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Archive for the ‘Planxty’ Category

Danica Novgorodoff–The Undertaking of Lily Chen (2014)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Barry Douglas, Death, First Second :01, Funny (strange), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Marriage Trouble, Planxty, Sexism, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unlikable main character, Violence, YA Books, Yuck! on June 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »

lilychen SOUNDTRACK: BARRY DOUGLAS-Tiny Desk Concert #537 (June 3, 2016).

barryBarry Douglas is a “classical” pianist from Ireland.  I’ve put classical in quotes because although what he plays is classical in sound, the music actually comes from Celtic tradition rather than the classical canon.

“The Coolin” (An Chúileann) translates to “The Fair-Haired Girl” and dates to around 1641.  His arrangement has a very baroque feel (he is actually a classical pianist, too), which gives the traditional song a more regal air.

He follows that lovely delicate song with “Planxty Dylan.”  Planxty is an Irish dance.  He says that harpists would travel around Ireland and people would look after them.  The harpist would then thank the homeowner by writing a song named after the home where they stayed.  This romp of a dance (at only about 1 minute long) was dedicated to the house of Dylan.

From playing a planxty to the band Planxty.  Douglas has arranged the Planxty song “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” for solo piano.  It has been around since the 18th century.  Planxty made it more famous as a vocal song (which I know) but Douglas’ piano version has a lot of fun with the melody as well.  The melody is also known as “Black Jack Davy.”

“My Lagan Love” is about the River Lagan in Donegal (there are actually four Lagan Rivers in Ireland).  The melody and poem were written by unknown persons.  Douglas arranged this without words in an attempt to make it more timeless.  I know the original and this is a really lovely in this instrumental version.

I can say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear this was the kind of solo music that Douglas was going to play.

[READ: April 2, 2016] The Undertaking of Lily Chen

The whole premise behind this story is disturbing and apparently true.

Novgorodoff includes a section of an article from 2007 which says that parts of rural China have seen the rise of “ghost marriages.” In this situation, when an unmarried an dies, his parents procure the body of a woman, hold a wedding and then bury them together.  This has led to a black market in corpse brides.  EW!

This story explores that revolting concept. (more…)

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Wells Tower–“On the Show” (Harper’s, May 2007)

Posted in Adventure, Black Sabbath, Circus, Culture Shock, Dudley Moore, Fears, Harper's, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Cook, Planxty, Short Story, Threats, Violence, Wells Tower on December 27, 2010| 3 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: DUDLEY MOORE & PETER COOK-“Bedazzled” (1967).

I learned about this song when John Lydon was a DJ on NPR’s All Songs Considered.   His collection of songs included Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” Jimi Hendrix’ “All Along the Watchtower” and Planxty’s “The Well Below the Valley.”  The other song was this Dudley Moore/Peter Cook number from the movie Bedazzled (the Brendan Frasier movie was a remake which Lydon says was a travesty compared to the original).

This song is wonderfully bizarre.  It’s got a groovy 60’s beat with female singers seducing Peter with their come on lines.  And after each line from the women, Peter deadpans a line about how disinterested he is.  As Lydon says, the best couplet is:

THE GIRLS: You drive me wiiiiild
PETER: You fill me with inertia.

Obviously the song is comic, but the music is cool and slinky and fun in a completely retro sort of way.   I’m only disappointed that I’ve never heard it before.  Thanks Mr. Rotten.  Oh, and I see the soundtrack just got a reissue!

Hear the song (and all of Lydon’s) DJing here. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126559893

[READ: December 9, 2010] “On the Show”

I don’t really care about carny stories (and yet I’m surprised by just how many there are).  But this story was interesting because of the twist that sucked me into the carny.

The story opens with the narrator describing his carny boss.  And what I loved about this set up is that the carny boss is a tough-guy, braggart, asshole.  [He knocked out Steve Martin on the set of one of his movies].  And the stories are wonderful precisely because we hear them through the ears of the narrator who thinks this guy is full of shit.  I realize that I dislike tough guy stories in general, but you could tell me a tough guy story and have the guy he’ talking to say he’s a jerk and I’ll think it’s okay.  Call me the anti-Hemingway.

We flashback to how this narrator, who we don’t know all that much about, got here.  Turns out the flashback is about twelve hours ago (which is also pretty funny).  The narrator is a young college kid who was home for the summer.  His stepfather really doesn’t like him and they have a huge fight (which gets physical) so he runs off and, yes, joins the circus. (more…)

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