SOUNDTRACK: JOHN REILLY & FRIENDS-Tiny Desk Concert #418 (February 3, 2015).
I started this show without observing who it was (it was just next on my queue) and I listened without watching first. At first I thought, hmm, interesting old timey songs. And then the guy spoke and I thought, wow, he sounds a lot like actor John C. Reilly, I wonder if he’s from the same place. And then I clicked over and saw that it was John C. Reilly, in full beard and hat playing old timey, spiritual songs.
A lot of actors have vanity music projects, but there’s nothing vain about this. It’s all old music (they use an old timey microphone) and they’re clearly not looking to top any charts. Rather, Reilly plays acoustic guitar and sings—he has a great, solid voice. And his backing group is full of great musicians who all have careers doing other things: Tom Brousseau on guitar and harmony vocals, Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond on harmony vocals, Andru Bemis on banjo and fiddle, as well as Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg.
I didn’t recognize any of the four songs they played–which is probably the point. He explains that Tom is their archaeologist and he uncovered a number of these songs.
The second song references Jesus and after the song Reilly talks tells everyone that he’s a lapsed Catholic but it seemed a shame to ignore all these beautiful songs because of religion. So when they say Jesus you can think Buddha or… Satan or… the ocean. Becky Stark comes across a bit more, um, something, with her comment “we are advocates for deathless bliss.” (Reilly deflates the silence by saying “deathless bliss” is their other band).
It’s a charming group of songs and would not sound out of place with some tracks from O Brother, Where Art Thou.
[READ: January 8, 2015] Cleopatra in Space Book One
I brought it home for C. but it looked really fun so I read it too. I enjoyed this book so much that I can’t wait for the next part.
I love Maihack’s artistic style, it’s simple and very clean, and his drawings of the people and aliens are cool and expressive
The basic setup here is that Cleopatra, yes, that Cleopatra, is about to have her 15th birthday. This means she is about ready to rule the country. But in the meantime she is stuck going to school and taking Algebra, ugh. She gets her friend Gozi out of class (by hitting him with a pebble and making him yell). So they sneak out. I loved the joke when he asks where she got the slingshot since her father confiscated them all–“It’s not like they’re hard to make, Gozi.”
While they are shooting rocks at things, they uncover a giant tomb door. When it opens, they see all kinds of cool artifacts. One of them is a panel of some sort. And when Cleo (she prefers Cleo) reads it, she is sucked into a portal to a new planet generations into the future. The great great great great grandson of her cat is there (and he can talk–in fact all the cats can talk). And they inform her that she is the prophecy sent to defeat the Xerx. The Xerx are a race of brutes who are ruled by Xaius Octavian, a power-hungry dictator.
He evidently sent out some kind of EMP to destroy all of the electronic records in the world but also managed to keep copies for himself. So he has all the knowledge in t universe. And it was written that Cleopatra would come and save them from this terrible scourge. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 