Tee Pees 1-12” is a big stompin’ honkey tonk song with fiddles and slide guitar.  The disc ends with “Everyman Needs a Companion” a slow ballad with a great piano melody and a fun to sing along with verse and chorus.

I love the lyrics on this album, especially the song “Now I’m Learning to Love the War” a slow ballad with a great story:

Try not to think so much about
The truly staggering amount of oil that it takes to make a record
All the shipping, the vinyl, the cellophane lining, the high gloss
The tape and the gear

Try not to become too consumed
With what’s a criminal volume of oil that it takes to paint a portrait
The acrylic, the varnish, aluminum tubes filled with latex
The solvents and dye

Lets just call this what it is
The gentler side of mankind’s death wish
When it’s my time to go
Gonna leave behind things that won’t decompose

In addition to all of the great music on here, the CD packaging is fantastic with that great cover, done in a cardboard gatefold sleeve including two huge books full of words and drawings and lyrics and everything.  I’m really looking forward to his next release.

[READ: September 14, 2014] Grantland #10

Despite my being in the middle of reading several other things, I was looking for a short article to read the other night and grabbed my Grantland 10.  And, of course, once I started, I couldn’t stop. I put everything else on hold and blasted through this issue.

And so all of my loves and hates are the same with this issue.  I never know how anything they talk about nearly a year ago turned out, which stinks.  And yet I get so wrapped up in the writing that I don’t care.  I’m not sure what it is about the writing for Grantland that i enjoy so much.  It is casual but knowledgeable.  Often funny but not obnoxiously silly. And I suppose that now I feel like I’m in on all of the secret stuff they talk about so I’m part of the club.  I fear that if I were to ever go to the website I would get sucked into a black hole and never emerge.

I often wonder how they choose what goes into the book.  This issue has some new writers and the surprising absence of some regulars.  I wonder what went on there.  And as always, the book could use some editing and maybe actually listing the urls of the links that were once in the online version.  But I think I’m talking to deaf ears on that one.

This issue covers October-December 2013 (that’s ten-twelve months ago!  Some of this stuff feels ancient!)

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Pascal Girard–Petty Theft (2014)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Canadian Content, Carly Rae Jepsen, Daft Punk, Drawn & Quarterly, Foster the People, Gotye, Graphic Novel, Helge Dascher, LMFAO, Macklemore and Lewis, Miley Cyrus, Pascal Girard, Pharrell Williams, Pitbull, Psy, Shoplifting, Short Books, Translation, willi.i.am on August 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

pettySOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“Now That’s What I Call Polka” (2014).

npwpolkI knew that Al wouldn’t make a video for his polka medley (always a highlight of his albums).

I was surprised that I knew so many of these songs (on the last album I knew hardly any of the apparently huge songs that made up the medley).  So either I listen to more mainstream music now (or, perhaps I have kids who know more mainstream music) or the music was just much huger this time around.

This batch includes: “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People “Best Song Ever” by One Direction (I didn’t know this one, and I crack up at the childish way he makes the “best song” sound like gagging) “Gangnam Style” by Psy “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen “Scream & Shout” by will.i.am featuring Britney Spears (I didn’t know this one) “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra (I can’t believe how different this one sounds) “Timber” by Pitbull featuring Ke$ha (I didn’t know this one) “Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO (or this one) “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz (or this one, amazingly) “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams.

It’s in these medley’s that Al’s lyrics are the most graphic, because he’s actually singing other pop lyrics, not his own.

It’s always fun when he sings this live because he matches up the original videos to his new sped-up tempo.  Looking forward to Mandatory Fun Live in 2014 (or 15).

[READ: August 3, 2014] Petty Theft

I was intrigued by this story because of the strange cover art–two people in a book store–a hunched over guy and a pretty girl–both reading books.

The story is about Pascal.  He and his long time girlfriend have broken up and he is in a hellish limbo. He’s staying in a friend’s spare room and he is not drawing anymore.  In fact, he’s looking for a major change in his life–the whole cartooning thing isn’t working out for him.  The only comfort he has left is running, but on his last run he hurt his back and has been laid up practically immobile for weeks.

He goes to the chiropractor who helps him out some (although it hurts him as much as his back already hurts).  But she tells him that he cannot run for a couple of months.  He is despondent.  So he decides to go to the bookstore, his favorite local indie shop of course, and look around.  While he’s looking around he sees a girl pick up his own book (Bigfoot)…and steal it.  He is offended and intrigued at the same time.  He tries to follow her but loses her in a crowd.  And now he has to decide what to do.  Especially since he hears the clerks talking about how many books have gone missing lately.  And because he thinks the girl is really cute (and she likes his book!) (more…)

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Grantland Quarterly, Number 9 (2014)

Posted in Advice, Alex Pappademas, Andrew Sharp, Andy Greenwald, Andy Kaufman, Baseball, Basketball, Bill Simmons, Books about music, Books about writers, Breaking Bad, Brian Phillips, Chris Ryan, Counting Crows, Daniel Kellison, Dave McKenna, David Shoemaker, Emily Yoshida, Essays, Football, Fruitvale, Grand Theft Auto V, Grantland, Harris Wittels, Hockey, Jay Caspian Kang, Jonathan Abrams, Jordan Conn, Mark Harris, Mark Lisanti, McSweeney's, Miley Cyrus, Molly Lambert, Myst, Nirvana, Nostalgia, Rany Jazayerli, Rembert Browne, Sean McIndoe, Shane Ryan, Shea Serrano, Soccer, Surfing, Tennis, The Eagles, The O.C., The Office, The X Files, Tom Bissell, Tom Carson, Univore, Violence, Wesley Morris, Wrestling, Zach Lowe on April 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

  9SOUNDTRACK: UNIVORE-“Vampire” (2013).

univoreI never watch the ads that come before Youtube videos.  But this came on as an ad and I was utterly mesmerized by it.

I didn’t even know what it was for.  Turns out that Univore is a band and “Vampire” is one of their songs.  The 1 minute ad video was actually the whole thing.

It’s got a simple buzzy synthesized riff, backing vocalists singing “Oh yea” when appropriate and an occasional deep voiced man saying “vampire.”  The video is of an older gentleman (who a little research suggests is Marco Casale) dressed like a vampire running around a small green space on a campus.  The whole video looks like it took 15 minutes to film.  It is weird and wonderful.

I still know nothing about Univore, which may be for the better, but I did enjoy this video.

[READ: April 6, 2014] Grantland #9

I’m surprised that there aren’t better cover images online for these books.  For #8 i had to use one with a big flash in the middle of it and this one is the illustration from the Grantland website.  The books are quite pretty so why uses these pale imitations?

So this issue proved to be a lot better about weird typos and “we just took this from the web and pasted it and never bothered to check to see if there was anything weird” problems.  So thanks for at least running it through Spellcheck.  The only other thing left is to either remove the lines that talk about attached links/images if they are not there or to include the url or make up a tiny url (but that would be actual work!).  Oh, and please make sure all of the footnotes are included.

I have given up on ever finding out how these things turned out several months after the fact–I’ll just happily live in ignorance of reality there.

This issue was taken from during basketball’s downtime which was a nice change (even though the still managed to talk about basketball).  There was more pop culture and some wonderful articles about team nicknames and mascots–something I absolutely love.  So this is one of my favorite issues overall.  (more…)

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